The Words of Jesus Christ Page 8 Jesus Christ (cont'd) General Statements about Himself (cont'd)
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PAGE 8
2 General Statements about Himself (cont'd)
I am the true vine, and my Father is the
husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away: and
every branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit.
Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide
in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it
abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye
are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much
fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is
cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them
into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in
you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be my disciples.
Even as the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you: abide ye in my love.
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my
Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto
you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be fulfilled. This is my
commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my
friends, if ye do the things which I command you. No longer do I call you
servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called
you friends; for all things that I heard from my Father I have made known unto
you. Ye did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should
go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide: that whatsoever ye shall
ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you,
that ye love one another. If the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated
me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love its own:
but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, A
servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also
persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these
things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him
that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin:
but now they have no excuse for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father
also. If I had not done among them the works which none other did, they had
not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But
this cometh to pass, that the word may be fulfilled that is written in their
law, They hated me without a cause. But when the Comforter is come, whom I
will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth
from the Father, he shall bear witness of me: and ye also bear witness,
because ye have been with me from the beginning. j1501-27
These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be made to stumble.
They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever
killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God. And these things
will they do, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things
have I spoken unto you, that when their hour is come, ye may remember them,
how that I told you. And these things I said not unto you from the beginning,
because I was with you. But now I go unto him that sent me; and none of you
asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have spoken these things unto
you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is
expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not
come unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you. And he, when he is come,
will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgement: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I
go to the Father, and ye behold me no more; of judgement, because the prince
of this world hath been judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye
cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall
guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what
things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto
you the things that are to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall take of
mine, and shall declare it unto you. All things whatsoever the Father hath are
mine: therefore said I, that he taketh of mine, and shall declare it unto you.
A little while, and ye behold me no more; and again a little while, and ye
shall see me.
[Some of his disciples therefore said one to another: What is this that he
saith unto us, A little while, and ye behold me not; and again a little while,
and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? What is this that he
saith, A little while? We know not what he saith.]
Do ye inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, A little while,
and ye behold me not, and again a little while, and ye shall see me? Verily,
verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall
rejoice: ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A
woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when
she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the
joy that a man is born into the world. And ye therefore now have sorrow: but I
will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh
away from you. And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, If ye shall ask anything of the Father, he will give it you in my
name. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive,
that your joy may be fulfilled.
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