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1 “All this I have told you so
that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the
synagogue; in fact, the hour is coming when those who kill
you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They
will do such things because they have not known the Father
or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their hour comes
you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not
tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,
The Work of the Holy Spirit
5
but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me,
‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief
because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell
you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go
away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will
send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to
be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9
about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about
righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you
can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the
prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can
now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he
will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his
own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you
what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is
from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I
said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known
to you.”
The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy
16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will
see me no more, and then after a little while you will see
me.”
17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another,
“What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will
see me no more, and then after a little while you will see
me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father?’ ” 18 They kept
asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t
understand what he is saying.”
19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this,
so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant
when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and
then after a little while you will see me?’ 20 Very truly I
tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.
You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman
giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come;
but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of
her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you:
Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you
will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that
day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell
you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask
and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time
is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language
but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day
you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the
Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you
because you have loved me and have believed that I came from
God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I
am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking
clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see
that you know all things and that you do not even need to
have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that
you came from God.”
31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.
32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you
will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me
all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you
may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But
take heart! I have overcome the world.”
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Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
