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John 14 reveals mainly how the Triune God is dispensing Himself into us in order that He and we, we and He, might be built together in the mingling of divinity with humanity. This chapter unfolds that the Triune God, the Father, Son, and Spirit, is dispensing Himself into the believers in Jesus Christ; that this very God and the believers are being built together, a building of divinity with humanity; that eventually this building becomes a mutual abode; and that God dwells in man and man in God. This is the basis for the Lord’s word in 15:4, “Abide in Me and I in you.” This is a mutual abiding, for we abide in Him and He abides in us. For the sake of this mutual abiding there is a mutual abode. How could we have the abiding without the abode? Although the mutual abiding is clearly revealed in chapter fifteen, where is the mutual abode? It is in chapter fourteen.
In chapter fifteen we have the word abide and in chapter fourteen we have the word abode. I like these two words. In Greek, as in English, the verb abide is the verbal form of the noun abode. In Greek we have the noun abode in chapter fourteen and the verb abide in chapter fifteen. The same Greek word for abode is found in both the singular and plural forms in chapter fourteen. The singular form is in verse 23, where we are told that the Father and the Son will come and make an abode with the one who loves the Lord Jesus. The plural form is found in verse 2, where the Lord tells us that in His Father’s house are many abodes. The King James Version translated the Greek word in verse 2 as “mansions” instead of abodes. This translation has caused a great deal of trouble. Please be impressed that the abode is found in chapter fourteen and that the abiding is found in chapter fifteen. First, we need an abode. Then we can have the abiding.
Nearly all Christians talk about the abiding in John 15 without realizing where the abode is, where it comes from, or how it is formed. Although there is the clear word in 15:4 which says, “Abide in Me and I in you,” where is the abode and how was it formed? The abode is found in the foregoing chapter, chapter fourteen, and it is formed by the Triune God dispensing Himself into the believers. In this way He and the believers, divinity and humanity, are built together into one.
As we have seen, 14:1-6 tells us that the Lord Jesus was going to prepare a place for us. Now we understand that He was not going to prepare a mansion in heaven. No, He was going to cut the way and prepare the standing for us to get into God. We must be very clear about this. In verse 6 the Lord Jesus said that He was the way and that the Father was the destination. He was saying that He was the way for us to come to the Father. So the way is a living person, and the destination must also be a living person. The Son is the way to bring us to the Father as the destination.
Beginning with 14:7 the Lord Jesus goes on to tell us how we can get into the Father. In order to get into the Father, we need to get into the Son because He is in the Father. Once we get into Him, spontaneously we are in the Father. The Lord said that He was going to prepare a place for us so that where He is there we also may be. Where is He? He is in the Father. But when He spoke these words, we were not in the Father. Therefore, He was going to do all that was necessary to bring us to the very place where He is. That place is not a physical place; it is a person, the Father. He was in the Father and He was going to bring us into Himself. Since He is in the Father, once we get into Him, we shall also be in the Father. So, eventually, where He is, there we also may be. Now we are able to understand 14:20, which says, “In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” This is the mingling of divinity with humanity. This mingling of divinity with humanity is the mutual abode. God dwells in man and man dwells in God. God abides in man and man abides in God. This is the mutual abode, the mutual abiding. This is the central thought of John 14.
As we have seen, in John 14 the Father is the source, origin, essence, and element. The Son is the expression, manifestation, and embodiment of all that the Father is. Without the Son, the Father cannot be seen, but with the Son, the Father is embodied, manifested, expressed, and seen among men. Men can see the Son. As long as they see the Son, they see the Father, for the Father is embodied in the Son. But before His death and resurrection the Son still could not get into man. He could be among men and be seen by them, but He could not enter into them. Therefore, the Son had to go to the cross and pass through the process of death and resurrection. By being processed through death and resurrection, the Son has had His form transfigured. He has been transfigured from the form of the flesh into the form of the Spirit.
This resembles the transfiguration of a large watermelon into juice through the process of cutting and pressing. As a result of this process, the juice can easily enter into anyone. Before the Lord was processed in this way, the Spirit was “not yet” (7:39), but after this process, the Spirit of life is here. In like manner, before the watermelon was processed, the juice was “not yet.” There was only a large melon. But after the process, we have watermelon juice for drinking.
What is the Spirit? It is the reality, the realization, of all that God the Father and God the Son are. Whatever the Father and the Son are is realized in the Spirit. This Spirit reaches us, enters into us, and abides in us. In this way the Triune God is dispensed into us. By this dispensing we all can know that the Son is in the Father, that we are in the Son, and that the Son is in us. He and we, we and He, become a mingled entity. This mingled entity is the mutual abode of divinity and humanity. With this abode there is the mutual abiding. We abide in Him and He abides in us. This is God’s dispensation.
Now we need to consider the Triune God making His abode with the believers. This is covered in verses 21 through 24. However, before coming to this, we need to see a few other points.
The Son came and lived by the Father (5:43; 6:57), and did many things in the Father’s name (10:25). The Father worked in Him (14:10) to have the Father glorified in the Son (14:13). When the Son spoke, the Father worked. I mention this to show you that the Father is the source and that the Son is the expression. The Son came in the Father’s name, and the Father worked through the Son. The Son is the expression of the Father who is the source.
Now the believers need to live by the Son (6:57). In 6:57 the Lord Jesus said, “He who eats Me shall also live because of Me.” We need to eat Jesus. The Greek word for eat here means “masticate.” We must not eat Jesus in an ordinary way; we must eat Him in a specific way by chewing and masticating Him. Do not eat Jesus in a rough way — chew Him slowly.
In 14:12 the Lord said that those who believe in Him will do greater works than He did. In verses 13 and 14 He said that if we ask anything in His name He will do it. To be in the Lord’s name means to be one with the Lord, to live by the Lord, and to let the Lord live in us. The Lord came and did things in the Father’s name, meaning that He was one with the Father (10:30), that He lived by the Father, and that the Father worked in Him. In the Gospels the Lord as the expression of the Father did things in the Father’s name. In the Acts the disciples as the expression of the Lord did even greater things in the Lord’s name. They needed to have the Son living in them (14:19) in order that the Son might be expressed as the Spirit.
The Son lives and speaks in the believer. This is a crucial point. The living Christ within us speaks constantly. He will never stop speaking. Due to the fact that we are still in a situation with so many negative things, most of the time this living Christ speaks just one word — no. From morning until evening and from evening until morning, nearly the only thing that He says to us is no. A sister may say, “I’m going to the department store to buy a pair of shoes,” and the Lord says, “No.” A brother may desire to talk to a certain person, and the indwelling Christ says, “No.” Is this not your experience? I know that the indwelling Christ speaks this word to you much of the time.
If we love the Lord, we will keep His commandments (14:15, 21, 23). In 14:21 the Lord said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.” If we keep the Lord’s commandments, we shall be loved by the Father and the Son, and the Son will manifest Himself to us. Tell me, according to your experience, when the Lord spoke the word “no” to you and you obeyed Him, what was the result? You found yourself immediately in the presence of the Lord. But if we do not care for that little word “no,” we shall lose His presence. Whenever we listen to His speaking and keep His commandments, His presence is immediately intensified and becomes so sweet, precious, watering, strengthening, enlightening, and nourishing. This is the manifestation of the indwelling Christ.
Does it sound illogical to say that the indwelling Christ will be manifested? You may ask, “Since He indwells me, He is already here. Why do you say that He will manifest Himself?” Because the indwelling Christ quite often disappears. Although He indwells you, whether or not He appears or disappears from your inner sense depends on whether or not you listen to His words. All of the brothers and sisters, whether they are young or old, have some experience of this. Once when I was feeling a little lonely, I said to myself, “I would like to go to see Brother John and talk to him.” But the indwelling Christ said no. Then I said, “How about if I go to see Brother Francis?” When the indwelling One again said no, I asked, “What shall I do?” The Lord said, “Stay with Me.” Who is this “Me”? He is the indwelling Christ. If at such a time I say, “Amen, Lord,” the presence of the indwelling Lord will shine and be so sweet and strengthening. He will bring in a great deal of light. But, if when I heard Him say no, I did not care for His word and I still went to see the brothers, His presence would disappear, the darkness within me would be prevailing, I would lose my direction, and there would be no peace.
We all must learn one thing, that obeying the Lord’s commandments depends upon our love toward Him. If you love the Lord, you will say amen when He says no. If you mean business in saying amen, you will have His manifestation. The Lord will manifest Himself to whoever loves Him and keeps His commandments. This does not mean that before the Lord manifests Himself to us He is in the third heaven. No, He is within us, but because of our disobedience His presence disappears, light becomes darkness, strength becomes weakness, and life becomes death.
In the whole Gospel of John there are only two requirements: the first is to believe in Him, and the second is to love Him. To believe in Him is to receive Him, and to love Him is to enjoy Him. We all have believed in Him. This means that we all have received Him. But the problem today is whether or not we love Him. Although you have received the Lord Jesus and He is now within you, you may not love Him. We need to be a lover of the Lord Jesus all day long. This is why the most significant aspect of the miniature of the church life in chapter twelve is the love that poured the ointment upon the Lord. We all must love Him. His presence is always related to our love toward Him. The more we love Him, the more we enjoy His presence. What is His presence? It is simply the enjoyment of Himself. As long as we have His presence, we enjoy Him. The more we love Him, the more we shall have His presence. The more we are in His presence, the more we shall enjoy all that He is to us. We need only to love Him. Knowing means nothing; only loving counts. How we all need to love Him! I have been loving Him for fifty years, and today I feel that He is more lovable than ever. No one is as lovely as He is. Song of Songs says that He is altogether lovely (5:16). The Lord’s recovery is a recovery of loving the Lord Jesus. If we do not love Him, we are finished with His recovery.
The Father and the Son as the Spirit come to the believer. You may ask, “Are They not here already?” Yes, They are here but They are not appearing. Their coming is Their appearing. When the Lord says that the Father and Son will come to the believer, this does not mean that They are far away from the lover of Jesus. They are here with the lover of Jesus, but They have not appeared. Their coming is Their appearing.
The Triune God makes a mutual abode with the believer. In verse 23 the Lord Jesus does not say, “The Father and I will abide with him,” but He says, “We will come to him and make an abode with him.” There is a difference between the two expressions abide with and make an abode with. The difference is more than mere idiom in language. To say, “The Father and I will come to abide with him,” is correct as far as language is concerned. But to say, “The Father and I will come to him and make an abode with him,” is more meaningful. In what way is it more meaningful? In the way that the Father and the Son will take the lover of Jesus as Their abode and that the believer will be an abode to Them. The Lord seemed to be saying, “We shall make an abode with him that he and We may have an abiding place. He will be Our abode, and We shall be his abode.”
This verse is the basis of 15:4-5 — “Abide in Me and I in you.” Most Christians do not realize that the basis of 15:4-5 is 14:23, where we have the mutual abode made by the appearing of the Father and the Son as the Spirit to the believer who loves Him. In other words, this abode is prepared by the visitation of the Triune God. When the Triune God grants you a visit, His visitation makes you His abode and it makes Him your abode. Eventually, you and He, He and you, become a mutual abode. You will abide in Him, and He will abide in you. This is marvelous. He will not only be the One who abides in you, but He will also be your abode. Although it is wonderful to have Him abide in us, I would rather have Him as my abode. We can abide in Him, and He can abide in us. In such a situation there is no place for sin, the world, Satan, the old man, or the flesh. All such things have been chased away.
I ask you to be honest and to consider your past experience. Have you not had this experience in the past? Deep within you there was a sweet appreciation toward the Lord Jesus and you said, “Lord, I love You.” Then the Lord said, “Since you love Me, My commandment is that you do not do this and that.” You said, “Amen, Lord Jesus.” Perhaps you said amen with tears in your eyes. Immediately you had the sense of His manifestation within you. You were so much in His presence. At that time you had the sense that He was filling you up with Himself and that you were being drawn into Him. You were abiding in Him, and He was abiding in you. You were His abode, and He was yours. I believe that we all have had this kind of experience, either in a deep way or in a shallow way, either for a long time or for just a few minutes. We need to have this experience all day long.
This mutual abode is just one of many such abodes. The abode mentioned in verse 23 is one of the many abodes found in verse 2. Do not forget that you are one of so many abodes.
The Triune God’s making His abode with the believers is for the building of His habitation. Whenever you have had the sweet sensation that you were in the presence of the Lord and that the Lord was indwelling you to the fullest, you also had the feeling that you loved all the believers. According to your realization at the time, you had no problem with any believer and you were ready to forgive every brother’s or sister’s fault. What is this? This is the desire to be one with the believers for God’s building. Whenever you are in such a situation with the Lord, you are desirous of being mingled with the saints. You do not want to be alone. The building of God’s habitation among men on earth today is altogether dependent upon this experience. Perhaps two brothers have a problem with each other. What can solve it? It is not easy to do. One day they both begin to love the Lord, and they have a deep and sweet appreciation of Him. The Lord gives them a commandment, and they take it. Immediately, they are both in the Lord’s presence, and the problem is over. This is the way in which the Lord does the divine work of building among us. It is not a matter of organization, regulation, or outward teaching. It is absolutely a matter of our loving the Lord and experiencing His manifestation and His abiding with us.
In verse 26 the Lord said, “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all things which I said to you.” Here we see that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is sent by the Father in the Son’s name. The Holy Spirit is not only sent by the Father but from with the Father (15:26). In Greek the preposition translated from in 15:26 is para. This word means “by the side of” and often has the meaning of “from with.” This is seen elsewhere in the Gospel of John. Take, for example, the Lord’s word in 6:46: “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except Him who is from God.” The word from in this verse is para in Greek. The sense here is “from with.” The Lord is not only from God but also with God. While He is from God, He is still with God (8:16, 29; 16:32). We find another example of this meaning of para in 17:8, where the Lord says to the Father concerning the disciples that they “knew truly that I came forth from You.” Here, once again, the sense of this preposition is “from with.” Likewise, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is sent “from with” the Father. This means that the Spirit comes not only from the Father but also with the Father. When the Father sends the Spirit, He comes with the Spirit. The Comforter comes from the Father and with the Father. The Father is the source. When the Spirit comes from the source, it does not mean that He leaves the source but that He comes with the source.
The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is sent by the Father in the Son’s name. So, the Holy Spirit comes in the Son’s name to be the reality of His name. What is the meaning of “in My name”? The name is the Son Himself, and the Spirit is the person, the being, of the Son. When we call on the name of the Son, we get the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). The Son came in the Father’s name (John 5:43) because the Son and the Father are one (10:30). Now, the Spirit will come in the Son’s name because the Spirit and the Son also are one (2 Cor. 3:17). This is the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — reaching us eventually as the Spirit.
The Spirit comes in the name of the Son. When you call on the name of Jesus, the Spirit comes. The name of the Son is Jesus, and His person is the Spirit. God the Father sends the Spirit, and the Spirit comes in the name of the Son. Eventually, it is the Triune God who comes. When the Spirit comes to us, the Father also comes. The Son is also here because the Spirit comes with the Father in the name of the Son. The Father sends the Spirit from with Himself, and the Spirit comes in the name of the Son. The Spirit comes as the Son. He is the Son coming, and this Son coming is from with the Father. Therefore, when one comes, all three are present.
Let me say this once again. The Father sends the Spirit with Himself. Since the Spirit comes with the Father, the Father comes together with the Spirit. The Spirit comes in the name of the Son and as the Son. When the Spirit comes, it is the Son who comes. Thus, when the Spirit comes, all three are present.
The Spirit came after the Lord’s resurrection to remind the disciples of all the things that the Lord had told them before His crucifixion. This is the reminding of the Spirit who was sent from with the Father and who came as the Son in the Son’s name. The name is the Son Himself, and the Spirit is the being, the person, of the Son. When the disciples called on the name of the Son, they received the Spirit who reminded them of what the Son had told them before His death.
In verse 27 the Lord said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.” Here we see life’s peace. It is different from the world’s peace.
Life’s peace overcomes all troubles and fears. All of the troubles and fears in this portion of the Word are caused by the persecuting religion. At that time, it was not a small thing to follow the Lord Jesus. The disciples did so at the risk of losing their lives or, at the very least, of losing the way to earn their living. Since the disciples were under the fear of the opposing and persecuting religion, the Lord told them that in Him they had peace. He left His peace with them. This peace is just the Lord Himself. Regardless of the opposition, persecution, rumors, and bad names given to us by religion, the Lord Jesus within us is our life and our peace. Now we may enjoy the Lord as our life, our abode, and our peace. Praise Him that He is everything to us. He is our life, our dwelling place, and our peace.
The ruler of this world has nothing in the Giver of this peace (14:30). In this verse the Lord said, “The ruler of the world is coming, and in Me he has nothing.” The ruler of the world is Satan. The hour was coming when he was going to attack the Lord, but the Lord said that Satan had nothing in Him. In the next verse the Lord said, “That the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded Me, so I do.” Here the Father’s commandment was for Him to die for the purpose of bringing us into God. The Lord fulfilled this commandment in order to show the world that He loved the Father. The Lord did not go into death to show that Satan had failed to overcome Him or that Satan had nothing in Him. Rather, the Lord went into death because He was going to prove to the world that He loved the Father so much.
I believe that at this point we are clear about the meaning of this chapter. The Lord was going to die, to be resurrected, and to be transfigured into the Spirit as His other form, as another Comforter, so that He might come into us and bring us into God. By the resurrection life we are joined in oneness with God. Only by the Lord’s death and resurrection could we be joined with God and be brought into Him. By His death the Lord has taken away sin, sins, the self, the old man, the flesh, the world, the prince of the world, and death. The Lord has removed all of these distances through His death. By His resurrection He is now the Spirit, and as the Spirit He comes into us and brings us into union with God. Now He is in the Father, we are in Him, and He is in us. Consequently, we are in the Father also. If we love Him and cooperate with Him, He will manifest Himself to us more and more. The more we love the Lord, the more the Triune God will come to us, make His home with us, and make a mutual abode with us. This mutual abode is the mingling of God with man. The oneness of this mingling is the spiritual abode, the divine abode, the mutual abode. We are an abode to God, and God is an abode to us. This is the real building. This is the proper and correct meaning of the Lord’s word found in this chapter.
