(1)
If we are clear about John 14 and John 15, it will be easy to understand John 16. Basically, nothing is new in this chapter. In the previous two chapters, the Lord has already covered the main principles. By reading and comparing these three chapters, it seems as if the Lord is repeating Himself. Although the utterances are changed, the basic principles are still the same. Thus, as we come to chapter sixteen, we must remember the main principles that the Lord dealt with in the previous chapters. Before we come to chapter sixteen, let us review these principles.
The first main principle is that the Lord had to go, meaning that He had to die and be resurrected. His going did not mean that He was leaving the disciples. His going was His coming. He was coming in another step. By going to die and to be resurrected, He was taking another step in His coming. The first step of the Lord’s coming was by incarnation that He might be able to be with us and among us. But at that time He was still unable to come into us. His first step of incarnation was the means by which the eternal God became a man in order to contact us. But a second step was necessary before He was able to come into us and be mingled with us. That step was His death and resurrection. It was by His death and resurrection that He was transfigured from the flesh into the Spirit. His flesh was the form by which He came to be with and among us, but the Spirit is His other form by which He comes into us and is mingled with us. This is the first main point that the Lord dealt with in chapters fourteen and fifteen.
The second main principle is that the Lord went through death that He might return in resurrection as the Spirit of reality. All that the Lord is can be realized by the Spirit. If we have only the teachings, doctrines, and letters about the Lord without the Spirit, we do not have the reality. Doctrinal teaching about the Lord is not reality. The reality of the Lord is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the reality of the Lord. For example, we know that the Lord is life. But if we do not have the Holy Spirit, we can never have life. Since the Holy Spirit is the reality of Christ, we can have the reality of Christ by having the Holy Spirit. Then we have life. Furthermore, we know that the Lord is light. To have the Holy Spirit is to have light. If we do not have the Holy Spirit, we do not have light. The Lord is also the way. If we have the Holy Spirit, we have the way and we know how to do everything. However, if we do not have the Holy Spirit but have only doctrinal teachings, we do not have the real way. The reality of Christ is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of reality. The coming of the Spirit of reality means the coming of the reality of Christ.
The third basic principle in John 14 and 15 is the mutual abode. By the coming of Christ as the Spirit of reality, He will abide in us and we will abide in Him. He and we, we and He, will thus become a mutual abode. We will be the abode to the Father in the Son as the Spirit, and the Triune God will be the abode to us. We can abide in the Triune God, and the Triune God can abide in us. In this way, the Triune God mingles Himself with us. Humanity and divinity, divinity and humanity, are mingled together as one. This is the central thought of these two chapters. In fact, this is the main thought, the basic principle, of the divine intention. It is the mystery of the whole universe.
It is difficult for many brothers and sisters to see this matter of the mingling of divinity with humanity. Time after time, I have prayed and looked to the Lord that He would reveal this to the saints. The concept of the mingling of God with man is contrary to the human concept. Some revelation and heavenly vision are needed before the eyes of our spirit, heart, and mind can be opened to see this mystery. This mystery of God’s mingling Himself with humanity is more real than you are. It is the central and basic thought of John 14 through 16. In these three chapters the Lord deals mainly with this one matter: that the Father in the Son as the Spirit has come into us to mingle Himself with us and to make us an abode to Him and Him an abode to us.
When the Lord first showed this to me, I was very excited, because I realized that I had received the Triune God and that He was mingled with me. This is God’s economy. It is not a religion nor a doctrinal teaching; it is the Triune God mingled with humanity. These three chapters of the Gospel of John simply reveal what God’s economy really is to us: it is the Father in the Son as the Spirit coming into us and mingling Himself with us. This basic principle needs to be repeated again and again until we are deeply impressed.
In verse 7 the Lord said, “I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” The Son’s going was for the Spirit’s coming. He said that if He did not go, the Spirit would not come. The Lord’s going mentioned in this verse was ultimately fulfilled with the ascension in 20:17.
When the Son spoke these words, He was still in the flesh. Then He went into death in the flesh that He might be transfigured into the Spirit in resurrection.
The Son went into death in the flesh, but He came back in resurrection as the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). He came as the Spirit to be another Comforter. He went through death as the Redeemer to accomplish redemption for us, but He came in resurrection as the Spirit to impart Himself as life to us.
The Son’s sending of the Comforter was His coming as the Comforter. His sending was His coming. In other words, He sent Himself in another form to come as the other Comforter. This is excellent, marvelous, and yet mysterious. Some dear Christian friends are against this, asking how I could say that the Lord sent Himself. As my answer, I would ask you to read Zechariah 2:8-11. If you read this portion of the Word, trying your best to understand who is the Sender and who is the Sent One, you will eventually bow down and say, “Lord, You are both. You are the Sender as well as the Sent One.” Altogether it is just one Lord of hosts. The one Lord of hosts is both the Sender and the Sent One.
The crucial point of John 16 is the work of the Spirit. According to this chapter the work of the Spirit is in three categories: to convict the world; to glorify the Son by revealing Him with the fullness of the Father to the believers; and to disclose what is to come. John’s writings are also of three categories: the Gospel, the Epistles, and the Revelation. His Gospel is mainly to preach the gospel and convict the world, his Epistles are mainly to reveal the Son with the fullness of the Father, and his Revelation is the book unveiling all the things to come in the future.
In verse 8 the Lord said of the Spirit that “He will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment.” Each of these three items — sin, righteousness, and judgment — is related to a person. Besides God, the divine Person, there are in the universe three main persons: Adam, Christ, and Satan. Sin is related to Adam, righteousness to Christ, and judgment to Satan.
Sin is related to Adam, for it was through Adam that sin entered the human race (Rom. 5:12). We were born of sin in Adam. If you were born in Adam, you were born a sinner.
Righteousness is related to Christ because righteousness comes from Christ and even is the resurrected Christ Himself (v. 10; 1 Cor. 1:30). Adam is sin, and Christ is righteousness. In Adam we are sinful and condemned; in Christ we are righteous and justified. In Adam we have inherited sin; in Christ we have righteousness imparted to us. It is unnecessary to consider how we should act or behave, because as long as we are in Adam we are sinful and as long as we are in Christ we are righteous. It is not a matter of conduct or behavior; it is a matter of where we are. In Christ we are righteous, and in Adam we are sinful. In Adam we are condemned, but in Christ we are justified. The only way to be freed from sin is to believe in Christ, the Son of God (v. 9). If we believe in Him, He is righteousness to us, and we are justified in Him (Rom. 3:24; 4:25).
Judgment is related to Satan. Judgment is for Satan. By believing in Christ we are translated out of Adam into Christ. However, if we do not believe in Christ but remain in Adam, we shall share the judgment upon Satan. Strictly speaking, God’s judgment is for Satan. God has no intention to see you or me or any human being suffer judgment. But if you remain in Adam, you will consequently be judged together with Satan, sharing the judgment of Satan. This means that you prefer to love Satan, staying in company with him and helping him to bear the terrible judgment. Do not sympathize with Satan nor have any pity on him. Do not remain in Adam to help Satan bear the judgment. If we do not repent of the sin in Adam and believe in Christ, the Son of God, we shall remain in sin and share the judgment of Satan for eternity (Matt. 25:41).
These are the main points of the gospel. The Spirit convicts the world with these points. We cannot stay away from the three persons of Adam, Christ, and Satan when we preach the gospel. Every time we preach the gospel, we will be in the circle of these three persons. All mankind was born in Adam, but everyone can be translated out of Adam into Christ. If you remain in Adam, however, you will share Satan’s judgment.
Let us now look in more detail at each of these three main items, beginning with the matter of convicting the world concerning sin.
The source of sin is the devil. We see this in 8:44 where the Lord says to the Pharisees, “You are of your father the devil, and it is your will to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks out of his own self; for he is a liar and the father of it.” Since the devil is the father of liars, he is the source of sin. The evil element of the devil, working as sin through death and darkness within man, enslaves man to sin. His nature is a lie and brings in death and darkness.
We all were born of the devil, the old serpent (8:44; Rev. 12:9). The devil is the father of sinners. Because the devil is the father of sinners, sinners are “the children of the devil” (1 John 3:10). The devil is the old serpent (Rev. 12:9; 20:2), and sinners also are serpents, the generation of vipers (Matt. 23:33; 3:7).
All sinners were born as children of the devil with the poison of the serpent (3:14). The devil is the serpent with the serpentine poison. All sinners were born of the devil with his poison. In our fallen nature there is the poison of the old serpent, the devil.
All sinners were born in sin in Adam (9:34). Today people usually say that they were born in a certain country, but they must also realize that they were born in sin. Since we were born in sin, we were born sinners. It is unnecessary for us to commit sin to be a sinner, because we were born sinners already. In fact, we have been sinners for six thousand years. Although as a man you might be only twenty-two years of age, as a sinner you are six thousand years old. We all are very old because we were born sinners in Adam. There are no young sinners. Every sinner is very old, as old as Adam.
Because we all were born in sin in Adam, we all were born condemned (3:18). Before we were born, we were condemned in Adam. When Adam was condemned six thousand years ago, we were condemned in him. Since we were condemned before we were born, we were born in condemnation.
We all were born to die in sin (8:21). Human beings were not born to live; they were born to die. The longer a man lives, the nearer he comes to dying.
In 8:34 we see that we all are under the slavery of sin. This is not the result of our choice; it is a result of Adam’s fall. Adam’s fall has brought us under the slavery of sin. Since we all were born of Adam, we all are under the slavery of sin.
Since we are under the slavery of sin, what shall we do? Outside of Christ there is no way of escape. Christ is our way, our only escape. The unique way to be freed from sin is to believe in the Son (8:24, 36; 3:15-17). This believing brings about a translation from Adam into Christ. This is wonderful. Within half a second, a sinner can be completely translated out of the sinful condition in Adam into Christ.
In verse 9 the Lord said that the Spirit would convict the world concerning sin “because they do not believe in Me.” Here we see that the unique sin for perishing is not to believe in the Son (3:16). The sin here is the unwillingness to be translated from Adam into Christ. If people wish to remain in Adam, it means that they want to remain in the old realm and not move into the new realm, which is Christ. There is no need for you to commit sin in order to perish. If you simply do not believe in the Lord Jesus, you are already qualified for perishing. You do not need to rob a bank, deceive your husband, or lie to your parents. You may be a gentleman, but as long as you do not believe in the Lord Jesus, you are destined to perish. The unique way to escape from your sinful situation is to believe in the Lord, and the unique sin that qualifies you for perishing is not to believe in Him. Therefore, the key today is whether we believe or not. If we believe, we shall be translated out of Adam into Christ. But if we do not believe, we shall perish.
The Son has come and died to fulfill God’s righteous requirements (3:14). He came in the flesh and even died in the form of a serpent on the cross to fulfill God’s righteous requirements.
In verse 10 the Lord said that the Spirit would convince the world “concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father.” This means that the Father has been fully satisfied with the Lord’s redemptive death on the cross and has accepted Him in His resurrection. The proof that the Father is satisfied with Christ’s redemption is that the Father resurrected Him from the dead and exalted Him to His right hand. The resurrection and ascension of Christ are the evidences proving that His redemption has satisfied God and has met all the demands and requirements of God. Therefore, He was released from death to be exalted to the heavens at the right hand of God. Now God’s righteousness is manifested in justifying those who believe in Christ (Rom. 3:26). If sinners will believe in Christ, God will justify them, for Christ Himself will become their righteousness. This is the second item concerning which the Spirit will convict the world.
Here I would ask you a question: are we justified by Christ’s death or by His resurrection? We are justified by His resurrection. This is proved by Rom. 4:25 and Rom. 10:9. Romans 4:25 says, “Who was delivered because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification,” and 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth, Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from among the dead, you shall be saved.” Do you believe that the Lord died for you, or do you believe that God has raised Him from the dead? Of course, you believe in both, but you may be surprised to know that not one word is written in the Scriptures declaring that we ought to believe that the Lord has died for us. Rather, we must believe that God has raised Him from the dead; for we may believe that the Lord has died and yet not believe that He was raised from the dead. If you believe that the Lord has been raised from the dead, this surely implies your faith in His death. Everybody believes that the Lord died, but revelation is needed to believe that the Lord has been resurrected. In Him, the resurrected One, we are accepted before God. Furthermore, as the resurrected One, He is in us to live for us a life that can be justified by God and is always acceptable to God. Therefore, Romans 4:25 says that He was raised because of our justification. Justification includes the fact that God has resurrected Christ, accepted Him, and that He has been satisfied with His redemptive death.
Now the Son as righteousness is given to the believers. The satisfying Son, the accepted Son, the Son who has satisfied the Father and has been accepted by Him, has been given to His believers as their righteousness. The Son Himself is now our righteousness. Since He Himself was to become our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30), it was prophesied in Jeremiah 23:6 that He would be called “the Lord our righteousness.”
The believers are justified in the Son and with the Son as their righteousness. Since the Son has been given to the believers as their righteousness, they are justified in Him before God. It is only in the Son as our righteousness that we are justified by God.
The believers have been freed from the source of sin, the devil. The devil is the source of sin, and the Son in the flesh destroyed the devil on the cross (Heb. 2:14). By believing in the Son we are freed from the source of sin.
In verse 11 the Lord said that the Spirit will convince the world “concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” We have seen that judgment is related to the devil. Satan, the devil, is the author of sin, the origin of death, the father of all sinners, and the ruler of the world. As such, judgment has been prepared for him. We must recognize that judgment is not for man but for Satan. It is not God’s intention to judge man, because His judgment is for Satan. The lake of fire has been prepared as God’s judgment upon Satan; it was never intended for man. What verses prove that the lake of fire has been prepared for Satan? The book of Revelation does not clearly tell us this, but the book of Matthew does. In Matthew 25:41 the Lord said that the King will say to some people, “Go from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Was the everlasting fire prepared for human beings? No, it has been prepared for Satan, the devil, and his angels, his followers. But if you refuse to come out of Adam into Christ, you will share the judgment that is for Satan, because you prefer to remain as one of his followers.
Satan, the ruler of the world, has been judged in the flesh of Christ on the cross (12:31-33; 3:14). On the cross the Lord as the Son of Man (12:23) was lifted up in the form of the serpent (3:14), that is, “in the likeness of the flesh of sin” (Rom. 8:3). Satan as the old serpent (Rev. 12:9; 20:2), the ruler of this world, had injected himself into man’s flesh. Through His death on the cross in the likeness of the flesh of sin, the Lord destroyed Satan, who is in man’s flesh (Heb. 2:14). By judging Satan (16:11) in this way, the Lord also judged the world, which is hanging on Satan. Hence, the Lord’s being lifted up caused the world to be judged and its ruler, Satan, to be cast out.
We have seen that the lake of fire is not for human beings but for Satan. Any sinner who does not believe in the Son will remain with the devil and bear his judgment. If you go along with Satan and remain one of his companions, you will be with him in the lake of fire. God loves the world and has no intention that any human being be cast into the lake of fire. That judgment is intended for the devil. However, if anyone remains a companion of Satan, God has no choice but to allow him to suffer Satan’s judgment.
The three items of sin, righteousness, and judgment are a sketch of the gospel. The gospel is that we are sinners in Adam, but that we can be righteous and justified in Christ. If we are unwilling to be translated from Adam into Christ, we must be warned that we shall share the judgment with Satan. In other words, you were born in Adam, but God’s intention is to take you out of Adam and translate you into Christ. If you disagree with God’s intention, you must remain in Adam and share the judgment with Satan. Sin is of Adam, righteousness is of Christ, and judgment is for Satan. If you are willing to be translated from Adam into Christ, you will be saved, having nothing to do with the judgment. The work of the Holy Spirit involves these three items, and every time we preach the gospel we must tell people about them. This is the gospel whereby the Holy Spirit convinces sinners to repent and to believe in the Lord Jesus in order to be saved.
In 1933 I was asked to stay in Shanghai with Brother Nee and the leading co-workers. One day, in my reading of John 16, I saw that sin, righteousness, and judgment are related to the three persons of Adam, Christ, and Satan. Some time later the church in Shanghai had a gospel-preaching meeting, and I was asked to give the message. I learned later that that invitation was a little test from Brother Nee to see where I would stand in the matter of gospel preaching. During that meeting I was burdened to give a message on the three items related to these three persons. As I looked around the meeting hall, I did not see Brother Nee. Quite a while later I learned that he stood behind the meeting hall door listening to the message. As I preached, I was very excited with these points, telling the people, “As human beings you were born in Adam. Today your name is Adam. In Adam you have sinned and you have been condemned. But there is another person — Christ. There is a way for you to get out of Adam and into Christ that you may be justified by God. If you believe in Christ, you will get into Him. You will be translated from the first person into the second. But if you do not believe in Christ, you will still remain in the first person, and eventually your destiny will be the destiny of the third person, Satan. Judgment has been prepared for Satan. Are you going to help him? Are you going to have pity on him? Are you going to help him suffer judgment for eternity?” This was the message I gave shortly after I had seen the light on these matters in John 16. As I delivered that message, I myself was fully nourished. Some time later, Brother Nee had a talk with me about that message, saying, “Witness, that message was really good.” When I asked him what message, he said the message on Adam, Christ, and Satan. Then Brother Nee told me, “Witness, hardly anyone has seen that in John 16:8-11 sin is related to Adam, righteousness to Christ, and judgment to Satan.” This is the gospel. I hope that this will be preached wherever the churches go.
