In the foregoing message we saw that, as those living in the organism of the divine Trinity, the believers have been convicted by the Spirit of reality, they have been brought forth as the new child, and they abide in the Son with the Father to bear fruit for the Father’s glorification. Now we shall go on to see that the believers are indwelt by the Spirit and participate in the dispensing of the divine Trinity.
In John 14:17 the Lord Jesus speaks of “the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you.” This verse speaks concerning the indwelling of the Spirit. Here we have the first mention of the indwelling of the Spirit, a matter that is fully developed in the Epistles (1 Cor. 6:19; Rom. 8:9, 11). The central and main concept of the Epistles is that Christ today as the life-giving Spirit indwells our spirit as our life and everything for the building up of the Body.
John 20:22 also indicates that the Spirit enters into us: “When He had said this, He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.” Here we have the receiving of the Spirit promised in John 14:17. The Lord’s breathing of the Holy Spirit into the disciples was the fulfillment of His promise that the Spirit of reality would dwell in us.
When the Spirit indwells us, He indwells us with the Son and the Father (John 14:23; 15:26). This means that when the Spirit comes, the Son and the Father also come. When the Spirit dwells in us, both the Son and the Father dwell in us with the Spirit. As John 14:17 makes clear, the Spirit of reality abides in us. In verse 23 the Lord Jesus says, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” If we compare verses 17 and 23, we shall see that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit abide in us. Therefore, the Triune God-the Father, the Son, and the Spirit-dwells in us. Romans 8:9-11 also indicates that the Spirit dwells in us with the Son and the Father. When we exercise our spirit to call on the name of the Lord Jesus, the Spirit moves within our spirit. Because the Father and the Son dwell in our spirit with the Spirit, we sense that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all in us.
Another verse which indicates that the Spirit dwells in us with the Son and the Father is John 15:26. “When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of reality who proceeds from the Father, He will testify concerning Me.” According to this verse, the Spirit proceeds from the Father. The sense in Greek of the word translated “from” is from with. The Spirit of reality is sent by the Son, not only from the Father but also from with the Father. The Spirit comes from the Father and with the Father. The Father is the source. For the Spirit to come from the source does not mean that He leaves the source; it means that the source comes with Him. When the Spirit comes, the Father also comes.
The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is sent by the Father in the Son’s name to be the reality of His 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 (John 10:30). Now the Spirit comes 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. 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 and 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.
We need to emphasize the fact that when the Spirit comes, the Triune God comes. The reason for this is that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit cannot be separated, because all Three are one. We do not have language adequate to describe this fact. Nevertheless, it is a divine fact that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one. Although the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are distinct, they are one, inseparable, indivisible, and undivided. Therefore, when the Spirit dwells in us, He dwells in us with the Son and the Father.
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