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.