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.