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.