Verse 26 says, “But 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.” Religion persecutes, but the Spirit of reality testifies. The Holy Spirit is the reality of all things, and we are to be witnesses of the Spirit of reality.
In this verse the Lord said that He would send to the disciples the Spirit of reality. But in 14:26 the Lord said that the Father would send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, in the Son’s name. John has two different ways of speaking about the same thing. First, in 14:26 he says that the Father will send the Spirit; now in 15:26 he says that the Lord Himself will send the Spirit. Then who sent the Spirit—the Father or the Son? We must say that the Spirit was sent by both the Father and the Son. The Father and the Son are one. The Father’s sending is the Son’s sending, and the Son’s sending is the Father’s sending. The two are one. Regardless of who it is who sends the Spirit, the Spirit is always sent with the Father and in the name of the Son. Once again we see the Triune God. When the Spirit comes, He comes with the Father in the Son’s name. So all three of the Godhead are here.
In verse 26 the Lord said that He would send the Comforter from the Father. As we pointed out in Message Thirty-two, the Greek preposition translated from in this verse is para. The sense of this preposition in Greek here is “from with.” The Spirit of reality is sent by the Son, not only from the Father but also with the Father. 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 the source comes with Him. This Spirit, sent by the Son and coming with the Father, will testify concerning the Son. Therefore, His testimony concerning the Son is a matter of the Triune God.
This Spirit of reality testifies concerning the Son as the vine. It testifies in front of the persecuting religion. Furthermore, the Spirit testifies to the branches and through the branches to the world. Religion may persecute, but the Spirit of reality testifies that the Son is the vine. Through the believers as the branches this testimony will go forth throughout the whole world. It is going on today.
In 16:1-4 religion’s persecution of the vine and the branches is foretold. First, religion will excommunicate the branches of the organism (the vine) from the organization (the synagogue, v. 2). In verse 2 the Lord said, “An hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think that he is offering service to God.” Religion thinks that it is offering service to God by killing the branches of God’s organism. As we have seen, in this Gospel religion is revealed as the enemy of life. In the Gospels Judaism opposed and persecuted the Lord Jesus. In the Acts Judaism continued its opposition and persecution toward the apostles and other believers (4:1-3; 5:17-18, 40; 6:11-14; 7:57-59; 26:9-12; Gal. 1:13). In subsequent history Catholicism persecuted the Lord’s followers. Any kind of organized religion persecutes those who seek and follow the Lord in life. All the religions consider this kind of persecution a service offered to God. First, religion persecutes; then it kills. Religion knows neither the Father, the source, nor the Son, the expression (v. 3). As the Lord said, “These things they will do because they have not known the Father nor Me.”
The Lord told His disciples beforehand so that they would not be offended and stumble and so that they would not be perplexed when the persecution came. In a time of persecution the disciples might easily say to themselves, “These religious people worship God. Yet, because we take this very God as our life and abode and make ourselves God’s abode, these religious people threaten to kill us. They not only drive us out of the synagogues but will even kill us. Maybe it is we who are wrong.” The Lord predicted the coming persecution so that the disciples might not think that they were wrong. If this persecution happens to you, do not think that you are wrong. On the contrary, that persecution proves that you are right. If the religious people do not persecute you, then you may be wrong. If the Roman Catholic Church and the denominations do not persecute you, then you must realize that you are wrong. But if you take the Lord as your life, experience Him as your abode, and make yourself His abode, then you must be prepared to meet the persecution of the religious world.
As a satanic, organized system, the world has persecuted the Body of Christ in three main phases: the phase of the Jewish religion, the phase of the Roman Empire, and the phase of Greek philosophy. These are the three phases in which the world has persecuted the church. In the Gospel of John the Lord spoke several times about the world, by which, in particular, He meant the religious world. If we are truly faithful to follow the Lord in the way of life and in the spirit, taking the Triune God as our abode and making ourselves an abode for the Triune God, the religious world will persecute us. Tell me, who put John Huss to death by burning him at the stake? It was Roman Catholicism. Who imprisoned John Bunyan, the author of The Pilgrim’s Progress? It was the Church of England. Who imprisoned Madame Guyon? It was the Roman Catholic Church. This word of the Lord has been fulfilled throughout the generations. Whenever a person or a group of people have followed the Lord in the way revealed in John 14 and 15, they have been persecuted by the religious world. And the religious world will continue to persecute the people who follow Christ in the way of life.