In the previous lesson we saw that the believers are persons who live in the organism of the Divine Trinity, who have been convicted by the Spirit of reality, who were born as a newborn child, and who abide in the Son with the Father to bear fruit to glorify the Father. Now we want to see that the believers are indwelt by the Spirit and have a share in the dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
In John 14:17 the Lord Jesus spoke 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 of the indwelling of the Spirit. This is 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 thought in the Epistles is that Christ is now the life-giving Spirit dwelling in our spirit to be our life and everything for the building up of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 15:45).
In John 20:22 the Lord Jesus breathed into His disciples and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This is the believers’ receiving of the Spirit promised in John 14:17. The Lord’s breathing of the Holy Spirit into the disciples is the fulfillment of His promise that the Spirit of reality would abide in them.
When the Spirit indwells us, He comes with the Son and the Father (v. 23; 15:26). This means that when the Spirit comes, the Son and the Father also come. When the Spirit abides in us, the Son and the Father come with the Spirit to abide in us. John 14:17 clearly indicates that the Spirit of reality abides in us. In verse 23 the Lord Jesus said, “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.” When we compare verse 17 with verse 23, we can see that the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—abides in us. Romans 8:9-11 also clearly indicates that the Spirit with the Son and the Father dwell in us. When we exercise our spirit and call on the name of the Lord Jesus, the Spirit moves in our spirit. We sense that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all in us because the Father and the Son with the Spirit dwell in us.
Another portion of the Scriptures which indicates that the Spirit with the Son and the Father dwell in us 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.” Here the word translated “with” has the meaning of “from with” in Greek. The Spirit of reality, who is sent by the Son from the Father, comes not only from the Father but also with the Father. The Spirit comes from the Father and also 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 rather He comes with the source. When the Spirit comes, the Father also comes.
The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, was sent by the Father in the Son’s name to be the reality of His name. This name is the Son Himself; the Spirit is the Son’s person, His being. When we call on the name of the Son, we receive the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). The Son came in the name of the Father (John 5:43), because the Son and the Father are one (10:30). The Spirit was sent in the Son’s name because the Spirit and the Son are also one (2 Cor. 3:17). The Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—eventually reaches us as the Spirit.
God the Father sent the Spirit, and the Spirit came in the name of the Son. Ultimately, it is the Triune God who comes. When the Spirit comes to us, the Father also comes, and the Son is here as well, because the Spirit comes with the Father in the name of the Son. The Father sent the Spirit to come from Himself and also to come with Himself; the Spirit’s coming in the name of the Son is also the coming of the Son. His coming is the Son’s coming, and the Son comes from the Father and with the Father. Hence, when one comes, all three come. When the Spirit comes, the Triune God comes. The Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—cannot be separated, because the three are one. This is a divine fact. Although there is distinction among the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the three are one; They cannot be separated, divided, or severed. Hence, when the Spirit dwells in us, He dwells in us with the Son and the Father.