John 14:16-20

 

John 14:16 (KJB)

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

 

Comforter - Advocate, intercessor, or one who gives aid

 

Here Jesus is telling His disciples that when he returns to the Father, then He is going to pray the Father to give them another comforter. This is referring to the Holy Spirit who will be given to them on Pentecost and to everyone who becomes truly saved in Christ up until the last day. He also adds another promise that He will abide with us forever, not just a few years or until we get to glory. He is going to be our comforter throughout eternity. This verse should shake two false doctrines which are taught. First is Modalism which is a denial of the Trinity which is believed by false teachers such as T.D. Jakes. The second false doctrine is that you can lose your salvation. How can you lose your salvation if the Holy Spirit is going to indwell a person forever? The true believer can never lose their salvation because it is a gift of God. (Eph 2:8-9 KJV) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: {9} Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 

John 14:17 (KJB)

Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

 

Here Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth. Further in John 16:13, His indwelling of the believer will guide us into all truth. The world in its unsaved state will never be able to receive the Spirit. They have rejected the Son of God which means they have rejected the Father, and the world will reject the Holy Spirit. Some cults refer to Him as only a force and one church I filled in the pulpit some years ago had a guest preacher the previous week who stated that the Force in Star wars was the Holy Spirit. He obviously did not know about the occultic nature of the Force in Star Wars. Isn’t it wonderful how the church is blessed with stupid preachers? Then we want to know why most churches are houses of spiritual fornication? The true believers will know Him because when He indwells us, the believer is born again and alive unto God. He will also illuminate the Scriptures for us so we can learn the Bible. He will strengthen us under tough times and will make us be good witnesses for the Gospel.

 

John 14:18 (KJB)

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

 

(Heb 13:5 KJV) Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. The Lord Jesus will never leave His children to fend for themselves in the world because their enemy is spiritual and not physical. Human beings are no match for the spiritual world and that is why Jesus is going to come to us in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This also shows a tremendous unity of the entire trinity. Up to this point we learned about the unity of the Father and the Son, now we learn about the unity in the Trinity. Having the indwelling Holy Spirit gives the Christian in the strength to defeat the enemy in temptations and trials.

 

John 14:19 (KJB)

Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

 

Once Jesus goes to the cross and then is resurrected and goes back to the Father, the world only saw Him as a physical human being. (Mat 19:17 KJV) And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. A ruler asked Jesus concerning eternal life and called Him good master but this man was looking at Jesus as a human being and not as God on earth. This is why Jesus diverted him from seeing man as good to seeing God as good. Once Jesus goes back to Heaven, all the unsaved and especially His accusers will never see Him again until Judgment day on the last day. Then He tells His disciples that they will see Him and because He will be alive, so will they. When Jesus goes back to Heaven, the disciples will see Him with the eyes of faith and when they physically die, then they will see Him in glory for all eternity because they will be with Him. Right now all the believers on earth see Jesus through the eyes of faith and the through the eyes of Scripture but soon we shall all see Him visibly in glory.

 

John 14:20 (KJB)

At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

 

At that day of Pentecost, then when the disciples are given the Holy Spirit, then they shall have a fuller understanding of the trinity. Then everything which Jesus spoke concerning His relationship with the Father will become clear and understood. Then they will also understand that as believers, they are in Christ. (Col 3:3 KJV) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. They will also understand that the Lord indwells them through the person of the Holy Spirit. This is partially how the Holy Spirit will guide them into all truth by giving them this basic understanding and then He will begin their understanding of the Scriptures and the sayings of Jesus. It is a great mystery having the Lord indwell us but we take it on faith.

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