Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                   Chapter Fourteen

                                                                                                                                               Verses 16-21

Jesus promised His Church that He will forever be in His Church because He has given His Spirit to be the Comforter in the hearts of every believer. The Holy Spirit happens to be the presence of God everywhere within infinity. Psalm 147:5. This means the Holy Spirit inhabits the inner beings of even unbelievers, but the Holy Spirit does not make Himself known to the unbeliever until such a time that the Holy Spirit makes the unbeliever keenly aware that he has wronged his fellow man and God. God may send a human messenger to preach the gospel that will cause the Holy Spirit to bring this conviction to the inner being of the unbeliever, or the Holy Spirit Himself may directly cause this conviction. Acts 1:8; Colossians 1:23. The human messengers of God cannot preach the gospel to every human, but God has promised that the Holy Spirit will preach the gospel to every human who ever lived. Human messengers may preach the gospel, but if the Holy Spirit brings no conviction to the hearts of the unbelievers who hear it, then the gospel has not been preached to them. Colossians 1:23. The moment any person comes under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, that person has a choice to make. That person can reject the call of the Holy Spirit for repentance and faith in Christ, or that person can humble himself to God, admit that he has sinned against God and his fellow man, and repent and put his faith in Christ as his only Savior. Luke 13:3; John 3:16. The moment a person chooses to repent and believe, the Holy Spirit takes command of the inner being of that believer and brings the spiritual blood of Christ from the cross to wash away all his sins and evil, annuls his spiritual death within him, and imparts to his inner being the righteousness and everlasting life of Christ Himself so that God can accept that believer into Heaven to be with Him there forever. John 3:16; John 5:24; I Corinthians 6:11; I Corinthians 15:1-4; Colossians 3:1-4.

Jesus promised His Church that He would come to comfort His Church; that is, He will continuously give His Church assurance that He has made His believers completely safe from the Devil and spiritual death and that they all will be with Him forever. Jesus identified Himself as being the Comforter. Since Jesus happens to be the same person as the Holy Spirit, and as He taught Philip, He happens to be the same person as His Father, then the only conclusion must be that Jesus, His Father, and the Holy Spirit can only be One Being. I John 5:7.

Jesus taught His disciples, and His Church, that the world would see Him no more as an earthly human after His resurrection, but His Church will always see Him as being alive in their hearts, and they will see Him alive in Heaven.