CHAPTER SIX
THE TRUTH OF THE MYSTERY
IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
(3)
John 16:12-15 says, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality; for He will not speak from Himself, but what He hears He will speak; and He will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify Me, for He will receive of Mine and will declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; for this reason I have said that He receives of Mine and will declare it to you.” These four short verses reveal a very mysterious matter—the mystery of the Divine Trinity.
THE ERROR OF CHRISTIANITY
The emphasis of traditional Christianity in expounding these few verses is that the Holy Spirit comes to teach us the truth. Because many of the teachings that Jesus gave His disciples when He was on earth were too profound for them to understand, they had to wait for the Holy Spirit to come and teach them. Most Christian teachers say that in verse 12 many things refers to many doctrines, cannot bear them means that the disciples could not receive or understand the doctrines, and that because of this the Lord would not teach them anything else. In traditional Christianity the Spirit of reality in verse 13 is rendered as “the Spirit of truth,” and most people interpret truth to mean doctrine instead of reality. This is the understanding of these few verses in traditional Christianity.
In actuality, what the Lord said in John 16:12-15 is not a matter of understanding doctrines but a matter of entering into reality. He was not concerned about the disciples’ being able to understand doctrines or truths but about their being guided into all the reality. The traditional Bible expositors think that this passage is talking about doctrines; actually, this kind of understanding is wrong and [388] misses the mark. For this reason they cannot enter into the mystery revealed in this passage.
The mystery of this portion is in verse 15: “All that the Father has is Mine; for this reason I have said that He receives of Mine and will declare it to you.” The Lord did not say, “All that the Father knows has been made known to Me,” because it is not a matter of doctrines; instead, He said, “All that the Father has is Mine,” indicating that it is a matter of possessions and riches. As the Heir, He has inherited all that the Father has; all that the Father possesses has become His. In other words, all that the Father has is now His. Hence, this is not a matter of doctrine but a matter of “all that the Father has.”
The second half of verse 15 says, “For this reason I have said that He receives of Mine.” “He” is the Spirit of reality in verse 13. The phrase for this reason is an explanation, indicating that the Spirit of reality would not receive doctrines from the Lord but rather, all the riches of the Father. Declare it to you means not only that the Spirit would let the disciples know and understand all that the Father has but also that the Spirit would transfer, transmit, and even transfuse into them all that the Father has. All that the Father possesses has been given to the Son and inherited by the Son. Moreover, now the Spirit of reality receives all these riches from the Son and then transfers, transmits, and even transfuses them into the believers.
THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE SPIRIT IN JOHN 16:15
John 16:15 is very mysterious. In this verse we have the Father—“Father,” the Son—“I,” and the Spirit—“He.” Like Matthew 28:19, this verse speaks of the mystery of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. However, whereas Matthew 28:19 is an obvious verse concerning the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, John 16:15 is a relatively hidden verse and is therefore seldom discussed by expositors.
Actually, John 16:15 and Matthew 28:19 are equally important. Moreover, 2 Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” This verse also refers to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. However, the grace of Christ is mentioned first because it is the subject of 2 Corinthians. Related to the revelation of the Divine Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—this verse is also as important as the previous two verses. [389]
THE MYSTERY OF THE TRANSMISSION
What is the mystery in John 16:15? In brief, it is the mystery of transmission. We can use electricity as an illustration to explain this mystery. We all know that electricity has the capability of being transmitted. The prefix trans means “over,” “across,” or “through.” For example, at the airport a visitor in transit is a passenger who is just passing “through.” When electricity is sent over or sent across, we call that the transmission of electricity. Where is the electricity transmitted from? It is transmitted from the power plant. How is it transmitted? It is transmitted by means of electric wires.
Similarly, to be filled with the Spirit is to have the Spirit transmitted into us. When we are filled with the Spirit, what actually happens is that we have the Spirit conducted and transmitted into our spirit. This mystery of the transmission of the Spirit is covered in John 16:15.
The Father Being the Source,
and Everything Being Included in Him
It is not easy to explain the mystery of transmission. We have pointed out that among the three of the Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—the Father as the source has all the riches. “All that the Father has” includes His riches, His possessions, and His wealth, including love, light, holiness, righteousness, kindness, mercy, power, authority, wisdom, and all other positive things, which are beyond the utterance of our limited language.
Furthermore, in the riches of the Father there is “wrath” but not “temper.” This is the “science” of the Bible. We lose our temper, but God does not lose His temper. God only has wrath. There is a difference between these two things. Paul says in Ephesians, “Be angry, yet do not sin” (4:26). When we are angry, we easily lose our temper, and once we lose our temper, we may commit sin easily. God, however, is moved to wrath, but He does not lose His temper. Paul says to those who are fathers, “Do not provoke your children to anger” (6:4). How does a father provoke his child to anger? He does this by losing his temper in dealing with his child. For example, suppose a child does not go home directly after school; instead, he wanders around and as a result arrives home late. If the father loses his temper and chastises his child, the father will become a defeated father. To [390] lose one’s temper in this way is to provoke the child’s anger. Provoking children to anger damages them by stirring up their flesh. You may have wrath, but do not lose your temper. We have to distinguish between these two matters. However, it is simply not possible for humans to have wrath and not lose their temper; only the angels can do this. The only way we can have wrath and yet not lose our temper is to actively enjoy God and thereby receive His transmission.
“All that the Father has” is truly rich and exceedingly vast! Consider for example His economy, His good pleasure, and His plan. Hymns, #608 has five stanzas: the first stanza concerns the Father, the Son, and the Spirit generally; stanzas 2, 3, and 4 are on the Father, the Son, and the Spirit respectively; and stanza 5 tells of our experience. Stanza 2 says that the Father as the source is rich, that His wealth is inexhaustible, and that He is indeed a treasure-store. All these riches and wealth are actually the “all,” which has been given to the Son.