John 14:15 - Meaning and Application

Christ not only set before them the things that would comfort them, but also promised to send the Spirit. The Spirit’s work would be to comfort them and press these truths into their hearts. Before giving that promise, he first reminds them of their duty: “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Keeping Christ’s commandments here means a life of godliness in general, and in particular, faithful and careful service as apostles. Notice, when Christ is comforting them, he still tells them to obey. We should not expect comfort except in the path of duty. The same word can mean both to urge and to comfort.

When the disciples were worried about what they should do after their Master left, Christ told them to keep his commandments, and then nothing could truly harm them. In hard times, concern for what will happen today should be swallowed up by concern for what we ought to do today. When they showed love for Christ by grieving over his departure, he told them that true love would show itself in obedience, not only in tears and sorrow. Careful service and full obedience are better than sacrifice or emotional display. “If you love me, feed my lambs” (John 21:15).

Even after Christ gave them precious promises about answered prayer and the coming of the Comforter, he set this limit on those promises, they were for those who kept his commandments from love to him. Christ will not stand up for anyone except those who are willing to be guided by him. If we follow the Spirit’s direction, we will also have the Spirit’s comfort.

Christ then promises this great blessing: another Comforter (John 14:16-17). This is one of the great New Testament promises, fitting the disciples’ sorrow and present need. The word means an advocate, one who speaks for us and helps us. It can also mean a teacher, an encourager, or a protector.

The Spirit would be another advocate. While Christ was with them, he spoke for them when needed. Now that he was leaving, they would not be left to be silenced by their enemies, because the Father’s Spirit would speak in them (Matthew 10:19-20). The Spirit would also be another teacher and encourager, leading them into duty. In this way, he would instruct and protect them.

He is also called another Comforter. Christ had been expected as the comfort of Israel, and one Jewish name for the Messiah meant “the Comforter.” Christ had comforted his disciples while he was with them, and now, in their deepest need, he promises another to take his place. The Father will give him, and Christ says, “I will pray the Father.” This shows that the gift of the Spirit comes through Christ’s mediation, that is, through his work as the go-between between God and people. Christ is both King and Priest: as Priest, he intercedes for us, and as King, he has authority from the Father.

This blessing will last forever. That means the Spirit would be with them as long as they lived, so they would never be without a Comforter. They would not keep mourning his departure, as they were mourning Christ’s leaving. It was not fitting for Christ to stay with them in the same way forever, because they were meant for public service and would have to go out into the world. They needed a Comforter who could be with all of them everywhere, no matter how scattered or distressed they became. The promise also reaches their successors in Christianity and in ministry. Taken in the fullest sense, it points to the lasting comfort God gives his people, which becomes their eternal joy and pleasure forever.

This Comforter is the Spirit of truth, whom they know (John 14:16-17). They might think it impossible to have a Comforter equal to the Son of God, but Christ says they would have the Spirit of God, equal in power and glory with the Son. He is the Spirit, so he works in a spiritual way, inwardly and invisibly, by working on human hearts.

He is the Spirit of truth. He will be faithful to them and to all he has taken on to do. He will teach them the truth, open their minds to understand it, strengthen their faith in it, and deepen their love for it. The Gentiles had been led into serious error by idol worship, and the Jews by their traditions, but the Spirit of truth would guide the disciples into all truth, and through their ministry he would lead others as well. Christ is the truth, and this is his Spirit, the Spirit with which he was anointed.

The world cannot receive him, but the disciples know him. So he remains with them. The disciples of Christ are different from the world, because they have been called out of the world that lies in wickedness. They belong to another world, not to this one.

It is a sad thing when people are so tied to the world that they cannot receive the Spirit of truth, that is, the Holy Spirit who reveals God’s truth. The spirit of the world and the Spirit of God are complete opposites (1 Corinthians 2:12). When the world’s spirit rules a person, God’s Spirit is left out. Even the rulers of this age, though they had many advantages for knowing truth, were blinded by their attachment to worldly power and so did not understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:8).

People cannot receive the Spirit of truth because they do not see him or know him. To them, the comforts the Spirit gives seem foolish, just as Christ’s cross once seemed foolish, and the great truths of the gospel are treated as something strange and hard to understand. These things are far beyond their natural sight. If you speak to worldly people about the Spirit’s work, it is like speaking a foreign language to them.

The best way to know the Spirit of truth is by experience. Jesus says, “You know him, because he dwells with you.” Christ had lived among the disciples, and through their close walk with him they could not help but know something of the Spirit of truth. They had already received the Spirit in some measure. What gave them strength to leave everything and follow Christ, to stay with him in his trials, to preach the gospel, and to work miracles? It was the Spirit living in them. The experiences of God’s people explain his promises. What seems impossible to others is plain fact to them.

Those who know the Spirit by experience also have confidence that he will remain with them: “He dwells with you and will be in you.” The blessed Spirit does not usually change his dwelling. Those who know him learn to value him, welcome him, and make room for him. So he will be in them, like light in the air, sap in a tree, or the soul in the body. Their fellowship with him will be close, and their union with him will not be broken.

The gift of the Holy Spirit is a special gift, given to Christ’s disciples in a different way from the world, to them and not to the world. It is like hidden manna and the white stone, secret gifts of favor and approval. No comforts are greater than those that make no show and make no noise. This is the kindness God shows to his chosen people. It is the inheritance of those who fear his name.