John 14

— another Comforter.] Besides the several passages in Scripture which speak of three Persons subsisting in the Godhead, there are a great variety of texts which separately prove both the divinity and personality of the Holy Spirit. Thus, in the present text, and at chap. xv. 26, the Comforter is clearly mentioned as a distinct Person from the Father and the Son. St. Peter in punishing Ananas and Sapphira, uses the expressions “lying to the Holy Ghost,” and “lying to God,” Acts v. 3, 4, as equivalent; the Holy Ghost is said to be “eternal,” Heb. ix. 14; to “teach all things,” John xiv. 26; to “guide into all truth,” John xvi. 13; to “shew things to come,” ibid.; to “search all things, yea, the deep things of God,” 1 Cor. ii. 10; to “make intercession for the saints,” Rom. viii. 27; to “change us into the same image” with Christ, 2 Cor. iii. 18; to “bring all things to remembrance,” John xiv. 26; to “reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment,” John xvi. 8; and to have raised Christ from the dead, 1 Pet. iii. 18. St. Paul also attributes to the Holy Spirit the communication of a great variety of qualities and powers, 1 Cor. xii. 4—11. In all these passages, the Holy Ghost is plainly spoken of, not merely as a quality or operation, but as a Person; and the powers attributed to Him are such, that they can belong only to a Divine Person. If therefore the Holy Ghost be God, as well as the Father and the Son, and there be but one God, it follows that, in the language of the Articles of our Church, “the Holy Ghost is of one substance, majesty, and glory, with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.” Bp. Tomline.

— that he may abide with you for ever.] This He says of the Holy Spirit, in contradistinction to Himself. I go away, but He shall abide. The office graciously sustained by the Spirit, in the scheme of man’s redemption, requires his constant abode and superintendence. Of the perpetuity of His influence, we are perfectly assured, to our great and endless comfort. Bp. Horne.

— my Father is the husbandman.] Implying the great care of God for the improvement and preservation of His Church; a care extended to every single branch, in that manner which is required by each, and tends to the common good of the whole. Dean Stanhope.

John 14:2

2. — he purgeth it, that &c.] He dresses and prunes it, that it may be fit for bearing. Bp. Mann. God purifies and amends the members of His Church by the various dispensations of His providence; and cuts off, by just judgments, the incorrigibly wicked. Dr. S. Clarke.

John 14:3

3. Now ye are clean &c.] Ye are already sanctified by the operation of My doctrine and Spirit upon you, though ye may need some further discipline and care, in order to a greater degree of fruitfulness. Dr. Hammond.

John 14:4

4. Abide in me, and I in you.] Take care to remain united to Me, as branches are to the stock. Bp. Mann.

John 14:17

17. — whom the world cannot receive.] Which Spirit

riot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

John 14:19

19. — but ye see me: because &c.] Ye shall still be sensible of My presence and favour; and, in virtue of My conquest over affliction and death, ye shall conquer them too. Dean Stanhope.

John 14:20

20. — that I am in my Father, &c.] That there is an entire union between My Father and Me, and between Me and all the members of My Church. Dean Stanhope.

— and ye in me, and I in you.] By this Spirit communicated from Me your Head, to unite you My members to Me. Dr. Whitby.

John 14:21

21. He that hath my commandments, — he it is that loveth me.] The nature of the love of God, a feeling so often and earnestly inculcated in the Gospel, has sometimes been mistaken by illynding Christians. But in the plain word of God, we find it described in all its native purity and simplicity. The marks, by which it is there distinguished, contain nothing enthusiastic or extravagant. The chief test, by which the Gospel orders us to try and measure our love to God, is, as is stated in this verse, the regard we pay to His commandments. Bp. Portens.

John 14:23

23. — If a man love me, &c.] The manifestation I mean is, that of inward light and grace, which shall never depart from those who are careful to live as I have commanded them. Dean Stanhope.

John 14:26

26. — whom the Father will send in my name.] The Holy Spirit is elsewhere said to be sent by the Son, chap. xv. 26; xvi. 7; and is styled by the Spirit, both of the Father and of the Son, Acts ii. 18, 33; Matt. x. 20; Rom. viii. 9; Gal. iv. 6, &c. Dean Stanhope.

— he shall teach you all things.] He will enable you to understand all those parts of My speeches which are now obscure, and put you in mind of all things which I have now said to you, how they are fulfilled, and what they mean. See Acts ii. 16. Dr. Hammond.

John 14:27

27. Peace I leave with you, &c.] This is a Hebrew Anno DOMINI 33. Christ’s love to his Father. The consolation and mutual love Anno DOMINI 23. not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:28

28. — greater than I.] Christ is the second Person in the blessed Trinity, with reference not to His essence, but His generation; the Father being the original of all power and essence in the Son. Bp. Pearson. Christ says in one passage, “I and My Father are one;” and here, “My Father is greater than I.” These, and many other passages of a similar kind, become perfectly consistent and intelligible, by referring them respectively to the Divine and human natures of Christ. The essential properties of one nature were not communicated to the other; Christ was at once Son of God and Son of man; He was at the same time both mortal and eternal; mortal as the Son of man, in respect of His humanity; eternal as the Son of God, in respect of His Divinity; each kept His respective properties distinct, without the least confusion in their intimate union. Bp. Tomlins.

John 14:29

29. — Ye might believe.] Your faith might be strengthened by observing the exact agreement between what I have told you beforehand, and the events which have followed. Dean Stanhope.

John 14:30

30. — for the prince of this world &c.] Satan cometh with his wicked instruments, but will find no sin in Me, to give him power over Me. Abp. Newcome.

John 14:31

31. — Arise, let us go hence.] Hitherto He had discoursed in the house; now He leads them out to the place where He was to be apprehended. The discourse in the two next chapters, and the prayer, chap. xvii. seem to have been spoken as they went along from Jerusalem to the garden on the mount of Olives. Dr. Wall. Chap. XV. ver. 1. I am the true vine.] Perhaps our Saviour spoke these words on the occasion of their drinking the last cup of wine, according to custom, after the supper; after He had said that He should no mere drink of the fruit of the vine, till He should drink it new in the kingdom of God, Matt. xxvi. 29. His dis- # CHAP. XV.