When
we think of a Spirit led life, we would normally go directly into the New
Testament for our study, but I find that Isaiah is a great place to go to see
how one will live when one is full of the Spirit of God. We will look at three
passages in Isaiah that are prophesies concerning the Messiah (Christ). These
passages describe the characteristics of Christ as the sent One who is anointed
by the Holy Spirit to accomplish His Father’s mission on earth. There is no
better example in scripture of a Spirit led life than Jesus. Therefore, these
same attributes that are spoken of the Messiah, we should have in our lives as
believers.
Let us look at
Isaiah 11:1-3 and find some characteristics of a Spirit led life.
One who is full
of the Spirit will be full of wisdom & understanding.
James
1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives
generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
The
source of wisdom is God. We can’t find wisdom in education or in this world. It
doesn’t matter how educated you are or how much life experience you have. The
only place to gain true wisdom is in God and letting the Holy Spirit direct
your life.
The
Gospel’s over and over again makes reference to Jesus’s wisdom. The people were
amazed at his wisdom because it was not like the worlds wisdom. (Matt. 13:53;
Mark 6:2; Luke 2:40)
God
promises to give us this same kind of wisdom. (Acts 6:10; 7:10)
Luke
21:15 – “For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your
adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.”
God’s
wisdom is greater than any supposed wisdom in this world. (Romans 11:33; I
Corinthians 1:20, 25)
As
a spirit led believer we have great understanding. I look at understanding as practical
wisdom. In other words, one who has understanding walks in the wisdom that he
has received.
Psalms
111:10 – “The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good
understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.”
One who is full
of the Spirit will give wise counsel, counsel that is mighty. Mighty counsel
is counsel that is outstanding, not the normal run of the mill stuff.
One who is full
of the Spirit will have spiritual knowledge which comes from the fear of the
Lord.
Whenever the Bible speaks of the fear of the Lord, it refers to a life of
righteousness. One can’t claim to fear the Lord and not live a life of
obedience.
One who is full
of the Spirit will have spiritual eyes and spiritual ears. He will not
look at things through the eyes of the world. He will look at things from a
spiritual perspective, Bible based perspective. He will see things in the
spiritual realm. Also he will sift what he hears through spiritual ears, and the
Word of God. He will be able to distinguish between what is from God and what
is from an alternate source.
Let us now look
at Isaiah 42:1-4.
One who is full
of the Holy Spirit will seek to establish justice on the earth.
Holman
Bible dictionary speaks of justice in the following way.
“Nature
of justice has two major aspects. First, it is the standard by which penalties
are assigned for breaking the obligations of the society. Second, justice is
the standard by which the advantages of social life are handed out, including
material goods, rights of participation, opportunities, and liberties. It is
the standard for both punishment and benefits and thus can be spoken of as a
plumb line. “I shall use justice as a plumb-line, and righteousness as a
plummet” (Isaiah 28:17, REB).”
In
most instances in the Bible, justice is spoken in the sense of social justices and
injustices. The unjust are penalized and the just rewarded. As believers who
are led by God’s Spirit we will fight injustices and promote that which is just
and right according to God’s standards. This will be spoken of more clearly in
the next passage that we will study.
Isaiah
42:2 says of the Lord, “He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the
streets.”
One who is full
of the Holy Spirit will be humble. He will not be
argumentative or bring attention to himself. He will be a peace loving person.
Isaiah
42:3 says, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he
will not snuff out.”
One who is full
of the Holy Spirit will be gentle and full of grace.
He will not take advantage of the weak or oppress the weak. Rather, he will
help those who are weak spiritually, emotionally, socially or physically.
One who is full
of the Holy Spirit will he will not falter or be discouraged.
He will stay true to the course that God has given him. He will not allow
discouragement to overwhelm him. He may be discouraged for a time, but will
arise to the occasion when needed. He will never lose hope. He will be a person
of courage and strength.
The last passage
we will look at in Isaiah is 61:1-3.
One who is full
of the Holy Spirit will proclaim good news to the poor.
The poor not being only those who are poor materially, but who are poor
spiritually. It is the responsibility of every believer to testify about Christ
and proclaim the good news of His salvation. He will have boldness to testify
about Christ.
One who is full
of the Holy Spirit will bind up the broken hearted.
He will bring emotional healing to the hurting. He will bring healing and
restoration. He will bring encouragement and hope to others. He will live in
such a way that others will be built up.
One who is full
of the Holy Spirit will set the captives free.
There are many who are bound up by all kinds of things. Their thoughts are
bound over to wrong or bad thinking. Their emotions are bound by fear and all
kinds of other things. They are bound by sin and Satan. A person who is full of
the Holy Spirit will help set these people free through the power of the Word
and Jesus Christ. One way he will accomplish this is by proclaiming the year of
the Lord’s
favor
and the day of vengeance of
our God. People need to hear of the goodness of the Lord and the judgment that
comes with those who are unwilling to receive His goodness. Ultimately, one who is full of the Holy Spirit will comfort others,
and bring out the beauty or good in others. He will promote joy and a spirit of
praise in others.
One who is full
of the Holy Spirit will be called oaks of righteousness, and display Christ’s splendor.
I like the word “oaks”. An oak is a hard or solid wood. One who is full of the
Holy Spirit stands firm in the truths of God and lives a righteous life. He is
unmoved (unyielding) by the world influences, but lives an upright life. In
doing this, he brings glory to God.
It is a great thing when one is full of
the Spirit of God and led by Him. As we yield to the Holy Spirit, we make a
great positive impact on the lives around us as well as build Christ’s kingdom.
We will continue this study in our next article in the series we are doing on
the Holy Spirit.
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