When we think of the many changes the Spirit of God brings about
14. THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT When we think of the many changes the Spirit of God brings about in the lives of Christians, we tend to think of the apostle Paul's list of the fruits of the Spirit: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:22–23). These spiritual qualities were certainly manifested in the lives of the apostles and other disciples after they received the Holy Spirit, but these fruits are primarily expressions of personal righteousness rather than gifts the Spirit gives to enable the work of God. To see gifts of the latter type we must turn first to the Old Testament and the book of Isaiah:
The Spirit of the LORD will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD. (Isaiah 11:1-2 ISV) These qualities are sometimes called the "seven gifts of the Spirit," but they are really three pairs of related gifts – the first pair (wisdom and understanding) being intellectual, the second (counsel and power) practical, and the third (knowledge and fear of the LORD) spiritual in the narrower sense of one's relationship with God. The passage in Isaiah is speaking primarily of the six qualities being bestowed on the promised Messiah, but these are gifts the Scriptures also show being bestowed on other servants of God. They were certainly manifested in the ministry of the apostles after the Holy Spirit was given, and it is noteworthy that the expression Isaiah uses – that the gifts would "rest upon" the Messiah – is exactly the idea we are given of the Spirit coming to rest on the disciples on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:3).
In fact, the gospel accounts never show the twelve disciples exhibiting the qualities mentioned in Isaiah 11 to any real degree, but after the giving of the Spirit Acts shows the apostles clearly
manifesting all of them – and specifically in relation to the Holy Spirit. Consider just a few examples:
Wisdom: "Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom" (Acts 6:3). "But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke" (Acts 6:10). Power: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). "With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 4:33). Fear of God: "Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:31). "When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor" (Acts 19:17). Isaiah's description of the Spirit-guided servant of God goes on to mention other aspects that apply mainly to the Messiah who would come, but some aspects were just as true of the apostles, also. For example, Isaiah's words that "He will delight in the fear of the LORD" (Isaiah 11:3) find numerous echoes in the book of Acts ("And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit" Acts
13:52; etc.). We can also see a clear expression of the promise "He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears" (Isaiah 11:3), in the description of Peter's judgment of the deceitful Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) and elsewhere in Acts.
But it is in Isaiah's listing of the six central qualities that would be given to the Messiah that we see continued connections with the Spirit's work through the apostles. Men who hardly evidenced these qualities at all before they received the Holy Spirit now exhibited them continually, and there is an important lesson in this fact for us today.
Although, as individual believers, we usually concentrate on Paul's list of the fruits of the Spirit and may actively pray for their manifestation in our lives, we can learn from the New Testament disciples that the six qualities of the Spirit Isaiah shows would rest upon the Messiah can – and should – rest on every servant of God. We too can pray for these gifts of the Spirit, and it is perhaps to the extent that we do that they will be evident in the individual ministries God gives us to do in our own lives.