Isaiah 11:2:   “…and the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;”

When Paul made the sterling statement that “as many as have been baptized into Christ have PUT ON Christ”, (Gal 3:27), or when he admonished the Believers to PUT ON the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom 13:14); the Apostle was dishing out a great recipe for faith walk in Christ. Like Paul confessed, he neither received it of man, neither was he taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.(Gal 1:12). 

Having received and laid-hold securely of this revelation, he ran with it, excluding any other knowledge, philosophy, tradition or religion. Alas he declared: “From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus”.(Gal 6:17). I pray for you as you go through this teaching with me, that the same grace of revelation of Christ Jesus that came upon Paul, and later upon me, shall impart upon you greatly, as our Lord is no respecter of persons. “And the sons of of God are led by the Spirit of the Lord” (Rom 8:14). Amen.

When the word spirit is written with a small ‘s’, it refers to the personal spirit of a person, otherwise known as  “human spirit”. It includes our intellect, emotions, fears, passions, and creativity.  The human spirit is considered to be the mental functions of awareness, insight, understanding, judgement and other reasoning powers. In the text above (Isaiah 11:2), only the first spirit is mentioned with capital “S”- meaning The Holy Spirit. The rest of the spirits are spelt with small “s”- meaning they’re the personal endowments of the  Man Christ Jesus.

Why is this distinction important? Many believers are yet to know the distinction between the abilities of the New man-in-Christ by sheer exercise of the ability of the human spirit, as distinct from the Spirit of God (Holy Ghost).

The New Testament clearly illustrates this distinction in Romans 8:16 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”

When you have put-on Christ, it is those spirits listed in the text above namely that you receive, and are bound to be possessed by, if you yield. These are namely: *the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

The consequence or natural outcome of the possession of a man or woman by the spirit of another person is clearly evident in the abilities and disposition it confers on the one possessed. We see that in the case of Elisha.  2 Kings 2:15 “And when the sons of the prophets which were at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him”.

They saw a new disposition and ability displayed by Elisha after that his master had departed from him. Elijah’s spirit was immediately evident in the life of Elisha as he parted the river. And his contemporaries and adversaries took cognizance.

The Sanhedrin had observed certain dispositions and abilities in Peter and John, and the Bible records that ‘they took knowledge’ (which is old English for ‘recognized’) that these men have been with Christ. They quickly associated the traits they saw in Peter and John with those of Christ, and they marveled at this.
Acts 4:13‭-‬14 “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

The one who has received Christ is joined to, and is one spirit with him, Paul says in 1 Cor 6:17. This oneness is in character and disposition. And this is not a function of trying to emulate or ape Christ, but rather the living out of the nature of the new man who is created after the image of Christ. You’re not following the slogan WWJD- “what-will-Jesus-do. No. You have become like Jesus by virtue of possession by his spirit, and you’re living it out effortlessly. That is the state of rest for the believer. (See Heb 4:9-10).

Romans 8:29 (EASY) “God already had those people in his thoughts from the beginning. He decided that they should become like his Son. So then, his Son would have many younger brothers and sisters”.

Romans 8:9 “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his”.
Therefore, there are certain abilities and dispositions by which the indwelling Spirit is seen in the believer.

The first, according to our text is the spirit of wisdom and understanding; the second is spirit of counsel and might, and the third is the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. The spirit of wisdom and understanding. What exactly is this?

The book of proverbs highlights this in Proverbs 4:7:”Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: And with all thy getting get understanding”. Jesus charged his disciples while sending the out, to “be wise like serpents”.(Mt 10:16).

He himself displayed great wisdom in dealings with the Sanhedrin, with the Pharisees, Sadducees and all other adversaries. When Jesus was asked  whether it was right to pay taxes to Caesar, the Bible records that he immediately discerned their wickedness. They wanted proof to show the Roman authority that Jesus was leading an insurrection. But Jesus deployed the spirit of wisdom to silence them. (SEE Matt 22:15-22).

No work of ministry could ever prosper where the worker lacks supply of wisdom. Wisdom to manage our calling is a great grace which every believer is endowed with, but many never venture out to exercise it. It is not gotten by reading or studying any man. No, it is a spirit to spirit intercourse between your born-again spirit-man and the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Ghost. You listen to him in your inner man, and you do.

Isaiah prophesied this in Isaiah 30:20-21: “And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left”.

This grace is now available to the Church to operate. It is called the ‘spirit of wisdom’.

‘Understanding’ is like it also. Whilst the spirit of wisdom discerns, the spirit of understanding supplies guidance from the Word of God. The Bible calls it as “knowledge of the Holy”.

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: And the “knowledge of the holy is understanding”. To correctly apply wisdom, you have to be studied in God’s ways. The Spirit cannot take you farther that you know. Wherefore you are admonished: “Get wisdom, but in your getting, get understanding”. Understanding is the reason God put Teachers in the Church. Understanding or better still, lack of it, underscores most of the erroneous doctrines held in the Church today. Anything you do without understanding is mere religiosity and profits you little or nothing. If you give your January salary to your church because it is required of every member, you lack understanding of the basis of giving in the New Testament which is purpose of heart. 2 Cor 9:7.

If you fast 21 days, or 40 days at the beginning of year without having any inner reason other than the approval of others, you lack understanding.

If you use a Bible verse or Psalm to make incantations over your enemies, you lack understanding. Wishing death upon your enemy is un-Christlike enough. Don’t drag the Holy Spirit into it, that’s not His job.

Everything Jesus did, he did with understanding, of ‘who he was’, and from ‘whence he came’ and ‘where he goeth’. John 13:3 “Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;”

This background was given by John to establish the mindset which informed Jesus’ washing of the feet of his disciples. Today, if you do ‘feet-washing’ as a mere religious ritual, to humor your congregation or to look pious before them, you lack understanding.

Jesus actually chided some of his disciples for their lack of understanding. “Are ye also without understanding?” he will ask. (Matthew15:15‭-17) Lack of understanding will make a believer to be full of zeal and motions of religion, but completely unaware of the will and plan of God.

Mary Magdalene was weeping and pleading to the gardener (supposedly), for Jesus’s dead body whereas she ought to have been ecstatic with joy that Jesus had risen from the dead as he predicted. If a believer lacks understanding, Christianity will be a bore, and after a while it will lose meaning to such a one.

SPIRIT OF COUNSEL AND MIGHT:
Next is the ‘spirit of counsel and might’. What does ‘Counsel and Might’ mean? “Counsel” is the faculty of adapting means to ends, or of forming right resolutions. (ie identifying what resource is available to achieve a desired result.) “Might” on the other hand is the energy (impetus if you like) necessary to carry them through. 

Jesus says in Luke 12:32: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”. He says in another place, “greater works shall ye do, because I go on to the Father”.(Jn 14:12). That’s impetus. A believer has the ability to draw counsel from the heart of the Lord on any matter, and the supply of spirit to accomplish. Because we’re ‘online real time’ with Heaven (to use infotech language). 

Prv 20:5 “Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; But a man of understanding will draw it out”. 

Did you know that whatsoever you set your mind to do, you’re fully backed up by heaven. You need not plead and cry for God’s will. God’s will is manifest in his choosing you even from your mother’s womb to be conformed to the image of Christ. You have Christ’s name and God’s DNA. ‘Counsel and Might’ are yours.
SPIRIT OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE FEAR OF THE LORD: Have you ever thought of it, How did Apostle Paul manage to gain revelation of the Cross and the Resurrection? So much so that even Apostle Peter, a pillar in the faith openly acknowledged this special grace in Paul (2 Peter 3:15‭-‬16). The answer is simple, the ‘spirit of knowledge’ given unto him by Christ Jesus.

Paul himself attested to this in:  Gal 1:11‭-‬12  “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ”.

I have good news friends, this ‘spirit of knowledge’ is in you right now if you’re born again. The reason it is not fully manifest is because you are too lazy to activate it through study and also too fearful to exercise this grace.

2 Peter 1:3. “…according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:”

If I were you, I will underline the phrase ” through the knowledge of him”… Everything you receive or attain in Christ Jesus is via knowledge. For instance, when the Bible says “mortify ye therefore your members…(Col 3:5), it is a ‘knowledge thing’ not a ‘doing thing’. You have to receive the spiritual reality that you died with Christ, not that you subject yourself or your body to a second crucifixion. No amount of fasting or self denial can give you power over lust or fear or greed. What does the job is a mind renewal. (Rom 12:2). You break free from the conformation of fleshly thoughts through exposure to the knowledge of Christ.

Is the ‘spirit-of-knowledge’ given only for you to learn and teach the Bible? No. It applies to every sphere of human life wheresoever you are diligent to apply it.

For instance, in marriage, the Apostle Peter admonishes husbands in 1 Peter 3:7. “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel…” Again, underline the phrase “according to knowledge”. What knowledge? Was he referring to marriage seminars organized for them in the New Testament church? No, there’s a knowledge you come into when you have come into Christ.

Apostle John refers to it in 1 John 5:20: “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.”

Paul refers to it as “knowing the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge…”(Eph 3:19)

This knowledge is not a one-way traffic because by it, you not only know God, but you’re also known by God. This is how Paul puts it in: Gal 4:8-9 “…but now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?”

Fasting and abstinence is helpful only to the extent you understand their limitation to physical and emotional benefits. But when you view it as a means of gaining power over the flesh, or getting favor from God, that’s ignorance. Jesus was asked “…why don’t your disciples fast like those of John thee Baptist and other prophets? He gave a startling answer based upon knowledge. (Luke 5:33). It is this true knowledge of God that Christ brings to the table. That is the ‘spirit-of-knowledge’ given to us. This knowledge gives the believer a new worldview altogether. The worldview of: “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me”. The worldview of : “there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus”.  And so on.

This is the knowledge by which you are set free and by which you enter into God’s rest.

CONCLUSION:
Jn 13:17. “If ye know these things, happy are ye if you do them…”

‘Knowing’ before ‘doing’ leads to blessing and freedom. It is always pitiable to see a believer who is not taking advantage of the knowledge of Christ in their daily lives. That is a classic example of being born of the Spirit but living in the natural senses (carnal). 
 The ‘spirit of knowledge and fear of God’ comes as a combo package. Knowledge of Christ causes the fear of God to grow exponentially in you. ‘Fear of God’ is lawful reverence of God. When you know the deep and unconditional love of God you will not want to meddle with sin. Not because of fear of punishment, but rather fear of wronging the one who hath so loved you to die for you.

– Dr Nich Mbaezue