The Spirit also leads man to do the will of God (Psa. 143:10). Many people are working for themselves, not for God’s will. The ones who are under the leading of the Spirit as God are being led to do the will of God.
The Spirit functions to give man a right spirit and a willing spirit (Psa. 51:10-12). Psalm 51 is David’s prayer after he fell, repented, and came back to God. He prayed that the Lord would give him a right spirit and a willing spirit. Much of the time during the day our spirit may not be right. If someone accidentally spills something at the dining table where we are eating, do we have a right spirit? We may have a spirit that condemns the person for being careless. This means that our spirit is not right. Sometimes our spirit may be right but not so willing. We may have a spirit which is right for going out to preach the gospel, yet we may not have the morale. This simply means that we do not have a willing spirit. When our spirit is willing, we have the morale. We must confess that we do not have anything in or of ourselves to have a right spirit or a willing spirit. Therefore, we must pray, “Lord, give me a right spirit and a willing spirit.” Only the Spirit as God can make our human spirit right and willing.
The Spirit gives man wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of Jehovah (Isa. 11:2). The one Spirit has these six attributes. Only the Spirit as God can give us these wonderful attributes.
In the Old Testament, the Spirit also functioned to be outpoured upon man (Isa. 32:15; 44:3; Ezek. 39:29; Joel 2:28-29; Zech. 12:10). The Spirit is the outpouring Spirit. Joel 2:28-29 prophesied that the Lord would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. This pouring out of the Spirit was fulfilled as the former rain on the day of Pentecost and will be fulfilled as the latter rain in Zechariah 12:10 when the Jews will repent at the Lord’s coming back (Joel 2:23). Isaiah 32:15 says, “Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.” This verse says that the outpouring of the Spirit makes the wilderness fruitful. Thus, the outpouring of the Spirit is for the producing of life.
The Spirit functions to gather people. Isaiah 34:16 says, “Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it hath commanded, and his Spirit, it hath gathered them” (ASV). It is not so easy for us to be gathered. But the Spirit as God is the gathering Spirit. He gathers man. Without the urging of the Spirit within us, we would not come to the meetings of the church. If we do not follow this urging fully, we may come to the meetings, but we will not come on time. We need the gathering Spirit.
The Spirit is also the sending Spirit. Isaiah 48:16 says, “Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.” Now we need to ask who “me” is in this verse. Actually, when we trace the antecedent of “me” in this verse back to verse one, we can see that the sender is the sent one. This is similar to Zechariah 2:8-11, which reveals that the Lord of hosts sent the Lord of hosts.
The Spirit anoints man for the preaching of the gospel (Isa. 61:1; 42:1). Isaiah 42:1 says the Lord will come as the slave of Jehovah, and the Spirit of Jehovah will be upon Him. Isaiah 61:1 tells us that the Spirit of Jehovah who is on the slave of Jehovah is the anointing oil. This verse says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” This verse was fulfilled when Jehovah anointed the Lord Jesus with His Spirit (Luke 4:18-19).