The Holy Spirit

Word of Wisdom & Word of Knowledge

Study 9

How was your week? Did you see yourself in any of the examples from last week? Are you getting a clearer idea of what your gift(s) are? I have one more exercise for you to do before we get started on this week’s study of “Word of Wisdom” and “Word of Knowledge.” This next week, ask some of your Brothers and/or Sisters in the Lord to tell you what they see as your gift(s). I did this exercise in a Home Bible Study I taught, and the results were very interesting. Some people knew their gifts and others saw the same thing in them. While others were unsure of their gifts or thought they had one gift when others saw something else in them. So I would encourage you to do this, this next week, it will be a blessing to you! One note about this, if the people you ask do not know about the gifts of the Holy Spirit or have little knowledge of them, then I would encourage you to have them go through this study or print it out for them to read. Now let’s focus on the first two gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Word of Wisdom & Word of Knowledge. The reason for looking at these two gifts together is, they seem to work with one another and are similar in a way, but also different. You really need to pay close attention, because if you don’t you may become confused. It took me a while to separate the two, and I pray I can put it in terms you will understand. Our base verse is in:

1 Cor 12:8 (KJV) For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

Let’s look at the definitions of each one from the Vine’s Dictionary.

Word of Wisdom

Greek Word for Wisdom “sophia” is the insight into the true nature of things, human "wisdom" in spiritual things, Word of Wisdom: The revealed will of God’s insight into the true nature of things.

Word of Knowledge

Greek Word for Knowledge “gnosis” "to be taking in knowledge, to come to know, recognize, understand," or "to understand completely," "knowledge," especially of spiritual truth; Word of Knowledge: The revealed will of God’s understanding of spiritual truth. And the definition of the word “Word” is: Word: The revealed will of God (very frequent in the OT), is used of a direct revelation given by Christ, Chuck Smith’s definition of the two in his book “Living Water” is: “Knowledge is the accumulation of the facts; wisdom is the proper application of the fact. Knowledge tells you that the cute little black animal with the white stripe down it’s back is not a cat; wisdom tells you to keep your distance.” Let’s take a look at a few examples of the word of wisdom in the bible.

1 Kings 3:16-28 16 Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and stood before him. 17 And one woman said, "O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. 18 "Then it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. 19 "And this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 "So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21 "And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne." 22 Then the other woman said, "No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son." And the first woman said, "No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son." Thus they spoke before the king. 23 And the king said, "The one says, 'This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one'; and the other says, 'No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.' " 24 Then the king said, "Bring me a sword." So they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other." 26 Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, "O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!" But the other said, "Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him." 27 So the king answered and said, "Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother." 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

If you read earlier in 1 Kings 3 you will see that Solomon asked God for wisdom to lead His people; and God gave him that wisdom. This is an example of that wisdom used to settle an argument between two women. Have you ever entered a room or a conversation where two people were disagreeing on something, and all of a sudden a thought comes to mind and you say, “Why don’t you just do this?” and it pleases both of the people and the disagreement is settled. That was the gift of the Word of Wisdom. It’s not that you had a great idea, but that God knew how exactly to handle the situation with just a few words. Here is an example of Jesus using the gift;

Luke 20:22-26 20 So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor. 21 Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth: 22 "Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" 23 But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me? 24 "Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?" They answered and said, "Caesar's." 25 And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." 26 But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.

Here we see Jesus confronted by the Pharisees with a question that seemed impossible to answer without being caught with the wrong answer. Think about it, If Jesus said, “No don’t give to Caesar” He would have been called to the attention of the government saying that, “This man teaches the people not to pay taxes”. And if He said, “Yes, pay the taxes” who would have followed Him? Because nobody liked to pay the taxes. But Jesus had the gift and He used it in this case, and look what it says at the end of verse “but marveling at his answer they were silent.” When God speaks, you know it’s right, and others become speechless. Who can argue with God?

John 8:3-7 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 "Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. 7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."

Once again the Pharisees and Scribes, trying to catch Him in His words, confront Jesus and you would think that they were right because they said the bible says (or in the law of Moses) to stone such a one. But Jesus also knew the scriptures, even better then they did (who were suppose to be the experts on the Scriptures) and notice He said, “he who is without sin” and they knew that in the book of Psalms it says that none is without sin.

Psalms 14:3 They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.

So even though they tried to use the word of God, there problem was they used it to judge, when they had no right to judge because they were not without sin themselves, as Jesus by the word of wisdom pointed out. Notice also that Jesus didn’t say, “thus saith the Lord” like we seem to think we have to do to use the gifts or act in a certain way, being humble, or in a trance drawing attention to ourselves. No, just simple talking is using the gift. No show, just God being glorified.

Acts 6:8-10 8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. 10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

Here we see that Stephen had the gift as we see in verse 10. If you read later Stephen was stoned because he had the gift, they didn’t like what he was saying, because it convicted them. So do you still want this gift knowing that you could be stoned? Teachers or Evangelist uses this gift, almost, if not every time they speak. You probably have used it and may not have even realized it until now. Think on a certain situation when you were talking with someone, and the word of God just came to you, and it was just the thing that person needed to hear. That wasn’t you and your great wisdom, but the Spirit speaking through you ministering to someone else. See you may have used one of the gifts and didn’t even know it. Did you feel different when you used it, or did you act different? No, you just ministered as the Spirit lead you, no show, just the fruit of the Spirit; and you didn’t get stoned either. I have used the gift a number of times myself, probably more then I know. You may have sensed, going through this study that I knew things about you and I was putting it on the Internet for all to see. It’s not me, it’s God speaking to you. Now let’s look at the word of Knowledge

Gen 50:24-25 24 And Joseph said to his brethren, "I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." 25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here."

Here we see Joseph use both the gift of Knowledge and Wisdom. Verse 24 God will visit you. “Word of Knowledge” Verse 25 you shall carry my bones from here. “Word of Wisdom” There is sometimes a fine line between Wisdom and Prophecy

John 4:16-18 16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." 17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' 18

Here we see Jesus talking with the woman at the well. We all know the story (but if you don’t, you can read it in the book of John chapter 4), but did you know this was the gift of the Word of Knowledge being used by Jesus? Knowledge is knowing something that you did not have prior knowledge of, in this case, Jesus knew (even though they had not met before) she was married five times and was now living with a man who she wasn’t even married to. Let’s look at the results of Jesus using this gift.

John 4:40-42 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own word. 42 Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."

Here we see the fruit of the Spirit by Jesus using the gift of knowledge. It say’s in verse 42 that they believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world, and it all started with the Word of Knowledge. Here are a few more examples of the gift of Word of Knowledge being used.

Acts 5:1-4 1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 2 And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 "While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."

2 Kings 6:8-12 8 Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, "My camp will be in such and such a place." 9 And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, "Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there." 10 Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice. 11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?" 12 And one of his servants said, "None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom."

Here we see that Elisha had the gift of Word of Knowledge. God told him every move the Syrian army was going to make, and even more. Even in your bedroom, how would you like someone to know everything you did? God knows. You can hide from the world, but you can’t hide from God. But if you have the gift can you use it at will?

2 Kings 4:17-27 17 But the woman conceived, and bore a son when the appointed time had come, of which Elisha had told her. 18 And the child grew. Now it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers. 19 And he said to his father, "My head, my head!" So he said to a servant, "Carry him to his mother." 20 When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. 21 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door upon him, and went out. 22 Then she called to her husband, and said, "Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come back." 23 So he said, "Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath." And she said, "It is well." 24 Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, "Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you." 25 And so she departed, and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel. So it was, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to his servant Gehazi, "Look, the Shunammite woman!.26 "Please run now to meet her, and say to her, 'Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?' " And she answered, "It is well." 27 Now when she came to the man of God at the hill, she caught him by the feet, but Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, "Let her alone; for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me, and has not told me."

Here we see although you may have the gift, it doesn’t mean you can use it at will. Notice Elisha said, “God has hidden it from me”. So it is with all the gifts. You can’t turn them on and off like the TV. God knows when they need to be used and when they don’t. And most important, always remember the fruit of the Spirit will be seen when you use the gifts.

Gal 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Did you know that you have used these two gifts when you came to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Or if you haven’t, you can now. Knowledge tells you that you are a sinner and that you need something to go to heaven. Do you know that you are a sinner?

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Wisdom tells you that something is Jesus. Do you know that the only way to the one and only true God is through Jesus.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Right now you can come to the Father, God, through His Son Jesus. Just pray this prayer and you can come to the Father. Jesus, I admit I am a sinner. I now know that the only way to the Father is through You. Please forgive me for my sins. Thank you for dyeing for me. Be my Lord and Savior. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to tell others about you. I ask this in Jesus Name. AMEN! You are now a Christian if you prayed this prayer from your heart. Welcome to the family of God. You also just used the gift of Word of Wisdom and Word of Knowledge as I mentioned above. Next week we will look at the gift of “Faith”. God bless you all, your doing great. And thank you for all your prayers each week as I prepare this study.

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Who is the
Holy Spirit?

What the
Holy Spirit does
in our lives.

What the
Holy Spirit
does in
our lives
(part II)

Prayer

Prayer
(part II)

Intro to
the gifts of
the
Holy Spirit.

Intro to
the gifts
of the
Holy Spirit
(part II)

Intro to
the gifts
of the
Holy Spirit
(part III)

Intro to
the gifts
of the
Holy Spirit
(part IV)

Word of
Wisdom
& Word of
Knowledge.

Faith