A. WHAT IT IS NOT
1. NOT NATURAL KNOWLEDGE - This gift is
not education, which is the assimilation
of mere natural knowledge.
This gift is not teaching, which is the conveyance of mere
natural knowledge.
It is not psychology, or a science of the mind. All
of these can be
performed by people
who do not even have the Holy Spirit.
2. NOT FORTUNE TELLING - This gift cannot
be fortune telling because God's word
condemns fortune telling as
being of the devil. The devil counterfeits God's gifts and
would make fortune telling
seem like the word of knowledge, but there is a difference.
If a fortune teller knows
anything at all supernaturally, you can be sure that it is not the
supernatural Spirit of God
that gives him that knowledge. The devil uses fortune tellers
to tell you something that
will worry you and break up your home, break your heart,
break your finances, and mess
up your future, but God, by the word of knowledge, is
generally trying to build
His people up in these areas.
3. NOT THE GIFT OF ALL KNOWLEDGE - This
gift is not the gift of knowledge,
but the gift of the WORD of
knowledge given by the Holy Spirit. God does not give us
all of His knowledge, but
just a word (part) occasionally; although, the part will be
changed into the whole during
the perfect age (1 Cor 13:9-10) when we will know Him
even as we are known.
4. NOT THE ABILITY TO MAKE GOOD GUESSES
- This gift is not making good
guesses, having a good imagination,
or the working of the mind. It does not work through
one's mind any more than speaking
with tongues does. God speaks to one's spirit by His
Spirit without the help of
one's natural mind or ears. You simply know it, that's all.
5. NOT SIMPLY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT GOD - This
gift is not a knowledge of God,
or of God's Word (although
those are good and necessary things). Those come by
learning, hearing, studying,
and experience. For instance, Eli, the priest had vast
knowledge of God and His Word
through experience; but the child Samuel, who had
neither, was given a Word
direct from the throne of God by the Holy Spirit. Eli had
come to the place where he
had no open vision (1Sam 3:7, 11-14).
6. NOT A VOCAL GIFT - It is not a vocal
gift, as it causes you to know things rather
than to speak things. If someone
speaks the word of knowledge after the Lord has given
it to him, that part would
come under a different category of ministry such as teaching,
exhorting, or preaching.
B. WHAT IT IS
1. DEFINITION - The spiritual gift of
the WORD OF KNOWLEDGE is the bestowal
of certain facts from the
mind of God which He sees fit to reveal to one of His servants
supernaturally by His Spirit.
It is only a word, or a portion of God's endless
storehouse
of knowledge.
2. METHODS - God speaks in divers manners,
such as dreams, visions, revelation, or
sometimes even in an audible
voice. It is always conveyed supernaturally as is any other
spiritual gift.
3. ABILITIES - This gift can tell the
whereabouts, conditions, nature, or thoughts of a
person, animal, place, or
thing even when it is impossible to learn it in the natural.
4. PURPOSES - It helps one to look into
the heart, mind, or nature of a man and to
know his secrets and intentions.
It has helped find lost articles, as in 2 Kings 6, but
its main purpose is to help
find lost souls as in the book of Acts.
C. BIBLE EXAMPLES
1. SAMUEL We find examples of the word
of knowledge throughout the O.T. In
1 Samuel 9 and 10 we see at
least 2 dozen things that the Lord showed the prophet
SAMUEL through the word of
knowledge. Samuel told Saul all that was in his heart.
He told him many things about
himself. Samuel knew that Saul was hunting his asses;
that they had been lost three
days; that they had already been found; that Saul's father
had left home worrying about
him; that Saul had been chosen of the Lord to reign over
His people; that he should
anoint Saul king; that Saul would save the people out of the
hands of the Philistines;
the time of day that he was going to meet Saul; that Saul would
meet two men just after he
left to go on his way; that the two men would speak to Saul;
that Saul would meet three
men as he went up to Bethel; that one of the three men
would be carrying three kids;
that he would meet them at Tabor; that one man would be
carrying three loaves of bread;
that another would be carrying a bottle of wine; that they
would salute Saul; that they
would give Saul two loaves of bread; that Saul would come
to the hill of God; that he
would come to the city; that he would meet a company of
prophets; that these prophets
would be carrying musical instruments (namely a psaltery,
tabret, pipe, and harp); that
the company of prophets would prophesy; that the Spirit
of the Lord would come upon
Saul; that Saul would prophesy with them; and that Saul
would be turned into another
man. All of this was revealed to the prophet Samuel by
the WORD OF KNOWLEDGE.
2. ANANIAS - The gift of the WORD OF KNOWLEDGE
is also found in the N.T.
In Acts 9:11-16 the Lord speaks
to ANANIAS and tells him the name of a man; the
exact house where the man
was staying; the name of the man who lived there; the name
of the street on which the
house was located; the name of the town which Paul was from;
that Paul was there praying;
that Paul was blind; that Ananias' name had already been
revealed to Paul; that Paul
knew Ananias would lay hands on him, pray for him to be
healed of blindness, and pray
for Paul to receive the Holy Spirit; that Paul (then named Saul)
was chosen by the Lord to
suffer for the Lord; and that Paul was called to have a ministry
to the Gentiles. The Bible
says that God spoke to Ananias, but the natural man is always
ready to discredit such reports.
Our carnal side always tries to explain away such things as
an illusion or say such things
are the work of the devil. The carnal mind is not subject to the
law of God. It is enmity against
God (Rom 8:7). Nevertheless, when Ananias did what he
was told by the Lord, he found
it all to be true.
3. PETER - In Acts 10:9-17, PETER receives
a WORD OF KNOWLEDGE while he was
up on the house top praying.
The Spirit of God showed him that three men were seeking
him; that the Lord had sent
them; that God had granted salvation to the Gentiles; and that
all people were equal in God's
sight. If Peter had gone to school all his life, he couldn't
have learned such knowledge
from natural means. The all-knowing God gave this
knowledge to Peter and helped
him get Cornelius household saved.