The Word of Knowledge
Back to verse 8: We read
“…to another the word of knowledge by the same
Spirit;…” . As in the word of
wisdom, this is not just simple “knowledge”, but is knowledge of
something, someone, some event, that the speaker could not possibly know.
Note also that this gift is not the “gift of knowledge”, but the gift of
the WORD of knowledge.
There is great abuse in the church of today concerning the Word of
Knowledge. Let me give you some examples:
There are many preachers (and others also) who DO NOT have this gift but
who THINK they do. Sadly and tragically, the church also THINKS they
do. Why? The reasons are many.
The people who claim to have this gift don’t want to acknowledge the
absolute truth in that much of their speaking is pure speculation and it
ends with speculation only.
I
have been in more than one service where things are spoken such as (and
please do let me quote): “God said to
tell you that this “thing” you’ve been praying about will shortly come to
pass” (or be answered, or be taken care of, etc).
At other times it will go something like this “You’ve got something you’ve
been praying about for a long time and God’s going to answer”, or “God
said to tell you that it’s going to be Ok”.
Others go further than that: They will say things like “There is
someone in here that has a problem (although they cannot personally reveal
the problem), and if you’ll come up here, God will heal you (or take care
of the problem, etc.). They will say "Someone here has a medical
problem and if you'll come up here, God will heal you".
The sad part is that with absolutely NO Specifics being spoken, the
Church will be "amazed" and folks will flock to the altars for prayer.
Let me ask you, If I stood in YOUR church (unless it is very tiny),
chances are pretty good that If I said (exactly with these words) "someone
here has some financial difficulty" or "someone here has a problem
in your body" or even "there is someone who has been praying for something
for a long time", could YOU identify with any of those? MOST
people could identify with those statements, BUT, friend, regardless of
what you think, THIS IS NOT GOD. IT IS THE SPIRIT OF MAN (OR
WORSE), and it should not be heeded.
LET ME WARN YOU:
ALL MANNERS OF SUCH THINGS ARE FALSE. I do mean ALL!
IF God does decide to give someone a Word of Knowledge, it is
NEVER, EVER, “generalized”. You cannot support a “generalized”
statement concerning any problem or situation by the Word of God.
God is always very specific in giving a Word of Knowledge. Let me
give you some REAL, TRUE examples:
What
if I were to say (and of course it would have to be from God and truthful)
"Someone here has liver disease and the doctors can't do any thing for
you"......THAT'S pretty specific now, isn't it? How many people
would come up? Most likely ONLY the person to whom it pertains.
I have seen the Word of Knowledge get much more specific. I recall
one time in the early 1990's that an Evangelist was ministering in
Muncie, Indiana when the Lord had him speak to a church of about 50 people
and it was revealed that Someone there, a lady, had suffered with migraine
headaches for 12 years. He said that she had suffered a fall and hit
her head on a bedrail and had headaches since that time. He also
said that she had been to specialists and they had no clue what was
causing it. When he asked that person to step forward, guess
what? Only 1 person came forward, a lady, and do you know what she
said? She said she had suffered with migraine headaches for 12
years since the day she fell and hit her head on a bedrail. God healed her instantly, and she has not suffered with any
further headaches.
A
young man had been “Laid Off” from his job for an indefinite period.
After 2 months, his finances had dwindled to the point where he could not
even provide the next meal for his family. He did what he should
have done in the first place, he prayed hard, effectually and earnestly.
Later that afternoon, a knock came at the door and a man from the church
said, “Brother, I was praying this morning and God told me that you needed
groceries”. The young man received 7 large boxes of groceries,
enough to last until he went back to work and got his first paycheck.
Was this just a Coincidence? You be the judge of that as you
consider more examples.
A
Preacher was holding revival services in a local church and on Friday
night of the revival, the church was packed. Several people came in
more than a half hour late including one young teen. About 5 minutes after the late-comers
were seated, the preacher stated, “God has been dealing with me all night
about a particular issue and I feel I should speak it to you
now”. He continued “There is someone here that is considering
suicide and you have come here as a last resort. God is ready and
able to change your mind and to heal your broken heart”. That young
teen boy who had just walked in burst into tears and exclaimed “I just
drove 80 miles. I was running away from home and was going to kill
myself tonight. I drove by here and I thought to myself “God, if you
are really real, then you will care about me and you can speak to me”.
Additionally, he said “I’m going to go to this revival thing and if you
are God, then you have that preacher speak to me in a way that I know it
is from you”. More coincidence? Again, you decide.
A
young woman visited a church of about 80 people. She had suffered
from headaches for more than 3 years. She had a very severe
headache as she sat there listening to a message stating that God is Always Right
On Time. She wrote a small note to her family sitting right beside
her with the words “I’m hurting really bad. I’m going to go now”,
and handed it to her mother. Immediately, the preacher said “Let me
show you that God is always right on time.” He said “One of you in
here tonight is hurting very badly. In fact, you just wrote a note
that says “I’m hurting really bad. I’m going to go now” and you are
getting ready to leave. I tell you now that if you will come forward
for prayer, God will immediately heal you.” She came, God
healed her. Still skeptical? That’s ok, remain that way, it’s
your choice.
I
could write volumes over this matter and still not ever write it all.
You will see in every single example above, though, the Word was very
specific and is nearly always accompanied by an action from God. If
God knows the issue, the problem, he is most certainly not afraid to
reveal it and he is immediately ready to do something about it.
How do I know the above examples are true? I was that
Evangelist, I was the young man who was laid off and I was also the
preacher in the other two examples. You are certainly welcome,
though, to believe whatever you wish.
The word of knowledge can enlighten and encourage us, however, it can also
expose hypocrisy (as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5. ). It can show the
needs of God's servants (such as missionaries) many thousands of miles
away.
One thing is certain, however, the GLORY will ALWAYS GO TO GOD.
DON’T YOU EVER LISTEN TO ONE OF THESE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO “GENERALIZE”
ABOUT ANYTHING. WHEN GOD DOES SPEAK, IT WILL BE UNDENIABLY AND
UNQUESTIONABLY GOD.
The
Word of Knowledge is NOT:
It
is not natural knowledge, or education (the accumulation of natural
knowledge). It is not teaching (the conveyance of natural knowledge).
It is not “fortune telling” or “divining”. Divining is what is being
done by those who “generalize” and this is expressly forbidden by God.
It is not knowledge about God or about his Word. These things are
natural to a BORN AGAIN believer.
It
is not necessarily always spoken. Many times God gives a Word of
Knowledge to someone but instructs them to remain silent at least for a
season.
What
is the Word of Knowledge?
It
is knowledge or facts gained by the supernatural gift of God. It is
knowledge about someone, something, events, circumstances, etc.
supernaturally revealed
to one of His servants for the express purposes of exhortation,
confirmation, instruction, and encouragement.
We
see a biblical example of the Word of Knowledge in Acts 9:11-16. God told Ananias where to go, which house to go
to, whom to look for and what to do when he got there. God also told
him that his name had already been revealed to Paul as well as what was
going to happen and told him that Paul was waiting for him.
We
have a similar account in Acts 10:19.
The Spirit spoke to Peter and told him that 3 men were looking for him and
that God was going to bring salvation to the Gentiles.
All the school knowledge, bible knowledge, natural knowledge in the world
could not account for these revelations by God unto these men.
The next time you get in a Pentecostal (or Charismatic for that matter)
service and someone begins to speak “generalizations” in an attempt to
make themselves look good (and this is exactly what the problem is),
YOU need to understand that they are FALSE and DO NOT have the Gift of
God in them.
YOU as a church member need to reject this as
counterfeit and as damnable. Will you be popular for doing this?
No. Not at all. Will people be mad at you? Yes.
Will they try to “warn” you about “touching God’s anointed?” Of
course they will. The fact is however, NO “Anointed” man of God
would ever operate in generalizations if they had the real gift of
God.
Perhaps it’s time for you to do two things:
1.
Seek the Spirit of Truth
2.
Find another Church
Whatever you decide, one thing is certain. If you are giving heed
to, supporting, or otherwise believing such false workers that cannot
reveal specifics, then you, friend, are deceived and you need to repent,
come out of it and seek the truth of God.
