1 Corinthians 12:8-10 “for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, (9) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, (10) to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.”
The second revelation gift listed in the above passage of scripture is the gift called the word of knowledge. Notice that it is not called the gift of knowledge, as some like to misquote it as being. As we have already mentioned earlier in this teaching, God knows everything, past, present and future. In other words He is omniscient. And so one who receives the gift of the word of knowledge, does not then also become omniscient because they now have the knowledge of God. As we described in the gift of the word of wisdom, the analogy of one word in a very large library filled with billions of books which themselves each have billions of words, gives us a clearer understanding of the fragment of God’s knowledge that He imparts at any given time, to the one who has this particular gift. As with the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge that God imparts through this gift, is supernatural. In other words this is not knowledge that could be known in the natural with human understanding. This concept becomes clearly understood when we examine the scriptural examples later in this section. And so one who receives this gift from the Holy Spirit, then becomes used of Him to impart those words of knowledge as they receive them, to whomever the Lord wills.
1 Corinthians 14:24-25 “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. (25) And thus, the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.”
As revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, when the genuine gift of the word of knowledge is manifested in the church it will very often disclose the secrets of men’s hearts. So why do I refer to the genuine gift of the word of knowledge? The reason is because of all the gifts of the Spirit, the one that is most commonly counterfeited by false prophets is the word of knowledge. And the reason for that is because demons spend a lot of time watching and listening to people without them being aware of it. And so they are able to impart that information to mediums (false prophets) who work with them, and these “prophets” in turn give people “words of knowledge” that are clearly supernatural. Because the recipient of the word recognises that it is impossible for the “prophet” to have known that information in the natural, they are deceived into thinking that it is the gift of the Holy Spirit that is being manifested. But because demons do not know the secret of men’s hearts, they cannot counterfeit the word of knowledge in that area. And so because only God knows the secrets of men’s hearts, when He reveals those secrets through the word of knowledge, the recipient recognises immediately that God is speaking to them. I want you to notice the response that the genuine word of knowledge elicits in the recipient, for this passage reveals that they worship God, recognising that He is the one speaking to them. And so we see that the focus is on God and not on the one who delivers the word of knowledge. In this passage Paul speaks about the recipient being convicted by that which is revealed, implying that the word given motivates the individual to be obedient to the Lord. And so we see that when the Holy Spirit manifests this gift, it is always so that the purpose of God can be accomplished in people’s lives. As an aside, I want you to notice that Paul also teaches us in this passage that the word of knowledge can be given through prophecy.
Michael E.B. Maher
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