Word of Wisdom: Obedience through Revelation
- Michael E.B. Maher
- 6 hours ago
- 8 min read
Acts 22:17-18 “Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance (18) and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.”
In order for us to get a clearer understanding of this gift and how it operates, we will examine some examples in scripture. The first example we will look at is recorded for us in the above quoted passage of scripture. In this account our Lord Jesus appeared to Paul while he was in a trance. And so because Paul was allowed to see into the spirit realm on this occasion, we see that the word of wisdom given was confirmed by the manifestation of the gift of discerning of spirits, for that is what the gift of discerning of spirits is, i.e. the ability to see into the spirit realm. One of the reasons why the Lord used this method of confirmation in this instance is because it was required of Paul to act quickly on the Lord’s instruction. In this passage Jesus told Paul through the word of wisdom that he had to leave Jerusalem quickly, because those living in that city would not accept his testimony. In other words Jesus instructed Paul what to do i.e. leave Jerusalem, when to do it i.e. quickly, and why it had to be done i.e. the Jews would not accept his testimony. If you read this account in scripture you will see that Paul actually argued with the Lord on this occasion, because in the natural it seemed to Paul that his testimony would be a powerful witness for the Lord, because he had been such a staunch adversary against the church and everyone in Jerusalem knew that. And so he wanted to stay in Jerusalem and preach the gospel. But Jesus knew the hearts of the people of that city, and He knew that they would not accept Paul’s testimony and that their plan was to have him killed. And so from this example we can see one of the reasons why the gift of the word of wisdom is so important to the church, because what we see in the natural is very often completely opposite to what our Lord knows the real situation to be. Had Paul stayed in Jerusalem he would have been killed, and the gentile church would have lost the apostle appointed to us by the Lord before his ministry had even begun (Acts 9:28-30).
Acts 10:9-20 “The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. (10) Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance (11) and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. (12) In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. (13) And a voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." (14) But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean." (15) And a voice spoke to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call common." (16) This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again. (17) Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate. (18) And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there. (19) While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are seeking you. (20) Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them."
In our next example quoted above the apostle Peter had just had a vision from the Lord, where the Lord had shown him that he was not to call unclean that which God had cleansed. While Peter was busy thinking about the vision and what its meaning could be, the Holy Spirit spoke to him and gave him a word of knowledge, “behold three men are seeking you”. At the same time the Holy Spirit also gave him a word of wisdom i.e. a specific instruction, “go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them”. A word of knowledge given by the Lord is always verifiable. And so when Peter went downstairs after the vision, there were the three men waiting for him just like the Holy Spirit said. We know the rest of the story that Peter went with the men to Cornelius’ house to preach the gospel. And so we see that through the gift of the word of wisdom, Peter was led by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel to the gentiles for the very first time. In the natural, Peter had no idea why he was being sent to Caesarea with these three men, but because he was obedient, God’s purpose for the salvation of the gentiles could be brought about. The important point about this particular gift is once again confirmed in this incident, i.e. when the Holy Spirit gives us a word of wisdom, there is a response of obedience that is required from the person to whom the Lord is speaking. In this instance the Holy Spirit told Peter what to do, but in order for the outcome of the word of wisdom to be manifested, Peter had to be obedient, even though in the natural it made no sense to him. In fact the Holy Spirit’s instruction went against Peter’s erroneous understanding of the law at that time, i.e. that it was unlawful for Jews to associate with gentiles (Acts 10:28). And so again we see that because the word of wisdom requires one to be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit, that the Lord confirmed His instruction given. On this occasion the Holy Spirit gave confirmation through the word of knowledge, linked to the vision that Peter experienced. One of the reasons that the Lord used this method on this occasion was because of the clear importance of Peter’s obedience to the Lord’s instruction given. As an aside, if you read the rest of this account in scripture you will see that Peter eventually realised that because God had included them in His plan of salvation, the Lord’s word to him in the vision “What God has cleansed you must not call common”, was in fact God’s instruction to him (a word of wisdom) to receive gentile believers into the church. God confirmed that word to Peter through the demonstration of His power, by manifesting the gift of the working of miracles when He baptized the gentiles with the Holy Spirit while Peter was still preaching to them. And so in obedience to God’s word, Peter instructed the Jews who were with him to baptize the new gentile believers in water, thus acknowledging them as being a part of the church (Acts 10:34-48).
Acts 16:9-10 “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." (10) Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.”
In the next example quoted above, we see the Holy Spirit using the word of wisdom to guide the apostle Paul and his ministry team to go to Macedonia to preach the gospel. If you read the full account in scripture you will see that prior to Paul receiving this word of wisdom, he and his team had been asking the Lord to show them where He wanted them to preach the gospel. They could have preached the gospel anywhere they wanted because that was the mandate given to them by the Lord, i.e. go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). But had Paul and his team just gone anywhere they would not have had much success, because it is only God who knows whose hearts are ready to receive the gospel. And so prior to this word of wisdom that Paul received, they had tried to go into Asia and Bithynia to preach the gospel there, and in both instances the Holy Spirit did not permit them. So why is that? The answer is that the people in those regions were not yet ready to hear the gospel. And so had Paul and his team gone there they would have laboured in vain. Nevertheless if you study the ministry of Paul you will see that he never planned anything unless he was led by the Holy Spirit, for Paul understood that the Lord Jesus knew exactly where their preaching would be accepted and which hearts were open to receive the gospel (he had learned that lesson when the Lord appeared to him in Jerusalem). And so finally in answer to their prayers, the Holy Spirit led them through the word of wisdom to go to Macedonia to preach the gospel. Again we see in this example the Holy Spirit confirming the word of wisdom given, by using a revelation gift, which in this case was the discerning of spirits, for as already mentioned, a vision is the gift of discerning of spirits in operation (we will look at this particular gift in more detail later in this teaching). One of the reasons that the Lord used this method on this occasion was because of the importance that the church in Macedonia would play in the early church (1 Thessalonians 1:6-8). And so in obedience to the word of wisdom received, Paul and his team went to Macedonia to preach the gospel there.
Acts 27:30-32 “And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretence of putting out anchors from the prow, (31) Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved." (32) Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.”
In the next example quoted in the above passage of scripture we see the gift of the word of wisdom being displayed to assist even unbelievers. The context of this passage is that as a prisoner, Paul and his companions were onboard a ship that was sailing to Rome. The ship had recently set sail from the port of Fair Havens against Paul’s advice, for the Lord had impressed upon Paul that due to an impending storm, they would lose both their ship and their lives if they were to sail at that time. Following the advice of both the owner and captain of the ship however, the centurion and soldiers who were guarding the prisoners, decided to sail. Because they ignored Paul’s warning they had been caught up in a massive storm at sea, which by this time had been ongoing for almost two weeks and the ship was beginning to sink. Throughout all this time Paul had been praying and interceding to the Lord on behalf of the people on board, that the Lord would spare their lives. And so in response to Paul’s prayer the Lord had dispatched an angel to him, who had given him both a word of knowledge as to the outcome of their ordeal i.e. the ship would run aground on an island, and the word of wisdom quoted above (Acts 27:22-26). Because of the importance of the outcome of this ordeal, the Lord had confirmed the word of wisdom by delivering it through the revelation gift of the discerning of spirits i.e. Paul’s vision of the angel. And so we see that the word of wisdom given by the angel, was that the sailors had to remain onboard the ship if the lives of the soldiers were to be saved. Because they had seen the accuracy of his warning about the storm, the soldiers by this time were well prepared to act on Paul’s instruction and so they cut the ropes of the skiff thus ensuring that the sailors could not abandon ship. And so if you read the rest of the account you will see that the ship did eventually run aground on the island of Malta and everyone was saved.
Michael E.B. Maher
Comments