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1 Corinthians 12:31 states, "But covet earnestly the best gifts; and yet show I unto you a more excellent way." The more excellent way is to seek the love of God first, and to desire the gifts of the Spirit in order that we may serve God better (1Corinthians 13).
"Follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts" (1 Corinthians 14:1). If we put spiritual gifts before the love of God, we make a serious mistake in our appraisal of values. The foremost thing in the life of the Christian is the love of God. Those who love God and their fellow man will desire spiritual gifts as God's divine equipment and enablement to reach needy humanity.
It is our purpose to deal with each of the nine gifts separately, and in keeping with the grouping of the gifts as set forth in chapter 33. They are namely, the revelation gifts, that is, gifts that reveal something; the gifts of power that is, gifts that do something; and gifts of utterance or inspirational gifts, that is, gifts that say something.
1 Corinthians 12:8 "For to one is given, by the Spirit, the Word of Wisdom."
You will notice that in the category of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 there are three gifts of revelation mentioned — the Word of Wisdom, the Word of Knowledge, and the Discerning of Spirits. As set forth in order of importance the "Word of Wisdom" heads the list and is the first and most important of the three gifts of revelation.
The gift of the "Word of Wisdom" has been explained is several ways. Some Christians believe that the "Word of Wisdom" is a natural gift of wisdom that one may possess and sanctify to the work of God.
Others are convinced that all wisdom comes from God and if we are truly sanctified, our natural gifts become spiritual. And so the "Word of Wisdom" is a natural gift consecrated to the service of God. This line of reasoning has a great weakness in that one would have to have to allow some line of logic for the other gifts also. If this were true of the "Word of Wisdom," it would also be true of "speaking with tongues," making "tongues" spoken on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) nothing more than a linguist's gift consecrated to God, and the "gifts of healing" would be nothing more than a sanctified conception of the medical profession.
If we follow this line of reasoning, and if this were true of the "Word of Wisdom," then every Bible teacher could claim to have the gift. Also, it would be very difficult to draw a line of distinction between the Sunday School teacher, and some great Bible expositor dealing in the area of theology. Or, between the sophisticated worldly wise and the godly student of scripture. Where would one draw the line?
We must come to the conclusion that the gift of the "Word of Wisdom" is not any wisdom of ours glorified. The "Word of Wisdom" is a supernatural revelation to an individual of the mind and purpose of God. It is "God's Wisdom." We recognize that apart from the supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit, God is willing to guide individual believers in their daily lives and give them as much "wisdom" as they need for any circumstance (James 1:5). This provision, however, is not the gift of the "Word of Wisdom."
The "Word of Wisdom" is the word of divine wisdom imparted to man, exactly as the gifts of healing are a manifestation of God's healing power to man, and not the ability to heal by medicine, surgery, or manipulation. It should be noted that it is not the "gift of wisdom" but the "Word of Wisdom." This can be illustrated by a man who needs legal advice from his lawyer in an important matter. He is in doubt what to do, so he phones his attorney to make inquiry. The attorney advises his client what steps to take in a given situation. The attorney shares with his client a "word of wisdom;" his client acts upon the "word of wisdom" given by the attorney.
The attorney is to the man what God is to us in fact. We are perplexed about a matter; in prayer, we communicate this to God. The Lord in His mercy gives us guidance on that particular matter; this is the "Word of Wisdom" or a word of God's wisdom. He has given us direction and when this happens, we have a manifestation of the first and greatest gift of the Holy Spirit.
To further illustrate — when we see a supernatural sign wrought by the power of the Holy Spirit, then the gift of miracles is in operation. When He gives us a manifestation of His healing virtue, it is the gifts of healing in operation. When He gives ability to speak in another language, the gift of tongues is in operation; even so when He gives us the "word of His wisdom," we have the first and greatest gift in operation — the Word of Wisdom.
There are many scripture illustrations of the "Word of Wisdom." The laws and commandments given to Moses all came from God and are manifestations of the "Word of Wisdom." Ponder the wisdom of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20).
The "Word of Wisdom" communicates God's plan and purpose for the world to men. When He revealed the sequence of the rise and fall of empires to Daniel, it was the word of wisdom. When God revealed in Daniel chapter nine the exact date of Christ's first coming, it was the word of wisdom. When Joseph saw the future respecting his own life, and how his brethren would bow to him — when he interpreted the dreams of the butler, the baker, and later the dreams of Pharaoh, it was the word of wisdom. When the prophet Ezekiel predicted Zedekiah's captivity, when he had his remarkable revelations concerning Tyre, Sidon, Egypt, and other nations as well as the temple of the future, it was a manifestation of the word of wisdom.
In the New Testament, we have the instance of Agabus, who spoke not only of the dearth that should take place, but also revealed the fact that Paul would be bound and led into captivity. When these predictions came to pass, men were made aware that the purposes of God were revealed, and manifested through Agabus. This was the "Word of Wisdom." (See Acts 11:27-30; Acts 21:10-14).
The careful student will be aware that often the "Word of Wisdom" is carried by prophecy. The term "prophecy" can signify a gift of the Spirit and it can signify specific predictions, words of knowledge, or even messages of healing.
We use the term "prophecy" to signify the prophetic gift of utterance; this gift that is the sixth in the catalogue of gifts has no predictions in it. It is the simplest form of inspired utterance. Prophecy, however, may be used to convey predictions, the word of wisdom, as well as the word of knowledge. Later in this study we will deal with prophecy in a detailed way when we take up "gifts of utterance."
To summarize briefly what has come through the gift of the "word of wisdom" we should include the Law of Moses, revelation of truth to the Church and predictions of God's prophets. There is nothing greater than the revelation of the mind and purpose of God. To covet earnestly the best gift, is to covet the "Word of Wisdom" (1 Corinthians 12:31).
It is difficult to separate in our thinking the gift of the "Word of Knowledge" from its companion gift the "Word of Wisdom." In a sense the "Word of Knowledge" is more like the gift of wisdom than any other gift. However, as knowledge and wisdom differ naturally so the gift of the word of wisdom will differ from the word of knowledge.
There are prevalent several views and interpretations about the gift of the word of knowledge. The most common erroneous view is that to have the word of knowledge is to have a very complete knowledge of the Bible. It is said of Daniel Webster that he had memorized the entire Bible as well as all of Shakespeare's writings. Does this indicate that he had received the "Word of Knowledge?"
Is it possible after much diligent study and search of the scriptures that a person ultimately arrives at this second gift of the Holy Spirit? Hardly, the "Word of Knowledge" like any other gifts is supernatural. We can no more attain to the word of knowledge than we could attain to the speaking of other tongues by learning languages. The number of languages a linguist might have acquired brings him no nearer receiving the gift of "other tongues" through the person who knows no language other than his own.
So no matter how much one may know through diligent prayerful study of the Word of God, he is no nearer receiving the gift of the "Word of Knowledge" than the uninitiated. This may be a startling statement to many; nevertheless, it is a true one.
Every teacher of the Bible must of necessity have a knowledge of the Word of God or he cannot teach, but we are fully aware of the fact that although we may have many valuable instructors in Christ, yet there are not many who possess the "Word of Knowledge."
We must in the light of the above facts come to the conclusion that the Word of Knowledge is a supernatural revelation of the existence or nature of a person or thing, or the knowledge of some event, given to us by the Holy Spirit for a specific purpose. Since all gifts of the Holy Spirit are for signs and wonders, anyone manifesting the word of knowledge, or the word of wisdom, or indeed any gift of the Holy Spirit, is manifesting the Spirit of God, and bearing witness to the Lord.
The Word of Knowledge is often used to help a child of God out of difficulty. It was the "Word of Knowledge" coming to Elisha, the prophet, who by revelation saved the king of Israel from the Syrians. A puzzled and exasperated king of Syria thought that there must be a traitor in his camp. After interrogation his own soldiers who knew of Elisha, divulged the fact that the prophet Elisha had access to even the king's thought life by the Spirit of God. The "Word of Knowledge" revealed that the asses Saul was looking for had been found. Samuel by the same "Word of Knowledge" knew that Saul would come to inquire about the asses, and that the young man was chosen to be Israel's first King (1 Samuel 9).
When Jeroboam sent his wife, disguised, to inquire of the prophet about their sick son, the prophet, Ahijah, being blind, was enabled by the "Word of Knowledge" to cry out, "Come in thou wife of Jeroboam" which was evident manifestation that God was speaking through the prophet, and addressed a message to her.
In the New Testament, Christ gave a startling revelation of the same "Word of Knowledge" to the woman at the well (John 4) who had come to draw water, and with whom He engaged in a conversation about spiritual things. Christ asked the woman for a drink of water, which greatly surprised her, for she was a Samaritan, and upon inquiry the Lord said to her, "If thou knew the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water." (John 4:10) When the woman requested that she might receive the living water, the Lord told her to call her husband, to which she replied, "I have no husband." Then was manifested the "Word of Knowledge" for Christ said, "Thou has well said, 'I have no husband,' for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that thou sayest truly."
Nathaniel was amazed when the Lord said to him, "Before Philip called thee, when thou was under the fig tree, I saw thee" (John 1:48). He was astonished that one had seen him within the seclusion of privacy, by the word of knowledge. Godly Ananias was directed to where converted Saul of Tarsus was praying in a house located in the street called Straight (Acts 9:11). The word of knowledge might lead to the exposure of some secret serious sin as in the case of another, Ananias and his wife, Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11).
We need to distinguish between a quick and clever answer and the supernatural. A person good at a quick repartee does not necessarily receive the word of knowledge.
If the word spoken is not associated with some supernatural revelation, it is only a clever reply. In the "Word of Knowledge" the element of the supernatural must be present. When a person states something that is according to fact, and of which he has had no previous knowledge then it has been given to him supernaturally and is the "Word of Knowledge."
There is a need at this point to understand that a holy life does not necessarily produce the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A holy life will not of necessity have gifts of the Holy Spirit. This can be illustrated from scriptures.
When Rebekah (Genesis 24) came to draw water at the well and was met by Abraham's servant, she was living a pure life. She was a virgin, and doubtless a good number of other women of her age living at the same time were also virgins. She did not receive the beautiful gifts from Eleasar, the servant of Abraham, because she was a good, pure woman living a clean life, but because she was chosen to be the bride of Isaac. The truth of the matter is that the Holy Spirit divides the gifts severally as He wills.
Some assume that a person highly educated is better qualified to receive the word of knowledge than a man or woman who is uneducated. This, however, is not true. A man is in no better position, through his education, to receive the gift of the word of knowledge, than a physician is to receive the gifts of healing, or the linguist to receive the gift of tongues. In fact, experience shows that people who are good at languages are often the last to receive the gift of tongues, and those who are medically inclined have the greatest difficulty in believing to receive the gifts of healing. So those who are most educated may easily stumble at the simplicity of the gift of the word of knowledge. What is required is utter dependence upon God for the manifestation of His spiritual gifts.
We have dealt in this lesson in detail upon the gifts of the "Word of Wisdom" and the "Word of Knowledge." Our comments will be continued about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in less detail in the next chapter.