A Word of Knowledge and Discerning of Spirits
In our previous study in the gifts of the Holy Spirit we turned to the three gifts of revelation which I have been calling a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, and discernings of spirits. We can nevertheless observe a distinction between wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom is essentially directive, knowledge is informative, knowledge imparts facts. They are interdependent, because if you have all the wisdom you need the facts to act upon, and if you have all the knowledge you still need the wisdom to make the right use of it. However, it’s something like the colors of the rainbow, they are distinct and yet they blend into one another.
Defining the Supernatural Gifts
I would define a word of wisdom as a tiny portion of God’s total wisdom supernaturally imparted by the Holy Spirit. From that we very naturally get a parallel definition for a word of knowledge: that is, a tiny portion of God’s total knowledge supernaturally imparted by the Holy Spirit.
I pointed out that each one of these gifts is on a supernatural plane, they do not come by natural reasoning or education or training or so many years at the seminary or the university. They come directly by the Holy Spirit. Like a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge is operated only under God’s control. In other words, I cannot have a word of knowledge merely by the exercise of my will.
Comparison of Revelation Gifts
| Gift Type | Primary Function | Nature of Impartation |
|---|---|---|
| Word of Wisdom | Directive | Supernatural portion of God's wisdom |
| Word of Knowledge | Informative (imparts facts) | Supernatural portion of God's knowledge |
The Ministry of Jesus as a Pattern
Let’s look at some examples in the New Testament and we’ll begin once again with the ministry of Jesus Himself because I believe Jesus is the perfect pattern ministry. Let’s turn to John 1:47–49 where Nathaniel is being invited by Philip to come and meet Jesus. Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and saith of him, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile!”
Nathanael saith unto him, “Whence knowest thou me?” You’ve never met me before, how do you know what kind of a person I am? Jesus answered and said unto him, “Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.” This was not by natural sight, but by vision or revelation of the Holy Spirit. As I say, it seems to be clear even Jesus Himself was pretty surprised to find one, but He knew the truth through the gift of the Spirit.