The Gifts Part 5
Words of Wisdom and Words of Knowledge continued...
So what are the gifts of the words of wisdom and that of the words of knowledge, and why are they relevant for us today?
The first and most obvious answer is that these gifts are relevant for us today because they are indeed gifts of the Holy Spirit which He distributes as He sees fit. There is no such thing as a bad gift from God, there is no such thing as a bad gift from the Holy Spirit, and so whatever gift He chooses to impart we receive it with gladness of heart and with joy. What we must realize is that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit are reserved exclusively for the children of God, and although they are freely given to believers, there is no amount of money an unbeliever could offer that could purchase any of the gifts. There is something comforting in knowing that God reserves His best for His children, there is something reassuring in the fact that God will not sell for treasure to unbelievers what He freely gives His own.
Both the gift of the words of wisdom and that of the words of knowledge are revelatory gifts, and along with the gift of discerning of spirits they aid the Body of Christ in keeping themselves pure and undefiled from the various snares and deceptions the enemy places in our path.
The gift of the words of knowledge is a gift of insight, wherein God reveals something of an individual’s past or present, something that they must either be rebuked of, corrected of, or warned of.
When you hear the words ‘the Lord showed me that you are struggling with such and such a thing, or the Lord showed me that you need to repent of such and such a thing’ it is the gift of the word of knowledge that is operating through the individual at the time.
Too often we confuse the gift of the words of wisdom and the gift of the words of knowledge with the gift of prophecy, blending them all together in an unrecognizable hodgepodge wherein we label everything prophecy even though it might be the gift of wisdom or the gift of knowledge.
The gift of the words of knowledge operates in the past, and in the present. This gift reveals events, deeds, mysteries that have already taken place, or reveals the secret of one’s heart in the present.
My grandfather was a man that operated in the gift of the words of knowledge, and as his interpreter throughout his ministry in the United States I can readily tell you it is not an easy gift to carry with you and operate in.
There were countless times when my grandfather would point out someone in the audience for either smoking, abusing their spouse, or adultery, other times when he would pray for individuals and reveal to them the secrets of their heart, and all these were attributed to the gift of the words of knowledge.
One thing is certain, you must be bold to operate in this gift as it will most likely offend some, and outright anger others, because it strips them of any disguise they might attempt to keep on, or any hidden sin they might still be clinging to.
In essence the gift of the words of knowledge is knowing certain aspects of one’s life that the Holy Spirit reveals to you, it is seeing beyond the veil of the Sunday dress or the Sunday suit, beyond the niceties of singing from the choir book and reading the weekly scripture passage, to the heart of the individual, to those things which they’ve tried long and hard to hide and to mask.
I’ll be the first to admit that having this gift will not garner you many friends, especially if you operate in it consistently, but I believe with all my heart that it is a gift that ought to be more visible within the household of faith because the Christ is soon returning, and He is returning for a bride without spot or wrinkle.
I often wonder how empty many churches would be if the gifts of the Holy Spirit operated in them consistently. How many mega-churches would have to close down if the gift of the words of knowledge were embraced by the congregation, and if God would reveal the sins of their hearts on a regular basis?
One thing is certain, whether a great majority would leave, or a great majority would repent and turn from their wicked ways the church would be the better for it, and the righteousness of God would shine in it as it should.
The household of faith has been bathing in the pool of compromise and dining at the table of political correctness for so long that ‘men of God’ today are expected to be mealy mouthed appeasers, tolerant of every proclivity and perversity, going out of their way to be non-confrontational, non-offensive, and non-judgmental.
If anyone dare stand for truth, if anyone dare preach the unadulterated word of God, they are quickly marginalized and labeled as hateful, unloving, and unmerciful not by the world but by those who ought to have been laborers in the same harvest field, who by having defined themselves as Christians ought to have been standing on the same truths.
The grim reality is that a great majority do not want the gifts of the Holy Spirit in their churches because they would upturn the apple cart, they would upset the status quo, they would reveal what lies beneath the surface of manicured lawns, marble foyers, velvet pews, and gold leaf pulpits.
The Holy Spirit is not in the business of sparing feelings; He is in the business of equipping and preparing the Bride that it be ready for the Groom’s imminent return. The Holy Spirit is not in the business of cozying up to politicians, of garnering influence or power, He is in the business of imbuing true believers with power from on high that they might stand and fight and overcome the darkness that is encroaching upon the light.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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