Wisdom
1 Corinthians 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom;...
Wisdom -
1 a: ability to discern inner qualities and relationships: INSIGHT
b: good sense: JUDGMENT
When we get the word of wisdom from the Lord, it’s the ability to apply a course of action to knowledge/facts that we already have. King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, second only to Jesus. Here’s an example of his great wisdom:
1 Kings 3:16-28
16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.
22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.
23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.
27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.
28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.
Solomon had no idea who the real mother was. He used his wisdom to reveal it. Isn’t that awesome? God wants us all to be wise. He even tells us to ask Him for wisdom and He’ll give it to us. The gift of wisdom is different from that, though. It’s a gift that a believer “operates” in. It’s pretty awesome.
Knowledge
1 Corinthians 12:8 ...to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;...
Knowledge - awareness, as of a fact or circumstance:
The gift of knowledge, or word of Knowledge, is similar to the gift of Wisdom, but they are not the same thing. Knowledge deals with facts/truth, while wisdom deals with what to do with those facts/truth.
King David (Solomon’s father) did something terrible after he became king. While his kingdom was at war, he was home in his palace. He was looking down at his kingdom and saw a woman bathing on her housetop. He lusted after her, sent for her, and had sex with her. This woman happened to be married, and her husband happened to be gone to war, fighting for his king. When this woman happened to get pregnant, she knew she was in trouble. The penalty for adultery was death.
When David found out she was pregnant, he sent for her husband, Uriah. He told him to go home and spend some time with his wife, hoping Uriah wouldn’t know that Bathsheba was already pregnant. Uriah refused. His family and friends were still in danger, fighting David’s war. He didn’t feel right about being safe at home with his wife. David tried everything, but it wouldn’t work. So he sent Uriah back into battle with a letter to Joab, his commanding officer. He told Joab to set Uriah at the front lines, in the worst part of the battle, then fall back and offer no assistance to him. David had Uriah killed. After Bathsheba mourned for her husband, David married her. No one knew what David had done. No one except God, that is.
God revealed what happened to Nathan. He gave Nathan a word of knowledge. Nathan confronted David.
2 Samuel 12:1-9
1 And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
Faith
1 Corinthians 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit;...
Faith - firm belief in something
Every believer has a measure of faith. It takes faith to believe in God and to believe in what Jesus did for us. That faith is given to us by God.
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Every believer must continue to have faith, to nurture it, to exercise it, protect it. God is pleased when we have faith.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
The gift of faith that we’re looking at today is different than the faith that every believer possesses. This gift is for exceptional faith. The ability to easily believe for the impossible. This is mountain-moving faith.
Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Gifts of Healing
1 Corinthians 12:9 ...to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
Heal - to cause (an undesirable condition) to be overcome
Notice that this gift is called “gifts of healing”, with gifts being plural. Why is that? I think it’s because there are so many different things that need to be healed, and different ways they can be healed. When this gift is operating, then anything, or any person, is eligible to be made whole. Think about it for a moment. What are some different situations that need to be healed? Physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, relationships, families, communities, businesses, etc. There is nothing that needs to be healed that can’t be.
Working of Miracles
1 Corinthians 12:10 To another the working of miracles; …
Miracle - an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment
What do you think of when you hear the word miracle? Is it God parting the Red Sea? How about when Jesus walked on water or turned water into wine? Or when the widow needed money to pay off her debts when her husband died, so she was instructed to borrow jars from all her neighbors, then go home and fill all those jars with oil from her teeny-tiny little bottle of oil. She did as she was told and filled so many jars with oil that she was able to sell the jars, pay her debts and live off the remainder for the rest of her life. It’s an awesome story in 2 Kings 4:1-7.
One of my favorite stories is about the man who borrowed an ax and was chopping some wood. He swung the ax, and the ax-head fell in the Jordan. He was devastated. The law of Moses was very specific about borrowing something from your neighbor and taking very good care of it. It was a big no-no to borrow and not give the borrowed item back. He told Elisha the prophet what happened. Elisha cut down a stick, threw it in the water, and the ax head “swam” back to the man so he could grab it. Did you know that iron doesn’t float and it sure doesn’t swim? That was a miracle! You can read the full story in 2 Kings 6:4-7.
As you can see, the gift of working miracles is quite powerful. I said earlier that I don’t believe every Christian gets every gift of the spirit. I do believe that we can get more than one, and I believe many of these gifts work hand in hand with some of the other gifts. I think the working of miracles pairs with the gift of faith, and I believe the gifts of healing work with the gift of faith. This is, however, just my opinion.
Prophecy
1 Corinthians 12:10 ...to another prophecy;...
Prophecy - a prediction of something to come
The gift of prophecy is very powerful. According to Paul, this gift should be desired above all others, including the gift of speaking in Tongues.
1 Corinthians 14:1-5
1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
5 I would that ye all spake with tongues but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.
While it is true that prophecy means to predict something to come, we have to understand that’s what it means in English. The New Testament was written in Greek and Aramaic. Let’s take a look at the Greek word used in 1 Cor. 12:10.
Prophecy - what is clarified beforehand; prophecy which involves divinely empowered forth-telling (asserting the mind of God) or foretelling (prediction).
The gift of prophecy is many things. It is telling something that is going to happen before it happens. It is proclaiming the Word of God, i.e. preaching. It is speaking on behalf of God. It is revealing mysteries/secrets to someone that God has revealed, essentially opening their eyes to God. It should be used to edify, or build-up, the church.
1 Corinthians 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
Like most powerful, wonderful things of God, this has been abused. There is a difference between giving a warning, chastisement, or reprimand, and being overbearing, judgemental, and condemning. We’ll get into this a little deeper in a future post, but for now just know that a true prophet of God will edify (build up), exhort (encourage), and comfort.
Discerning of Spirits
1 Corinthians 12:10 ...to another discerning of spirits…
“Discernment is the ability to recognize small details, accurately tell the difference between similar things, and make intelligent judgments by using such observations” - https://www.dictionary.com/browse/discernment
Every believer possesses some discernment. At least we should. The biblical meaning of discernment is:
a thorough judgment, i.e. a discernment (conclusion) which distinguishes "look-alikes," i.e. things that appear to be the same.
Discernment is what helps us determine if something is true or false, right or wrong, genuine or fake, etc. Why is this important? Well, we don’t want to be lead astray. We don’t want to be deceived. We don’t want to be in error. Did you know that not everyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus is a follower of Jesus? Nope. Jesus warned us about them:
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Do you know what a ravening wolf will do? It will eat us alive. A wolf in sheep’s clothing looks like a Christian, pretends to act like a Christian, and may even speak some of the same words as a Christian, but their heart is far from God and full of darkness. Did you know that Satan can disguise himself to look like an angel of light? He sure can:
1 Corinthians 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
If we don’t have discernment or seek discernment, we can be fooled. I plan to do an entire post on false prophets, teachers, and doctrines in a few weeks. For now, though, just know that we can discern the truth. We can pray for guidance, read the Bible, or seek someone who has the gift of Discernment when we need to know if something/someone is true.
Diverse Kinds of Tongues
1 Corinthians 12:10 “...to another divers kinds of tongues…”
Ok. This is one of the most controversial subjects for believers. There is so much division caused by this one gift that it is astonishing. The gift of tongues. Some denominations, or branches, think there is no such thing as speaking in tongues, and there are other branches who believe you’re not saved if you don’t have the evidence of speaking in tongues. As with every other belief that causes division, the truth lay somewhere in the middle.
“to speak with (in) a tongue (the organ of speech), to speak with tongues; this, as appears from 1 Corinthians 14:7ff, is the gift of men who, rapt in an ecstasy and no longer quite masters of their own reason and consciousness, pour forth their glowing spiritual emotions in strange utterances, rugged, dark, disconnected, quite unfitted to instruct or to influence the minds of others:” - https://biblehub.com/greek/1100.htm
I don’t agree with every statement made in this definition of tongues I found on biblehub.com, but for the most part, this meaning hits the mark. Speaking in tongues is when someone speaks in either an unknown language, meaning a language the speaker doesn’t know or in a truly unknown language, meaning no one knows the language. Either way, this is a miraculous gift from God. But, this is a gift, not a requirement of salvation. Just because it isn’t a requirement of salvation, that does not mean that it isn’t important, ‘cause it is.
I’d like to clarify something. I believe that speaking in tongues is a gift of the spirit. I don’t believe every Christian receives this gift, just like I don’t believe every Christian gets the gifts of healing or prophecy. I do, however, believe there is a prayer language that is available to every Christian. I think there is a difference between the gift of speaking in tongues, and the ability to pray in tongues. I can do a separate post on this if anyone is interested. Just let me know. But for now, let’s take a look at what Paul says about this awesome gift:
1 Corinthians 14:14 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
Prophecy edifies, or builds up, the Church as a whole, or another person. That’s what it’s designed to do. If I have the gift of Prophecy, it’s not used for my benefit, but someone else. Tongues are kind of the opposite. If I have the gift of tongues, it’s used to edify or build me up. The only time Tongues are used to edify the Church is when there is an interpreter present, a.k.a. someone with the gift of Interpretation of Tongues.
Paul didn’t forbid speaking in tongues, nor did he decree it necessary for salvation. He was determined to keep it balanced. He even gave recommendations for using the gift during services at church.
1 Corinthians 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
27 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
30 If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.
31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.
32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
Paul is simply saying that it is appropriate to exercise the gift of tongues during church, but he’s emphasizing that order can still be observed while doing it. Notice that he gives the same instructions for prophecy. One at a time, probably no more than three, and that the speakers can control themselves and not talk over each other. He suggests using courtesy, otherwise, there is confusion, and confusion isn’t godly. Have you ever tried to listen to an entire group of people talking at the same time? It doesn’t work. It’s frustrating and not productive.
Paul said that if there is no interpreter present then the speaker should be quiet. If someone with the gift of interpretation is present, then the message delivered in tongues becomes like the gift of prophecy, meaning the entire church is edified. That’s awesome! Here’s the thing, though. The only way to know if there is an interpreter, or to benefit from the message, is for the person to speak the message out loud for all to hear. Some believers are terrified that they will be reprimanded for speaking in tongues. Want to know why? Because some of them have been. It’s a shame. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked with someone after church and they admitted that they had a message to give in tongues, but they were too scared to speak it. That’s unfortunate. That’s quenching the spirit. We never want to quench the spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
Interpretation of Tongues
1 Corinthians 12:10 “...to another the interpretation of tongues:”
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Someone with this gift hears the message that is in tongues but can translate it. I’m not sure how exactly it works, but I’ve spoken with a few who heard the message that was given, but they heard it in English. They didn’t know it was in an unknown language. Pretty cool, huh? Someone with this gift never gets to operate in it unless they are given the opportunity. Some don’t even know they have it. We must encourage that the gift of speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues be used. God gave these gifts to us for a reason. He wants us to use them.
Don’t Value One Gift Above Another
1 Corinthians 12:11 - 31
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?
20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.
25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
We are reminded again that we are all valued equally. All the gifts of the Spirit should be valued equally. God loves diversity. God made us all different, and He designed different gifts for us, but we all come from the same God. All the gifts are from the same Spirit. We are all part of the Body of Christ. We are all needed and important.
I hope you were blessed by this study. It is by no means a comprehensive study on this subject. I just wanted to give a quick overview. Believe me, we have just scratched the surface here. I can do a more in-depth study on each of the gifts if you’re interested. Just let me know!
Lord-willing next week we’ll discuss our job. You didn’t know that you, as a believer, have a job to do? You sure do!
Keep on Keepin’ on For Jesus!
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