A. WHAT IT IS NOT
1. NOT LEARNED BY THE NATURAL MIND - The
word of wisdom is not learned
by the natural mind. It cannot
be education, training, methods, or natural wisdom in any
sense. A man without the Spirit
may use methods which prove, many times, both helpful
and harmful. What works beautifully
in one situation may not work at all in another,
especially when it comes to
churches. Many pastors and church workers have problems
that no one but God can help
them with. No man knows the solution. The question is, then
why not go to God? Conferences
and seminars are fun to go to, but they are not to be
confused with the spiritual
gift of the word of wisdom.
2. NOT SPIRITUAL INSIGHT - This gift is
not the ability to give spiritual insight. One
may be mature in the Lord's
Word and have many years of experience in rightly dividing
the Word of Truth, and yet
not have this supernatural spiritual gift. There is a vast
difference between spiritual
fruit and spiritual gifts. The fruit of the Spirit is something
one must work at and be dedicated
to obtaining. The gifts of the Spirit are manifested as
the Spirit wills (1 Cor 12:7).
3. IT IS NOT PSYCHOLOGY - The supernatural
gift of the word of wisdom is not
something one learns in a
classroom studying the natural tendencies of mankind. It is not
a science of the mind. It
is not any earthly wisdom. It is supernaturally given.
4. NOT SIMPLE WISDOM - This gift is not
simple wisdom which every Christian gains
from studying God's Word.
Solomon had wisdom from God; but only once or twice did
he receive a word of wisdom
or a special revelation for a special problem. A young
convert may have the revelation
gift of the word of wisdom and have very little Biblical
wisdom because of a lack of
spiritual maturity.
5. NOT ALL OF GOD'S WISDOM - This gift
is the gift of the WORD of wisdom, it is
not the gift of wisdom. God
speaks to us giving us a word or a portion of His wisdom,
He doesn't give us the whole
storehouse of His wisdom.
6. NOT JUST FOR PREACHERS AND CHURCH OFFICIALS
- This gift is not just
for those who are preachers
and church officials or special workers in the church. It is a
gift for all who have received
the Holy Spirit and who are faced with a problem beyond
their own understanding.
7. NOT JUST A GUESS OR A NEW IDEA - This
gift is not just a guess or a new idea
which accidentally pops into
one's head. The same experience happens to lost people who
do not have the Holy Spirit.
B. WHAT IT IS
1. DEFINITION - Just as wisdom is knowledge
rightly applied, so the Spiritual gift of the
word of wisdom is the supernatural
ability to apply knowledge already possessed,
regardless of how one obtains
that knowledge. It is knowledge rightly applied by the
Spirit. It is God showing
the WHAT, WHY, WHERE, WHEN, AND HOW of a problem.
It is the supernatural solution
to trouble.
2. APPLICATION - It is something every
mother needs in her home, as she cannot handle
every child alike. It is something
every pastor, teacher, and church leader needs at times,
since they cannot handle every
member alike. It is something every merchant should have
at times, as all customers
will not respond to the same kind of treatment.
3. METHODS - It may come by visions, dreams,
a revelation, a still small voice, or an
audible voice. God speaks
in many ways (Heb 11:1) and there are diversities of operation
(1Cor 12:6).
4. PURPOSE - It builds a church and brings
revival.
C. BIBLE EXAMPLES
1. SOLOMON - In 1 Kings 3, Solomon was
faced with a problem when two women both
claimed a live baby after
one had been smothered to death during the night. The Spirit of
God showed Solomon to call
for a sword. He started to divide the live baby between the
two women when one of them
started to cry out for the baby's life. Solomon knew that
this woman was the baby's
rightful mother. Solomon had just prayed and asked for wisdom
from the Lord, which was then
given by the Spirit for that specific problem. It might not have
worked in a similar case if
both loved the baby the same or if both were equally insensitive.
It was a spiritual gift and
a gift of a word of wisdom.
2. ELISHA - In 2 Kings 3, three kings
told Elisha that the Moabites were coming to capture
them. At first, Elisha did
not know what to do. He called for a minstrel (v.15) and listened
and praised the Lord. Then
a gift of the word of wisdom was given to him and Elisha told
them to "make the valley full
of ditches" (v.16). The Moabites were defeated and three
kingdoms were saved.
3. PAUL - Paul was given a word of knowledge
from the Holy Spirit that he was supposed
to go to Rome (Acts 19:21),
but he did not know WHEN, WHY, or HOW. The Spirit gave
him a word of wisdom one night
and told him WHY he was to go (Acts 23:11). In a court
room before Agrippa and Festus
the Holy Spirit gave Paul another word of wisdom and
showed him HOW and WHEN he
was supposed to go (Acts 26:31). Later, the Spirit of
God gave Paul another word
of wisdom to prevent the death of all those on board the ship
as they were on their way
to Rome (Acts 27:31-34).