God condemns fortune telling as being of the devil. The devil counterfeits God's gifts and would make fortune telling seem like the word of knowledge, but there is a ...
This gift cannot be fortune telling because God's word
condemns fortune telling as being of the devil. The devil
counterfeits God's gifts and
would make
fortune telling seem like the word of knowledge, but there is a
difference.
If a fortune teller knows
anything at all supernaturally, you can be sure that it is not the
supernatural Spirit of God that gives him that
knowledge. The devil uses fortune tellers
to
tell you something that will worry you and break up your home, break your
heart,
break your finances, and mess up your
future, but God, by the word of knowledge, is
generally trying to build His people up in these areas.
NOT SIMPLY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT GOD - This gift is not a knowledge of God,
or of God's Word (although those are good and
necessary things). Those come by
learning,
hearing, studying, and experience. For instance, Eli, the priest had vast
knowledge of God and His Word through experience;
but the child Samuel, who had
neither, was
given a Word direct from the throne of God by the Holy Spirit. Eli had
come to the place where he had no open vision (1Sam
3:7, 11-14).
DEFINITION - The spiritual gift of the WORD OF KNOWLEDGE is the bestowal
of certain facts from the mind of God which He sees
fit to reveal to one of His servants
supernaturally by His Spirit. It is only a word, or a
portion of God's endless storehouse
of
knowledge.
BIBLE EXAMPLES
1. SAMUEL We find
examples of the word of knowledge throughout the O.T. In
1 Samuel 9 and 10 we see at least 2 dozen things that the Lord
showed the prophet
SAMUEL through the word of
knowledge. Samuel told Saul all that was in his heart.
He told him many things about himself. Samuel knew that Saul
was hunting his asses;
that they had been
lost three days; that they had already been found; that Saul's father
had left home worrying about him; that Saul had been
chosen of the Lord to reign over
His people;
that he should anoint Saul king; that Saul would save the people out of
the
hands of the Philistines; the time of day
that he was going to meet Saul; that Saul would
meet two men just after he left to go on his way; that the two
men would speak to Saul;
that Saul would meet
three men as he went up to Bethel; that one of the three men
would be carrying three kids; that he would meet them at
Tabor; that one man would be
carrying three
loaves of bread; that another would be carrying a bottle of wine; that
they
would salute Saul; that they would give
Saul two loaves of bread; that Saul would come
to the hill of God; that he would come to the city; that he
would meet a company of
prophets; that these
prophets would be carrying musical instruments (namely a psaltery,
tabret, pipe, and harp); that the company of
prophets would prophesy; that the Spirit
of
the Lord would come upon Saul; that Saul would prophesy with them; and that
Saul
would be turned into another man. All of
this was revealed to the prophet Samuel by
the WORD OF KNOWLEDGE.
2. ANANIAS - The gift of
the WORD OF KNOWLEDGE is also found in the N.T.
In Acts 9:11-16 the Lord speaks to ANANIAS and tells him the
name of a man; the
exact house where the man
was staying; the name of the man who lived there; the name
of the street on which the house was located; the name of the
town which Paul was from;
that Paul was there
praying; that Paul was blind; that Ananias' name had already been
revealed to Paul; that Paul knew Ananias would lay
hands on him, pray for him to be
healed of
blindness, and pray for Paul to receive the Holy Spirit; that Paul (then named
Saul)
was chosen by the Lord to suffer for
the Lord; and that Paul was called to have a ministry
to the Gentiles. The Bible says that God spoke to Ananias, but
the natural man is always
ready to discredit
such reports. Our carnal side always tries to explain away such things as
an illusion or say such things are the work of the
devil. The carnal mind is not subject to the
law of God. It is enmity against God (Rom 8:7). Nevertheless, when Ananias did
what he
was told by the Lord, he found it all
to be true.
3. PETER - In Acts 10:9-17, PETER
receives a WORD OF KNOWLEDGE while he was
up
on the house top praying. The Spirit of God showed him that three men were
seeking
him; that the Lord had sent them;
that God had granted salvation to the Gentiles; and that
all people were equal in God's sight. If Peter had gone to
school all his life, he couldn't
have learned
such knowledge from natural means. The all-knowing God gave this
knowledge to Peter and helped him get Cornelius
household saved.
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