Revelation
Gifts – Part 6
Memory Verse: “Dear
friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they
are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1
John 4:1. NIV.)
We want to look at how to
obtain the gift of the word of knowledge.
Furthermore we want to
commence looking into the gift of discernment of spirits.
We had in Part 3 of this series
defined the word of knowledge as merely a “fragment of God’s
knowledge revealed to His children at the time it is needed”. So if any Man had
this gift without limit, it was the Lord Jesus Himself because He is God. Let
us see how He manifested this in the account in John
6:11-24.
§
He knew what to do to satisfy the hunger of the people, vs 5,6. The result
was complete satisfaction for the crowd, with extras to spare, vs 7-13.
§
He knew they were about to come and make Him a king by
force, and His response was to withdraw to a mountain by Himself, thus
frustrating their plan, vs. 14-15.
Remember we had said under Part 4
of this series that there are many instances down to today where God has
addressed the needs, fears, anxieties, doubts, longings, desires and sicknesses
of His people through the gift of the word of knowledge to His servant that may
be ministering to those gathered or even those watching on TV. Just as the
disciples needed the word of knowledge in their situation, so do we need the
word of knowledge for our individual situations today.
Lesson Outline 1: How do we obtain the gift of the Word of Knowledge?
Without in any way detracting from
the fact that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are sovereignly bestowed by Him as
He chooses (1 Cor. 12:11), we must acknowledge He would not
normally do this to the man or woman whose primary purpose in life is to please
him/herself, one in whose heart and life Jesus is not really the Lord and
Master. One must be fully committed, not just in word, but also in deed, to
serve the Lord Jesus all the days of his life.
q
There has to be a covenanted and committed living in our
relationship with God. How can God start revealing
His mind, thoughts and plans to a man or woman who lives for him/herself and
remembers to look for God only when trouble comes knocking?
o
Look at God’s testimony concerning Abraham in Gen.
18:17-19.
o
An angel of God also testified to such living on the part of
Cornelius, who was as yet to be born-again at this point in time, Acts
10:1-4. Though possessing limited knowledge of the Gospel, Cornelius
was faithful & committed to God within the limits of what he knew. See v. 2.
o
Look at the testimony of Paul regarding the way he lived, Phil.
3:7-11.
It is no surprise to us that God
chose to reveal His mind to these people who, in each case, displayed a
daily commitment to living to please God.
q For us
today, God is ready to bare His mind to those who, instead of teaming up with
the wicked, sinners and the mockers would rather delight in God’s word as they
spend time with God in His word day and night, Psalm 1:1-2. Those
that will find welcome in His presence are people with clean hands and a pure
heart, Psalm 24:3-4. They are the people the Holy
Spirit can sovereignly reveal God’s mind to, and not those who can best be
described as “Sunday-Sunday” Christians.
Lesson Outline 2: The Gift of Discerning of Spirits.
q
What is the gift of discerning of Spirits?
o
It is the divine ability to differentiate between the good
and evil spirits.
q
What are the categories of evil spirits?
o
There is the unclean spirit (Luke
4:33-36)– It can lead people into gross immorality, e.g sex with an
animal.
o
The seducing spirit (1 Tim. 4:1) – It can
entice one into doing what he/she would not normally do.
o
The spirit of error (1 John 4:6) – It
pushes one to willfully disobey God, doing what is not right before Him.
o
The spirit of
antichrist (1 John 4:2-3) – It sets out to deny that the
Man Jesus is God in the flesh. So it denies the incarnation, death,
resurrection and the second coming of Jesus. It essentially opposes the truth
about the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
For an example of how this gift
was manifested, look at the experience of Paul in Philippi as recorded in Acts
16:16-18. Note that what the lady said was not untrue, and that it
took “many days” before Paul dealt with the situation. See 2 Cor.
11:13-15 for the principle at work here, and which emphasizes the
need for this gift.
Summary: Having concluded the series on the
Gift of the Word of Knowledge, we have now commenced with the opening shot at
the Gift of the Discerning of Spirits. God can give you both gifts if you
earnestly desire them.