There was something about the life of.
Jesus that bewildered the people, and it.
Is that he was able to somehow know things about the lives of people that he should not or could not have known, whether about a Samaritan woman at a well and her marital history, or a man called Nathanael to whom he said, I saw you while you were sitting under the tree, or even unlocking the thoughts of a Pharisee that was opposing him. But then we see that it didn't stop with Jesus. We see that his direct disciples and.
Those who have come after into the.
Early church and beyond continued in this gift called Words of Knowledge. We see, for example, that Ananias was shown where Paul was praying and that he should go and pray for Paul's healing and to baptize Paul. We see that Simeon was shown that the Messiah would come even before he sees his own death.
We see that Peter received knowledge from.
God that Ananias and Sapphira lied to God about how much they were giving the church. The knowledge of God has no end.
He knows all things.
And because he knows all things, in his very hand is deliverance. He holds the key to unlock every bondage and open every door that is shut. And at times he decides to open doors and break bondages or prove his might and his compassion through giving an individual, a mere human being, supernatural knowledge from above so that they can progress his kingdom upon the earth. And so in this teaching we're going to be discussing more about what is a word of knowledge. We're going to look at biblical examples of words of knowledge, practical real life stories with my friend who's going to also come on and share with us a recent miracle. We're also going to talk about how to walk out the gift practically, as well as abuses of the past, warnings and other considerations and sensitivities we should have when walking in the gift of Words of Knowledge and as we begin a few disclaimers, first consider our introductory video on spiritual gifts that we released just before this one. Also consider that you cannot fully comprehend a spiritual gift without walking in it yourself. This teaching and this series is simply an encouragement for you to desire the spiritual gift earnestly as we were commanded, and to then walk it out so that the Holy Spirit can teach you the intricacies of each gift. If you are uncertain as to whether spiritual gifts are for today or active at all, please see our teaching called Testing Cessationism since we won't be looking at that question in this series. This series is for the Spirit filled believer who is ready to dive into learning more about the spiritual gifts.
We begin reading about the knowledge of God in Romans 11:33. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor, or who has given a gift to him that he may be repaid for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory forever. Amen and Amen. See, God knows all things and he has decided to at times share revelation with us all through the Word of God or through spiritual gifts that are revelatory. But we must recognize that even in what he has given us at this time on the timeline of God that is limited. God knows more. His ways are above our ways. There are things about him and others that we do not possess the knowledge of. But through the gift of words, of knowledge. God has chosen to reveal knowledge to certain individuals about certain situations or people and so forth for the building up of his kingdom. And this knowledge will always align with which that which has been revealed through the Bible, the scriptures that we all considered as the inspired words of God. Everything, all spiritual gifts are to be tested to that standard. And anything that contradicts must be discarded as not from the Spirit of God. For the Spirit of God is always in alignment with the truth of God. According to the biblical examples which we'll soon look at. I think we will recognize that God is especially interested in using the gift of words of knowledge in order to show love, compassion and to open the door to the gospel to more people people. He uses it to reach the hearts of men in a way that mere human wisdom could never. We're now going to look at multiple biblical examples so we can start painting a biblical picture of what this gift is supposed to look like and how it's to operate in the kingdom of God as we read through them. I want you to keep something in mind. One tension in the body of Christ today is that many believers state that the writings contained within the Bible as we have it today is the only word of knowledge that God has for us and the only way that God speaks to us. While the Bible provides us with general guidance regarding situations in life, the Spirit of God can provide us with personal aligned revelation with the Word regarding a situation that we're facing or what a person is facing, allowing that issue to come to the surface to be shown, so that there can be healing that comes in. Let's look at A few examples. The first example I would like to cover is how Yeshua knew when what his opponents were thinking. Matthew 9:2 and behold, some people brought him a paralytic lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven. And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, this man is blaspheming. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, why do you think evil in your hearts? Here we see that a word of knowledge is helpful to Yeshua in how he is able to know what the Pharisees are thinking in their hearts. So many people, when they think things, perhaps controversial things or things that they would not, they would be too scared to ask, the Spirit of God can show us that so that we can answer the question that they are not even asking asking, or so we can better engage with what a crowd is thinking. People often don't ask. They struggle to communicate for whatever reason. And so what they do instead is they assume things. Yeshua, equipped by the Holy Spirit with the knowledge of what people were thinking, allowed him to answer so that they would not assume, but so that the truth would be directly revealed to them, so that they would be without excuse. But we see that it's not only Jesus who has a word of knowledge come to him. We see an example of Peter, who receives a word of knowledge regarding Ananias and Sapphira, who was lying to the Holy Spirit. Acts 5:3. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? Similarly to how he showed to Jesus the thoughts of the people. He has now exposed the sin of Ananias heart to the community and to Peter, where by which he was lying to the Spirit of God. Nothing, nothing at all is going to remain hidden. Eventually all things will come to light. Another example is how Peter received a word of knowledge regarding the identity of Christ. When Yeshua asked his disciples, who do you say I am? We see in Matthew 16:14. And they said, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But he said to them, who do you say that I am, Some? And Peter replied, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Now think about this for a second. The crowds, the people in general are rumoring about who he is, and they are saying ideas that are originating from the Bible, right? These are biblical prophets, biblical men of God like Elijah, John or Jeremiah and so forth. They were looking at their Bibles, trying to figure out who this Jesus guy is. And yet they were all wrong. Notice that just reading our Bibles is not enough. Looking at our Bibles and looking at the world around us is not enough. For these men and women in that time looked at Jesus and were unable to determine who he truly was, just looking at their Bibles. But Peter, this fisherman, he knows, and he says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus tells us exactly how he was able to know this while the rest did not. He said, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. See, unless the Father who is in heaven speaks to us and shows us what the word of God is actually saying by the Spirit of God who wrote the word of God, we will never be able to fully understand the word of God. We cannot interpret the word of God without the Holy Spirit. And so Peter specifically received a word of knowledge from the Holy Spirit that this was the Christ, this was the Messiah. And so in the same way, have you recognized the Christ? Have you recognized the Messiah for who he is? Then perhaps you too have received a word of knowledge that should encourage you, that the Spirit of God is speaking to you, is convicting you of righteousness and who he is. Now, let's look at another example in Luke, chapter two. This is in the early life of Jesus. And there is a man called Simeon who receives a word of knowledge also about the Messiah. And it says, now, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Simeon received a word of knowledge from the Holy Spirit. This is not something that the Bible can tell him, because this word is Simeon, you. You personally will not die until you see the Messiah. So now you see how there are certain things that God wants to tell us that is just not in the Bible, because it's a very personal situation, a very personal word relevant to our lives. Of course, there's not going to be a word in the Bible that says to Simeon, hey, Simeon, you're not going to die until Christ comes, right? Of course. And so in the same way, there are many such revelations and words that God wants to reveal to us. But of course, what is revealed to Simeon has to perfectly align with the Scriptures as to the prophesied line of who the Messiah would come through, what he would do, what he would be like, as the prophets of old has prepared us to receive him for. And so any word that God gives us today must similarly align with the Scriptures. We also see then this word to Simeon is actually confirmed in the very same chapter of Luke chapter two by the prophetess Anna. It says in verse 38. And coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who are waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. We see that now evidence of this word of knowledge that has been received by Simeon is now provided immediately by the prophetess Anna, a confirmation. And so we see in the body of Christ God has given us all the Spirit of God so that we can provide confirmation to one another as the Spirit is speaking to us and to confirm what we are hearing is in fact of the Spirit. And this is a beautiful situation where Simeon's word is immediately in that very hour, confirmed by the prophetess Anna. But what is the difference between a prophecy and a word of knowledge? Prophecy is a prediction of things that are to come in the future, or a calling upon what someone will do in their life, what they are called to do in their life, life for the kingdom of God, or in the form of a warning from God, like Jonah, provide a warning to Nineveh of the impending judgment if they do not repent. On the other hand, a word of knowledge is knowledge provided to us about a current fact about a situation or someone's life, as in these examples that we've just read and will continue to read more of. We see that there was a great reliance by the early church, the disciples, and even Yeshua himself on the Holy Spirit to guide in addition to the inspired Word of God. Some denominations today have a hyper intellectualism stance. In other words, they believe that their intellect, their thinking and their reading of the Scripture rules the day and any reliance on the Holy Spirit is pushed aside. And then on the other hand, some denominations have a hyper spiritualized perspective where they are believed to be so reliant on the Holy Spirit and that's at the forefront. But it comes at the cost of alignment with the Scriptures which the Holy Spirit is always going to align to. And so we must ensure that we are a people of Spirit and truth, a people who are relying on the Holy Spirit to guard us in all things that is true, not to rely on the Holy Spirit at The cost of that which is inspired to be true, and also not standing on that which is true, while discarding the supernatural revelation of the Holy Spirit. How he speaks and moves through the body prophetically and through words of knowledge. This is the worship of spirit and truth. Let's look at another such example of him speaking, as in Peter's receiving of the vision of the animals. In Acts 10:19 we read, while Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, behold, three men are seeking you. Arise. Therefore go down and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them immediately. This word of knowledge that Peter receives from the Spirit of God is that there's going to be men who's about to knock on your door and that he should go with them. Don't doubt, don't be scared, they're Gentiles. But just trust me in this is what the Father is telling Peter. And Peter then interprets this word and this vision in verse 28, where he says to the people he's just met, you yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. We see in Peter's situation that God uses a word of knowledge to provide an open door to the Gospel, going to the house of Cornelius so they can hear and believe in Jesus. But we also see that in the interpretation of the vision, which is also given by the Spirit of God and not by Peter's own intellect. Because of course, if you read the story, Peter actually says, what does this mean? God, I have never eaten anything that is unclean. By his own interpretation, Peter is confused by what this vision may mean. But God has shown him that what the vision means is he should not call any man unclean. See, it is when we rely on the Spirit of God to give us an interpretation that we get the right interpretation. And it is when we rely on our own thoughts and first ideas that we get the wrong interpretation. We see that dream and vision interpretation is which comes through the gift of a word of knowledge, whereby which God has to give a word of knowledge about what a certain vision or dream actually means. Let's look at another example, this time Nathanael, who was sitting under a tree and then later Jesus met him and showed that he was the Son of God by what he told him. We read in John 1:47, Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him and said of him, behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit. Nathanael said, to him, how do you know me? Jesus answered, before Philip even called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. And Nathanael answered him, rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. And Jesus answered him, because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree. Do you believe you will see greater things than these? Wow. Hallelujah. May we all see greater things than these when we believe even before we see. Because the one who see and then believes because he sees, he's blessed. But how much more are those who have not seen and yet believes blessed? For they will see the greater things. And so, brothers and sisters, I ask of you to be one who sees the greater things by believing even before you see. But see, in the example of Nathanael, we see that he recognized that the Messiah was Yeshua because of Yeshua's word of knowledge, that he was sitting under a fig tree, and that he is an Israelite and that he is a righteous man in whom there is no deceit. This opens Nathanael's heart to believe in him. And so when we receive a word of knowledge from God that we can give to someone else, similarly, it can be a testimony to God's power living inside of us and a testimony to the gospel that we carry of Yeshua that has died for us and for them. Let's look at another example, this time of Ananias, who went to Paul to pray for him and to baptize him. This Ananias is not to be confused with Ananias and Sapphira who lied to the Holy Spirit. We read about this one in Acts 9, 10. Now, there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision, ananias. And he said, here I am, Lord. And the Lord said to him, rise and go to the street called Straight and the house of Judas for the man of Tarsus named Saul. For behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he may regain his sight. So first let us take note that Ananias is a ordinary man, a disciple of Christ. He is not an apostle. He is not some superhero. He's normal like me and like you. And then we see that as God comes and speaks to him, he tells him a very interesting thing, that not only that he should go to Paul, who is now at this place, but also that Paul at the very same time is receiving a word of knowledge from God, a vision that Ananias is going to come to him. So both Ananias and Paul is being spoken to by the Lord through a word of knowledge about one another, coming to one another so that they can meet and the will of God may be established in Paul. This is an incredibly detailed vision that Ananias is receiving and it opens the door, of course, now for Paul's salvation. Notice how Ananias could never receive this specific personal word for Paul to travel to Paul to lay hands on Paul, to baptize Paul from simply reading the Bible because Ananias needed divine revelation that Paul has now met Yeshua on the road to Damascus, that Paul is in a repentant state, and that Paul is ready to enter the kingdom. All right, let's look at one more example. Our last example for this teaching. The Samaritan woman at the well, most famously, Yeshua gave her a word of knowledge about her marital situation. In John 4:16, we read Yeshua said to her, go call your husband and come here. And the woman answered him, I have no husband. But Jesus said to her, you are right in saying that you have no husband, for you have had five husbands and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. So Yeshua spoke to her in this manner of, go and fetch your husband, because you already knew that she does not have a man that she's married to currently. And immediately he reveals this and that she also have had five husbands before. This reveals to us why she was alone at the well with Jesus and why she was an outcast of her society due to all of the men that she has gone through for whatever reason. In this very personal dialogue between Yeshua and the Samaritan woman, he immediately goes to the brokenness that is in her heart that could only be revealed by the Holy Spirit. This reveals the issue that he can now minister freedom to. And so similarly, there are people all around us and that we will encounter that are broken and have issues deep inside their hearts that they will not bring to the front on their own, but that the Spirit of God wants to highlight and bring up so that healing can be ministered. I deeply rely on this on a very personal level. Whenever I minister to people, when I minister to someone one on one, I am often challenged by how much time I have, right? Just like Yeshua, he was challenged with how much time he has with this woman. He doesn't have a week to speak to her in therapy and to get to the bottom of her issues, right? He is standing there at a well with her and he's about to leave again. And so in situations like this, I have heavily relied on the spirit of God. When someone is in front of me who I do not know anything about saying, God, speak to me about this person and then he drops in my heart what it is immediately that is the root issue in their life that I can minister freedom to. And that is a gift that is so powerful. And honestly, I do not know how I could do ministry without it. Because how will we ever get to the bottom of things when we are challenged by limited time unless the Spirit of God shows us what's wrong and also how we can go after it with freedom? Setting the captives free we see in the situation between Yeshua and the Samaritan woman that there is great fruit that comes from it. For the woman immediately thereafter leaves her water jar there and went away into the town and said to the people, come see a man who has told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? Hallelujah. See, the gift of words of knowledge also opens the door to Christ whereby which those who have received a word of knowledge are so excited about the Holy Spirit who knows them and they now see that he knows them how God is a loving father who sees their issues and who cares. And then they are willing to go and tell other people they are so changed and so rocked that they themselves become a witness just like that Samaritan woman. I myself have a story on this that I have told many times. This was one of the first words of knowledge that I personally received many years ago whereby which I stood in a pizza shop about to order pizza. And as I did, I asked the father, lord, is there something that you have for this lady who is helping me behind the counter? And immediately I get this picture come into my mind of a baby toy. And I'm like, why am I getting a picture of a baby toy in my mind right now I'm standing in a pizza shop, right? And so I'm kind of nervous. I'm thinking like, God, what am I going to do with this? And immediately I open my mouth and I ask the lady, hey, this is random, just tell me if this makes sense, but is there a baby here? And immediately her eyes go wide, she goes a little wide in the face and she grabs the hand of her co worker and she says to her coworker, he knows, he knows. And I'm like thinking to myself, where do I know? Like what's going on? And she says to me, how do you know?
And I'm like, what do you mean?
And she says, I'm pregnant. And what happened is, she's pregnant, she doesn't show yet, and she's told no one but her co worker. And here walks in a man, a stranger, who immediately tells her that he knows about the baby. And so immediately she is so taken aback by this. And I tell her, this is not me. I am just a normal person. It is the living God, the Holy Spirit, who knows you, who knows about the baby. Can I pray for your baby? And of course she allows me to pray. And I pray right there in this pizza shop for her pregnancy and for her baby. And she is so excited about this, she goes into the back of the kitchen and she says, there's a man in the front who just told me things about me that he should not have known. Come and let him pray for you. And this is what happened. One after another, the cooks from the kitchen made their way to the front rotating. The one is flipping a pizza while the other goes to the front to get prayer. The first person coming up is a cook who's depressed and who says he feels suicidal. I pray and minister to him for a while and he goes back in the kitchen and then another one comes out and he goes back and another one comes out. And it goes on until I have prayed for every single person who is working in the kitchen of that restaurant. And it all happened because I said, is there a baby here? Because of a word of knowledge that opens the door for the gospel to go forth. Don't tell me that he no longer speaks to us. Don't tell me that he is not living and active and in us, desiring to use us mightily. If only we would take a chance to step forward and open our mouth and trust that he is speaking. And so let us, when we walk this gift out, always walk in compassion through the people that we are ministering to. We see in John 4. 9 How the Samaritan women asked Jesus, how is it that you, a Jew, asked for a drink from me? As women of Samaria for Jews, have now dealings with Samaritans, I want to submit to you humbly that it is more about showing God's compassion for a person to a person than knowing things about them. If God shows us something great, praise God and let us use it sensitively the way he's calling us to. But above all, it is to show the love and compassion of God to a person and a situation so the truth and love of God may go forth. For another practical example, I'VE invited my friend deovold on, who is going to be sharing with us about something that God did just a few months ago in December of 2024, where we went into the streets of South Africa and a word, knowledge got us out of a situation where we were surrounded by security guards.
Yeah, Veli, thanks for inviting me to come and share this amazing testimony how the Holy Spirit is still working in today's. Today time. And, yeah, so what happened was we were then Hatfield in Petora, South Africa, busy filming. And beforehand, usually before we go out, we just get together and we pray for where we're going and we just, yeah, trust for the Lord and follow his spirit to. To give us some word of knowledge and, yeah, maybe some names and anything. We're open. Open for to receive from the Holy Spirit to maybe encounter when we go out on the streets. So we were busy praying and I received. I remember these two words. The one was just. I just saw a left shoulder and the other one was just the name Sam. And, yeah, we went out and we barely started walking and filming. And I remember, like, this one security guard arriving and he started giving us problems, like, said, no, we can't film here because we're there working on the street. We've got these cameras and stuff. And they said, no, it's not. Not permitted. Yeah, you're not allowed. We need a letter. So we said, we're literally just filming for the fun of it. Nothing, nothing too much. And, yeah, this situation escalated quite quickly and people in security guards and bikes arrived, and all of a sudden we. I think there was like five or six security people standing around us. The conversation, I remember, just got a little bit heated and they said, no, we needed. We need a letter. And they just denied everything and anything we said. And I remember in that moment, the random thought just came up again. I got this word Sam. And out of the blue, I just asked him, hey, guys, is this somebody here whose name is Sam?
You perhaps know Sam? You know somebody's called Sam. So Sam, you know somebody called Sam. She working in dread is.
I'm.
How do you say.
I swear.
Listen, how do you not think so? You're.
You're going to. You're making.
Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe in Jesus? Sa Believe. Do you believe in Jesus?
Now you said, sam believes in Jesus.
Believe in Jesus. And I was asking, when we were.
In the car, when we parked here, he said, there's a Sam here.
Yeah, So I believe in Jesus and I believe that the Holy Spirit is inside of me. And I prayed and we prayed. We just want to love people here as well. And I received the name Sam, and it's. Yeah, we just want to pray for him. We just love him.
And got a little bit quiet. And one of the guys asked like, how do you know Sam? And I was just like, what is Sam? Yeah, where is Sam? And the one guy responded, and he said, no, Sam is not here. He started working tomorrow. But how do you know the Sam guy? And I remember looking to you PD and to Christina and Dawson because.
Yeah, yeah, because you're getting.
Just to let everyone understand, like, the word Sam. The name Sam is the name that you got while we were sitting in the car praying before we got out of the car on the streets. So God knew that there was a security guard named Sam who works for this company or whatever. And God knew we would have trouble. And suddenly, you know, you're standing there and you're just mentioning Sam, and they're, like, taken aback, and they're like, what's. What's going on? Yeah, yeah, go ahead.
Yeah. And that was kind of like the thing that needed to. To break the ice and open their hearts, because I remember we just started sharing the gospel and saying that, well, I believe that the Holy Spirit lives inside of me because I'm a believer. And now we've got the gifts, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, where word of knowledge is one. So before we went out, we prayed, like you just said. And I just got this random word, Sam. And hence, that's why I'm asking you guys. And we're doing this because we just want to love you guys. And that's why we also here just on the streets to love people. And that was the thing that was needed in that moment. And their hearts opened up, and a few minutes later, they said, no, okay, it's fine. They'll let us go. We can go and film. It's fine. And it's. Yeah. So just so cool how the Lord is working in ways above our ways. And, yeah, like, you just said that word Sam was the trigger point for us to get on the streets and film and love people there.
Yeah. And Diebold, I remember when we were. When this whole, you know, all the tension and everything kind of dwindled down after you. You said Sam, and the guy was like, wow. I remember the. The leader of the security force there. He was like, wow, you know, Sam is blessed, like, and he was like, kind of thinking like, there's. There's something weird going on, like something supernatural. Going on even no matter where he's at with God, I do not know. Like this door is like, just swung open. And suddenly in the beginning he didn't.
Want to work with us.
He just wanted us to tell us to go and leave. And suddenly he's on his phone, he's making some calls and he's like, okay, no, it's fine.
So dual.
Like I remember after that, looking down, we're looking at the ground and it is engraved in the pavement. John 3:16. Like right, right where we are standing.
Looking down and I'm like, wow.
Like God knew everything that was going.
To happen that day, that whole situation.
And he was there with us now Devil, I mean, not only is this proving how God is with us, it's.
Also proving how he is speaking to.
Us in preparation for the trials or things that we may face along the way.
So when you were in the car.
You mentioned, okay, you were praying and you heard Sam.
That's a very specific thing.
That's a name of someone.
And how do you know? How did God speak to you in that way? What did you experience?
And what would you tell someone who's.
You know, someone who's never had that, you know, what is that like?
So this is not my first time like going out and praying for people. And the reason I'm saying that is because there was a lot of times before when I thought I was hearing something and it was completely wrong. So while we were praying, I'm just asking and being expected for the Holy Spirit to drop certain words and certain thoughts in my mind and in my heart. So being expected for that while praying, hence just getting these random thoughts and ideas that pops up into my heart and in my, in my mind, which throughout the years I've gone of learned that that's, that's maybe the Holy Spirit speaking to me. Hence random thoughts and random ideas, which is kind of random. It's not always just random. It's maybe the Holy Spirit trying to speak to us and, and lead us in certain ways. So in that moment while we were praying, like you said, it's such a random word. And it's usually like the random words which, which, which God used to, to, to help us and, and, and of people.
Right? You're saying basically that this word is not of yourself.
You, you, you would ask why would.
I be thinking of a man called Sam? Right?
Like this.
That's a very out of, out of yourself situation. And the second thing you mentioned is the openness that you had to the Holy Spirit. Going into the whole thing. And I think that's very key.
Right.
You mentioned, okay, we're praying and you're in your heart asking God, is there anything I need to know? Anyone I need to be prepared to meet today? Is there any?
Speak to me, Father.
So there's faith there that he can and will speak to you as he desires.
Yes. And being expected to receive something back. Cool. Yeah. So I would definitely just tell him to go. Go with the group, especially with believers who has already done it. But, yeah, just to go. You've literally got nothing to lose. I think if our heart is just to love people and that's the reason why we're doing this, we literally got nothing to lose. And in this going to practice, that's how we are learning to hear God's voice even clearer.
Right.
So what you're really saying is, like, you can't teach someone, well, this is what his voice sounds like. Exactly. Because just like, if they've never met you before, you know, I tell them, hey, guys, if you ever, you know what my friend devil's voice sounds like, they're gonna be like, no, I'm not sure what his voice sounds like. And even if I try and explain to someone the tone of your voice, the way you speak, maybe your accent, they'll say, okay, that helps a little bit. But I still don't know. I wouldn't recognize him if he spoke to me. Right. And so the same way, if we want to hear from the Father, we need to be listening for him. And when we step out and we discover that was God, just like the evil as he spoke, you know, to you, and you discovered, wow, this was God, because there was a miracle that took place because of it. Now next time, you know, you're growing in faith, you're growing in conferences to his voice and the tone of his voice as he speaks to your spirit. And maybe that's the challenge, right, Is he's speaking to our spirits. And if he speaks to our spirit, then we're trying to understand that with our flesh. And that's very difficult. But if you understand that, hey, I can still learn, my spirit can be trained to grow, and it's like growing a muscle and growing more conflict in that. So, yeah, Diable. Thank you so much. And, you know, last thing you mentioned is about when we get it wrong, you know, and. And I think that's beautiful that you have the boldness to go. And even if. Even if I make a mistake, like, I'm still going to push forward. I'm still going to seek. Even if I got his voice wrong maybe one time. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop there because I think a lot of people are worried about hurting God's kingdom when they make a mistake. But I think. Would you agree that it's all about how you present a word that you think you may have received from God?
Yeah, definitely. Definitely agreeing. Something that I've learned in the early stages while walking and learning to walk in the Spirit was like, if you receive a word not to say, like the Lord is saying this, but just say like, I've devil, I've received this on my heart. So maybe this is for you and rather just start to pray the Lord and this is from the Lord just to play it safe and say like, this is what I've experienced in my heart for you. Yeah, that helps a lot. So if it's. If it wasn't, it's fine. You've got nothing to lose. So.
Yeah, right. It reminds me of the scripture test everything, hold fast to what is good.
Right.
And Paul is writing that in relation to prophecy there, but obviously we can apply it here too. And by nature of him saying that, it means that there's going to be times when people, you know, think they're. They may be God, but it wasn't God. But if we test, we can find out what is good. And if we go and, and present whatever it is we think we might hear with humility, with gentleness, sensitivity, letting the person know they should test it, you know.
Then.
Yeah, there's really, like you say, there's nothing to lose.
Yeah. The reason for the, I believe for the gifts of the Holy Spirit is that it literally softens people's heart in a situation, for instance, with the security guards. But there's other testimonies as well where maybe healing, like, maybe that person needs healing in that moment for just his or her heart to open up to receive something from the Lord. A lot of people are so mad at God because he's doing all these stuff. Maybe it wasn't even him. So the Holy Spirit works and softened people's heart through these gifts. So at the end of the day, it comes back to love and we just want to love people. And if that's our heart. Yeah, like I said, we've got nothing to lose.
Amen. Dieval, thank you so much for sharing that testimony with everyone. I appreciate you, brother.
Awesome. Thanks, Vidi.
I want to conclude our practical examples by sharing one more short story just a few months ago. I also was baptizing people. And there was a lady at the end of the baptisms who came forward who witnessed all of the freedom that God was giving people. And she said, I need this too, but I need to repent. And she started repenting of some general things that she's been struggling with. And then when we prayed for her, she started manifesting a demon. And as she went down and this demon started manifesting through her, and we prayed. It was like we hit a wall. And it was a struggle. It was like the demon didn't want to leave, there was something wrong. And. And I asked the Father, lord, what is going on? And immediately the Father dropped in my heart a word of knowledge. And he said, she must be specific about her renunciation, because up to this point, she was renouncing things in a general sense. But God wanted her to be specific in the renunciations, in the confessions, and in the repentance. And then she did that. She started going very specifically down a list of things that's coming onto her heart and her mind that she was doing before. And so immediately thereafter, we prayed for her. And it was like a wall was broken down and the demon had no more authority to stay. And the demon immediately was cast out and left her. Sometimes there is a word of knowledge that is needed in order to recognize what is it. That is the barrier that is being faced when we are trying to strive towards this freedom for a person. But there's for some reason, something that still seems to be in the way. And it is in our reliance on the Father and His voice and his Holy Spirit that he can show that to us. And I mean, just think about it practically, even with the other gifts like the gift of healing, which we're going to be addressing in the next episode. If you have a gift of healing and you want to pray for someone to get healed, but who do you know in a room full of people? Let's just say, who is it that is sick? Who is it that has something, Father, that you want me to minister to today? Who is it tonight that you want to heal? And so the Father can come to us and give us a word of knowledge about it is that person and it is their leg. God can give us specific words of knowledge about people's issues so that we can use our other gifts, like a gift of healing to minister that healing now to them according to the will of God. But now how do we receive a word of knowledge from God practically? First we must be awake to the Spirit that is in us. We must, when we are moving through life, not be too busy for the Holy Spirit. But stop, pause, and ask him, Holy Spirit, is there something you want to tell me about this person or this situation right now? And then listen. The Holy Spirit speaks to us in many ways. In some of the biblical examples that we went through today, we see how he spoke through dreams and visions. And he gave words of knowledge, as with Peter, through a vision about a situation. He also speaks to us in many other ways. He speaks to our hearts very loudly as well. And if you want to learn more about recognizing God's voice, check out our Hearing God's Voice series that we released in a three part episode. But a word of knowledge comes in the form of us suddenly knowing something. It is like God's knowledge suddenly becomes your knowledge about a particular situation or person.
Now, we're going to address some cautions, warnings and sensitivities we ought to have when we practice the gift of words of knowledge. First of all, one of the most common questions that we get is, well, how do I know I'm sharing a word from God versus something that's from my own imagination? And this is an important question. We don't want to be saying something is of God when it's of ourselves. What is so important, especially as we are learning a spiritual gift, is to exercise it humbly and sensitively with the humility to recognize that we are still learning to hear his voice, or we're still learning, we're still immature in whatever gift it is. And so thereby we're going to ensure that we have the same love for order and care as the Holy Spirit does. Because the Holy Spirit loves order. He loves care, compassion and love. And he does not also quench himself, on the other hand. And so that's kind of the balance that we're going to try and walk out by recognizing that when we share something with someone, we are going to come to them and say, look, I believe I have a word of knowledge. I want to put this out there. I'm still learning. Does this mean anything to you? And then you share the gift sensitively in the framework and context that you're still learning. And so if they have a connection with the Word, immediately they will recognize it, right? They will say, well, this is how did you know this? Right. For example, when Yeshua spoke to the Samaritan woman, immediately she said, you are a prophet. So there was an immediate recognition that the word that he was giving her was supernatural. He could never have known it. And it got her Attention. Another example is how when Peter received a word of knowledge that men are going to be knocking on his door soon who are Gentiles, and that he should share the Gospel with them. And it says in Acts 10:21, and Peter went down to the men and said, I am the one you're looking for. What is the reason for your coming? As he receives the vision and this word from God, the men arrive, providing direct evidence that this word from God was from God, that there was something here that the Lord wanted to show Peter. And so in the same way, if we have a word from the Lord.
If it is him, truly speaking, it's.
Going to get the attention of the person. It's not going to cause confusion, uncertainty, and all these things. We also need to ensure that we're never going to be humiliating someone by the word that we're giving them. Think about how Yeshua spoke to the Samaritan women in private about her many husbands that she's had before, or men that she's gone through. He did not do this in front of other people, by which will cause her to become even more outcast than she already is. So we are going to use God's words to build people up, not tear them down or humiliate them. But then you may bring up, well, what about when Peter rebuked Ananias, saying, you have lied to the Holy Spirit in front of everyone, and Ananias even died right there, and then Sapphira died right there. That was definitely humiliating for them. Right? And of course that's true. However, we must remember that Peter was in a leadership position where he had to address serious issues within the fellowship and community. And there are certain situations by which we are permitted to put someone out of a community or a fellowship if egregious sins have been committed. But we as people who are attending a fellowship or community, cannot take that into our own hands. We must approach the leadership with the facts of a matter. And then they need to be deciding how they're going to be addressing issues that may warrant someone being put out.
Of a fellowship, or when something is.
Warranted to be approached with a public approach. Remember that our issues with one another, with fellow brothers and sisters, is subject to Yeshua's words, where he commanded us to go to them alone and work out our issues between us and them alone first, before we're involving other people into the mix. Please Also see Matthew 18 for more on that guidance. Another consideration for words of knowledge, or any spiritual gift for that matter, is that we may not use it for our own personal gains. In fact, I want to submit to you that this is a huge risk that God is going to hold us all accountable as to how we walk the gifts out. And if we attempt to use them for our own manipulations and gains, to bring a false accusation, or even to bring a word of God which has actually been tainted with our own unforgiveness or hatred or dislike towards a person, or if we're putting others down for our own exaltations, God will deal with us swiftly. Be careful of this. We must, for this reason ensure that we walk in no unforgiveness, that we forgive everyone quickly. We do not walk in hatred, we do not walk in anger. We walk in peace and in freedom so that we can minister peace and freedom. And so that if God wanted to actually use us in ministry, we would not hinder the Spirit by the evil in our own hearts. He is holy and desires us to be holy as he works and speaks through us. And so with that, we may never take the Lord's name in vain. I remember a story of a married couple about which the mother in law started spreading rumors within the family that her daughter in law is a witch. And the truth was, is that she wasn't. She was in fact a devout Christian who loved Jesus. But because this mother in law said that this was a word from the Lord that God had she shown her this, people in the family started believing this without the evidence of two to three witnesses as is required by the word of God. See, if someone comes and brings a word against someone else, it means nothing until evidence is established of two to three witnesses. And so if we forgo that evidence, we are guilty of bringing a false witness just as much as the one who brought the false witness.
And it is so sad because this.
Lie that was done in the name of God ripped a family apart and destroyed relationships. See, when we start projecting our dislikes towards a certain person or something they've done, as the words of God, we set ourselves up as a prophet when we are in fact a false prophet, when we are a minister of destruction instead of a minister of life. And even as I speak of this, it puts great fear in me, and it should put great fear in you that when we talk about something as serious as a word of knowledge or a word of prophecy, or a gift of healing, or any gift done in the name of the Lord as a minister of God, we must do so with great fear and trembling. The truth is that a word of knowledge that is from God will connect with people. It is always true. It is always going to line up with evidence that is hard evidence of two to three witnesses. And we must judge words by the fruit. And also we must judge the person delivering the words by the fruit. As Yeshua said, you will know them by their fruit. And so the sad part is that many people in past times have come like this example I have just shared and sowed destruction. And of course, if that happens in the name of God, then people are either turned away from the name of God or they are turned away from the true works of the Holy Spirit because someone has used the apparent works of the Holy Spirit which were false for their own agendas. And so if you have been a victim of that, then I'm sorry and I deeply emphasize and I would also ask you to ask, Lord God, show me the truth. Show me the true nature of your Holy Spirit, the nature of your gift. What is the legitimate? And how can I have a peace in your kingdom with that as well myself? And Father, help me that my hurt does not become a hindrance to your Holy Spirit working through me. Because what if Satan used that abuse of a gift that you've witnessed to turn you away from the legitimate beautiful works of the Holy Spirit that he wants to use you and powerfully?
But now here's a question. If faith is, as Hebrews 11 says, the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen, in other words, faith is by nature the conviction of something that we do not yet see. So how then do we deliver a word of knowledge to someone by faith, when we do not have the evidence of something seen yet? And how do we do that? Responsibly and sensitively. Simply any word of God is to be tested. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says, do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything and hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. So Paul tells us to not quench the spirit because you're scared of getting something wrong, or you're scared that someone is going to get a prophecy or word of knowledge wrong. Do not even despise prophecies or a word from the spirit of our nature, but test everything and hold fast to what is good. When we in humility present a word that we believe could be from God, and we present it to it to be tested, then we are presenting it to a safe environment and in a safe way whereby which the word can be tested and we can hold fast to what is good and anything that is not to be confirmed as a word from God, we are going to abstain from that. See, a mature fellowship in spiritual gifts is going to provide an atmosphere and a context by which we can test words of God without the person bringing the word feeling humiliated or feeling like they made some huge mistake. As long as they presented the word of God in humility and sensitivity whilst acknowledging that they are learning and that they may be wrong, then we can test and with the Word to the inspired scriptures, we can test it to the other prophets and other people who have gifts and who have the Holy Spirit, and we can come to the bottom of it as to whether it's true. And if it's not, that person can receive that and they can humbly say, well, thank you so much that I can learn and I'm still learning and I'm still exercising and I'm going to next time try and step out again and thank you for being patient with me. And you know, when they do step out one day and they do get the word right, suddenly they're going to realize, well, that's what the spirit of God's voice sounds like. As we have discovered and are hearing God's voice series that even the prophets like the prophet Samuel, needed to grow in recognizing the voice of God. And so in the same way we should not rob this honor of our fellow brothers and sisters where they can also receive an opportunity to grow and how they hear the voice of God. With that being said, there has been many false words of knowledge that has gone out. And when it has gone out, without this sensitivity and with arrogance, it has caused much hurt. And this is also what Paul warns us about in 1 Timothy 6:20. Guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. For by professing it, some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you. When false knowledge, that is knowledge that does not align with the word of God, comes in and gets allowed in, then we provide a dangerous situation. Then we make null and void the value of the inspired scriptures that have been left for us. For our barometer of truth is the law of God, Romans 2:19. And if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth. Paul tells us in Romans that we have the law, which is the embodiment of knowledge and truth. And it is to the law, that we test every other word that comes from outside of it, that it must align so that we can be a people of spirit and truth.
In conclusion, more than ever, we must be good stewards of the gifts of God entrusted to us. More than ever, we need to be a good example of order and truth. And more than ever, the world needs the witness of God's power and compassion. There are people in bondage right now as I speak in your circles, and God has the knowledge that can unlock their bondage, causing them to be free and to believe in his salvation. Let us be led by the Spirit standing upon his truth wherever we go. Father, I thank you for everyone listening with whom you have shared your Holy Spirit. And I ask, Lord, in this time, in this age, that you would fill us up, Lord. That we would overflow with words of knowledge for people around us, Lord. That we would be like Peter who receives a vision or speaks a word, Father. That we would be like Yeshua, who even hears the thoughts of the Pharisees who are coming against him. That we would be like Yeshua, having this compassion for the Samaritan women at the well, Father. That you would use us like you used Ananias to minister freedom to lost men as Paul was lost. Help us to open the eyes of the blind. Help us to show your glory to the world. I praise you, Yeshua. Thank you for bringing about a great move upon your body to reignite their desire for spiritual gifts. Guys, thank you for joining me for this episode of the Gifts of the Spirit. I'm excited to continue speaking to you about more gifts. Next we plan to speak about the gift of healing. Subscribe to this channel to stay up to date for that video. And if this teaching and series is a blessing to you, consider supporting it by going to riseonfire.com and becoming a partner. We love you and we can't wait to see you in the next one. Shalom.