Participants: Hal Steenson (Host)
Series Code: HPOV
Program Code: HPOV000008
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00:01 Hello, I'm
00:03 I'd like to welcome you to join us in our study 00:04 on the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. 00:06 On today's Heaven's Point of View, 00:07 we are going to look at the gift of the word of wisdom 00:10 and how it operated in the early church. 00:13 We are going to see if this gift is still valid 00:15 and available to the church today and define how this gift 00:19 can benefit the body of Christ. You will learn how to recognize 00:23 and judge whether you are seeing the real gift of the Holy Spirit 00:27 or if you are being exposed to a counterfeit. 00:30 So I encourage you to get your Bibles and study along with us 00:34 as we counteract the counterfeit with the living Word of God. 01:00 On our last program we finished examining the word of knowledge: 01:03 one of the gifts to know. On today's program we'll begin 01:06 our study on the word of wisdom. Now let me give you a definition 01:11 for the word of wisdom: 01:29 Jesus Himself promised us this gift of the word of wisdom. 01:34 Luke 21 says: "But before all these they shall 01:38 lay their hands on you and persecute you 01:40 delivering you up to the synagogues and into the prisons 01:44 being brought before the kings and rulers for My name's sake. 01:47 And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore 01:51 in your hearts not to meditate before what you shall answer 01:55 for I will give you a mouth of wisdom 01:58 which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay 02:02 nor resist. " The word of wisdom was demonstrated also 02:06 by the apostles. In Acts 6 it says "Stephen, full of faith 02:10 and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. 02:14 Then there arose certain of the synagogue which is called the 02:17 Synagogue of the Libertines and the Cyrenians 02:21 and the Alexandrians and of them of Cilica and of Asia 02:25 disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist 02:28 the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. " 02:32 Now there are four basic categories dealing with 02:35 the word of wisdom. First there is 02:41 I Corinthians 2:7 says: 02:44 "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden 02:47 wisdom which God ordained before the world 02:50 unto our glory. " Now here are the true signs 02:55 of godly wisdom. James 3 says: 02:58 "Who is a wise man and endureth with knowledge among you? 03:03 Let him show out of a good conversation his works 03:07 with meekness and wisdom. But if you have bitter envyings 03:11 and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not 03:15 against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above 03:21 but is earthly, sensual, devilish - for where envying 03:25 and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 03:30 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure 03:34 then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, 03:39 full of mercy and good fruit without partiality 03:43 and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is 03:47 sown in peace of them that make peace. " 03:50 God's wisdom is seen primarily in Christ 03:53 and what He accomplished on the cross. 03:56 I Corinthians 1:30 - listen to this: 03:58 "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus 04:01 who of God is made unto us wisdom 04:06 and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. " 04:10 A true word of wisdom is always Christ centered. 04:14 Now listen to that. I want to say it again. 04:15 A true word of wisdom is always Christ centered. 04:20 says: "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, 04:23 the father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit 04:26 of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. " 04:31 Now the fruits of the word of wisdom 04:33 are meekness, humility, purity, righteousness, 04:38 sincerity, merciful, gentleness, kindness, 04:44 and sincerity. Children may even benefit from the value 04:48 of the word of wisdom by learning from these godly 04:52 characteristics. Wise parents are those who seek the gift 04:56 of the word of wisdom to display these qualities. 05:00 Now second, there is: 05:03 I Corinthians 2:6 says: "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them 05:07 that are perfect yet not the wisdom of this world 05:11 nor of the princes of this world 05:13 that come to naught? " The result of earthy wisdom, 05:17 listen to this, this is horrible, 05:41 Third, there is: 05:44 When this wisdom is used by itself, it can be detrimental. 05:51 says: "I communed with mine own heart saying 05:54 lo I am come to great estate and have gotten more wisdom 06:00 than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem. 06:04 Yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom 06:07 and knowledge. And I gave my heart to know wisdom 06:11 and to know madness and folly. 06:14 I perceived that this also is vexation of the spirit 06:19 for in much wisdom is much grief 06:22 and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow. " 06:26 Last is: 06:30 This type of wisdom is a divine gift which cannot be gained 06:34 through study or through experience. 06:36 It is a supernatural perception to determine the divine means 06:41 for accomplishing God's will in a given situation 06:45 and is a divinely given power to appropriate spiritual intuition 06:50 over all our problems. Furthermore, 06:54 this gift involves having a sense of divine direction. 06:58 Being led by the Holy Spirit to act appropriately 07:03 in a given set of circumstances and rightly applying 07:07 the knowledge that has been given to you by God. 07:12 Now, once again: 07:31 The gift of the word of wisdom is unique in that it may work 07:35 interactively with the other two revelation gifts: 07:39 knowledge and discernment. 07:41 An example of this can be found in Acts 16: 07:46 says: "And it came to pass as we went to prayer 07:49 a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination 07:52 met us which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. 07:57 The same followed Paul and us and cried, saying: 08:01 'These men are the servants of the Most High God 08:04 which show unto us the way of salvation. ' 08:07 And this did she many days - but Paul, being grieved, 08:12 turned and said to the spirit - the demon, not the damsel - 08:16 'I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ 08:18 to come out of her. ' And he came out the same hour. " 08:22 Please notice: she followed them many days proclaiming 08:25 they were the servants of the Most High God - which was 08:28 the truth. However, Paul needed the gift of the word of wisdom 08:33 to properly handle the situation. 08:36 After many days Paul was grieved, turned to her, 08:40 and said to the spirit, the demon, come out of her. 08:43 Although what she had been saying was true, 08:46 Paul used the gift of discerning of spirits 08:49 to confront the spirit that was making the declaration. 08:53 A demon, not a damsel, and also used the word of wisdom 08:58 as to when to confront this spirit. 09:01 Just as wisdom is knowledge rightly applied, 09:05 so the spiritual gift of the word of wisdom is the 09:09 supernatural ability to apply spiritual knowledge 09:12 already possessed. Regardless of how one obtains that knowledge 09:17 it is knowledge rightly applied by the Spirit. 09:20 It is God showing the what, why, where, when, 09:25 and how of solving a problem. It is the supernatural solution 09:30 to trials, troubles, and tribulation. 09:32 It is thus exactly what it says it is: 09:37 a word of wisdom - not total wisdom within itself. 09:41 The word of wisdom will almost always associate itself 09:45 with knowledge in order to be effective. 09:48 It may be a tiny portion of God's wisdom graciously given 09:52 at a specific time for a specific circumstance 09:56 for God to accomplish His will for the recipient. 09:59 This gift has several other functions, 10:02 and we will explore them later in this series. 10:07 Now let's look at what the word of wisdom IS NOT. 10:11 The word of wisdom is not all of God's wisdom. 10:14 This gift is the gift of the word of wisdom 10:17 it is NOT the gift of wisdom. 10:20 God speaks to us giving us a word or only a small portion 10:25 of His wisdom. Also, it is NOT psychology. 10:30 The supernatural gift of the word of wisdom 10:32 is not something one learns in a classroom 10:35 studying the natural tendencies of human-kind. 10:39 It is NOT a science of the mind. 10:41 It is NOT any earthly wisdom. 10:45 Once again, it cannot be learned by the natural mind. 10:49 The word of wisdom is not learned by the natural mind. 10:52 It cannot be education, training, methods 10:56 or natural wisdom in any sense. 10:58 A man without the Spirit may use methods that may be both 11:03 helpful and harmful. What works perfectly and builds up 11:07 in one situation may literally destroy 11:11 in another given circumstance. This is especially true 11:14 when it comes to solving problems in local churches. 11:18 Many pastors, leadership, and laity have problems 11:22 where no one but God can help them. 11:25 No man knows the answer or the solution. 11:28 Someone's book may be interesting and have many 11:31 practical applications; however, that book should never be 11:36 confused with the spiritual gift of the word of wisdom. 11:41 The word of wisdom is NOT mature advice or counsel, 11:44 although that's good. This gift is not the ability to give 11:48 mature spiritual insight. One may be mature in the 11:52 Lord's word and have many years of experience 11:54 in rightly dividing the word of truth 11:57 and yet never have this supernatural spiritual gift 12:02 operate in their life. There's a huge difference between 12:05 the mature spiritual fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 12:10 The fruit of the Spirit is something one continues to 12:13 strive for while the gifts of the Holy Spirit are manifested 12:18 and divided as He Himself so desires. 12:22 I Corinthians 12, let's rehearse this: 12:25 verse 7: "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every 12:29 man to profit withal, but all these worketh 12:32 that one and the self-same Spirit divideth to every man 12:36 severally as He wills. " It is not just plain wisdom. 12:41 This gift is not just the wisdom that every Christian gains 12:45 from studying God's word. Solomon had wisdom from God 12:49 but rarely did he receive a word of wisdom or specific 12:53 revelation for a special situation. 12:55 An immature child of God may be given the gift 13:00 of the word of wisdom whereas a spiritually mature Christian 13:04 may never receive this endowment at all! 13:08 You see, the gift of the word of wisdom is not just a lucky guess 13:13 or a new inspiration. This gift is not just a premonition 13:18 that unexpectedly goes off - BOOM - in someone's head. 13:22 If this were true, then we would have to acknowledge 13:25 those who do not know Jesus but experience the same 13:31 lucky guess or premonition without the Holy Spirit. 13:35 Now, let's take a look at a practical application. 13:40 This gift is something... - hear this, hear this - 13:43 this gift is something every mother and father 13:46 needs desperately in their home because they can't handle 13:50 every child in the same manner. It's something every pastor, 13:55 teacher, and church leader needs at times since he or she 14:00 can't minister to every member in the same manner 14:03 or sometimes on the same spiritual level. 14:06 It is something every Christian should pray for 14:10 in order to share the gospel with those who are lost. 14:13 We may be given the gift of the word of wisdom 14:16 to pray for someone in a purposeful or specific manner. 14:21 We may receive the word of wisdom to increase our faith 14:25 and belief in God's word. We may be given the word of wisdom 14:29 to ask questions that will take us or the person being 14:33 questioned to a divine encounter with God. 14:36 We may receive this gift to convince us to trust 14:40 and obey the leading of God's Holy Spirit. 14:42 The Holy Spirit may divide this gift to us in order to 14:46 accomplish a task the Lord has chosen us to accomplish. 14:50 The gift of the word of wisdom would communicate ability 14:55 to receive and explain the deep things of God. 15:03 says: "But as it is written, eye hath not seen 15:05 nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the hearts of man 15:08 the things which God hath prepared 15:11 for them that love Him. " And this is where we usually stop. 15:14 This is where we quit. But thank God for verse 10. 15:17 It says: "But - BUT - God hath revealed them unto us 15:21 by His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yea, 15:25 the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things 15:30 of man save the spirit of man which is in him? 15:33 Even so the things of God knoweth no man 15:37 but the Spirit of God. Now we receive not the spirit 15:41 of the world but the Spirit which is of God 15:45 Hallelujah! that we might know the things that are freely given 15:49 to us of God which things also we speak. 15:52 Not in the words which man's wisdom teaches but which the 15:58 Holy Spirit teaches comparing spiritual things 16:01 with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things 16:06 of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him - 16:10 neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. 16:15 But he that is spiritual judges all things yet he himself 16:20 is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord 16:25 that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. " 16:29 In God's dealings with men there is so much that is mysterious 16:34 and the ordinary Christian is often in need of a word 16:38 that will illuminate his situation. 16:43 Old Testament Biblical examples of this: they are numerous. 16:47 In II Kings chapter 3 three kings had told Elisha 16:52 that the Moabites were coming to capture them. 16:54 At first Elisha didn't know what to do. 16:56 Then he called for a minstrel and listened 17:01 and praised the Lord. Then a gift of the word of wisdom 17:06 was given to him, and Elisha told them to make the valley 17:10 full of ditches. He then explained the cause and the 17:14 effect of the word of wisdom he had been given. 17:18 Ye will not see wind or rain but the valley shall be filled 17:22 with water. The Moabites were defeated 17:25 and three kingdoms were saved with the word of wisdom. 17:29 Another Old Testament example was King Solomon. 17:32 This is a word of wisdom most of us have heard 17:36 from our childhood. In I Kings 3 Solomon was 17:40 faced with a problem when two women both claimed 17:43 to have a baby that was theirs after one had smothered 17:48 the other's to death during the night. 17:49 The Spirit of God told Solomon to call for a sword. 17:53 He feigned or pretended to divide the live baby 17:57 between the two women. When one of them started to cry out 18:00 for the baby's life, Solomon knew that he knew that he knew 18:04 that this woman was the baby's rightful mother. 18:07 Solomon had just prayed and asked for wisdom 18:11 from the Lord which was given 18:14 by the Spirit for that specific problem. 18:17 That touches my heart. It might not have worked 18:20 in a similar case if both loved the baby the same 18:23 or if both were equally insensitive. 18:26 It was a spiritual gift and a gift of the word of wisdom. 18:30 The New Testament is full of Biblical examples. 18:34 I want to share just a few. Paul, Paul was given a word 18:37 of knowledge from the Holy Spirit that he was supposed to 18:39 go to Rome in Acts 19 verse 21. 18:43 But he did not know when, why, or how! 18:47 The Spirit gave him a word of wisdom one night 18:49 and told him why he was to go to Rome. 18:52 That's in Acts 23 and verse 11. 18:56 You see Jesus used the word of wisdom to answer 18:59 the question regarding taxes. Matthew 22:15 through 22 says: 19:04 "Then went the Pharisees 19:06 and took counsel how they might entangle Him in His talk. 19:11 And they sent out unto Him their disciples with the Herodians 19:16 saying 'Master, we know that Thou art true 19:19 and teachest the way of God and truth, 19:21 neither carest Thou for any man for Thou regardest not 19:25 the person of men. Tell us therefore what thinkest Thou: 19:30 Is it lawful to give tribute 19:33 unto Caesar or not? ' 19:37 But Jesus perceived their wickedness and said: 19:40 'Why tempt you Me, you hypocrites? 19:43 Show Me the tribute money. ' And they brought unto Him 19:46 a penny. And He saith unto them: 'Whose is the image 19:52 and the superscription? ' They say unto Him 'Caesar's. ' 19:56 Then saith He unto them: - powerful, powerful - 19:59 'Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's 20:03 and unto God the things that are God's. ' " 20:07 We can learn a lesson from this! 20:09 "When they had heard these words they marveled and left Him 20:13 and went their way. " I believe the temptation 20:17 of Jesus in the wilderness is three of the most powerful 20:21 words of wisdom in the Word of God. 20:23 I'm prejudiced. I really like this wilderness experience. 20:27 Luke 4:1-14 says: "And Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost 20:33 returned from Jordan and was LED, led by the Spirit 20:38 into the wilderness. Being 40 days temped of the devil 20:42 and in those days He did eat nothing. 20:45 And when they were ended, He afterwards hungered. 20:49 And the devil said unto Him, 'If thou be the Son of God, 20:52 command this stone' - see Jesus was the stone - 20:57 'that it be made bread. ' And Jesus answered him saying: 21:01 'IT IS WRITTEN' - this is a word of wisdom - 21:05 'that man shall not live by bread alone 21:08 but by every word of God. And the devil, taking Him up 21:12 unto a high mountain, showed unto Him 21:14 all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 21:18 And the devil said unto Him, 21:20 'All this power will I give thee 21:25 and the glory of them that is delivered unto me 21:29 and to whosoever I will I give it. 21:33 If Thou therefore will worship me, all shall be Thine. ' " 21:37 Mmm, mmm. "And Jesus answered and said unto him, 21:40 'Get thee behind me Satan for IT IS WRITTEN 21:44 thou shalt worship the Lord thy God 21:47 and Him only shalt thou serve. ' And he brought Him to Jerusalem 21:53 and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, 21:55 and said unto Him: 'If thou be the Son of God, 21:59 cast thyself down from hence for it is written 22:03 He shall give His angels charge over thee 22:05 to keep thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up 22:10 lest at any time Thou shalt dash thy foot against a stone. ' 22:14 And Jesus answered and said unto him: 'It is said 22:19 thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. ' 22:23 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, 22:26 he departed from Him for a season and Jesus returned" 22:30 oh, listen to how He returned, "And Jesus returned in the power 22:34 of the Spirit. " He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 22:37 He returned from the wilderness in the power of the Spirit 22:40 into Galilee. "And there went out a fame of Him 22:44 throughout all the region round about. " 22:47 The word of wisdom is a powerful gift that the church needs 22:51 desperately in this end time. And we are going to take a look 22:54 at some more of this right after this message. 22:57 Don't go away; we'll be right back for the conclusion. 23:02 If you've been confused about what the Bible says 23:05 about the Holy Spirit's amazing gifts for the church, 23:07 you'll want to order your very own copy of this 13-part series. 23:11 It's available on DVD or video cassette from 3ABN 23:15 at a very special price. This 13-part series 23:18 with Pastor Hal Steenson makes a wonderful gift 23:21 for a friend or a family member. Just call us at: 23:27 and we'll be happy to take your order. 23:28 You may also order it online at: 23:48 Through the years I have seen the true working 23:51 of the word of wisdom and other gifts of the Holy Spirit. 23:55 Ellen White says that we need to, in the last days and 23:59 the latter rain and outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 24:01 that we need to be so familiar with the workings 24:05 of the gifts of the Holy Spirit unless we look at the real 24:10 and say fanaticism. What we must do as a church 24:15 that is led the Spirit of God - He is our guide - 24:18 we must become familiar with these gifts of the Holy Spirit 24:23 in order to protect the church by allowing each person that 24:27 demonstrates these gifts to use the authority of the believer. 24:32 Now I know that there are people out there - 24:35 because I have seen it too and in this series 24:37 I am talking about that - that are using counterfeit 24:40 of the real gifts. You know, there's all kinds 24:45 of counterfeit money in the world. 24:46 It's out there everywhere! But you know what? 24:50 We still spend real money even with the counterfeit out there. 24:55 So what we've got to do is, we've got to become familiar 25:00 with the real. You know the government counterfeit dept. 25:04 They don't study the counterfeit they study the real 25:06 and are so familiar with it. And here's what we need to do. 25:10 We need to allow the gifts of the word of knowledge, 25:12 word of wisdom, discerning of the spirits 25:14 we are going to be talking about. We need them to work 25:18 in the church to build up the church. 25:20 Now I am taken back to a time when we tried to get a station 25:23 in Papua, New Guinea. And this station other Christian stations 25:29 had offered them big bucks, millions of dollars, 25:32 for this license. And God moved through Danny Shelton 25:37 and Danny Shelton told Benny Kahana 25:44 "Go tell the governor general, go tell the people 25:47 that are in control that when 3ABN comes on their station. 25:52 comes on in their country, that the people that watch it 25:57 will eat better, they will have better family relationships, 26:01 there will be peace in their homes, 26:04 and they will come to know the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. " 26:09 And the ambassador said, "I don't know about that. " 26:12 And Danny said, "Try! Go and tell him this. " 26:16 I mean what country would not love for all the fighting 26:21 all of the disruptions, everything, 26:24 the turmoil that's in there, to be blessed somehow, some way? 26:28 And this was actually a word of wisdom. 26:31 And do you know that 3ABN is now on in Papua, New Guinea 26:36 because of a gift of the word of wisdom 26:39 that God spoke through Danny Shelton? 26:41 Russia right now in Nitzy Novgorod. 26:45 We just returned. Danny and I just returned from there. 26:49 And do you know that we are on right there because God 26:53 used John Carter to sit down and talk to the governor 26:57 of Nitzy Novgorod and ask him a question. 27:01 "If you are here to protect our rights, then why aren't you 27:05 protecting our rights? " And all of a sudden there was 27:08 an opened heaven and God began to speak through Pastor Carter 27:14 words of wisdom to ask this man. 27:19 And at the end of this meeting 27:22 with the hierarchy of the church the governor stood up and said 27:27 "Enough is enough. Shake hands. " And then he told 27:31 the official of the Russian orthodox church 27:33 "Now we are going to take your picture. And when this picture 27:37 is taken, I want a smile on your face. " 27:39 How did it happen? Through the gifts of the Spirit. 27:42 In fighting situations in the church, in your home, 27:46 in your life, we need the Holy Spirit. 27:49 We have the map of God's Word but we need the compass 27:54 of God's Holy Spirit desperately. 27:56 And what that will do is that will enhance our worship. 28:01 It will build up the body of Christ and punch holes 28:05 in the kingdom of darkness 28:06 and let the light of Jesus Christ come in. 28:31 On our next Heaven's Point of View, 28:32 we will be looking at the gift of the discerning of spirits. 28:36 So check your 3ABN World for the dates and times 28:40 and we will see you there. |
Revised 2014-12-17