| I Corinthians 12-14 continued...
The Gift of Knowledge
Verse 8, "To one there is given through
the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of
knowledge by means of the same Spirit,..." The word or
message (as the NIV has it) of knowledge is information given
to us supernaturally--suddenly knowing something about a person,
place or situation that we couldn't otherwise discern or know
about. Acts 5:1-10. "Now a man named Ananias, together with
his wife Sappira, also sold a piece of property. With his
wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself
[while obviously saying that he was donating the full amount
to the Church], but brought the rest and put it at the apostles'
feet. Then Peter said, 'Ananias, how is it that Satan has
so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit
and have kept for yourself some of the money you received
for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold?
And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal?
What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied
to men but to God.'
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great
fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young
men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out
and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in,
not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, 'Tell me,
is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?' 'Yes,'
she said, 'that is the price.' Peter said to her, 'How could
you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of
the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they
will carry you out also.'
At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the
young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and
buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole
church and all who heard about these events."
Jesus was also given the word of knowledge supernaturally
about the Samaritan woman at the well. How could he have known
this about her otherwise? John 4:4-26,28-29,39-41. "Now he
had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria
called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to
his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as
he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about
the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water,
Jesus said to her, 'Will you give me a drink?' (His disciples
had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said
to him, 'You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can
you ask me for a drink? (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans
[Margin: Or do not use dishes Samaritans use].) Jesus answered
her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks
you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have
given you living water.'
'Sir,' the woman said, 'you have nothing to draw with and
the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are
you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and
drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks
and herds?' Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water
will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give
him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become
in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'
The woman said to him, 'Sir, give me this water so that I
won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.'
He told her, 'Go tell your husband and come back.' 'I have
no husband,' she replied. Jesus said to her, 'You are right
when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had
five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.
What you have just said is quite true.' [Talk about blowing
someone's mind! Meeting a total stranger and reciting her
life story to her.]
'Sir,' the woman said, 'I can see that you are a prophet.
Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim
that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.' Jesus
declared, 'Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will
worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what
we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is
coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers
the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must
worship in spirit and truth.'
The woman said, 'I know that Messiah' (called Christ) 'is
coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to
us.' Then Jesus declared, 'I who speak to you am he.'...Then
leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and
said to the people [NKJV, "said to the men" i.e. she wasn't
very popular with the women of the town!], 'Come, see a man
who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ
[Margin: Messiah]? They came out of the town and made their
way toward him...Many of the Samaritans from that town believed
in him because of the woman's testimony, 'He told me everything
I ever did.' So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged
him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because
of his words many more became believers."
The Gift of Faith
Verse 9, "to another faith by the same
Spirit,..." The third gift of the Spirit is FAITH. Faith
is something you or I cannot conjure up or manifest. There
are three kinds of faith:
- Saving faith. It comes from Jesus--applied to salvation.
- The faith that trusts God and his promises. This is a
maturing kind of faith that comes from time and experience
with God, experiencing God working in our lives--as well
as a faith that comes by hearing and reading the Word of
God.
- A healing faith: This third type can be there some of
the time in our lives and not be there at other times.
- There were times in Abraham's life, Peter's life and Elijah's
life when they had great faith and at other times they totally
lacked faith. Elijah manifested this kind of faith in front
of Israel and the 400 prophets of Baal, when he called down
fire from heaven on his burnt offering soaked down with
water. But he totally lacked faith a very short time later
when Jezebel threatened his life in the very next chapter.
He ran all the way to mount Sinai, with no one chasing him!
The Church goes forward on faith. It is of God. We don't
work it up on our own. It is a neat gift. Mark 11:20-25.
"In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree
withered from the roots [Jesus had cursed the fig tree that
very same day because it had no fruit, verses 12-14.]. Peter
remembered and said to Jesus, 'Rabbi, look! The fig tree
you cursed has withered!' 'Have faith in God,' Jesus answered.
'I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain,
'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in
his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it
will be done for him. There I tell you, whatever you ask
for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it
will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything
against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven
may forgive your sins." You can't use this kind of faith
to accomplish or gain things you want for selfish purposes.
Jesus is speaking to his disciples who became apostles.
When Jesus called his disciples he said to them "If anyone
desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up
his cross and follow me." Those that teach this theology
that you can get anything you want just by
asking in Jesus' name in faith is not asking
according to scripture. This gift of faith, as well as the
others mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, are given to accomplish
things for the corporate good--unselfish things for the
good of others--things that will benefit the Church or the
community we live in. (Jesus used this gift of knowledge
to convert almost a whole town in Samaria!)
The Power Gifts
The Church in America has basically written
off Jesus. Beware of "the Jesus Seminar" who say that Jesus
never said the things he said, and that the miracles in the
Bible never occurred. God is supernatural, and amazingly enough,
he desires to manifest himself through us. The gifts of the
Spirit are the signature of God. The gift of faith seems to
open up these gifts of power which come next. We find mentioned
after faith in 1 Corinthians 12--and forget what common sense
tells you--that God can heal. And the most important disease
God can heal is sin. Yes, spiritual healing, as well as physical
healing. God created matter and the universe, but God can't
heal? Ridiculous! In verse nine it mentions "gifts of healing".
Beware of someone who says he has the "gift" of healing,
accompanied by all kinds of weird doctrines and money making
schemes. [cf. "Counterfeit REVIVAL", by Hank Hanegraaf.] God
gives gifts of healing to the body of Christ. God will give
you the faith for healing if he wants to heal you--but God
may also choose not to heal you. People can't just conjure
up healing faith at will and be healed by God. God does not
guarantee Christians a physically perfect life. We need to
live for eternity.
Verses 9-11, "to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another
distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different
tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he
gives them to each one, just as he determines."
Some people say these gifts do not exist for today--this day
and age. People say, 'Now that we have the written Word of
God, these gifts are passed away' based on Hebrews 2:1-4,
which states, "We must pay more careful attention, therefore,
to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if
the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation
and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we
escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation,
which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us
by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs,
wonders, and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit
distributed according to his will." This is a weak argument.
Those who apply Hebrews 2:1-4 like this are putting God in
a box. They need to hang out with some missionaries in the
3rd world countries for awhile. God backs up his Word with
miracles. [Order "I Just Saw JESUS" by Paul Eshleman, special
edition published by THE "JESUS" FILM PROJECT, Campus Crusade
For Christ, P.O. Box 7207, San Clemente, CA 92674-2007, or
order online at: http://www.jesusfilm.org
] Don't believe me, read the facts. And if you don't believe
what appears here, order this book off the Internet for yourself.
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