Word Of Wisdom Series

Intro

We are in a series concerning the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Last week we examined the description of the gifts found in the first eleven verses of 1 Cor. 12. We came to understand the gifts of the Spirit as “supernatural impartations by the Holy Spirit that come in a moment for a specific situation.” They are not human endowments that God gives people as part of their character and make-up. These manifestations of the Spirit come “in a flash” so-to-speak.i They come by the Spirit to fulfill God’s purposes at the specific occasion.

Today, we want to examine a gift of revelation: the word of wisdom. For convenience, we categorize the nine gifts in three groups of three. (I) Revelation gifts: word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits (II) Power gifts: faith, gifts of healings, working of miracles (III) Utterance gifts: prophecy, kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues.ii

WHAT IS A WORD OF WISDOM?

First Cor. 12:8 “for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit….”iii

The Greek word in our text translated wisdom is “sophia.” You may know someone with that name. It comes from this Greek word. I’m going to give you a definition of this word from three Greek scholars and explain why in a moment. Freberg Lexicon defines sophia as (1) “generally, the ability to use knowledge for correct behavior”iv I want you to see the emphasis on behavior in these definitions of wisdom. The Louw-Nida Lexicon definition is “the capacity to understand and, as a result, to act wisely.”v Wisdom has to do with taking the right course of action. A.T. Robertson says, “wisdom is intelligence, then practical action in accord with it.”vi Wisdom answers the question, “What should I do?” It is futuristic in that it tells you what to say next or what to do about an issue.

However, it is not a prediction of what will happen.vii That is prophecy. It is guidance on what to do. I take the time to make that distinction because many in Pentecostal circles misunderstand word of wisdom as a prediction. It is guidance. Kenneth Hagin taught it as a prediction, and everybody followed him. I think he was wrong on that minor point, because the words themselves in the text simply do not support that. I have a very high regard for Kenneth Hagin because on the whole he knew what he was talking about concerning the gifts of the Spirit. He was a man who operated in these gifts. But sometimes when a teacher is held in high esteem and makes a minor error, nobody questions it. History tells us that great men of God were often wrong about something. Luther’s revelation of justification by faith broke the church out of the chains of legalism into a vastly increased understanding of biblical salvation. But his teaching on the book of James is off base. He couldn’t reconcile what James was saying with what Paul said, so he cast James aside as worthless straw. I’m sure I’m not right about everything I say. That’s why I want you to always examine all teaching with Scripture.viii Regardless of who is teaching, receive that which is scriptural and discard that which does not line up with the Bible. If a teacher makes a mistake, we do not reject that leader. But we don’t accept everything just because we respect the instructor. The final authority is the Bible. Miscategorizing a gift of the Spirit is not a very serious error. These terms simply help us communicate with one another. The important thing is that the person is operating in these supernatural manifestations. And Brother Hagin certainly did that. If someone is operating in prophecy, but calls it word of wisdom—in one sense, who cares? The work God wanted to do got done. However, if we take the words in the text to mean what they mean, then wisdom is not prediction. It is “understanding that enables us to take the right course of action.”

The most common misunderstanding of word of wisdom is to mistake it for wisdom in general. The Bible has a lot to say about simply becoming a wise person. Solomon wrote in Prov. 4:11, “I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths.” Wisdom is about taking the right path. God gets things done by His wisdom, not just by His power. It takes wisdom to get things done. Jer. 10:12 says, God “established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heaves at His discretion.” Prov. 3:19 “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens.” But we also accomplish objectives by wisdom. Prov. 24:3 says, “Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established.” Eccl. 9:15 tells us about a poor man who saved a whole city by his wisdom. So wisdom is extremely important. We are called to pursue wisdom. Prov. 4:7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” We want to become wise people.