Words of knowledge

ByTheSpirit said:

I guess I'm not following what you are saying here. I don't think a person "has" to be spiritually mature to have a spiritual gift. The entire book of 1 Corinthians shows that. Plus in that book it says to earnestly desire the gifts, so I think if someone wants a gift it's a completely biblical thing and God's will.

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When I was young in my spiritual walk I prayed and asked God for the gift of healing...I wanted to go around and be His vessel that He could manifest that gift through.
Seems like I prayed for weeks and one night He said all of the 9 gifts you have. Then He said the gift is only powered by the anointing of the Holy Spirit at the time of manifestation....in other words....the power is Him in you and through you to do these things.
One day He may need you to operate the gift of healing...the next day the gift of prophesy....etc...etc..
Not everyone can operate in all the gifts...so some are specifically chosen for only one gift.
As for me I simply yield myself as a willing vessel for Him to use however He needs to.
God Bless

I believe a Word of Knowledge is simply a word that is consistent with the Scripture that shows that the person involved understands it. It is knowing the Scripture enough well enough to explain it to someone one-on-one in a way they can understand.

This is distinct from the gift of wisdom, which focuses on applying Scripture to situations that are going on in another person's life, and teaching, which focuses more on explaining the Scripture to groups.

Some of what you are talking about - "supernaturally knowing details about people" - sounds less like Spiritual Gifts to me and more like psychics or ESP. It also sounds like intelligent guesses based on intuition that happened to be correct - the latter can take you very far and can even operate on the subconscious level. Sorry, but I believe that all of the Spiritual Gifts post-canon-closure are about the understanding and application of Scripture - that's what the Holy Spirit is there for, to help us understand the Scripture and follow it - not to grant us supernatural power. We don't need that these days. Understanding the Scripture correctly, given the sin nature's hold on our minds, is miracle enough.

So if you want the Word of Knowledge, the way you get it is by studying the Scripture deeply and memorizing it. Go out and live some life too, and try to explain Scripture to some folks. Eventually you will master the art. To acquire knowledge, you have to learn things.

I am hoping my beliefs on this matter make sense.

How can we distinguish between a Biblical word of knowledge and the words coming from a New Age Psychic?

Dont see words of knowledge defined in that way. Whenever we study, it has to be applicable across the board.

Here's the first one that came to mind-
"Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good." (I Thess 5) Using the definition in post 63,, tests the Scripture? Then hold on to what's good?

Or "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge." I Cor 14 Perhaps I don't understand the application.

On the other topic - the difference between Godly prophecy and fortune tellers type stuff.

It's about the source.

In Acts 16 "These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation." She was saying the truth but she had the spirit of divination which is the revelatory aspect of witchcraft. The enemy imitates God. God knew the intention behind her words. The end result wouldn't have been to build up the church and point to Jesus.

Know some think they`re the only ones who can tell if it's a Godly prophecy or not. Plus they say they believe in the manifestation of the gifts but in their posts it doesn't look like it.. But they're the only one based on their input.

But we can have discerning of spirits and that gift only works accurately through the Holy Spirit..Different from discernment. Most everybody thinks they have discernment.

tturt said:

Dont see words of knowledge defined in that way. Whenever we study, it has to be applicable across the board.

Here's the first one that came to mind-
"Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good." (I Thess 5) Using the definition in post 63,, tests the Scripture? Then hold on to what's good?

Or "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge." I Cor 14 Perhaps I don't understand the application.

On the other topic - the difference between Godly prophecy and fortune tellers type stuff.

It's about the source.

In Acts 16 "These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation." She was saying the truth but she had the spirit of divination. God knew the intention behind her words. The end result wouldn't have been to build up the church and point to Jesus.

Know some think they`re the only ones who can tell if it's a Godly prophecy or not. Plus they say they believe in the manifestation of the gifts but in their posts it doesn't look like it.. But they're the only one based on their input.

But we can have discerning of spirits and that gift only works accurately through the Holy Spirit..Different from discernment. Most everybody thinks they have discernment.

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The problem is not being able to safely determine whether a prophecy comes from the Holy Spirit, or is just dreamed up from one's own mind. If we examine many of the prophecies we see on Youtube and on prophecy sites we see many prophecies that look like this:
"We are being brought into a new season where we will be uplifted into a new realm of blessing as we go deeper into the river of the anointing that will flow through us. As we rise into the new realm our knowledge will increase and we will get an affirmation of the download that the anointing will occur."

This is basically a word salad which actually says nothing. This is the type of prophecy given by Chuck Pierce, and he earns $800,000 a year for giving prophecies exactly like my example. If we examine many prophecies, we find much difficulty in being able to determine what they actually mean. In fact, they are basically meaningless, yet these prophetic people are adamant that the Lord is speaking through them.

Discovering this has been a real eye-opener for me after five decades of being involved in the prophetic. I have decided to turn away from what I have previously accepted as the prophetic, because I no longer want to take the risk of taking the Lord's name in vain by declaring something that implies the Lord speaking through me, when it actually comes from my own mind. I know that I have been sincere in the prophetic words I have given in the past, but it now appears that I could have been sincerely wrong in many of the prophetic words I have given over the years. So, I have decided not to be involved in future, and have adopted the attitude that the only reliable prophetic word is in the pages of the Bible itself. If I quote the Bible, I know I can say, "This is what the Lord is saying". But I can't guarantee that that anything that comes to mind outside of the Bible is actually from the Holy Spirit. This is in the light that, in reality, nine out of ten impressions come from the world, flesh, and the devil. Even if a prophetic word is accurate and a predictive prophecy comes to past, that is no guarantee that the prophecy actually comes from the Holy Spirit.

Additional Biblical support for post #65

"This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;" (I Tim 1:18)

tturt said:

Additional Biblical support for post #65

"This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;" (I Tim 1:18)

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Here is another verse that Biblicly validates the Holy Spirit speaking directly through prophecy:
"While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2).

Also, Peter was speaking prophetically when he dealt with Ananias and Sapphira. He actually spoke prophetically as the result of a word of knowledge.

The important thing about genuine Holy Spirit prophecy is that it says something definite, and is consistent which what God has already said in the Bible. It may not actually literally quote Scripture but for someone who has good knowledge of the Scriptures it is obvious that the prophecy would be something that the Holy Spirit would say. It would be totally consistent with God's nature and character, and would point people to Christ. Also, importantly, it would not consist in a "word salad" full of Charismatic buzz words, as in my example of false prophecy in post #66.

To provide good examples of false prophecy, viewing the "Prophecy Bingo" videos on the Fighting For The Faith Youtube channel would be very instructive. Don't be put off by the Cessationist stance on the channel. Have an open mind to see how they show that the prophecies they show are so false and quite contrary to what true Holy Spirit prophecy actually is.

Therefore, false prophecy uses a lot of the buzz words, such as "anointing", "season", "rhema", "new level", "river", "transition", 'blessing", "channel", "shifting", etc. You will see as you examine the prophecies you will see that they say absolutely nothing.

Also, true Holy Spirit prophecy is in no way comparable to horoscopes or psychic predictions. Some of the false prophecies shown in the Prophecy Bingo videos could also be said by a New Age psychic. This shows how dangerous false prophecy which purports to be in the name of the Lord is in terms of taking the Lord's Name in vain.

Now, I firmly believe that the gift of prophecy is still active for the church today, because the Holy Spirit is still speaking to the Church to exhort, comfort, and build up the people in their faith in Christ. But we have to be discerning to distinguish between true Biblical prophecy and New Age divination.

Word of knowledge Be facts and events so on so forth. Its supernatural not natural. No we do not have all the gifts we can be used by the sweet sweet holy Spirit as He wills. We can find word of knowledge all through out the word of God. One time to warn the king of enemy's plan of destruction. I desire all the gifts yet I do not seek after them.

Word of knowledge as in your walking across the street and God said "run" I was happy and thought run why I am not scared. Then He said "when God tells you to do something you don't question it you just do it. I said yes sir. . So I started to run and I passed this apartment building two people ran out jumped in car and started to chase me.

I understand what @Oscarr is getting at. You can know something from the flesh or believe from that place. But that’s not the same as a word from God.

Oftentimes people impress fleshly knowledge and want you to agree or follow them. But the Lord didn’t tell them to say it. Sometimes I ask jokingly, is that a word? I know the answer beforehand. I do it to prove a point.

When you hear a word from God it never misses the mark. You know it came from Him because you feel it within and its impactful.

The gift can be misused by people desiring power or influence. Those who have multiple speaking gifts often communicate well. They can be very engaging and convincing too. Therein lies the problem. You see the counterfeit in charlatans and politicians.

When you’re able to compel others or inspire them to take action you have to check your motives. They’re susceptible to your person and message and may be less discriminating than they should.

Many inadvertently place their trust in the person rather than the One who sent them. They’ll put you on a pedestal and look at you admiringly or emulate your behavior and vernacular. And the glory doesn’t fall where it should.

You have to keep your ego in check and stay close to him. That’s why motivational speakers are successful. They know how to hit the spot and they’re rewarded financially. People are longing for love, hope, and something to believe in. Words are powerful.

I address it in several ways. The spaghetti method for venues like this. I’ll share a thought. What you do with it is your business. Sometimes I scatter seed. I give a personal word on occasion. Speaking to the problem in a manner the intended can receive. In some instances I take a person under my wing and offer instruction, advice and support.

I apply similar techniques in my work but on a greater scale. It’s more instructive and influential with the goal of spiritual and personal betterment. And there’s a lot of warfare. I’m countering challenges and stumbling blocks in my message.

Unlike this setting, I have a vision to go on and intended outcomes I’m manifesting in different planes. They get the full scope of my gifts and service. Because the work is purposeful and anointed. I’m operating in my capacity to the flock He called me to minister to. And the results are better.