The Revealing Gifts of the Spirit

~ Joe

This is part 2 of a 4 part study on the gifts of the Spirit.

The other sections are…

The three revealing gifts are grouped together because they make known to the recipient of the gift something they had previously not known, a divine revelation.

Unlike the spoken gifts, the revelation that comes through the revealing gifts is usually not given through the recipient’s own mouth. Revealing gifts also do not require the participation of the recipient as do the spoken gifts; the Holy Spirit simply gives the revelation to the recipient whenever He sees fit.

Unlike the action gifts, the revelation that comes through the revealing gifts does not do anything on its own. The recipient must act on the revelation in order to apply it.

Message of Wisdom

Greek: sophia – wisdom, broad and full of intelligence; used of the knowledge of very diverse matters

Defined: The message of wisdom is a supernatural revelation given by the Spirit of God which provides insight into the mind of God, His purposes, direction, and will.

Important facts to know:

  • The message of wisdom is a short message or a small part of a greater whole. It is not God’s entire plan and will.
  • The message provides insight into God’s larger purpose for His Kingdom or for a person.
  • The word of wisdom can come in many different ways: audible voice, internal voice, vision, dream, or angel messenger.
  • Many times the message of wisdom will be given along with a message of knowledge. The two gifts often operate together.

Paul found himself in many different situations in the book of Acts and in chapter 27 we see him given a message of wisdom that was used to reveal times of trouble and God’s protection. Notice how in verses 23-26 Paul clearly conveys foretelling information about the men he sailed with and his own life, given to him by an angel messenger.

Acts 27:9-26
… 21After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

Old Testament examples of a message of wisdom prior to the day of Pentecost.

1 Kings 13:1-5
1 By the word of the LORD a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. 2 He cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD : “O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’ ” 3 That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the LORD has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”

4 When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. 5 Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the LORD.

1 Kings 13:16-17
16 The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 I have been told by the word of the LORD : ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’ “

Here we have two examples of a message of wisdom being given to the same man of God. In verses 1-5 the man of God was given a foretelling message surrounding Jeroboam and even specific signs from the Lord to confirm that the message was from Him. This is how many of the Old Testament prophets operated.

The second passage was regarding the man of God’s personal safety. He was told by God to not do certain specific things but he was tricked into doing those things and his life was taken from him.

Message of Knowledge

Greek: gnōsis – understanding

Defined: The message of knowledge is a supernatural revelation given by the Spirit of God which provides an understanding of certain facts in the mind and will of God.

Difference between the message of knowledge and message of wisdom:

  • The message of knowledge usually reveals part of God’s divine plan concerning the present or past; an understanding of facts.
  • The message of wisdom usually reveals part of God’s divine plan concerning the future; insight into God’s purposes and plans.

Important facts to know:

  • Like the message of wisdom, the message of knowledge is also a short message or small part of a greater whole. It is not all of God’s knowledge and understanding.
  • The message of knowledge can also come in many different ways: audible voice, inner voice, vision, dream, or angel messenger.
  • Many times the message of knowledge will be given along with a word of wisdom. The two gifts often operate together.

An example both of the message of wisdom and knowledge working together.

Acts 9:10-16
10In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

11The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

13″Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

15But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

In this example we see the message of knowledge being given in verses 11-12 as the Lord tells Ananias where to go and what to do regarding a vision Saul was given. This is new information revealed to Ananias regarding the present and past situation of Saul. Then in verses 15-16 we see the Lord elaborating upon the message of knowledge with a message of wisdom. Ananias is now given a glimpse into what the Lord wants to accomplish through Saul in the future.

An example of how Jesus used the information given to him through a message of knowledge.

John 4:7-19
7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9The 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.)

10Jesus 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.”

11″Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are 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?”

13Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but 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.”

15The 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.”

16He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

17″I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18The 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.”

19″Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.

The Holy Spirit revealed to Jesus certain facts about the woman’s life. Jesus then acted on those facts by using them in the conversation with the woman which eventually led to her towns salvation.

Another example of the word of knowledge and acting upon it.

Acts 8:26-29
26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

In this passage, God, through an angel, revealed that Philip needed to go down a certain road and then, a little later, go up and talk with an Ethiopian. Philip had to follow the revelations that God gave him which were part of God’s plan to save that Ethiopian.

Examples of the message of knowledge revealing peoples thoughts and intentions.

Matthew 9:4; 12:25
9:4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?
12:25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

Luke 9:47; 11:17
9:47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him.
11:17 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.

Old Testament examples of messages of knowledge prior to the day of Pentecost.

The Gift of Distinguishing Spirits

Greek: diakrisis (dÄ“-ä’-krÄ“-sÄ“s) – distinguishing, discerning, judging

Defined: The gift of distinguishing spirits is when the Holy Spirit reveals the source of spiritual activity, enabling a person to judge/act correctly.

Important facts to know:

  • The gift of distinguishing spirits is one of the three “revealing” gifts – the other two being the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge.
  • The gift of distinguishing spirits is usually considered the least of the three revealing gifts. The revealing gifts usually follow in this order of importance because of their range of scope: 1) message of wisdom, 2) message of knowledge, and 3) distinguishing spirits.
  • Where the message of wisdom reveals God’s plans and purpose for the future, and the message of knowledge reveals God’s insight regarding present or past events, people, places, and things, the message of distinguishing spirits reveals God’s insight regarding spirits (both good and evil) and their intent.

Jesus is allowed to see the spirit behind Peter’s words.

Matthew 16:21-23
21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

23Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

In defense of Peter, he was most likely concerned with his Lord’s safety with maybe a twinge of selfishness involved. But regardless, the focus and motive behind his words were not in alignment with what the Father revealed to Jesus. Thus Jesus discerned the origin of Peter’s words and rebuked Satan.

Paul is allowed to see the intentions behind a spirit’s actions.

Acts 16:16-18
16Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

The word for “troubled” in the Greek is diaponeomai (dÄ“-ä-po-ne’-o-mÄ«) which means to be troubled, displeased, offended, pained, or to be worked up. Sometimes the revelation that comes from the gift of discerning spirits is nothing more than a “sensation” deep within your spirit like Paul experienced.

The gift of discerning spirits is not just to provide revelation. Like the messages of wisdom and knowledge, the gift of discerning spirits is given with the intention that recipient will act on the revelation, just as Paul did.

Old Testament examples of discerning of spirits prior to the day of Pentecost.

Moses was allowed to see into the spirit world.

Exodus 33:20-23
20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
21 Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

Elisha prays that his servant may see into the spirit world.

2 Kings 6:15-17
15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.
16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
17 And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

The next article will examine the Spoken gifts in more detail.

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