As the Spirit Wills
Bob Yandian
One of the greatest ways Jesus witnessed to people was by using two spiritual gifts: the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge. Remember the story of the woman at the well? Jesus told her, “Go get your husband.”
The woman said, “I don’t have a husband.”
Jesus said, “You’re right! You’ve had five husbands, and the one you’re living with now is not your husband” (John 4:16-18 paraphrase). That really grabbed her attention! Jesus was flowing in the gift of the word of knowledge.
The Bible tells us the Holy Spirit works the gifts as He wills. It’s interesting that even Jesus didn’t always flow in the gifts. Sometimes He had to ask people questions in order to help them. For example, in Mark 9 as He was about to cast a demon out of a boy, the evil spirit threw the boy into convulsions. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been happening to him?”
You might wonder, Wouldn’t Jesus already know that? He knew all about the woman at the well! But even Jesus Himself couldn’t turn this gift on and off whenever He wanted to because the gifts flow as the Holy Spirit wills. Jesus couldn’t get the Holy Spirit to tell Him anything anytime. But when the gifts were in operation, Jesus knew things about people by the Spirit.
Another time Jesus operated in the word of knowledge was when He saw Nathaniel coming toward Him.
Jesus said, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile [deceit]!”
Nathaniel said, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered, “…Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (John 1:47-48). While Nathaniel was still far away, before Jesus had spoken with him, Jesus knew what was going through his mind.
When the Holy Spirit revealed this to Jesus, He spoke it out. Look at Nathaniel’s response: “Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49). Because Nathaniel saw the gift of the word of knowledge in operation, he believed.
We see the word of knowledge in operation in the book of Acts again and again as the Holy Spirit revealed to the disciples the thoughts and intentions of others. They knew when men were being phony and when they were telling the truth. They supernaturally perceived what was going on in the hearts of those around them.
For example, as Paul preached the gospel in Lystra, he perceived that one of his listeners had faith to be healed. This man had been crippled from his mother’s womb, but when Paul said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet,” he leaped and walked (Acts 14:8-10 NASB). Paul was able to perceive faith in this man’s heart and minister to him.
These same gifts of the Spirit are available to every spirit-filled believer so we, too, can become sensitive ministers of the gospel. These gifts are actually manifestations of the Spirit-filled life. The more we spend time with God praying in tongues, building ourselves up, and making ourselves sensitive to the will of God, the more the gifts will operate in our lives. As we operate in faith, actively believing that God will make us sensitive to those around us, we will find ourselves supernaturally discerning things in people’s lives.
