We turn our attention once again to 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 and we move to “the word of wisdom” mentioned in verse 8. In the New Testament, wisdom (sophia) is used most often to refer to the ability to understand God’s will and apply it obediently. One must understand, that to have wisdom, a person must have a deep understanding of the Word of God. Wisdom does not come from a blind understanding of the truth, it comes from a rich understanding of the truth. It refers basically to applying truths discovered, to the ability to make skillful and practical application of the truth to life situations. If you remember in the Old Testament, when, Solomon was given permission by God to ask anything he wanted, Solomon asked God to give him the wisdom to lead the people of Israel. The person who seeks wisdom not only draws from their own study of Scripture but from the many insights and interpretations of other faithful men of God. It is this gift that enables the Biblical Counselor to apply God’s truth to the questions and problems brought to them. It is also a gift of the pastor, who must know, understand, and … READ MORE

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 gives us a list of spiritual gifts for the lives of believers. The gifts are not narrowly defined, and we want to take a couple days and highlight a couple of them. The first, we will examine in the gift of knowledge (v8). This gift logically precedes the gift of wisdom, because knowledge comes before wisdom, and it is a broad term which refers to perceiving and understanding the truths of God’s Word. God gives certain of His saints a special ability to study His Word and discover the full meaning of the text and context, of individual words and phrases, and of related passages and truths, and thereby help provide understanding for others. The gifted person is supernaturally enabled not only to discover truths from the facts of Scripture but to explain and interpret those truths in order to help others to understand them. We must understand that any word of divine knowledge or wisdom MUST BE BASED ON THE WORD OF GOD! Anything that is contrary to the Bible, or contradicts its truths is spurious, and must not be trusted. It has nothing to do with future events, or predictions, and has only to do … READ MORE

It is hard for us to do the work of the Lord in our own strength, but we are reminded in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 that the Holy Spirit enables us to do the Work that God has called us to do. The gifts that are outlined here are general gifts to help the church at Corinth understand that there were many things that the Lord does to provide unity within His body. What the Spirit of God gives to us is not for our benefit exclusively, but for the benefit of the body. Just as our body has many parts, and they all have to work together in harmony, so to does the local church need to participate together to make the ministry effective for the whole. When we sit by passively in our church we do not enhance the work going one. We can even become a drain on the body if we refuse to serve. At the same time, we need to understand that if we are busy and involved, we must not become proud of “our” work, or “our” service. The work being done is a work of God within the body. A key element in the … READ MORE