2) Word of Knowledge ( 1 Corinthians 12:8).
God is omniscient. He knows the past, the present and the future of all of creation and, more specifically, in each man and woman’s life. His knowledge of the past and present imparted into an individual is the ‘word of knowledge’. The all-knowing God is always aware of all our circumstances, our difficult situations and our shortcomings. That knowledge is given to His vessels, through the ‘word of knowledge’. He reveals His love and His Holiness to us through that.
When the word of knowledge is in operation through an individual, they can know the past and present situations in a person’s life or in a community as the Spirit reveals.
There are many instances in scripture of men and women who operated in the word of knowledge.
Elisha knew what Gehazi had done. Nathan, the prophet, knew of David’s sin. In the New Testament, Jesus often knew the thoughts of the Pharisees and Saducees; knew the Samaritan women’s life; knew about Nathaniel; Peter knew that Ananias and Sappirah were lying ..
The ‘word of knowledge’ can manifest in an individual, through their thoughts; impressions in the spirit man; through dreams and visions and even trances. As always, we need the witness of the Spirit to confirm those thoughts, impressions and dreams or visions.
Daniel had a dream about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. That was the word of knowledge in operation. Joseph was warned in a dream by an angel of Herod’s intentions.
Usually, the word of knowledge operates along with the gift of prophecy or the gifts of healing. The word of knowledge in operation usually builds faith in the individual first to run with the prophecy that comes next, and, in the case of healing, builds faith in the individual to receive the gift of healing.
It can also function with the word of wisdom. When Jesus was asked a question about paying taxes. He discerned it was a trap (word of knowledge) and then gave an answer that astonished everyone (word of wisdom).
Based on all the earlier thoughts, the word of knowledge is very important in bringing people to the faith and also in building peoples’ faith in Christ.
3) Gift of prophecy ( 1 Corinthians 12:10)
The word ‘prophesy’ or ‘prophecy’ actually means speaking under divine inspiration. Anything that is said by the Holy Spirit is actually prophecy. 2 Chronicles 15:1 to 8 we see Azariah son of Obed, the prophet, exhorting Asa and Israel. In verse 8, the exhortation is called as prophecy.
There is another aspect to the gift which is predicting the future.
In Luke Chapter 1: verses 66 to 79; we see Zechariah being filled by the Spirit, praising God and also predicting the future of John the Baptist. A Prophecy usually has these two important elements.
The third aspect is where one can understand the difficult things in scripture and also the mysteries that are hidden. 1 Corinthians 13:2 says that with the gift one can fathom all mysteries.
God is all knowing and knows all things that are mysterious to us and even angels. He knows the end from the very beginning. He seeks to guide and help us. His knowledge of the future and His subsequent counsel, including understanding of mysteries, imparted to an individual, is the gift of prophecy.
Again, just like the word of knowledge, this gift finds its expression through our thoughts, spiritual impressions, dreams and visions.
Many of John’s visions are predictive (prophetic) in nature and for the last days. Joseph’s dreams about his parents and brothers were also prophetic.
With the witness of the Spirit, we can discern if the gift is in operation or not in and through us.
There are several levels in the prophetic. Since every person can hear God for themselves; the same faith can be applied to hearing God for others who can’t and when we tell them what God has spoken to us, that is actually prophecy. In that context, everyone can “prophesy”.
The second level is the ‘gift of prophecy’. With it comes the understanding of mysteries ( 1 Corinthians 13:2).
When a person uses the prophetic gift often, then God increases the authority behind the gift and also, if the person grows in faith, he can prophesy to communities and nations even. This is when a person has a prophetic ministry. It is a level higher than someone just functioning in the prophetic gift from time to time.
Finally, it is the office of a prophet. It is a full-time vocation (Ephesians 4- one of the fivefold ministries), where some prophets can function as teachers also (Acts 13:1). Prophets have greater levels of authority and usually have other gifts functioning along with the prophetic, like the word of knowledge or the working of miracles (Moses, Elijah, Elisha).
Accessing the Prophetic:
Today, as believers, if we learn certain scriptural patterns and principles, we can easily access the prophetic or function in the prophetic.
Sola scriptura– The more we know the word and the way God works and the outcomes in situations as mentioned in scripture; we can apply it to our individual lives and that by itself becomes prophecy. Today, many have veered away from scripture, looking to spiritual experiences more and that is why we see so much of the error we see in the prophetic today.
The Testimony of Jesus Christ -Revelations 19:10 says that the testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy. When we seek to testify and glorify Christ, we automatically start to flow in that prophetic river (Examples from evangelism and sermons).
Worship can give access to the prophetic- In 2 Kings 3:14 onwards we see an incident where the playing of an instrument helped Elisha prophecy to the three kings. Worship can help us gain access into the prophetic realms.
The gift of tongues and its interpretation- When tongues are interpreted it is equivalent to prophecy.
WE ARE TO JUDGE PROPHECY-
Even in Paul’s time, we, see in 1 Corinthians 14 that they are exhorted to judge prophecy. Every prophecy that is given must be judged in light of scripture and by the witness of the Spirit. Prophecy to a born-again believer must be usually confirmation of what the Lord has already spoken and if it is something new, we need to pray over it seeking God for confirmation. For detailed understanding of the prophetic and prophecy, go through special bulletins and articles on the prophetic in our website.
