THE GIFTS OF KNOWLEDGE

A WORD OF WISDOM

given which one speaks by the Spirit. If one has an I.Q. of 70; he may speak by

the Spirit with the wisdom of a genius. However, after he has spoken, his I.Q. is

still 70. He may have learned something, but his IQ did not change. He spoke a

word of wisdom as the Spirit gave him utterance. What is a word of wisdom? A

word of wisdom is a word given by the Spirit that solves a problem, or answers a

question, or enables one to give an expression of his faith.

GIVE TO CAESAR (Matthew 22:16:22)

What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto

Caesar, or not?...Shew me the tribute money. And

they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto

them, Whose is this image and superscription? They

say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them,

Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are

Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's

(Matt. 22:17-21).

The Pharisees came to the Lord Jesus Christ and asked, "Is it lawful to give

tribute to Caesar?" Jesus asked them to show Him a coin. He asked them whose

image was on it. They said that Caesar's image was on it. Jesus responded that

they should give to Caesar that which belonged to Caesar and give to God that

which belongs to God. After that, they did not want to ask Him any more ques-

tions. Jesus gave them an answer through a word of wisdom: "Give that which

belongs to Caesar [his coin] to him." And since you bear the image of God, give

yourself to God. Jesus answered their question by a word of wisdom, and they

marvelled at His words.

WHAT SHALL THE GENTILES DO? (Acts 15:1-31)

In the 15th chapter of Acts we are told that the church met together to

determine what to do about the Gentiles who were being converted. What kind of

lifestyle would they require of the Gentile church? Would they bind the ten

commandments on the Gentiles? Would they make them keep the Jewish dietary

laws? Must the Gentiles be circumcised and keep the law of Moses? What about

the Sabbath Day? After much debate, James said,

Wherefore, my sentence is, that we trouble not them,

which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:

But that we write unto them, that they abstain from

pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from

things strangled, and from blood (Acts 15:19-20).

The leaders accepted James' word and sent letters to the churches saying,

"For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater

burden than these necessary things" (Acts 15:28). The Gentiles were not to be

bound by the ten commandments, Jewish traditions, or other teachings of the

Jewish religion. Rather they were to observe only these four necessary things.

This was a word of wisdom. The Spirit of God gave James a word of wisdom.

THE SPIRIT OF GOD WILL GIVE YOU WHAT TO SPEAK (Mark 13:11)

Jesus admonished his disciples to take no thought about what they would

say when they were brought before rulers, for it would not be they who should

speak but the Holy Spirit. He also said, "For I will give you a mouth and wisdom,

which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist" (Luke 21:15).

This is graphically illustrated in the experience of Stephen in his disputation with

the Libertines

And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the

spirit by which he spoke" (Acts 6:8-15).

ASK THE LITTLE BOY

When Oral Roberts attended the World Congress on Evangelism at the

invitation of his friend Billy Graham, a native pastor asked him a question. A

family in his church had brought a sick child to him, put the child in his hands and

said, "Pray for our little boy." He told Oral Roberts that his church taught that the

day of miracles was over. He was taught that he should not pray for people to be

healed. Then he said, "I prayed for the little boy and God healed him. Brother

Roberts did I do the right thing?" Oral Roberts started to give him a

theological answer, but the Holy Spirit checked him, and he said, "Why don't you

ask the little boy?"

A word of wisdom is a gift of the Spirit that will provide the solution to a

problem, give the answer to a question, or inspire a verbal defense of one's faith.