Gifts
of the Holy Spirit 5
The Word of Knowledge
by Pastor John Hamel
We’ll shift gears
in this study and move over into the three Revelation Gifts.
The
three Revelation Gifts reveal something.
The first
Revelation Gift we will study is the Word of Knowledge.
The Word of
Knowledge is a Supernatural revelation from the mind of God. It is
unrelated to natural, human knowledge. It always has to do with
people, places, events or things.
It always, and only, deals with the
past or the present. It never has to
do with future events.
This will become
clearer to you as we go.
The
Word of Knowledge in Jesus' Ministry
Let's look at an
example of just one Word of Knowledge from the Ministry of Jesus, the
Master.
Jesus met a woman
at a well in Samaria one day. He wanted to prove to her who He was, so He
challenged her.
“Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come
hither. The woman answered and said, I have no
husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no
husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast
is not thy husband: in that saidst thou
truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I
perceive that thou art a Prophet.” (John 4:16-19)
Here Jesus
supernaturally revealed part of this woman’s past. He told her that
she had been married five times. Then Jesus revealed something about
her present life. He told her that she was presently shacking up with
a man she hadn’t even bothered to marry!
The woman realized that she
was encountering supernatural revelation knowledge straight out of the mind
of God.
This is an
excellent example of the Word of Knowledge. It has to do with people
and events. It also has to do with both the past and the present.
Notice something
else in this narrative. Jesus only revealed certain parts of this
woman’s life. He didn’t reveal everything about her life.
That’s why it’s called a “Word” of Knowledge. A word is a fragmentary
part of a sentence.
A Word of Knowledge is only a fragmentary part of
all that God knows.
Possibly
the Greatest Word of Knowledge Ever
Possibly the
greatest Word of Knowledge in all the world is found in the Old Testament
Book of Isaiah.
“I am the Lord, and
there is none else, there is no God beside Me…” (Isaiah 45:5)
Before God could
speak such an all-inclusive word, even about Himself,
He had to search all of Eternity, past and present, to be sure it was
true.
This is why I consider this to be the greatest Word of
Knowledge of all.
A
Small, Yet Supernatural Personal Word of Knowledge
Possibly the
smallest Word of Knowledge I know is as follows.
One day, when I was
just a baby Christian, my dump
truck refused to start. I stood in my living room and said, “Father, what’s wrong with that
truck?”
Immediately, on the inside of my
spirit, I saw a picture. I was seeing the coil on my dump
truck. I could actually see right through the coil supernaturally.
Inside
the coil there was a bead of water hindering the proper flow of electricity.
This was preventing the power flow which was needed to turn the starter.
I went outside and
removed the wire from the top of the coil. I rolled up a piece of paper
towel, sticking it down inside the coil. The paper towel became
saturated, wicking the water up into itself.
I
was stunned! The Lord had shown me what my problem was through a Word
of Knowledge.
I
jumped inside the truck, turned the key and the engine turned over
immediately.
Being a baby Christian, that completely “blew my
mind.”
I
began shouting praises to God.
My dump truck
mattered to God because my dump truck mattered to me and I matter to God.
An
Astounding Word of Knowledge in My Ministry
Since the time of
receiving the Word of Knowledge concerning my dump truck over thirty years
ago, I have received so many Words of Knowledge that it is just not possible
to remember them all. I do my best to record them all in our Spiritual
Journal, but sometimes that it just not possible.
However, I will
share one with you here, which is one of the most astounding Words of
Knowledge I have yet to receive
on behalf of another.
I
was once praying about an upcoming five-day Miracle Healing Revival I had agreed to conduct
in Virginia. It was approximately three o'clock in the morning. The Holy
Spirit often awakens me at this time to pray
in the Spirit. Suddenly, I was caught up in the Spirit even as the
Apostle John was caught up in the Spirit on
the Lord's Day. (Revelation 1:10-11) I found myself in a trance like
Peter went into a trance (Acts 10:5-12) and like Paul went into a trance.
(Acts 22:17-21)
In the trance I realized I was standing in the sanctuary of the
very Church
in which I was to conduct the revival meetings. I had never been there
before. I was standing in the pulpit looking out over hundreds of
people in attendance. As I looked to my left, I
noticed an angled aisle. I looked up the burgundy-carpeted aisle and noticed a woman sitting in the aisle seat exactly two
rows from the back wall. She was in her late forties or early fifties.
She had brown hair with bangs. She was
wearing a red, ribbed-turtleneck sweater, a light jacket and either a denim skirt or jeans.
As
I looked at her sitting there, I heard the voice of the Lord speak from
behind me, even as John the Apostle heard the voice of the Lord speak from
behind him. The Lord said, "She is struggling and suffering terribly concerning
her finances. Tell her I said, 'It's over.'" I stood
staring at her, pondering what the Lord had just revealed to me. Just as suddenly
as I went into the Spirit, I
came out of the Spirit and was back in my place of prayer.
Later
that morning I shared the details of the vision with my wife. I told her, "When we
arrive at the church she will be sitting where the Lord showed me she will
be sitting. She will be wearing what the Lord showed me she will be wearing.
I am going to call her out and tell her what the Lord told me to tell
her. He will take on my obedience and confirm it to her. Somehow she will
experience a miracle in her finances."
Weeks
later we arrived at the Church in Virginia and it was exactly as I had seen in the trance,
right down to the angled aisle and the burgundy carpeting on the
floor. As the service was beginning my wife and I were standing in the
front row. I looked back and I saw the woman with the brown hair, red
ribbed-turtleneck, light jacket and denim skirt. She was seated on the angled aisle,
two rows from the back and in
the very seat which the Lord had shown me in the trance.
I said,
"There she is Lord, just like You showed me. I am going to obey You. I
am going to call her out as You told me and You will confirm the
vision."
When I
stepped into the pulpit I immediately called her out. I asked her if
she knew me. She answered, "No, not personally. Although I did
know you were coming." I asked if we had
ever spoken or even met before. She answered, "No." I then
asked if she had been struggling financially. She and her husband both
publicly confirmed that she had been so burdened by financial trouble that she was
actually physically sick.
I told her, "The Lord showed you to me
in a vision. He told me to tell you that
your financial struggles are over. He said to tell you, 'It's over.'"
At
the end of the service her husband
came to thank me and literally burst into
tears and cried uncontrollably.
They
both later came to me asking if I knew how the Lord was going to bring
the word to pass. I told them that I did not know but that He would do
it in a way that would bring great glory to Himself. I reminded
them that they didn't have to try to figure anything out, even as Moses
didn't have to try to figure out how he was going to deliver Israel from
Egypt.
I said, "Moses didn't have to figure a thing out. If he
tried to do so Moses would have messed it all up. He
just had to trust God to take him through the Exodus supernaturally, one
step at a time. You
don't have to figure anything out either. If you try to do so you'll
mess it all up. Trust the Lord to take you
through this supernaturally, one step at a time. Somehow He is going to supernaturally
reverse your financial situation and glorify Himself in it. All I can tell
you is I know what I saw in a vision before coming here. Even as the
vision has proved out here today, the fulfillment of the vision will prove
out according to God's plan and purpose."
I
spoke to the woman's husband on the telephone about two months after I had
called her out during the service to give her that Word of Knowledge. He
called to relay the following.
"At the time of you calling her
out, my wife was getting her house in order because she was planning her own
suicide. That is how bad things were concerning our finances. I want to thank you for obeying God,
standing up there and giving her that
word. I don't know what I would do without her had she taken her life.
"Once you gave
her that word, everything changed in our lives. Everything. Our marriage relationship
was under tremendous pressure but that has changed as well. We are
free to love one another again. We have
peace in our home again. Everything has changed for the good. We were able to believe God again and to just
trust Him as Moses trusted Him like you said.
"Less than two weeks after you called
her out from the pulpit and gave her that word from the Lord, someone who
knew nothing at all of our situation gave
her (a very substantial amount of money). Our whole lives have changed as of that word being
given. Thank you, Pastor, thank you. I don't know how I could have lived
without her."
I reminded him that all the glory for what occurred
belonged to the Lord, not to me, although I did indeed understand his
thanking me.
Before
hanging up he said, "Oh, yes, Pastor, by the way. My wife wanted
me to tell you that as she was preparing her clothes for the service the day
you gave her that word, she had a black turtleneck laid out to wear. At the
last minute she said to me, 'I think I need to wear my red turtleneck
sweater and not my black one today.' I thought you might find that
interesting. It really adds to the testimony, doesn't it?"
This
man and his wife were greatly exhorted, edified and comforted by both the
Word of Knowledge which the Lord had given me for them in a trance, as well as the supernatural fulfillment
of the Word of Knowledge.
Of
course, we know this to be a Word of Knowledge because it dealt with the
woman's past and present. In the trance the Lord told me that she had been and was
presently struggling concerning her finances.
He
also told me to tell her, in the present tense, "It is over."
An
Astounding Word of Knowledge in My Personal Life
I
would like to share with you another astounding example of the Word of
Knowledge. This one has to do with my personal life and was revealed to me
through a dream.
Any
of the Revelation Gifts can come to an individual through a dream,
a vision, the inward
witness of the Holy Spirit, one of the two
voices of God, prophecy
or even through an angelic
visitation.
My
wife, Barbara, and I were once on the way out to conduct a Sunday morning
Church service. Suddenly I was overcome with vertigo, falling over
backwards and landing on the floor.
As
the room spun around me, I realized I was in serious trouble.
Barbara
went ahead and preached the service for me. I went to lie down on the
bed and to seek the Lord as to what was wrong with me.
For
the next two months I lay on that bed on my right side, unable to change
positions without being overcome by the most extreme vertigo. Barbara
continued to preach and teach every service for me over the next two months
as I was completely incapacitated.
As
I lay there on my right side day after day, I would listen to healing
messages, stirring up my faith for supernatural healing.
Barbara
and I both believe very strongly that Christians should always utilize the
services of doctors
and medicine,
particularly when they do not have faith for Divine healing. However,
I was strongly impressed in my heart that in this particular case, I was not
to do so. Barbara had complete peace
about my not seeking medical attention as well.
One
day while Barbara was away from home, I had a dream
of revelation.
In
the dream I was looking directly at my own face, close-up, in a mirror.
As I wondered why I might be looking at myself in that mirror, my face begin
to swing open as if it were hinged on the left side of my head. It
actually appeared to open like a door.
As
my face swung open on the side of my head, I was able to see the backside of
my face and the inside of my head in two sections, side-by-side.
I
was looking at a cross-cut dissection of the inside of my head and face.
It was like looking at a full-color medical illustration.
As
I looked around the inside of my head I noticed there was a tumor or a
growth of some sort at the very top of my Eustachian tube, directly behind
my left inner ear. It was the size of a pea.
As
I stared at the growth behind my inner ear, I said to myself, "There's
some sort of a tumor or a growth at the top of my Eustachian tube behind my
inner ear!"
As
soon as I said that to myself, my face immediately closed again on its
imaginary hinge and I was again looking directly at my face in the
mirror.
As
I continued looking at my face in the mirror the dream suddenly ended.
I
realized I had been dreaming.
When
one has a dream or a vision, they don't normally realize they're having a
dream or a vision until they come out of the dream or the vision.
I
realized immediately that the Holy Spirit had just shown me, through a Word
of Knowledge, contained in a dream of revelation, what my problem was.
I had a tumor or a growth of some sort which had developed behind my inner
ear at the top of my Eustachian tube. This is what was causing such extreme
vertigo, incapacitating me.
Barbara
arrived home shortly after that and I explained to her what the Holy Spirit
had just shown me through a Word of Knowledge in a dream.
Knowing
that sickness, tumors and growths don't
come from God
because they destroy life, we knew exactly what
to do.
(John 10:10; James 1:17) Barbara had a similar
problem
previously and when we addressed it by faith we saw amazing, supernatural
results.
Barbara
and I agreed
together in prayer, cursing the tumor, addressing it by faith,
commanding it to come out of my body in Jesus'
Strong Name.
Over
the next two days I felt the mass moving down the Eustachian tube,
ultimately working its way into my mouth. On the third day I woke up
realizing it was about to come into my mouth. I jumped up, went into
the bathroom and spit it into the sink. It was the same bloody mass
that I had seen in the dream of revelation three days prior.
The
vertigo left nearly immediately, however, it was two weeks before I could
confidently drive an automobile again. I was well on my way to a quick and a
full recovery and back in the pulpit again all because of a Word of
Knowledge given in a supernatural dream of revelation. To God be the
glory!
Big or small, the
Word of Knowledge is always supernatural! It has nothing to do with
natural knowledge. It is information concerning the past or the present that
could only be imparted supernaturally by the Spirit of the living
God.
The
Word of Knowledge brings fear and
repentance to sinners and great blessings to God’s people. The Word of
Knowledge can reveal lost things. (1 Samuel 9:1-20) It can
comfort and assure one of God's promised protection. (2 Kings 6:1-17) It can
also bring supernatural guidance. (Matthew 2:19-23)
Most of all, the
supernatural Word of Knowledge brings great glory to God.
We are about to see more
supernatural manifestations of the Word of Knowledge and all of the Gifts of
the Spirit than in any other time in all of human history.
Just you wait and see.
In
our next lesson we will study the second of the three Revelation Gifts, the Word
of Wisdom.
Be Blessed … John and Barbara Hamel
How
to Be Born Again (Receive Christ as Your Savior)
How
to Receive The Holy Spirit & Power
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