Background

Will like to start a series on Spiritual Gifts.

General

In general, gifts anchor God’s headship.  And, man’s responsibility towards God’s mission.

Spiritual Gifts

Scripture

1. Root
   • The Root of Jesse – Isaiah 11:1-3 [ Link ]
     • Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,…
2. Gifts of the Holy Spirits
   • 1st Corinthians 12:8-10 – Spiritual Gifts ( Link )
     • For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
   • Ephesians 4:11-13 – Unity in the Body ( Link )
     • …And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for works of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.…
   • Hebrews 2:4 – Affirmed By God ( Link )
     • and was affirmed by God through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.

Outline

1. Gifts
   • Word of Wisdom

Word of Wisdom ( Sofia )

Scripture

1. Glory & Priesthood
   • Exodus 28:3 – Book of Exodus – Garments for the Priests ( Link )
     •  …Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, to give him glory and splendor. You are to instruct all the skilled craftsmen, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make garments for Aaron’s consecration, so that he may serve Me as priest.
2. God’s Providence
   • Ecclesiastes 2:26 – Futility of Work [ Link ]
     • …For apart from Him, who can eat and who can find enjoyment? To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
3. Wise Advise & Message of Special Knowledge – 1st Corinthians 12:8 [ Link ]
   • To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.
4. Administration & Judging
   • Choosing of the Seven – Acts 6:1-6 [ Link ]
     • Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
     • The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and …, a proselyte from Antioch. And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.
5. Conviction
   • Acts 6:10 ( Link ) – The Arrest of Stephen
     • They began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up to his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.
6. Heavenly Wisdom
   • James 3:16-17 – The Wisdom from Above ( Link )
     • …For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
   • James 3:18 – Peacemakers ( Link )
     • Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.…
7. Spiritual Wisdom
   • Ephesians
     • Ephesians 1:17 – Spiritual Wisdom ( Link )
       • and asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.
     • Ephesians 1:18 – Spiritual Wisdom ( Link )
       • I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints
   • 1st Corinthians
     • 1 Corinthians 2:1-13 – Spiritual Wisdom [ Link ]
       • God has prepared for those who love him
       • These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
8. Wisdom of God
   • God’s Wisdom ( 1 Corinthians 1:19 ) [ Link ]
     • For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
   • Foolishness and Weakness of God ( 1 Corinthians 1:20-25 ) [ Link ]
     • Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
9. God’s Commissioning
   • Prophets and Apostles – Luke 11:49  [ Link ]
     • Because of this, the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and others they will persecute.
10. God’s Long-Suffering
    • Jesus and John the Baptist – Matthew 11:18-19 [ Link ]
      • For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”
11. God’s Justice
    • Jesus Testifies about John ( Luke 7:29 ) [ Link ]
      • …I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John, yet even the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” All the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God’s justice. For they had received the baptism of John.
      • But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.…
12. God’s Will
    • The Letter to the Gentile Believers ( Acts 15:28 ) [ Link ]
      • It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements
13. Testifying
    • John 15:26 – The Hatred of the World ( Link )
      • …But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’ When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father— the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father— He will testify about Me. And you also must testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”…

Reflection

1. Give
   • Word of Knowledge
     • Worldly Knowledge
   • Word of Wisdom
     • Word from God on how to see things from his viewpoint
2. Goal
   • Its goal is to encourage others to holy and righteous living
3. Fruit
   • The fruit it bears are changed hearts and lives
4. Experiences and Hardship
   • Those with wisdom can endure hardship
   • Using life experiences, they are able to relate to other’s hardships
   • They are able to encourage and prune others
5. Delivery
   • In a word of uncertainty and difficulties, Godly wisdom can be shared with calmness

Summary

In summary, “Word of Wisdom” is God letting us see things as he sees it.

Whenever you see gifts being used towards man’s purpose, please be instructed that God’s original intent has been circumvented.

References

1. SpiritualGiftsTest.Com
   • Spiritual Gifts
     Link
2. Chuck Smith
   • BlueLetterBible.Org
     • Chuck Smith :: The Word of Wisdom
       Link
3. Shepherds of the Lost
   • Spiritual Gift – Wisdom
     Link