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

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