Insight
A Sermon by Dave Redick
Hwy 20 Church of Christ, Sweet Home, OR
I came across an interesting bit of trivia awhile back. You blink your eyes (on the average of) twenty-five times every minute. Each blink takes you about one-fifth of a second. Therefore, if you take a ten-hour automobile trip, averaging forty miles per hour, you will drive twenty miles with your eyes closed!
But I know a fact even more surprising than that. Some people go through life with their eyes closed. What I mean is they look but don't really see. They observe the surface but omit the underneath. They focus on the image but not the issues. Vision is present but perception is absent. In a word, they lack insight.
If life were a painting, they would see colors but no genius behind the strokes of the brush.
If life were a journey, the would notice the road but not the majestic scenery.
If life were a meal, they would eat and drink but overlook the exquisite beauty of the china and the delicate seasoning in the sauce.
If life were a poem, they would read print on the page but miss altogether the passion of the poet. They lack insight.
Remove insight and you suddenly reduce life to an existence characterized by boredom and indifference. Life is not a challenge and a joy, it is a drudge. (1)
I want to speak to you in this message about the Biblical subject of insight.
Webster defines insight this way: "Apprehending the true nature of a thing, esp. through intuitive understanding. Penetrating mental vision or discernment."
People without insight dwell only on the obvious... the surface... the expected... the essentials. This is not to say that the obvious is unimportant, but I believe that God intends that we see more. The main dimensions that concern a person lacking insight are length and breadth, not depth.
Such a person's main goal in Bible study, for instance, is to log chapters rather than gain and perception on life.
"I read six chapters from the Bible today." "Great. What did you learn?" "Well... I can't really say."
The presence or absence of insight is one of the main reasons why some preachers are interesting to listen to and some bore you and put you to sleep. Those who have not sought insight in their preparation and study present only the obvious, which is no more than even the simplest person can get on his own.
Please understand, I'm not condemning those who cannot go deeper. I'm referring to those who will not because they don't put forth the effort or develop the skill. (Yes, the perception that brings insight it is a skill that can be sharpened with use or dulled with neglect.)
You say, "What are you talking about, Dave? Where do you find this matter in the Bible?"
The subject of insight is all over the Bible - at least the implied need for it is. But it is mentioned directly in at least four places in the New Testament. In this message I want to take you to each of those places to make my case for your striving for insight when you consider God's Word. The first passage is:
I. Mark 6:45-56
45 And immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of {Him} to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the multitude away. 46 And after bidding them farewell, He departed to the mountain to pray.
47 And when it was evening, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and He {was} alone on the land.
48 And seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.
49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out;
50 for they all saw Him and were frightened. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid."
51 And He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were greatly astonished,
52 for they had not gained any insight from the {incident of} the loaves, but their heart was hardened.
OK. Here is a boatload of disciples. This took place right after Jesus had miraculously fed thousands of people with a few loaves and fish. If ever there were a lesson about His miraculous power and ability to take care of them, that was it. After they gathered up the leftover fragments of food, He had sent them away in the boat as He slipped off to a quiet place on the mountain to pray. A storm blew up and, instead of remembering the lesson they had learned about his power to protect them, they were filled with panic. He came to their rescue shortly thereafter and calmed the seas as He stilled the wind and assured them there was not reason to be afraid.
Here is what I want you to consider: What does it mean in verse 52, "They had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves..."? What insight should they have gained?
Well, they had been amazed at the miracle and glad that He had filled the people's stomachs, but they hadn't learned that He could control of the elements and that they had no need to be afraid! That deeper, more important lesson was right there, but they missed it. The incident with the loaves and fish was more than just a free lunch for 5000 people. It had a lesson - an application - a meaning that went beyond the surface which took insight to see.
The Greek root word behind the one translated insight means literally, "to put together." Mentally, they had all the pieces of the puzzle, but they didn't put them together so as to see the picture the puzzle was designed to depict.
It takes effort to put together a jigsaw puzzle, doesn't it? I know that because that's why I don't spend a lot of time doing it. It also takes determined effort to "put together" spiritual things and gain insight. Most often it doesn't come automatically.
Let's look again at the passage. What do you think it means when it says, "but their heart was hardened"? Were they unwilling to see it or were they just unaccustomed to seeing such things? Knowing the attitude of most of these disciples, I'm inclined to say they were unaccustomed. They weren't used to looking for deeper meaning and application.
I like William Barclay's comments on this. He says "Their minds were obtuse." (Blunt, dull). These men were insensitive, dull, blunt-brained. They were hearing and seeing what was going on, but they weren't thinking about what it meant. They weren't putting it all together to get the big picture. It's a common kind of dullness today, especially when it comes to spiritual things. So many people lack spiritual insight. We all experience it from time to time in our Bible study.
As a modern application of this, it is my conviction that those who look at the miracles of Jesus solely as His making people well are missing His whole intent. The miracles were designed to confirm His deity.
Barbara Brokhoff tells about a mother who told her son to take some homemade butter house-to-house to sell it. "Get fifty cents a pound for it if you can," she said. "But if you can't get fifty cents, then take twenty-five." The boy went to the first house, knocked on the door, and asked the man if he wanted to buy some butter. "How much is it?" the man inquired. The boy said, "Mama said to get fifty cents if I could, but if not, to take twenty-five." The man said, "Son, I'm going to teach you a lesson. I'll take a pound of butter, and I'll pay you twenty-five cents for it--but you must learn not to tell everything you know. If you hadn't told me you'd take a quarter, then I'd have been glad to give you the half-dollar." Then he continued, "Now do you think you can remember that?" "Yes sir," replied the boy. "But I didn't tell everything I know. I didn't say nothing about the cat fallin' into the cream!"
That kid was dull! The lesson didn't help him one bit.
Yet I can remember times when I've been just as dull-minded as that kid. I have sat down to study a passage of Scripture and when I was finished, I found I had perceived nothing that looked important. Then another Christian came along and pointed out something I had read right over - something with tremendous significance.
Haven't some of you had the experience of having read a passage for years and then one day someone pointed something out that was right there under your nose but you'd never seen it?
That is insight.
The dullness of the disciples and their lack of insight (the ability to put it all together) is also evident in another passage:
II. Matt 16:1-12
1 And the Sadducees came up, and testing Him asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 But He answered and said to them, "When it is evening, you say, `{It will be} fair weather, for the sky is red.'
3 "And in the morning, {'There will be} a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening. `Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot {discern} the signs of the times?
4 "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah." And He left them, and went away.
5 And the disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread.
6 And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
7 And they began to discuss among themselves, saying, "{It is} because we took no bread."
8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, "You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? 9 "Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?
10 "Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you took up?
11 "How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Here again, at first they were dull. They didn't hear what He was saying, though they heard His words. They didn't "put it together." Then He explained it to them and they understood (v. 12). That word "understood" is the same word in Greek that we saw back in Mark 6 where it is translated "gained insight." You see, being around Jesus was teaching them that they should continually look deeper than the obvious things in order to discern the lessons He was teaching them. The same is true of us today. We must train ourselves to look deeper than the surface in the happenings and affairs of life. We must always be seeking insight that corresponds with Scriptural truth.
We've looked at a couple of cases where the disciples were dull in their understanding. In each case their lack of insight was probably not intentional but rather because they were not used to looking for more than what was on the surface.
Sometimes, though, such dullness and the ability to perceive scriptural insight is the result of a willful denial of what one knows to be true. That is what we find in the next passage we want to look at.
III. Matt 13:14-17
14 "And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, `You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; 15 For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them.'
That word understand in verse 15 is the same Greek word as "insight" in Mark 6. Here the reason for their dullness was different. It was an unwillingness to comply with what they understood that caused them not to see.
Some people lack insight because they are unaccustomed to looking for it. Probably most of us here would fit that category at least some of the time. Others, though, lack insight because they really don't want to find it, lest they have to do something with what they find. They lack understanding intentionally because they want to avoid responsibility. They have, as verse 15 says, "closed their eyes lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them."
While I'm not going to spend much more time on that issue, let me say in passing that such living is dangerous. Intentionally tuning out the truths of God's word will land a person in Hell. Don't be stubborn as these people were. Don't close your eyes to the truth of God.
Yet another reason for lack of insight can be seen the fourth passage we're going to look at. Sometimes such dullness is the result of not growing up and becoming spiritually mature.
You can understand why a new Christian lacks insight. But what about a person who has been in the church a long time and is still dull? Let's look at the next passage:
IV. Heb 5:11-14
11 Concerning him we have much to say, and {it is} hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
13 For everyone who partakes {only} of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
Why were these people dull of hearing? (They had not trained their senses to discern good and evil.)
A lot of people in the church have logged hours and hours under the teaching of the Word of God. Opportunities to use and apply that truth have been legion. But, like in this passage, they have become "dull of hearing" - thick, lazy, sluggish, lacking insight - unable to "put it all together." Maturity -- the result of mixing insight with disciplined practice or training, is missing in their lives.
You've heard the expression, "die in a pile?" These people have died in the pew (or are dying).
OK. Let's get practical. We've seen the importance of insight and the danger of being dull of hearing. Just how does a person go about gaining spiritual insight? How do you sharpen your spiritual perception?
Here are some suggestions based upon what I see in Scripture:
1. Practice what you already understand.
Those people we read about in Hebrews 4:14 who were dull of hearing? They were that way because they had not practiced what they already knew.
James 1:22 says, "But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves."
You might think that a person who reads the Bible all the time and listens to sermons every Sunday would be a person with great spiritual insight. Not necessarily! I know many people who have sat in church for years who are as dull as they can be. The reason is because they have mistaken knowledge with practice.
Insight comes with practical interaction. I would far rather learn about missionary life from a man who has spent twenty years in a foreign country than one who had just read all the missionary journals and publications, wouldn't you?
2. Give diligence to it. Work hard at it.
Ken and Daria Dolan, the husband and wife financial team, dole out advice to millions through their radio and television shows, their magazine columns and books. You may have heard or seen them. What makes the Dolans special is that they know their stuff. Together, they read 700 publications a month, devour the business sections of six newspapers a day, and keep in phone contact with experts in 100 fields. It shows on the air. Says Ken: "I think people listen to us because they know we know what we're talking about. You can't fool people. Friends tell me they don't understand our success, because we have no radio or TV background. We tell them it takes about 30 seconds to learn how to hit the 'mike on' button and listen to questions. But it takes 30 years to learn and practice the answers."(2)
What is true in the monetary realm is doubly true when it comes to gaining spiritual insight. It takes time and effort. It is truly a case of "no pain, no gain." Sorry, but that's the truth.
3. Meditate on God's Word and apply it.
Psalm 1 speaks of the stable, effective, successful person of God. Of that person it says,
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
A synonym for meditate is "ruminate," a word that means to bring it up and chew it again. This isn't depicting a bookworm who just logs chapters. Rather, it speaks of one who is constantly considering how that Word of God relates to life. As he or she sees life and experiences it, he compares it with God's truth. The result is insight.
4. Seek it as treasure.
Proverbs 2:4-5 says,
4 If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will discern the fear of the LORD, and discover the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth {come} knowledge and understanding.
One translation I read says "from His mouth come insight and understanding."
As I understand it, the ore from which diamonds are extracted is a compound called Kimberlite. According to Compton's Encyclopedia, one seeking diamonds must sift through twenty tons of kimberlite in order to extract one diamond. If one of the "hidden treasures" the writer had in mind here was diamonds, you get the idea that if you want insight, you're going to have to seek it with diligence.
5. Ask God for it.
James 1:5 says, "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."
We must never forget that God is the giver of wisdom and insight. We must go to Him for it. Living daily in awareness of His presence and seeking His truth is essential to gaining insight.
Conclusion
I told this story here once before but it was on Sunday evening and some of you weren't present to hear it. I think it bears repeating. Forgive me if it is a rerun to you.
The enemy was close on his heels. Looking for a refuge, he dashed into a house of a Jewish tailor. In a tremulous voice Napoleon pleaded with the tailor, "Hide me, quick! If the Russians find me they'll kill me!" The tailor had no idea who the stranger was, but he said, "Get under the featherbed and lie still." Napoleon got into bed and the tailor piled the mattresses until he was covered. Suddenly the door burst open and two Russian soldiers, armed with spears, rushed in "Is anybody hiding in here?" they demanded. "Who would be foolish enough to hide in my house?" asked the tailor. The soldiers pried into every corner but found no one. As they were leaving, just for good measure, they stuck their spears several times through the featherbeds. When they were gone, Napoleon crawled out from under the pile of featherbeds, deathly pale and covered with perspiration, but safe. Turning to the tailor, he said, "I want you to know that I am the Emperor Napoleon. Because you have saved me from certain death you can ask me three favors. No matter what they are I will grant them to you." The little tailor thought for awhile, then he said, "Your Majesty, the roof of my house is leaking, but I do not have the money to repair it. Would you be so kind and have it fixed for me?" "Blockhead!" exclaimed Napoleon impatiently. "Is that the greatest favor you can ask of an emperor? But never mind--I'll see that your roof is fixed. Now you can make your second wish, but be sure this time that it is something substantial." The tailor was utterly perplexed. Then, suddenly, his face brightened."Some months ago, Your Majesty," he began, "another tailor opened his shop across the way and he is ruining my business. Would it be too much trouble for you to ask him to find another location?" "What a fool!" cried Napoleon disdainfully. "Very well, my friend, I'll ask your competitor to go to the devil. Now you must try and think of something that is really important. Bear in mind, though, that this is the last favor I'll grant you." The tailor thought and thought. Suddenly he said, "Begging your pardon, Emperor, but I'd very much like to know how you felt while the Russian soldiers were poking their spears through the featherbed." "Imbecile!" cried Napoleon, beside himself with rage. "How dare you put such a question to an emperor! For your insolence I'll have you shot at dawn!" He called in three French soldiers who placed the little tailor in irons and led him away to the guardhouse. That night the tailor could not sleep. He was terrified. Then he recited a prayer of confession and made his peace with God. Promptly at dawn he was taken out of his cell and tied to a tree. A firing squad drew up opposite and aimed their muskets at him. An officer lifted his hand and began to count: "One - two - thr--" But before he could complete the word, the Emperor's aide-de-camp dashed up on horseback, crying, "Stop! Don't Shoot!" The courier then went up to the tailor and said to him, "His Majesty, the Emperor, gives you his gracious pardon. He also asked me to give you this note." The tailor, much relieved, began to read, "You wanted to know," wrote Napoleon, "how I felt under the featherbed in your house. Well, now you know!"(3)
Don't be dull in your understanding! Develop insight so you can use the opportunities God gives you. He's an "Emperor" much greater than Napoleon and has tremendous insights to give you. Listen to Him. Learn to develop insight!
1. Charles Swindoll in GROWING STRONG IN THE SEASONS OF LIFE, p. 229. (back)
2. Bruce Chadwick in New York Daily News (back)
3. Henry D. Spalding, Encyclopedia of Jewish Humor, (New York: Jonathan David Publishers, 1969), pp. 6-7. (back)
Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.
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All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.