Insight Revealed

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 3rd of November, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

In our series on the Holy Spirit, we’ve looked at how we received the Spirit, how He resides within us, and what He does for us, among other things.  We know His indwelling is a gift from God, given to us at the request of Jesus when He returned to heaven.  We’ve seen He is our constant Companion, so we’re never alone.  He is our Helper, giving us strength when we feel we can go no further, speaking for us when the words won’t come.  He is our Guide through this life, nudging us along the path God wants us to follow.

All we have to do is believe in Jesus as God’s Son and accept Him as our Lord and Master, and the Spirit comes to us, to live in us.  Then it’s up to us whether we allow Him to do His job.

But there is another aspect of the Spirit’s purpose in our lives, one that involves sharing secrets with us.  The Apostle Paul gives us a little more insight into this vital task the Spirit carries out. Please listen and follow along to what Paul wrote in chapter 2 verses 7 through 12 of his 1st letter to the church in Corinth, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

9 But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

--1 Corinthians 2:7-12 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, too often we fail to recognize the crucial role Your Spirit plays in our lives.  He is our constant Companion, Helper, Guide, and Counsel.  And, Father, He also tells us about You and some of what You have in store for us.  He is Your gift to us, yet we too often take Him for granted.  Thank You for this wonderful gist, Father.  Please help us better understand what Your Spirit means to us, so that we might more closely follow as He leads.

Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Reveal to us a little more of Your will for our lives.  Show us how we can better serve You.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.


The class of noisy boys in a German primary school was being punished by their teacher. They were assigned the problem of adding together all the numbers from 1 to 100.

The boys settled down, scribbling busily on their slates -- all but one. This boy looked off into space for a few moments, then wrote something on his slate and turned it in. His was the only right answer.

When the amazed teacher asked how he did it, the boy replied, "I thought there might be some short cut, and I found one: 100 plus 1 is 101; 99 plus 2 is 101; 98 plus 3 is 101, and, if I continued the series all the way to 51 plus 50, I have 101 50 times, which is 5,050."

After this episode, the young scholar received special tutoring from his teacher. The boy was Karl Friedrich Gauss, the great mathematician of the 19th century.


If you doubt the result, you can add it up yourself.  Young Karl had a sudden flash of insight.  Some of our greatest inventions came about that way, and many scientists will attest to having been stumped by a problem until suddenly struck by insight.

Insight – sight given by a light shed from within.  We often characterize that by a lightbulb being turned on over a person’s head.  But where does that light come from, if not from God?  How is that intuitive leap accomplished if not given in a vision from the Almighty?  How is a bridge crossed where none existed except that the span is erected by the Great Creator, our glorious Father in heaven?


This passage from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians isn’t the only place in our Bible where we are told that the Spirit will explain some of God’s mysteries to us.  Just a little further on in his letter, in chapter 3 verses 1 and 2, Paul says we are still spiritual infants, able only to take sustenance from milk rather than meat.  But with the Spirit’s help we can grow.

And in the Apostle John’s Gospel account, chapter 16 verses 12 and 13, Jesus says the Spirit will guide us into the truth, speaking through the authority of God, telling us of things to come.  God’s Spirit will give us insight into God’s complete plan for mankind, but only slowly, as we are able to take it in.


Insight – a bolt out of the blue that suddenly allows us to see what was once hidden.  That instantaneous flash of understanding.  The ability to now grasp what eluded us before.  To know something that we have no reason to know.

Paul himself received great insight straight from Jesus during his three days of blindness after that incident on the road to Damascus.  Even Saul, the great persecutor of the early church, received the Holy Spirit and believed.  Listen to how the Apostle Luke recorded the moment, in chapter 9 of his Book of Acts, verses 17 and 18…

17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.

--Acts 9:17-18 (NKJV)

Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit and his eyes were opened.  While Luke may have been referring to the return of Paul’s physical sight, this also speaks of Paul receiving clearer spiritual sight.  For now he was able to see the truth of Jesus.  When he returned to Jerusalem with Barnabas, after getting over their initial fear of him, the disciples were amazed at how much he knew about Jesus even though he had never walked with the Lord during His ministry.


Insight, special understanding, mysteries revealed.  All of this and so much more come to us as a gift from God with the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.  Like any gift, we have to accept it before it can be any good to us.  And in this case, we need only to ask to receive what the Spirit offers.  Hear the words of Jesus as recorded by Luke in his Gospel account, chapter 11 and verses 13…

13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

--Luke 11:13 (NKJV)

Yes, we are evil, when compared to God -- we are sinners.  But still, don’t we give good gifts to our children and loved ones?  Don’t we do our best to take care of them and see to their needs?  Then how much more will our Father in heaven give us, His children?  How much more will His Spirit reveal of all the mysteries of creation if we just allow Him to work within us, transforming us, guiding us, feeding us milk as we learn and grow spiritually?


Once we’ve accepted Jesus as Lord, God’s Holy Spirit joins with our spirit.  We can ignore Him and go on with life.  Or we can listen to Him, learn from Him, allow Him to guide our steps along the path that Jesus blazed for us.

The more we follow the Spirit, the more He will reveal to us.  The more we understand, the less we need question.  And the greater our assurance of the unimaginable wonders of paradise will be.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, when we accept Jesus as Your Son, You send Your Holy Spirit to live within us and always be with us, to guide us, to transform us into the image of Your Son Jesus.  And through Your Spirit, You reveal Yourself and Your mysteries to us as we are able to grasp them.  There are some things we will not know until we stand before You in heaven.  Until then, Your Spirit strives to give us clearer insight into what You will for our lives.  Help us, please Father, to heed Your Spirit and to surrender ourselves to His direction.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, those who believe in You have God’s Spirit within us.  The Spirit bears witness to You, glorifies You, points the way to You, and so should we.  And He reveals the mysteries of God’s kingdom little by little.  We are infants spiritually, unable to take but small portions at a time.  Lord Jesus, please help us grasp what the Spirit shows us.  Help us better understand the secrets of heaven.  And Lord, help us surrender to the Spirit and follow His guidance.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.