This morning, we begin a new sermon series; during the Advent season, we’ll be looking at four of the names of Christ, found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah. These names are prophetic descriptions of the King who was to come; they told God’s people what kind of deliverer He would send them; what kind of savior they should look for.
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." -- Isaiah 9:6
Why study these names? Because there’s no better time than Christmas to consider why Jesus was born. Why God the Father sent His only Son; why it was necessary for God to become a man. These names help us understand the purpose behind the incarnation. Even more than that, they help us relate to God. They teach us, not just what the Messiah meant to the ancient Israelites, but also what He means to us today. They help us to know Christ better so that we can have a deeper relationship with Him. We also study these names simply because it’s encouraging. Listen to them again: "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Meditating on the character of God renews and strengthens our faith; it reminds us of how great and awesome our God is. It’s food for the soul.
This morning, we consider the first name, "Wonderful Counselor," and that’s certainly an appropriate topic for us today. It seems that never before have there been so many people searching for advice and counsel; so many confused, discouraged, frustrated, fearful, hopeless, angry, depressed, anxious people. Especially since September eleventh, people are seeking answers, looking for guidance and direction. And never before have there been so many claiming to have the answers. So many competing voices, calling out, "Listen to me! Follow me!" There are dozens of religions and secular philosophies to choose from; everything from Scientology to Islam to the various forms of New Age spirituality; hundreds of new self-help books are published every year; and the airwaves are full of gurus, and counselors, and experts of every kind. But we have something that cuts through all that clamor; something that takes us back to the source of true wisdom. And that’s the Word of God. So let’s look at this phrase, "Wonderful Counselor".
The Hebrew word translated "wonderful" in this verse signifies something indescribably great; something so tremendous, so amazing, that it’s literally beyond description. Something that transcends human experience or imagination. So when the Scriptures refer to Jesus as a "wonderful" counselor, it doesn’t just mean that he’s good at giving advice. It means that he understands things which are beyond the ability of our finite minds to comprehend. He knows things which only God can know. He knows the ways of God; He understands God’s plans and purposes. His knowledge, and intelligence, and wisdom, and insight far exceed that of any man who ever lived. So in Jesus Christ, we have someone who, by virtue of his great knowledge and understanding, is abundantly qualified to guide and direct our lives. Someone who is never confused or mistaken. Someone who always knows exactly what to do. Someone who will never lead us astray.
Why does this matter? Because I wonder if we really see Christ in this way; as a fully competent counselor, someone whose guidance is superior to any other. Do we really see him as someone who understands, better than anyone else, what life is all about? Do we believe him when he claims to be able to lead us into "abundant" life? Do we go to him first for assistance in dealing with our marriage, our children, our job? When we need help coming to terms with illness, or depression, or conflict? Yes, we know he’s the Son of God, and so we view him as omniscient, all-knowing. But when it comes to living our daily lives, do we really look to him for practical guidance? Do we study his teachings? Do we follow his example? Do we go to him in prayer? Or do we look first to the advice of our friends, our family, our co-workers; perhaps even someone we stood in line next to at the hardware store, or someone we saw on Oprah; and only as a last resort go to Christ?
Or how about this: Do we go first to the professionals and the experts and the authorities to help us with our problems, rather than to Christ? Do we assume that someone with a Ph.D. knows better how to help us than the Son of God? I’m not saying we should never seek help from other people, or that no one should ever see a professional counselor. What I’m saying is that we should view other sources of help as secondary, not primary. Ideally, any counselor we consult will see their job as helping us to understand and apply the wisdom of Christ in our lives. If not, then at best their counsel will be incomplete. It may be good advice as far as it goes, but it’s going to be inferior to the teachings and example of Christ. Why? Because Jesus of Nazareth is simply the wisest man who ever lived. Wiser than Buddha, or Confucius, or Ghandi, or the Dali Lama, or Freud, or Jung. He’s the only person who has ever lived a completely authentic human life, the kind of life that God intended for us to live. He’s the only one who truly understands how life works.
This morning, my goal is simple. I want to convince you to look to Christ first whenever you need advice, or guidance, or counsel. And in order to do that, I want to persuade you of two things. First, that God is the source of all wisdom. All wisdom, not just theoretical, abstract wisdom, but everyday, practical wisdom about how to live, comes from God. And we have access to this wisdom through Jesus Christ, and through His Spirit. Listen:
"To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his." -- Job 12:13
"I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me." -- Psalm 16:7
"For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." -- Proverbs 2:6
"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." -- James 1:5
The source of all true wisdom is God. Does that mean no one except a Christian can have any wisdom or understanding? No. It’s possible to discover many things about life without reading the Bible or knowing God. Over the centuries, people have used their intelligence and powers of observation to learn a great deal about how the world works. It’s called "common grace" or "general revelation". That’s why you can read the Koran, or the Baghavad-Gita, or the writings of Confucius, and find a good deal of truth there. All truth is God’s truth, and even apart from Christ, men still have enough of the image of God in them to find some truth. But here’s the problem: it’s truth mixed with error. It’s wisdom combined with foolishness; light combined with darkness. And so it’s unreliable as a guide to life. The only way to separate the truth from the error in these alternative sources of wisdom is to compare them to the Word of God. Because the Bible is pure truth, without any mixture of error. The Bible is God’s Word, and God cannot lie or be mistaken. Therefore, by definition, the Bible is completely true from beginning to end. So, is it wrong to read the sacred texts of other religions, or to read secular self-help books? No, it’s not wrong, as long as you keep in mind the need for discernment, the need to constantly compare what you’re reading to the truth of the Bible. It’s not wrong. But on the other hand, it’s not necessary either. Because as Peter tells us,
"[God’s] divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." -- 2 Peter 1:3
In other words, if you were to read only the Bible, and never again opened another self-help book; if you never got around to checking out Buddhist philosophy or the Koran, you wouldn’t be missing anything. You have everything you need to live the life God intends for you, right here in the Bible. It is a comprehensive guide to life. Which raises another question: if that’s true, then why spend precious time on inferior sources of wisdom when you have the mother lode, the source of the Nile, the big enchilada of truth, right here? Does anyone in this room think they have mastered the teachings of this book? If not, then why spend precious time on anything else? At least when it comes to seeking guidance, why read anything other than the Bible, and other books which help you understand and apply the Bible? Personally, I don’t feel I even have adequate time for that.
All truth is God’s truth; all truth and wisdom have their source in God. And how is that truth and wisdom communicated to us? Through the Son of God, the Wonderful Counselor, Jesus Christ.
"but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." -- 1 Corinthians 1:23-24
"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
-- Colossians 2:2-3
Jesus Christ doesn’t just reveal the wisdom of God to us, He is the wisdom of God. There is nothing God knows that He doesn’t know. There is no truth, no knowledge, no understanding which He does not possess. In Him are hidden "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge". Now, who would you rather have giving you advice on how to raise your children? Jesus Christ, the "wisdom of God"? Or some guy who graduated with a degree in clinical psychology from Minnesota State University? Or Case Western? Or even Harvard? Who understands people better? Who understands the dynamics of human relationships better? Isn’t it the one who created us in the first place?
"Well", you might say, "of course God knows everything. But he never intended that we should look only to him for instruction in how to live. He didn’t intend for the Bible alone to guide us through life. He expects us to seek out the advice of experts." Well, if that’s true, then how did Christians manage to honor God with their lives for eighteen hundred years before psychiatry was invented? How did Christians of the first century manage to raise children, and overcome temptation, and relate to one another, and relate to unbelievers, without the modern psychological theories to guide them? Peter says that in Christ, we have "everything we need for life and godliness." And Jesus said: "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10) Was the abundant life that Jesus promises really out of reach until the last two centuries?
Again, I’m not saying you should never see a secular counselor. As I said before, you don’t have to be a Christian to have some wisdom. And sometimes there isn’t a pastor or Christian counselor available who has experience in the issue you’re dealing with. Which frankly, is a failing of the church. One reason we don’t have more qualified and trained Biblical counselors is because so many people in churches have accepted the lie that the answers to life’s problems can’t be found in Christ. But if you’re going to a secular counselor for that reason, because you don’t think Christ can help, then you need to re-evaluate your choice of advisors. Because when it comes to questions of how to live, Jesus is the wisest and most insightful counselor you could have.
All right, if that’s true, then how do we receive his guidance? How do we receive His advice and counsel for the specific issues we’re dealing with? And this is the second thing I want to persuade you of; that you can receive the wisdom of Christ. First, you have to read and understand the Bible. And I don’t mean just looking for a few verses which speak directly to the issue you care about. I mean becoming familiar with the Bible as a whole. You can’t just open your concordance and start looking up verses with the word "teenagers", for instance, because you won’t find any. There’s no chapter devoted specifically to "depression". That doesn’t mean God doesn’t know anything about depression, or that he doesn’t care about it. It just means that in order to understand the causes and cures of depression, you need to dig deeper. You need to read the Psalms where David talks about his soul being "downcast". You need to read what the Bible has to say about discouragement, and despair, and joy, and gladness. It takes time and effort, which is one reason wisdom is in such short supply. People think the Bible doesn’t speak to the issues they’re struggling with. But the real problem is that we don’t know our Bibles well enough to draw the wisdom out; we’re not students of the Word. Do you want to be wise? Do you want to know how to live a successful life? Then read the Bible. Read the gospels. Study the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
The second thing you need to do to receive wisdom is to pray. Because when we pray, the Holy Spirit gets involved. He helps us to pray; He guides our prayers and changes our hearts. He enables and empowers our prayers.
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests."
-- Ephesians 6:18
"In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." -- Romans 8:26
What does it mean to "pray in the Spirit"? It doesn’t mean to speak in tongues, or pray in some kind of altered state of consciousness. It means to pray in the power and freedom that the indwelling Spirit gives us. It means to rely on Christ, trusting that our prayers will be heard because of his merit, rather than our own righteousness. It means offering to God, not just the empty formality of worship; not just memorized words, but the outpouring of our hearts. It means being genuine, and trusting in Christ alone. If we do that, then the Spirit will help us to pray.
Why is that important? Because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. And so as we pray, He becomes our Counselor. As we pray, and as we read, the Spirit opens our minds to understand, and opens our hearts to accept, the wisdom that we need. And so, for instance, if we need guidance and direction regarding an issue in our marriage; as we read the Scriptures, and as we pray about the issue, the Holy Spirit works in our heart and mind to give us the insight we need. It doesn’t always come quickly. Sometimes we have to continue asking, and seeking, and knocking. But the Spirit will give us the wisdom we need, because He is the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of wisdom. If you are a Christian, then the Holy Spirit dwells in you. And He will direct your path.
"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. . . When the Counselor 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." -- John 14:26; 15:26
" The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD." -- Isaiah 11:2
"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." -- Ephesians 1:17
One last thing: seek help and counsel from other believers as well. God never intended that we should be spiritual "lone rangers". He has placed us in a body, the body of Christ, so that we can minister to one another, and one of the ways we do that is by giving counsel to one another. When you need help with an issue, seek out those who are more mature in the faith and ask their help. Let God speak to you through them.
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." -- Colossians 3:16
What I’d like you to take home with you today is this: God wants to reveal His will to us. He doesn’t intend for us to grope around in the dark, looking in vain for some guidance or help. Nor does He intend for us to seek wisdom and insight from the world. God wants us to walk with Him, for our lives to be guided by Him. And for that purpose He sent His Son, and has given us His Word, and His Spirit, and also one another. If we look to these things, and place our trust in God, then we will find that His counsel is the only counsel we will ever need, and the best we could ever find.
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
