We are Awaiting The Wonderful Counselor
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Hebrew word “Pele” meaning “extraordinary” or “miraculous”
So, the prophecy about Jesus name him as an extraordinary, miraculous, in his counsel.
So, today, I will use the word miraculous in place of the word wonderful.
In our culture we assign “wonderful” to a lot of things and it loses a bit of weight in understanding the magnitude behind the word “pele.”
We say: this cake is wonderful, or this Dr. Pepper is wonderful, or these shoes are wonderful.
To us, it just sounds pleasant, but to those who speak Hebrew, it would hold more weight.
So, miraculous is interchangeable with wonderful and is closer to the original meaning for us than “wonderful.”
So, please don’t freak out. Just helping us to all understand the magnitude of the word!
And the word for “counselor is “yo-es” which can mean advise or counselor, or wise counselor. It is frequently referring to a ruler or king who is wise in nature.
So, Jesus is literally the extraordinary, miraculously wise counselor or ruler.
This would be a sense of hope to the Israelites as the were threatened with being under Assyrian rule at the time. Which, according to Isaiah 8:7 was brought on by God as His judgement because His people had rejected Him!
At this time of great despair and hopelessness, God would send a beacon of hope to His people. They would not be lost forever, even though it seems they may deserve it, but God would, once again, rescue His people.
He would provide for them an extraordinary and miraculous leader. Who provides great counsel!
This is a sign of hope for us as well. Even though we too are often worthy of God’s judgement on us, He provides for us a beacon of light!
He comes in the miraculous form of a counselor to guide and direct us, if we so allow Him to!
1. The Need for a Miraculous Counselor
1. The Need for a Miraculous Counselor
What is the importance of having wise counsel?
F.W. Boreham said “We make our decisions, and then our decisions turn around and make us” - F.W. Boreham
As the quote implies, our decisions are important.
And, what we decide to do is a reflection of the character within us!
If we constantly make bad decisions, but hope for a good life, we are crazy! It doesn’t make any sense!
Mark Batterson says “You are only one defining decision away from a totally different life!” - Mark Batterson
This quote has been on my mind frequently as I think about the decisions that I make on a daily basis. Or even an hourly or minutely basis.
Are the decisions that I am making leading me in a direction towards Christ and His message or away from Him?
I think about how difficult it would be to make good decisions without wise counsel in my life.
I personally do my best to surround myself with people who are:
Smarter than me
Are loving and genuinely care about me
Are willing to challenge the things that I say and do
The reason that we need this kind of wise counsel in our life is because....
14 For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.
And similarly,
22 Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
Without having wise counsel, it it likely that we will not succeed!
We can be well intentioned, but still make the wrong decisions.
15 The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.
We always think that we are right. It’s literally, as Brant Hansen so wonderfully titled his book “the truth about us.”
We think we are right, and we will go to great lengths to defend it.
But the problem is.....we aren’t always right!
I wonder if this is why Paul says:
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Because we are not always right, we need to think about the things that are beyond our capacity to think.
We need to think about things that come from above! More than just thinking about things that we can see, feel, touch, hear, smell, and taste.
And how do we know the things above are?
We learn. Through wise counsel.
There is a joke about:
A young lawyer, named Taylor, he was desperate for business, and was happy to be appointed by the court to defend an indigent defendant.
The judge ordered Taylor, "You are to confer with the defendant in the hallway, and give him the best legal advice you can."
After a time, Taylor re-entered the courtroom alone.
When the judge asked where the defendant had gone, Taylor replied, "You asked me to give him good advice. I found out that he was guilty, so I told him to leave."
It is important that we have wise counsel in our lives. And we know that it is done by thinking and learning about the things from above!
Sometimes it seems like good counsel is hard to find. And, I agree that it probably is.
Which leads me to point number 2.
2. Jesus as the Miraculous Counselor
2. Jesus as the Miraculous Counselor
We need someone that knows who we are. And that knows who God is. And someone that can lead us to thinking about the things that are above!
25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
Jesus is the person that knows each one of us! He knows us better than we know ourselves.
And, according to:
18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
So Jesus is the person who knows us better than we know ourselves.
And, He knows the things about God and makes them known to us!
He is our miraculous counselor!
So, then we take this a step further: how do we get to know Jesus?
Scripture - if you want to read about Jesus, this is your “go-to!” This is likely the beginning of your journey into a relationship with Him! Read about what He did and what He said. Read about who He is.
The Holy Spirit - Jesus sends His Spirit to live in us. He guides us and helps us understand who He is! He helps us understand the scripture that we are reading.
When you marry these two: Scripture and the Holy Spirit, you develop and understanding of who God and more specifically, Jesus is!
And, this allows Jesus to be our miraculous counselor!
He becomes our guide!
Jesus isn’t just another one of our friends, though! He is the miraculous counselor.
His wisdom is far greater than mere human’s!
Jesus was born special.
In fact, Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 11 just how special!
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
Jesus, before He was born, already had the understand, the spirit of counsel, and the knowledge of the Lord upon Him!
29 All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent.
And again in Psalm 92:5
5 How great are your works, Lord, how profound your thoughts!
And remember, Jesus is the one who reveals the Lord Almighty’s wisdom to us!
Jesus is the miraculous counselor!
He is perfect in wisdom and knowledge!
And He perfectly understands who we are!
We will wrap up point 2 with this passage:
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” 36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
So, we need a miraculous counselor, and Jesus is the miraculous counselor and finally, let’s talk about:
3. The Hope Found in Jesus as the Miraculous Counselor
3. The Hope Found in Jesus as the Miraculous Counselor
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
God desires that we grow in grace and knowledge of Him!
He doesn’t want us to be uneducated about Him....
This is why...
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
The Church, the body of Christ is important!
Christ works in and through His bride to teach us!
The hope here is that God wants us to learn about Him! He wants us to know who He is!
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
So, God is a God who desires to counsel us! He doesn’t just leave us as helpless beings searching for the truth all on our own!
Jesus is the miraculous counselor!
21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
When Jesus walked on the earth, people acknowledged that there was something special about Him and His teachings.
He taught with such authority and wisdom!
And the truth is, He still wants to teach us with authority and wisdom.
But, do we allow Him to have authority in our lives?
Is His wisdom important to us?
Are we growing in the knowledge of Him?
Worship Team
Jesus says:
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
He will guide us.....
Jesus’ desire is that we be guided by Him, and His Spirit!
During the last supper Jesus says some interesting things about The Spirit....
BTW, if you want some hope and comfort as a disciple, I encourage you to read the words of Jesus starting in John 14 and going through chapter 17. I would read it all today if I had time! It is beautiful.
So, Jesus has just told them in chapter 13 that He is leaving them. That He is going to die....so, then He comforts them...
John 14:15–17 (NIV)
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
26 “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.
When the Holy Spirit comes, He will testify about Jesus. The disciples already knew about Jesus....
This is for us! The Holy Spirit tells us about Jesus!
7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
The hope that we have in Christ as our Miraculous Counselor is that He sends His Spirit to counsel us!
Jesus doesn’t leave us just wondering about Him....He teaches us!
So, today, if you don’t know or have a relationship with the Miraculous Counselor, I encourage you to do so.
The Bible says that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, that we will be saved.
And when we are saved, we receive the Holy Spirt! If you want to receive God’s free gift of salvation, you are welcome to come forward and receive prayer!
If you have been saved, but have been neglecting Jesus as the counselor and want to pray, you are welcome to come forward as well!