Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

His Name is Counselor: He’s the solution to life’s problems Isaiah 9:6 His Name Is… Sermon #4 According to a 2005 Boston University Slone Epidemiology Center survey on the patterns of medication use in the United States, in any given week, 81% of adults in the U.S. are taking at least one medication, from insulin to Ritalin, from blood pressure pills to Prozac. Given that staggering number, it's obvious that a sizable percentage of the people in our churches are on medications, some of which are mood altering or psychotic behavior stabilizers. Like the general populace the Church today has many people who are affected by mental illness, meds, and their effects.   Some years ago Jane and I were visiting at another pastor’s home. He shared a bizarre situation that his church was currently dealing with. It seems that there was lady in his church who had been pregnant. She and her husband were leaders in the church. Her husband had even gone to Bible college. Somehow she had had a miscarriage and lost the baby. There was just one major problem…there never had been a baby. She faked the whole thing, even acting as if she was gaining weight. She’d even gone to the hospital to have the fake miscarriage. And my friend was in a real dilemma, because now she and her family (her parents also were members of his church) wanted him to do a funeral for a baby that never was – and continue the charade. Like the general populace the Church today has many people who are affected by mental illness, meds, and their effects.   While most people are not crazy, all of us because of sin, because of the human condition – need help. We all need some outside counseling at some level. That’s why the words of Isaiah 9:6 are so encouraging. “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.” And He will be called…Counselor.      During a crisis where someone turns for help is an indication of their character and faith. One turns to the local bar where he pours out his troubles into the ears of those he thinks are concerned friends. Another visits a palm reader or fortune-teller, or perhaps pays to have his horoscope cast. More sensible people talk their problems over with a psychiatrist or psychologist, or a doctor or pastor.   For the believer Jesus Christ is the supreme Counselor. The disciples acknowledged this when they said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68). In its historical Hebrew usage the word Counselor is used to picture a king giving counsel to his people. King Jesus is the great Counselor. When you take all that we know about Christ, it adds up to a marvelous truth, He’s the God-man who is called the Counselor. This fact that Jesus is called "Counselor" reveals several important truths to us. 1. We all need His counsel. Can I get away with a blond joke that illustrates this? A blonde got lost in her car in a snow storm. She remembered what her dad had once told her. "If you ever get stuck in a snow storm, wait for a snowplow and follow it." Pretty soon a snowplow came by, and she started to follow it. She followed the plow for about forty-five minutes. Finally, the driver of the truck got out and asked her what she was doing. She explained her dad had told her if she ever got stuck in the snow, to follow a plow. The driver nodded and said, "Well, I'm done with Wal-mart so now you can follow me over to K-Mart"      Jesus as our Counselor has ability to help us that goes far beyond the limited help that we’re able to offer one another. Have you ever been in a store and someone has asked you for directions? Periodically, I’ll have someone come up to me and ask me for directions BUT there’s a major problem…they don’t speak English. I finally had my kids teach me how to say, “no hablo espanol,” so that this poor person knows I’m of no help whatsoever. No matter how much I might want to help or how concerned I  might be or even how sincerely I might want to help, the core problem is that they’re asking the wrong person for assistance. I’m simply not equipped to give them the guidance they need.   As our Counselor, Jesus Christ is able to give us the needed direction for life. The Psalmist refers to this, “I will praise the LORD, who counsels me” (16:8). And how we need this Counselor today. Grief and pain permeate our culture. Jesus Christ wants to be our daily Counselor. He cares for us so intimately and intensely that the Bible speaks of the numbering of the hairs on our head and our tears being placed in a bottle. How much heartache we’d save ourselves if we turned to Him before the fact as well as after the fact. As the hymn says, “O, what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry, Everything to God in prayer!” Why we have such difficulty directing our own steps is really not that hard to understand. Biblically, we know that…   a) We’re sinful & selfish. Jeremiah gives an accurate prognosis, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (17:9). It’s far too easy to say, "Well, if I know my own heart____” and then later have to confess that we really don’t know our own hearts. Peter looked into his heart and thought he saw courage and stability but Jesus looked into that same heart and saw cowardice and failure.   b) Our minds are severely limited. Automaker Henry Ford asked electrical genius Charlie Steinmetz to build the generators for his factory. One day the generators ground to a halt and the repairmen couldn't find the problem. So Ford called Steinmetz, who tinkered with the machines for a few hours and then threw the switch. The generators whirred back to life. Later, Ford got a bill for $10,000 from Steinmetz. Flabbergasted, the rather tightfisted car maker asked why the bill was so high. Steinmetz's reply: For tinkering with the generators, $10. For knowing where to tinker, $9,990. Henry Ford paid the bill.   Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’” declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” After conversion, the mind of the believer has to be transformed so that he might “be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom. 12:2). Our minds are amazing machines for understanding knowledge, yet are terribly limited when it comes to grasping spiritual wisdom. Think about it! After three and a half years of being with Jesus day in and day out, not one of His disciples understood why Jesus had to die on the cross!   c) We are under attack from the world, the flesh and the Devil. That’s why Paul urges us, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” (Rom. 12:2). We’re surrounded by depraved and anti-God thinking. If we’re not careful, it will influence us in the decisions we make. Thomas a Kempis wrote, “He to whom the Eternal Word speaketh is delivered from a world of unnecessary conceptions.”   Can you imagine a doctor treating a patient and having no knowledge of modern drugs or surgical techniques? Imagine an African witch doctor practicing at Mayo Clinic! Two recent popular, best selling books are by author, Kevin Trudeau -- Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About and More Natural "Cures" Revealed. But Kevin Trudeau is a fraud and a convicted felon. And although he’s been exposed as a fraud, that still doesn’t keep gullible people from scooping up his books.   Satan is the great deceiver, blinding the minds of unbelievers (2 Cor. 4:1-4) and seeking to deceive the minds of believers (2 Cor. 11:1-3). He also tries to use the unbelievers to lead the believers astray. The thing that plunged mankind into sin was the deceiving of Eve's mind. Ever since that event, the mind of man has been at variance with God and at enmity with God. No matter how we assess the situation, you and I desperately need God's counsel if we’re to make a success of life to the glory of God. The giving of counsel to His children is one of God's most gracious works. The very way He does it is an evidence of His love and kindness. “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). 2. Jesus is the greatest Counselor. A counselor is someone who advises, who helps you sort through issues in your life. Sometimes that may not be pleasant but it’s for your own good.   A man was on the golf practice course, when the club pro brought an important-looking man out for a lesson. The pro watched the guy swing several times and started making suggestions for improvement, but each time his pupil interrupted with his own versions of what was wrong and how to correct it. After a few minutes of this interference, the pro began nodding his head in agreement. At the end of the lesson, the man paid the pro, congratulated him on his expertise as a teacher and left in an obviously pleased frame of mind. The observer was so astonished by the performance that he had to ask, "Why did you go along with him?" "Son," the old pro said with a grin as he carefully pocketed his fee, "I learned long ago that it's a waste of time to sell answers to a man who wants to buy echoes." Jesus doesn’t tell us just what we want to hear. But let me amplify some of the wonderful benefits Jesus brings into our lives when we allow Him to be a counselor to us. What are some benefits we get from Jesus as our counselor?   a) As our Counselor He provides us with a compassionate friend. When you go to a godly counselor, you’ll be assured of several things. You’ll be assured that what you say is kept in strictest confidence, that the counselor will understand and support you no matter what you may say. You’ll be assured that the counselor has your highest good in mind. Dr.  Jesus listens to our hurts and pains because He understands. He created us and understands the deepest needs of our hearts. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin” (Heb. 4:15). He’s a compassionate friend who loves us unconditionally and unconditional love is such a hard thing to find.   Lee Strobel shares this account from his days at Willowcreek. “We were doing a baptism service. We asked people who were coming to be baptized to take a piece of paper, write down a few of the sins they had committed, and fold the paper. We encouraged them to pin the piece of paper to the cross. They were reminded that their sins are nailed to the cross with Jesus Christ and fully paid for by His death. After pinning the paper to the cross they were to come to the pastor to be baptized.   At a later date Strobel read one lady’s letter. She wrote: ‘I remember my fear. In fact, it was the most fear I remember in my life. I wrote as tiny as I could on that piece of paper the word abortion. I was so scared someone would open the paper and read it and find out it was me. I wanted to get up and walk out of the auditorium during the service, the guilt and fear were that strong. When my turn came, I walked toward the cross, and I pinned the paper to the cross. I was directed to a pastor to be baptized. He looked me straight in the eyes. I thought for sure that he was going to read this terrible secret I kept from everybody for so long. But instead, I felt like God was telling me, “I love you. It’s okay. You’ve been forgiven.” I felt so much love for me, a terrible sinner. It’s the first time I ever really felt forgiveness and unconditional love. It was unbelievable, indescribable’.”   Friend, do you have some secret sin that you wouldn’t want to write down? Not only does Jesus want to adopt you into His family, He wants to lift the weight of guilt off your shoulders.   b) As our Counselor He provides us with wholeness. Sometimes the pain and pressure of life tears us down. We come away lacking confidence. It’s common for those who’ve been through trials to feel beat up. We need the confidence displayed by the little fellow who pulled a corn stalk out by its roots. When his father congratulated him, he beamed. “And just think,” he said, “the whole world had hold of the other end of it!”   Are you feeling less than whole today? Jesus wants to help you feel whole again. In John 8 we find the account of a lady caught in the act of committing adultery. The Pharisees wanted to stone her, which was common in that day. Such drastic practices still occur in some Middle Eastern countries. Jesus, on the other hand displayed mercy, grace and compassion. He didn’t condone her sin, however, he helped her to be made whole. After dispensing the crowd, Jesus encouraged her to “go and sin no more.” Jesus helped her find wholeness. If a person remains in their sin, they’re not whole. Jesus is concerned with helping restore wholeness.   c) As our Counselor He provides us with the truth. The truth is something we often don’t want to hear but we need to hear. Unless we hear the truth we might persist in living in our blindness. Scripture says, “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). Someone has added to that statement. “The truth will set us free but it will make you uncomfortable in the process.”   Remember the story of Snow White. The old witch looked at the mirror and asked this question, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all.” But did she really want to hear the truth? During the Christmas season one of the movies played over and over is Scrooge. In that fictitious movie Scrooge is visited by three unwelcome spirits. These three spirits shared truth that Scrooge didn’t want to hear but Scrooge needed to hear. Jesus Christ will reveal things to you that you may not want to hear but you need to hear. We need to hear truth.   Say someone has a problem with anger. This person’s anger is causing him to have high blood pressure and relational problems with those around him. Does he need to hear the truth? Suppose someone has a problem with alcohol. His problem is causing him to lose his family and be unable to hold a job. Does he need to hear the truth? Suppose a young person is playing around with immorality. They might be facing an unwanted pregnancy or a marriage to someone they don’t respect. Do they need to hear the truth? Suppose a man is tempted by dishonest activities at his job. He might be facing a possible prison sentence. Does he need to hear the truth? This is why people reject the Bible and reject Jesus Christ. He represents truth. It’s easier to reject the message than to accept the truth.   d) As our Counselor He provides us with a call to responsibility. A good counselor expects you to be responsible. He won’t allow you to stay in your misery. He expects you to face your pain head on. It requires a willingness to change. Many times we see change as a bad thing but that’s not necessarily the case. Suppose you’re in a car wreck and suffer severe injuries that cause distortions to your face. You go to a plastic surgeon and he tells you he can repair the problem. However, it requires some pain and surgery. It requires that he change the bad things which have caused you to suffer. That change isn’t bad! Or suppose you own an old house. The shingles are curling. The paint is cracking and peeling. The windows sweat during the cold of winter. However, money becomes available so that you can make all of the necessary repairs. Is change bad? Change is not bad but we must be willing to take responsibility for it. We live in a society that avoids responsibility. We want to pass the buck to someone else.   I’ve elaborated on four benefits that Jesus as our counselor will bring into our lives. Before that can occur it requires that we admit we need help. It requires we admit we don’t have it all together. Jesus can make a difference in your life but you must admit your need. You must confess your sin and your shortcomings. Jesus Christ is a Wonderful Counselor! 3. Jesus Christ’s counsel is readily available to us. Providing this counsel is part of His ministry as our great High Priest. But how does He counsel us?   a) He counsels us through His Word. “Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors” (Ps 119:24). The margin reads "and the men of my counsel." Consider the wisdom that God gives us through his Word. “Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts” (Ps. 119:98-100). We can learn from the Word what other people must learn in books or in the difficult "school of hard knocks." There’s no need for the Christian to "learn the hard way" by suffering the bitter consequences of sin. We can learn from the Word, avoid sin, and be the wiser for it.   b) He counsels us through His Spirit. “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” (Is 11:2). The Holy Spirit instructs us from the Word of God. He also teaches us in the everyday experiences of life as He speaks to us and directs us.   c) He counsels us through the circumstances of life. Sometimes the Lord uses circumstances to give us counsel and direction. In Psalm 32:8 God said, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” The NASV renders this, “I will counsel you with my eye upon you." A human counselor can’t keep his eye on his counselee to make sure he follows the counsel given. “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer” (1 Pet. 3:12). The child of God learns his Father is in control of circumstances and that the things that happen often point the way to the will of God.   Sometimes our Counselor uses people to help direct us. That’s one of the blessings of Christian fellowship and a local church. We’re able to encourage and admonish one another in the will of God. We must be careful, of course, to listen to wise counselors. 4. We must be willing to do what our Counselor says. Many years ago when Knute Rockne was coaching Notre Dame, a sports columnist in a South Bend newspaper earned the reputation of being the meanest, most critical writer in the country. The anonymous writer, who knew Notre Dame well, wrote about the team's weaknesses. He pointed out the mistakes of individual players. He told about those who were lazy, those who broke training and didn't discipline themselves. Of course, this column really ticked the players off. But it was all true and the truth hurt. These players complained to Coach Rockne. He listened sympathetically but said he couldn’t stop the writer. He advised them that the only thing these players could do so was to go out and play the game so well that they proved their critic wrong. Later it came out that the writer of the column was Knute Rockne himself. As coach of the team, he was best acquainted with their weaknesses. That critical column was his ingenuous device to develop a better team.   Sometimes Scripture speaks so sharply about us that it’s uncomfortable. But God tells the truth because He loves us and wants to make us winners. He knows we can’t win unless we discipline ourselves to obey His rules of life. As William Bradford, the governor of the Plymouth Colony of pilgrims, insisted, "Those who believe in the Holy Scriptures are bound to observe its teachings. Those who do not are to be bound by its consequences."   “If any of you really determines to do God’s will, then you will certainly know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own” (John 7:17, The Living Bible). God doesn’t give His counsel to the curious or the careless. He reveals His will to the committed and the consecrated.   Some believers have the attitude, "I'll ask God what He wants me to do, and if I like it, I'll do it." The result is predictable: God doesn’t speak to them. Unless we have a serious desire to know and to do the counsel of God, He won’t reveal His will to us.   Everybody longs for freedom but for many people its pursuit leads to bondage. The greatly loved Bible teacher, Henrietta Mears, knew the secret of true freedom and she wanted her students to know it too. With young people in mind, she said, "A bird is free in the air. Place a bird in the water and he has lost his liberty. A fish is free in the water, but leave him on the sand and he perishes. He is out of his realm. So, young people, the Christian is free when he does the will of God and is obedient to God's command. This is as natural a realm for God's child as the water is for the fish, or the air for the bird.” Obedience is freedom for the child of God. Conclusion: Our Counselor knows the many decisions we must make and how important those decisions are to you and to Him. God is eternally wrapped up in your life. He has a tremendous investment in you and your future. He has more to lose if you fail than you do, His eternal glory is at stake. He wants to be your Counselor and show you His will. He does not want to counsel you only in the emergencies of life; He wants to counsel you every day in even the mundane things of life, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).   As you seek His counsel, you get to know Him better. In knowing Him better, you understand His will better. God's counsel cannot be separated from God's character. His Person and plan must go together, for “He cannot disown Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). The more two persons love each other, the more they involve each other in the plans and activities of life. Jesus as your Counselor wants to be a part of every area of your life. And He doesn’t need our counsel, we need His. “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?” (Rom. 11:34). Too often we come to God and tell Him what He ought to do! Instead, we need to wait before Him and let Him counsel us. “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” (1 Sam. 3:9).   The book of Proverbs warns us that if refuse good advice, we’ll watch our plans fail. If we take good counsel, we’ll watch them succeed (Prov. 3:21). Or another way of saying it is, “Heed wise counsel or watch your hopes be cancelled.” The truth of this is evident in an experience that riveted my generation. In January of 1985 Roger Boisjoly, an engineer for Morton Thiokol, observed that under unusually cold conditions, an O-ring seal on the Space Shuttle's solid rocket booster would fail. Further tests were done and in July of 1985 Boisjoly wrote a memo to the Vice President of Engineering at Morton Thiokol which stated: "It is my honest and very real fear that if we do not take immediate action to dedicate a team to solve the problem…then we stand in jeopardy of losing a [space shuttle] flight." Even in the hours leading up to the launch of the Challenger in January of 1986, Boisjoly and other engineers were stating their belief that it wasn’t safe to launch the shuttle. But despite the engineer's concerns, a general manager for Morton Thikol said, "We have to make a management decision” and they made the decision to launch.   You and I know the tragic end of that story. On January 28th, 1986, just seventy-three seconds after the launch, the Challenger exploded, killing all seven crew members. The O-rings failed.   I wonder how many months…years it took those men who made "a management decision" to be able, once again, to sleep through the night.     Scripture teaches us that if we refuse good advice, we’ll watch our plans fail but if we take good counsel, we’ll watch them succeed. My friend, there is no need to fear the decisions of life when you know Jesus Christ. His Name is Counselor and He’s the solution to life’s problems.   His is the wisest counsel for He is wisdom personified. Are you listening to Him? Are you letting Him speak and counsel you through His Word?