Counselor Series

Counselor

Chuck Sligh

Series: His Name Shall Be Called

December 2, 2018

A PowerPoint slide presentation of this sermon is available upon request at chucksligh@hotmail.com.

Adapted from a sermon by Chuck Boman on SermonCentral.com.

TEXT: Isaiah 9:6 – “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

INTRODUCTION

Our text is Isaiah’s early birth announcement of Jesus Christ.

Illus. – Since the advent of the Internet, there is no end of creative ways for people to give announcements that they are expecting online. – Here are a few of my favorites: [The examples mentioned below are available in the PowerPoint presentation upon request at chucksligh@hotmail.com.]

• When this little girl woke up to an eviction notice, she flipped out on the landlords.

• I know you gamers out there will appreciate this one.

• This one is by far the cutest…But I wonder why Susan and I never got the owners manual for my boys! We could have really used it!

Such announcements are given to announce a baby is coming in a few months, but Isaiah gave his announcement centuries before the Messiah came.

Why are there so many names in this announcement?—Because there are so many names needed to describe this extraordinary Person—names that tell us important and wonderful things about our Lord. Last Sunday we examined the first of Isaiah’s names for Jesus where Isaiah calls Him “Wonderful.” We looked at many ways Jesus is wonderful:

• In the PAST, He WAS wonderful—in His pre-existence, in His birth, in His life, in His death, and in His resurrection.

• In the PRESENT, Jesus IS a wonderful SAVIOR, and a wonderful FRIEND (and many other wonderful things we did not have time to cover, for it would take eternity!).

• And in the FUTURE, He WILL BE wonderful—and we discussed all the wonderful things that are in store for us with our wonderful Lord in the events of the future.

Today, let’s think about His name as “Counselor.” Now many translations call Jesus by the single title of “Wonderful Counselor” rather than two separate titles, as the KJV and other translations do, “Wonderful” and “Counselor.” Hebrew Bible scholars believe the word “wonderful” may be a descriptor, that is, an adjective describing, or as English teachers say, “modifying,” counselor, just as in the rest of the verse, “mighty” modifies “God”, “everlasting” modifies “Father” and “of Peace” is an adjectival phrase modifying “Prince.”

So “Wonderful Counselor” is probably the way Isaiah meant it, but Wonderful and Counselor as two separate titles is also an acceptable translation of the verse, which is the way I have chosen to preach it since it does no harm to the meaning of the text and allows us opportunity to flesh out both parts of the title in more detail.

In order to discover how Jesus is a wonderful “counselor,” let’s first see what a counselor IS. In surveying dictionary definitions of the word counselor, we discover that it has three perspectives—emotional (or psychological), governmental and legal. Let’s see how Jesus is a wonderful counselor for us in each of these different ways.

I. First, we use the word “counselor” for someone who gives EMOTIONAL support when a person is undergoing mental or emotional stress—and Jesus excels in this meaning.

If you found yourself depressed, you might seek the help of a “counselor,” wouldn’t you?

JOKE – A counselor was walking along a Hawaiian beach while on vacation, when he kicked a bottle in the sand. Popping the cork, a genie came out and said, “For your kindness, I will grant you one wish!”

The counselor said, “I’ve always wanted a road from Hawaii to California."

The genie grimaced, and said, “I can’t do that! Think of all the pilings needed to hold up the highway and how long they’d have to be to reach the bottom of the ocean. Think of all the pavement. That’s too much to ask.”

“Okay,” replied the guy, “Well, I’m a counselor. Make me understand my patients: What makes them laugh and cry? Why are they temperamental? Why are they so difficult to get along with? What do they really want? Teach me to understand what makes them tick!”

The genie paused, and then sighed, “Did you want two lanes or four?”

Our problems can indeed be difficult and complex, so we often need a counselor to help us sort through our problems and get a proper perspective and know what to do next. He may be a pastor, or a psychologist or even a good friend. What is a good counselor?—A good counselor is “one who can understand your problems and competently provide you with guidance toward a workable solution.”