Everyone Needs a Counselor
Beartown Road Alliance Church
December 9th, 2007
I spent a good part of this week looking at some long range planning for this ministry. This is not an exercise that comes naturally for me, I tend to think in the here and now, if I’m planning a week ahead of time, I’m doing pretty well! But trying to plan for the next year and the next few years can be a lot of fun. It’s fun to dream big. God has always had a plan for this ministry and as that plan unfolds, we have the privilege of not just seeing what God can do, but being a part of it! God promises to do amazing things through us! He promises to build and grow His Kingdom through His Church! So, as I look back at what He’s done, and look forward to the days ahead, I’m looking for the ways that we can put our ministry in the position to continue to receive God’s best for us. I think it’s vital for a ministry to continue to look ahead.
In college, while I was taking pastoral ministry classes, I remember being taught the importance of thinking long term. My professor said that the single most important aspect to long term planning was communication. You can dream and plan all you want but unless you can effectively communicate your vision and get people on board and excited, you will face frustration when people can’t see what you see. You will not find a better example of how to communicate a long range plan than you see in the prophecies that God gave about Christ. God was the ultimate long range planner. All of history has been moving according to His plan and moving towards the eternity that He planned out before anything on Earth even began! And God knew how to promote His plan! The passage that we looked at last week was one example of the way that God communicated His plan to the people. They say that you need to begin communicating two months ahead of an event if you want people to be aware of it and for it to be a success. But when the event is the single most defining moment in all of history, two months just isn’t enough and God began to communicate with His people through the prophet Isaiah over 700 years before this event took place. The event was unlike anything that had ever happened or has happened since. On a quiet night in Bethlehem, God became a man. Jesus left heaven and His throne above to be born in a stable, to become one of us. This is the event that God didn’t want anyone to miss. This was the event that would mean salvation for all the people. So, He used His prophets to tell the people that His Son was coming.
Over 2500 years ago, the prophet Isaiah wrote these words. “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.
This baby would be known by many different names. Most of us know Him as Savior. We understand that He came to die for our sins and that if we believe in Him, we will be saved and spend eternity in heaven with God. But, what that little Baby would bring to us is so much more than salvation. In this prophecy, we have four incredible names that describe who this baby will be and what He offers to those who love Him and follow Him.
This morning we’re going to look at this first name. As we get closer to Christmas, we need to understand that the Christ Child was born to be our Wonderful Counselor.
I have only been to counseling once in my life. Before that, I had some very interesting ideas of what a counselor was or what counseling entailed. I had just begun my ministry in Ohio and because of all that had just happened with the divorce of my parents and the circumstances that surrounded that, they asked if I would be open to going to a counselor. My first thought was, “I don’t need a shrink!” I pictured myself lying on a couch, telling stories of my childhood with tears streaming down my cheeks as a complete stranger took notes and asked me how that made me feel. After a little prodding, I finally agreed to go and it was nothing like what I thought it would be, it was very beneficial. But there were a few questions that I wanted answered before I was going to trust this guy. I wanted to know what kind of counselor he was, I wanted to know what his qualifications were, and I wanted to know what the benefits were going to be. I wasn’t just going to trust my inner child with anyone!
This morning, as we explore this idea of Jesus as our Wonderful Counselor, I want to answer each of these questions about this Counselor, I want you to see the kind of Counselor He is, what qualifies Him to be our Counselor, and What benefits we can expect if we trust that He is who He says He is.
I. What Kind of Counselor is He?
Nowadays you have psychologists and psychiatrists, counselors who follow Freud and counselors who follow Jung. Guidance counselors, career counselors, marriage counselors, behavioral modification counselors, counselors with Maters degrees and counselors with doctorates, there is an overwhelming variety of men and women who fall into this category of counselor. There is no one type that can meet every need, except this Counselor that Isaiah writes about. What kind of Counselor is He? Isaiah simplifies it for us and tells us only that He is Wonderful! The prophet proclaimed that He would be called the Wonderful Counselor. This is one of those phrases that really doesn’t translate well from the original Hebrew into English. We all have ideas in our minds as to what a counselor is and wonderful to us simply means far well above the norm or average, or exceptional. So, with a mental picture of Dr. Phil in our heads, most of us reading this would think, OK, this means He’ll be a great listener, or that He’ll give us really good advice. Well, both of those things are true, He does listen when we talk to Him and He promises to give us good advice and direction, which we’ll be looking at a little bit later, but the way that we translate both of these words fall well short of what Isaiah was describing.
The Word that Isaiah used for wonderful is the Hebrew word Pele. This word is found fairly often in the writings of the Old Testament. In every instance it is directly tied to God. This is God’s own personal adjective and it is translated in other places as miraculous, divine, or supernatural. It’s literally means a cut above what you would think is possible. So where we read Wonderful, Isaiah was saying this is a Counselor that is unlike anything that you can imagine. This is a miraculous, divine counselor. For those reading this in the original language, it would have been immediately evident, by the use of this word, that Isaiah was referencing God, this is the divine part of the name. He would be Wonderful.
Then we have the word Counselor. When we hear this word, or think of counseling, I think that we all have some different ideas of what that means. I told you what I thought counseling was going to be and I think most guys are like that. There can be some negative connotations. If you hear that someone is in counseling, you immediately think that there must be a problem.
But in the days of Isaiah, a counselor was different, he was someone that was trusted and respected. He had a proven track record of wisdom and he had the authority to speak into your life. A counselor was not a stranger with a fancy degree who squeezes you into a one hour time slot, it was someone who was a part of your life and that you could not live without. Anyone in a position of authority would have many trusted counselors, kind of like the president’s cabinet.
So, as we look at this name, to see exactly what kind of Counselor this baby would be for us, Isaiah writes literally that we have a miraculous, divine God who wants to be intimately involved in our lives as He moves us in the way that is best for us. He is our Wonderful Counselor. That’s the title.
Now, you would never go to a Counselor, no matter what His title or reputation was until you found out what his qualifications were. You don’t just want someone with a degree they paid $5 for on-line to try and understand what you’re going through and to help you deal with it. You want someone who has been well-trained and has lots of experience, specifically with what you need help with.
Here are the qualifications of this Wonderful Counselor that God speaks of through Isaiah.
II. The Qualifications
Now, first and foremost, a quality that you will not find in any other counselor is that Jesus is God. That should be all the qualification that we need but, just in case you need more, I want to give you some specifics that uniquely put Him in a position to be our Counselor.
a. He Has the Wisdom of God
Have you ever listened to Dr. Laura or Dr. Phil? I get so frustrated sometimes when I listen to them counsel people. The person will try to explain what’s going on and the Dr. will interrupt and just tell them how it’s going to be. They speak with an air of wisdom, that when you get right down to it, is not always the best thing for the person they are talking with. The Counsel of Christ is given with the very Wisdom of God. Isaiah said that on this child would rest the spirit of wisdom and counsel.
JOB 12:13 "To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.
ISA 28:29 All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom.
He can be our Wonderful Counselor because He truly knows what’s best, he can see the end of the road that we’re taking when all we can see is what’s in front of us. When we were on vacation in Canada last year, we visited a huge greenhouse. As we walked through all of the different plants, there was a stone path that went off to the side. Because I was taller than Catherine, I could see that it only went a short way and then ran right into a wall. It was a path to nowhere. Catherine, of course, wanted to walk down it and see where it went. She couldn’t see the end. When she walked it and realized it went nowhere, she was extremely disappointed! God is bigger than us, He can see where we are and where the path we choose is heading, He sees the whole picture and He promises to provide us with His Counsel that comes from the Wisdom that only God can possess. You want perfect Counsel, this is the only place to get it!
b. He Created You
One of the hardest things for most people about counseling is that you are sitting across from a complete stranger! It can be hard to share your heart to someone who doesn’t know you and you don’t know them. With Jesus, you will never find someone who knows you better because He is the very one who made you.
Col 1:16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
Jesus is our Creator. If you owned a finely crafted watch and it broke, would you rather take it to someone who knew about watches or the one who made the watch in the first place? The one who created it, is invested in it, and would have a knowledge of it that no one else could ever have. An Earthly counselor may know about people and have studied people, but our Wonderful Counselor makes people, He’s the Creator. Listen to what He tells the prophet Jeremiah.
JER 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;
David praised God because he was fearfully and wonderfully made, he says that God knit him together in his mother’s womb.
This is not a picture of a Creator who just waves a magic wand and poof, it happens, this is the picture of an artist who gets His hands dirty, who takes pride in His work and rejoices in the final product. Jesus tells us just how intimately He knows us when He says in Matthew that: even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. We are not a mistake, nothing about us is a mistake! He formed us, we are the work of His hands and we can receive Counsel from the one who knows us best.
He’s also qualified because:
c. He’s Been There
The ideal counseling situation is to be sitting across from someone who knows what you’ve been through because they’ve been there too. I could counsel my teen guys on certain things because I had been there. I could sit across from someone whose parents were splitting up and I could cry with them because I knew what it felt like. It’s one thing to be able to offer sympathy, to imagine what it must be like, it’s an entirely different thing to have walked in that person’s shoes. Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor because He’s walked in our shoes. This is the miracle of Christmas that God became one of us and experienced all that we go through in this life.
Heb 4:15 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. 2:18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Have you ever been betrayed? He has. Have you ever been wrongly accused? He has. Have people ever gossiped about you? Have you ever suffered physical pain? Have you ever been in physical need? Have you ever felt lonely? Have you ever suffered loss? Have you ever been afraid? Have you ever felt that you have reached the bottom and there is no way up? He understands. He’s been there. John says the Word became flesh. Jesus knows what it is like to be human and to struggle and to be tempted. He can relate to whatever we experience in this life. What a great quality to have in a Counselor.
d. He Loves You
I’ve found that the best place to turn for Counsel has always been someone who loves me. My mother, my father, my wife. You don’t have to worry about a hidden agenda, you know that your best interests are being considered. In this Wonderful Counselor we have someone who not only created us, but that loves us. In every area that Christ provides Counsel for us, it is governed by this fact, He loves us. This means that He always wants what’s best for us!
Paul talked about the scope of this love in: Ephesians 3:17-19 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.
We will never fully understand this amazing love for us. It was this love that drove this baby boy, this gift from God, to the cross where He accomplished what He was born to do for a people who deserved it the least. This Counselor is well qualified because we will never find another who loves us like He does.
Jesus is qualified as our Counselor in ways that no one else will ever be. He is All Wise, He is our Creator, He’s Been There, and He loves us. If we’re willing to seek His Counsel, the Bible promises several things that He will provide for us, this answers the question of how we’ll benefit from this counsel.
III. The Benefits
a. Provide Direction
All of us have had those moments in our lives where we just don’t know which way to go. Our Counselor promises to provide direction when we need it most.
PS 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
He promises to guide us, to walk beside us and lead us in the way that is best for us. He promises never to leave our side.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
The KJ says He will direct our paths, the NIV says He will make our paths straight. It literally is the idea that He will take the twisted mess that we can make of our lives and straighten it out so that we can walk in the way that He intended for us. If we trust in Him, He will provide direction for our lives.
b. Carry our Burdens
Often, one of the biggest benefits in talking to a counselor is the relief that comes from simply unburdening ourselves, from getting something off of our chest. It feels good to release and unload. A human counselor can listen, but you won’t find one who offers to carry your burden for you. Jesus does, and, because He is God, He is strong enough to do it.
MT 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
1 Peter 5:7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. PS 55:22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
That’s His promise, we don’t have to carry the pain and problems of this life alone, we have a Wonderful Counselor who will take our burdens, if we ask Him to, and replace them with a peace that passes all understanding, that’s a pretty good deal.
And finally, we have this counselor to:
c. Be our Advocate.
A lawyer is called a counselor because he is an advocate for , he represents the interests of, His client. He goes to bat for them. Our Counselor promises the same.
JOB 16:19 Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.
We have, in Christ, an advocate, on our behalf before God. He represents us and pleads our case before the throne of the Father.
There are a couple of ways that He does this, first, Scripture tells us that He is our advocate when we pray:
RO 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
When we don’t know what to say, when we don’t know how to express what’s going on insdie of us, this Wonderful Counselor speaks on our behalf. He intercedes and brings our prayers and petitions before the Father for us. What a great privilege!
Scripture also tells us that He is our advocate before the Father when this life is through. He, in a sense, vouches for us, that we belong to Him and that our eternity is with Him.
Rev 3:5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.
When all is said and done here on Earth, Jesus himself will stand before God as our advocate and say, Yep, he’s one of mine. Open up the gates of heaven and give to this one all of the rights and privileges that only I deserve. He will ensure that our place in eternity is secure and that our name will not be removed from the Book of Life. That is a benefit of trusting in this Counselor.
We live in a world that is craving good Counsel. Just turn on the radio or TV and you see people that are begging for help in their lives. Human Counsel can help, but God’s promise to us on that first Christmas morning was that, through this baby, we could enjoy the Counsel of Heaven. The baby in the manger came to be our Counselor. He came to give us direction and to take away our burdens and to represent us before the very throne of God. He is the only One who could ever bear this title because He alone has all of the qualifications to be that Wonderful Counselor.
He has the wisdom of God, so He knows best. He created us so He knows what we need. He’s been there so He knows what we’re going through. And He loves us so He truly desires for us to experience all the good that He has for us. Where are you turning for wisdom and guidance? Are you experiencing the reality of the Wonderful Counselor in your life? If not, you don’t need to make an appointment, just call out to Him and tell Him what you need. He promises to hear and to be all that Isaiah prophesied He would be.
