Wonderful Counselor

He Shall Be Called- Isaiah 9:6

Good morning, Church.

And welcome to our Christmas series.

I love this time of year. It is my favorite.

The lights, the Christmas trees, giving gifts to people who love.

I love the Christmas Traditions, Blair and I have created in our marriage.

We will go look at the lights on Girvin every year. But before we do that we have to eat at Sonny’s Barbecue.

And that’s because when we were dating, we went to go look at the girvin lights. But we were both starving and stopped at Sonnys on Atlantic. And this was before they renovated the place.

And we go in and it was terrible.

The hostess said “you arent going to sniff a even a biscuit for 45 minutes because we are so short handed.” you good with that?

We sit down, 45 minutes later we got our food and it was the worst BBQ I have ever had. I’ve never had wet BBQ until that night but we ate it and saw the lights.

So every year, we eat at sonny's and go look at the lights.

I love the Christmas songs-

Go tell it on a mountain, What Child is this?, Silent Night, Away in a Manger, Joy to the World.

Grandma got ran over by a reindeer.

The movies- I love the Christmas movies- even the cheesy hall mark movies that don’t make any sense at all. Where the big city girl goes back home and falls in love with the guy who owns a flailing apple orchard and leaves her fiancee because he works too much to pay for her dream wedding but for some reason he is the bad guy. I love it.

But the best Christmas movie ever- is Die Hard.

I don’t think that is a Christmas movie, it literally takes place on Christmas Eve at a work Christmas Party.

The season doesn’t really begin for me until I see Hans Gruber fall off the Nakatomi tower.

I love Christmas time because people are more willing to listen to the good news of the gospel.

More willing to accept an invitation to church.

I love that more people are willing to come to church and make much of Jesus.

I love getting to spend time with loved.

I love all the things but that is not the case for everyone.

As Christians this is a time of Celebration because the Lord has come.

We have this hope that is an anchor to our soul.

And where you place your hope is so important to your experience of Joy.

Where you place your hope is imperative to your experience of joy.

And what I mean by that is that if you put your hope in things that can't hold up to the weight of it then then you will find your life filled with anxiety sadness and anger but if you put your hope in the right place if you drop anchor in that place that's unshakable- the Bible tells us in Romans 10 that those who hope in him will never be put to shame.

So to put our hope in other things is to actually grow in shame.

But to put our hope in Jesus is to be saved from shame.

He will not betray us, he cannot fail us, he he will be with us, and I think that's super important this time of year because a thousand false hopes are going to be shoveled into your imagination.

Every Hallmark movie and even the classic Christmas movies do this.

Do you know like sometimes you just get the Jelly of the month club that's all you get. Like the bonus isn't coming.

Sometimes it it just stays Pottersville no matter how hard you worked or how good your life was.

Sometimes your dad would just actually rather keep publishing books books and hate you.

Sometimes the mean person’s heart isn’t going to grow 4 sizes on Christmas.

Sometimes the Retired Military War Hero’s Business venture goes out of Business because the snow isn’t falling and its not going to be a white Christmas.

Some times the Hans Grubers of the world get away with there crimes because the John McClains of the World aren’t going to be there to save the day.

And when those things do not happen in our lives; where do we turn? Who do we talk too? What do we trust in?

Because God is with Us, we should turn to Christ.

Emmanuel- God with us.

In the Book of Isaiah, written 700 years before the arrival of Christ the King, born of a Virgin in the town of Bethlehem.

One Old Testament prophecy after another promised a coming Savior—the Messiah, the Anointed One—who would redeem the people of God.

The centerpiece of all the Christmas prophecies, Isaiah 9:6, was written nearly seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth.

Isaiah promised it would be a miraculous event, unlike any the world had ever known, and the details Isaiah gave were fulfilled precisely by Jesus.

Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Understand the magnitude of this statement.

Its fulfillment lies ultimately in the birth of the child who is Immanuel, here given four names that develop the reality of God with us as the Word becomes flesh.

The language here is very careful: the child is “born” and enters the world in the normal way, but that the son is “given” suggests a specific intervention of God.

The emphasis here is on his birth, but even in that moment of supreme vulnerability he is stronger than all the powers of the world.

The names communicate the fact that God himself will come and not merely send a messenger. He is the ultimate fulfillment of who Immanuel is.

The first name is “Wonderful Counselor,” or perhaps “wonder counselor.” “Wonder” implies “supernatural,” something beyond human power; the term is used of the acts of God, not least of which are the exodus events (Ex. 3:20; 34:10).

“Wonderful Counselor” is two words in Hebrew: “PEH-leh” and “Yow-ETS.”

“PEH-leh” means beyond understanding. It’s a word you used when something was too wonderful for words.

“Yow-ETS” translates as Counselor, and it means one who advises or instructs or guides, but (and here’s the key) from a position of authority.

It was particularly the task of the king to give wise counsel; in Solomon’s case this was more than natural wisdom.

After Solomon made the huge sacrifice, during the night, the Lord appeared to Solomon and asked Solomon to make whatever request he wanted.

Solomon asks for wisdom to rule the kingdom.

The Lord was pleased with Solomon's request and declared that he would give Solomon wisdom as well as fame and riches if Solomon faithfully followed all the Lord's decrees.

One of the first things Solomon does is he listens to these two women and their dispute over there babies. One baby is dead and the other is alive.

Both women claim the living child as their own.

Solomon, in his wisdom, orders the baby to be cut in half so that each woman can have half.

That sounds insane, how is that wisdom?

The real mother cries out to save the child's life, offering it to the other woman.

The other woman agrees to the proposal, exposing the false mother.

Solomon returns the living child to the real mother.

There’s the wisdom. Solomon is able to know who the real mother is based on there response. No loving mother will allow their child to be cut in half.

Our Savior, has that wisdom and so much more.

And we can go directly to Him. We don’t have to go to a priest or to a King to speak with our wonderful counselor.

Isaiah 9:7 is a foreign idea to the people in the Old Testament.

One day, Isaiah says, a son will be born, a child will be given to you, and his name will be “PEH-leh yow-ETS.” He will be your Wonderful Counselor.

The writer of Hebrews explains why it is that Jesus can be such a help to us in the midst of our problems (This description has brought so much comfort to me throughout my Christian life)

Hebrews 4:15–16 (ESV)

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

He’s not just a king who rules over us; he’s a brother who lived among us, who has walked through everything we have walked through. There is nothing you experience that he has not also experienced.

He can sympathize with us in every type of scenario because he was tempted in every way. And we can go to Him. We can trust Him. We can seek His wisdom.

People in the Old Testament did not have that kind of access to God.

That is our first Truth, we have access to our Wonderful Counselor.

Because a child is born, and because to us a son is given, then we can know God, the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

And the access point by which we can know the eternal God is because of Emmanuel.

That at Christmas, God stepped down out of heaven and became one of us. And He came not on His first shot here.

At Christmas, a couple thousand years ago, He did not come to reign as King, but He came to serve as Savior. And that's what the name of Jesus means.

You see, it's through that access point of that baby in a manger who did not stay a baby in a manger, but he grew up to be a man, the perfect God man, to die on the cross for our sins.

And when He says, it is finished, you and I have access to the Almighty God, to the wonderful counselor, to the mighty God, to the everlasting Father, to the Prince of Peace, because of Emmanuel, and His name is Jesus.

We can go straight to God with our requests. We don’t need any mediator we can now go straight to God.

Romans 5:1–2 (ESV)

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

We have an access to God that people in the old testament did not have. Kind of access they could only dream of.

They had to have a priest that would go into a temple on their behalf and they would make atonement for the people's sins by killing bulls and sheeps and goats and all that good stuff.

But even they could not go into the holies of holies which was covered by a veil only the high priest could go into the holies of holies and he could only go into the holy of holies once a year but when christ died for us the veil was torn from top to bottom and followers of Jesus have direct access to God because of what jesus did for each and every one of us.

That means we can go we don't have to go to a priest to be in a right relationship with God we can talk directly with Him.

We have 24hr 365 access to our Wonderful Counselor.

When we here wonderful counselor- we might think therapist.

Leather chair- that weird little couch- and someone talk to some random person about all of their live’s problems.

Talking about how everything is their parents fault because they hugged them too much, or they hugged them too little.

Or they are looking at those black splotches and asking you what you see.

As the Apostle Paul would say- It’s all a bunch of supulon (Bull poop).

listen to me- I am not saying going to a therapist is a bad thing.

Its can be really good thing.

But secular therapy and secular psychologists are nothing but liars from the pits of hell.

Lets talk about Psychologists.

I have a minor in psychology from the University of North Florida.

Psychology literally means the study of the Soul.

Psychologies- organized system of psychology- make assumptions and assertions about reality, human nature and personality.

Psychologies, are treated as gospel nowadays, even though, the early psychologists cannot know with certainty anything they are saying and on top of that were against the things of God. And there “findings” and studies prove that.

Lets look at some of the father’s of modern psychology really quickly.

Sigmund Freud said “Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires.”

Freudian came up with the "id," "ego," and "superego." They represent three key components of personality, where the id is the impulsive, pleasure-seeking part, the ego acts as the realistic mediator between the id and external reality, and the superego represents internalized morals and societal rules, essentially acting as one's conscience; all three work together to influence behavior and decision-making.

Think of like an Ice Berg- the Id is the top piece, the ego is the part above the water, the super ego is everything under the water.

Sigmund Freud also believed all males wanted to have sex with their mothers. and He also believed cocaine was a super drug that would cure other additions.

Carl Jung in his book, The Modern Man in Search of a Soul stated that the old truths of Christianity are no longer suffient to cure souls.

Abraham Maslow- “Human nature seems not to be intrinsically or primarily evil.”

Ecclesiastes 9:3 (ESV)

3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

BF Skinner- “What Jesus offered in return for loving one’s enemies was heaven on earth, better known as peace of mind.” - He goes on to offer an alternative to the gospel, church, and savior in behavior technology (if we use reinforcement we can create contented, happy, productive, well adjusted people.)

Friedrich Nietzsche famously said God is dead. God remains dead.

But here is the thing- Friedrich Nietzsche is dead and Friedrich Nietzsche has stayed dead and is now spending an eternity in hell.

God is not dead. God is very much alive.

The Bible is a testament unto itself. It does not need any back up to prove it is true. All of God’s Word is true.

But I want you to know that Jesus is mentioned in early ancient writings outside of scripture.

The writings of Josephus, His Antiquities, a first-century Jewish historian, not a Christian, provide evidence for the historical figure of Jesus. His accounts not only corroborate the existence of Jesus but also affirm the impact of His life on history.

Phily the Younger talked about the early Christians and how Nero blamed them for the burning of Rome.

This guy named Thallus in AD 52 wrote about a darkness that fell on the earth during the time of the Crucifixion. He didn’t know about it.

Julius Africanus in about AD 221 quoted Thallus.

Thallus explained this darkness away as an eclipse of the sun, but Julius Africanus argues that it couldn’t have been an eclipse, given when the Crucifixion occurred.

The Crucifixion occurred during Jewish Passover.

Passover always occurs during a full moon.

Solar eclipses only occur during a new moon, when the moon comes between the earth and sun. So, Julius Africanus is correct.

So the Father’s of Psychology are wrong and there teaching of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context are wrong.

Again, I’m not saying I’m against therapy. There are many certified Christian Therapists out there.

Like I said- I have a minor in Psychology and when I took my Biblical Counseling Class for my Masters of Divinity, the professor destroyed secular psychology in about 10 minutes.

I believe God can heal through people, pills, and prayer.

And we can go to Him because the tomb is empty but we don’t go to Him as a patient. We go to Him as a Son or Daughter of the King.

We can call him father because we are sons and daughters of god and like a good father he wants to be in relationship with us, he wants to be with us.

He first loved us.

Parents, while our kids were still wrapped up like little baby burritos, we loved them right.

They couldn't do anything productive. They just ate, pooped, napped, cried and repeat.

They could do nothing for us and as parents we had to take complete care of them.

Some psychologists have said well, that’s because they have your DNA and look like you.

Babies don't look like anybody babies look like a potato.

I remember the first time I laid my hand on Judah.

He was so tiny. He was born 9 weeks early. 3 pounds, 6 ounces. He was in the NICU and in this machine.

You could only put your hand in it. I put my hand in there and I put my hand on my baby boy.

And I just told him “when you get out of here, I’m going to do everything in power to give you the best life I possibly can. I will die for you and I will cause others to die for you.”

And I love my son. I want to be around my son. I’m proud of my son. I tell him that all the time.

He will never hear me say I am disappointed in him because I have a heavenly father who has never been disappointed in me.

God has never been disappointed in me. He died for me. Thats the case if you are a Child of God.

Jesus died for me to cover all of my sins so I can be found righteous in the eyes of God the Father.

And as a Father, I am to be an image bearer of what it means to be a father to Him.

That doesn’t mean I think he does everything perfect, right, and never gets disciplined. It just means that no matter what at the end of the day, I love and am proud of him.

Just like the Lord looks at us- He isn’t up there going, what in the name of me is that boy doing?

No, he is saying that is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

And he wants to hear from us. Thats the second truth.

2. Our Wonderful Counselor hears our prayers

I had some Jehovah's Witnesses come by and knock on my door Thursday Night.

And they say “hey can we talk to you?”

Of course how can I... yeah, I got some things to say to you too you know

So they start sharing some things and I just said hey can I tell you a couple things that God's done in my life recently?

I just want to tell you about some answers to prayer that just happened like last week and this lady goes you know God doesn't listen to everyone's prayers.

And I said you know what actually biblically you're right.

James 1 says that if we doubt he's not going to listen to us

James 4 says if if we ask with the wrong motives he's not going to listen to us.

1 Peter 3 says if I don't honor my wife my prayers are going to be hindered

Isaiah 58 if I don't care for the poor

Amos 5:23 (ESV)

23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

He says if my people would humble themselves you know and and turn from their wicked way I mean there's conditions to you're absolutely right he does not listen to every prayer, but he listens to mine.

Proverbs 15:29 (ESV)

29 The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

1 John 5:14–15 (ESV)

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

My personal favorite is James 1:5. James shows us what this looks like when it comes to praying for wisdom:

James 1:5 (ESV)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

My favorite part of this verse: Without reproach.

A lot of times when I need wisdom, I feel like it’s because I’ve gotten myself into a situation where I need wisdom through my own sinfulness and stupidity.

And so, I assume when I pray God is like, “Oh, I see, NOW you want my help? Hey, angels, look—it’s Jordan again.

He has really made a real mess this time, and now he has the AUDACITY to come and ask me for help.”

Without reproach. God promises never to do that. He gives wisdom without judging me or criticizing me for being in such a predicament where I need such wisdom.

And that’s because Jesus has born all my condemnation.

So, when my marriage is messed up, or I’ve caused pain in my child or messed up things at work, if I sincerely say to God, “Give me wisdom for how to follow you here,” he will give it!

The wisdom I am asking for is not the wisdom I deserve, but the wisdom Christ purchased for me!

The other thing this verse in Hebrews promises me is that when I am in pain, or I’m tempted, Jesus listens sympathetically because there is no suffering or pain or confusion I go through that he himself has not gone through, and he can guide me with expert advice.

And here is the thing- Every counselor will tell you that until you are completely honest about your problems, you can’t really get help with them.

There’s a tendency to want to keep the real truth about our problems concealed.

Maybe that’s because you feel shame admitting the full extent of the issue; you don’t like to even acknowledge it yourself.

But until you are fully open and honest about the problem, you can’t get help.

And here’s why that is true: Being changed by Jesus is not like passing the keys of your car to some kid at a car wash and saying, “Clean her up,” then you go run and do some errands and come back 30 minutes later and it’s all done.

No, when God changes your life, you have to be very active in the details. And if you aren’t honest about them, you can’t really fix them.

For example, I knew a guy who was seeing a christian counselor because he was really stressed out at his work, his relationships at home were strained, he was having trouble sleeping, his health was suffering.

He was an extremely driven man, extremely smart man and he’d just work, work, work, work, work.

Well, the counselor was asking all these probing questions, and he’d say, “I’m doing this for my family.” “This is the only time of life I can get ahead.” Or, “the work I do is really important and affects other people’s lives.”

The counselor finally told him, “You need to stop making excuses and just admit to yourself that you are an addict. Some people are addicted to drugs or porn; you are addicted to adrenaline, and the praise of others, and the pride that success brings. And you are willing to sacrifice whatever you must to get those feelings—be that your family, your health, your integrity, whatever. And until you admit that, you’re never going to change.”

You’ve got to be honest. God’s not going to change your life without changing you.

Of course, our fear in being honest is that when the full extent of our problems is revealed, what if God and everyone else just walks away from you?

That’s where you are just going to have to trust the promises of the Wonderful Counselor.

Jesus was once talking with a woman, John 4, who was really messed up – she had had a string of broken marriages and was in the midst of an adulterous relationship at the time and was deeply unhappy.

She kept trying to hide all that from Jesus because surely, she thought, if he found all that out about her, he’d walk way.

So, Jesus finally said, “Look, I know you have had 5 husbands and are currently living in adultery now. I knew that when I started this conversation, and still I came after you.”

What can you hide from God anyway? He knows everything about you. He knows everything- past- present- and future.

John 14:15–17 (ESV)

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. One of those commandments is being truthful.

And Jesus was just telling his that they will do greater works than Him.

Greater in scope not greater in the miraculous.

Listen, if I could walk on water, that would be our primary church growth strategy. That would be it.

All you would have to do, we would do services every day of the week, and there would be no sermons.

The whole thing would last like 30 seconds, right? And you would tell your friends, you got to come to my church so you could believe in Jesus.

And people are like, well, I don't know if I believe this. They go, no, it's crazy. Here's what happens, they set the baptistry up in the front, and our pastor stands on one side, and he goes, all right, here we go.

And then he just walks to the other side and says, who wants to believe? That would be the whole thing. That would be legit.

You ever walked on water? You ever raised somebody from the dead? I never have.

You ever fed 5,000 people? I can barely keep the 3 Chambers at my place fed. You understand what I mean?

You ever cast out a demon? I sent a 11th grader home from camp one time. That's the closest I've ever come, all right?

All right.

So, shouldn’t we speak more often to the one that can and did and does do those things.

Pastor, you still think God does those things?

What do you call salvation? Greatest miracle we will ever have in our life. God brought us from death to life. God still does His miracle working power all day every day.

So Cast your burdens on Him, because he cares for you.

Which brings us to our third truth

3. When Our Wonderful Counselor Speaks, We do.

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

Here I Am Lord, Send Me. Should be our response- same as it was when God spoke to the Prophet Isaiah.

As you read the Gospels, one of the things that stands out is how often Jesus asked people to do crazy things…

Once, in healing a blind man (John 9:6), Jesus spits on the ground and makes mud-pies to cake on the blind man’s eyes, and then tells him to go wash off in a specific pool across town.

Why not just snap his fingers and heal him?

Peter needs money to pay a bill and Jesus says, “Go catch a fish, and in the fish’s mouth will be a gold coin with the exact amount to pay the bill.” (Matthew 17:27). Why not just pull the money out of a hat?

Jesus is demonstrating that sometimes obedience doesn’t make sense to us.

Let that sink in…sometimes obedience doesn’t make sense to us.

He tells you to extend the forgiveness and it doesn’t make sense because who will avenge you?

End the relationship but you are scared of being alone; give sacrificially—but how will you afford it?; make the move but you are comfortable here…go do the thing he is calling you to do.

But you have to do the thing he is calling you do, you have to decide: Do you really trust him enough to do what he says?

Here’s a question I often feel confronted with when I come to God to ask for help: Do I really trust he can handle this? Can I do it my way?

The verse I referred to earlier, from James, where God promises to give us wisdom when we ask, contains a stipulation: James 1:5

James 1:5 (ESV)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

James 1:6–7 “

6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;”

You’ve got to be ready to do what he says when you ask him for the wisdom, otherwise you’ll never get the wisdom.

In order to get help from the Wonderful Counselor you have to put your yes on the table before you even ask the question.

This is hard because in no other area of life do we operate this way. We don’t say, “First, I’ll sign the contract and then you show me the terms.”

But in this area, we have to.

I’ve compared it to giving God a blank check. (literally giving them open access to your bank account). We prefer a gift card.

It may be a generous gift card, but we are still ultimately in control of how much we give away.

Are you ready to lay down all your prerogative to choose, and say, “Jesus, I’m ready to follow you anywhere!”

Because that moment is your moment of truth.

I’ll tell you one more story on this. The Gospel of Matthew describes a Rich Young Ruler who comes to Jesus seeking the way of salvation.

Jesus says something that sounds crazy to him, “Go, sell all your possessions, leave it all and follow me…” The guy won’t do it—it’s too crazy, and he walks away. Think about what he lost!

The text says that Jesus loved him… he wanted him to have eternal life. But he wouldn’t lay it all down to follow Jesus.

You’ll never experience the help of the WC until you do. The only deal that Jesus makes is he will give you all of himself, all of heaven, all of eternity, all of God, for surrender of you.

These are the 3 questions that are being asked of you as you approach the Wonderful Counselor:

1. Are you willing to be completely honest with him? 2. Are you ready to do whatever he says?

We have people here who are very interested in Jesus. But there are certain convictions you won’t surrender, no matter what Jesus says.

Certain areas of your life you won’t let him touch.

Let me close this sermon with one final thought.

Maybe the most important thing to notice about this name is that Isaiah uses the word “wonderful” to describe Jesus, not the solutions he gives us to our problems.

What is most wonderful are not the way he fixes our problems, but his presence with us in those problems.

Sometimes, you see, the way that God helps us in our problems is simply by allowing us to see how wonderful he is.

He doesn’t remove us from the valley of the shadow of death but He is with us. Guiding us, comforting us.

He doesn’t always immediately take away our problems, but he reveals to us his wonderful promise that he is weaving all things together for good in our lives in his wonderful way, and that his WONDERFUL presence will never leave us, nor will he every forsake us, even in the worst days of suffering.

And THAT WONDERFUL PRESENCE is more valuable than any solution to our problems.

You see, a lot of times people come to church wondering if God can make our lives better.

Something happened in your life and that has driven you to come back to church and you are here this weekend wondering, “Can God help my family? Can God fix my marriage?

Yes, God, can help you with your problems, but he gives you something far greater than the answers to those problems. He gives you himself.

Life’s greatest discovery is knowing him; knowing he loves you and promises to be ever-present in your life.

That’s what is too wonderful for words That doesn’t take away your problems; but it completely changes how you go through them.

We don’t come to Jesus because He makes life better, we come to Jesus because He is better than life.