Text: Isaiah 9:1-7
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
"WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR"
In the year that King Uzziah died a man by the name of Isaiah was called to be God's prophet. Obedient to the command of our Lord, Isaiah spoke God's word to God's people. Sometimes they were words of warning or judgment; sometimes they were words of invitation. But often Isaiah spoke words of hope - again words that came directly from God - words that predicted that there would be a day when the darkness of defeat and gloom, of grief and oppression would be turned to the light of victory. People would experience a closeness to God. When sorrow would be exchanged for joy and war would end and peace would reign. It would be a time of great celebration. And you can just imagine the people hearing this word from Isaiah, and asking, "When, when will this be?" And Isaiah responds, "All of this will come about through the birth of a child - a son will be given to us who will carry the weight of the government upon His shoulders.” "How will we know Him?" the people ask. "Ahh…," says Isaiah, "you will know Him by what He does. He will reign as King David reigned - His kingdom shall stretch out to the great beyond and He will rule with justice and righteousness forever.” "Well, what shall we call Him?" the people ask then. "You shall call Him by name." "What name?" "Not name, but names. He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." “O, what glorious names they are,” the people might have said, "we can't wait for His arrival." To which we may reply, "He's come, He's come!" The angels have announced His coming:
And little children greeted Him saying "Hosanna to the SON OF DAVID. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” He's come, He's come. But some may ask, "Is He truly all of these things? Is Jesus our Lord the Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace?” Do we know Him by these names? Think this morning of the first one, "Wonderful Counsellor." Do we know our Lord and Saviour but such a name? Is He our Wonderful Counsellor? Well in order for us to decide that, certainly Jesus would have to meet criteria, certain standards. I mean, He couldn't be just any old counsellor. He'd have to be one who was wonderful in and of himself. But more than that His COUNSEL would have to be wonderful - His very words would have to be understandable yet filled with a kind of energy that would make us, upon hearing them, stand back and marvel. His words would have to be infused with life. But not only that - His counsel would have to be such that when we heard them, our minds would truly say, "This is good counsel; these are words I can trust; these are words that I can implement. And when I do, I see that I will be blessed by God in so doing." And oh, if He is the wonderful counsellor wouldn't it be worthwhile to listen to His words? Wouldn't it be the smart thing to do to follow His directives? Wouldn't it be right to give our lives to Him and to trust Him with every concern and every trial that comes our way? Wouldn't it be wise to listen to His voice and seek His leadership? But as I say, in order to be the wonderful counsellor, Jesus would have to meet certain criteria. And so this morning I would like us to ask four questions of Jesus and His teaching and hold it up for us to examine and see if truly He is the “Wonderful Counsellor”. I would want to inquire about His training. I would want to know if His teaching has been tested. I would want to ask if His words were true. And finally I would want to know if He could be trusted.
I
First, what about His training? If you and I are going to trust Him to be our counsellor we want to know about His training, right? What school of thought does He belong to? What university did He attend, what approach does He use in His counseling?
And as we read His life story in the gospel of John, we come to chapter 7 verse 14 and we witness Jesus, during the feast of Tabernacles, going up to the temple in Jerusalem and teaching the people. And in verse 15 we read this disturbing phrase from the lips of those who hear Him teach.
And we say, "What? How can He be the wonderful counsellor if He has not studied? How can we trust Him with our deepest problems and feelings if He is but an ignorant carpenter?" Indeed, that is the question the crowd asked. There Jesus stood in a homemade peasant's robe, speaking with a north country accent, a village boy from Nazareth, teaching with skill, ease and authority. There He was, speaking with convincing power and evident mastery of the Scriptures. He had no diploma, no certificate to preach, and no degree. What about His training? Jesus gives us His credentials in verses 16 and 17:
His training? His is the mind of the omniscient genius. He is God incarnate speaking the very words of God. He not only knows Scriptures, He knows the author of the scriptures. He no only knows the letter of the law, He knows the spirit of the law.
So He says again in John 14:24,
Training? What better training would He have than to possess the very mind of God himself? Do you see? Paul says to the Colossians in chapter 2 telling them that all “the treasures of wisdom and knowledge is in Christ" Training? You couldn't find a better trained counsellor than God himself. He is the beginning of all knowledge. He is the source of all wisdom. In Him all things move and consist and have their being. So Isaiah would write in chapter 40 verse 13:
Let me ask you: does God ever wake you up at night and ask your advice? Has He ever shaken you out of your sleep? I've lived 38 years but I've never had God come to me in the middle of the night and say, "Tom, Tom. I've got a problem." And then have Him tell me His problem, and I say, "Oh, that's an easy one, Lord ... this is what you do." I've never had that experience, have you? Who is it that taught Him knowledge or showed Him the path of understanding? His training? Impeccable. Jesus is God himself, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge abide.
II
Ah… but we say, as wonderful as His training might be, the proof is in the pudding. Before I trust Him with my very innermost thoughts I want to know His track record. I want to know if His words have been tested.
And we are made to turn again to John 7:17. Here we read,
"Put my teaching to the test," Jesus challenges us. And we look throughout history to see again and again, a man or woman, a teenager, boy or girl, who dares to stake all on Christ. And what happens? It works! The Lord's teaching when put to the test, makes the drunken sober, the filthy-minded pure, the crooked straight. It cleanses society, redeems individuals, transforms lives, makes people godly and Christ-like. We saw a living example of this as many of us heard Rev. Dale Lang speak at the Markham Prayer Breakfast this week. Here is a man who testified to the fact that Jesus enabled Him to forgive His son's murderer. Without Christ, he said, he would not have been able to forgive. But don't take the word of history and thousands of others try His words yourself - test the validity of His words for yourself. See if He isn't really the Wonderful Counsellor by staking your life in Him.
III
But some of you might yet hesitate, and wonder about our third question - are His words true?
To which we must respond can they be anything else?
Coming from God, being tested through the ages of time, could His words be anything else but true?
This is what Jesus said when standing before Pilate:
And this is the testimony of John, saying,
IV
Now to the last question, can He be trusted? In order for Him to truly be the Wonderful Counsellor, we have to know that we can trust Him. We have to know that when we share with Him our deepest desires, we will not be laughed at.
When we confess to Him our darkest wrongs, we have to know we won't be turned away, and when we expose to Him our deepest emotional, spiritual and physical wounds, we want to know that we will be understood. Can He be trusted? Scripture responds with a resounding yes!
Isaiah writes of Him in chapter 42:
God will never break your bruised life - He will never snuff it out. Instead He comes in the person of Jesus Christ and He mends it. He sets a flame to be all that He intended you to be. And again and again throughout the Scriptures we see Jesus personify these words. As He sees the crowds, we read that He had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless. For the blind and the lame, He reached out and touched them as an act of compassion. For the bereaved, we read in Luke 7 that His heart went out to them and in the face of death He was moved to tears. And throughout Scripture we see that He accepts all races, He accepts all women, there is no sexism with Jesus. He treats all with respect. And no matter what your age, Jesus accepts you all. It's strange that some people say that Jesus is only for "old fogies" and others say, "No, it's for the young." The truth is that He's for both and for everyone in between. My friends, there have been many people who have hated Jesus - despised Him, rejected Him, cursed Him, and fought Him. But to all who have turned to Him and trusted Him He has become the Wonderful Counsellor. Is it guidance that you are looking for? Then I would encourage you to go to the Wonderful Counsellor - the one who said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life." Some of you are walking in the darkness in the midst of decisions. You need to seek God's guidance. Ask Him plainly for His guidance, read His word seeking His guidance, talk to trusted Christian friends and you will receive His guidance. He will not let you wander in darkness. If it isn't guidance you are looking for, perhaps it is grace. He will not only lead and guide you, but He will forgive and cleanse you from all sin. He will take away the guilt of sin and give you holiness and purity in its place. If it is not guidance or grace, perhaps it is God you are looking for. Look no further, for your Wonderful Counsellor is God incarnate, born as a baby in a manger. He grew to be a man, died upon a cross but on the third day rose from the grave to reign in heaven today. Ready, willing and able to counsel you. We have seen how He meets all the criteria, how He meets and even surpasses each of our expectations. So my friends as you come to this table, trust Him. Trust Him with your worries, with your decisions, with your lives for You will not find a better counsellor. You will not find a more compassionate friend. You will not find a wiser instructor… Than Jesus… the Wonderful Counsellor. Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - December 2001
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