Isaiah 9:6-7 Wonderful Counselor

You are listening to the podcast of Recast Church in Mattawan, Michigan. Good morning. How are you today? Great, I heard. Good.

Fine. That's our standard. How are you today? Fine. I'm good. I'm good. But, are you really good? Are you really fine? You might look in the mirror and say, I'm fine. But, the reality is, is we really all struggle a lot, don't we?

I mean, let's be honest. I love to hear the young people in the juvenile home pray, and at Lakeside Academy, where I serve as chaplains. Our prayer time, we'll just invite, hey, who will come up and pray over us today?

And usually, I'll get five or six guys right away, they want to come up and pray. And one of the things that they often say is, Lord, thank you for getting me up this morning. Thank you that I'm alive.

So, hey, if you're alive, you're good, aren't you? Right? It's a gift. But, we are definitely a work in progress, aren't we? I don't even hear any amens on that. Anybody in here messed up? Oh, hey, some honest people.

You know, I've been walking with Jesus for over 40 years now, wow. And sometimes I'm just like, oh, Lord, what is wrong with me? So, my question for you, starting out this morning, is could you use a counselor?

I don't really want to go see a counselor. I'm not, you know, I'm okay, I'm good. Let me just ask a few questions before we read our text for today. Do you sometimes find life to be difficult and perplexing?

I have sure found myself in that spot plenty of times through the years. Difficult and perplexing. Are you confused about a situation in your life, something going on, and you need some clear understanding and answers?

Been there within the last year. Are you struggling with a broken heart this morning? And I know the reality of that one, that there are plenty of people here this morning who have had their hearts broken.

And maybe you're going through a situation that is just tearing your heart up. Are there areas in your life that aren't healthy or even broken? Do you need direction? Do you have any important decisions you're trying to make right now?

Are you struggling in a relationship and you don't know what to do? Do you need help? Do you need wisdom? What I want to say this morning is that we all desperately need the wonderful counselor. You can see his name right up there on the wall.

700 years, so we just celebrated the birth of Jesus not long ago, Christmas. 700 years before Jesus came to this earth and took on human flesh, we have prophecy in Isaiah chapter 9, and that's where I would like you to turn this morning.

This prophecy was given to us to help us understand who Jesus is and who he can be in our lives. The older I get, the more I realize how desperately I do need Jesus every day and every moment. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 9.

There are Bibles under the seats. If you don't have one with you this morning, feel free to grab one. Isaiah chapter 9, again this is a prophecy regarding Jesus 700 years before he came on the scene. We'll pick it up in verse 6.

It says, And praise God, he did it. We are here today because he did it, because Jesus is alive. I love these names for Jesus. I got to do a message here at Recast on Prince of Peace, Sar Shalom. He is the best source of peace.

And he is a wonderful counselor. He longs to be your wonderful counselor. And this morning as we dive into the word, I want to explore what kind of a counselor he is. And how can I receive his counsel in my life?

How can I actually experience his leading and guiding and healing and transformation in my life today? And he is all about that. He loves you dearly. And he cares about your struggles. He cares about what's going on at school.

He cares about what's going on at work. He cares about our families. He wants to speak sweet counsel into our lives on a daily basis. And his word brings healing and transformation. So let's celebrate this morning who he is.

As the worship team comes up together to lead us in worship. Let's focus our hearts on him and give him some praise. I would like to pray as we move into that. Pray with me. Heavenly Father, thank you for who you are.

Thank you that we can come this morning to your throne of grace. Thank you that this is a holy place as we are here in Jesus' name. That this is your sanctuary this morning. That your spirit fills this place.

And you see us and you hear us. And even right now in this moment, Lord. Even if we say a quiet prayer in our own heart. If every one of us did that at the same moment, you would know what each one of us is speaking to you.

And I thank you for that, Lord. Even right now, maybe someone needs to say that prayer in their heart. There's something heavy in their life and they need your help. Maybe there's a decision that needs to be made and they don't know what to do.

Father, maybe there's a broken relationship and they so want to make things right. But just don't know what to do. Thank you that you give wisdom. That you give counsel. That you give direction and guidance.

And I just pray this morning as we explore your name of wonderful counselor. That you would just show us how wonderful you are. And that you would show us what kind of counselor you can be in our lives.

Father, I thank you that you love every one of us in this room this morning. And you know us inside and out. You know our struggles. You know areas in our lives that need to be healed and transformed.

And I thank you for that. And you are such a gracious Father. Such a wonderful Lord and Savior. That you are so patient with us. And you are just waiting for us to trust you. And seek that healing transformation guidance from you.

Thank you for that Lord. Pray now that as we sing these beautiful songs. That the words would minister to our hearts. And that we could worship you in spirit and truth. And we just pray you do something really special here.

This morning as we gather in your name. We love you and praise you and thank you. In Jesus name. Amen. Thank you David. And all of you. That was awesome. So I asked you this morning how you were doing.

And many of you said good. And you know what? If you have Jesus in your life. You are good. You are good. No matter what your state of being is right now. Or what you are struggling with. If you have Jesus in your life.

You are good. Because God is your Father. And He is the perfect Dad. And everything we need is in Christ. Healing and transformation. Forgiveness. Strength to keep going. Everything we need is in Him.

And so if you are a child of God. Amen. You are good. But you know I also wanted to bring up the reality that. We all struggle. Right? We all got stuff. That we deal with. Things we have to do that we don't want to do.

Situations that we wish were different. Life on this earth is not easy. In fact if you want to live for Jesus glory. It really can be tough. But you know what? We have a mighty Savior. Go ahead and open your Bibles back up to Isaiah.

Chapter 9. You know names are really important. Especially in the culture of the Bible. Names were chosen maybe more carefully. Than we do today. Maybe looking for more meaning in a name. We often choose names because maybe a family member had it.

Or we like the way it sounds. I think that's a cool name. I like that. And then of course between your wife and you. You got to land on the. Come up with a name together. My name is William Bruce Smith.

Most people call me Bill. There is someone in this room that calls me dad. So each name can tell us a little bit different. About who someone is. My closest friends. Especially childhood friends call me Billy.

I would recommend that you please don't call me that. It just doesn't sound right unless I really get to know you. And we become really really close friends. Then I'm okay with that. My sisters still call me Billy.

They call me Angie. My sisters they chose girl names for all of me and my brothers. I was Angie. They still call me that sometimes. My wife calls me William. I love that. And it's not just when I'm in trouble.

Although the other day she did say William Bruce. Like that. My title for my work is Juvenile Justice Ministry Director. Tells you a little bit something about what I do. I work with young people who find themselves in the juvenile justice system.

And we get to minister to those young people. Well Jesus has many many beautiful names. I googled it real quick. One website it said 600 different names. Well there are a lot of names and titles for God in the Bible.

And each one is to show us a different facet of who he is. This morning I want to focus on together exploring this name Wonderful Counselor. What does that title mean? And what can it mean in our lives?

So I want to start just by kind of looking at some definitions of this name Wonderful. Now some Bibles. So in the ESV you'll notice. Look at verse 6. For to us a child is born. To us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder.

His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace. This is our Jesus. This is who he is. Now in the ESV you'll see Wonderful Counselor. Then comma. In the New King James and some other translations.

They do Wonderful comma. Counselor comma. And they separate the two. And it can go either way because he is wonderful. Isn't he? Isn't he wonderful? Now I want to look at this name. In Hebrew it's pronounced Pala.

And it simply means the definition is a miracle. A marvelous thing. A wonder. A miracle. A marvelous thing. A wonder. I want to show you where the same Hebrew word is used. So turn with me to Psalm 77 verse 11.

And I hope you're ready to do some page turning today. Because I like to use a lot of scripture. The word of God is where the truth and power is. Look at Psalm 77 verse 11. We find the same Hebrew word Pala.

Verse 11. It says, I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember your wonders of old. There's that word. It's the same word for wonderful. His wonders of old. I don't know where your mind goes with that.

Dividing the Red Sea. Some of the awesome, incredible things God has done through the ages. Look at Psalm 89 verse 5. Let the heavens praise your wonders. Oh Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.

Your wonders. There's our word for wonderful. You could say he is a wonder because he is. Isn't he? Isn't Jesus a wonder? Isn't he a miracle? God taking on human flesh and coming among us. He is a wonder.

If you combine these two names, wonderful counselor, the literal translation would be he is a wonder of a counselor. A wonder of a counselor. Now I want to look at this word counselor. In the Hebrew, it's Ya 'atz.

That's how my talking Hebrew dictionary pronounced it. I don't know Hebrew at all, but I do know how to look up words. And I love to do that because knowing a meaning of a word unlocks the meaning of a scripture.

And he is Ya 'atz. He is counselor. And that word counselor simply means to advise, to deliberate, or resolve. In the historical Hebrew usage of the word, it was used to picture a king giving counsel to his people.

In Micah, it's translated like this in chapter 4, verse 9. Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in your midst? Has your counselor perished? So it's this idea of a king giving counsel. And that's a beautiful picture of Jesus for us because he is king of kings and lord of lords.

He is the king of the universe, and this mighty king wants to speak sweet counsel into our lives on a daily basis. The good news is that we don't have to struggle through life alone. And so many people are doing that.

And you see it, and it breaks your heart because you know that there's this mighty Savior who could bring healing and transformation into their lives if they would just trust him. He is ready to counsel and to guide us.

He is wonderful counselor. Now that Hebrew definition is said to advise. He wants to advise us. This means he wants to speak counsel to each one of us individually. It's said to deliberate. He wants to help us figure things out.

He wants to help us make wise decisions. I know you need that. I need it. Sometimes more than others depending on what we're going through. And then to resolve or to bring resolution. He can help resolve issues and problems in our lives.

He set me free from alcohol and drug addiction without going through a 12-step program. He brought me through that. He set me free. He healed me. I'm sober. I'm healthy because of Jesus and what he did.

That's why I came to Jesus. I saw him set my best friend free from drug addiction. He should have been in a rehab. Seriously, he was so trapped. And all of a sudden his life was transformed. And he was set free.

And he told me it was Jesus. And he began to share the wonderful story of Jesus with me. And I believed and asked him into my life. And he began to heal and transform me. He took me, this messed up young man who used to use his name as a curse word.

And he made me into a new man, a new creation. And he's still shaping and changing my life. To the believer, Jesus Christ is the supreme counselor. He should be the one that we go to first. I thank God for counselors.

I thank God for our pastor and how he counsels with people in our church. And God uses wise and godly counselors. But so often we go to them first. So often we go to the medicine or to the doctor first.

Let's go to our wonderful counselor first. And then maybe he'll tell us, you need to go talk to Pastor Don about this. You need to seek wise counsel. I'll work with you through that. But he's the wonder of a counselor.

I should be going to him first for advice. As the disciples of Jesus walked with him for three years, this is the conclusion that they came to. They said, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

There is none better than you, Jesus. We'll follow you. We'll seek you. Now let's just say that you realized, I do need some wise counsel in my life. I need a counselor. I've just got some issues I need to work through.

And I need to get some good advice. And you start looking for a counselor. Hopefully you'll do a little bit of research because, let's say you want to see a marriage counselor. And you go and you start seeing this marriage counselor only to find out that they've been married and divorced four times.

And all of a sudden you're like, hmm, maybe this isn't such a good counselor. You're just doing some research, right? Okay, what are their qualifications? And so I want to look at, what are the qualifications of Jesus as a counselor?

Now I want to go back a few hundred years ago, and I want to share with you the testimony of a godly man who lived in the 1600s. And his name is Matthew Henry. Some of you may have his commentary set in your home.

I do. And this is what he said about Jesus being the wonderful counselor. And I liked it so much I wanted to share it with you this morning. He is wonderful counselor, for he is both God and man. His love is the wonder of angels and glorified saints.

In his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, he is wonderful. A constant series of wonders attended him. And without controversy, great was the mystery of godliness concerning him. He is counselor, for he was intimately acquainted with the counsels of God from eternity.

And he gives counsel to the children of men, in which he consults our welfare. It is by him that God has given us counsel. He is the wisdom of the Father, and has made of God to us wisdom. He is the wonderful counselor, a wonder or miracle of a counselor.

In this, as in other things, he has the preeminence. None teaches like him. He was often referred to as teacher. And when you read the account of his life, people were astonished at his teaching. And we are so blessed to have his teaching in writing.

We are so blessed to have the word of God. Now I want to see the testimony of the word of God concerning this wonderful counselor turned to Isaiah chapter 11. This is another prophecy of Jesus, 700 years before he came on this earth.

Chapter 11, verses 1 -2. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

This is Jesus. It says the Spirit of wisdom is upon him. Think of this word wisdom. Here it means the divine intelligence of God. Now how smart do you think God is? Well, he created the heavens and the earth and he did a good job, didn't he?

Set up this earth with its ecosystem and all its life forms and just amazing, so smart, this divine being, this divine intelligence, this divine wisdom that Jesus possesses. And it says that the Spirit of understanding is upon him.

And this means simply that he understands all things perfectly. He is the all-knowing one. He knows you perfectly and he totally understands you. He knows you inside and out. He knows how we're wired.

You struggle with things that aren't a struggle with me. I may struggle with something that would never be a struggle with you. We're all different. But he understands us all. And he knows the struggles and he loves us and there's no point in trying to hide them but being open and honest and seeking his healing and his transformation.

He knows all that we need and he is ready to meet those needs. He loves you with a perfect love and he wants to help you. He proved that love. He poured out his blood at the cross for us. It says the Spirit of counsel is upon him.

This speaks of his teaching, his leading, his personal counsel, how he wants to speak into our lives. If you were going to see a counselor and you knew somebody else who had been going to this counselor, would you ask them, so has he helped you?

Or has she helped you? Is she a good counselor? And then you would wait for an answer. You'd be like, not really. I can't understand what they're trying to say. I think they're just taking my money. You probably wouldn't go and want that counselor, would you?

But you want to know if they're a good counselor. Look at the word, how it describes his counsel. We're still in Isaiah. Turn to Isaiah 28. Verse 29. This also comes from the Lord of hosts. He is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.

That's a pretty good recommendation right there. He's wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom. Colossians 2 .3 puts it this way. In whom are hidden all the treasures and wisdom and knowledge. Speaking of Jesus.

Yes, he is a wonderful counselor. He's tenderhearted and he knows us. He cares about us. You know, one thing that I've discovered in ministering to people is if they don't want help, you can't help them.

If you don't realize you need help or you need his counsel, chances are you probably won't seek it. But he wants to speak things into your life. He wants to help you grow in him. He doesn't want to leave you just the way you are.

He loves you just the way you are because his love is perfect, but he doesn't want to leave us just the way we are. I need to understand how much I need his counsel and his truth in my life. I think the older that I get, the more I realize it.

More than ever. I want to just look at our need for a moment of why we need this wonderful counselor. Because I just want to say that each one of us desperately needs him. And we need his counsel. No matter where you're at in your life, what age, what you're going through, you might say, everything's good right now, I really don't need any counsel.

Yeah, we need his counsel. We truly do. The first reason I need his counsel is because I'm a sinner. And I know that's not popular today to put it that way. But the reality of Romans 3 .23 says this, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

The truth is, and I hope I don't offend you by this, is that we're all kind of messed up. We all need help. Come on now. We all struggle with sin. And we can be trapped in it. Jesus said that we can become slaves to it.

He said, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. And sin has a way of blinding us. I see on a weekly basis how parents have become blinded by sin. And they put a drug over their child.

I just met a young man this week who grew up in Las Vegas and he had to come here to Michigan to live with his aunt and uncle because his mom is a drug addict. Sin messes us up. Not just the big stuff, but the little stuff.

We don't see right sometimes. We don't think right. To put it bluntly, sin can make us do some pretty dumb stuff. Can it? Anybody do anything dumb this week? Oh, don't raise your hand. Okay. But we probably all have.

We've said things we shouldn't have. We've done things we shouldn't have. We've thought things that we shouldn't have. Because sin has a way of dulling us and blinding us. I need Jesus to forgive me and to set me free.

I need Him to bring healing and transformation into my life. Jeremiah the prophet said this. He said, The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it? We hear this, follow your own heart.

That is not always good advice because our heart can lead us astray so easily. I need His counsel and I need His help. I need Him to get my mind right. And you know what? He can do it. So you could ask me, Bill, is Jesus a good counselor?

Amen. He's a good counselor. I'm standing here today because of it. I need His counsel because, well, let's read Isaiah 55 together. Turn there now. Isaiah 55 verses 6 through 9. Here's some really, this is a really good word.

And I really believe that this, God wants to speak to somebody here this morning. Especially from this first part. Verse 6. Seek the Lord, we're in 55. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near.

He is near. He will hear you. He's the all-hearing One. Jesus said He hears every word that comes out of our mouth. Let the wicked forsake His way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God for He will abundantly pardon.

Isn't that beautiful? He's saying come back to me wandering one. I will forgive you. I love you. I care about where you're at. I know where you're at. And I can help you through it. And then verse 8. He says for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Basically what that's saying is God is way smarter than I am. Amen? The divine intelligence. God is really really smart. I need His counsel. I need His help. If I depend on my own understanding and my own intelligence that's what I'm limited to.

No wonder I can't figure things out sometimes. Man, I've prayed over some complicated stuff that I thought I would never get through. And somehow God made a way. Just praying through it. Keep praying through it.

You don't always get the answer right away. Sometimes it can take weeks and months. But you keep bringing it to the Father and in His timing if you're seeking His direction He'll bring it to you. His counsel is infinite and unlimited because that's who He is.

Look at Proverbs now. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter 3. When I first became a believer I knew how much when I read this verse I knew, wow this is what I need. And I memorized it. It was the first scripture I ever memorized.

I could say it to this day by heart. And I often come back to this and I try to live by it. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. It's a familiar verse. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your path. He says don't lean on your own understanding. Don't depend on your own understanding. He's not saying don't use your brain. He gave us a brain to think through things.

But He's saying don't depend on that. Depend on me for direction and wisdom and I will give it to you. I hope you realize your need for His counsel. I know that many of you feel that every day and are seeking His counsel.

What do we need to do? Wrapping this up to receive His counsel. It's simple. Turn with me to James chapter 1 verse 5. God's word is so relevant. It's such an amazing book that even though it's thousands of years old it's relevant to our lives today.

I don't know too many old antique books that are relevant to our lives today but the word of God is. And it has answers for us. James chapter 1 verse 5. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given.

It's pretty simple. How do I receive wisdom? I ask Him for it. I come to Him in prayer. I admit to Him that I need His help and that I need understanding. Notice that He is generous who gives generously.

He delights to give His children wisdom. Remember the story of Solomon? He was being anointed as king and God came to him in a dream and said ask me anything. And Solomon said I'm like a child. Give me wisdom to lead this nation.

And God came to him and God was so pleased that that's what He asked for. He said because you didn't ask me for riches and power over your enemies and you asked me for wisdom to lead your people. I will give you all of these things.

But sadly we also know how part of Solomon's life went. He got way off track. He let his own mind his own eyes, his own flesh start leading him and we know how that what came to pass there wasn't good.

God delights to give us wisdom. He said my son, if your heart is wise my heart will be glad. Proverbs 23 15. We need to seek His counsel. I'll give you just a little recent illustration from my own life on this.

My daughter bought her first home. She's here this morning. I won't embarrass her. I could. I could tell some good stories. And so she was excited. We were all excited for her and her children. She had us all over for pizza at her new home before there was even anything in it.

And it's a nice home and it was clean and she could have moved right in, you know, did some painting, put in some new carpet, those kinds. But there was this weird odor. What is that smell? And she said, I think it's natural gas, Dad.

And you know I'm an old furnace guy. You know I've worked on furnaces for 10 years and I'm like that smells different to me. And for the next week I am trying to track down the source of this foul smell.

I'm opening every closet. I'm like, oh it's got to be coming out of the drains. I'm checking the drains. I'm doing all of this stuff and it's driving me crazy. So she asked me to hook her washer and dryer up and so I drove to her home is in parchment.

I drove over to the Menards on Gold Road, bought the stuff I needed to hook her washer and dryer up. I'm driving back to her house and I just said, Father this is driving me crazy. I don't know where this smell is coming from but it's not right.

Please show it to me. Please just show me what it is. Give me some wisdom here. Went in the house, went down to the basement, set my stuff down for the washer and dryer and I smelled it stronger than ever.

And I've been working in that room. I'm like, that does smell like natural gas. And something told me to look up and I looked up to my right and I saw a gas valve I had not seen because I had been checking the pipes but I hadn't seen this gas valve and I took my hand and I just cupped it like that.

I'm like, wow that's where the leak is. I took some matches. I wouldn't recommend this but old furnace guy, okay. I know unless it's a horrible leak. So I checked it with a match, sure enough, you know like a little butane cigarette lighter, there was flame coming out of it.

I'm like, thank you Father. Thank you. Thank you. And you know I have the knowledge of taking pipes apart. I used to do that. I got some pipe dope, doped it back up. Everything's good. Something so simple, right?

Something you might not pray about but not just the big things but the little things too. He wants to guide us. I remember my son when he was in high school. I said, Josiah, you're a junior. Have you thought about what you want to do for a living, for a career?

He's like, yeah dad, I've been thinking about it. And he was a young man of faith and I said, pray and ask God. Ask him to lead you in what he wants you to do. It was his senior year and I walked into his bedroom one night and he said, dad, I know what I'm supposed to do.

I've been praying about it. And I'm like, what are you hearing? He said, I'm to serve and protect. I thought he was going to join the military because he'd been talking about that. I said, what do you mean?

He said, I want to be a police officer. That's what I want to do. He went through the academy. He is working this morning a 12 hour shift, serving and protecting. He's a police officer. Just praying for that kind of guidance.

That's a big one, right? The gas leak was kind of a little one but really it was kind of a big one too because that can be dangerous, right? They put stinky stuff in gas so you can smell it. So if you smell something, don't mess around.

Old furnace guy. Don't call me and ask me to come and fix your furnace though because I'm not very good at it anymore. The point is that he wants to lead us and give us wisdom and guidance for our lives.

Let me read a scripture from Proverbs. You can turn there with me. Proverbs chapter 2. This idea of calling out for wisdom, seeking the wisdom of God. I love how Proverbs chapter 2 puts it. Chapter 2 verse 1 of Proverbs.

My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commandments with you, making your attentive to wisdom, inclining your ear to understanding, if you call out for insight, if you raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He is promising. If you seek his wisdom, if you seek his counsel, he will help you. Because he cares. He loves us. He's the best dad ever.

One of the main ways that God speaks his counsel into our lives is through his word. Look at Psalm 119 with me. Psalm 119 verse 24. Your testimonies are my delight. They are my counselors. His word speaks counsel into our lives.

Look at verse 97 of Psalm 119. Oh how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers for your testimonies are my meditation.