Amen. Please remain standing for the reading of God's holy word. Our New Testament lesson comes from Paul's epistle to the Romans, chapter 11. Romans 11, verse 33. O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. For who is known the mind of the Lord, or who has become his counselor? Or who has first given to him, and it shall be repaid to him, for of him And through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. This is the word of the Lord. Turn now to our Old Testament lesson and sermon text as we continue to study the texts used in Handel's Messiah. Turning again to Isaiah 9-6. For unto us a child is born, Unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it. and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever, zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. The grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our God stands forever. Amen. Let us pray. Oh Lord, As we turn once again to the prophet Isaiah, we ask that you would enlighten the eyes of our minds to behold wondrous things out of your word. Oh Lord, lift us up from the earthly cares of this life unto things heavenly, things spiritual, things eternal. Oh Lord, we pray that you would give us a sight and savor of Christ's glory and that she would transform us from one degree of glory to another, even by the Spirit of the Lord. Indeed, pour out the Holy Spirit upon us, even as the water was poured out upon a covenant child this morning in baptism. We pray that we would be bathed with the Holy Spirit, that he would be poured out upon us in abundance, and that we would be carried up by him into the heavenly places where Christ is, seated at your right hand. We pray this in his strong and matchless name, amen. You may be seated. Tonight, we come to the second of five messianic titles in Isaiah 9-6. Five titles that belong to Jesus Christ. Tonight, the title, Counselor. Counselor. Now, what do you think of when you hear the term counselor? Maybe what pops into your head is a guidance counselor from your school days, or perhaps a psychologist working at a clinic, a leader at a Christian camp. Perhaps it makes you think of Christian counseling, biblical counseling, or J. Adams' newthetic counseling. Perhaps it's the image of a professional therapist sitting back in a chair giving pious advice to someone who needs his help. Well, if that's what pops into your head, and if that's the only thing that comes to mind, then I'm afraid you will be ill-equipped to understand the richness, the depth, and the splendor of this title of Jesus, Counselor. And so my goal tonight is really that of baptizing our imaginations with new connotations, new connections, so that we as a people can see through new eyes the word counselor, afresh, that we might, as it were, see it for the first time. We're gonna do this by asking two questions of our text. Biblically speaking, what is a counselor? What is a counselor? And second, how is Christ a wonderful counselor? First question, what is a counselor? Well, it's been said that at a very basic level, a counselor is someone who gives advice in the form of a plan to accomplish certain goals. And that is true of counselors in the ancient world and in modern times. But the significance of counselor, the connotations, the associations have changed over time. They're radically different in the ancient world. And that's the world of the Bible. And so to understand what Isaiah is talking about, we need to consider what this would have meant to Isaiah's hearers. In the ancient world, counselor could refer to two things. First, a counselor was a royal advisor to the king, a trusted member of the king's cabinet whom the ruler would consult to make decisions. And this requires us to change some of our modern images that come to mind when we think about counselors. Instead of a counselee lying on a couch, think of a king seated upon a throne. Instead of a therapist leaning back in an armchair, imagine a host of warriors who have gathered in a great hall. In the world of the Bible, at least primarily speaking, the king is the one who takes counsel while his servants are the ones who give it. The king presides over an assembly and reserves the right to make the final decision based on whatever counsel he finds useful. For example, The king might declare to his royal advisors, I have decreed to invade a neighboring kingdom. And then he solicits their counsel. And one servant stands up and says, I think we should attack from the north with chariots. Another says, no, actually, I think we should attack from the south with infantry. And then a third says, no, we need to divide our forces and have a surprise attack across the river. The king hears. from his various counselors. He weighs their suggestions and proposals, and then makes his decision. This is similar to what a president or prime minister might do with his cabinet, or a general with his military advisors. This past Saturday was Pearl Harbor, and you think about World War II, and generals like Eisenhower gathered with his military consultants to develop a plan of attack. In fact, this is precisely how the Bible describes God's own manner of issuing decrees. It speaks of a great assembly of angelic counselors with God as high king presiding over the council. Psalm 82.1. God stands in the congregation of the mighty, he judges among the gods. Or as the ESV translates it, God has taken his place in the divine council. In the midst of the gods, he holds judgment. Now in this passage, God, singular, refers to the Lord, to Jehovah, the uncreated God. There's no one like him. While God's plural refers to the created angels. And that's clear because later in that psalm, the angels are referred to as the sons of God. This is an angelic title used throughout the book of Job. And so the picture that emerges in the scriptures is that of God as high king and the angels, his servants, his creatures, as his royal advisors. And we get a glimpse into the workings of this council in action in 1 Kings 22, where Micaiah the prophet says, I saw the Lord. sitting on his throne and all the host of heaven, all the angels standing by on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, who will persuade Ahab to go? to go up that he may fall at Ramoth-Gilead. This is the king soliciting advice from his counselors. So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, I will persuade him. The Lord said to him, in what way? So he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, you shall persuade him and also prevail. Go out and do so. So when you hear the word counselor, are you thinking royal advisor to the king as the angels function in the high assembly in the courts of heaven? Now as I sketch that portrait for you, you might reasonably wonder If God is alone, uncreated, if he alone is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the one true and only living God, then why does he need a counsel? Why does he need counselors? Why does he need their counsel? And the short answer is, he does not. He needs neither counselors nor their advice. Nevertheless, as a king, God delights to interact with his servants. God doesn't need to delegate authority or enlist the service of messengers. But that's the way he ordinarily works. That's the way he delights to operate. He uses secondary means and creaturely agents to accomplish his will. And it involves not merely his invitation of angels into his councils, but he does the same with human prophets whom he calls his friends. You see, a friend is a confidant. It's someone you invite in to your secret councils, and you ask their advice. You share your secrets with them. Amos 3.7, surely the Lord does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servants, the prophets. Before God brought His holy wrath and judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah for their abominable sin. What did he do? He revealed his secret to his servant, the prophet Abraham. And then Abraham, as a prophet, entered into God's council, into the throne room through intercessory prayer and petitioned the high king. Will you spare the city for this many righteous, this many righteous, all the way down to ten? Indeed God spoke to Abimelech concerning Abraham, now therefore restore the man's wife for he is a prophet. and he will pray for you, and you shall live. Abraham, like the other prophets, through intercessory prayer, participated in God's divine counsel. And this has application for us. Congregation, you are a royal priesthood. You are a prophetic people. You have the ear of heaven. You have access to God in prayer, in the Bible. God reveals his secrets to you. This is the whole counsel of God. In prayer, you have access to his throne room where you can speak to the God of heaven and make your pleas. Well, that's the first thing a counselor was in the ancient world. It was a royal advisor, a trusted cabinet member of the king. But there's another. connotation, another connection to this word counselor in the world of the Bible, and that is sometimes it referred to the king himself. The king was called a counselor. Great example of this is Micah 4.9, where it says this, in parallel fashion, is there no king in your midst? Has your counselor perished? Notice that. In parallel, king and counselor, and this suggests that not only do kings at times take counsel, but they also give counsel, and this is true of God. Psalm 16, seven, David says, I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. Proverbs 1, 30, they would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke. Or consider the call of wisdom in Proverbs 8, when lady wisdom, personification of a divine attribute, counsel is mine and sound wisdom, I am understanding, I have strength. Indeed, we realize this is really the voice of the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, who is the wisdom of God, crying out to the foolish, counsel is mine. or Isaiah 28, 29 in this very prophecy. This also comes from the Lord of hosts who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance. God is both king and his own counselor. Although he delights to consult angels, and human prophets in prayer as they petition him, he not only has no need of them, but God's greatest work was planned without their knowledge. What no eye hath seen, no ear has heard. Indeed, we learn in especially Paul's letters that there was a mystery, a mystery that even the angels were unaware of. that God had plans. He had predestined to send his son in the fullness of time to purchase a particular people with the ransom price of his own blood. From heaven, he came and sought her to be his precious bride. With his own blood, he bought her, and in her place, he died. A plan. hidden from the minds of men, but in the deep counsels of God, God the Father, covenanted on behalf of the Godhead with the Son in prospect of the incarnation to redeem a people. An eternal covenant of redemption, the mystery of the gospel of Christ, which is why Isaiah 40 says this, who has directed the spirit of the Lord or as his counselor has taught him? With whom did he take counsel and who instructed him and taught him in the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding? Implied answer, no one. Not only king, but his own counselor. Romans 11, we just read it. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable, untraceable are his judgments, his ways past finding out for who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become his counselor. The powers of the age. If they'd known what was going on, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. This mystery has been revealed. Christ Jesus, set forth as a propitiation for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the whole world. The Lamb of God, slain. This was planned before the foundation of the world. He's the Savior of the world. As the King of kings and Lord of lords, God is his own counselor. So as we seek to get back into the Bible's own worldview, we need to realize that counselor is a lot more loaded and powerful and marvelous a term than we often think of in modern times. Either an advisor to the king or the king himself who takes his own counsel. That's the first question. Second, How is Christ a wonderful counselor? How is Jesus the best counselor? Now I said in a previous sermon that I'm taking wonderful and counselor as distinct titles, as is reflected in the punctuation of the authorized version. And I think that's correct. Technically, wonderful and counselor are separate titles, but since wonderful stands at the head of this list, it really applies to all the rest, including counselor. He is a wonderful counselor. He is a wonderful God. He is a wonderful prince. He's wonderful. Jesus is wonder of a counselor, wonderful counselor. This is true. And in fact, there's even more than that. There's a connection between these two ideas in Isaiah 28, 29, which we just read, where it says, this also comes from the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel. Literally, he caused counsel to be a wonder. So how is Jesus connecting these titles a wonderful counselor, a wonder of a counselor. Well, congregation, again, going back to the connotations that often pop into our modern minds. Jesus is certainly not a glorified guidance counselor, clinical psychologist, camp leader, or professional therapist. That's the wrong picture to have in your minds. More than that, we know from the surrounding verses that Jesus is not merely an advisor to the king. even a chief advisor, but he's actually the king himself. What's it say in the surrounding verses? It says, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom. Congregation, by calling Christ counselor, counselor, Isaiah is claiming that the coming Messiah will be a wise king, greater than Solomon, who in his greatest work consulted no other counselors but himself. Which means that while Christ is not less than a human king, he is truly man in the incarnation, He's also more, he's fully God. I love how E.J. Young describes the use of Isaiah's term, counselor. He says, there is a certain uniqueness about the word, for it suggests that this one has no need of being surrounded with counselors and advisors, as in the case with mere human kings. He is himself counselor. Not merely Davidic king, but divine king. Young goes on, in the manner in which he renders decisions, the Messiah will remind of God. And the reason why he will so remind is that he himself is of the same nature as the Lord. He is God. God. He's his own counselor. He has no need of angelic advisors or of human prophets. At the end of the day, and in his greatest work, he takes strange counsel. He takes his own counsel, his wonderful counsel in the salvation of a people through the blood of the cross and the triumph of the empty tomb, through the incarnation of the Son of God. And here, Jesus is being called counselor. Congregation, I declare to you the good news that God the Father sent God the Son on a mission, and Jesus gladly fulfilled that quest. Here am I. Send me. I will go. I will conquer. I will achieve. I will accomplish. I will purchase. at the high price of my own blood, all of your elect ones, all of your chosen ones. You know them by name, all the children you have given unto me. Here am I and the children you have given me. Jesus took to himself a true body and a reasonable soul. He was anointed with the spirit of wisdom. In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, in the flesh, as he walked this earth, as he walked with God, could say with David, your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. He lives by every word that proceeded from the mouth of God, whether in his daily ministry or in his being tested in the desert. Tempted by the evil one, he went back to the word during his ministry. He received counsel, took counsel, gave counsel. As Matthew Henry says, he is the 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. Counselor. and king, king who is his own counselor. Jesus lived that perfect life. You could not live. He went to the cross to pay the debt. You could not pay. And after his death and resurrection, he, like Enoch, as we saw this morning, ascended into heaven. And you might wonder, the wonderful counselor has gone. The wonder of a counselor has departed. When he walked this earth, he spoke the oracles and wisdom of God, but now he's left us. What are we to do? The people will perish for lack of a vision. The people will perish for lack of counsel. The congregation, what did Jesus tell his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion in the upper room? He said, and I will pray the father and he will give you another helper, but he may abide with you forever. The spirit of truth, another helper, another helper. The Greek term there literally means someone called alongside. It could be translated as helper, assistant, advocate, intercessor, encourager, comforter, or counselor. You see, when Jesus told his disciples, I need to depart, but this is far better for you because I'm gonna send another counselor, the spirit of truth poured out at Pentecost. All of this and more is bound up in Isaiah's use of the title counselor. Well, congregation, I wanna end on a practical note. And that's this, which of you does not need advice, wisdom, counsel. Which of you does not need counsel? Whom to marry, what to study, where to live, where to go to church, what vocation to pursue, which house to buy, what strategy to take? And so many of the mundane and the marvelous the lowly and the high areas of life, all of you need good counsel, advice in the form of a plan to accomplish certain goals. And indeed, I would encourage you with wisdom to give, seek, and take good counsel. Indeed, in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. Before you make a big decision, you should seek trusted men and women and get their counsel. But as you do that, I wanna encourage you with something. Among that multitude of counselors, remember that the testimonies of God and his word should be your chief advisors. They trump all other counsel. They overarch all other Counselors. Congregation, the best counsel is the whole counsel of God. The best counselor you could ever seek help from is the wonderful counselor who has sent another counselor into our hearts so that we might cry, Abba, Father. Is Jesus your counselor and your king? Is he your counselor and your king? When you encounter a problem, where do you turn? Among other places, do you turn to the scriptures to seek truth, knowledge, wisdom, advice, perspective, counsel? When you encounter a problem, do you take it to the Lord in prayer? If you're not a believer, I encourage you to bow the knee to King Jesus, to put away your wisdom, the wisdom of the world, as folly, and to embrace the wisdom of God, that it's only by receiving and resting upon Jesus Christ alone, as he's offered to you in the gospel, that you can be saved. It's foolishness to the world, but it's the wisdom of God. It's the cross of Christ. It's Christ crucified that saves sinners. Can you say with David, I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me because he's at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Let us praise the Lord who has taken strange counsel and done wonderful things in the work of Jesus Christ. Praise be to Christ, our counselor and king. Amen. Let us pray.