From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 26 of a series. Read part 25.

Is Jesus the Messiah your great Counsellor? Is He the one whose counsels you seek, and make it your purpose to obey?

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

As we consider the names given to Jesus in our study of the Scripture texts of Handel's Messiah, we next come to the name "Counsellor."

Counsel and Counsellors

What is a counsellor, and what is counsel? Who is a reliable counsellor? We live in a time when much of the church practices what is called "Christian counseling," "Biblical counseling," or "Nouthetic counseling." The sad fact is that for the most part these "brands" of counseling are not really Christian at all. Most of them do nothing more than to place elements of pagan, naturalistic psychology, along with snippets of Scripture taken out of context, in a pseudo-Christian wrapper.

This kind of "counseling" places finite human wisdom above the infinite Divine wisdom that we find supernaturally revealed in God's Word. It misleads and misguides people as to the nature of God, their own nature, and the true remedy for the problems of life. When the Lord at last appeared to Job and his misguided counselors out of a whirlwind, He said,

Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. (Job 38:2-3)

Those words certainly apply to such "darkening counsel" today. While Scripture does not discourage us from seeking the counsel of Godly men, it does exhort us to test all the words of men against the Word of God.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly... (Psalm 1:1)

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

To the Law and to the Testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:20)

There is only one source of true, unfailing light, of counsel that can be trusted absolutely, and that is the Word of God. It is for this reason that the Holy Spirit through Paul exhorts Christians,

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly [literally, be fully at home within you] in all wisdom (Colossians 3:16).

The counsel of sinful man, unless it passes the test of faithfulness to Scripture, cannot - indeed must not - be normative for God's people individually or in their families, or for Christ's church as His body. We live in a time when most of the visible church meets the description of the Laodicean church given by Jesus the Messiah in the book of Revelation:

And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, "These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 'I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing" - and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked -

To that first-century church - and to the churches of our own time - the Messiah gives this infallible counsel:

"I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (Revelation 3:14-23)

The Messiah is the Only All-Wise Counsellor

Indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ is, as prophesied in Isaiah, the Counsellor whose name is Wonderful. The Holy Spirit records these further words about the wise counsel of the coming Messiah two chapters later in the book of Isaiah:

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 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 of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist. (Isaiah 11:1-5)

It was "by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God" that the Messiah was delivered into wicked hands, and crucified as the final propitiation for sin (Acts 2:23). They took counsel together against the Messiah for evil, but God intended it for the most glorious purpose - the redemption of sinners and the created order from the curse. The counsels of sinful man will fail, but

The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:11)

Is He Yours?

Dear reader, is Jesus the Messiah your great Counsellor? Is He the one whose counsels you seek, and make it your purpose to obey? Ancient Israel failed in this, and it led to disaster for them:

They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
...
Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His Word, but complained in their tents, and did not heed the voice of the Lord. Therefore He raised His hand in an oath against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness, to overthrow their descendants among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. (Psalm 106:13-15, 24-27)

May it not be so with us. The psalmist speaks of the one who waits for and obeys the Lord's counsel by seeking His "gold refined in the fire" -

Princes also sit and speak against me, but Your servant meditates on Your statutes. Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. (Psalm 119:23-24)

Likewise the prophet Isaiah said,

O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. (Isaiah 25:1)

Jesus the Messiah has sent the Holy Spirit into the world to dwell within the heart of every believer in Christ, that we may have the sure counsel of His illumined written Word. These things are foreign to the unbelieving world,

but His secret [more literally, intimate] counsel is with the upright. The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the just. Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble. The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the legacy of fools. (Proverbs 3:32-35)

And so the psalmist Asaph could testify, having considered the apparent present prosperity but the ultimate terrible destiny of the wicked,

Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in Heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. (Psalm 73:23-25)

Is that your testimony? Are you trusting in the salvation wrought by Jesus the Messiah? Are you submitting to His counsels, to conform you more and more to His image as He leads you to glory?

To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. (Jude 25)

Next: Messiah the Mighty God

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