Focus: The Counselor

Text: Isa.9:6

"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."

By the Spirit of prophecy Isaiah gives us the names of Christ, and they are namely:

*Wonderful

*Counselor

*The mighty God

*The Everlasting Father

*The Prince of peace

These names speak volumes. These names reveal the truth of Christ's oneness with God. These names contain the revelation of divine mystery - the mystery of the Godhead. Christ is the human or visible manifestation of God. Christ is the incarnate God - the enfleshed God. Christ is the God you can see, hear, touch, feel and smell - God in the human body. 

Christ is the mighty God and the eternal Father. Christ is the counselor, and the Spirit is revealed in Scripture as the Spirit of counsel.

Isaiah says, "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 of the fear of the LORD" (Isa.11:2). The psalmist sings, "I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons" (Ps.16:7). The Father gives counsel; Christ is called the counselor, and the Spirit indwells the believer in Christ as counselor. 

The point I am making is that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one. Whatever one is, the rest of them are too. They are into each other. Christ is everything that God is.

We have looked at the name: the Wonderful. Now we focus on the name: the Counselor. Paul states clearly that Christ is the wisdom of God, and makes clear that in Christ "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col.2:3). In Proverbs 8, Wisdom personified says, "Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength" (Prov.8:14). In the counsel of Christ we find peace. By His counsel we are guided and directed. By His counsel we succeed, excel and triumph.

Speaking of Ahithophel, the Scripture says, "And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom" (2Sam.16:23). Christ is the Oracle of God and the greater Ahithophel. The psalmist declares, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye" (Ps.32:8). He gives counsel without words. The word 'guide' is the same as 'counsel' in the Hebrew. Christ counsels and guides us with His mouth, hands and eyes.

The counsel of Christ is a sure thing. You can bank or rely on it. Isaiah says, "The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand" (Isa.14:24). The word 'purposed' is the same as 'counsel' in the Hebrew. The psalmist declares, "The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations" (Ps.33:11). God's counsel never goes out of date. It is eternally durable. By it all of life now and forever is determined and sealed. The psalmist said, "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory" (Ps.73:24). The counsel of God escorts us in the path that leads to eternal glory.

We should commit ourselves to seeking the counsel of the Lord. We cannot afford to walk in the foolishness of the children of Israel who "soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel" (Ps.106:13). Do not rush into action until you have heard from God! God through Christ and the Spirit is your perfect counselor. We read in Isaiah that "this also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working" (Isa.28:29). Jeremiah says that God is "great in counsel and mighty in work" (Jer.32:19). God is not only good in dishing out ideas, but also in turning them into reality. God says, "My counsel shall stand, and I will DO all my pleasure" (Isa.46:10).

In chapter three of the book of Revelation, Christ gives counsel to the seventh church of Asia Minor. He says, "I counsel thee to buy of me GOLD tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and WHITE RAIMENT, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with EYESALVE, that thou mayest see" (Rev.3:18). Christ deals on original products. He has monopoly on originality and ultimate reality. His merchandise is our chief necessity. You can't do without it. He never deals on counterfeit goods. As our all-round physician, He has the right remedy for our moral malady, even our spiritual blindness - optical oil for clear vision. As our textile expert and excellent tailor, He has in His factory immaculate robes that adequately fit us and properly cover our nudity. His moral and spiritual outfits fit us so well. Nude fashion is not His thing. Also, as our gold merchant, He sells real gold. A little quantity of His gold makes us astonishingly wealthy.

I pray you heed the counsel of the Lord. Get dressed in His white raiment! Get rich with His gold! Get to see clearly with His medicinal ointment!

As God's salesman, Paul says to God's people, "For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God" (Act.20:27). Every servant of Christ should, at all cost, be wholly devoted to serving God's people with all the counsels of God. Christ is our counselor. He counsels us through the Spirit, the Scriptures, and the Spirit-filled servants of Christ.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter