WONDERFUL COUNSELOR

“WONDERFUL”
Isaiah has revealed to us in chapter nine that God gave us the gift of Sight, yea spiritual sight. He gave us (V 2), a Song, a joyful song. He gave us (V 3), a Savior, not just a Savior, the only Savior. He gave us (V 6), a Sovereign or King. One day the whole world will bow before Him, day and night and praise Him for His glory and grace and goodness.
Now Isaiah reveals a Secret to those who will take time to know this very special person.
Isaiah 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.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah says, “His name shall be called …
This phrase “…His name will be called… is not telling us of our Lord’s literal name or names that the Messiah will be called.
Instead, these are aspects of His character; they describe who He is and what He has come to do.
“In Jewish literature, a name does not just identify or distinguish a person; it expresses the very nature of that person.”
The idea is Jesus Christ is more than what His earthy name means.
The Angel said, “His earthly shall be Jesus for he shall save his people from their sin.”
Even though being our Savior would be more than enough; Jesus is much more than a Savior and He is more that the Messiah.
He is the Wonder of wonders, Counselor of counselors, the only true God, the everlasting Father and the Prince that will make peace on this earth.
In knowing His character you discover His power, His energy, His secrets that satisfies the hearts of all men, rich or poor, presidential or pauper.

I - Stupendous - Our Savior and Sovereign is called Wonderful. That is something that is stupendous. The word Stupendous speaks of that which that takes our breath away. It may be a sight or a story or a song that is absolutely astounding or astonishing.
It is something that words cannot describe. We as human use words like fantastic, terrific, marvelous, stunning, awesome and wonderful.
The glory of who He is and what He has done for the world is all of that and should fill our lives with absolute amazement.
You can never really look at Jesus and really know Him, and be bored.
Why? He is too wonderful. He will fill your heart and mind with amazement as you spend time reading His Word.
At times He is as stunning as a beautiful golden sunset.
Sometimes His beauty is as deep as the deep blue ocean stretching beyond the horizon.
Still at other times you discover He is like the majestic snow-capped mountains reaching high in the sky.
Then you see Him as a mighty hurricane sweeping in to destroy His enemies.
And the next moment He is like a gentle breeze on a warm day and like the fragrance of the air after an afternoon rain.

David said, even if I could speak of all God’s wonderful works there are not enough numbers on the numerical scale to count them all: Psalms 40: 5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Psalms 78:4 says to tell your children of God’s wonderful works.
Four times the Psalmist writes in Psalms 107: “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! (v 8, 15, 21, 31)
Oh that men would praise the LORD for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men.
1 – God should be praised for Creation.
God took nothing and made everything. He made matter and energy. He made the stars and the moons. He made the plants and the animals. He made a man to marry a woman so they would reproduce and make children.
God didn’t make Adam and Steve, but Adam and Eve.
God didn’t over billions of years evolve the earth. He spoke it into existence at His word immediately.
A horse was made a horse. It wasn’t one time a dragon fly that evolved over millions of years into a horse.
God should be praised for His intellect in creation and his beauty in creation.

2 – God should be praised for His Ordination.
He ordained the home and set up a structure whereby it is to function and operate. Any home that obeys God structure is a happy home.
God ordained the government. Any government that sought God and wrote their constitution and laws after God’s word became the head of the nations and not the tail.
God ordained the Church. Any group of people that will seek God, pray to God, put God first, worship God and love the Lord will be a blessed Church. God should be praised for His ordination.

3 – God should be praised for His Salvation.
God painted picture after picture in the Old Testament:
A – When Israel was in bondage, yea captives in Egypt, a picture of the world, God told Moses to take a lamb and kill it and shed its blood and place that blood like a cross over their dwelling to stop death from coming into their dwellings. The next day, the entire nation was set free from bondage. What a picture of Salvation!
B – He told the priest to take a lamb on the Day of Atonement and kill it and offer it as a sacrifice. Then take the blood and present it by faith to the Holy God of Israel in the Holy of holies to satisfy God’s righteousness for the nation of Israel for another year.
C – In the New Testament, God’s lamb came and offered himself as a sacrifice on Calvary. He shed His blood for the sins of the world to satisfy the Father.
Isaiah 25:1 O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
Sleep is a wonderful thing. Quiet is a wonderful thing. A Smile is a wonderful thing. Love is a wonderful thing. Joy is a wonderful thing. Light is a wonderful thing. Water is a wonderful thing. The Four seasons are a wonderful thing. These bodies and the way they function are wonderful things. We could go on and on praising the Lord Jesus Christ for being wonderful, but I believe we know He is wonderful, amazing and awesome in His nature and Character. Not only is He stupendous but He is…

II – Superior - Jesus is the Superior Counselor:
A counselor today is one people look to that has wisdom to give proper direction in life in how to handle life’s situation.
And I will say Christ gives emphatic, perfect and superior counsel to all. The problem is not with Christ’s Word. It is that most people won’t obey His direction.
God told Adam and Eve what to do to live forever and they disobeyed.
God told Israel what to do to be the head of the nations and they disobeyed and became the tail.
And God tells man today through His word how to have joy and peace and an enjoyable and long life, but sadly people reject the counsel of the Superior Counselor.

Jesus is not a therapist, a psychoanalyst; He is the Counselor who gives perfect information. And all who listen and obey will find perfect peace on earth.
Jesus can and will help you with your problems. But you say, “I can’t schedule an appointment with Jesus.” Yes you can! Let me give you two scenarios:
Scenario I -- Now consider a scenario. Here is a family having marital problems and those problems are mounting. If they don’t correct them, they may cost them their marriage. It will also cost lawyer fees, settlements, two houses rather than one, a divided income, mental, emotional and domestic stress for the rest of their life.
It will literally cost a couple tens of thousands of dollars from an economic standpoint and it will cost hundreds and hundreds of hours of down time over the next many years.
Now stop and think for a few minutes. If they would give their heart and mind to the counsel of God’s word half as much as they give time to sports and television, making money, God’s counsel would solve their every problem, save them tens of thousands of dollars, and it would mend their marriage.

Scenario II – If the governments of the world would use God’s Word as their blue print – God would bless every government. Within a short amount of years, there would be no poverty and very little crime. Our prisons would be nearly empty and our police forces would become skeletons.

There is no counsel like what the Lord offers man, but man in his pride and evil life chooses to rebel and do what is right in his own heart and that breeds sorrow and sadness.
A billion people follow the counsel of the Muslim religion. Another half a billion follow eastern gurus and people like Confusion, Buddha and others.
Another billion plus fall under the belief of Karl Marx with his socialistic and communistic ideologies. And more people than ever in America do so.
Still billions of others believe in spirits and gods and ideas so very strange and this world gropes in darkness not knowing where to turn, when the truth of God’s Word will set any man free.

If man only knew that 2700 years ago a prophet of God said, “There is coming one with all the wisdom and counsel anyone would ever need to be happy and joyful and his name is Immanuel. His name is Wonderful. His name is Counselor for that is his nature. That is his character.

Remember I told you that Isaiah is expressing the character or very nature of one by giving these names. Now Isaiah writes that Jesus is the Mighty God.

III - Superlative – (The Mighty God) Jesus is the mighty God. He is excellent, unmatched, unbeatable, untouchable, the best, outstanding, exceptional, without equal, incomparable and unrivaled.
Who created the World? Jesus Christ did!
Who divided the light from the darkness? Jesus Christ did.
Who measured the universe in the span of his hand, yea between his pinky and thumb, Jesus Christ; the one who wrapped himself in human flesh and was born of a virgin in Bethlehem’s stall 2,000 years ago.
He was and is and will always be the mighty God.

You ask me, “Preacher, are you saying Jesus is God?” Now you are starting to get it. Jesus is God. He is Immanuel. He is the God-man.
Jesus said in Revelation 1:8 these words, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
Look at Isaiah 10: 21 “The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.”
The Almighty God of Israel is the Almighty God of the Church. Jehovah is Jesus and Jesus is Jehovah.

Charles Spurgeon said, “We extend the right hand of fellowship to all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth; but we cannot exchange our Christian greetings with those who deny him to be ‘very God of very God.’
When you declare yourselves to believe that Christ is not the Son of God, you are charged with one of the blackest sins in the entire catalogue of crime.’
The Unitarians (and all who deny that Jesus is God) are therefore idolaters. Now idolatry is a sin of the most heinous character; it is not an offense against men, but it is an intolerable offense against the majesty of God.”
So you say to me, Preacher why are you so hard on the Jehovah Witness and Mormons and seventh Day Adventist? Because they do not believe in the deity of Jesus Christ and my Bible says He is Almighty God!

IV - Supreme – (The Everlasting Father) Jesus is called the everlasting Father. He is the highest, ultimate, utmost, absolute and greatest of all.
Isaiah declares Jesus Christ to be the Everlasting Father:
The word “everlasting” is an eternal phrase that means, “He always has been and always will be.”
He is the provider and protector of those who walk with Him.
He has fed us and loves us and has given light and joy and direction and yet man has rebelled.
And still for 6,000 years as a loving Father, He graciously and mercifully raises up preachers all over the world to remind people of His love. Seek Him. Come to Him. Accept Jesus Christ as Savior and as Lord of your life.
Show Jesus Christ the same respect and honor that any descent son would show his father.
As Father, you must be reminded that God gave you life. God sustains you from day to day. God allows you to live. He holds your breath in his hand. He allows your heart to beat. He is the everlasting father.

V - Satisfying – As, Prince of peace, Jesus is satisfying, rewarding, enjoyable, gratifying, sustaining, nourishing and sufficient.
He is the One who makes peace, especially between God and man.
He alone can make peace in a family, among friends, and among enemies.
The world looks for gratification in a bottle, in a one night stand, in a perverted lifestyle, in things and thrills and treasures.
Isaiah declares, “Jesus Christ will satisfy your soul.”
Then Isaiah claims that His kingdom will not be only for 1,000 years but it will be forever. It will be an eternal kingdom of Peace. There will be no end to the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be a peaceful order established through eternity.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
The great song writer, Handel had spend days fasting and praying when he wrote the Messiah. In the Hallelujah Chorus he had it right: When the Choir sings again and again “And He shall reign forever and ever,” for He shall reign forever and ever and ever and ever.

b. Upon the throne of David: Jesus will rule on David’s throne, and over his kingdom (that is, David’s kingdom - Israel). This is a fulfillment of God’s great covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7.
That kingdom of beauty and glory and power and wonder will picture to all alive what eternity will be like. And Isaiah concludes, “The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

One day sooner than we can imagine the whole world, yea every nation and every person on the earth will daily and hourly praise Jesus Christ as Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace forever and ever.