Let us read two portions from
God's word. The first you will find in Isaiah's
prophecy and chapter 9. The prophecy of Isaiah and chapter
9, commencing to read at verse 1. Isaiah chapter 9. Nevertheless
the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when
at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land
of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by
the way of the sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness
have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of
the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation
and not increased the joy. They joy before thee according
to the joy in harvest. And as men rejoice, when they
divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke
of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his
oppressor, as in the days of Midian. For every battle of the
warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood,
but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire, 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. 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 forever. The zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this. I'd like now to turn to the New
Testament and in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 4. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 4. We have in this account the fulfilment
of the prophecy of the Lord Jesus that was given in that ninth
chapter of Isaiah, something like 700 years before it came
to pass. Matthew chapter 4 and we commence
to read at verse 12. Matthew 4 verse 12 Now when Jesus had heard that
John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee, and leaving
Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the
sea coast, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet,
saying, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphthalene, by the
way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee, of the Gentiles. The people which sat in darkness
saw great light. To them which sat in the region
and shadow of death, light is sprung up." From that time, Jesus began to
preach and to say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. To leave the reading of God's
word there and just for a few moments direct your attention
to Isaiah chapter 9 that we read together. It speaks, this was
prophesied by Isaiah in times which were difficult. in Israel. The northern tribes were very
soon to go into captivity and Judah was going to follow suit
some years later. It was a time of discouragement
and difficulty for the Lord's people. And the northern tribes
which went into captivity first, you see that's where Zebulun
and Nathalai are, they're in the north of Israel. And that's
where It's talking about Galilee of the nations and Galilee of
the Gentiles because the reigning kings in Babylon and so forth
would put people back in those lands which were not Israelites
for the most part. And therefore it was a heathen
part of the country in many ways. And if you remember Nathaniel
said this, he said, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? They
were a despised area in the north. And yet that's where this light
shined. In the darkness, this light shined. The people that walked in darkness,
in alienation from God, far off from God, have seen a great light. And then it speaks, you see,
in prophecy of what this light was. Indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ,
because he said, I am the light of the world. He is the light.
and he came to give light in the darkness, to show that there
was hope, that there was a way to be saved, for sinners to be
made right with God. But I want to look particularly
at verse 6, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. What an echo that is of the,
for God so loved the world that he gave, his only begotten son. He gave that son so that that
son would be a ransom for many. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his
shoulder. He, as it were, shall take that
ultimate responsibility. Everything by him, everything
consists, we read. He is ultimately the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords. But then we have, in this verse,
some names given to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And
you see, we tend to use names to differentiate one person from
another, and we don't associate so much the meaning of the name
as referring to a particular individual. But God's names are
not, as it were, to differentiate him from any other, because there
is one true and living God. He needs not names. to differentiate
him from another as we do from other human beings. But he has
these names which describe his attributes. And that's why the
names of God are so precious, because they describe to us aspects
of what he came to do. And here we have these names
given, called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, and the Prince of Peace. These were the names given to
in prophecy of the Lord Jesus. And I want to consider particularly
really the first two, which are often almost joined together,
the wonderful counsellor. He is wonderful. He is a counsellor. He is also a wonderful counsellor.
And to think of what this means to us today. He is one that we
can come and seek for counsel from. And as we come to a prayer
meeting tonight, what are we doing? We are praying to one
that can give good counsel, one that is able to counsel, one
that is able to deal with our greatest problems. He is a wonderful
counsellor. But if we are to consider a counsellor
Let us consider in an earthly level what we would wish for
in a counsellor and consider how the Lord Jesus is that to
his people. Well you see if we wanted to
go to a counsellor for counsel regarding a matter, surely we
would choose somebody who was wise. We would not want to go
to somebody who was foolish, would we? We would not want to
seek counsel of somebody who we knew did not know much about
things. We would go to somebody who is
wise. Well, we have here this wonderful
counsellor. What wisdom has the Lord Jesus
got? We think of people on an earthly
level, how wise are they? What qualifications have they
got? What experience have they got? Well, we read according
to Colossians regarding our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In
him is hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. That
cannot be said, of course, of any earthly counsellor, can it?
We might say, oh, they've got a degree at a wonderful university,
they've had tremendous experience, but here we have one who in him
is hid, in Colossians it says this, 2 verse 3, in him is hid
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is wise, he is
a wise counsellor. And so we come tonight to one
who is wise, one who understands. But we also seek, if we are to
seek a counsellor, we would want to know somebody who is not just
wise, but somebody who is not going to counsel us with an ulterior
motive. You see, you might go to somebody
and confide in them, and they might tell you to do this or
that. They may be very wise, they may be very shrewd, and
they may be counselling us to turn us into a direction which
actually is not good. And it's because they are sinful,
because they have some wrong motives in matters. Well, what
What can we say of this counsellor? What is his agenda? Well, we
read that he is without sin. He was holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners. He has no ulterior motive. He
is not going to counsel us for his own ends, as it were, and
for his own profit, in a way of abusing us. He is one that
truly has no sin. This is the counsellor that our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is. But if we went to a counsellor
and we wanted to tell them our problems, what would we want
that counsellor to do? Surely we'd want that counsellor
to listen to us. If you went to somebody and they
didn't listen, they were too quick, as it were, to give an
answer before they'd even heard what the problem was. You see, the Lord is able to
hear us. He is able to come and listen
to us. He is touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. We read that he is able to listen
and able to hear. In Hebrews 4 it says this. For we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted, like as we are, yet without sin. And so we want somebody who listens.
But then you see the Lord Jesus not only just listens. Here's
our case. Here's our difficulties. can
sympathise because he's been tempted in all points like as
we are and yet he's not sinned, he's not fallen, he's not as
it were laid in the gutter with us and yet he understands the
temptations and he is able to help us out and to help us on
our way. He is able to pray for us. You see you want a counsellor
that would seek to pray for you, to intercede for you and we read
that we have a high priest that ever liveth to make intercession
for his people. So as we have this word, this
attribute of our Lord Jesus Christ and we think of his coming at
this time of the year, his name is called Wonderful Counsellor. He is this counsellor, he is
able to give counsel and if you went to somebody for counsel
you want to know that they care for you. If they were looking
out the window or really just looking at their watch and weren't
interested in what you were saying and you wouldn't get the idea
they cared for you. But we read, for he careth for
you, he cares for his people. And you see he was able to counsel
us in not just the big things in life but the little things.
We read in all your ways acknowledge him and he should direct your
paths. He doesn't say well this is too
small. This is too small a thing to bring to me. No, come with
the great problems. Come with the little problems.
Come with everything that's too hard for you. Come and bring
it to me and I will give you counsel. But you see the Lord
Jesus counsels and he is one who himself needs no counsel. Often counsellors and people
like that, they often are not that straight themselves in terms
of their own lives. They have crooked things in their
own lives. They have difficulties themselves. But you see, the
Lord Jesus, this is not true of him. For who hath known the
mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counsellor? It's a rhetorical
question. Nobody's been his counsellor.
He needs no counsel. He is wisdom, knowledge and able
to help his people. And of course his counsel is
always valid. If we go to a counsellor, sometimes
perhaps their knowledge is not good in a certain area and they
will give invalid counsel. Never of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is a wonderful counsellor. In him is hid all the treasures
of knowledge and of power. But you see also with this counsellor
he is one that is truthful. You see you might have a counsellor
and they know what the problem is but they don't want to say.
They don't really want to put their finger on it because it
would be unpalatable to the person they're counselling. You see
the Lord Jesus was not like that. He was faithful. faithful in
telling the truth. When one came and said, I will
follow thee wherever you go, he said, foxes have holes and
the birds of the air have nests. He was faithful. He said, take
up your cross and follow me. If any man takes not up his cross
and follows not me, he is not worthy of me. He laid down a
standard. He didn't, as it were, seek to
be palatable to the hearers. And when many turned back and
walked no more with him, he didn't change his message, he didn't
change the truth, he didn't rethink how he was going to preach the
gospel because others turned back. He was resolute, he was
the truth, you see. And what's more, this counsellor,
You see, you might go to somebody for counsel. How can things be
good financially, or good in your family, or good in many
ways? You might go for counsel, for
financial advice perhaps in certain areas. But you see, the Lord
Jesus, when he counsels, he has one end in view, and that is
your eternal good. Not your momentary, not your
short-term, Not your here and now experience, but his counselling,
words which will stand in eternity. He says in Revelations, he said to the church to buy
of me gold tried in the fire. I counsel for thee to buy of
me gold tried in the fire. We are to seek to know these
things you see, this counsellor, this mighty God, this everlasting
Father, this Prince of Peace is one who is able to counsel
his people for their eternal good. Well may we as we come
in prayer tonight, help us to think about this one who is such
a counsellor. I just mentioned this in passing,
I was in the train recently travelling to work or on the way home it
was. And there was two speaking together
and their subject was music and one was saying how wonderful
it was when he was once in the presence of Michael Jackson and
how he felt it was such a privilege to be in a position with somebody
who was so talented and he was speaking so much of the wonder
it was to be in his presence. You see if people can get excited
about the greatness of an earthly person. Beloved friends, we should
be, we should realise the privilege of being able to come, not in
the presence of a sinful man, but in the presence of this mighty
counsellor. the one in whom is hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge, the one who is wise, the one
who seeks our real good, no ulterior motive, the one who listens,
the one who intercedes, the one who cares, the one whose counsel
is always truthful, the one who seeks our eternal welfare. Let
us come tonight and lay at his feet and pour out our hearts
to this able one who ever liveth to make intercession for his
people. May the Lord add his blessing.