Download HIS NAME IS WONDERFUL, COUNSELOR

Sermon Delivered December 4, 2016
“HIS NAME IS WONDERFUL, COUNSELOR”
(Is. 9:6; Rom. 11:33-12:2)
OPENING
A. ILLUSTRATION (Read Is. 9:6)
1. How many of you have ever crossed an ocean? The first time I saw the Gulf was on my
honeymoon and the first time I saw the Atlantic was several years after that. Both times I
was in awe at how vast it was. Now I go to the beach about once a year with my wife and
we sit and enjoy the sun and the sand. Yet it still amazes me that I can’t see the shore on
the other side. Then, several years ago, I took a mission trip across the Atlantic. I could
not believe how big it was. I gained a better appreciation and understanding of it than I
had from mere images.
B. BACKGROUND
1. This time of year is filled with many images of Christmas. Some of it has to do with
Jesus; much of it does not.
2. It’s easy to have a faulty picture of Jesus.
• It’s easy to get our focus off of Christ and on to the world’s description of Christmas.
• It’s also easy to get our focus off Christ and on ourselves.
3. The danger: Improper theology leads to improper doxology
• In other words, if we don’t understand who Jesus is, then we will not worship Him
properly for who He is.
4. Last year I preached a whole message on Isaiah 9:6-7 and briefly described each name of
Jesus and it’s description of who Christ is.
• When the Father promised to send the Messiah He offered descriptions of who He is.
o Christmas is a celebration of the fulfillment of God’s promise
o Christmas is a celebration of who Christ Jesus is
• This year I want to take it further and spend a whole message on each name.
• The sermon series: We will take a closer look at the incarnate Son of God by looking
at His names in Is. 9:6-7.
5. The first name is wonderful—it means miraculous.
• Its distinguished from the word Counselor
• Everything about Jesus is miraculous.
o His virgin birth
o His perfect life
o His miraculous healings
o His resurrection
o His ascension
• The term wonderful indeed describes the rest of these names.
o With that in mind—we are going to begin with the name Counselor.
C. SERMON IDEA
1. What does it mean, that Jesus is our counselor?
• The book of Romans is the extended version of Paul’s systematic theology.
o In chapters 1-11, Paul explains God’s plan of salvation. Now he pauses to stand in
awe of the Lord’s wisdom in salvation.
• Paul offers praise for the Lord’s great wisdom.
o As we begin this Christmas season, let me challenge you to offer praise to the Lord for
his great wisdom.
I. WE CAN OFFER PRAISE TO THE LORD FOR HIS WISDOM IS
UNIMAGINABLE (v. 33)
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Normally all of the choir members came to church on Wednesday night to practice at West
Side Baptist Church in Beatrice Nebraska. They tended to be early, showing up well before
the 7:30 starting time. On March 1, 1950, however, one by one and even two by two, all had
excuses for being late-- a very unpredictable and unusual event. Marilyn, the church pianist,
overslept during her after dinner nap, making her and her mother late. A high school
sophomore had trouble with her homework that delayed her so she was late. One couple
couldn’t get their car started. They and those they were to pick up were subsequently late. All
18 choir members, including the pastor and his wife, were late. All had good excuses. At 7:30
not one soul was in the choir loft. This had never happened before, but that night, the only
night in the history of the church that the choir wasn’t starting to practice at 7:30, was the
night that there was a gas leak in the basement of the church. At precisely the time that the
choir would have begun singing, the gas leak was ignited by the church furnace and the whole
church blew up. The furnace room was right below the choir loft. Luck? Don’t you believe it.
How incredible are the ways, the plans, and the power of our Almighty God.
B. EXPLANATION
1. First Paul calls attention to the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord
• Knowledge is the gathering of information; wisdom is knowing what to do with it.
2. The depth— how deep is His wisdom? Unimaginable.
• “Judgments” are plans, decisions.
• “Ways” are the ability to carry out the plans
• “unsearchable” is something that cannot be found by searching for it
• “untraceable” (some translations say “unfathomable”) means untrackable: they are beyond
reach.
3. No one can fully explain His plans and decisions; no one can understand why He does what
He does.
Isa 40:28
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of
the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. NIV
Isa 55:8-9
8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. 9 "For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than
your thoughts.
NAS
4. It is difficult for us to comprehend God because we cannot think in categories beyond our
range of experience.
• C.S. Lewis states it this way. Suppose a shellfish is trying to tell another shellfish what
man is like. So he tells them that man has no shell, is not attached to a rock, and does not
reside in water. To help the first shellfish get the idea across, other shellfish expand on his
statements, finally concluding that man is a Asort of amorphous jelly (he has no shell),
existing nowhere in particular (he is not attached to a rock) and never taking nourishment
(there is no water to drift it toward him). Conclusion: man is a famished jelly existing in a
dimensionless void.
• Doesn’t mean we can’t know or understand him.
o It means we are not going to fully understand him
o It means we are not going to get God and His ways into a tiny little box that our minds
and hands can fully grasp.
C. APPLICATION
1. The Lord sees from all eternity-- He moved an entire nation for Jesus birth.
• His plan for you is deep.
2. How can you offer praise for his unimaginable wisdom?
• Acknowledge His Kingdom values and express gratefulness.
• Remember His promises.
• To help you remember why not get an ornament dedicated to God’s Kingdom values and
promises!
II.
WE CAN OFFER PRAISE TO THE LORD FOR HIS WISDOM IS
UNEQUALED (vv. 34-35)
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Let’s try again to appreciate who we are talking about here. To do so, let’s consider our tiny
solar system. Imagine a perfectly smooth glass pavement on which the finest speck can be
seen. Then shrink our sun from 865,000 miles in diameter to only two feet (large beach ball)
and place the ball on the pavement to represent the sun. Step off 83 paces (about two feet per
space) and to represent proportionately the first planet Mercury, put down a tiny mustard
seed. Take 60 steps more and for Venus, put an ordinary BB. Mark 78 more steps. . . put
down a green pea representing Earth. Step off 108 paces from there, and for Mars put down
a pinhead. Sprinkle around some fine dust for the asteroids, then take 788 steps more. For
Jupiter, place an orange on the glass at that spot. After 934 more steps, put down a golf ball
for Saturn. Now it gets really involved. Mark 2086 steps, and for Uranus. . a marble.
Another 2,322 steps from there you arrive at Neptune. Let a cherry represent Neptune this
will take 2 miles, and we haven’t even discussed Pluto! If we swing completely around, we
have a smooth glass surface five miles in diameter, yet just a tiny fraction of the heavens
excluding Pluto. On this surface, five miles across, we have only a seed, BB, green pea,
pinhead, some dust, an orange, golf ball, a marble, and a cherry. Guess how far we’d have to
go on the same scale before we could put down another two-foot ball to represent the nearest
star. Come on, guess! Seven hundred paces? Two thousand steps more? Forty-four hundred
feet? No, not even close. We’d have t go 6,720 miles before we could at arrive at that star.
Miles not feet. And that’s just the first star among millions. In one galaxy among perhaps
hundreds, maybe thousands. And all of it in perpetual motion, perfectly synchronized, the
most accurate timepiece known to man.
2. It is Jesus Christ—the Messiah, our Christmas miracle that created all of that.
Colossians 1:15-17
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and
is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms
and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones,
kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him
and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together
B. EXPLANATION
1. Paul’s rhetorical questions are quotes from the OT.
• Verse 34 is from Is. 40:13–turn and read Is 40:12-18
• Verse 35 is from Job. 41:11
Job 41:11
Who has given me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is mine. NLT
o Actually God is speaking in this text and asks “who do I owe anything to?” To whom
is God in debt for any knowledge or understanding?
C. APPLICATION
1. Imagine holding God accountable.
• The mind of God— imagine how the Almighty thinks! No one comes close.
• The counselor— imagine being God’s advisor, counselor.
2. How can I praise God for His unequaled wisdom?
3. Read Ps. 24 once a day for seven days. Mediate on a verse or two a day.
III.
WE CAN OFFER PRAISE TO THE LORD FOR HIS WISDOM IS
UNLIMITED (v. 36)
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. I enjoy watching the Canadian geese fly over. When I lived in Vandalia, we saw them all the
time. Up in that farmland they would always stop over for weeks to feed on what was left of
the harvest. One of the things you will notice about them is how they fly. They fly in a V for a
reason. You see the goose in front is not always the goose in front. They take turns. When
they fly in a V their inside wing is sheltered from the drag of the wind. So after a while they
will switch sides because the outside wing becomes tired. They will also switch leaders
because both the leaders wings are becoming tired. God made them to do that so that when
they migrate they can fly for miles upon miles in strong wind for hours without stopping.
B. EXPLANATION
1. From Him: all things were created and find their source in Him.
2. Through Him: they exist because of Him. He sustains them.
3. To Him: all things exist for the Lord’s purpose and pleasure.
Rev 4:10-11
10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who
lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 "Worthy art Thou, our
Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because
of Thy will they existed, and were created." NAS
C. APPLICATION
1. Everything was made by God: every atom, every molecule, every everything.
• Jesus spoke and things came into existence, the world began to spin on its axis, the sun
began to shine.
• English astronomer and Cambridge University professor Sir Fred Hoyle likened the
theory of evolution to a tornado passing through a junkyard and assembling a jet
airplane. In other words, the chance higher life forms might have emerged in this way is
comparable with the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junkyard might assemble
a Boeing 747 from the materials therein. And even if that were somehow possible, the
airplane is far less complex than one living cell.
2. How can I praise God for His unlimited wisdom?
• Recognize everything you have is because of Jesus Christ!
• Take a moment with your family around your tree and take turns sharing things that you
have because of Him. And then offer a prayer of thanksgiving.
CONCLUSION (Rom. 12:1-2)
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Read “How Great Thou Art.” Jesus came to earth born in a manger. He will come again in
the Eastern sky. Imagine what it will be like when we get to Heaven. It’s all possible because
of Jesus.
B. CLOSE
1. This brings us to the next point. In light of all we have discussed, how do we respond?
• Surrender our bodies, surrender our minds, surrender our wills
2. We cannot fully experience the joy of the season until we surrender back to the Lord what He
has already given us— especially our self.
• It is our reasonable service.
3. When we do, it will cause us to live life differently.
• It will call us to adjust our priorities to Jesus
o That means that Jesus is first in my life
o The things he tells me to do first are first and so on.
• It will call us to pursue life with excellence.
o I want to do the best job teaching my students because it will honor Jesus.
o I want to do the best job with my farm because it will honor Jesus.
o I want to do the best job with my business because it will honor Jesus.
o I want to give my best attendance and ministry in church because it will honor Jesus