HIS NAME—COUNSELOR – Charles Spurgeon
His Name—Counselor
“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, Counselor.” Isaiah 9:6.
Introduction to the Title “Counselor”
Last Sabbath morning, we considered the first title, “His name shall be called Wonderful.” This morning, we turn our attention to the second word, “Counselor.” These titles, of course, belong solely to the Lord Jesus Christ, and we cannot fully understand this passage except by referring it to Messiah—the Prince.
It was by counsel that this world was ruined. Did not Satan mask himself in the serpent, and counsel the woman with exceeding craftiness? Did not he convince her that she should take of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, in the hope that she would be as God? Was it not that evil counsel which provoked our mother to rebel against her Maker, and did it not bring death into this world with all its train of woe?
Ah, beloved, it was meet that the world should have a Counselor to restore it—if it had a Counselor to destroy it! It was by counsel that it fell, and certainly, without counsel, it never could have arisen.
The Difficulty of Restoring Order
Mark the difficulties surrounding such a Counselor. ‘Tis easy to counsel mischief, but how difficult it is to counsel wisely; to cast down is easy, but to build up—how difficult! To confuse this world and bring upon it all its train of ills was an easy thing. A woman plucked the fruit, and it was done! But to restore order to this confusion, to sweep away the evils which brooded over this fair earth—this was work, indeed! And “Wonderful” was that Christ who came forward to attempt the work and who, in the plentitude of His divine wisdom, has certainly accomplished it to His own honor and glory, and to our comfort and safety!
Christ as God’s Counselor
We now enter upon the discussion of this title which is given to Christ—a title peculiar to our Redeemer. And we will see why it should be given to Him and why there was a necessity for such a Counselor. Jesus Christ is a Counselor in a three-fold sense. First, He is God’s Counselor; He sits in the cabinet council of the King of heaven. He has admittance into the privy chamber and is the Counselor with God.
Before the world was made, when as yet God had not made the stars, long before space sprang into being, the Almighty God held a solemn conclave with Himself. Father, Son, and Spirit held a mystic council with each other as to what they were about to do. That council, although we read but little of it in Scripture, was certainly held. We have abundant traces of it, although it remains an obscure doctrine through the brilliance of that light of God to which no mortal can approach.
Why Did God Hold a Council?
We ask ourselves, why did God hold a council at all? The answer is that God did not hold a council because of any deficiency in His knowledge. God understands all things from the beginning. His knowledge is the sum total of everything that is noble—and infinitely above everything that is counted noble. “O God, You have thoughts that are unsearchable, and You know what no mortal can ever attain!”
Nor did God hold a consultation for the increase of His satisfaction. Sometimes men, when they have determined what to do, seek counsel of their friends because, they say, “If their advice agrees with mine, it adds to my satisfaction and confirms me in my resolution.” But God is everlastingly satisfied with Himself and knows not the shadow of a doubt to cloud His purpose. Therefore, the council was not held with any such motive.
Nor was the council held with a view of deliberation. Men take weeks and months and sometimes years to think out things that are surrounded with difficulties. They have to find the clue with much research—enveloped in folds of mystery. But not so with God! God’s deliberations are as swift as lightning, and the thoughts of His heart are as perfect as the whole system of the universe.
The Purpose of God’s Council
The reason why God is represented as holding a council, if I think rightly, is this: that we might understand how wise God is! “In the multitude of counselors, there is wisdom.” It is for us to think that in the council of the Eternal Three, each Person in the undivided Trinity, being omniscient and full of wisdom, must have had the sum total of all wisdom. It also serves to show the unanimity and co-operation of the sacred persons. God the Father has done nothing alone in creation or salvation. Jesus Christ has done nothing alone, for even the work of His redemption, although He suffered alone, needed the sustaining hand of the Spirit and the approving smile of the Father.
The Topics of the Council
Now, what were the topics deliberated upon in that first council? The first topic was creation. We are told that the Lord Jesus Christ, who represents Himself as Wisdom, was with God before the world was created. We have reason to believe He was not only with God in company but in cooperation. “All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” God said, “Let us make man,” which shows a shared consultation.
The second topic discussed was the work of Providence. God does not act toward this world like a man who makes a watch and lets it run down. No, God is the controller of every wheel in the machine of providence. We talk of general laws, but those laws have no effect without a sovereign to carry them out. God is the great power behind everything. He is in everything. By Him, all things consist.
The Work of Grace in the Eternal Council
The third topic discussed in the council was the work of grace. One of the first things considered was how God should be just and yet the justifier of the ungodly—how the world should be reconciled unto God. The Son of God with His Father and the Spirit ordained the council of peace. Christ, as the Counselor, must suffer as a substitute, bearing the people’s sins and being punished in their place. The Father must accept the Son’s substitution, and the Spirit must cleanse those whom the blood has pardoned.
Without this council, how could mercy and justice have met? It is a thought so original, so wonderful, so new, that it could only have come from God! The idea that God, Himself, should die and bear our sins so that God the Father might forgive and yet exact the utmost penalty is supernatural.
Christ’s Counsel in Predestination
One part of the everlasting council was the predestination of those whom God had determined to save. The apostle Paul speaks of the immutability of God’s counsel, confirmed by an oath. Christ counseled the Father in eternity, determining the time, the way, and the means by which each of God’s elect would be saved. The decree of God’s counsel stands unalterable throughout all eternity. Christ was a Counselor in this matter, for He had the right and the wisdom to counsel with God.
Christ as the Counselor to Man
Christ is also the Counselor to man. He is the angel of the great council, the mediator between God and man. If we want to know what was said and done in the great council of eternity, we must look to Christ. Everything that God ordained, everything we ought to know about salvation, is revealed in the cross of Jesus Christ. Through Christ, we see the world’s history, its past, and its future.
Conclusion: Christ, Our Counselor
Beloved, there is only one glass through which we can look back to the counsels of God, and that glass is the person of Jesus Christ! Through Him, we understand what God ordained for the salvation of man. Through Christ, we see how all things have been ordained and how the future will unfold.
We have Christ, the Counselor, who not only revealed the eternal counsels but also mediates on our behalf and guides us in the path of peace. The world may seek counsel from various sources, but there is no true wisdom apart from Christ. Let us therefore rest assured in His wisdom, His providence, and His grace, trusting that He will guide us through all things.
Let us pray that we may always seek counsel from Him who is “Wonderful, Counselor” in every moment of our lives.
Christ—The Wonderful Counselor
Christ opened the book for him. And so modern history is never to be understood except through Christ! None but the Lamb can take the book and open every seal! But he who believes in Christ and looks for His glorious advent—he may open the book and read therein and have understanding—for in Christ there is a revelation of the eternal councils!
Understanding God’s Will
“Now,” says one, “Sir, I want to know one thing and if I knew that, I would not care what happened. I want to know whether God from all eternity ordained me to be saved.” Well, friend, I will tell you how to find that out, and you may find it out to a certainty! “No,” says one, “but how can I know that? You cannot read the book of fate. That is impossible.”
I have heard of some divine of a very hyper school, indeed, who said, “Ah, blessed be the Lord, there are some of God’s dear people here. I can tell them by the very look of their faces. I know that they are among God’s elect.” He was not half as discreet as Rowland Hill, who, when he was advised to preach to none but the elect, said, “I would certainly do so if someone would first chalk them all on the back.” That was never attempted by anybody, so Rowland Hill went on preaching the gospel to every creature, as I desire to do. But you may find out whether you are among His chosen ones.
How to Know Your Election
“How?” asks one. Why, Christ is the angel of the covenant, and you can find it out by looking to Him. Many people want to know their election before they look to Christ—beloved, you cannot know your election except as you see it in Christ! If you want to know your election, thus shall you assure your hearts before God: do you feel yourself this morning to be a lost, guilty sinner? Go straightway to the cross of Christ and tell Christ that, and tell Him that you have read in the Bible, “That him that comes unto Him, He will in no wise cast out.” Tell Him that He has said, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom you are chief.”
Look to Christ and believe on Him, and you shall make proof of your election directly—for as surely as you believe, you are elect! If you will give yourself wholly up to Christ and trust Him, then you are one of God’s chosen ones! But if you stop and say, “I want to know first whether I am elect,” that is impossible! If there is something covered up and I say, “Now, before you can see this, you must lift the veil”—and you say, “No, but I want to see right through that veil,” you cannot! Lift the veil first, and you shall see.
Go to Christ guilty, just as you are! Leave all curious inquiry about your election alone! Go straight away to Christ, just as you are—black in sin, naked, penniless, and poor—and say, “Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to Your cross I cling,” and you shall know your election! The assurance of the Holy Spirit shall be given to you, so that you shall be able to say, “I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him.”
Christ the Eternal Counselor
Now, notice this: Christ was at the everlasting council—He can tell you whether you were chosen or not—but you cannot find that out anywhere else! You go and put your trust in Him, and I know what the answer will be. His answer will be, “I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore in loving-kindness have I drawn you.” There will be no doubt about His having chosen you when you shall feel no doubt about having chosen Him.
So much for the second point. Christ is the Counselor. He is the angel of the council because He tells God’s secrets to us. “The secret of the Lord is with them who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.”
Christ—The Counselor to Us
III. The last point is Christ is a COUNSELOR TO US. And here, I shall want to give some practical hints to God’s people. Somehow or other, brothers and sisters, it is not good for man to be alone. A lonely man must be, I think, a miserable man. And a man without a counselor, I think, must of necessity go wrong. “Where there is no counselor,” says Solomon, “the people fall.” I think most persons will find it so. A man says, “Well, I’ll have my own way and I will ask nobody.” Have it, Sir—have it—and you will find that in having your own way, you have probably had the worst way you could!
The Necessity of Counsel
We all feel our need, at times, of a counselor. David was a man after God’s own heart and dealt much with his God. But he had his Ahithophel with whom he took sweet counsel and they walked to the house of God in company. Kings must have some advisers. Woe unto the man who has got a bad counselor. Rehoboam took counsel of the young men and not of the old men, and they counseled him so that he lost ten-twelfths of his empire! We know many who counsel at the hands of foolish charms instead of going to Christ. They shall have to learn that there is but one Christ who is to be trusted—and that however necessary a counselor may be, yet none other shall be found to fulfill the necessity but Jesus Christ the Counselor!
The Necessary Counselor
Let me make a remark or two with regard to this Counselor, Jesus Christ. And first, Christ is a necessary Counselor. So sure as we do anything without asking counsel of God, we fall into trouble. Israel made a league with Gibeon, and it is said they took of their victuals and they asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. And they found out that the Gibeonites had deceived them. If they had asked counsel first, no cunning deception could have imposed on them in the matter!
Saul, the son of Kish, died before the Lord upon the mountains of Gilboa, and in the book of Chronicles, it is written, “He died because he asked not counsel of God, but sought unto the wizards.” Joshua, the great commander, when he was appointed to succeed Moses, was not left to go alone, but it is written, “And Eliezer the priest shall be his counselor, and he shall ask counsel of the Lord for him.” And all the great men of olden times, when they were about to do an action, paused and they said to the priest, “Bring here the ephod,” and he put on the Urim and the Thummim and appealed to God, and the answer came, and sound advice was guaranteed.
You and I will have to learn how necessary it is to always seek the advice of God! Did you ever seek God’s advice on your knees about a difficulty and then go amiss? Brothers and sisters, I can testify for my God that when I have submitted my will to His directing Spirit, I have always had reason to thank Him for His wise counsel. But when I have asked Him, having already made up my own mind and had my own way—just like the Israelites with the quails of heaven—while the meat was yet in their mouth, the wrath of God came upon them!
Let us take heed always that we never go before the cloud. He that goes before the cloud goes on a fool’s errand and will be glad to get back. An old Puritan used to say, “He that carves for himself will cut his fingers. Leave God to carve for you in providence, and all shall be well. Seek God’s guidance, and nothing can go amiss.” It is wise counsel.
Faithful and Hearty Counsel
In the next place, Christ’s counsel is faithful counsel. When Ahithophel left David, it proved that he was not faithful. And when Hushai went to Absalom and counseled him, he counseled him craftily so that the good counsel of Ahithophel was brought to nothing. Ah, how often do our friends counsel us craftily! We have known them do so. They have looked first to their own advantage and then they have said, “If I can get him to do such-and-such, it will be the best for me.” That was not the question we asked them! It was what would be best for us.
But we may trust Christ—that in His advice to us there will never be any self-interest. He will be quite certain to advise us with the most disinterested motives so that the good shall be to us and the profit to ourselves!
Sympathetic and Sweet Counsel
Again—Christ’s counsel is hearty counsel. I hate to go to a lawyer above all people. The worst kind of conversation is, I think, conversation with a lawyer! There is your case! Dear me, what an interest you feel in it! You spread it out before him and he says, “There is a word upon the second page not quite correct.” You look at it and you say, “Ah, that is totally unimportant. That does not signify anything!” He turns to another clause and he says, “Ah, there is a good deal here!” “My dear fellow,” you say, “I do not care about those petty clauses, whether it says lands, properties, or inheritance—what I need you to do is to set this difficulty right in point of law.” “Be patient,” he says!
You must go through a great many consultations before he will come to the point and all the while your poor heart is boiling over because you feel such an interest in the main point. But he is as cool as possible. You think you are asking counsel of a block of marble! No doubt his advice will come out all right at last and it is pretty certain it will be good for you. But it is not hearty. He does not enter into the sympathies of the matter with you! What is it to him whether you succeed or not—whether the objective of your heart is accomplished or not? It is but a professional interest he takes.
Now, Solomon says, “As ointment for perfume, so is hearty counsel.” When a man throws his own soul into your case, he says, “My dear friend, I’ll do anything I can to help you, let me look at it.” And he takes as deep an interest in it as you do yourself! “If I were in your position,” he says, “I would do such-and-such. By-the-by, there is a word wrong there.” Perhaps he tells you so, but he only tells you because he is anxious to have it all right. And you can see that his drift is always toward the same end you are seeking, and that he is only anxious for your good!
Christ’s Sweet Counsel
Oh, for a counselor that could tie your heart into unison with his own! Now Christ is such a Counselor as that. He is a hearty Counselor. His interests and your interests are bound up together, and He is hearty with you! But there is still another kind of counsel. David says of one who afterwards became his enemy, “We took sweet counsel together.”
Christian, do you know what sweet counsel is? You have gone to your Master in the day of trouble and in the secret of your chamber, you have poured out your heart before Him. You have laid your case before Him with all its difficulties—as Hezekiah did Rabshakeh’s letter—and you have felt that though Christ were not there in flesh and blood—yet He was there in spirit, and He counseled you. You felt that His was counsel that came from the very heart. But He was something better than that. There was such a sweetness coming with His counsel, such a radiance of love, such a fullness of fellowship, that you said, “Oh, that I were in trouble every day, if I might have such sweet counsel as this!”
Practical Counsel from Christ
Christ is the Counselor whom I desire to consult every hour, and I would that I could sit in His secret chamber all day and all night long! To counsel with Him is to have sweet counsel, hearty counsel, and wise counsel all at the same time! Why, you may have a friend who talks very sweetly with you, and you will say, “Well, he is a kind, good soul, but I really cannot trust his judgment.” You have another friend who has a good deal of judgment and yet you say of him, “Certainly he is a man of prudence above a great many, but I cannot find out his sympathy. I never get at his heart—if he were ever so rough and untutored, I would sooner have his heart without his prudence than his prudence without his heart.” But we go to Christ, and we get wisdom. We get love, we get sympathy. We get everything that can possibly be wanted in a Counselor!
Christ’s Counsel for You
And now, we must close by noticing that Christ has special counsels for each of us this morning and what are they? Tried child of God, your daughter is sick. Your gold has melted in the fire. You are sick and your heart is sad. Christ counsels you and He says, “Cast your burden upon the Lord. He will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved.”
Young man, you who are seeking to be great in this world, Christ counsels you this morning: “Seek you great things for yourself? Seek them not.” I shall never forget Midsummer Common. I was ambitious. I was seeking to go to college—to leave my poor people in the wilderness that I might become something great. And as I was walking there that text came with power to my heart—“Seek you great things for yourself? Seek them not.”
“Lord,” I said, “I will follow Your counsel and not my own devices.” And I have never had cause to regret it! Always take the Lord for your guide, and you shall never go amiss!
Backslider! You who have a name to live and are dead, or nearly dead, Christ gives you counsel: “I counsel you to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, and white raiment that you may be clothed.”
And sinner! You who are far from God, Christ gives you counsel: “Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Depend on it, it is loving counsel! Take it! Go home and cast yourself upon your knees! Seek Christ. Obey His counsel, and you shall rejoice that you listened to His voice, and heard it and lived!