Counselor
A scriptural name used to describe part of the
characteristics,
qualities, and work of Jesus Christ is the name
"Counselor."
In Is. 9:6 we read,
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is
given...and his name shall be called...Counselor..."
The name, counselor, refers to a
lawyer, judge, or one who gives counsel. One of the
words translated counselor in the new testament is "sumbulion"
indicating a uniting in
counsel, thus an assembly of counselors consulting
together. Before the
foundation of the world, God the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost consulted
together as we read in Is. 46:9 11, "Remember the
former things of old:
for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and
there is none like
me, declaring the end from the beginning and from
ancient times the
things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel
shall stand, and I will
do all my pleasure: calling a ravenous bird from the
east, the man that
executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have
spoken it, I will
also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will
also do it."
Thus God, in counsel,
determined the end from the beginning and sent forth
the man, Jesus, to execute his counsel from the far
country of heaven.
This perfectly agrees with Rom. 8:29, 30 where God
chose a people to be
his and predestinated them to be conformed to the
image of Christ.
According to Eph. 1:4 this choice of a people was
made before the
foundation of the world. Jesus, in executing the
counsel of God, calls,
justifies, and glorifies those that God foreknew and
predestinated; thus
he executes according to God's counsel. Prov. 20:18
says, "Every
purpose is established by counsel..."
The word, counsel,
also refers to the giving of advice. As we live in
this time world, faced with problems, tribulations,
difficulties, and
divers situations to cope with, we find ourselves as
needy creatures
needing much counsel that we may survive the
onslaught of Satan's
temptations and devices, and that we may learn to
live as disciples of
Christ, and that we may give honor to God with the
lives that we live.
Where can such counsel be found? The answer is that
it comes from our
counselor (Jesus) and he has given it to us in his
word: Ps. 119:24
reads, "Thy testimonies also are my delight and my
counselors." In
addition, according to II Tim. 3:16 Jesus our
counselor, has given us
his word that we "may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good
works."
According to Ps. 1:1,
2, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the
counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth
in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in
the law of the Lord;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night." It
seems that we always
have two ways set before us as we journey in this
life. As far as
counsel is concerned we have the counsel of the Lord
and we have the
counsel of the ungodly.
The above scripture
teaches us we are blessed to meditate and walk in
the Lord's counsel. Unfortunately, too many of the
Lord's people seek advice for their problems,
tribulations, concerns, life situations from all the
wrong sources. We need to learn to be more like Job
who said, "I have esteemed the words of his mouth
more than my necessary food." How many pitfalls and
troubles would we be delivered from if we did like
Job? Also we need to take heed to the words of David
who said, "thy word have I hid in my heart that I
might not sin against thee." We can't hide God's
words in our heart by
placing our bibles as ornaments on end tables or in
book shelves. In
order to hide his word in our hearts we must
consistently and regularly
read, study, and meditate on the word of God. Once
we start hiding it
in our heart we will find that it will be like "a
lamp unto my feet, and
a light unto my path" (Ps. 119:105). By taking heed
to the counsel of
our counselor we can save ourselves from this
untoward generation in
which we live and we can walk by the "King's
highway."
Some would say that
the scriptures were all right in previous times but
now they are outdated in this electronic age and new
modern thinking.
According to Ps. 33:11, "The counsel of the Lord
standeth for ever, the
thoughts of his heart to all generations." The
nature of man has not
changed, nor has his needs. God's word is ever
current and sets forth
the best way for God's people to live in all
generations. We may change
our toys, or ways of communicating, traveling, or
ways of making a
living. We can even speed up our pace of life, but
ultimately "there
hath no temptation taken us but such as is common to
man.." God knows
our needs and according to Ps. 73:24, "Thou shalt
guide me with thy
counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory." As we
journey in this
life we need the all wise counsel of God to guide
us.
Paul said that he had
not shunned to declare all the counsel of God.
Let us likewise not shun to declare all the counsel
of God and to live
by that same counsel. It will lead us unto the joy,
peace, and comfort
that God has promised us and will deliver us from
many pitfalls and
harms in life and give us wisdom to recover from
those valleys and
trying situations we all find ourselves in from time
to time.
Our Counselor has
given unto us his perfect counsel.
God's Name Comforter
When the Lord told the disciples he was going away
and their hearts
were troubled, he made a promise to them that not
only embraced them,
but embraces us today. John 14:16 18, "And I will
pray the Father, and
he shall give you another Comforter, that he may
abide with you for
ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world
cannot receive, because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know
him; for he dwelleth
with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you
comfortless: I will
come to you." From this passage we make the
following conclusions:
1. Jesus was the Comforter of the disciples when he
walked with them.
2. Jesus promised the disciples that the Father
would send another
Comforter.
3. The Spirit of truth is the promised Comforter.
4. This Comforter would abide in the church for
ever.
5. This Comforter would not only dwell with the
church but would be
in the church.
6. In the person of this Comforter Jesus comes to
us.
As Jesus was a
Comforter to the disciples as he ministered on earth
for
3 ½ years so the Holy Spirit is the Comforter of the
church today. One
of the chief ways in which Jesus was a Comforter to
the disciples was
that he taught them the word of God. Similarly,
according to the Lord's
promise in John 14:26, "But the Comforter, which is
the Holy Ghost, whom
the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you
all things, and
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I
have said unto you."
In 1 Cor. 2:10 we are told that the Spirit reveals
to us the things
which God hath prepared for us who love him.
Furthermore we are told
that the Spirit "searcheth all things, yea the deep
things of God. Also
in verses 11 and 12 we are told that we know the
things of God by the
Spirit of God. Again in verse 13 we are taught that
we speak "the
things which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing
spiritual things with
spiritual." This all is in harmony with what the
Lord taught us in John
6:45, "And they shall all be taught of God." The
Holy Spirit is the
teacher of the disciples today. He opens the eyes of
understanding when
we search, read, and study the word of God. He has
taught us to love
God (I Thes. 4:9). He brings us to an understanding
of our own
depravity and causes us to mourn over our own sin
cursed condition
(Matt. 5:3) and then comforts us to understand that
Christ died to
redeem us (Lk. 18:14). He leads the gospel ministry
to preach his word
in power and demonstration of Spirit (1 Cor. 2:4)
and blesses us to hear
with listening ears and understanding hearts (Eph.
1:17, 18).
Furthermore, the
Comforter, the Spirit of truth testifies to us of
Jesus (John 15:26) and glorifies him (John 16:13)
and shows the things
of Jesus to us (John 16:15).
Additionally, we are
taught that the Comforter is the great reprover of
the world (elect of God). The word, reprove, in John
16:8 is translated
from the Greek, "elencho," meaning to convict or
convince. It is the
Comforter who reproves us of sin. In the new
(spiritual) birth God
writes his laws in our hearts and sprinkles our
hearts from an evil
conscience, thus establishing a court room in our
heart and mind. Then
the Holy Spirit brings to our heart the heart felt
knowledge of sin and
we are convicted or convinced in our hearts that we
are sinners. Truly
before this takes place we do not believe on Jesus
(1 Cor. 1:18).
Next, having a heart
felt conviction of sin we begin to try to establish
our
own righteousness only to find this an impossible
task. Consequently
the Comforter (Spirit of truth) convinces us of the
righteousness of
Jesus Christ. Subsequently, we are convinced by the
Comforter that the
judgment of our sins was completed in the person of
Christ on the cross
where Jesus was "made to be sin for us, who knew no
sin; that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him."
Finally, the Comforter
is the guide of God's people and the church
today, just as Jesus was the guide of the disciples
in his 3 ½ year
earthly walk. Jesus guides the labors of the gospel
ministry as we read
in Acts 16:6 10: "Now when they had gone throughout
Phrygia and the
region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy
Ghost to preach the
word in Asia, after they were come into Mysia, they
assayed to go into
Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. And they
passing by Mysia
came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in
the night; There
stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying,
Come over unto
Macedonia, and help us. And after he had seen the
vision, immediately
we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly
gathering that the Lord
had called us for to preach the gospel unto them."
Furthermore, the
Comforter appoints the preachers their field of
labor as set forth in
Acts 20:28, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves,
and to all the flock,
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers, to feed the
church of God, which he hath purchased with his own
blood."
God's Name
Christ (High Priest)
Ex. 40:13, "And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy
garments, and anoint
him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me
in the priest's
office." Aaron and afterwards his sons had to be
anointed in order to
serve in the office of High Priest.
Most of what we know
about Christ as our High Priest is set forth for us
in the book of Hebrews.
First, we know that
Christ lineage was of the tribe of Judah and not of
the tribe of Levi. Therefore, he was not a high
priest after the order
of Aaron. The high priesthood after the order of
Aaron had its place in
the old testament service and in the types and
shadows that pointed to
Christ.
The High Priesthood of Christ is unique as
set forth in Heb.
3:1, "...consider the Apostle and High Priest of our
profession, Christ
Jesus." The article, "the," indicates one of a king.
Christ is a High
Priest after the order of Melchisedec according to
Heb. 5:6, "As he
saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for
ever after the order
of Melchisedec." This Melchisedec described in
Genesis was unique in
many ways, but especially in that he was both King
and Priest. In
Israel, kings could not be priests and priests could
not be kings.
Melchisedec was king of Salem which Salem means
peace. The name
Melchisedec literally means King of righteousness.
To the people of
God, Christ is both King of peace and King of
righteousness, and like
Melchisedec stands as High Priest over his people.
Second, the High
Priesthood of Christ is an everlasting priesthood.
Under the priesthood of Aaron the priest would die
and another would
take his place. Thus the priesthood was frequently
changing. Christ is
a High Priest after the power of an endless life
(Heb. 7:16, "Who is
made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but
after the power of
an endless life)." Thus Christ is a priest for ever
and "because he
continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood"
(Heb. 7:16). Thus
there will never be nor need be another High Priest
over the house of
God. Christ is an eternal High Priest over the house
of God.
Third, unlike the
priests after the order of Aaron, Christ never had
to
offer a sacrifice for himself for he is perfect:
Heb. 7:26 28, "For such
an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate
from sinners, and made higher than the heavens: who
needeth not daily,
as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first
for his own sins,
and then for the people's: for this he did once,
when he offered up
himself. For the law maketh men high priests which
have infirmity; but
the word of the oath, which was since the law,
maketh the Son, who is
consecrated forevermore."
Fourth, because of the
perfection of Christ, he only had to offer up
one sacrifice for sins. The high priests after the
order of Aaron
offered up daily sacrifices and then they offered up
yearly sacrifices
first for himself and then for the errors of the
people. These
sacrifices never could do away with sin, but only
brought sin to
remembrance: Heb. 10:1, "For the law having a shadow
of good things to
come, and not the very image of the things, can
never with those
sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers
thereunto perfect." The following verses show that
Christ only made one
sacrifice:
1. Heb. 9:12, "Neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by his
own blood he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained
eternal redemption for us."
2. Heb. 9:26, "...but now once in the end of the
world hath he
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself."
3. Heb. 9:28, "So Christ was once offered to bear
the sins of
many..."
4. Heb. 10:10, "By the which will we are sanctified
through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
5. Heb. 10:12, "But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for
sins for ever sat down on the right hand of God."
6. Heb. 10:14, "For by one offering he hath
perfected for ever them
that are sanctified."
Fifth, the offering of our High Priest Christ was
not made in an
earthly tabernacle made with hands, but was made in
heaven to God. This
is verified by the following verses:
1. Heb. 9:11, 12, "But
Christ being come an high priest of good
things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with
hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither
by the blood of
goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in
once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
2. Heb. 9:14, "How much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to
God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
3. Heb. 9:24, "For Christ is not entered into the
holy places made
with hands, which are the figures of the true; but
into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us."
Sixth, Christ high
priestly sacrifice was a covenant sacrifice with him
as the mediator of the covenant: Heb. 9:15 17, "And
for this cause he is
the mediator of the new covenant, that by means of
death, for the
redemption of the transgressions that were under the
first testament,
they which are called might receive the promise of
eternal inheritance.
For where a testament is, there must also of a
necessity be the death of
the testator. For a testament is of force after men
are dead: otherwise
it is of no strength at all while the testator
liveth." From this we
can gather that Christ is the testator and with his
death the testament
came into force and since He is the mediator he is
the one who oversees
that the effects of that testament are carried out,
i.e., that those who
are named in that testament and called receive the
eternal inheritance.
It should be noted here that all the elements of the
covenant of
redemption set forth in Rom. 8:29 30 are present in
the above passage of
scripture.
Seventh, Christ as our
High Priest is our intercessor with God. The
following passages of scripture verify Christ
intercessor work:
1. Heb. 2:17, 18,
"Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made
like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful
and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make
reconciliation for the sins
of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered
being tempted, he
is able to succor them that are tempted."
2. Heb. 4:14 16, "Seeing then that we have a great
high priest, that
is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,
let us hold fast our
profession. For we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all
points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of
need."
3. Heb. 7:24, 25, "But this man, because he
continueth ever, hath an
unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able to
save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make
intercession for them."
4. Rom. 8:34, "Who is he that condemneth? It is
Christ that died,
yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the
right hand of God,
who also maketh intercession for us."
5. 1 John 2:1, "And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
6. 1 Tim. 2:5, "For there is one God, and one
mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus."
God's Name is Holy
As we begin the first part of our study of the
subject of
sanctification as it relates to God, we observe
there are numerous
scriptures that tell us that God's name is holy.
Some references are
quite obvious as we note that the third person in
the Godhead is called the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost
on several occasions. Likewise Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, the second person in the Godhead is called
the "Holy One," the "Holy Child," and "that holy
thing." Similarly, Jesus called God, the Father,
"Holy Father," in John 17:11.
In order to teach us
how we ought to respect and honor God, God gave us
the 4th commandment which reads, "Thou shalt not
take the name of the
Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him
guiltless that
taketh his name in vain."
In Ps. 111:9 we read, "He sent redemption unto his
people: he hath
commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend
is his name." The
name of God is separate from all other names. It is
to be held in
highest respect and honor by his creatures. We are
not to dishonor his
name by using it vainly nor by speaking of God or to
God as we would
commonly speak of or to men. In Ps. 102:1 we are
told to praise God's
holy name: "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that
is within me, bless
his holy name." Similarly we are told in Ps. 105:3
to glory in God's
holy name: "Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart
of them rejoice
that seek the Lord." In like fashion David said in
Ps. 145:21, "My
mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let
all flesh bless his
holy name for ever and ever."
In the book of
Ezekiel, when the Lord pronounced thru the prophet
that
he would deliver his people from the bondage wherein
they were held, he
stated that it was not for their sakes but for his
holy name's sake
that he would deliver them: Ezek. 36:20 24, "And
when they entered unto
the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my
holy name, when they
said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and
are gone forth out
of his land. But I had pity for mine holy name,
which the house of
Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they
went. Therefore say
unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; I
do not this for
your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy
name's sake, which ye
have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
And I will sanctify
my great name, which was profaned among the heathen,
which ye have
profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall
know that I am the
Lord, said the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified
in you before their
eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen,
and gather you out of
all countries, and will bring you into your own
land."
In signifying to us
the importance of the name, Jesus Christ, Peter and
John declared in Acts 4:10 12, "Be it known unto you
all, and to all the
people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom ye
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by
him doth this man
stand before you whole. This is the stone which was
set at nought of
you builders, which is become the head of the
corner. Neither is there
salvation in any other: for there is none other name
under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved."
There are many names
used in the scriptures to declare God unto us.
All of the names are significant and all describe
unto us either a
characteristic, attribute, or office work of God. In
the next several
essays we will examine the names used to declare God
unto us, denoting
the significance and holy nature of those names and
the attendant
characteristic, attribute, or office work of God.
In conclusion God's
name is separate from all other names and is to be
reverenced by us.
