Wonderful Counselor

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Wonderful Counselor Rich Nathan December 6-7, 2008 Advent: For Unto Us a Child is Born Isaiah 9:1-6 About 2700 years ago the prophet Isaiah wrote these words: Isaiah 9:2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. This Christmas around the world there are countless millions of people who are walking in darkness and living in the land of deep darkness. In India hundreds of families are grieving the loss of over 170 who were murdered in a terrorist attack in Mumbai. What has not gotten the same level of press is the incredible violence against the Christian community in East India. Just a few weeks ago in the state of Orissa Hindu militants went on a rampage chanting, “Kill the pigs! Kill the pigs!” They began breaking into homes and wherever they found a poster of Jesus, they burned the home and those residents who didn’t flee into the jungle were maimed and murdered by the mob. In the Congo over a quarter of million people have fled their homes in the last few months and are living in desperate conditions after the latest outbreak of violence in the eastern part of the country. The Congo is now said to be the worst humanitarian crisis in the world outstripping even the Darfur. The Congo has been going through a lengthy civil war. In fact, after a 5-year war it was actually called Africa’s First World War because half a dozen other nations were fighting over pieces of the Congo. Some people believe the more people have died in the Congo as a result of war and starvation and disease than in any other country on earth since WWII. Speaking about people sitting in darkness, one of the saddest stories I’ve read recently concerns Pakistan. Three girls in Pakistan wanted to choose their own husbands. They ran away from home and hid in a hotel room. Relatives of the girls broke into their hotel room and dragged them out. Two women defended the three girls. The two women and three girls were shot and then buried alive. What makes this story even more horrific is that one of Pakistan’s cabinet ministers defended the attack and murder of these five women saying that “these are century-old traditions and I will continue to defend them.” All over the world this Christmas people are in darkness, living in lands of deep darkness.

© 2008 Rich Nathan

One of the great crimes of this era is human trafficking in which millions of people around the world have become modern-day slaves sold for the purpose of either sex or labor. After drug dealing, human trafficking is tied with the illegal arms trade as the second largest criminal industry in the world. Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. I want to share with you a brief video that was produced by some friends of mine who are at Yale University. Love 146 Video We are beginning to get more reports of human trafficking here in the city of Columbus. It is not just a global problem. It is an American problem. 30% of teens who live in shelters across the country and 70% of teens who are out on the streets are victims of commercial sex exploitation. Many people around the world this Christmas Season are living in the land of deep darkness. And in these gloomy economic times here in America and around the world, some of you have lost your jobs, others have had your houses foreclosed on, some of you are facing foreclosures, or your jobs are at risk. In the midst of all the darkness in the world, God who created our world and loves the people in our world, spoke through the prophet Isaiah 2700 years ago and said that he will rescue our planet through the birth of a Savior. We’re starting an Advent Series this weekend. Advent is derived from a Latin word “adventus” which means the approach or arrival. Adventus = Arrival or Approach Who is arriving? The Messiah, the Savior of the world. I’ve called my Advent series, “For Unto Us a Child Is Born” and today’s talk is titled “Wonderful Counselor.” Let’s pray. Isaiah 9:1-6 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as soldiers rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his

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shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Now to set the context of Isaiah 9, we find beginning in chapter 7 in the book of Isaiah that Isaiah writes about the terrible leadership over the nation of Judah and the idolatry of all of the people that is leading to greater and greater desperation and more and gloom and darkness over the land. There is one thing that we discover about God in the Bible. If you don’t know very much about God, or you are new to reading the Bible, there is one thing that we discover about God in the Bible and we find it everywhere. Our God is a God who rescues. A God who rescues Whenever he sees someone sitting in a dark place; whenever God finds people living in desperation and gloom, he devises a plan to rescue them. We see it everywhere in scripture. When our first parents chose to reject dependence upon God as the way to live well, they suffered the consequences of living independently of God. They experienced guilt. They no longer felt comfortable in God’s presence, so they ran away and hid. And they not only hid from God, but our first parents began hiding from each other. They lost their willingness to be open and vulnerable and transparent. They covered up. Their marital relationship broke down. Men began to dominate women. And so instead of following the created pattern of being equal partners in God’s gracious gift of life, men began dominating women. And there is almost no bottom friend to the way women are treated around the world. There is almost no bottom. And as the result of our first parents leaving God, nature itself was knocked off balance. The ground produced thorns. Childbirth caused pain. The natural environment became progressively degraded and the earth became less and less habitable. Wars and violence increased. So did divorces and child abuse and broken relationships. But God – and this is one of the great little phrases…But God… Ephesians 2:4-5 But God who is rich in mercy because of his great love for us made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. “But God.” Because of the God of the Bible, the God whose Son’s birth we celebrate at Christmas, because God is a God who doesn’t ever say to people, “You made your bed, now lie in it. You knew what I wanted, but you rejected my

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will. So now it is time to pay the piper.” We can always hope for the rescue of ourselves or someone we love. There is always this triumphant phrase, “But God…” Until we breathe our last breath there is always held out for human beings an open invitation of grace. But God… If you want to know one thing about God from the Bible, God is always at work devising a way to rescue people. God saw the darkness. Again and again in scripture he devised rescue operations to pull people out of the darkness. So he chose one man, Abraham, and through that one man he began to reverse the curse that fell upon us beginning with our first parent’s sin. We read these words in Genesis 12:2-3: Genesis 12:2-3 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” See, one thing you need to know and believe about God this Christmas Season, whatever desperate situation you are in, even situations of our own making – perhaps we’ve been stupid or we’ve done what we shouldn’t have done. We’ve hooked out lives to the wrong person. We’ve gotten addicted. Or we’ve rejected counsel from wise people and went ahead and did what we were warned would result in disaster and it has resulted in disaster – but one thing you must know and believe about God is that God always has his hand out to you. He wants to rescue and he wants to bless. Now, do you believe this? Do you believe that God wants to rescue you? Always! And he wants to bless your life. Always! Do you believe that God wants to rescue and bless people around the world who are seated in darkness? Do you believe that God wants to rescue and bless people in Pakistan and in the Congo and in India and wherever folks are enslaved? Do you believe that God is a rescuing God, a God committed to doing you good? Listen to the words of 2 Samuel 14:14 and I invite you, if you have a Bible, to underline this verse in your Bible. 2 Samuel 14:14 Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him. Let this truth settle in your heart. God is constantly strategizing, constantly scheming in his infinite wisdom, constantly figuring out ways to get you and me and the rest of the world to turn fully back to him so that we can be healed and blessed.

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How does God rescue people who are in darkness? God humbles us We read in Isaiah 9.1 these words: Isaiah 9:1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— Isaiah offers three descriptions of the area that will be honored. He described it by the Israelite tribes that historically inhabited the area – the tribe of Zebulun and the tribe of Naphtali. He described the area by its relationship to the Sea of Galilee, next to the sea, right by the Jordan River. And He described it by the name that it became known as in Isaiah’s day, “Galilee of the Gentiles.” It was the most despised area of the nation in Isaiah’s day. Even in Jesus’ day, calling Jesus a Galilean was a statement of scorn and disrespect. This area of Israel was the one most subject to Gentile influence. It was the area farthest from Jerusalem. Galilee of the Gentiles was the area first to suffer an invasion by Assyria. But Isaiah promises that this despised area, this area that was first to be invaded, this area the most subject to Gentile influence will be the area of first honor by the Lord. We read in the past He (that is God) humbled the land, but in the future He will honor it. Verse 1 offers us the constant pattern of Scripture – that we must be brought low through failure, humiliation, shame and trial, before we can be exalted. We must be made weak before we can feel God’s power. We need to become poor before God can make us rich. See, God always, always wants to bless our lives and show us grace. But he can’t do that if we are proud and live lives utterly independent of him. James 4:6 says: James 4:6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.” Of course, we say, “Must it be this way? Is being humbled, being humiliated, experiencing failure – is that the only way for me to get close to God? Is it required that I hit bottom before I turn to Jesus Christ? Is it an inevitable law that I have to be painted into a corner before I will look to God for help?”

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Unfortunately, friends, the answer is usually “yes.” It is often said that our spiritual lives can bear anything except for prosperity. When we are doing great, when we have no problems, when the economy is humming along, when we are fat and happy and everything is smooth sailing in our lives, we usually become independent and self-sufficient. It’s when we fall on our faces, when we are unable to manage a crisis or problem in our lives, when we face something too big for us to handle on our own, that we look beyond ourselves towards the Lord. The truth is, friends, after being in some kind of ministry or leadership for 33 years and being a full time pastor for the last almost 21 years, the overwhelming majority of people that I’ve met have come to Christ, or come back to Christ after drifting far from him during a crisis. And the overwhelming majority of people that I know draw near to Christ because of a crisis – a health problem for themselves or a loved one, cancer, heart problem, a child that has a life-threatening illness, problem getting pregnant or an unwanted pregnancy, separation, divorce, a broken engagement, a legal problem, some out of control addiction, a feeling of emptiness and dissatisfaction even though you are financially well off. This is the biblical pattern. We are brought low so that we might turn to Christ for help and be exalted. Years ago I counseled a man whose double life had just been publicly exposed. The man was a Christian leader. He was well known in his community. He had been engaged in a 10-year secret affair that was discovered and publicly disclosed. This man lost his ministry. He lost his family. As a result of his hidden life, everything in his life was blown up – his career, his reputation, his friendships. He came into see me. He wept in my office. I put my arms around him and said, “This is the first time in years, friend, that you can discover a real relationship with God. Now that you’ve hit bottom, you don’t have to be afraid of anything. You don’t have to be afraid of what people would say, or losing your reputation. It’s all been lost.” And then I said to him, “That this happened to you is not the worst thing that could happen. The worst thing that can happen to you is for you to miss the opportunity right now that God is presenting you to build a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. You’ve been living a double life and your whole life you’ve missed the grace that could have been yours. You have the world’s best opportunity right now to build a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.” I said to him, “Your life can turn out to be a blessing for yourself and lots of other people. If you choose not to run away into some other escape, if you choose to really find God in the midst of this crisis, God will bless you.” Are any of you down now? Do any of you feel like you have hit bottom that your life has blown up either because of your own foolishness, or because of circumstances beyond your control? Listen to me; hitting bottom is not the worst

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thing that can happen to you. Being humbled and humiliated in front of others is not the worst thing. The worst thing is missing the opportunity that God is presenting you to have a genuine, authentic relationship with Jesus Christ. Don’t run away from God right now. Don’t get into some illicit escape. Don’t fill your life with other garbage to dull the pain. This is a golden opportunity for you to get real with God, to really find Him for yourself. That you could know that you know that you know in the depths of your soul that He is there for you, that God really does draw near to the broken hearted. By way of parenthesis, I would say that the Bible speaks of another way forward spiritually other than through horrible circumstances imposed on us. The other way forward is the way of voluntary humility, choosing to get ourselves in a humble position. Jesus lived a life of chosen humility, giving up His divine prerogatives, not counting His equality with God something to be held onto, taking on human form, coming to this world as a man, a poor man, a servant, choosing to hang on the cross for our salvation. To receive God’s grace, either God humbles us, or we humble ourselves. How can you and I voluntarily humble ourselves rather than having to be humbled by God? Let me suggest two things that you can do. You can probably think of a dozen other things to humble yourself, but here are two things. First - Tell on yourself rather than being found out. If you are using Internet pornography, for example, if you are sleeping with your boyfriend or girlfriend outside of marriage, if you have a drinking problem, or a gambling problem or an eating problem or a spending problem. If you are married and find yourself emotionally attached to someone who is not your spouse, tell on yourself. Tell on yourself about your marital problems, or your child raising problems, or your work-related problems, or your school-related problems. Chosen embarrassment, choosing to face the consequences of a loss of face is infinitely better for your soul and way less painful than desperately trying preserve your pride and ultimately having to be humbled by God. Let me ask you a personal question. In the last few months, have you told on yourself about anything that might cause you to lose face? Have you said to anyone, “I am having an incredible problem recently with gossip, or anger. I find myself more and more irritable. I’m struggling with this or that sin, and I would ask you to pray for me, and ask you to ask me how it is going.” The way that we get healthy; the way that we change is by talking to a trusted friend, or to a spouse who will listen, or to a Christian leader. How long has it been since you chose to humble yourself through confession to another? It is wonderfully freeing to unburden yourself not just to God, but to another human being. Another way to voluntarily humble yourself, besides telling on yourself, is by serving, by assisting someone who is seated in the land of deep darkness now. I

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talked earlier about the issue of human trafficking. We are going to be having a seminar here in January titled “The Truth About Human Trafficking.” Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, and it is happening right here in Central Ohio! At this seminar, sponsored by Vineyard Columbus, in partnership with Xenos Christian Fellowship and Rahab’s Hideaway (a safe house for women & children being sexually exploited) you will learn about the reality of human trafficking and what we can and should do about it as followers of Christ. If you were moved by that video, Love 146 is an organization that was started by some young Vineyard folks at Yale. Here is their web address: www.love146.org Come along side of someone who is suffering this Christmas Season. Especially in a down economy, instead of purchasing a ton of unnecessary things for every family member, why not take a look at the “30 Days of Giving” calendar that we handed out a few weeks ago and give this Christmas to make a difference. If you don’t have one, or you want an extra copy, we’ve got the Giving Calendar at the information counter in the lobby. But sadly, most of us do not choose the way of voluntary humility. humility is involuntarily pressed upon us.

And so

And humility was involuntarily pressed upon Galilee of the Gentiles. And humility is being involuntarily pressed upon the U.S. right now and many other countries in the world through terrorist threats and political upheaval and economic failure and downturns. How does God rescue? God shines light into dark places Isaiah 9:2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Now, notice that the initiative again comes from God. People seated in darkness don’t produce their own light. They aren’t responsible for the light. Instead, totally apart from us, totally apart from anything we can do, light appears. Light is always a gift of God. Now, what does it mean to sit in darkness? Well, darkness is a symbol in the Bible of many things. One of the things it is a symbol of is hopelessness and despair. And I think this Christmas of people who have suffered the loss of loved

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ones and as a result are sitting in darkness. I think of people who are desperately ill, or who have children or spouses, or parents, or siblings who are desperately ill. Illness and the fear surrounding illness and injury may cause us to be seated in a dark place this Christmas. And, of course, I think of and pray for the people that I mentioned at the beginning of this talk – Christians in India and around the world who are being persecuted for their faith, people who are fleeing from marauding troops, people who are victims of human trafficking, folks who are losing homes and who have lost jobs. These are all folks who are seated in darkness. But darkness in the Bible is not just a symbol of despair or desolation. It is also a symbol of spiritual ignorance and unbelief. Ephesians 4:17-18 says this: Ephesians 4:17-18 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. There are many people in Central Ohio, particularly in teaching positions at our universities, professionals at our local hospitals and law firms and corporations who are saying this Christmas Season, “I can’t believe in Christ because I know too much.” The attitude on the part of many people in Central Ohio is “I am too smart to believe.” You see, there is an underlying message especially through mass media that Christianity is for uneducated people, for the gullible, the unenlightened. It is so archaic, so medieval to be a serious Christian. We can go to Christmas Eve services and handout Christmas presents and have a Christmas Tree, but it is absolutely medieval to be a serious Christian. That is the popular portrayal of religion. Our language betrays the prejudices of our culture. Even the way we talk about faith and unbelief, we say the atheist has honest doubts, but the believer has blind faith, not blind doubts and honest faith. We don’t say the atheist has blind doubts and the believer has honest faith. We talk about honest doubts and blind faith. The time when people across Europe generally believed is called the “Dark Ages.” When folks threw off their beliefs, we call that The Enlightenment. But you know, in people’s more honest moments, some of the world’s greatest atheists confessed that they doubted their doubts. The great German philosopher and poet, Goethe, was a brilliant intellect, who spent his life analyzing and reasoning and philosophizing, cried out on his deathbed, “More light. I am in darkness, more light.” Boris Pasternak, the author of Dr. Zhivago, once wrote:

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I am an atheist who has lost his faith. There is nothing contradictory about this. There is no paradox. Atheism is a matter of faith. It rests on the belief, not on the certainty, but on the belief that there is no God. There is no proof; there is no scientific proof; there is no philosophical proof that there is no God. The atheist’s decision is a matter of faith. Even if an atheist doesn’t realize that there are exercising faith in their unbelief, there comes a time in people’s lives where their faith that there is no God, or if there is a God he is not particularly relevant to my life, that faith in God’s irrelevance or non-existence begins to erode. And it may be eroding in your life. A young man named Doug Coupland, who is an atheist, wrote a book back in the 90’s called Life After God. Here is what he said in the book: Now – here is my secret: I tell it to you with an openness of heart that I doubt I shall ever achieve again, so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God – that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem capable of giving; to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love. Wow, that’s honest! So, if you talk with someone who says, “I find it hard to believe in God,” or they are communicating, “I find it hard to believe in a God who would care about me and love me and would want to rescue me,” or “I struggle because I have doubts,” you might say, “Everyone struggles with doubt. Everyone does – the Pope, Billy Graham, me, my pastor – we live by faith now and not by sight.” But you might also ask this question, “Have you ever doubted your doubts? Is something going on in your life that is creating a crack in your doubts? Maybe this God that we read about in the Bible is real. Maybe becoming a serious Christian is a real option. Have you ever doubted your doubts?” The contrast that Isaiah is drawing between darkness and light is so helpful because it tells us that there is a fundamental difference between being a nonChristian and becoming a serious Christian. Becoming a serious Christian is not just a matter of some surface change. Becoming a serious Christian is not just a matter of changing some of your behaviors – cleaning up your speech, you stop using drugs, or getting drunk, or cursing, or having sex outside of marriage. You start going to church, or you start praying. Certainly, becoming a serious Christian will result in moral change and outward change. But the contrast between light and darkness tells us that becoming a serious Christian is the difference between stumbling in a dark basement and having

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someone turn the lights on. Becoming a serious Christian is the difference between night and day. Christianity is not primarily about moral improvement. It is about regeneration. It is not primarily about becoming nicer, although we sure need to be nicer. It is about becoming a new creation. That is why Jesus used the language, “You must be born again.” The apostle Paul spoke about being transferred from one kingdom to another. Look with me at Galatians 1:4: Galatians 1:4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father Colossians 1:12-13 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves Becoming a Christian means that you are in a totally different kingdom. So the question is do you see this contrast in your own life? Can you say, “I used to be in the darkness, but the light came on for me in terms of a relationship with God.” You say, “I’m living in a new realm right now. I have been translated, I’ve been moved into a new kingdom.” Becoming a serious Christian is radical. It is not, “I think I might be a Christian. I was raised in church. I was baptized.” It is “I have moved from darkness to light.” Has that happened to you, friends? How does God rescue? God beats the odds Remember what God has done. That’s what verse 4 is all about. “For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.” The day of Midian’s defeat is a reference to the Old Testament story of Gideon. The story of Gideon is the story of hope when the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against you. Gideon had 300 men and he faced an enemy of tens of thousands of Mideonites. The story of Gideon is the story of hope in God alone. When there is no human reason why you should win. There’s absolutely no reason in the world why something should work out, God can beat all the odds. That God can defeat your enemy no matter how big they are. God does work miracles – miracles of healing, miracles of rescue, miracles of restoration.

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Friend, do you want to regain hope, if you are in a dark place? Start reading and meditating on this book. The whole Bible breathes with the message of hope. It says, “Remember what God has done.” In fact, in Genesis, the story of Abraham is a story of hope for children when childbearing is medically impossible. The story of Abraham’s family – Isaac, Jacob, Joseph – that’s a story of hope for us when the family we grew up in is radically dysfunctional. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph – it doesn’t matter what your family was like, how screwed up they were, there’s hope for you. That’s what the story is about. The story of Samson in the book of Judges is a story of hope when we’ve wasted our potential and become a tragedy. The story of the apostle Peter in the New Testament is the story of hope when we’ve blown it and betrayed everything we say we believe. The story of Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba – they are all female ancestors of Jesus Christ – prostitutes and adultresses. It doesn’t matter how bad your circumstances are, you can be a rape victim, utterly unchurched, or a million miles from God and God’s grace can triumph. The story of the resurrection is the ultimate story of hope. Here is Jesus, mocked, stripped, beaten, spikes driven in His hands and feet, gasping for air, then a spear is thrust in His side, and His heart explodes. Here is Jesus, dead, buried and after three days, gloriously alive. The story of the resurrection is the story of hope even in the face of death. Death doesn’t have the last word, God does! Do you get it? Do you read the Bible and allow the hope of scripture to fill your soul with joy? God can beat the odds. God can beat any odds – in India, in Pakistan, in The Congo, in the American economy, in your life, in a loved one’s life. It is not your faith that beats the odds, it is the God, who you place your faith in who beats the odds. Who is this odds-beating God, who visited our planet on Christmas? God sends his Son Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. When we hear the words “Wonderful Counselor” referring to Christ, don’t think of an infinitely big therapist. Most of us in the 21st century therapeutize everything. But that is not what “counselor” meant in ancient Israel – therapist. A Counselor was someone who, along with prophets and priests, revealed God to people. We just finished a series on the book of Proverbs. The counselors were the sages, the ones who revealed God’s wisdom to people, especially God’s wisdom to the King.

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But unlike merely human counselors, this Counselor in Isaiah 9.6 gives wisdom that doesn’t fail. The Son that God has given offers counsel that is eternal. Christ’s counsel always will be fruitful. Christ’s counsel will always be effective. It is unerring. Psalm 16:7 refers to the Lord’s counsel this way: Psalm 16:7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. And Psalm 32:8 says: Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. You might be facing cancer or an operation, or bankruptcy, or infertility. We can get through anything if we listen to the wisdom of our Wonderful Counselor, Jesus. A word from him in scripture or by his Holy Spirit can get you through anything. That the son to be born is called “Wonderful Counselor” means that the counsel coming from this Son, from Messiah, will inspire awe; it will create astonishment. What we hear from Christ goes beyond human wisdom and human capacity. When you hear a true word from Jesus Christ, you read his words in scripture, or you sense his wisdom coming to you via the Holy Spirit, it does create a sense of awe. This answer, this counsel, this advice is so far beyond anything I might have thought of. This Christmas there are people all over the world sitting in darkness. Many of us find ourselves in a place of darkness. But God in his infinite love and grace wants to bring light into our dark places. The miracle-working God that we serve wants to give hope for those who are in darkness. Our God grants astonishing wisdom, awesome revelation, for any of you who seek him for light in your place of darkness. Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor. Let’s pray.

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Wonderful Counselor Rich Nathan December 6-7, 2008 Advent: For Unto Us a Child is Born Isaiah 9:1-6 1. A World in Darkness (Isaiah 9:2) 2. A God Who Rescues (2 Samuel 14:14) 3. The Way of Rescue a. God humbles us (Isaiah 9:1) b. God shines light into dark places (Isaiah 9:2) c. God beats the odds (Isaiah 9:4) d. God sends his Son (Isaiah 9:6)

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