Deo Gloria
December 3, 2025
Sermon for Midweek Advent Service
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Isaiah 9:1-2,6-7
Theme: His Name Shall Be Called – Wonderful Counselor
How many of you are familiar with Hulk Hogan? I know that dates me a bit, but I’m glad I’m not the only one. So why was he called Hulk Hogan? Obviously Hulk was not his real name. He was called Hulk Hogan because he was a really big guy, like the Incredible Hulk. He was a hulk of a man. How about Johnny Cash? Do you remember what he was called? That’s right: The Man in Black. He was called that name because he typically dressed all in black. How about Elvis Presley? That’s right. He was known as “The King,” not because he actually was a king or came from a royal family but because he became known as the king of rock and roll. These titles describe something about these men and their work.
The same is true of our Savior Jesus. He too had nicknames or titles that tell us something about him and his work. Take the name Jesus, for example. The name Jesus means “Savior” or more specifically “Jehovah saves.” It’s the name the angel told Joseph to give him, because, as the angel said, “he will save his people from their sins”(Matthew 1:21). Another name Jesus had was Immanuel, a name that means “God with us,” which is a beautiful description of who Jesus really is. He is God who came to live with us.
In Isaiah ch. 9 we find four more titles that were given to Jesus many centuries before he was born. They too tell us important things about him. They reveal to us both who is and what he came to do. Tonight we’re going to take a closer look at the first of those titles: Wonderful Counselor.
Back at the beginning of chapter 9 Isaiah describes the coming of the promised Savior with these words:
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 Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.(vv. 1+2)
At the time of Isaiah, the land of Galilee, which included the territories given to the descendants of Zebulun and Naphtali, had indeed become a land of gloom and distress and darkness and death. The land was filled with false prophets who prophesied lies to the people of Israel instead of the truth of God’s Word. The land was filled with false religion, especially the disgusting worship of Baal and Asherah. And soon, all too soon, the land would be ravaged and conquered and destroyed by the Assyrian army. The armies of Israel would be decimated, many thousands would be killed and many thousands more would be taken away into captivity—never to return. In these verses, though, Isaiah is looking forward to another day, a day when the land of Galilee would be honored by God, a day when a great light would shine in that land and bring light and life to the people living there. The day or time he was looking forward to was the time of the Messiah. And that great light was Jesus himself.
Then we skip down to verse 6, where Isaiah adds additional details about the coming Savior. He writes: “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….”
A counselor is someone you look to for advice or counsel, especially when you’re struggling emotionally or maybe wrestling with a difficult decision. Ever since the COVID pandemic many people have sought help from counselors or psychiatrists to help them deal with depression and other mental health issues. Sometimes a business owner might seek the advice or counsel of an attorney when drawing up a new contract or starting a new business venture to make sure he has all of his bases covered and the deal won’t come back to bite him.
Unfortunately sometimes the advice such counselors give is not very good advice. A couple of years ago I was talking to a man who struggled with depression at times in his younger days. He sought out professional help to help him with his depression. The counselor told him he should have sex with as many women as he could. That would help him feel better. That was not very good advice. I know another young man who was struggling with his sexuality, as teenagers sometimes do. He sought help through an online counseling service. The counselor told him he needed to embrace his feelings and transition to becoming a woman. That was lousy advice too. I remember reading about a rather successful businessman, who had recently taken a business class at Harvard University. He was asked in the interview what was the most important thing he had learned in the class. He said his #1 take away was this: You can do whatever you want, just stay out of the media. That is what is taught as business ethics at Harvard University? No wonder there’s so much corruption!
And when it comes to spiritual advice and counsel, our land isn’t any better than the land of Galilee at the time of Isaiah. Our land too is filled with all kinds of false information and darkness and death. Many today follow the prophet Mohammed. They claim that he is the ultimate prophet sent from God, that he can show you the way to paradise by serving Allah and perhaps even giving your life for Allah; but that is bad advice. No matter how many supposed “infidels” you kill in service to Allah you will end up in hell. Many others today are followers of Joseph Smith. They claim that by following his teachings and living a godly life you can become a god yourself and one day live in the Celestial Kingdom. But that too is bad advice. And if you follow it, you will end up in hell. There are lots of other religious leaders and teachers now days who teach things that blatantly contradict the Word of God: that homosexuality is OK in the eyes of God, that gay marriage is OK, that men can become women and women can become men and it’s all perfectly fine with God—when it’s not. Such spiritual teaching or counsel is harmful for people and their souls. It leads them into sin or reinforces their own sinful desires. It undermines their faith and trust in God’s Word and ultimately leads them away from God.
Jesus isn’t like that at all. He is a good counselor. The advice and counsel he gives is always truthful, always right, always what’s good and best for us, even though we might not always like it. When it comes to marriage and family, Jesus always gives us good advice. Couples should never live together or have sex together before marriage. Rather they should keep themselves sexually pure until they get married, then have sex and then have children. And marriage is between one man and one woman, period. That’s good and godly advice. When it comes to morality Jesus always gives us good advice. Don’t hurt others or take advantage of others. Don’t lie. Don’t steal. Don’t run other people down. Obey your parents and others in authority. Love your neighbor as yourself. That’s good and godly advice. The same is true when it comes to business or relationships or other life-related issues. Jesus always gives us good advice. He always tells us what is good and right and best.
But most of all, Jesus is a good counselor when it comes to God and our relationship with God and how a person can get to heaven. He gives us true wisdom that will lead to eternal life in heaven. Again, Jesus doesn’t necessarily tell us what we want to hear. He tells us what we need to hear. He tells us the truth.
Jesus makes it abundantly clear that there are not many different gods and not many different ways to heaven. There is only one God and only one way to heaven; and he is it. Why? Because he is the only one who deals with the problem of our sin.
Though we may not like to admit it, we are sinful. We all are. God says, “You shall not misuse my name,” and we have. God says, “You shall not steal” and we have. God says, “You shall not lie or hate or covet or lust. And we have. We all have broken his commands. We all have said and done things that are wrong in his sight. So what are we going to do about it?
The most common notion, the idea that is taught in virtually every other religion, is that you have to make up for what you did. You have to do good things to make up for the bad. You have to say certain prayers to God or give lots of money to God or do lots of good things for God and for others. And if you do enough good, God will be pleased with you and let you into heaven when you die. Here’s the problem: You cannot earn God’s favor by what you do, because you already have earned his anger on account of your sins. And no matter what you do, you can’t make up for those sins. God is a holy and just God. And if you broke his law, then you deserve to be punished. And the punishment for sin is death. “The wages of sin is death”(Romans 6:23).
So Jesus never points us to ourselves and what we need to do to fix the problem of sin, because he knows we can’t. Instead he points us to himself, because he can. And he has. That’s why he came, why he was born as a baby in Bethlehem, why he suffered and died on Calvary’s cross. He came to be your substitute, to take your sins upon himself and suffer the punishment that you deserved so that you might be spared, so that you might be forgiven. And in light of what he did for you and for me and for all people—in light of what he did he makes this promise: that whoever believes in him shall not perish but shall have eternal life.(John 3:16) That is good advice. That is wonderful advice. That is the only advice that will save your soul from death and give you eternal life in heaven.
So listen to him. By all means listen to him. Listen to him as you live in this world of ours that is filled with so much misinformation and darkness and confusion. Listen to him as we prepare our hearts for his glorious return. Listen to him for godly wisdom and wisdom that saves. Listen to Jesus and believe what he says, because he is our Wonderful Counselor. Amen.