Chapter 9, Isaiah Chapter 9. Looking at the names and the titles of Christ. We're going to look at another one tonight in Isaiah Chapter 9. Isaiah Chapter 9. We're all there? All right, let's pray. Father, we come to this evening, and Lord, again, we are very grateful we can be in church tonight. A wonderful Sunday, Lord, where we have time to feed upon Thy Word in the morning and the evening, feed our bellies in the afternoon. A great time we had today under the gazebo and raising money for our kids going to camp and appreciate that. And again, Lord, we pray a special blessing upon the ones we have going and all the young people that are there. that their hearts will be touched this week, a week where they get away from all the junk of this world, and a week where they can concentrate on you through the preaching of your word, and pray, Lord, you will touch lives in the process. Bless us tonight, Father, for we are gathered together at your feet as your children desiring to hear from heaven. And Lord, choosing the foolishness of preaching, all you have to work with up here is this piece of dirt. And me and my flestral is no good thing. And without you, I can do nothing. And so Lord, I pray you would take this clay vessel and simply fill it with your spirit and your power and your passion and your words and your wisdom. Give it grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Put a watch by its mouth, a guard by its lips. But Lord, I pray that you would use it tonight. Spirit of God, please stand behind this pulpit. And please sit with us in our seats and enlighten us and minister to us and speak to us and help us. Lord, we are navigating this end times world in which we live. All the stuff that's going on, we really don't know how things are gonna resolve here, but we do know you're gonna blow the trumpet eventually. And Lord, we thank you for that. But until then, Lord, help us and give us wisdom in navigating the things of this life. and we ask it in Christ's name, amen. Isaiah chapter nine, and we're gonna look at verse six. And boy, I've been committing the cardinal sin here lately that we are, that I'm using verses that should only be used in December. I talked about Mary and the birth of Christ, when was that, Thursday night, and that should only be December. And now Isaiah chapter nine and verse six, which is only a verse used in December by many people. But, and by the way, if you read your bulletin, we're going to have a Christmas in July. Because I've got a list for Santa Claus that's getting so long, I'm thinking we need to split this year in half. And he can work on at least half that list I've got. Well, what we want to do is to be a blessing to the missionary families. We would do that at Christmastime. But we believe it would be better to do it in July, and so we'll be working on that and planning that. So keep that in mind. But we are looking at Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6 at another one of the names or titles of Christ. And it says, for on us a child is born, on us a son is given, and the government shall rest upon his, or be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And we're gonna look at our God tonight with the title of Counselor. And counsel is a great thing. Counsel, by definition, if you look at Mr. Webster's 1828, His first definition of counsel is advice. And I don't know if you cherish advice. I cherish advice. I cherish good advice. I even cherish bad advice. Because at least I know what's bad. But there's good to have good advice. Advice, opinion, instruction, given upon request or otherwise. Sometimes people ask you for advice. Sometimes you have this habit of giving it without people asking. That can cause some issues. But directing the judgment or conduct of another, opinion given upon deliberation or consultation. So that's the basic definition of counsel. But in definitions eight and nine, he goes into the spiritual aspect of it. Definition eight, counsel is defined as direction of God's word. And that's the important thing. The counsel we're talking about tonight and the counselor that the counselor of Isaiah nine and verse six is going to give us is the word of God. Psalm 73, 24, thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterwards receive me to glory. Well, that's a great way to look at life. How do you live life? He counsels me day by day. And when I'm dead, I'm off to glory. Definition number nine, the will of God or His truth and doctrines concerning the way of salvation and discipleship. And gives us Acts 20 and verse 27, where Paul says to the church at Ephesus before he leaves, he's got all the elders meeting there and he's going over his stuff with them. And he says in verse 27, I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. He said, I've taught you everything I could teach you. And refers to that as the counsel of God. And so in simplicity, when you sit in church and you come here for Sunday school and Sunday morning, Sunday night, Thursday night, what you're getting is the counsel of God as long as whoever's standing behind the pulpit is preaching you the Bible and doing it the right way. You're getting the counsel of God. And you know what? We don't charge you $200 an hour. There are psychologists and counselors out there that'll charge you 200 bucks an hour so you can sit down and lie to them. They don't know you. You tell them your story. They don't know if you're telling the truth or not. They don't care. but you get to come in here for free and have the council of god preach to you and sometimes you like it and sometimes you don't but god is going to give you what you need to get we'll talk more about that but a counselor is one who does what we just said in the above. He directs us through God's word. He gives us truth and doctrine and things to live by. Take your Bible and turn to Isaiah chapter 30. It's one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 30. Isaiah chapter 30. Isaiah chapter 30, look at verse 20. And this is a reference to, I believe, to the Millennium. It says, And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, that'd be, of course, during the Tribulation, it shall not thy teachers be removed into any corner anymore. For thine eyes shall see thy teachers. And look at verse 21. This is what they're going to say. This is what's going to happen. Thine eyes shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it. When you turn to the right hand or when you turn to the left. And I've preached to you time and again about the deviation. And this is a verse right here that says we just simply listen to the voice behind it. Now here, the context is teachers, but I'm gonna tell you how it works with you and I. With you and I, it's the Holy Spirit of God. And the scriptures that you have put in your head, because as you go through life and you're trying to walk down the path God wants you to walk, it's uncanny. How if you start to deviate to the right, or you start to deviate to the left, a red flag pops up. And a lot of times that red flag is the Holy Spirit saying, what are you doing? I refer to it many times as my inner dog. Going in one direction or this direction, suddenly the inner dog starts barking. Basically saying, what are you doing? how the Holy Spirit leads us in this life. We have the path that we walk on, and picture a path. Picture a nice path that's nice and straight, kind of above everything, a beautiful path to walk down, and then picture on each side a deep ditch. And you know what? So many Christians reject that beautiful path that God has for us, and go to the right hand or left hand. In both cases, you end up in the ditch. And that's where modern psychology is right there. in the ditch, trying to fix the people that have fallen off in the ditch. When the only fix for those people is to get them out of the ditch and get them back on the right path. So we'll talk more about that. But I love that verse. This is the way, walk ye in it. How many times a day does the Holy Spirit speak to your heart and say, this is the way, walk ye in it. This is the way to go, walk ye in it. Psalm 25 we'll go to Psalm 25 talking about our counselor tonight we've got a wonderful counselor in the Lord Jesus Robert a Psalms 25 Psalms 25 and verse 9 it says the meek will he guide in judgment and the meek will he teach his way So the counselor is going to guide us with perfect judgment and teach us his way. So well, preacher, I don't want to be considered meek, preacher. Well, maybe you don't understand what the word means. There were two men in the Bible both described or described themselves as meek. OK? And you have your definition of meek. We hear the word meek and we kind of think wimpy, right? Meek, wimpy, what have you. Well, take your Bible and go to Numbers Chapter 12. And we're going to see if that fits. Numbers Chapter 12. In Numbers Chapter 12, we have one of the men in Scripture that is defined as meek. very meek. Look at Numbers chapter 12 and look at verse 3. Numbers 12 and verse 3 says this, now the man Moses was very meek above all the men that were upon the face of the earth. So you look at Moses, can I ask you a question? Would you ever consider Moses being wimpy? wouldn't consider Moses being wimpy would you so that's not the definition of meek wimpy and meek or not not that's not the definition I'll give you the other one that's me go to a Matthew chapter 11 Matthew chapter 11 Matthew chapter 11 look at verse 29 Jesus is speaking here and look what he says Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest in your souls. Let me ask you a question. When you studied and read about the life of Jesus Christ, is being wimpy one of the definitions you'd come up with His life? I don't think so. Neither Moses nor Jesus were wimpy. I mean you think you take Moses he comes down from the mountain the first time of the Ten Commandments to an orgy going on and he gets so mad he gets so upset he takes those tablets and he busts them up and he busts up that golden calf and he has a fit. That's not a wimp doing that. you take Jesus Christ twice in his ministry the beginning and the end he goes in the temple there's people selling and buying and all that stuff going on and he goes in there and throws those people out and chases the animals out and tips over the money changers tables and all that stuff and he takes a scourge he makes a scourge a small whip and he's whipping the animals out and he's probably whipping some of the people out would you consider that wimpy I don't think so So what does the word meek mean? Well, one fellow defined it this way, as an iron fist and a velvet glove. That might work. Webster tells us, in the evangelical biblical sense, appropriately humble, submissive to the divine will, not proud, self-sufficient or refractory, not peevish or apt to complain of divine dispensations. just basic idea submissive to the divine will a meek person says God you're the boss Moses said to the Lord you're the boss and so if you believe that God is in control of your life and you're desiring Jesus Christ to lead you through this life and you want him to speak and say this is the way walkie in it then you're meek it's a good thing it's a good thing And according to a verse we just read in the Psalms, them equally guide in judgment, them equally teach his way. I'm all for that. I'm all for that. I'm all for being taught by the Lord. Look at Psalm 32. Psalm 32, look at verse 8. Again, God as our counselor says, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. Well, what does that mean? I will guide thee with mine eye. Go to Numbers chapter 10. Get Numbers 10 in one hand, Jeremiah 24 in the other. Numbers chapter 10. I will guide thee with mine eye. Numbers chapter 10, look at verse 31. And he said, leave us not, I pray thee, for as much as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, And now mayest be to us instead of eyes. Lord, we gotta go in that wilderness. We don't know where to go. But if you're our eyes, in other words, you're the scout, you're the leader, you're the point man, you can take us, you can scout the path out and you can get us through there because you can see what we can't see. That's the kind of God I want in my life. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, what's going to happen the rest of the night. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow and what's going to happen next week. I have some ideas on things that are going to happen. But I sure appreciate I've got a scout that's going before me. I've got a point man going before me that's dealing with the things that need to be dealt with. He's guiding me with his eyes. He's looking for me. Look at Jeremiah 24. Jeremiah 24, look at verse 6. and God says for I will set mine eyes upon them for good and I will bring them again to this land and I will build them and not pull them down I will plant them and not pluck them he's talking about the children of Israel in captivity there's the children of Israel in Babylon being punished for their their wickedness 70 years of punishment in Babylon and yet God says this I've got my eye on them I've set my eye on them and I'm not I'm not just watching them for to do something wrong he said I've set my eye on them for good want to help them I want to bring them back out of Babylon I want to bring them back into the land I've set my eye upon them for good and then Deuteronomy 32 Deuteronomy 32 very familiar phrase Deuteronomy 32 and the Lord's reiterating basically Israel personification of Israel here where he says in verse 10, he found them in a desert land and in the waste telling wilderness, he led them about, he instructed them, he kept them as the apple of his eye. And so when the Lord guides us by his eye, he looks at us for good, we're the apple of his eye, he is the point man, the scout that's leading the way for us through the mess of this world. Now go to Psalm 48, Psalm 48. And this message tonight will be as long as I have battery in this iPad. I didn't charge it this afternoon, and I'm watching it go down as I go here, so bear with me. Psalm 48, look at verse 14. For this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even unto death. You know the wonderful thing about the Lord is? He's gradled a crave to eternity guidance. You can't beat that. The government tries to give people cradle to grave provision. We don't want that. But we want the Lord from the cradle to the grave to eternity as our guidance. Psalm 73. We already looked at that once. Let's look at it again. Psalm 73 and look at verse 24. Psalm 73 and verse 24. He says, thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, afterward receive me to glory. Boy, that's simplicity, isn't it? How do you live the Christian life? Well, just let the Lord guide you until you're dead, and when you're dead, he'll take you home. That's a pretty simple thing. Go to John 16. John 16. John 16. And look, if you will, at verse 13. This is the Lord speaking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It says, Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. He shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, he will show you things to come. Well, what a wonderful thing to have the Holy Spirit to guide us, to guide us into all truth. There's no reason why any Christian should go off into heresy, why any Christian should go off the path, because the Holy Spirit is there to guide us into all truth. Now, there's a danger in wrong counsel. Because like everything in this life, there's the good version of it, and there's the bad version of it. And there is wrong counsel. Go to Job chapter 38. Job chapter 38, Job chapter 38, starting at verse 1, And remember the story of Job. Job, for the first 30-some chapters of the book, has three guys that are trying to counsel him, trying to help him, Larry, Moe, and Curly. And they have no idea what they need to give Job. Then a young man by the name of Elihu shows up. And Elihu puts his two cents worth. And Elihu's the only one that made any sense. Elihu was never punished. The other three are by the Lord. The Lord's upset with those three. Elihu was never punished. In fact, the Lord listens enough to Elihu, and he says, let me take over. And so in chapter 38, starting at verse one. It says, and the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? And boy, that's the kind of counsel you want to stay away from. Between those three guys and Job's response to those three guys, the Lord kind of reckoned that as being counsel with words without knowledge. And that's a bad thing. Now, compare that to Proverbs 24 and verse 6. Comparing that to Proverbs 24 and verse 6, The Bible says, for by wise counsel thou shalt make thy ward a multitude of counselors of safety. So there's counsel that are words without knowledge, or stupid counsel, and then there is wise counsel. There is also satanic counsel. Go to First Chronicles chapter 10. First Chronicles chapter 10. Where's Chronicles Chapter 10? Look if you will at verse 13. We know Saul's life was a mess. After Samuel died, Saul had nobody to talk to. He can't pray. God's not listening to him or answering his prayer. Samuel's not there to give him advice or anything like that. So he does the one stupid thing that's left to do. He finds a witch. Now, he had put the word out that all the witches should be put to death. That's Old Testament. Well, this one happened to get away. They found out she was at Endor. So Saul and a couple of his servants head off and find this witch of Endor. He disguises himself. Because if she sees it's him, she's going to know she's going to be put to death. So he goes to her and he wants her to bring Samuel up from the dead. And this is the only case we know of where somebody actually did come back from the heart of the earth, Sheol, where Samuel was resting, comes back from the heart of the earth and actually talks to Saul. You say, did she really do that? She didn't do a thing. God did that. And in fact, when she brought, it's funny when you read it, when she saw Samuel coming up, she screams and she says, she couldn't believe what she's seeing. I'm seeing angels descending and ascending out of the pit and there's Samuel. She had never brought anybody back from the dead and she was scared to death when it actually did happen. But Saul takes counsel of Samuel and Samuel says, you're dead tomorrow. You are dead tomorrow. Now, 1 Chronicles 10, verse 13 gives us the commentary on what he did. Look at verse 13. So Saul died for his transgression, which he committed against the Lord. We've talked about that before, when he had Agag, and he didn't kill Agag, and they offered sacrifice. They're supposed to kill and all that stuff. But continue on. Even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit. One of the reasons God put him to death was you took counsel of a familiar spirit. That is an absolute no-no. And if any of you, God help you, if any of you are calling the psychic hotline to get advice, you are putting yourself in a bad position. Or if you're following astrology, what's my sign? I don't care what my sign is. And you know what? My sign a few hundred years ago would have been a different sign because it's changing and it's moving and it's shifting. Nobody talks about that. And you honestly believe that the stars can fix or have anything to do with your course in life? How stupid. So you better not be calling the psychic hotline. You better not be looking at astrology. You better not be getting your tarot card reader going to one of those or anything like that. God doesn't look well on people that do that stuff. So be very careful about that. That's the wrong counsel. But then there's non-biblical counsel. Just plain old non-biblical counsel. Go to Jeremiah chapter 23. Jeremiah chapter 23. And the Lord's frustrated with the people of Israel. He's trying, he sent preachers to them, prophets to them, they don't listen to them, they kill the preachers and the prophets. Jeremiah now is the one that's getting the brunt of their rejection of God. And the Lord is frustrated with what's going on. So in 23 verse 22, he says but if big word there if if they had stood in my counsel and had caused my people to hear my words then they would have turned from their evil way and from the evil of their doing so that's the problem I gave them my counsel here's my people I gave them my counsel they were my words and they rejected it and got themselves in the mess they got themselves in What does the Lord think about non-biblical counsel? Well, Psalm 1, verse 1, which all of you probably know by heart, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. And there's a lot of ungodly counsel out there. Now, some of you may know, maybe you don't, but I have a problem with psychology. And I have, at times, I'm gonna give you some stuff tonight. I have a problem with psychology. I'm not the only one, all right? So I'm gonna give you some quotes tonight in the next few minutes of what psychologists say. Now when I say psychology, that's a broad field. I'm basically talking about the psychotherapy and its underlying psychology, okay? And here's my opinion. If you think you have a psychological problem, or a mental problem, here's my advice to you. Go to your doctor. Not the psychologist, go to your doctor. And request from your doctor a full medical workup, where they test everything. Because I think that's nine times out of 10, the depression that you're going through, and the highs and lows, the moods that you're going through, have more to do with the physical than with the mental. I remember when I first came here, Julie had a relative, an older fellow that tried to commit suicide. Put a gun to his head, tried to commit suicide. We prayed for him, he survived. And so I guess, if I remember correctly, when the word got out that why was he so depressed, because they took his soul away from him. I got news for you, you take soul away from me, don't get me near a gun. That would probably do the same thing. But a lot of times, the reason why we have these mood swings and what have you is because of High sugar, low sugar. High sodium, low sodium. I'm hearing voices. Well, maybe if they do the MRI on your head, they might find a little tumor somewhere that's pushing on something in your brain and causing that. Honestly, if you think you have a mental problem or a psychological problem, go to your PCP and say, look, I need tests. I want a full medical workup. And hopefully insurance covers it. But what you want to do is eliminate every possibility before you go to the psychological side of it. That's my advice. Now. There was a lady by the name of Tina Dineen, licensed psychologist who abandoned her critical practice, clinical practice, and wrote a book called Manufacturing Victims, what the psychology industry is doing to people. When I get the books on my bookshelf, hopefully this week, that's one of the books that'll be up there, and it'll be in a section that has to do with psychology. She wrote this book, and the whole thesis was manufacturing victims. She said this, or made this, here's the thought. Her main thesis for which she provides extensive support is this, with degrees in psychology, medicine, social work, nursing, or with no academic qualifications at all, the expanding workforce of the psychology industry relies for its survival and growth and its ability to manufacture victims. Because if you're gonna have clients, they have to think there's something wrong, so psychology says, let's manufacture some of this stuff. One author has accurately described the psychology industry with its false explanations of cause, false statements of fact, false reports of cure, and false claims of authority. Researcher Dr. Jerome Frank has commented about the burgeoning business of psychotherapy as follows. Here's what he says. The demand for psychotherapy keeps pace with the supply and at times one has the uneasy feeling that the supply may be creating the demand. Psychotherapy is the only form of treatment which at least to some extent appears to create the illness that it treats. He also said, too many people today have too much money and not enough to do, and they turn to psychotherapy to combat the resulting boredom. Today, hosts of people seek psychotherapy for discomforts that a less affluent society would regard as trivial. Boy, there's a statement. In the day when people didn't have all the money and had to work hard and what have you, if you had a day of unhappiness or something like that, it was, you know, suck it up, buttercup, stiff upper lip and what have you, you know. Nowadays, if you're depressed or unhappy, oh, let's go to the psychologist, something's wrong with you. Because we have the money in this day and we have the time to do it. Isn't that interesting? Leo Rosten says, as recently as 40 years ago, no one questioned your right to be unhappy unhappiness was considered our happiness was considered a blessing not a guarantee you were permitted to suffer pain to fall into moods to seek solitude without being analyzed interpreted and discussed and that's the way it was I think back when I was a kid growing up you know and kids get moody But I know this, I was never too depressed to cut the grass because my dad wore something around his waist that had a way of driving out depression and getting things done. Now, I'm gonna give you 27 statements, okay? You don't have to answer out loud, but it's kind of like a silent quiz you can answer to yourself, true or false, very simple, true or false. I'm gonna give you statements and you have to think to yourself, is that true or is that false? So, let's start out. Here's the first one, the id, the ego, and the superego are actual parts of the human psyche. True or false? False. A person's unconscious mind drives behavior more than his conscious mind chooses behavior. False. These are false assumptions that have no scientific premise and they don't have no biblical premise. Thirdly, dreams are keys to understanding the unconscious and thus the person. Nope. Present behavior is determined by unresolved conflicts from childhood. As much as we would like to blame mom and dad, that's not the case. Many people are in denial because they have repressed unpleasant memories into the unconscious. Nope, false. Parents are to blame for most people's problems. Noel says, that's true, that one's true. But no, it's false. It's false. People need insight into their past to make significant changes in thoughts, attitudes, and actions. Nope. Children must successfully pass through their psychosexual stages of development or they will suffer from neurosis later on. Nope. And if we had time to get into this, and maybe someday I will, I'll give you all the documentation you need. If I am to experience significant change, I must remember to re-experience painful incidents in my past. No. The first five years of life determine what a person will be like when he grows up. Well, you probably heard that one. No. Everything that has ever happened to me is located in my unconscious mind. No. People use unconscious defense mechanisms to cope with life. No. People need to attribute worth to themselves. No. People need positive self-regard. Nope. Most problems are because of low self-esteem. That's what Dobson pushed for years, which has been disproven time and time again. People need high self-esteem. They need to feel good about themselves. I could give you statistics, I could give you an example of where sociologists went into the prison, a juvenile prison, because they figured all those kids there had low self-esteem and that's why they did what they did. And you know what the conclusion was? These kids all have high self-esteem, they all think wonderful of themselves. God's main purpose is to meet people's felt needs. No. Christians can learn much about themselves through studying psychological theorists such as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Ather, Carl Rogers, and Albert Ellis. Nope. Christians need to be trained in psychology to really help people. No. People need training in biblical counseling because just knowing the Bible is not enough for helping people with serious problems. Well, I believe you need to know the Bible if you're going to counsel. But not necessarily some kind of training in some kind of course. The best counselor uses both psychology and the Bible. Nope. Alcoholics Anonymous was started by Christians and is based on Christian principles. Absolutely not. Alcoholics Anonymous and other recovery groups are necessary for Christians to overcome addictions. Absolutely not. Learning about temperament types and tests can help Christians understand one another. No. Why do you need to be able to understand each other? You're told how to treat each other. You're not told to understand each other. You're told how to treat each other. And maybe in the process of that, you might begin to understand why a person is the way they are. But you're not told to understand them. You're told to treat them in a particular way. Love of the brotherhood, kind one to another. People must pay money to obtain the best help for mental, emotional, behavioral problems. Nope. Paying for professional counseling effectively motivates people to improve. Hasn't worked in the last 40 years. A psychotherapist training credentials and experiences are all important ingredients for effectively helping others with problems of living. No. No. Every one of these things, all 27 of those, are based on false assumptions. They have no biblical or scientific basis. Which again, if I decide to go farther into this, I can give you the documentation for that. People who believe these popular assumptions about psychology often do not know where these notions originated. You heard Dobson, if you ever listen to Christian radio, you probably heard Dobson over the years talk about low self-esteem and you have to ask yourself, where did that come from? Did anybody ever ask themselves where did that come from? We simply heard Dr. Dobson saying these things and he was a Christian, so he's got to be right. He's a Christian, you realize there's no such thing as a Christian psychologist? A Christian psychologist is a Christian who's had to adapt to secular psychology. Dobson got his license to practice Christian psychology from California, if I remember correctly, when the cost to get that was $25. but it was promoted in such a way and he's got doctor in front of his name and it sounded so good and he sounded so loving and sounds so caring that you said it's got to be true without ever asking where did he get that from never asked where these notions originated or that these ideas may are merely human opinions then when these ideas are combined with scripture people wrongly assume they're biblical remember in dealing with stuff like this there's one question you should always raise when people start talking this stuff and that question is and you know that because and many times that shuts them right now how do you know that psychologist Roger Mills in an article he wrote called psychology goes insane botches role as science says the field of psychology today is literally a mess there are as many techniques methods and theories around as there are researchers and therapists I have personally seen therapists convincing their clients that all of their problems come from their mothers again Noel says that's me the stars their biochemical makeup their diet could be their lifestyle some of them even talk about their karma from past lives you're paying $200 to a psychologist who's telling you your problem is your karma from a past life now here's what psychology does accomplish okay they accomplish something Frank points out, quote, the first step in gaining control of any phenomenon is to give it a name. And so whatever the disorder may be, they've got these cool names that they can give it. He also says that we need to master some conceptual framework to enable us to maintain our confidence. So here's this disorder. You don't know what's causing it. But she said, we need to give it a name. So you give it a name. Then you've got a framework of all these other disorders. You say, let's put this disorder right here. OK, we got it under control. They've done nothing but name it. People seek names, words, and thoughts. They look for a Rosetta Stone to decipher the mysterious symbols and actions of the human psyche. And that's what they can't do. Naming, describing, and categorizing human behavior does not necessarily bring knowledge and understanding. There's a great gulf between describing human behavior and truly understanding it, and also between talking about human behavior and changing it. And psychotherapeutic theory is merely a combination of subjective, yet scientific-sounding words. Oh, you give it these names and say, well, that sure sounds scientific. Sir Karl Popper, who is considered one of the greatest philosophers of science, Popper investigated the difference between the physical theories, such as Newton's theory of gravity, Einstein's theory of relativity, compared with the theories of human behavior. And in so doing, he began to suspect that psychologies underlying the psychotherapies could not truly be considered scientific. There's nothing scientific about psychology. You can give it words that make it sound scientific, but it doesn't make it scientific. All right? Popper declares that the psychological theory is formulated by Freud, good old Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, and others. And they had their heyday in the 1970s and they had greatly influenced the people in college in the 1970s. That's where this stuff came from. I think it was Adler that came up with the pyramid, the pyramid of needs. If you've ever had a job where you had to learn stuff like that, there's this pyramid of needs and that's what they came up, Adler was the one I think that came up with that. And yet Jesus said, in referencing Mary and Martha, the time he went there, and Martha's in the kitchen cooking, and Mary decided just to stay at the feet of Jesus, and Martha got upset. And Jesus said of Mary, but this one need, she has this one need here. Mary has the most important need right here, and that's to sit at my feet. And that's the greatest need of any human being has, is to sit at the feet of Jesus Christ first. Psychologist Robert Rosenthal. says, but for all the centuries of effort, there is no compelling evidence to convince us that we do understand human behavior very well. And you know what the problem with understanding human behavior is? We're all different. We're all different. And there's only one person in existence that can understand every human being. Wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father. That's why our heavenly counselor is superior to everything else, all right? Now, let me give you three reasons why our counselor is superior to everyone else. Number one, he's truth. Psychologists think they're gonna give you the truth. The guy that says, well, it's the stars are against you, thinks he's telling you the truth. The guy that says it's your karma from a past life, he thinks he's telling you the truth. The guy that says you need to eat more salt, yeah, he's telling you the truth. Or your sugar intaker or whatever, they all think they're telling you the truth. Even though they contradict, many of the theories contradict, they all think they're telling you the truth. But if you wanna find the truth, there's one source of truth, all right? And that source of truth is with him. Now, in order for something to be true, I'm talking about absolute truth, in order for something to be declared true, there's some criteria, right? It must be discoverable, it must be transcultural, it must be unchanging, unaffected by attitude, absolute, and knowable, okay? And you put all that together, if truth meets every one of those criteria, you have absolute truth. Let me give you an example. Two plus two equals four. Okay? Two plus two equals four. It's discoverable if I have two rocks here and two rocks here and I put them together, I have four. It's discoverable. It's transcultural. Whether you're Mexican, whether you're Polish, whether you're Russian, whether you're Chinese, two plus two still equals four. It's unchanging. Well, that was the old way of thinking. Two plus two equals four, that's archaic. Yeah, but it's still two plus two equals four today. It's unchanging. It's unaffected by attitude. Well, I don't want two plus two to be four. I want two plus two to be five. Well, you can want that all you want, sweetheart, but two plus two is still four. It's not five, it's not three, it's four. It's unaffected by attitude. It's absolute. Absolute. And it's knowable, okay? I can know it anytime. Anytime I have two of this and two of that, I put it together, I get four. Anytime, anything, anyplace. Now, the same can be said about God. For example, God is discoverable. Romans chapter 1. Verse 18, starting in verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. You've got a conscience that has the knowledge of God in it. For God has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. Creation. even as eternal power in Godhead, so that they are without excuse. God is discoverable. You want to search for the Lord? He's easy to be found. You look at creation and answer the questions, how did that happen? How did that happen? How did that happen? How did that get designed that way? And why is this designed that way? And how do we have design here, and design here, and design here? And you have to come to the conclusion, if you've got an honest heart, that God had to make that. You just discovered God. Or it may be in the conscience. Where did my morality come from? How do I know something is right and how do I know something is wrong? What is it in me that makes me think something is right and something is wrong? and you discover God gave you a conscience where He's trying to reveal Himself to you. And it's transcultural. That's why we have a mission board back there. Because the gospel that works here in Mesa, Arizona works in Zambia, Africa. It works in Malaysia. It works in Poland. It works in Germany. It works all over the world. It's the same gospel. The same Christ is the one that died on the cross for everybody. His blood was shed for everybody. He was buried and rose again for everybody. Okay? It's transcultural. It's unchanging. Malachi chapter 3 and verse 6 says, for I am the Lord, I change not. It's called the immutability of God. Theological term, immutability. God doesn't change. The same yesterday and today and forever. He deals with people differently in various dispensations, but the nature of God doesn't change. He is immutable. What was true 3,000 years ago is true today. He's unaffected by attitude. Somebody coined the phrase years ago, God said it, I believe it, and that settles it for me. And then somebody shortened it and said, God said it, that settles it for me. But the fact of the matter is, if God says it, that ought to settle it. It's not affected by attitude. Well, I don't want to believe that. I don't care what the Bible says. Well, you may not care what the Bible says, but if God says it, it's true. And it's absolute. Compared to relative, God is absolute. John 17, 17, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth. John 18, 37, and this is the second time Jesus is being interrogated by Pilate. The third time will be after he's scourged, but this is after the second interrogation, and Pilate is getting more and more concerned about Jesus. He's never dealt with anybody like him before, and the accusation that has gone against him is that he is claiming to be a king. And Pilate will say unto him in verse 37 of John 18, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered thou sayeth Sonoma King you said it then he says this to this end was I born for this cause came I into the world well that's a big thing right here he said I was born for this reason I came into the world for this reason and you say well it's to win souls doesn't say that not in this case he said in other cases I came to seek and to say that which was lost but not here here he says to this end was I born for this cause that came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth said I came to bear witness of the truth the law came by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ said I came to bear witness to the truth so if you want to find the source of truth it's going to be in him and it's knowable John 832 and you shall know the truth and truth shall make you free it's knowable if you want to read about it if you want to listen to it it's knowable John 14 and verse 6 Jesus said that him I'm the way the truth and life no man come of the Father but by me if you want to know the truth and you know the Lord you know the truth all right so he is the source of truth now there's the phrase you know all truth is God's truth and you can play around with that or not But the fact of the matter is, he's the source of truth. If a scientist comes up with something over here that's true, and it doesn't contradict God, okay, that's true. But where did that come from? It came from the same God that makes all things, okay? God is the source of truth. That's what makes him a great counselor. He is the source of truth. But, let's add something to that. In 1 John chapter four and verse eight, The Bible tells us this about him. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. So the same one that is the source of truth is the embodiment of love. And boy, when you put those two together, now think about it. If a person goes to a psychologist because they think they have a problem, and they go in there for an hour, sometimes three times a week, sometimes once a week, and you sit there and you talk to the guy, you're telling him your side of the story he doesn't really care about you all he cares is that you pay he doesn't care that much about you because the next person is going to come with a similar kind of story and the next person after that and he's just see when he sees you walk in the door it's cha-ching and he's gonna try to help you but he doesn't have the truth and he doesn't love you Somebody said one time, the greatest counsel you're going to get as a Christian are from the people that you're sitting with in here tonight. Do you know why? Because if you try to pull the same line on the people around here that you've been given to the psychologist, we're going to look at you and laugh and say, where did you get that? Because we know you. We know each other. We've been around each other enough. We know you. So you're not going to try to pull the wool over our eyes. We're going to deal with you out of truth. Hopefully we're going to deal with you out of love because you're a brother or sister in Christ. But he far exceeds all of that. He's absolute truth and he's the embodiment of love. This is the counselor that is available to each and every one of you. But it doesn't end there. Go to Psalm 116. Get Psalm 116 and Hebrews chapter 4. He is the source of truth. He is the embodiment of love. He is the fountain of all mercy and compassion. It's great to have truth. It's great to have that embodied in love, but it's got to act. It's got to transcend, and it does. Psalm 116, verse 5, Gracious is the Lord, righteous, yea, our God is merciful. Mercy is beyond love. I should say it's a part of love. Mercy is love in action. In Hebrews chapter four and verse 15, it says this, for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was at all points tempted, now look at the next four words, like as we are, yet without sin. And never forget, he walked this earth. He was tempted at all points, not in all ways, not in all detailed kinds of temptations, but he understands temptation of this, he understands the temptation of that, temptation of that, he understands that. Let me ask you this, does your psychology live with you? Psychologists live with you? Does he walk in the shoes that you walked in? But you have a counselor that is the source of all truth, the embodiment of love, who says, I know what you're going through. I've walked on that planet. I have been treated and mistreated by people to the point where they crucified me. I know what you're going through. In all points, tempted as we are yet without sin. And in 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 7, one of the greatest verses in the Bible, 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 7, it says this, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. source of all truth, and the embodiment of love, and being like as we are, knows how to dispense to us the mercy and the care that we, his children, need. You're not gonna find that anywhere else. You're not gonna find a psychologist on this planet that can give you that. You're not gonna find a friend on this planet that's gonna give you that. But you can get that from this wonderful counselor that we have. Boy, what a mouthful when Isaiah said, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government shall be upon his shoulders. He shall be called Wonderful Counselor. What a mouthful he said there. Isn't it amazing? We looked at this last Sunday night how amazing it is when you take these titles of God, titles of Jesus Christ and all that they mean and all that they stand for. It is just so What's the word? Complex. God is so complex. And it's just in the titles. But he's so complex. And we've only got up to letter C. What a God we have. All right. I got 9% left. I did good. Any questions or any comments? Any questions or any comments? All right, now don't go home tonight and say, well, preacher was talking about these things, and I know somebody, and I know how many million people live in America, and you know two or three. Well, there's a scientific approach to it, isn't it? Be thankful and be satisfied that you have the greatest counselor you could possibly have. Questions or comments? All right, let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word tonight. We thank you for being our wonderful counselor. And wonderful, I know, is separate from counselor, but you still are a counselor that's wonderful. And Lord, so many times your people will abandon everything that you are, everything that you can do, to pay some guy they don't know that doesn't know them a couple hundred bucks an hour to try to tell them something which is nothing more for them than a guess. Shame on us. Lord, help us to walk with you and seek your counsel every time we need it. Help us to understand that you embody love and everything you do is good. You're always good, you're only good, you're always good to us. And thank you so much for being that kind of God. Bless these folks now as we enter into another work week. Give them safe traveling as they head home. Bless their time this week and bring us back safely on Thursday night. Bless the kids that are going up to camp. Safe traveling mercy there and a great time. And thank you again, Father, for being who you are. In Christ's name, amen. All right, you're dismissed. Thank you for coming tonight. Oh, yes, don't forget that there is stuff back there to eat.