Counsel And Exhortation (the doctrine of Instruction)
Proverbs 12:20, “Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy.” It seems these days there’s a lot of people who like to offer lots of counsel, whether or not anyone asked them for their counsel! For me, i’m still working on filtering the words I let into my mind and heart, i’m learning, sometimes hourly, how to constantly guard my heart by not allowing poor counsel to stick to me.
i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, cool jazz and contemplative conversation just for you wherever you are. The days in which we live are increasing in darkness and increasing in light as the in-breaking Kingdom of God invades this downward spiraling world. Let us exercise our minds to consider carefully the counsel and exhortation of God. Again, friends, lazy thinkers don’t get far. We desperately need a standard. Let us study the word of the Lord, not so we can strut around because we know some-thing, but so we can go in peace because we know some-one, THE someone who is above all and supersedes the authority of all kings and princes of the earth.
This evening, the doctrine of instruction and is the last of a four part series, the doctrine of influence – or impact and significance; the doctrine of impulse – being inclination and motivation; the doctrine of direction – our set and bearing; and now counsel and exhortation, or the doctrine of instruction.
What is good counsel and right exhortation, and why do you trust the people who give that to you? What’s your epistemology, or what you believe, how you came to that conclusion, and why do you think it’s a good idea? And we can be mad and offended that we would be asked such a pointed question, but in the end, the question still stands, what do you believe, how did you came to that conclusion, and why do you think it’s a good idea?
i must admit, i’ve allowed a lot of words take up way, I mean waaaaay, too much space in my head and heart from people who didn’t have joy or peace in their lives, and honestly, i question if they really possessed the desire to allow the Lord to be the motivation of their words. Maybe the words I chose to let take root in my mind and heart have been there way too long without my questioning the wisdom behind them. Here are two phrases for us to ponder concerning how we hear God: cognitive bias and incognitive bias. Those two addresses the little conscious and unconscious preferences in us which turn the word of the Lord in to something God never intended.
We all have the counsel of other people rattling around in our heads, and the truth is, we can only grasp just so much of it all. i am a finite person with finite thinking abilities and typically only function beyond finite when Jesus, the infinite King, is involved in my life. i think we have to remember that all those words in our heads, they take up space, and it truly is space which belongs to God’s word and His counsel. Friends, in a world which wants to overwhelm us with godless counsel, vision, and exhortation, we should determinedly strive for God’s counsel, vision, and exhortation to flood our mind and heart. I want His words to define my life and my choices. We are either defined by the world, or defined by God, either way, we WILL be defined by someone or something, and i believe God’s defining is the best choice.
Because i am human, much of the time, i must admit, i’ve let other people’s counsel influence my thinking. On a side note of sorts, i have thought that many people often give counsel to others that is really meant to make the advice-giver feel better about a decision they made to make themselves feel important. If advice comes from a self-serving place, it’s end is nowhere i want to be. Pride and entitlement will always put us in the wrong place.
i am always making war on my own religiousness, and as a result i’m getting better at hearing my words before i give my words. i don’t want to join the ranks of those who seem to have the gift of unsolicited counsel and hand out advice in order to sound good or appear important thereby getting credit for themselves. We want to hand out Godly wisdom, Godly counsel, and Godly exhortation at the right time to the right person, for the right reason.
John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
And if you’re wondering just exactly what things the Lord has spoken to you, i suggest He has been speaking to you l-o-n-g before you were aware He was speaking to you. Think. Remember when you were a child and you would suddenly have moments of clarity about doing the right thing, possibly feeling the sudden necessity to tell the truth, or a sudden urge to be kind, or maybe, just maybe, you would find yourself with wisdom to not do something dangerous or harmful to others. Where do you think those motivations came from? Do you think the devil would prompt you like that, or maybe it was just the shear excellence of character you possessed?
Maybe, but i’d rather cast my vote for the Lord intervening in your life. He was the one counselling you, even before you believed. If you were interested, you could ask Him to show you the times He intervened and counseled you before you were aware God was even God. You know, these ARE the days that if you ask Him, He will reply. Here’s another idea: for those who are believers, the Holy Spirit is so close to us, He gives us ideas and we think we thought of them.
Good counsel and wisdom is like gold, and many times it’s just hard to get your hands on. When we find a friend who has Godly exhortation brimming in their pockets, we need to hold on to someone like that. The Lord put that person in your path for a reason. Oh and remember, Godly exhortation doesn’t mean just hearing positive, pleasant words which confirm your personal agenda. Listen and think about what was said. No one said we have to receive everything anyone says. Whether or not we allow someone else’s counsel to persuade us is absolutely our responsibility. It is up to us as to the counsel we allow into our hearts, and we should take all words captive, and consider them carefully before we let them roll around in our heads. There are a lot of people who may feel they have a “word from the Lord for us”, but, again, it is our responsibility as to whether we let them stick to us.
Philippians 4:8-9, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Here’s an expansion of that verse: Friends, this is good and right counsel, anything or everything that supports and confirms the cross, whatever lets the glory of God in the door or your house bringing freedom, everything that points to the righteousness of the Lord, all that inspires us to be crowned with His goodness and is clean and sound doctrine, everything or anything which is hospitable and pleasant, all right action making you favorably mentioned and well-spoken of, whatever is of substance and inspires you to be willing to righteousness, if there is anything which causes you to open your hand to the poor, to share your bread with the hungry and downtrodden, consider and think on these things which you have seen of me, and practice them all as your life’s action items. If you do this, the God of peace will be with you.
If the words rolling around in the hallways and rooms of our mind don’t meet the criteria of good, lovely, commendable, honorable, upright, clean, and faithful, then we’ve got to show those words their exit, not even being allowed to stay hidden for a secret time in the future. If someone in your life fills your ears with unkind criticism, manipulative or coercive word patterns, and we do have to learn to see the patterns, don’t even stand still to listen. Ask the Lord to show you any truth in them, then give them the boot out of your head to the trash can. If internet videos or TV shows fill your thoughts with ideas that don’t honor the beauty of marriage, kindness, honor, and respect, don’t even stand still to allow it in your eyes or ears, ask the Lord to purge them from your mind and replace them with His perspective.
Whatever counsel fills your mind, may you only give heart-space to that which brings the joy and peace of the Lord. No one is smart enough to run their own lives. We all need the Holy Spirit to guide and help us discern all that is passing in front of us, trusting only that which would draw us nearer to Jesus. Again, as was in a previous program, if it leads us to God, it must have been sent by God, for only the Lord can lead us to Himself.
Why don’t we receive or accept the counsel of the Lord more often? Isn’t that just a perplexing question? Well, it is to me anyway. Often in my life, God has extended me His counsel and exhortation and reasons unknown to me, i was indifferent in my heart, cold and distant to the love of God. i’m supposed to be this long-standing believer of the gospel of Christ, yet i can sometimes feel the dark edges of unbelief crowding out faith and common sense. It isn’t that the Lord doesn’t give us His wisdom, but i think we wash back and forth in the flow and tides, in the time and seasons between interest and disinterest. His hands of wisdom and supply are consistently open to us, but why we don’t take from His hands more often, accepting what He gives to us, i honestly don’t know, unless it is, again, unbelief which works in us somehow. i don’t know what is going on in my heart sometimes, and i do understand the eternal importance of heeding the Lord, but why, oh why do i, sometimes, become seemingly indifferent? If you were honest with yourself, does that ever happen to you? Can you relate?
In the world we live in, living and dying is just part of life. Everything which draws breath finds it’s end, even the things which aren’t born, like inanimate objects, they eventually decline and are reduced to rubble, ceasing to be as they were if given enough time. We celebrate the birth of one, and mourn and grieve at the death of another. No one can outwit death. Yet, living in our hearts is Jesus Christ, who faced down death, hell, and the grave, He didn’t just outwit death as if He might fail at some great game of chance, no, He championed over death from before the beginning, and put His foot on the neck of death at the end. Jesus literally used death to defeat death.
If, living in our hearts is someone so great as Jesus Christ, what is our problem with receiving and practicing His instruction? Lack of clarity? Is it really God who is not clear or is it us in our misunderstanding, our incognitive biases, or being indifferent? Is it our own unbelief that we simply can’t hardly believe God could be so good to us, or is it that we claim God doesn’t make sense so, without in-depth investigation, we just go our way in our own little world, flipping our hand up, saying over our shoulder, “What ever!”? Is it shear rebellion and we don’t really care sometimes? Maybe we’ve spent so much time chasing answers that make no difference and can’t be found that we are exhausted somewhere deep in our souls, using that as a reason to not hear God’s counsel and exhortation? Tom Skinner wrote, “I spent a long time trying to come to grips with my doubts, when suddenly I realized I had better come to grips with what I believe. I have since moved from the agony of questions I cannot answer, to the reality of answers that I cannot escape . . .”
Psalm 16:7, “I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.” i thank God for His counsel. Yep, i’m saying this again: Nobody, nobody is smart enough to run their own life. i find that statement to always be before me lately, and it doesn’t mean i need some man or woman to tell what to do, it means i need God’s wisdom, counsel, and exhortation in order to do life. That phrase is the counsel of the Lord, it’s an exhortation to seek Him out and ask His opinion about everything, above anyone else’s counsel. Jesus said, to come to Him as little children, He didn’t say come to Him and be childish, but come as little children, meaning wide eyed with wonder, willing to sit with Him and listen to what He has to say. Again, i am not smart enough, and do not have what it takes to run my own life, so after having failed time and time again because i ignored God, finally, only in the last few years do i feel like i’m listening to God’s counsel more than ever before. And you know, things have started going really well. Storms have come and gone, but inside me, things are well with my soul.
We need to depend, exclusively on God’s direction, His counsel and exhortation. No one else knows what He knows, sees what He sees, nor loves and cares for us like our God. Jeremiah 10:23, “I know, O Lord, that the way of a man is not his: neither is it in a man to walk, and to direct his steps.” i think, even from hundreds of years ago, even then the wise and insightful knew, they knew, nobody is able to run their own lives. We need help, we need God’s counsel and exhortation. There is truly no other help beside the Lord, and fortunately for us, He is also the best help there can be.
i believe most people probably ask for the Lord’s guidance and exhortation, and they’ve got a list of wants and self-determined needs they fully believe are of the utmost importance, in fact their list becomes the primary focus. i’m not saying they aren’t concerned about others, or the things on their list are unimportant because they are, nor am i saying most people aren’t concerned about situations beyond their own door step. What i am saying is their own personal list, typically, is a priority above everything else. God’s counsel becomes something people want for their own happiness and fulfillment so life will just flow along smoothly like riding on a long straight stretch of smooth highway. And who wouldn’t want that? i doubt anyone prays for dark storms and a dangerous path with any sincerity. And if they do, i don’t think that prayer will be prayed more than once. Life is difficult enough without asking the Lord to purposely make our way dangerous and heavy with trials.
This may seem a little abrupt to some, but, if we’ll look at the subject of most passages of scripture where the Lord gives us His direction and His will, well, you’ll see that our own happiness and all those details we are so often occupied with are secondary. Our pre-occupation, selfie-focused-leaning typifies the shallow thinking of a society that is truly out of touch with the purposes of the living God and how He works. Some believers may think i’m being negative, but look up, beyond where your own feet are. Look and think. What do you see of the world around us, including church? We are a consumer-oriented society bent on our own convenience, comfort and pleasure, and God has much greater goals in mind. Actually, convenience and comfort have become and idol to us.
What do we get in God’s counsel and exhortation? i suppose first it is important to say something about what it is. It is more than mere words formed by our lips and air. They are words infused with the very person of Christ, meaning His counsel is alive and active. His counsel and exhortation is something we must take action to grasp and hold to our heart, something from the Lord we consume in order to redeem and elevate our fallen state. His counsel and exhortation is offered to us to not only lift us above a fallen world and to achieve the purposes of His heart, but also for us to offer to those who don’t know Jesus yet, it is wisdom for, what some would call, the “fallen sparks”. To “consume” counsel means we take it into ourselves and digest it. God’s counsel may not go far on our behalf unless we accept and do something with it. We may not like His wise counsel, but it is always the best option, every time.
The way the Hebrew word for counsel is spelled points, once again, to prudence, seeing life with both eyes, employing practical common sense, taking the trouble to think out what you are doing and what is the likely outcome. Wise counsel is not necessarily built on a lot of words, wise counsel is like “the little which holds much”, it is a ray of light to separate some things and other times God’s counsel serves to connect others. The Hebrew word for counsel points to three nouns, thought, speech, and action, where thought sets the scene and how we relate to the world around us, speech expresses our thought and inner feelings, and action means we put the counsel in motion. Another angle on counsel is concerning us passing out counsel to others. Consider this, and if you hear nothing else, hear this: our lips are a natural boundary, and it is an act of leadership on our part to regulate what comes out of our mouth. Do you hear me? James 3:5, “So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!” That scripture is no fooling around.
The counsel and exhortation of the world, even when it looks positive and encouraging, due to its unrelenting vacuum and void of God, eventually leads us down to the pit. With the counsel and exhortation of the Lord we gain a hand up, a grip and firm path to set our feet on, for all the promises of God in Him are yes and in Him, amen, all His counsel and exhortation work to the good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. Without His counsel and exhortation there is no hand up, nothing to grip to nor any firm path for our feet.
In the O.T., under the law, the exhortation of the Lord was typically a warning, words filled with the idea of “watch out, be careful, and don’t”. In the N.T., under grace, exhortation is comforting, consoling, encouraging, and usually refers to the pursuit of Christian ethics in day–to-day living. It is letting God’s counsel, the heavenly perception that is most precious, be connected to our heart. Friends, let the Lord’s counsel and exhortation in the door of your house, yield and allow His words to persuade you.
As believers we are to live godly lives here and now, and there is supposed to be a noticeable difference between our former behavior and our present existence.
The Lord counsels us to recognize we were sometimes darkness, but now we are light in the Lord, meaning now that we are children of the Light, then walk like children of the Light.
So, is the Lord, God or not? Say? Yea, i’m asking you. Say? Is the Lord, God or not? If He is, then act like it.
Friends, God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness, and if we disregard God’s counsel we will soon come to growing shadows in our lives. We are counseled and exhorted to love the Lord with all our breathing, all our thinking, all our feeling and all our forward momentum, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, which means we have to learn to forgive ourselves that we would also forgive our neighbor. For the glory of God, just like Jesus welcomes us, we should welcome one another, walking in wisdom toward those outside the House of God, and make good use of our time, practicing our prudence. Learn to be the kind of leaders who are always gracious, well acquainted with the values of the Lord so we’ll know how to answer those around us.
The counsel and exhortation of the Lord is to treat your employees, friends and family well, be kind and generous to them. God is generous and we should be generous also. Open your hand in prosperity to those whom you serve and who you are served by. God’s counsel to us is – if we know anyone in missions or serving in the field in another country or even in your own town, watch the vision of the Spirit, be watchful in your prayers for them, be consistent and repeatable to speak to the Lord on their behalf that He would open doors for them to speak the gospel, declaring the mystery of Christ, that they would be clear, and speak as they ought to speak.
This is God’s counsel and exhortation: pay attention to your own salvation, and do it with dedication, reverence and sensitivity to God’s leading. And when you’re in your work-a-day world, do it all without whining, grumbling, and complaining, dreaming of being somewhere else, wishing God would do something other than what He’s doing. Friends, be morally whole with solid integrity, righteous and just in the eyes of God and the world, as children of God, spotless in the middle of a crooked and twisted people. If we’ll do that we’ll shine like the sun. Above all, the ultimate counsel and exhortation of the Lord is from John 13:34-35, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Think about it friends, roll all this around in your head and think about it.
The entire Bible comprises God’s counsel and exhortation to us, it is a written version of our “doctrine of instruction”. Think about it, what an incredible book. Don’t get me wrong here, i still have plenty of unanswered questions about it, but those questions are true “feather-weights” compared to the “heavy-weight” truth about this supernatural book. Consider this:
Its is 66 different books which were written by at least 39 different authors, separated by as much as 1600 years or more, in different cultures and in three different languages. It is the bestselling book on the planet, ever. We have more evidence that the Bible we have today is what was written originally than any other historical document of its age or older. The Bible we have today actually has far fewer translational errors than other works which aren’t as old.
Science continues to prove (rather than disprove) its historical accuracy. And its central theme remains clear: The heart of God wants to know and be known. He loves mankind and wants to redeem men and women to Himself. It tells us how to live, how to separate out real from unreal. It gives us everyday life directions on how to best succeed, find joy and fulfillment, and live with power and healing. It gives us hope in the face of death, peace in times of trouble, and leads us to Jesus who died and rose from the dead that we would be free and have life more abundantly. Friends, it contains the best set of blueprints for building a home, a marriage and family that I’ve ever seen. Cover to cover, it is God’s written counsel and exhortation for us to live by.
i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, cool jazz and contemplative conversation broadcast semi-live from the late evening, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the river’s edge, and every evening is pleasant.
Support for the program came from Winfield at Miller’s Laundry, Valley Hill Barber Shop, Longview Video Works, The Mebane Freedom League with Allan, Kevin, and Tommy, Little Laurel at Jump Off Rock Gift Shop, and the fine folks at Tempo Music. Let’s not forget our dear friends, Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.
God’s counsel and exhortation is extended to us because the Lord our God wants us to succeed, Jesus gave His life so we could live, becoming shining lights in a dark place. Yahweh is on your side, every day, all the time.
Be strong and courageous this week. Stand your ground and hold tight to the Word of God. In the light of the face of Jesus, there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain. Drive carefully, practice your prudence with diligence and i’ll talk to you next time. Amen.