The Spiritually Mature Seek Counsel

I’m going to jump right into the message today and start it with painting a bit of a picture. A picture that will maybe help frame where we’re going to go, but also something that’s going to seem very familiar to all of you because I’m sure you’ve experienced it. I won’t ask for a show of hands because every hand will go up except for the few, and you’ll question their sanity in a moment, but the question would be, how many of you use GPS to find your way around? Again, all the hands would go up and you’d look funny at the folks, No, I still use a map. I pull out my random map.

Yes, right. But most do, and over the years, it has improved considerably because I remember back when we first got it out of the story that I always recall there, we had this Mazda CX-Nine, it was the first car my wife and I leased. We had no children yet, we were both working, so we got the exact thing we wanted and it had navigation. And this was a long time ago. We’ve been married almost twenty years, and this was our first lease. So this was maybe zero eight, I would say, maybe zero nine, and that navigation in that car, for some reason, hated Nashville. So, when we drove down to the feast, it took us around through these back roads and it didn’t build a lot of confidence in me for navigation.

And I’m sure you’ve all at times, you have this device in your car, either built in or through your phone, that tells you where to go, it gives you some direction, it helps you get to the destination you’re trying to find. But sometimes you look at it and think, I don’t think that’s right. No, that’s not the best way to get there. I think I would take a different route. And whatever the case may be, especially now, we get to a point where we’re like, Ah, you know what, I have a faster way that I can take. And you take that faster way, and then you realize there was an accident.

And then the GPS in its polite little way, it doesn’t even say this anymore, but it used to, Recalculating. Now it just gives you a ding because I think people didn’t want to hear it insulting them with the recalculating. But the navigation is there to help you, to help you find the direction you’re trying to go, and make sure you make the right turn and avoid obstacles that you may not even understand or realize that are there. It’s really meant to be a tool to help you do the thing you want to do and avoid the obstacles that you may or may not know again that exist.

Spiritually, we have something very, very similar, and many times we’ll ask God to help us find the correct way, find the correct path, get the right counsel on something to help us get to our destination, and then avoid, if possible, the things we see and the things we don’t see. Every time when my family goes, we go on a trip of any distance, we always pray before we leave and say, God, protect us and watch over us, especially from the things we don’t see.

We seek counsel, guidance. But even with God or counsel, when it comes through his government or from the Bible, sometimes we do the same thing we do with our navigation, don’t we? We listen to it and then we think we may know better or we already have a plan that overrides it. It’s not the problem that God won’t guide us. The problem sometimes is we don’t always follow that guidance, or we don’t seek it. And usually that comes down to one fundamental characteristic about our spiritual growth. Our spiritual, or you could say, because they’re tied, emotional maturity.

Those who are more immature spiritually, emotionally tend to repeat a cycle over again, where they say they want counsel, they may get counsel, or may trust their own personal counsel and then decide to implement whatever they wanted to do in the first place. People do, as it’s been said, the things they want to do, and they don’t do the things they don’t want to do. But the more mature we are spiritually, the more we were apt or are apt to ask for counsel, hear that counsel, and then apply it in our lives.

In many ways, it helps us avoid that accident or whatever it would be to impede us on our Christian walk toward the family and Kingdom of God. So we’re going to explore God’s Word today. We’re going to see that emotional maturity and humility allow God’s people, all of us, to receive counsel, to act on it faithfully, and then also to be able to walk in safety under the guidance of our Creator by the way He established that we should do it. So just a couple of some points as we go through.

This is a huge topic, and as I started putting material together for it, I could probably do two sermons on it, but I tried to cut it down to the biggest points because, brethren, receiving counsel, seeking it, and then applying it will determine if you stay in this way of life or if you will start to lean on yourself, our own minds, and you can think of scriptures that come to mind why that’s a problem, and we’ll cover them, but it’s the difference between making it to the Kingdom of God and falling away all together.

So number one, God designed counsel as a safeguard. If we use that analogy of the GPS or the equipment or your car that rails on your car. We actually just leased a new vehicle, and I always enjoy the new lease because, one, you have that new car smell, which is okay. The thing that I really enjoy is the new tech stack in each vehicle, as it’s newer. So this one allows me to just barely touch the steering wheel, and it’ll drive. So we have a trip down to see my mom for Thanksgiving, so I get to test it out.

But interesting technology, but not just that. It watches for cars around you and people crossing over, a lot of safety guards in that vehicle to help us not make a mistake, or if we make a mistake, help us correct that mistake before it becomes more serious, and that’s exactly what it is with counsel. God never intended you and I to make decisions in isolation. We should always be able to frame them biblically, and in some cases, they’re too physical, too specific. The color of your car is not something you’re going to see anywhere in the Bible about what it should be.

There are principles, moderation, and all things, various other applications, but it’s not good to say, Thou shalt have a gray car, or Thou shalt not have a fluorescent pink car. If you go to the latter, back to some of the principles. But God-determined, bigger decisions, spiritual decisions, really important life decisions are meant to be part of a counselor situation. That either could be from the Bible, God’s Word, you’re looking into God’s Word and digging into a topic if the Bible covers it, or more often than not, it will be counseling with a minister, and sometimes even with other brethren, depending on what it is.

There tends to be tiers of seriousness where that elevates some of the most minor things, the smaller things, What would God have me do about this? We’ll talk about it as we go through the message. You may just look into God’s Word, or I’m trying to deal with someone who’s impulsive, or I sometimes get angry. How do I handle this? You can look into God’s Word and see very clearly what to do. You may not be able to accomplish it, so you think, You know what, I’ve got to take this up a notch. I’m going to talk with someone about it.

Maybe friends or peers, and you say, I fight anger. Did you ever go... And they come back and give you some things they do. You’re getting counsel, you’re taking those things and applying them, but you’re still struggling with the anger issue. So at a certain point you say, Okay, I’m not overcoming this. I need to talk with a minister and get God’s mind, because that’s what we do as ministry. Our purpose is not to bring human reasoning or logic.

We’ll bring reason and logic, but ultimately our job is to bring you God’s mind on a matter through His government, through His inspiration, through what He gives His ministry, discernment and understanding knowledge, all of those elements to work. It’s using His government to be able to come to a conclusion, the right conclusion in essentially any matter. Doing so strengthens and protects, and it stabilizes us. It helps us not drift too far to the left or to the right, and over time, you get better at it. We all do, and we need less counsel, but there’ll be times when we need it.

There’ll be big life moments that we have that we need it. God designed counsel to help us not fall off the road, not to go into any ditch. Again, it is a safeguard. Let’s go back to Proverbs chapter eleven. There’s a lot of really simple verses in here, and again, you can do a study on this after the message and go even deeper, because I had to cut so many passages to be able to fit it in sermon length. Proverbs chapter eleven. Proverbs chapter eleven, just a single verse here, verse fourteen. Eleven, fourteen, “Where no counsel is, the people fall.” It’s pretty straightforward and simple, isn’t it?

The second half of the verse, “But in the multitude of counselors,” counselors, plural, “There is safety.” So there’s safety. It’s clear. Without counsel, we fail. Can you decide what cat litter you should have for your house or what apples you should buy at the grocery? Yes, that’s not a matter that elevates to counsel. If you’re really curious about apples, maybe you do some research and you could figure... but that’s not a spiritual decision. Anytime anything has a spiritual implication, that’s when we go out and think, “You know what? This is bigger than me. I think I know what to do, but I need a multitude of counselors.”

So if you just go to God and study in the Bible, you have a counselor, plural. The verse is plural. You have a counselor if you just go to God on a matter. You have counselors when you go to God, and you go to a minister. Now you’re fulfilling this verse. The word counsel here means to advise, purpose, or plan. That’s what counseling is. It’s just getting someone’s outside perspective when you’re trying to make a decision. We build stuff in website services or in IT or various departments that I work with. My background is called network architecture.

I would say background now because it’s been over twenty years. But network architecture means you architect a network, a computer system, in a way that you want it to work properly. You spend a lot of time scoping it, researching it, determining exactly what you want it to do before you put any sort of pen to paper and start to actually determine and design all of that planning. You work with engineers. You think things through.

I remember a system that I worked on years ago that was the way that pharmacies would adjudicate, which is basically how they talk to insurance companies. And it was one of the first that went over the internet. That took almost a year of planning before we did anything physical or even tested in a pharmacy. That obviously required a lot of counsel, a lot of planning. That’s what the word means. Counsel can make it seem bigger than what the word really is, but it really means to plan, to plan.

But again, that is a guardrail from failure, because without counsel, no counsel, the people fail. Let’s go to Exodus chapter eighteen. Exodus eighteen. A bit of a longer passage here, Exodus eighteen. We’ll start in verse thirteen, Exodus eighteen, thirteen, “And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.” You know this account. “And when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said...” smarten up, son, that’s what he essentially said. “What is this thing that you do to the people? Why sit you yourself alone?”

Verse seventeen, “And Moses’ father-in-law said unto him, The thing that you do is not good. You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you: for this thing is too heavy for you; You are not able to perform it yourself alone.” It’s too big, Moses. You need to think this through. What is he getting? He’s getting counsel. He’s getting advice. Verse nineteen, “Hearken now unto my voice, I will give you counsel.” He’s a little bit setting it up of, Young man, Moses... wasn’t a young man, but if it’s your stepdad or your father, they can call you young man right up into the point where they’re no longer here.

So he said, “I will give you counsel, and God will be with you.” Verse twenty-one, “Moreover, you shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place them over them.” In verse twenty-four, “So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he said.” Moses heard something, took in the counsel that his dad, father-in-law said, and applied it. He said, You’re right, because Moses was focused, wasn’t he? He was dedicated, zealous.

He was going to do the thing that needed to be done. All of the people needed counseling. They needed advice. They needed direction. They needed a plan. So Moses was... You can imagine that there were just millions of people, and Moses was sitting there in a chair, or maybe he was standing, probably. Let’s say he was sitting. I can’t imagine. And they were just coming one after the other. And his father-in-law said, This doesn’t make a lot of sense, because the people needed the counsel too.

Jethro saw it and offered Godly advice, Godly purpose. It was of God. The verse literally says, “And God shall be with you.” Moses was a meek man and humble. So what did he do? He listened and he acted. He didn’t say, I am God’s chosen. How dare you tell me what to do? No, he said, That was good advice. You’re right. I need to change this. And he acted. He didn’t show pride. And the outcome would have brought peace, would have brought stability. People’s questions would have been answered more quickly.

Moses wouldn’t have been as tired. They started to create the structure of God in what they were doing. All of that was done because he listened to counsel. Continuing on here, point number two. So point number one was God designed counsel as a safeguard to be able to protect us from problems. It’s a safeguard. It helps us see things that we should be seeing, so we are able to get out in front of them. Point number two. It is dangerous to trust ourselves. Point number two. It is dangerous to trust ourselves.

Let’s go back to Jeremiah. You’re going to know this passage very well. Jeremiah seventeen. But we’re going to read a little bit more than what we typically do in Jeremiah. Jeremiah seventeen. That’s it, there. Starting to realize I probably need new updates to my glasses. Such is life, isn’t it? Jeremiah seventeen, and we’ll start in verse five. Jeremiah seventeen, five. “Thus says the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusts in man.” So if we trust in man, then we’re going to be cursed. “And makes his flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord.”

So it’s not going to be good if you trust in men. Verse six. “For he shall be like a hearth in the desert, and shall not see when good comes; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.” Not a pleasant experience. In verse seven, “Blessed is the man,” conversely to cursed is the man, “Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.” This doesn’t say you can’t get advice or counsel from men. It’s saying that those men, those women, whoever it may be, need to be also thinking and coming from a place that is following and trusting in the Lord, in this case, God, in Christ’s guidance.

Verse eight, “For he shall be a tree planted by the waters,” the one that takes counsel, “And spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when the heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Blessings. And then that leads to the verse that you hear quoted all the time. Verse nine, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Trust man or trust God.

God shows you the parallel of the two, and then he says, “The heart is deceitful above all things.” Why do you think that’s the next verse? Brethren, because it’s easier to trust man or ourselves, our own reason, our own understanding, because that’s what we do. Human beings are designed, it’s in us because God’s spirit... the human spirit, and Satan’s broadcast makes us think we should pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and figure it out ourselves. That’s not a bad place to be for some things, but not for others.

Not when it comes to spiritual things because the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Verse ten, “The Lord searches the heart,” or “I the Lord searches the heart, I try the reins, even to give to every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” If we trust in man, we bring a curse. If we trust in ourselves, we’re men, women, we’re men, we bring a curse. If we trust in God, we can bring stability and fruit and all the elements from that counsel, because our heart is deceitful, it’s crooked, insidious, polluted is what that word means. It’s not good.

Our heart will bend the truth to suit our purpose, and usually, especially when it comes to spiritual matters, if it comes to doctrine or teachings, Satan will use our heart’s natural proclivity to be polluted, to be crooked, to make us trust in our own selves and think we don’t need counsel. We don’t need to trust in the Lord, but that’s not what your heart will say. No. No one quits the church and says, I just needed to follow Satan. You know what, I realized that I don’t trust God, so you know what, I need to go.

No, no, the heart’s too deceitful to do that. Every bad decision people make in their spiritual lives, they think God is behind it. If they’re fornicating or if they’re doing something obvious, no, but if they think they’re standing up for the truth or this or that thing about God’s government is wrong, no, the heart will always say God is guiding them because the heart is deceitful. That’s why the Bible says you need counselors, and ourselves, ourselves doing the counseling, that doesn’t count. That doesn’t count because let’s go to Proverbs twenty-eight. Proverbs chapter twenty-eight, right near the end of Proverbs.

Proverbs chapter twenty-eight, I’ll let you turn there, and I’ll take a drink. And verse twenty-five. Twenty-eight, twenty-five, “He that is of a proud heart stirs up strife:” New Testament says it’s a way where if there’s pride, then you have contention, but this is the Old Testament version of it, continuing on here. “But he that puts his trust in the Lord shall be made fat,” full. Verse twenty-six says it even more, “He that trusts in his own heart is a fool.” Can’t get much more plain than that, can you?

God says if you or I or any of us trust in our own heart, we are a fool. Well, of course, we just read, “The heart’s deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” So if we trust in our own heart, we’re saying we trust in the thing that’s desperately wicked. And then our own self-counsel is polluted with that polluted heart. “He that trusts in his own heart is a fool.” That’s why this point is the danger of trusting ourselves, because what decision would you go to someone... We don’t call people fools, but someone who’s foolish or base, or someone who’s just not very smart?

You would not go to that person and say, I am thinking about purchasing this, or I am thinking about doing this. And that person is... you could say they have no experience, they’re foolish, they tend to make bad decisions. You’re not going to that person for counsel, to help with your plan. You’re not going there because you know they are foolish. But brethren, God says that’s exactly what we are if we trust in our hearts, foolish. The verse continues, “But whoso walks wisely, he shall be delivered.”

We’ll see more about what that means to walk wisely, but the converse is trusting ourselves, we’re a fool, walking wisely, which would mean the opposite, not trusting ourselves, shall be delivered. Deliverance comes from receiving, accepting, and applying instruction because we’re not trusting in ourselves. We’re trusting in an outside something. God’s Word, the ministry, brethren, whatever it is, on that tiering system of how big the problem is, that’s how we can be delivered. Anytime we think we don’t need... And this, brethren, will save your life, so don’t forget this.

Anytime you or I think of a matter that is spiritual, that is doctrinal, that is bound to the basics of the true church, baptism, as God exists, all of those fundamental elements of Christianity, if you have thoughts outside of what God’s church teaches and you don’t go to a minister to solve it, you are a fool, according to the Bible, because you are trusting in your own heart. I didn’t say it, God’s Word does. You have to get counselors, and that doesn’t count if you say, You know what, I counsel with the Bible, and I counsel with my spouse, and all of us think the same thing.

Trusting in your heart, isn’t it? Counselors are needed. If we’re mature spiritually, we understand what our human impulses are, and we understand why we need an outside third-party perspective. That’s why marriage counsel is so important. Some couples just can’t sort out their problems, because often, where the emotions are high, or higher as a couple would be, it’s hard to reason through or apply God’s mind to a matter because both parties have higher emotional investment.

It takes an outside party, a minister, to counsel both of them and say, No, you are wrong, and you are wrong. And you are right in some ways, and you are right in some ways. These are the areas where you two mesh. These are the areas where you each individually have to work on things, and here are the things you need to work on together. That’s the job of that outside source. Let’s go to the New Testament, First Corinthians, chapter ten. First Corinthians ten. Verse eleven of First Corinthians chapter ten.

“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples:” examples or types, “And they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” That’s us. Verse twelve, “Wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” Brethren, when we think we’re right about a matter, we are on the precipice of falling. When we’re so sure about a matter that, I don’t need to counsel about that, we are on the edge of a fall because if we don’t think we need counsel on a serious matter, we are cowardly about our position that we’re holding because we are uncomfortable that we could defend the position that we’re holding.

If you’re right about whatever matter it is, spiritual, doctrinal, personal, if you are right and it’s bound and found and based in God’s Word, you can defend that position Biblically, and you would welcome counsel because you know what will happen from that? Tweaks, like, Oh, have you thought... Oh, I didn’t think about that idea. Well, this may be a better way to do it. Oh, that’s good. Thank you. But when we’re trusting in ourselves, we don’t want counsel because we can’t defend our position, and we want to do what we want to do. No, I want that cherry red sports car. I don’t care. No, I disagree with X or Y. I think this.

People quit the church because they don’t counsel. Because they don’t want to counsel, because often what happens is they’ve already made up their mind. They know they could be talked out of it. So in cowardice, because that’s what it is, they make their decision and say they’re standing with God. I’ve been doing this long enough and talked with enough people throughout the years, the decades I’ve been here at headquarters, and worked with brethren around the world that I can count the number of times where someone was going to quit the church on a particular doctrine or position.

Usually not sin. Sin would be different. Personal sin in your life is different. You need help to come out of it. But usually, if it’s related to doctrine or offense or areas where you need to work through something, I can count many times where, after sitting with someone, they got talked out of their decision. In one case, someone gave me a resignation letter and said they were quitting, and I said, Let’s talk about why. And we sat and talked. And they withdrew it. Because their position was not defensible from God’s Word.

It was often... and this is usually the case, it was based on feeling. And talked them down from it. And they gave them an opportunity to change and grow. What they didn’t do is go apply the counsel. So the next time they had the resignation letter, because they eventually quit, that person, he snuck into my office early in the morning, put the resignation letter on my desk before I would be in the office, because he was in a position of cowardice, because he didn’t want to and couldn’t defend his emotional position.

Brethren, don’t let yourself get caught up on that. And don’t let things build up. So you talk about them. If you don’t understand something, and I say this plainly, and every minister in the world will agree with me, all the way down to someone who was just ordained, to Mr. Pack, you will not get in trouble to have a question, if you have a question. There’s nothing wrong with having questions. The Bible is a big, complicated book. If we didn’t think so... we have someone as a pastor general who understands God’s Word better than anyone who is alive today, and he’ll tell you how complicated it is. Hard to understand. Hard to put the pieces together.

So if you don’t understand something in God’s Word, or a teaching, or prophetic understanding, or a doctrine, whatever it is, ask your minister. He’s not going to take your head off. And if he doesn’t understand it, because God’s Word is complicated, he’ll ask someone who does. He’ll get counsel. Because that’s what it works. I’ve mentioned this before, but all of our field ministers have someone at headquarters they can talk with. We call it the field ministry contact. And it’s the structure. It’s God’s government and there’s structure.

So if a man in the field has a question about policy, or doctrine, or how to work with someone, counseling a matter, he has someone to bounce that off of, and have a multitude of counsel, and talk back and forth. What is that? How do you do this? Have you seen this before? And then be able to come back to you, let’s say you had a question, and give you the full context of God’s mind on a matter, the proper script. Everything. Sometimes they don’t need that, but other times they do.

Brethren, if the ministry needs it, how much more for everyone? We all need it. So there’s nothing wrong with having questions. What changes is attitude. I am a proponent, if I could make a t-shirt or a bumper that says attitude is everything. Because attitude is what changes what could be a question into an accusation. If you go to a minister and you’re not... You’re, Well, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, and I think this and that. Okay, now you’re accusing. We all know who the accuser of the brethren is.

If you come to the minister and say, I just don’t quite understand X. He’s going to say, Oh, let’s sit down and talk. Because our job is to be helpers of your joy, to help you, just like we get counseled to help us to make it to the Kingdom of God. That’s why when someone thinks they can stand, they are on the precipice of a cliff and ready to fall. Emotions will blur your judgment, hands down. When we counsel, it brings back the clarity of what our minds should be doing, because we can be emotional. All human beings are.

We react. We can be offended, whatever the case may be. But outside counsel stabilizes us. It brings back that mental clarity, spiritual clarity. Think of it this way. The carnal mind defends their position, and a spiritual mind inquires about the correct answer because you’re seeking the truth with a spiritual mind. So that’s the danger of trusting ourselves. Next point here, somewhat related, but we’ll go a little deeper. Emotions are not counselors. Emotions are not counselors. Emotions are part of human beings.

Happiness, sadness, anger, all of those things that you can go out through the Bible and you can see in almost every single case, anger, there’s a right time to do it and a wrong time to do it. We have righteous anger, but we can’t let the sun go down on our wrath, for instance. Sadness, happiness, joy, all of those elements are part of our human being, our human condition, which God created. He created us with emotions. He has sadness. He has emotions. But God never intended those emotions to be the drivers of our decisions, which would make them our counselors.

Remember, counseling is just planning. So if our emotions drive a plan, our emotions are becoming our counselors, which is dangerous, very, very dangerous, because feelings are temporary. There have been times, when you have children, you learn this, your kids will be able to push buttons in you that you had no idea you had. And I’m a generally kind of chill, take things as they are, not overreact sort of person. And I’ve had my son be able to push buttons that I take that little flame inside me, and it goes, shhuuum. You control it. You try to, okay, systematically underreact, doesn’t always work.

As you become a parent longer, you get better at it. But it burns hot and out because that’s what emotions do. They come on strong, especially negative ones. They come on strong, and then they typically fade quickly. They’re temporal. They shift. And also, we make the worst decisions when we’re emotional. When they guide our decisions or when they direct our decisions, we will make bad ones, and then we’ll regret it. And then we have to overcome our pride to go back and say, That was a bad decision I made on emotion.

Let’s go back to Proverbs fourteen. Proverbs chapter fourteen, verse twelve. Proverbs fourteen, and verse twelve. “There is a way...” verse twelve, “There is a way which seems right unto a man.” All these verses just line up in the same way, don’t they? It mostly... Do you see what the pattern is here? Don’t trust ourselves. But continuing here, “There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” No counselor, you’re a fool. If the way that seems right unto a man, which means we don’t get outside counsel, we don’t have God’s input on it, the end thereof is the way of death.

Verse thirteen, “Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness,” motions up and down, happiness, sadness. “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man should be satisfied from himself. The simple believe every word: but the prudent man looks well to his goings.” Verse sixteen, A wise man fears, and departs from evil: but the fool rages, and is confident.” If someone is confident and emotional and is sure they’re right, brethren, God says that’s the way that seems right unto a man, and the result of that is death.”

And in God’s.... in the church’s context, in this Christian walk, that death is spiritual. That death is eternal if we lose God’s spirit. Physical death is sad. When you lose people, it’s sad, but physical death is just a moment in time of the broader picture that God has you and I walking. There’s a point when you die, and if you’re ready, you wake up at the Millennium and you are God. If you’re not ready, you wake up physical and finish your course to get to the point where you can be God.

But if we do the things that seem right to us and it guides us and walks us out of the church, it’s spiritual death. We have to depart from it. We keep things clean and simple. If we’re wise, we pause, we seek counsel, we examine. The term we use to train ministers, we talk about different things, and when you train a minister to do his job and one of the things we say often is, learn to systematically underreact. Why? Because if you react immediately, you are reacting emotionally.

Any immediate reaction to a situation, especially one that stirs up a lot, if someone’s doing something, and so you think it... Go back to the analogy of having kids and what they can do. Most of those reactions are emotional. Like, I’ve told you three thousand times, not to do X. It’s emotional. Doesn’t solve the problem. But all of us should learn to systematically underreact. We should be able to stop, say, No, that’s an emotion, examine what that is, the situation, and if it warrants it, in many cases, especially spiritually, seek counsel. Emotions don’t let us determine whether we know it’s the right way or it’s the seems-right way.

Sometimes we need someone, and a lot of times we need someone on the outside to look in and say, No, this is the right way, not the seem-to-be right way. Because the difference between the two is life and death. And that’s not a decision... if you had cancer or some serious condition, you wouldn’t simply take the doctor’s word and say, Okay, this is what I’m going to do. No, you’ll seek a second opinion. You’ll seek additional counsel. Because it’s a decision of life or death. The bigger the decision, the bigger and more in-depth should be our counsel.

Only outside input helps us determine between the two. Let’s go to First Samuel. First Samuel, another account. We’ll jump back and forth between some simple scriptures, then some narratives. First Samuel chapter thirteen. First Samuel chapter thirteen, we’ll start in verse eight. Chapter thirteen and verse eight. “And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.”

“And Saul said, Bring here a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him.” And then Samuel said... Saul’s thinking he’s doing the thing that is right. Remember, the way that seems right unto a man. And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you came not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash.”

“Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore,” I forced myself, you see, Saul, “And offered a burnt offering.” I did the thing that I thought was right. Here’s a prophet of God, you could say a minister, someone who gave counsel to Saul and said, This is what you’re going to do. This is how you should do it. This is what God would have you do. In this case, it’s a prophet, so the words of God’s mouth.

And Saul did something differently. He heard counsel and then didn’t obey it, because he did the thing that he thought was right. It seemed right unto him, didn’t it? And what was Samuel’s answer in verse thirteen? “Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly: you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which he commanded you: for now would the LORD have established your kingdom upon Israel for ever.” That moment, Saul lost the kingdom.

Imagine what history would look like, the stories of the Bible, all the figures you have, if Saul would have obeyed at that moment. God was willing to give it to you on something that may seem a little simple, right? Just do this one thing. Okay, he did something that was good. He gave an offering. He went and did it because he wanted God to be involved in a matter. But he didn’t obey what God told him to do. So he lost it. Brethren, God tells you and me when we’re confused, when we’re unsure, when we’re deviating from the path that’s been laid in front of us to go and seek counsel.

Seems simple, doesn’t it? But if we don’t do that thing, we could end up like Saul. We could lose everything because we didn’t think we needed to, because we think we can determine God’s will in a matter. That’s the dangerous place to be because often you can. If you’re trying to... how to work with people in your job or keep the Sabbath or various other elements, you can’t determine God’s will in it. You know why? Same for me. Because there was an apostle that was alive for decades who gave truth to the church, God through that apostle, Mr. Armstrong, and set a foundation in the Church.

And then came along someone who said, No, I’m going to obey all the things that he said. And then what did God do? He said, You did the thing that I told you to do. You walked in the way that you were shown. And then God raised him up to be another apostle. And then we have received so much understanding through him, Mr. Pack, because he did the thing that was right. And what did he do? He rewrote the literature, gave sermons. We produced things so you and I can understand God’s will.

Brethren, we cannot do it by ourselves, me included. We cannot determine God’s will on our own. That’s why we have literature. That’s why we have Bible studies, Sabbath services, teaching, so we can learn God’s will. If you think something, or I do, that’s outside the scope of what God has taught through his apostles, especially what we have learned and expounded upon, you don’t have God’s will, and that could just be a misunderstanding. You could just be confused, but don’t think you do.

Don’t think God is showing you something that all of those around you don’t see. That’s pride, and God can’t work with you when you have pride. How can you get God’s will when you’re full of pride, when you think you know better than everyone around you? Brethren, get counsel when you’re confused. This sermon didn’t come about by accident. You heard Mr. Pack reference someone, someone I’ve known for a very long time, pulled a ripcord because they had so much opportunity. I worked with them all the time to seek counsel, to be able to ask questions.

I am a huge proponent of having my door open all the time. The number of people knock on my door throughout the course of a normal day or a week is nonstop. And there is never a time, or I try never to be a time, where I look like I’m too busy to not focus on that person coming through the door. It’s something that is very important to me. And this person knew that, and they didn’t come for counsel. They didn’t want counsel. They wanted to do what they wanted to do.

And frankly, I think they got offended in an impulse on a longstanding problem they could have fixed caused them to leave and pull two people with him, because he did not seek counsel. We all have that same danger. If I have ideas that are outside what Mr. Pack teaches, what is the present truth, what is the framework of understanding that we have, and I don’t understand something, if I don’t seek counsel, it can do the same thing to me, no matter my office. All of us are susceptible to the devil wanting us to fail.

And we have that heart, that desperate, wicked, polluted heart. We will trust in ourselves. We will build up what we think we need to do for ourselves, and we will be so sure of ourselves, and that God is in it. But the only way to know if God is in it is if you get counsel. And maybe you’re right. Maybe there’s something that you understand, and you’re right. But we don’t determine what is right on our own, because what we get stuck with is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We’ll come up with good things, and we’ll come up with bad things.

And we need someone on the outside to be able to help us see that. All of us do. Again, it doesn’t matter if you’re a widow in Alabama, or an evangelist, or any other thing in between. Even Mr. Pack comes and gets counsel regularly. Almost every day I talk with him. Others do too. Because that counsel, even if you’re just a sounding board, helps people, helps us get to, and all of us, determine God’s mind, God’s will. And in this case, with Saul, it didn’t work. He didn’t follow through on what he should do.

You could think of it this way. Your emotions warn you. Your emotions do not inform you. They warn you. They bring things to your attention, especially the negative ones, fear, anger. They warn you. But they should not be the basis for a decision. So that was number three. Number four, we have to go, in our decision-making process, from impulse to insight. From impulse to insight. Proverbs sixteen. Proverbs chapter sixteen. Really, the biggest difference between being spiritually or emotionally mature versus immature is an ability to pause, to stop.

Proverbs sixteen, that ability to stop will help you make so many less bad decisions. When we stop and just count to ten, it’s an easy trick in your mind. I always find the easiest way is to count down from ten, not up to ten, because it’s de-escalating in my mind is how I do it. You go, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. If you have to, say it out loud. People look at you funny, but anything to de-escalate your mind. Proverbs sixteen, verse thirty-two, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty.”

You can defeat the mighty because you’ll make better decisions. No matter how strong someone is and powerful, you can defeat that person. You’re better than them if you are slow to anger, because in anger, you’ve heard people say they see red. They’re not thinking rationally. But if you’re slow to anger, you don’t lose your ability to be rational. And the verse continues, “And he that rules his spirit is better,” you could say it’s a comparison, “Is better than he that takes a city.”

So someone strong enough to take over a city is not as good or better or as effective as someone who can rule his spirit, who can count to ten in their head, pause, consider, be slow to anger, control themselves in a situation. Otherwise, you’re acting on impulse. We’re acting on emotion. Because that’s the base of bad decision-making, is emotion or impulse. The number of murders that happen because someone reacts, or road rage that happens because someone reacts. When we control ourselves, we’re slow to anger, those things don’t happen. Those regrets, those bad decisions don’t happen.

When we’re emotionally immature, we try to conquer tasks, but we don’t control what we’re doing. You drive in, trying to... No, you don’t think it through. And the ability to pause allows you to get counsel, because if you or I react impulsively or react out of emotion, we’re not seeking counsel because we don’t have time to. We just reacted impulsively. But if we have the ability to pause and say, No, that’s not a good decision, or I don’t know what is a good decision, you know what? I want to talk to someone about that.

And depending on what it is, maybe you talk to your spouse, or you talk to your minister, or you talk to your peers, or it’s at work and you talk to your co-workers. This applies in all aspects of life, not just big spiritual matters. The ability to pause will make you more successful in your job because you will consider. That person who annoys you in your workplace, if you don’t let them push your buttons and you pause, you will handle them better, or you’ll go to your boss and say, I’m having trouble dealing with this person. What do you think I should do? Because you get counsel.

Or you go to your minister and say, At work, I’m having trouble dealing with this person. How can I get better at it? Because you paused. When we do that, it allows us to make a huge difference in what we do. Let’s go to James. James chapter one. James chapter one, verse nineteen. James one, verse nineteen. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God.” Swift to hear, always ready to hear.

Never hurts to hear, I guess, unless someone’s sowing heresy or division. But then you would also know what to do. Because you don’t react. You stay calm. Swift to hear, slow to speak, thinking about, pausing, not being emotionally reactive, not being impulsive, and slow to wrath. You will make so many more effective and thoughtful decisions with just those three phrases applied in our lives. But it makes sense, because the wrath of man, when we get angry, people see red, or just angry in general, it works not the righteousness of God. It just simply doesn’t work when we do that.

I can think of so many accounts in the Old Testament. I could go to the account with David when he cut Saul’s skirt, and immediately, he said, Oh, I made a bad decision, because he knew what he was supposed to do. He was impulsive. And those around him gave him bad counsel. But he knew, and then he repented, and wanted to do the right thing, and understood. Okay. So that’s number four. We can’t use impulse. We have to use insight. Number five, when should we seek counsel? We’ve touched on this throughout the whole message, but when should we seek counsel?

Let’s go to Proverbs twenty. Proverbs chapter twenty. Proverbs are so full of verses about counsel. Just alone, just talking about multitude of counselors, and all the things that come from it. But Proverbs chapter twenty, and verse eighteen. Proverbs twenty, eighteen, “Every purpose is established by counsel.” Okay, when should I counsel? “Every purpose is established by counsel.” So every purpose, or plan, or preparation is established by counsel.

That doesn’t mean you’re going to your minister to ask what color car you’re getting, or if you should buy this new suit. No, but if you’re married, I’m going to imagine, men, you’re saying, Honey, does this suit look good? Is this a good color? What do you think about this tie? Because you work together, and ladies, you’ll do the same thing with your husband, or if you’re worrying about food, or diet, or exercise, you’re not going to go to your child and ask for counsel about how to better exercise. You’re going to either look it up on yourself or talk to someone who’s an expert, because that’s the purpose of trying to establish every purpose. The verse continues, “and with good advice, make war.” You need that advice. We need that counsel to be able to get sound input to make every decision in our lives. And some are easy. Some are routine. I did not get counsel today to determine if I should have brushed my teeth this morning. That is a decision I made. I did not get counsel on what I was going to have for breakfast. I did get counsel on what my son was going to have for breakfast. It’s a longstanding situation in our house.

I get up early. I’ll do breakfast for us. And my wife will usually email me. This is because, of course, IT. I will get an email that is what Ethan gets for breakfast. And when that email doesn’t come, I’m like, “I need the counsel.” Or I can usually come up with something. I’m not that bad in the kitchen. But I’ll get counsel on it. I want that input. I want that advice. I want that person who is more of an expert in that field, cooking, nutrition, diet, my wife, than myself. I want that expert in accounting to help me with my taxes. I’m not going to go to my minister to ask a tax question. But I’m going to go to the accountant who’s an expert.

If I’m getting my car repaired, I’m not going to go to my buddy who works in Target and ask him about an oil change because he knows nothing about a car. I go to the mechanic who is an expert in that field. Just like when I have spiritual questions, I go to the expert, my minister, because every purpose is established by counsel. Since we’re here, let’s go to Proverbs chapter three. Back a few pages. Proverbs chapter three. Remember, when to seek counsel. Proverbs chapter three and verse five.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not into your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil.” Be not wise in our own eyes. Brethren, if we think we are spiritual experts on matters in our own lives, we are being wise in our own eyes. Say that again. If we think we are experts on spiritual matters in our lives, we are being experts in our own lives.

There is a reason we lay hands on a man. We ask for God to give him discernment, to put him in an office, because God gives it. He helps that man be able to come up with things. This is something I was told earlier on, and then I had a pastor, it played itself out, visiting and going to houses. You will go sometimes on a visit and sit and talk with someone. They’ll ask you a question. And then you will say something, and in your head, while systematically underreacting, you’re thinking, “Where in the world did that come from? That was such a good answer.”

And a number of times we went back out to the car after my wife and I were on a visit. I tell her, “Ginger, write that down. I want to use that in the future. That was great, because God inspired it.” Because I had hands laid on, asked for discernment, asked for knowledge, and trust that God would speak through me. It’s why we tell men who are preparing sermonettes, don’t have too much material, because God will inspire you to say things that aren’t in your notes. It’s happened many times today in just this message, where things came out that was not something I planned, because that’s what God will do through his ministry.

They are the experts because God designated them so. And they don’t even have the answer to every question. Remember what I said, go back and find the right one. But to trust in God is to trust in him working through his government. Because you can’t, besides the Bible, which again, remember, is one counselor. You can’t get expert opinions on spiritual matters except through the ministry. That’s what we’re here for. And we do the same thing. When we need counsel, we ask for it. Because there are things that I can answer, and there are things I can’t answer. And it’ll be the same with your minister.

But it’s when we, as ministry, or as lay members, say, “No, I never need to get counsel, I’m the expert, I’m wise in my own eyes,” is when the ministry or lay members make fatal mistakes. Because we’ll skip counsel. It’s ultimately what happens when we think we know what we’re talking about. Remember, when we think we stand, we’re right on the edge of a fall.

Number six, where and from whom to seek counsel. Where and from whom to seek counsel, because not all counsel is good. There’s advice that’ll be rooted in God’s truth, and advice that comes from human reasoning. Now we’re really focusing on spiritual matters, not so much your accounting tax questions, or if you should get your carburetor replaced. I don’t know if cars still have carburetors in them anymore. But you go to the experts in those fields. But we’re talking about spiritual questions.

Psalm one. The first psalm, we heard this recently. You’ll see it from a slightly different perspective. Psalm one, we’ll start in verse one. “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,” it’s key, “nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” So if someone’s scornful, someone’s sinning, or someone is ungodly, we stay away from that. We don’t walk with them. We’re blessed if we don’t. “...but his delight is in the law of God, and in his law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.” Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? “...that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf shall not wither, and whatsoever he does shall prosper.”

Just like we read before. When we do entrust in God, we prosper, like that tree. We’re blessed when we don’t stand in the company of sinners, the ungodly, the scorners. We understand blessed now at a breadth and a level we didn’t before. Anytime someone brings psychology, human reasoning, or some other pop culture method to explain spiritual matters, they are applying human reasoning. No matter how thoughtful, effective. No, if it’s not rooted in God’s word, it’s not spiritual.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t extrapolate off God’s word. Of course, the ministry does it all the time, and brethren do. There’s not verses in here to how to deal with your coworker and your job as an accountant or a plumber in the Bible. No, you extrapolate based on the principles of God’s word, which is what we do as we explain. Today, I’m extrapolating on many, many verses in the Bible that we’re looking at. But it has to be framed based-- and the foundation is truth, God’s law. That’s where stability comes from. That’s where we have a good foundation.

Often, if counsel comes from a place that’s emotional, that’s convenient, or is comfortable, we should have spiritual warning bells going off all over the place, because that’s not how God works. If that counsel comes from a place of accusation, or being accusatory to people or places or God’s government, if that counsel comes from grievances or offenses, that’s not godly counsel. That’s not rooted in God’s truth, God’s church, his government. That’s not rooted in his word. So if counsel is emotional from someone, passionate could be different, but emotional, then assume it’s not godly. And it becomes, at that point, really becomes dangerous.

Let’s go to Hebrews chapter thirteen. Hebrews chapter thirteen.[silence] Last chapter of Hebrews, read a couple of verses, we’ll spot here. Hebrews chapter thirteen and verse seven. Verse seven reads, “Remember them that have rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation,” brethren, that is the ministry, “who have spoken unto you the word of God.” That’s what I did today. I didn’t bring you psychological matters about counsel, or pop culture references about counsel, or cute little ideas. No, I brought you God’s Word, what the bible says about the subject. I’ve spoken unto you the Word of God.

So consider the end of my conversation, what we’ve discussed. A sermon could counsel just like one-on-one can. If there are things in your mind you’re not sure about or have questions, talk to your minister. “Remember those that have rule over you.” Verse seventeen, jump down to verse seventeen, “Obey them that have rule over you, and submit yourselves.” You can’t do that if you don’t come to them. Why? “For they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, not with grief, for that’s unprofitable for you.”

As a minister of Jesus Christ, and we teach this, and I know men think this too, and wives, who they work with, we understand that we’re held to a higher account. Our job is to be helpers of your joy, to help you to the kingdom of God, to watch for your souls. We can’t help you in areas that we don’t know you need help. There’s no such thing as a minister, or never should you think this as a lay member, “He’s just too busy. I didn’t want to bring it up to them.” That’s a convenient excuse, and sometimes sincere, but no minister in God’s church is ever too busy to help you. None.

Don’t let that be an excuse. Submit yourself. Help them watch for your souls. Let them bring the mind of God. Let them bring counsel. Let them answer questions. Let you get closer with them, the person that helps you towards the kingdom of God. And sometimes the ministry could tell you, “That’s good, here’s some advice, but the decision’s yours to make.” Because you have to make decisions too. We don’t micromanage your lives. That’s not what it means to be a minister. No, we are to be, again, the helpers of your joy, the ones watching for your souls, your lives.

What kind of car you get doesn’t determine your life, your spiritual, eternal life. The shade of your blue jeans is not something that’s going to affect your eternal life. We’re talking spiritual matters. That’s what we’re trying to help you with. Anytime you get counsel outside of God’s government on major spiritual matters, you are taking your life into your hands, plain and simple. Even if it’s another brethren, if it’s a major thing. Because they are not given what ministry are given with discernment and understanding and knowledge and all the things that God bestows on his ministry when they’re ordained.

They could be helpful. And brethren, if someone comes to you about a major spiritual matter, I don’t care if it’s your husband, your father, your friend, I don’t care who it is. You need to take them by the hand and say, “Let’s go talk to the minister.” Because that’s what you’re doing to save their life. Not because you’re turning them in or you’re snitching. That is not how God’s way works and God’s church works. No, you are concerned about their spiritual life. And you know, this is above my pay grade. I need help. And I’m going to make sure this person gets it.

Well, ultimately, could they still make the same decision? Can they blow off counsel that they get? Will they not take the minister seriously? Yes, all of those things can happen. Every tub rests on its own bottom. But your responsibility is to make sure they get to the minister to be able to help them. Because we’re not trying to hurt people. We’re trying to help them. And that’s critical that we are able to get to them to be able to do so.

Let’s continue on here. Number seven. It takes humility to apply counsel. Could even expand that to say, it takes humility to receive and apply counsel. Proverbs fifteen. As we start to wrap up. Proverbs chapter fifteen. God cannot work with those who are full of pride. When we think we figured it all out, we have pride. Plain and simple. Separates us from God. The ultimate time we can’t get God’s counsel on a matter is when we’re full of pride, because that separates us from God. We’ll never understand his mind. But it takes humility to receive and apply counsel.

Proverbs fifteen and verse thirty-one. Proverbs fifteen, thirty-one. “The ear that hears the reproof of life abides among the wise.” If you are reproofed, if you will, God through his ministry, reproves you, corrects you, admonishes you, encourages you, exhorts you, you abide among the wise. “He that refuses instruction despises his own soul,” his life, “But he that hears reproof gets understanding.” Because you have knowledge brought into a situation that you didn’t have before.

Verse thirty-three. “The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor...” You can think, what’s the ultimate honor? Being in the kingdom of God. Being part of the family of God. Being born again into God’s family and his government. “...and before honor is humility.” We can’t do all of those things. Hear counsel, get reproof, correction, exhortation. All of those. We can’t hear them. We can’t gather them and put them in and apply them unless we’re humble.

Let’s go to First Peter chapter five. First Peter chapter five. A couple verses here. I’ve alluded to this passage, but we’ll read it directly. First Peter chapter five and verse five. First Peter five, five. “Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yes, all of you be subject one to another,” look to those older than you, or elder as a minister, “...all of you be subject to another and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”

When we’re humble, we can make mistakes. And God says, “I’m just going to extend grace.” When we’re proud, God says, “I’m going to resist you.” So what side do we want to be on? Do we want to receive God’s grace or God’s resistance? That’s the difference between pride and humility. Therefore, in verse six, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, and he may exalt you in due time.”

Brethren, if we’re clothed with humility, if we allow the ear of those wise, the elders, both age and the ministry, we’ll get understanding. We’ll get instruction. We’ll take reproof. We’ll take correction. We will be able to become wise. Wisdom happens through God’s government and how he teaches us through his word. Receiving and applying counsel is an act of humility and an act of submission, submission to God. It turns what is advice, which counsel can be called, into wisdom.

If you use pride, it turns it into offense. If we’re full of pride and we’re forced to counsel, we walk away offended. “How dare that person say that about myself? How dare she do this? How dare...” But if we go in with humility, oh, it’s very different because now we walk out informed and having more wisdom than when we sat down. And if we do all these things, then there is fruit, brethren. There is fruit of this.

Let’s look at Proverbs two as we wrap up. Proverbs chapter two. This is number eight. The fruit of counsel... You’re turning there, so I will let you turn there first, but I’ll repeat it. The fruit of counsel is wisdom, peace, and stability. So you have Proverbs two, start in verse six. I’ll repeat that again. The fruit of counsel is wisdom, peace, and stability. Verse six of Proverbs two.

“For the Lord gives wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous, he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keeps the paths of judgment, and preserves the way of his saints. Then shall you understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity, yes, every good path. When wisdom enters into thine heart,” because we get wisdom from counsel, we just read that, “and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul. Discretion shall preserve you, and understanding shall keep you.”

Brethren, God makes us and has made us to be beings who walk this Christian way of life, not alone. We’re not meant to do this on our own steam. We have to ask each and every day, how easily do I receive counsel? How quickly do I seek it? When we seek it, do we do so with an open mind, with wanting God’s wisdom, wanting God’s understanding, wanting that minister, because we’re talking spiritual matters, wanting them to bring God’s mind, God’s will to a matter to help us, understanding you and I aren’t sufficient on our own.

Do we then yield to that counsel, knowing it’s God’s will, that God leads and guides through his government? And then ultimately, do we apply that counsel in our lives so you and I can grow and develop to be counselors in the kingdom of God? So let’s, every single day, commit ourselves to seek counsel early, receive it humbly, and apply it faithfully when the opportunity arises. Because if we do, if we reflect on how God’s government works, how the very government of God functions in this facet, brethren, you will become very, very soon an eternal counselor of billions.