Sunday Notes – June 5, 2022 – The Multitude of Counsel

James Weidner III - June 5, 2022

Offering – The Good Life

1 Peter 3: 10 For the one who wants to love life and to see good days….

Everyone wants to live the good life.

There is hardly anyone who does not want to love life and see good days.
This romantic idea of our best life now.
The reality is our best life is to come but we can have live and see good days.
Oh that we would all have hearts to perceive, ears to hear, eyes to see making the blind spots visible in our lives.
A well rounded life.
A guilt free life.
Guilt no longer being the primary motivator but instead a love and thankfulness toward Jesus.

1 Peter 3:8-12 (HCSB) 8 Now finally, all of you should be like-minded and sympathetic, should love believers, and be compassionate and humble, 9 not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you can inherit a blessing. 10 For the one who wants to love life and to see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit, 11 and he must turn away from evil and do what is good. He must seek peace and pursue it, 12 because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their request. But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil.

Your relationship with Jesus:
Your sins being forgiven.
Living right before the Lord.
Spending time with Jesus?
Spending time in the Word of God?
What you are listening too and watching.
Being refreshed.
Being equipped.
Being activated.

Your relationship with yourself:

Sleep
Exercise
Eating right
What you are putting into your body…
You say “I can’t do that but God say’s you can.
You say “That is impossible” but you mean it will be difficult and God says all things are possible.
You are impatient but God says “those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength”.
Let us renew our mind which means replacing the way we think with the way Jesus thinks.
Not thinking more highly of ourselves than we should.

Your relationship with important people in your life:

11 and he must turn away from evil and do what is good. He must seek peace and pursue it,

Seeking and pursuing peace.
Peace is always the goal.
Sowing the appropriate amount of time and priority into these relationships.
Not repaying evil for evil
Not matching insult for insult: some people only know how to communicate by way of insult. If their mouth opens it is some for of sarcasm that is insulting in some way or the other. Do not respond to the insult of people.

Your relationship with your Church.

all of you should be like-minded and sympathetic, should love believers, and be compassionate and humble,

Like minded people.
Loving the Church.
Sympathetic and compassionate.

Your relationship with your Money:

Getting yourself budgeted and organized.
Returning the tithe to the Lord. 10% of all God provides.
Living below your means.
Being generous.
refreshing others in need.

Your relationship with your Time:

Getting yourself organized
Getting your life calendarized.
Creating margin for yourself and family.
Getting Jesus on your calendar.

Main Message:

Title: Safety in the Multitude of Counsel. (SMC)

Proverbs 11:14 (NKJV) Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

Proverbs 15:22 (NKJV) Without counsel, plans go awry, But in the multitude of counselors they are established.

Proverbs 24:6 (NKJV) For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.

Introduction:

The Counsel of the Word.
The Counsel of the Holy Spirit.
Today, The Counsel of the multitude.
Seeking Godly counsel is a beautiful thing.
Yet a bit of a nervous venture.
Mainly because no one wants to be told what they do not want to hear.
The posture of one’s heart who decides to engage the multitude of counsel is that of “I am open to hear what the Lord would say”

The safety of a multitude of counsel.

Proverbs 22:3 (NIV) The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

We all have the freedom to make decisions.
We can even make our own decisions as it pertains to sinful decisions.
What happens without the multitude of counsel in our life?
Specific favorable counsel is sought out.
Unilateral decisions are made.
Unilateral: plan of an action or decision performed by only one person, group, or country involved in a particular situation, without the agreement of another or others.
Unilateral decisions can be the result of being emotional, determined to get a specific end result, sometimes the decision maker is offended and/or afraid of being hurt or not heard, or just wanting to get our own way…
The safety of counsel.

Ela… when we were planning to move back to America to launch a Church I had received counsel from 3 different sources, all Pastors, all people that I trust. The counsel I was given was spilt. Some counsel felt we should stay overseas, while one counsel basically remained quiet until it was time to speak.

So it is not that all counsel will be spot on but it is the process of humbling ourselves and doing due diligence.
Without it…

The circle of chaos.

Judges 2:18-19 (ESV) 18 Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

Israel would go around the mountain again and again and again.
We need to stop the cycle by becoming better listeners.

James 1:24 (ESV) For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

It is no wonder why some people stay in the circle of chaos living non-counseled lives.
A person must have ears to hear and remember.
So often we become our own source of counsel.

Our spouse is a good source of counsel but cannot be the only source of counsel.

For one reason technically: The two become one.
The multitude of counsel on important decisions comes from outside the bond of marriage.
Conflict of interest: One party in the marriage may be nervous to actually speak the truth or their mind because of how the other will react.

A people competent to counsel.

Romans 15:14 (NKJV) Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

Noutheteō; to put in mind, to caution or reprove gently: admonish, or warn.
Admonish = to caution or reprove gently: to admonish, warn, exhort.
Confident = having been persuaded.
Competent to admonish one another.
Noutheteo counsel is not to goo in with predetermined answers.
Seeking the guidance of the Lord as it pertains to the person’s life.
We have to train ourselves in the wisdom and disciplines of nouthetic competent counseling.
This does not make every person automatically competent but every person has it within their grasp to become competent.
Understanding it is no small thing to admonish and counsel each other as we navigate life.

Love is our motivator for admonishing.

1 Timothy 1:5 (ESV) The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

It is difficult to both counsel or be counsel when the posture of our heart is not rooted in the love of God.
We may admonish one for the love of another that is caught in the cross fire.
The most effective counseling is that which is held accountable by community.
There is freedom in authenticity and transparency, though it does sometimes get messy.

How you finish is more important than how you started.

Luke 14:28-33 (NKJV) For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

Consider: bouleuō; from 1012; to advise, deliberate, — consult, take counsel, determine, be minded, purpose. to deliberate with one’s self, consider to take counsel, resolve
Times unnumbered were there when my emotional response would have been the wrong and uninformed response to a situation.
I cannot remember anytime that I have regretted not responding in an emotional state though I have list of times and things said I wish I could take back spoken in the state of emotion…. and convinced I was right in the moment.
Ela… Receiving the right counsel can avert wars and save lives or can light a fire that consumes 1000s of acres of life.
This is why we take time to be “slow to speak, quick to listen, and slow to become angry.”

Conclusion: