Read Textual Sermon from Robert Jeffress
Four Principles for Seeking Wise Counsel
You know, Rehoboam’s sad experience kind of points out to me at least four principles about seeking wise counsel. I want you to jot these down on your outline.
First of all, when faced with a difficult decision, seek advice from experts.
Seek advice from experts. Now, I know we’re all kind of wary of so-called experts. You’ve heard the definition of an expert: “X” could mean “has-been,” “spert” could be a drip of water. An expert is a has-been drip, some people think. And sometimes we don’t want to seek experts; we think we’re qualified. But when you’re faced with a difficult decision, you need to go after people who’ve been down that road before. Find an expert who can help you with your problem.
Number two, when faced with a difficult decision, seek advice from many counselors.
Now, we need to give Rehoboam some credit here. He didn’t just go to one group—the older counselors. He brought in a second group as well. Proverbs 15:22 says, “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors, they succeed.” Don’t just listen to one person; listen to many people.
Number three, consider the motivation of your advisers.
When you go out to get counsel, try to determine the motivation of your advisers. Could it be that the financial planner—the reason he wants you to buy that stock or invest in that annuity—is because of the commission he will receive? Could it be that an attorney is encouraging you to go to court because that will mean more billable hours? You need to consider the motivation of your advisers. Frankly, this is where Rehoboam fell short. Had he thought about it, he would have realized that the older men who told him to listen to the people didn’t have anything to gain from Rehoboam. They were advanced in years. They had done their government thing. They were retired. On the other hand, these younger counselors were out to get something from Rehoboam. They wanted to ingratiate themselves to the new king, and so they told him what he wanted to hear.
Number four, follow wise advice.
Once you have sought counsel, make sure you act on the wise counsel you have received. Has that doctor told you you need to start exercising? Then do it. Has that attorney advised you to draw up a will? Then do it. Has the pastor encouraged you to reconcile that relationship? Then do it. The most tragic words of Rehoboam’s epitaph begin with these words: And so the king did not listen. You see, ladies and gentlemen, to hear good advice and not to act on it is really not to hear at all.
What do we learn by seeking the counsel of others? Remember I said that from authority figures we develop the quality of obedience—obeying when we don’t feel like obeying. From wise counselors we learn discernment—how to weigh good advice from bad advice.
Why Fellow Christians Matter
Now there’s a third group of people we need to consult whenever we make a decision, and that is fellow Christians. From fellow Christians, we develop that character quality of dependence.
Quite frankly, you’ve probably never thought of seeking advice from other members in this church. But one way God speaks to us is through fellow members of the body of Christ. We live with this Western mindset that says we’re all individuals before God. Each one of us—what really matters is our individual relationship with God. So, we’re a bunch of individuals, thousands of people coming to First Baptist Dallas, focusing on our individual, vertical relationship to God. But the Bible says not only do we have a relationship with God, we are accountable and dependent on one another in the body of Christ.
And the image that is used in the Bible to illustrate that is the human body. We read the passage just a few moments ago in 1 Corinthians 12:14. Paul says the church is like the human body. Look at verse 14: For the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I’m not part of the body,” it’s not for this reason any less a part of the body. The eyes, the hands, the feet are not only connected to the head—that is, to Christ—we are connected to one another.
And just as a hand that’s severed from the body will wither and die very, very quickly, so when we are not connected to a local fellowship like this fellowship, we’re going to wither away spiritually. We are dependent not only on the Head but on one another.
You say, “Well, what kind of guidance can fellow Christians in the church give me?” Let me mention three.
First, fellow Christians can offer us insight concerning our dilemmas.
I remember reading about the first President Bush, George H. W. Bush. It is said when people would come to him with unsolicited advice—“Mr. President, we think you should do this,” or “We think you ought to do that”—President Bush had a habit of saying, “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you President of the United States?” Now, admittedly, that’s a natural reaction. But it’s not necessarily a wise reaction, because many times some of the unsolicited advice we get from fellow Christians can be exactly what we need to hear.
A great illustration of that is found in the Old Testament—the story of Moses and his father-in-law, Jethro (not from the Beverly Hillbillies—the other Jethro). Turn over to Exodus 18 for a moment. Remember, Moses was the leader of the two-million-member nation of Israel. And one day, Jethro, the father-in-law, saw something that deeply disturbed him in Moses’ life. Look at Exodus 18:13. And it came about the next day that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood about Moses from the morning until the evening. When Jethro saw it, he basically said, “Moses, you’re out of your mind. You’re going to kill yourself if you try to handle all of these problems on your own.”
Then Jethro prescribed a course of action. He said, “Moses, it would be a lot smarter if, instead of trying to handle everybody’s individual problems—counseling all these people—you would simply teach them the principles of God’s Word so they could solve a lot of the problems on their own.”
By the way, pastors listening to this message, don’t miss that word of counsel. I don’t care what size your church is—you can fill up your calendar from morning until night with counseling appointments if you want to and never even make a dent in the problems in your church. A much more effective way for a pastor to counsel is from the pulpit—to teach people the principles of God’s Word so they can apply them to their own situation.
Jethro also said, “Break these people down into smaller units and put judges over them to handle the concerns of these smaller units.” Again, a great principle for how the church is to run. Some churches have tens of thousands of people coming and sitting as spectators in the pews, but there’s no way to minister to those individual needs. No pastor, no staff, no group of deacons can minister to every individual need in the church. That’s why Sunday School is so important. I’m so glad we have a Sunday-School-oriented church. In our church, Sunday School is the church broken down into smaller groups so that individuals can minister to one another as God intended. And how did Moses respond? Did he say, “Jethro, if you’re so smart, why aren’t you the leader of Israel?” No. Exodus 18:24 says, And so Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said.
Second, fellow Christians offer us guidance concerning our decisions.
Let’s say you’ve been concerned about your life—that you’re spending so much time on work and other temporal things that you’re not doing things of eternal value. You want a life that counts for eternity. You’ve been praying, “God, show me how my life can make an eternal difference.” Then one day the telephone rings: “We’ve got this special place of service available—this committee needs a member, this class needs a teacher, this department needs a leader—and we think you’re the person.” Your first thought might be, “Whose sucker list am I on?” But in truth, God may be speaking through those leaders in the church—giving you guidance for the decision you need to make. We find illustrations in Acts 6:5 (the congregation selecting the first deacons) and Acts 15:22 (the whole church sending Paul and others to Antioch). Fellow Christians can give us guidance in our decisions.
Third, fellow Christians sometimes offer us correction in our behavior.
If you’re going down a road you shouldn’t be traveling, how will God get your attention? Sometimes through fellow Christians in the church.
I remember many years ago an elderly woman in the church came to me and said, “Robert, I believe God has His hand on your life. I believe there are many great things He wants to do with you, but there’s one area in your life you need to correct. If you don’t correct it, it will destroy your ministry.” I’ll admit, my first response—at least inwardly—was not good: “Who are you to tell a man of God how he ought to act?” But the more I thought about it, the more I realized she was telling the truth. Even though that woman is in heaven today, I praise God for somebody who loved me enough to tell me not what I wanted to hear, but what I needed to hear.
Do you have people like that in your life—people who won’t get their head bitten off if they come to you with unsolicited counsel? People who care enough to tell you when you’re going the wrong way? And when they tell you, do you listen, or do you rebel?
Practical Guardrails for Counsel
Now, I know we’ve covered a lot of ground in just a few moments, but in closing, let me give you three real, practical thoughts about counseling and wise counsel in our lives.
Number one, don’t use counsel as a cop-out.
You know people like this—they’re always seeking more advice: “What do you think? And what do you think?” Always getting advice, never making a decision. There comes a time to stop asking for advice and just do what you know you need to do. For most people, the real problem is not discovering the will of God—it’s doing the will of God.
Secondly, remember that many times the counsel we receive is wrong.
When you ask people for advice, mark it down: most of the time, the majority will be wrong. Wasn’t that true of the Israelites? They sent twelve spies into the land. The majority report—ten—came back and said, “The challenge is too great.” Only two said, “With God’s help, we can overtake it.” Many times the counsel we receive is wrong.
Number three, all counsel must be measured against the Word of God.
A lot of people seek a new revelation from God about a dilemma when God has already spoken clearly in His Word. Every piece of counsel we receive must be measured against the Word of God.
We see a vivid demonstration of that in 1 Kings 13. Here’s the Reader’s Digest version: A young prophet was told by God, “Go to Bethel and denounce a pagan altar. When you’re done, go home directly—don’t stop.” He obeyed—until an older prophet lied and said, “God told me you should come eat at my house.” The younger prophet caved to the so-called newer revelation. As they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came—judgment for disobeying the clear command God had already given. On the way home, a lion met him and killed him. What’s the point? Never contradict what God has clearly spoken. If your “leading” violates Scripture, don’t listen to it. Obey what God has already said.
Now, in our series on discovering God’s will, we’ve talked about directions to look. Look up—talk to God in prayer; read His Word. Look around—at circumstances and counselors. And there’s a third direction that may surprise you: look inwardly. Many times, the key to discovering God’s will is to discover your will—how God uses your desires to give you direction in life.
Selected Scripture Quotations (NKJV)
- Proverbs 15:22 — “Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established.”
- 1 Corinthians 12:14 — “For in fact the body is not one member but many.”
- Exodus 18:17–18 — “So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, ‘The thing that you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out.’”
- Proverbs 12:1 — “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.”
- 1 Kings 13:21–22 — “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the command of the Lord, … your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’”
Questions This Sermon Answers
- Why did Rehoboam fail, and what can we learn from his mistake?
- How do we evaluate the motivations behind the advice we receive?
- Why should believers seek counsel from many advisers, not just one?
- In what practical ways do fellow Christians provide insight, guidance, and correction?
- How do we keep from using “seeking counsel” as an excuse for indecision?
- What is the biblical test for any counsel we receive?
