The King's Courts

[HKHaugan]

You’ve just been to a movie, heard a speech, read a book, been to a concert, or had a special one-on-one conversation. In each of those something unique was apprehended. A message was sent and received. You saw, heard, felt a spiritual comparison to a biblical truth, a personal truth, a relational truth. It was an insight gained. A trust renewed. An illustration to be shared. In each, there was a moment when the heart was touched and in each, wisdom was transmitted. The impression of that moment didn't stop when you came to the end of those moments. You saw life in a deeper dimension. It was exciting and strengthened your outlook on living in this world. You entered the court of wisdom. It was a Holy Spirit moment. The Spirit of wisdom was working through your faith, your trust and your belief. This is the same Spirit who drew you to Jesus and is the Spirit of Jesus working in you. These are just some of the treasures to be stored up in Heaven (Mt.6:20).

Jesus was this way all the time. He lived every moment spiritually conscious of all that surrounded Him. Wherever He was, was a moment of spiritual reality breaking through the secular atmosphere. For us it is sporadic because of sin. But the more we allow His Word into our mind, the more of a base we have to see the spiritual parallels in the spiritual reality around us. That's how the Holy Spirit works the Word in us. Scripture is the background for the foreground we live each day.

But Holy Spirit reality is not the reality of this world. Holy Spirit reality starts with belief. Belief moves into trust and trust moves into faith. This is ultimate reality, final and forever eternal reality. This is the reality that changes hearts and when hearts are changed the world is changed. It's people that make up the world.

It takes a spiritually oriented mind to see the temporary reality that runs the world. It's a secular world, one minus God (Mathematically, one minus God equals zero). You can sense it immediately. When you know you are in a secular atmosphere there is always a sense of fear present. Not necessarily a fear of being physically hurt. That certainly can be there. Rather, it is more a fear of uncertainty, the 'what-if' kind, the insecure and unsecured moments, the 'what-might-happen' ones. They take place in our aloneness when issues arise around us and in our relational walk. They appear as anxiety, apprehension, trepidation, lonely frustration, hostile reaction, self-protective withdrawal, momentary and lingering anger. These are anti-wisdom moments. It is these that experience the spirit of fear that Paul identifies and Jesus singles out when He tells the disciples, “Fear not.”

Take a look at Jesus and His real life situations. When the Pharisees confronted Jesus about the woman caught in adultery His reply that the one who was without sin ought to cast the first stone. His wisdom penetrated their hearts. All they could do was retreat in silence. They had been shown a heart court. It immediately can be seen that wisdom is one of God’s courts for the heart. We can be with others in God’s courts. But we can also be alone with God in a court.

When Jesus turned to the adulterous woman (John 8:1-11) His compassion and forgiveness touched her heart when He told her to go and sin no more. She entered the courts of compassion and forgiveness. She was touched by the Spirit of Jesus. It was the same Spirit that convicted the slinking Pharisees.

When Jesus arrived at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11) those who were with Him observed how moved He was and concluded it was His love for Lazarus. True, but there was a deeper purpose revealed in Jesus' late arrival at the tomb. It was to show the glory of His Father and Himself in the raising of Lazarus from the dead. That glory was the foreshadowing of His death and His Resurrection which would secure the same for all who would put their belief, trust and faith in Him. His life was lived for the glory of His Father.

John summarized the overall life of Jesus when He said that God loved the world so much that He gave His Son to die so that anyone who believed in Him would live eternally. Jesus was the embodiment of the court of God’s love. God’s love is the inner sanctuary court where hearts are brought into the heart of God to rest in His glory.

What all of this is saying is that in Jesus these are not the only rooms. There are many more courts where we will live. They are the qualities He has prepared for us to experience in the Kingdom. This is why it is revealed to John that it is not a building that will be the eternal temple. Rather it will be Jesus Himself (Rev.21:22). It is He and His qualities that we will experience. That is why Scripture tells us that no foundation can be laid except the one He already is (1Cor.3:11).

The courts are not places but qualities from the heart of God that are the spiritual spaces that interlock with one another making up the Kingdom of Heaven. These qualities are the fluid qualities of His presence that permeate reality. They are the substance of the Kingdom of God and they are eternal because they are the very nature of the timeless One God. When Jesus prays for unity with us, with the Father and one another He is praying that we will be brought into the court of perfect unity, the quality of God for which were created.

How does one enter the courts of the Kingdom? Let’s consider first the Kingdom’s gates and their keys. Jesus says to Peter, “I give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven….” The gates are those that only the individual heart can choose to enter. The keys to those gates are repentance, faith, submission and obedience. You repent of being in sole control of self and turn to believing in Jesus, submitting to Him with mind and heart as your personal Savior and Lord and obey Him through His Word. It is our relationship with Him that is the temple we enter and begin to wander the courts of His presence.

But there is one more set of keys to gain entrance to the Kingdom and its courts. It is the words of Scripture. To single out any one book or text would not do His Word honor. However, a place to start using the keys is in the parables of Jesus. They open doors to the unexpected, deep and abiding truths for living everyday life in the Spirit. They also open the courts of the history, heritage and hope of the Jewish people in which Jesus is found page by page.

Now we move through those gates where your heart’s desire brings you to enter through praise, thanksgiving, companionship, friendship and brotherhood in the Body of Christ. Moving into the Body of Christ is moving into the Kingdom of God as the Lord has established it on earth. Remember it is not the institutional church that is the Kingdom but the brothers and sisters who have given their minds and hearts to let the Lord fill them with His Spirit. They are the Body of Christ, which is the bride of Christ waiting for His return to bring all home into that final unity with Him and the full Kingdom.

“Finish your outdoor work. Get your fields ready. After that, build your house (Prov.24:27).”