There is a healthy transition from intellectualism to an experience-based faith right now. Sound doctrine is essential, but we all got saved based on experiences with Jesus. We can approach courts and decrees from a methodic, cerebral perspective and have a shopping list of “correct choices” for our authority, the courts of heaven, and the decrees we bring back. We know Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, and we’re seated in heavenly places. So, we can take a doctrinal approach to the courts and bypass the messiness and mysticism of going there ourselves and line ourselves up with the religious spirit of mystical cessationism – and miss out on the fun of being a son. Jesus wants us to go!
Matt. 23:13 – Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. NIV
Father’s council – The cessationist view of mysticism (ascension to the courts and council) ignores the fact that the Bible is full of mystical events that are not intellectually explainable. I’m voting for the experience of being a son who goes to the council even if it sounds mystical! I want my seer gift activated, and my doctrinal position is that the Father is populating his council with sons who are Seers in heaven and Doers on earth (we recommend the Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser and Seers and Doers by John Garfield). Don’t miss the definitions and explanations at the end of this blog.
Ps. 84:7 They go from strength to strength (chayil), Every one of them appears before God in Zion. NASU
Rom. 8:19 – For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. NASU
Purpose – What I bring back from the council is my purpose, calling, or book. I get a confirmation that the Father was the original author of the desires of my heart, and they match the desires of His own heart. I get to ‘see’ what’s going on up there. Servants don’t know the Father’s business, but sons who ascend do see what the Father is doing – just like Jesus. He was the first-born son, and He’s not ashamed to call us brothers.
John 15:15-17 – I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit — fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. NIV
Heb. 8:10-11 – This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know (G1097 intellectually) the Lord,’ because they will all know (G1492 see) me, from the least of them to the greatest.
Producing Products – The purpose I bring back from the council lands squarely in products – I have a business expression of my purpose that creates something of value and generates sustainable cash flow. I’m intensely spiritual and naturally entrepreneurial at the same time. Relationships are sweetest when we’re working together (colaboring). Faith and belief without works is a path through spiritual weirdness that eventually leads to death.
Deut. 8:18 – But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth (chayil), and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today NIV
Wealth in this verse (chayil) means value, valor, or valiant ones – the ability to do exploits. So it can include wealth but more in the sense of a byproduct of creating value. The same word is translated strength to strength in Ps. 84:7. Sons come back from the council having a purpose which they leverage to create value. It sounds like business to me! The “covenant” referred to in Heb. 8:10-11 and Deut. 8:18 is a reference to God’s priority on assembling sons in His council – sons who are Seers who can see.
Kingdom Context – Sons go to the council, bring back purpose, and translate it into a sustainable business that produces a product with cash flow. They do one more thing. Their business also has an infinite or eternal purpose statement. They and their business are aligned with what sons see the Father doing. What is that? The Father is inviting us to ask for the nations (Ps. 2:8) and to disciple the nations (Mt. 28:19). That’s the great commission of the sons who populate the council (the ecclesia). Reformation is all about the Father’s heart to redeem and bless entire nations.
Compassionate Capitalism – The practical ramifications are sons who have a purpose, express that purpose entrepreneurially to produce something of value. Those businesses don’t just exist to profit shareholders. The corporate vision reflects an eternal purpose unique to the CEO and the Kingdom purpose of the business itself. Long term, that’s good for the brand, employee participation, and customer loyalty. Everyone resonates with people and businesses who reflect the Father’s heart of love for nations and people. It’s the just cause and higher purpose that resonates much more than spineless vision statements on the walls of most corporate hallways. Mysticism turns out to be good for business.
You’re Invited (to the dance) – We’ve developed two online courses to bring prophetic and practical clarity to your purpose, vocation, or business and a success path to seeking the Father in the courts of heaven and the council. It’s an experience with the Father and a relational tribe that works.
Stories from this tribe are here.
- The Heart Plan ($997) – (OnlineHeartPlan.com) will help you fish your purpose out of the deep waters of your heart and get it in writing. Watch the free videos. You can take this class anytime or wait for the next round, and we’ll go through it again as a group with weekly zoom calls. The Heart Plan is based on the ideas in Releasing Kings.
Prov. 20:5 – The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.
- Seers and Doers ($997) – (Seers-and-Doers.com) will help you navigate the courts and council of Heaven with your Father and the Spirit of Wisdom in a practical way. Start with Seers and Doers via Amazon.com.
Ps. 84:7 – They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion. NASU
- Scaling up to a Wealth Mentality ($97) – is our newest self-help course. We think you’ll enjoy it. Great lead up to the Heart Plan.
A Primer for Ascension to Courts and Council of Heaven
Lots of people have never heard of some of the mystical aspects of ascending to the courts of heaven or the Father’s council. This first sentence would be enough for some to move on! This realm is in an early adopter phase – we get that. We’re not shaming people who aren’t there yet. We’re not even compelling people to go there in a marketing or evangelistic sense. What we are doing is finding the people who are already hungry for it and helping them take the next step.
Cessationism – When I got saved in the charismatic movement, everyone was getting baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. Some outside this movement, often in traditional churches, thought it was extreme – in some cases, it was. They developed a doctrinal position that the gifts of the spirit were for Jesus’ time, but not for today – they ceased! That also translated to frowning on divine healing deliverance, etc. Well, cessationism is no longer with us because too many people speak in tongues and have been healed. It’s just not a viable position anymore, and it’s virtually silent.
Mysticism is viewed in somewhat the same way. It’s in a pioneering stage, and there are some excesses that can be criticized, and some are writing the whole movement off. The point is, that like gifts of the spirit, sons ascending to the courts and council is Biblical, has a purpose, and bears fruit. Everyone will be doing it in the ‘not too distant future.’
Ascension isn’t bodily going to heaven, although Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus did do that. For most, it is an act of faith, and we go in the spirit. The experiences, conversations, and scenes can all be discerned and confirmed in the same we judge prophecy – it’s not that hard.
Hearing God – Most people do have a theology that permits them to hear from the Holy Spirit. Practically, it not an audible voice; It’s a thought that comes into our minds that we discern and judge. Thoughts can come from our minds, our hearts, other people, the enemy and God. Hearing from God is simply the ability to sort through the pile and identify what came from God. The experience of that reality is easy and fun with a little practice. Prophetic ministry is simply discerning those thoughts quickly, sharing them with other people, and watching for them to resonate. That’s a very powerful and fun experience too.
Seer gift – Seeing in the spirit is a lot like hearing. Now I’m permitting myself to see pictures or movie clips. The scenes come through my imagination by faith, and I’m simply discerning the pictures as they come and asking the Lord to help me weave it into a story that makes sense and can be discerned and judged. Of course, the enemy is telling me the whole time that I’m just making it up out of my imagination, and I’m becoming mentally unstable. Like hearing, these seer gift scenes are easy to discern, and they are even more powerful than words we share in the prophetic realm. God wants us all to be able to see and hear – it’s not that hard. That’s why we wrote Seers and Doers and developed the www.Seers-and-Doers.com course. The online course is much more a series of experiences in the courts and council that modules full of information. This stuff is caught, not taught.
Courts of Heaven – We ascend to the courts of heaven to identify accusations from the enemy. Lots of people still encounter spiritual resistance after they have repented for everything forgiven everyone. They’ve already tried every approach to inner healing under the sun. Accusations can have roots in generational compromises in our family line. The impact on us passes down generationally in the form of a curse that can be dealt with in the courts of heaven. So we:
- Ask the Lord to help us discern the specific accusation – get it into words; it’s often presented in the courts like legal evidence that can be seen with your seer gift.
- Ask Father to show us where it came from – also often “seen” as members of our family line entering into covenants with the enemy.
- Once the accusation and root are “seen,” we’re agreeing with them quickly (Mt. 5:25) and repenting by taking them to the cross. We overcome the accuser of the brethren by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony (Rev. 12).
- The blood of the lamp is the repentance and forgiven aspect; the “word of their testimony is our book (Ps. 139:15-16). In other words, we’re exchanging the curse that held us back for the assignment of our future. Both of those things happen in the courts.
- We also expect and usually see decrees that go with our book. These are aspects of our assignment or prophetic tools or prayer strategies that help us have the confidence and the power to implement our book. All of this sets the stage for the council.
The Council – God has always had a divine council. The best theological foundation for this is in the Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser and Seers and Doers by John Garfield). We sons are being invited to a seat on this council. We go by faith to experience what the Father is doing and saying. There are many places in heaven, but my own version of the council includes Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit and the seven spirit of God (Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might, Knowledge, and Fear of the Lord). When I go to the council myself or with others, we are either asking Father what’s on Heart heart or presenting a topic or issue for council input. We see what is loosed (permitted) in heaven and what is bound (forbidden) in heaven, and we bring back the Kingdom to earth. That’s a primary initiative for sons. We’re present in the council to hear and see the purpose of the Father’s heart, and then on earth, we carry the boldness, authority, and creativity to implement our piece of that purpose in our mountain.
The courts of heaven is a wonderful and necessary part of this equation, but not everything sons do go through accusations and decrees. The biggest part of our activity is doing what the Father does as we carry the heart of His (and our) purpose on earth. Jesus didn’t get a shopping list of assignments every day, and he didn’t carry a list of decrees. He implemented the Father’s purpose and responded to opportunities and obstacles as they arose. He tipped tables over, healed the sick, call the Pharisees on their hypocrisy, raised the dead, forgave sins, set captives free… whatever was needed; that’s what he did. As sons we carry the ability to ask “whatsoever” in the name of Jesus – We’re aligned with the Father’s purpose because we’ve spent time in the council. We do whatever is needed, just like Jesus, who is not ashamed to call us brothers (Heb. 2:11-12).
