The "crucified ones" - Charles
Elliott Newbold, Jr. - www.charlesnewbold.org
Chapter 1 - Three Feasts And Three
Courts
Why did God ordain that Israel
should celebrate the three main feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles? And why
are there three courts in the Tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness as well as in
Solomon's Temple? Are these simply capricious thoughts on the part of God? Certainly God
had a plan in mind. Certainly He has a purpose for these. These were a pattern for
something to come.
The feasts, the three courts, all of the furnishings and utensils in
the Tabernacle and Temple, the rituals--I believe that all of these speak of things unique
in His Kingdom that were fulfilled one way or the other in Jesus Christ. First, He was
Savior in fulfillment of Passover. Then, He was Sanctifier in the gift of His Holy Spirit
in the fulfillment of Pentecost. Finally, He will come again as Glorifier in His glorified
body with His glorified holy ones at His side in the fulfillment of Tabernacles.
The Old Testament symbols are rich in what they reveal to us today.
Thank God as we approach that great and terrible day of the Lord that these truths are
being revealed to the church and are calling us onward and upward into Him as He prepares
His bride for His coming. The preparation of the bride is the preparation for His coming.
They work together.
These three feasts and courts also reveal where different members of
the body of Christ are in terms of their relationship with Him. It is important that we
understand that we can have varying degrees of relationship with Him--not that He would
have it that way, but that we, nevertheless, in our stubborn and willful ways, have it
that way. This chapter explores how I see these differences in our relationship to Christ.
Categories of Believers
While there are many denominations and variations of groups in
Christianity, I basically see five categories of believers that spread across all of these
groups. They are liberals, evangelicals, Pentecostals, charismatics, and an emerging group
I will call, for the want of a better term, the "crucified ones."
For the most part, liberals, evangelicals, Pentecostals, and
charismatics remain a part of institutional Christianity. While most denominations tend to
fit into one of these categories, we often find a mix of individuals holding to these
different persuasions within them all. These individuals differ from one another in terms
of their doctrines which inclines them toward different interests.
The following description is simplistic and general. Space or purpose
does not permit fuller explanation.
Liberals have generally believed in a social gospel and have been
inclined toward humanism and social reform.
Evangelicals have preached the blood atonement of Jesus Christ, the
necessity of the rebirth experience, and have been inclined toward fundamentalism.
Both Pentecostals and charismatics have had in common the belief in the
baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in unknown tongues, and in various other gifts of the
Spirit. Otherwise, there has been a vast difference between these two groups.
Pentecostals have preached holiness which, for them, was attained
through systems of religious codes designed to control the outward behavior of their
constituents. They have been, therefore, inclined toward legalism.
Charismatics (especially among those in "Word" churches) have
preached faith and prosperity which has inclined them toward self-ism and materialism.
The "crucified ones" preach Christ and Him crucified and are
inclined toward absolute obedience to the Holy Spirit at all cost to self. The rest of
this study is given to the identification of these crucified ones.
I believe these differing groups are typified in the three main Old
Testament feasts of the Jewish sacred year as well as in the three courts of the
Tabernacle of Moses. These feasts and courts correlate with several other features having
to do with our pressing onward in the high calling of God.
Chart
The following chart of these correlations is adapted from a teaching
which I first heard from the late Bro. Bill
Britton, a prophet of God from Springfield, Missouri. The Lord has made this
correlation real to me over the years and has added some understanding of it to me. Other
teachers also have confirming correlations. The following parallels somewhat guide the
outline within this study and will be further explained in later chapters.
Read across the columns, left to right.
|
- 1st - |
- 2nd - |
- 3rd - |
|
Passover |
Pentecost |
Tabernacles |
Death, Burial, Resurrection
& Ascension |
Outpouring
of Holy Spirit |
Second Coming
of Christ |
| Outer Court |
Holy Place |
Holy of Holies |
| Evangelicals |
Pentecostals/Charismastics |
"crucified ones" |
| Jesus-Savior |
Christ-Anointed |
Lord-King |
| Thirty-fold |
Sixty-fold |
Hundred-fold |
| Traditional |
"Spirit Filled" |
Spirit Led |
| Justification |
Sanctification |
Glorification |
Consume Christ
/Consumed by Him |
Consumed
with Christ |
Consuming Fire
for Christ |
| Spirit Redeemed |
Soul Being Renewed |
Body to Be Glorified |
| Water Baptism |
Holy Spirit Baptism |
Baptism of Sufferings |
| Children |
Sons |
Fathers |
| Way |
Truth |
Life |
| See the Kingdom |
Enter the Kingdom |
Inherit the Kingdom |
| Israel (Samaria) |
Judah |
Zion |
If you are not already
familiar with the Old Testament feasts and the design of the Tabernacle, it would be best
to read Leviticus 23 and Exodus 25-27 before going on.
The outer court of Moses' Tabernacle where the animal sacrifices were
made corresponds with the Feast of Passover which was fulfilled in the death, burial,
resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Place with the altar of incense, the table of showbread (the
bread of preparation), and the candlesticks, which continually burned olive oil,
corresponds with the Feast of Pentecost which was fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit upon the church on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2).
The Holy of Holies, wherein is the ark of the covenant with the mercy
seat on it, corresponds with the Feast of Tabernacles (also called Feast of Booths) which
has yet to be completely fulfilled. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest
entered behind the veil into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood of animal sacrifices
upon the mercy seat to atone for his own sins and for the sins of the people (Ex. 30:10).
Jesus partially fulfilled the day of Atonement as our great High Priest (Heb. 9:7-12).
Tabernacles is also known as the Feast of Ingathering (Ex. 23:16) which
I believe represents that great ingathering into Jesus on that great and terrible day of
the Lord when He comes again.
I find that the various groups of Christians fit into one or the other
of these different courts or feasts, depending on their willingness to go further in Jesus
Christ as Lord. It is as though some have entered into the Kingdom of God but have not yet
inherited all that is theirs to be enjoyed.
I don't mean to be ugly in doing so, but I place the liberals outside
of the Tabernacle walls altogether and dispense with further discussion about them since
most of them reject the divine inspiration of scripture. Consequently, they deny most of
the fundamental truths of the Christian faith. I leave the matter of their salvation up to
God. (I applaud their humanitarian interests and could wish the whole church were more
taken up with these works. But our interest here has to do with relationship with God and
not with works.)
I place the evangelicals in the outer court of the Tabernacle since
they believe in the blood atonement of the Lamb of God and in the rebirth experience which
is clearly represented in the Feast of Passover. But, by their own confession, that's as
far as they go. For the most part they are able only to bear fruit thirtyfold, lacking the
power of the Holy Spirit. Claiming to have the baptism in the Holy Spirit on the basis of
doctrine doesn't get it.
The Pentecostals and charismatics believe in the blood atonement,
rebirth experience, and go one step further. They believe in and have received the baptism
in the Holy Spirit (empowering) as promised by the Father which is typified in the Holy
Place of the Tabernacle. But this is as far as they go. As a rule, they too have camped
out around their "Pentecostal" experiences. They fail to recognize that the Holy
Spirit was given to empower them to go on into the Holy of Holies; that is, into a place
of absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ. While most would confess, as would the evangelicals,
that Jesus Christ is Lord, the reality of that is not in their walk but only in their
talk.
The Pentecostals and charismatics, having received the power of the
Holy Spirit, have the potential of bearing fruit sixtyfold. Too often, however, they have
viewed the Pentecostal experience as an end rather than the means toward the end: total
surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
The new breed of radical believers, the "crucified ones," not
only believe in the blood atonement, the new birth, and the Pentecostal experience, but
are pressing into the Holy of Holies where the Feast of Tabernacles is to be fulfilled.
The Holy of Holies is the place in the Spirit where nothing else matters but Jesus Christ
and His absolute will. They are learning the full implication of what it means to lay
one's life down for the sake of the gospel.
While Tabernacles is yet to be fulfilled, there are forerunners to it.
Just as John the Baptist was a forerunner to prepare the way of the Lord, so are these
crucified ones forerunners to prepare the way of the Lord's second coming. Previously,
John was one man with the anointing of the Elijah spirit (Luke 1:17). These last-days
forerunners are a many-membered man with the Elijah spirit--prophets by nature and
lifestyle!
Traditional, "Spirit-filled," and Spirit-led Believers
There is another way to make these distinctions: there are the
traditional churches, so-called "Spirit-filled" churches, and the Spirit-led
believers.
I say so-called "Spirit-filled" churches because these are
they who started out being led by the Spirit but somewhere along the way camped out around
their past experiences, institutionalized them, and have gone no further. When you cease
to be "Spirit-led," you soon become traditional again. So in the long run, there
are only two divisions: traditionalist and Spirit-led. All traditionalists end up becoming
another sect within institutional Christianity while the Spirit-led rarely find affinity
with an organized group.
We notice that the world accepts the traditional church, it tolerates
the Spirit-filled church, but it will crucify the Spirit-led believers. Even the
traditionalists in Christianity regard the Spirit-led believers with disdain.
If Satan and the powers of darkness could ever stop the people of God
from being led by the Spirit of God, they would successfully thwart the power of God
because the power of God is released through obedience. The enemy is never threatened by
those "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof..." (2
Tim. 3:5).
The enemy is threatened, however, by a company of overcomers today who
dare to deny themselves and take up their cross daily (Luke 9:23), who dare to follow the
Lamb wherever He goes. He trembles at the very emergence of these crucified ones.