Fire from the Altar

17. The Former Rain

Song 2:11, Joel 2:23, Hos 6:1-3

Zechariah prophesied the renewal of New Jerusalem, saying, “The Lord will again comfort Zion, and I will again choose Jerusalem … My Word will be a wall of fire around her, and I will dwell in her midst.”^{Zech 2:10-12} The Word is the Spirit of Christ, who makes the dwelling place of the spirit of God.

Hosea prophesied the return of the spirit of God, saying, “He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.”^{Hos 6:3}

The first outpouring of the spirit of God was described in Chapter 2 of the Song of Songs.

Solomon’s bride said, “Lo the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.”^{Song 2:11} The spring rain was the outpouring of the holy spirit that began the engagement year of Christ and His Bride.

He has given you the former rain for righteousness.

Joel 2:23

In Israel, there are two rains. The former rain appears at the end of the year and represents the end-time outpouring of the holy spirit. The prophet Joel said, “He has given you the former rain for righteousness.”^{Joel 2:23} The former rain is sent to remove lawlessness from the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus said that when the spirit of truth comes, “it will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.”^{John 16:8}

Jesus described the Father as the vinedresser who takes away every branch that does not bear fruit.^{John 15:2} The spirit of God is sent to sanctify His Church.

The outpouring of the spirit of God brings the hour of God’s judgment to those who worship the image of the beast and receive his mark.

18. The Glory of the Lord Came from the East

Isa 49:12, Ezek 43:2, Ezek 47:1-12, Zech 6:12

In the beginning of the 20th century, many believers in the West were hoping for a Pentecostal revival. The Bible prophesied that the second outpouring of the holy spirit would begin in the East.

In Jesus’ day, Zech 6:12 was translated as “Behold, a man whose name is the East! He shall build the temple of the Lord.”

Ezekiel said, “Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East. His voice was like the sound of many waters.”^{Ezek 43:2} This is the sound of many waters we hear throughout the Book of Revelation, the sound of the end-time Sanctified Church.

In Chapter 47, Ezekiel described the water flowing on the right side, south of the altar, that became deeper and deeper as it moved east and south of Jerusalem.^{Ezek 47:1-12} When we look at the world, it is easy to see where it is going. The first outpouring of the holy spirit was to the north and west of Jerusalem, and the final outpouring is to the east and south.

Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East. His voice was like the sound of many waters.

Ezekiel 43:2

The apostle Peter said the gift of the Holy Spirit would be given to “as many as are far off.” He was quoting from Isa 49:12, which reads, “Surely these shall come from afar, Look! Those from the north and the west and these from the land of Sinim.” The outpouring of the holy spirit in the apostolic time was to the north and the west, but the end-time outpouring of the holy spirit is in “the land of Sinim,” which is normally interpreted as China.

In the apostolic age, the holy spirit led the apostles to Europe and prevented them from preaching in Asia. This was described in Acts 16:6, “Now, when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the holy spirit to preach the word in Asia.” This was the plan of God. The first preaching of the Gospel was to the north and west of Jerusalem. The Church of the end days will be from the East.

19. Their Doorpost Was Beside My Doorpost

Ezek 43:8

Ezekiel told us why God was unable to pour out His holy spirit on the churches of the West. God said, “Their doorpost was beside My doorpost, and there was a wall between them and Me.”¹

God’s house was not built according to His instructions.

The spirit of God is the spirit of truth. The Bible gives us four conditions that must be met for the Church to receive the spirit of God:

• The Church must keep the commandments of God. We find this in Acts 5:32, 1 John 3:22 and 1 John 5:2, Rev 12:17, Rev 14:12, Matt 7:21, and 1 Cor 7:19.
• The Church must obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ outlined in His 12 “if not” conditions of salvation. These include the washing of the feet and the imitation of the Father “in like manner.”
• The Church must baptize in the Name of Jesus.
• The Church must listen to the teachings of the apostles. The elementary teachings of salvation were listed by the writer of Hebrews as “instructions in baptisms [or washings] and the laying on of hands [for the gift of the Holy Spirit].” The instructions in baptisms were not listed by the writer, but in A.D. 150, Justin Martyr wrote, “We lead them to a place where there is water, and they are regenerated in the same manner in which we were regenerated.”¹ Then he described the need to wash completely and “the command to remove the shoes”² — the washing of the feet that followed baptism.

Their doorpost was beside My doorpost, and there was a wall between them and Me.

Ezekiel 43:8

The requirement to follow the pattern exactly was dramatically illustrated in Exodus 39 and 40. God gave the Israelites precise instructions for the building of the tabernacle. After they built it according to God’s instructions, “the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tent.”^{Exod 40:34}

The prophet Ezekiel described the exact measurements for the third temple, the Church of God. After it was built in accordance with all of God’s instructions, “the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East.”^{Ezek 43:2}

20. Silence for about Half an Hour

John 16:8, Rev 6:9-11, Rev 8:1

Before the Holy Spirit was poured out in the early 20th century, “there was silence in heaven for about half an hour,” as described in Revelation 8:1.

This silence in heaven for half an hour refers to the silence of the martyrs who cried out in heaven in the fifth seal of Revelation 6.

The first four seals were four horses given “authority over a fourth of the Earth to kill with the sword and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the Earth.”^{Rev 6:8} Europe was a fourth of the Earth and the extent of Christianity until the 16th century.

That brings us to the fifth seal, where the martyrs on thrones cried out “with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’”^{Rev 6:10}

there was silence in heaven for about half an hour

Revelation 8:1

The resurrection of the martyrs began when the saints escaped from the hand of the bishop of Rome, in 1471. They were “given a white robe and told to rest until the number of their brethren to be killed … was completed.”^{Rev 6:11} Their deaths ended with the Thirty Years War, in which a third of the population of Germany died. The Peace of Westphalia was signed in 1648. After this, the martyrs stopped ascending to heaven, and “there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”^{Rev 8:1}

“An hour” is understood to be about 533 years, and half an hour, 267 years, which brings us from 1648 to 1917, when fire from the altar was thrown down to the Earth, as described in Rev 8:5.

The fire poured out in 1917 was the same fire that Christ poured out on the day of Pentecost: The holy spirit sent to “convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.”^{John 16:8}

The outpouring of the holy spirit marked the beginning of the “hour of God’s judgment”^{Rev 14:7} and answered the cry of the martyrs.

21. The Prayers of the Saints

Rev 8:1-7

The second outpouring of the holy spirit came in the year 1917. As on the day of Pentecost, the holy spirit was poured out after the prayers of the saints ascended to God. This was described in Revelation 8: “Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer, and much incense was given to him so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints.”^{Rev 8:3}

The angel who intercedes for us is Christ, the Angel who continually appears throughout the Book of Revelation.

At the end of the 19th century, the saints were praying for the gift of the holy spirit, and many believed that they had attained it. In 1896, more than 100 Protestants prayed earnestly at the Shearer Schoolhouse Revival. After much prayer, it was said that “a number were speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”³

and much incense was given to him so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints.

Revelation 8:3

On the last day of 1900, Charles Parham asked the students at his Bible College to pray for the gift of the holy spirit. The next day, Agnes Ozman, who knew only English, began to speak in Chinese. Witnesses said that a halo surrounded her face and her head as she began to speak and write in Chinese. Other students also began to speak in tongues, and they believed they also received the gift of the holy spirit.

By 1906, the Pentecostal experience had reached the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles, where 13,000 people spoke in tongues. In 1908, the Apostolic Faith Mission sailed to China, where Bernt Berntsen preached to Zhang Lingsheng and Paul Wei, and they also spoke in other tongues.

In 1917, Paul Wei received the instruction of Christ to be baptized with the baptism of Jesus, in the same manner as Jesus was baptized. Then he received the gift of the holy spirit, as evidenced by the tongue emitting sound. This was completely unlike the speaking in other tongues in the Western churches, which was characterized by the movement of the lips in a type of prayer language.

22. The Tabernacle of Testimony Was Opened

Acts 7:44, Heb 8:5, Rev 15:5

The apostle John described the event that preceded the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit, saying: “The temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened.”^{Rev 15:5} There was enlightenment from heaven for the pattern of God’s temple, His Church.

In the Old Testament, the tabernacle of testimony had to be built according to God’s instructions before the glory of God could enter. In Acts 7, Stephen rebuked the Jews because they did not follow God’s instructions: “Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.”^{Acts 7:44} The writer of Hebrews recalled this instruction of God, saying, “See … that you make it according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”^{Heb 8:5}

See … that you make it according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.

Hebrews 8:5

After Moses built the tabernacle according to the pattern he was shown, the glory of God came in.^{Ezek 43:2}

In 1915, Bernt Berntsen met Paul Wei in Beijing. Paul Wei agreed with all the teachings of Bernt Berntsen, including the washing of the feet, but he insisted on Saturday rest after reading tracts from the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Because of this disagreement, he separated from Bernt Bernsten.

In 1917, after fasting for 39 days, Paul Wei heard a voice from heaven saying, “You must be baptized with the baptism of Jesus.”⁴ He thus walked about three kilometers to a river, waded into the water and knelt down. Then he heard the voice again, saying, “You must be baptized face down.”⁵

When Paul Wei obeyed these instructions, “the temple was filled with the smoke from the glory of God and from His power.”^{Rev 15:8} Paul Wei entered what he called “the holiest place.”⁶ He was filled with the holy spirit, as evidenced by the tongue emitting sound.

23. Fire from the Altar

Rev 8:5

The apostle John prophesied the end-time outpouring of the holy spirit, saying, “The Angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and hurled it to the earth.”

The Angel was Christ and the fire that He poured out was the same holy spirit He poured out on the day of Pentecost with “tongues of fire.”

In 1917, after Paul Wei obeyed the instruction of God to be baptized face down, he received the comfort of the holy spirit, as evidenced by the tongue emitting sound, in Greek, laleo glossa. This expression appears only in the Bible. The meaning of it is much different from the “speaking in tongues” practiced by the Pentecostal denominations of the West. The Greek expression laleo glossa does not describe speaking in other languages. There are other Greek expressions for that. For Paul Wei and the church in China, the tongue emits sound. There was also a strong comforting movement of the holy spirit that could be seen by all. As on the day of Pentecost, the evidence of the presence of the holy spirit was both seen and heard.

The Angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and hurled it to the earth.

Revelation 8:5

On his deathbed, Paul Wei pleaded with the Western missionary Bernt Berntsen, saying, “If you are able to believe that Jesus gave me a face-down baptism and that He personally appeared and gave me commands, then you will indeed enter that holiest place.”⁷ Berntsen refused, however, saying that he would wait until the Holy Spirit revealed it to him.

As Ezekiel prophesied, the Church of the end days would come from the East.

The Church of the East rejected the image and mark of the beast, and obeyed the following five doctrines:

• Sabbath day rest;
• Baptism in the name of Jesus, in like manner;
• Washing of the feet after baptism;
• Holy Communion; and
• The laying on of hands for bestowing the gift of the holy spirit.

24. This Gate Shall Be Shut

Ezek 44:2, Matt 24:15, Rev 15:8

The Apostolic Church came to an end when the bishop of Rome stood in the holy place and the abomination of desolation was set up. God’s sanctuary was cast to the ground.

God will not allow anyone to stand in the holy place in the last days. Ezekiel said that when the glory of God came in, God commanded that the door must remain shut. The glory of God will never again depart from His temple: “This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore, it shall be shut.”^{Ezek 44:2}

This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore, it shall be shut.

Ezekiel 44:2

The meaning of “This gate shall be shut” is simply that the doctrines of the Church cannot be changed by men. No man may enter the temple or have his way in the temple, for this is the temple of God. The Antichrist desolated the Church when a man “stood in the holy place.”^{Matt 24:15}

In Rev 15:8, we read that “no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.” Since its inception in 1917, the Church of God in China has absolutely resisted any compromise of its doctrines. It has rejected all the man-made doctrines of the Western churches.

In Rev 14:4, John said, “These are the men who have not been defiled by women … These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” The saints of the East rejected the teachings of the great harlot because they knew they received the holy spirit because they obeyed the instructions of God. God said, “Write it down in their sight so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances and perform them.”^{Ezek 43:11}

25. Peals of Thunder and an Earthquake

Exod 19:16, Rev 8:5

The apostle John told us that after the Holy Spirit was poured out, there were peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

“Peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning” was how the dramatic encounter with God on Mount Sinai is described in Exod 19:16 and Exod 20:18. In Rev 8:5, these “peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning” described the outpouring of the spirit of God. John said they were followed by an earthquake.

The earthquakes in Rev 6:12, Rev 11:13, and Rev 16:18 describe the Battle of Armageddon and the Reformation wars. They were called “great earthquakes.” In 1917, when the Holy Spirit was poured out in China, China joined World War I. The apostle John did not call World War I, a “great earthquake,” but it was called “the Great War” because it was compared to the Battle of Armageddon.

and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake

Revelation 8:5

The outpouring of the holy spirit in China was accompanied by signs and miracles. By 1923, more than 100 churches had been established in southern China. All received the same spirit, with the same evidence of the tongue emitting sound first experienced by Paul Wei in 1917.

On Mount Sinai, after the “peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning,” the Israelites heard the sound of a trumpet blast. Here, in Rev 8:5, the “peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning” introduced the sounding of seven trumpets that remove the lawless from the Kingdom of Heaven.

---