The Gnostic Roots of the Latter Rain/Word of Faith Movement

Thanks to:   DeceptionBytes – Why Latter Rain, and Dominion Theology is a Lie

The latter rain movement as it has come to be called actually began in 1948 from a Pentecostal Assemblies of God revival in a ministry school in Saskatchewan Canada. The terms “New Order” and “Latter Rain” were coined from this movement. One of the main tenants of this new Latter Rain theology was the belief in the restoration of the ministry of the Apostle and Prophet to the modern day church. From that time on the idea that God was restoring these offices began to be disseminated first in the mainline Pentecostal churches and then in evangelical spirit filled churches as a whole.

William Branham was connected to the revival in that the men who started the revival had been ministered to and spiritually affected by Branham’s ministry. In 1948-1950 some took the title of Prophet and set out preaching, teaching and prophesying. In so doing, they spread the seeds of this movement into mainline Pentecostal churches.

The following was taken from the website www.discernment.org “It is readily acknowledged by many charismatic leaders that Branham taught heresy but they still believe he was a true prophet. How can a person teach utter lies and nonsense on the one hand, yet hear so clearly and accurately from the Lord on the other? Branham was asked if the Holy Spirit did the supernatural works in his meetings. His response was, no his angel did these things! He denied the Trinity of God, believed in UFO’s, and gave out many predictive prophecies which were proved to be false. He thought he was one of the two witnesses found in the book of the Revelation. At his death many Latter Rain ministers prayed for him to be raised from the dead for days (he is still dead). Branham had literally no education at all, not past the eight grade at most.”

Might I add here that Todd Bentley who touched off the Florida outpouring (also known as the Florida Healing Revival) holds William Branham in high regard. In fact Todd Bentley claims that he now has the angel of William Branham! This must be the same angel that Branham claims did all the supernatural works in his meeting. Did you catch that?   It is not the Holy Spirit who is responsible- it is an angel!

“Do not let anyone disqualify you by making you humiliate yourself and worship angels. Such people enter into visions, which fill them with foolish pride because of their human way of thinking. They do not hold tightly to Christ, the head. It is from him that all the parts of the body are cared for and held together. So it grows in the way God wants it to grow.” — Colossians 2:18-19, NCV.

The reason Paul wrote this scripture to the Colossian church was that it was being infiltrated with Gnostic teachings. The Gnostics valued what they experienced and what they learned from ‘angels” over Holy Scripture. (Is any of this sounding familiar?) These Gnostics claimed they believed in scripture but did not depend on it as their source!

The following explanation of modern Gnostics come from “Angel Worship” taken from www.bibletools.org and sums up Gnosticism beautifully. Modern Gnostics who believe in “progressive revelation” have also succumbed to this first of Satan’s ploys. While God does reveal things to us, the critical point is that what is revealed—if it truly comes from Him—will never contradict what He has already revealed in His Word.

“God is not a man that He should lie” (Numbers 23:19).

Progressive revelation advocates believe that their revelations are more authoritative than the Bible, rather than complementing and harmonizing with it, making them ripe for satanic influence under the guise of God revealing something new to them. They may sincerely believe that God speaks to them, yet they simultaneously mistrust what He has already said in inspired Scripture. They tend to shy away from Bible study, concluding that they do not need it since God speaks directly to them, and if there is anything important, God will let them know.

Now remember this tactic of sowing seeds that God is untrustworthy, and that His Word is suspect, is not new! In fact, Satan’s very first words to Eve were, “Has God indeed said. . . The following excerpt was also extracted from the website Discernment.org:   Paul Cain was part of the healing revival of the mid 1940′s when he was 18 years old. During that time his fellow ministers were William Branham, Jack Coe, T.L. Osborne, and A.A. Allen, etc. He saw the excesses of that movement and backed away from it until 1987 when the Kansas City Fellowship’s leaders Mike Bickle and Bob Jones felt impressed to serve Paul Cain and his ministry in any way they could. Bob Jones said “the Lord named Paul Cain’s ministry, “The terror of the Lord.” Why this name? Paul Cain is reported to be able to reveal peoples hidden sins and details of their lives supernaturally. He predicted an earthquake and it happened! Also people report surges of electrical power that blow out circuits.

The following was taken from the website www.deceptioninthechurch.com  “Paul Cain cryptically has taught the Latter Rain teaching of the “Manifest Sons of God.”    This teaching simply affirms that in the last days a “new breed” of believers would attain to immortality and conquer the last enemy of death. Latter-Rain prophets look forward to the appearance of an end-time glorification of a remnant church which will become perfected and thus qualify for immortality here upon the earth prior to Christ’s return. In fact, they believe, prior to the Lord’s physical return, Jesus comes again spiritually and invisibly to a corporate body of believers. God’s glory re-inhabits His temple, referring to the endtime new breed of believers. The prophetic movement teachers identify this great endtime company as the ”Man-child” of Revelation 12, which will rule and reign the nations with a rod of iron. This indestructible and immortal company becomes impregnated with the presence of the “Christ” and they will put all things under their feet.

These Manifested Sons of God, or Man-child Company then according to Cain is the really the “Man-child” of Revelation 12 which will rule the nations with a rod of iron. , they will receive divine gifts, including the ability to change their physical location, to speak in any language, and be able to perform miracles such as divine healing and the raising of the dead. According to proponents of this theology we are not to look for Jesus to come back physically but rather to come to his body corporately and invisibly through the glorification of these manifest sons of God who will be perfected here on earth.

This man-child company is also the prophetic fulfillment of the is commonly referred to as “Joel’s Army” in Joel 2 and Revelation 9. This army will put all things under its feet as it rides forth as Gods agent of judgment to rid the world of evil by overseeing drastic judgment on all who remains in the ‘old generation’. This latter rain, manifest sons of God, Man-child Company, also goes by other names, such as Dominion Theology and Kingdom Now. Latter Rain teachings include: Progressive Revelation, Revival/Harvest, Joel’s Army, Replacement Theology, Post-Millennial Eschatology, Signs and Wonders, Territorial Warfare, Ecumenism, Restoration of Apostles and Prophets, Jubilee/Feast of Tabernacles, the Post-denominational Church, and Kingdom Now/Dominion Theology. [DTW note:  and the Emergent Church which is part of the Roman Catholic Ecumenical evangeliztion program]

According to Wikipedia, Kingdom Now proponents believe that God lost control over the world to Satan when Adam and Eve sinned. Since then, the theology goes, God has been trying to reestablish control over the world by seeking a special group of believers. Through these people — known as “covenant people,” “over comers” or “Joel’s army,” depending on the source — social institutions (including governments and laws)  [DTW note:   7 Mountains] would be brought under God’s authority. These “covenant people” or “over comers” are “little gods” — God’s “extension” in the world to regain authority from the devil. The church, under the leadership of “restored” apostles and prophets, therefore must take over the world and put down all opposition to it before Christ can return. Anyone who rebels against the church, along with other “evildoers,” must convert or be punished. This is alarming to me personally because the only one world church mentioned in the Bible is certainly NOT God’s!

Now consider the source of the aberrant theology. Branham received his knowledge from Angels not the Holy Spirit and admitted this! Cain has stated that Branham was “The greatest prophet that ever lived in any of my generations or any of the generations of revival I’ve lived through.” (Paul Cain, Selections from the Kansas City Prophets) I have always found Paul Cain’s last name to be particularly intriguing. He called this end time company that he believes will rule the nations with a rod of Iron, the “man-child company”. He believes that Christ will impregnate them and they will put all things under their feet. In scripture, when Eve conceived Cain she said I have gotten a “man-child” with the help of the Lord. These men love double meaning. I believe Paul Cain is taking the “man-child” of revelation who is clearly Jesus Christ and substituting it for the “man-child” of Genesis who is the spirit of Cain. Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a man-child with the help of the LORD.” As you will recall Cain, a farmer, commited the first murder by killing his brother Abel, a shepherd, after God rejected Cain’s sacrifice but accepted Abel’s.

I am left to wonder who this end time man-child company really is. It most certainly is not God’s army. Lucifer the “Morningstar” is still speaking the same words he spoke to Eve all those centuries ago.

Ye shall not surely die- Ye shall be like God.

There is nothing new under the sun and Satan never changes his tactics. Isaiah 14 vs. 12-14: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High”.

Source:  http://www.deceptionbytes.com/Latter-Rain-Lie