The Latter Rain of the Holy Spirit

The "Latter Rain" outpouring of the Holy Spirit has begun. Pious people in Third World countries are already experiencing an awakening. Millions of these are enslaved Islamic citizens living where the gospel of Jesus Christ is forbidden by the threat of death. This alone is the perfect picture of our Sovereign God revealing Himself where human powers want to rob hungry souls. The ascendency of liberal politicians and truth-hating humanists in the American government are a challenge to our God and it will motivate His defense of the Righteous. The world is about to witness His all-consuming mercy and judgment.

God’s Holy Word leaves no doubt that the last power to be manifested in our world before the end of time is the power of the Word of God. Jesus Christ boldly declared, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matthew 24:14). Such a statement by our Lord is encouraging. Fear would love to siege us and make our voices to be hushed. Never! The King said that the voice of the Gospel would be the last voice before the judgment begins. We are His temples and He will use us.

James, the Lord’s half brother and servant, uttered exciting words about the Lord’s plan for the end. He declared, "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh" (James 5:7-8). He calls the souls that are yet unsaved "the precious fruit of the earth." Notice that He names the "Latter Rain," for which He is clearly waiting. It could not be called by that name unless it was the last harvest. If He is waiting for this great awakening, then it has not happened and is yet to come. I believe it is now beginning under the radar of evil men that would love to crush this final awakening. They cannot stop it because it is His sovereign work.

On the "Day of Pentecost" Peter defended the outpouring of the Holy Ghost and spoke of a future greater outpouring. He presented the time as "The Last Days." "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams" (Acts 2:17). Pentecost was limited to Jerusalem and those gathered in this city. The "Latter Rain" was proclaimed to be worldwide and available to "all flesh." While multitudes will reject it, it will be their choice.

Many of us who do not believe in "limited atonement" tend to fail when emphasizing the sovereignty of God in the harvest. When God has a plan, humans cannot stop it. When he moves mightily, heads will roll and souls will fall under conviction. History testifies that in every moderate visitation of the Spirit thousands were converted to Christ. These moderate awakenings — such as the Hebrides Islands Awakening, the Cane Creek Revival, and the Welsh Revival — turned a multitude to Christ. The "Latter Rain" will far exceed the many times of the Early Rain.

In the Scripture It appears to me that God’s hand of judgment will get the attention of the world, while God’s Holy Spirit is wooing the heart. He said, "And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come" (Acts 2:19-20). My friends, believe me, when this begins there will be trembling over the face of the earth.

False religions will have no answers and no hope. The intellectuals that have touted Buddhism and Hinduism will melt before a God that shakes this Universe. The Islamic world is already trembling because of the conversions of millions among them. When God rains brimstone on Mecca and throughout their nations, many of the remnant will embrace the true God of Abraham.

The "One World Church" will blaspheme the Sovereign work of the Spirit, but bow at our feet in the end when the Bride returns with Christ at Armageddon. "Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, (those that teach that the church has replaced Israel) but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee" (Revelation 3:9). It’s going to rain. "He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth" (Psalm 72:6). "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him" (Isaiah 64:4).