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The Great Last-Days Revival Has Begun
Introduction
Throughout the Bible we see a number of indications that there will be a latter rain (a great revival) in the end-times. My article called End-Times Prophecies Are Coming to Pass Right before Our Eyes shows that we're in the end of the end-times and the last of the last days right now, so if there will be a great last-days revival then it's likely to begin soon. In fact, as of July 2025, it's now getting fully underway (see the intended impact of my book). If everything at my website (VividChristianity.com), including this article, says what God wants it to say (the words, the formatting, and even the timing), then He will confirm that for you by doing a miracle. See my article called Miraculous Confirmation for the details. What Is the Latter Rain?
The Bible sometimes talks about "former rain" and "latter rain" (or similar concepts) as in these examples: "Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign." (Exodus 4:8 NKJV)In some of the above passages we're specifically told that the latter thing will be even greater than the former thing. Those passages also show that rain and water are often equated with God's blessings and His Spirit, and here are some more examples: "The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end." (Deuteronomy 11:10-12)As described in the above passages, rain and water are often equated with God's blessings, and in particular with His Spirit. Notice that Hosea 6:3 NKJV (above) and James 5:7 NKJV (above) specifically say that the Lord comes to us as the former and latter rains. When Jesus came to earth as a baby, nothing happened ministry-wise for the first 30 years of His life (Luke 3:23), so His birth as a human baby (the First Coming) was not the Lord coming to us as the former rain. This implies that His return to the earth (the Second Coming) will not be the Lord coming to us as the latter rain. His coming to us as the former and latter rains in Hosea 6:3 NKJV and James 5:7 NKJV refers to something else. On the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), the Holy Spirit was "poured out" (Acts 2:17-18) onto the disciples because He is the "living water" (John 4:9-14, 7:37-39), and about 3,000 people received salvation that very day (Acts 2:41). This was the Lord coming to us as the former rain, creating a huge harvest of souls for the kingdom of God as described throughout the book of Acts (e.g., Acts 2:42-47, 4:4, 5:14, 6:1, 7, 8:10-14, 9:31, 32-35, 42, 10:44-48). There's only one God, and He eternally exists in three divine Persons: 1) the Father, 2) Jesus Christ (the Son of God because of His birth by the Virgin Mary), and 3) the Holy Spirit (see my article called The Trinity). Therefore, where the Holy Spirit is, Jesus and the Father are there as well. Again, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, this was the Lord coming to us as the former rain, creating a huge harvest of souls. The day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) was the birth of the church and the beginning of the Church Age, which is explained in detail in my article called The Rapture of the Church - Part One. Since Pentecost was the former rain, when the Lord sent His Spirit onto the first Christians of the Church Age in a powerful way, then the implication is that the Lord will send His Spirit onto the last Christians of the Church Age in a powerful way in a latter rain, even greater than the former rain as we saw in some of the above passages. For example, when Jesus turned the water into wine (John 2:7-10, above), He showed that He saves the best for the end, and recall that the apostle Paul repeatedly said that the New Covenant (the latter thing) is far superior to the Old Covenant (the former thing) (see my article called Covenants, Dispensations, and the Ten Commandments - Part Three). The latter thing is always greater than the former thing. To further confirm that there will be a latter rain (a great last-days revival), recall that the day of Pentecost involved the disciples speaking in tongues. A crowd gathered when they heard that sound, and then Peter began preaching to the crowd (Acts 2:1-40). He started off by saying: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'" (Acts 2:14-21)In the above passage, Peter said that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that had just happened was a fulfillment of a prophecy in Joel 2:28-32. Part of Joel's prophecy (bolded above, from the NIV) includes wonders in the heavens, blood and fire and billows of smoke, and the sun being turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of "the great and glorious day of the Lord" (although Joel's prophecy in the NIV actually says "the great and dreadful day of the LORD"). Those events did not happen during the former rain in the first century, and they still have not yet happened to this day. Throughout the Bible, the Day of the Lord specifically begins with the seven-year period in the very near future (referred to as the Tribulation by pastors and Bible teachers) that will end at the Second Coming (see my article called The Rapture of the Church - Part One). Joel's prophecy says that before the seven-year Tribulation period begins, there will be a harvest of souls for the kingdom of God because his prophecy specifically ends by saying "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." In order for that prophecy to be fulfilled, there will be a latter rain (a great last-days revival) during the end of the end-times and the last of the last days. So what will a latter rain look like? On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues (Acts 2:1-4), which was followed by powerful evangelism that resulted in roughly 3,000 people being saved that day (Acts 2:1-41), plus signs, wonders, miracles, healings, and many more people being saved after that (e.g., Acts 2:43, 47, and the rest of the book of Acts). That was the former rain. Therefore, a latter rain at the end of the Church Age will have these same characteristics, even greater than in the first century. Throughout the book of Acts after the day of Pentecost, notice that the former rain was not characterized by emotions or believers flocking to the house where the original disciples received the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues. Yet when Christians think of revival today, they tend to think of people spending hours in a particular church or location, overcome with emotions, and multitudes of Christians flocking to that location to take part in the experience. In contrast, the former rain in the book of Acts was characterized by Christians going out into their communities and into the world, preaching the Gospel message with signs, wonders, miracles, and healings to confirm their teaching. This is what the latter rain will look like as well. The latter rain revival will not be what many Christians seem to be expecting and praying for. God Wants All Christians to Be in Unity
Notice that shortly before the cross, Jesus prayed that all Christians would be brought to complete unity, and the apostle Paul spoke of the body of Christ growing and maturing until we reach unity in the faith: "I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:11)The above passages say that Jesus prayed for us to be brought to complete unity so that we may be one just as the Father and the Son are one, and the apostle Paul expected us to reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God. Therefore, all Christians being in unity is very important to God, so we need to take the idea of being in unity very seriously. For example, shortly after the Holy Spirit was poured out onto the disciples on the day of Pentecost, we see that the disciples were in unity ("with one accord") and that many people were being saved: "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:42-47 NKJV)Therefore, since Pentecost was the former rain, producing Christian unity, then we can expect that the latter rain will involve the Church growing into unity ("one accord" as in Acts 2:42-47, above), which is exactly what Jesus prayed for and Paul expected in the above passages. This unity from the latter rain will enable the Church to produce a great crop of people being saved at the end of the Church Age, shortly before the Rapture. But if you think about it, Christian unity is a huge task that will have a huge world-wide impact. This is because the body of Christ is fractured into numerous divisions such as denominations, all of which disagree with each other in various areas of biblical doctrines or practices. If you search online for "how many Christian denominations," you'll find that there are hundreds or thousands of self-described Christian denominations. It's not always clear which person or group founded each denomination, but here are some examples that I found online:
Again, I found this information online, and perhaps not everyone will agree with everything in the above list. The purpose of the above list is simply to make the point that every denomination was founded by a person or group, and each denomination's members are followers of most or all of the views and practices of the person or group that established those denominations. For example, the denominational website for The United Methodist Church 
refers to Methodists as
"followers of John Wesley,"
and you can find similar statements at other denominational websites.
So what is God's perspective on denominations? When the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, he began his letter with greetings and thanksgiving, as he frequently did in his letters. Immediately after that, he launched into an urgent appeal for them to be perfectly united in mind and thought and to have no divisions among them: "I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions [schisma] among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought." (1 Corinthians 1:10)Paul then made it clear what he meant by "divisions": "My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."" (1 Corinthians 1:11-12)Sound familiar? The situation that we have today with denominations ("I follow John Smythe's views," or "I follow Martin Luther's views," or "I follow John Wesley's views," etc.) is exactly the situation that Paul denounced in the above passage, referring to those divisions as "quarrels." Paul went on to say: "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?" (1 Corinthians 1:13)The above questions are clearly intended to be answered with "no." Paul's point was that we're not meant to be followers of a person or group (such as being followers of Paul), and that Christ is not divided in any way (so the body of Christ should not be divided in any way). Paul went on to say: "I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized in my name." (1 Corinthians 1:14-15)Again, Paul didn't want anyone to have any reason to feel that they should be followers of Paul. Later he wrote this to the Corinthian church: "Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other." (1 Corinthians 4:6)Again, Paul didn't want anyone to be followers of Paul or Apollos or anyone else (such as John Smythe, Martin Luther, John Wesley, or any other denominational founders). He also wrote this to the Corinthian church: "Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly - mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere human beings? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe - as the Lord has assigned to each his task." (1 Corinthians 3:1-5)In the above passage, Paul said that if we follow this person's or that person's Christian views (such as the leaders of any denomination) then we are not living by the Spirit (i.e., we are not obeying God), but instead we are still worldly and we are mere infants in Christ. Clearly, separating ourselves into divisions (e.g., by being followers and members of any denomination) is not what God wants. Later in 1 Corinthians Paul said: "But God has put the body [of Christ] together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division [schisma] in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." (1 Corinthians 12:24-27)Once again, we see that God wants no division in the body of Christ. Elsewhere in 1 Corinthians Paul said: "In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions [schisma] among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences [hairesis] among you to show which of you have God's approval." (1 Corinthians 11:17-19)In 1 Corinthians 12:24-27 (above) and 11:17-19 (above), the Greek word schisma ("division") is the same word that Paul used earlier when he appealed to them to have no divisions among them (1 Corinthians 1:10, above). Here he said that he could barely believe that they were separating themselves, and that they were doing more harm than good. In the above passage, the Greek word hairesis means: "Heresy, a form of religious worship, discipline, or opinion...hairesis may represent a divergent opinion but still be part of a whole. One can hold different views than the majority and remain in the same body, but he is a heretic (hairetikos [G141]). However, when he tears himself away (schizo [G4977]), then he is schismatic. Heresy may lead to schism which is when actual tearing off and separation occur." (The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the Old and New Testaments, Dr. Spiros Zodhiates, hairesis)So in 1 Corinthians 12:24-27 (above) and 11:17-19 (above), Paul was once again denouncing the fact that some of them were separating themselves into divisions based on their different views. He essentially said that those who were not separating themselves showed that they had God's approval. We've seen that he made this same point over and over throughout the book of 1 Corinthians (denouncing them for separating themselves into divisions), so this is clearly a very important point. It's such an important point, in fact, that Jesus and Paul and other New Testament authors repeatedly emphasized the dangers of divisions and factions, and the need for unity and oneness in the body of Christ: "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." (John 10:14-16)We can see that Jesus and Paul and other New Testament authors repeatedly emphasized the dangers of divisions and factions, and the need for unity and oneness in the body of Christ. To further confirm this point, notice that the New Testament repeatedly tells us that there is one church, called "the body of Christ" and "the church" (so it's not meant to be a collection of denominations with conflicting or mutually exclusive views): Matthew 16:18, Acts 5:11, 20:28, 1 Corinthians 10:32, 11:22, 12:28, 15:9, Ephesians 1:22-23, 3:10, 5:23-32, Philippians 3:6, Colossians 1:18, 24, 1 Timothy 3:15. Notice that the New Testament repeatedly refers to Christianity as "the faith" (so it's not meant to be a collection of conflicting or mutually exclusive beliefs in different denominations): Matthew 24:10, Acts 6:7, 13:8, 14:22, 1 Corinthians 16:13, Galatians 1:23, 3:23, Ephesians 4:13, Philippians 1:25, 27, Colossians 2:7, 1 Timothy 1:2, 19, 3:9, 4:1, 6, 5:8, 6:10, 12, 21, 2 Timothy 3:8, Titus 1:13, Philemon 1:6, 1 Peter 5:9, Jude 1:3. Notice that the New Testament repeatedly refers to Christianity as "the light" (so it's not meant to be a collection of conflicting or mutually exclusive versions of "the light" in different denominations): Luke 16:8, John 1:4, 5, 3:20, 8:12, 9:5, 12:35, 36, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 6, Ephesians 5:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:5, Hebrews 10:32, 1 John 1:7, 2:9, 10. Notice that the New Testament repeatedly refers to Christianity as "the way" (so it's not meant to be a collection of conflicting or mutually exclusive versions of "the way" in different denominations): Matthew 22:16, Mark 12:14, Luke 20:21, John 14:6, Acts 9:2, 18:25, 26, 19:9, 23, 24:14, 22, 1 Corinthians 14:1, Ephesians 5:2, 2 Peter 2:2, 21. Notice that the New Testament repeatedly says that Christianity contains "the truth" (so it's not meant to be a collection of conflicting or mutually exclusive versions of "the truth" in different denominations): Matthew 22:16, Mark 12:14, Luke 20:21, John 3:21, 5:33, 8:32, 14:6, 17:17, Acts 20:30, 2 Corinthians 13:8, Galatians 2:5, 14, 5:7, Ephesians 4:21, 2 Thessalonians 2:10, 12, 13, 1 Timothy 2:4, 3:15, 4:3, 2 Timothy 2:18, 25, 3:7, 8, 4:4, Titus 1:1, 14, Hebrews 10:26, James 3:14, 5:19, 1 Peter 1:22, 2 Peter 1:12, 1 John 2:21, 5:6, 2 John 1:1, 2, 4, 3 John 1:3, 4, 8, 12. Notice that the New Testament repeatedly says that Christianity contains "the traditions" and "the teaching" (so it's not meant to be a collection of conflicting or mutually exclusive traditions and teachings in different denominations): Romans 16:17, 1 Corinthians 11:2, 2 Thessalonians 2:15, 3:6, 2 Timothy 1:13-14. Notice that the New Testament repeatedly commands us to avoid quarrels and controversies (which can lead to Christians separating into different denominations): Romans 14:1, 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 3:3-4, 1 Timothy 1:3-7, 3:2-3, 6:3-5, 2 Timothy 2:14, 23-26, Titus 3:9-11, James 4:1-2. As we can clearly see throughout the entire New Testament, Christianity has always been intended to consist of believers in unity with each other, never as a collection of divisions such as denominations. To confirm even further how important this point is, notice what Jesus said: "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand." (Mark 3:24-25)The implications from these passages are huge. The New Testament clearly says that all Christians need to be in unity with each other, and it clearly denounces all divisions within Christianity such as denominations because a house divided against itself cannot stand. As we saw in the bullet points earlier, all denominations are human inventions. God is not Baptist, God is not Catholic, God is not Lutheran, God is not Methodist, God is not Presbyterian, God is not Seventh-day Adventist, and so on. We can't say that God is all denominations because some denominations' views are mutually exclusive with other denominations' views. God is no denomination, as the above passages clearly show, and we are told to be non-denominational as well ("no divisions"). There will always be differences of opinion among Christians (e.g., different views on end-times prophecies), but if we label ourselves as being a member of one group or another then we're identifying with a division in violation of all of the above passages. For example, in my articles you can see that I agree with certain charismatic views (e.g., that all gifts of the Spirit are available today), but I don't label myself as a charismatic because that's a division within Christianity. We can hold various views without labeling ourselves as members of divisions or denominations that have those views. If you consider yourself as a member of a denomination or other type of division within Christianity, then you're disobeying God. Instead, we all need to consider ourselves as non-denominational Christians rather than as Protestants, Baptists, Catholics, charismatics, cessationists, evangelicals, and so on. God wants us to go to a specific church, and if we're paying attention then He will lead us to it (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance). In a latter rain, when we reach the unity that Jesus prayed for and Paul appealed to us to achieve (a unity that they had just after the former rain), then we will see one of two possibilities take place:
Either way, a last-days revival will bring huge upheaval to Christianity around the world. There's nothing in the Bible that gives any indication that the first possibility is likely to happen. Instead, the entire Bible is filled with examples of our natural human tendency to separate and divide and clash with each other (as in the above passages in 1 Corinthians). Therefore, the second possibility is far more likely than the first possibility. Either way, rocky times are ahead for the church around the world. Many Christians Will Reject and Denounce the Great Last-Days Revival
We've seen that a last-days revival (the Lord coming to us as the latter rain) will involve signs, wonders, miracles, healings, and powerful evangelism, even greater than what happened after the day of Pentecost (when the Lord came to us as the former rain). Again, these events do not involve the Lord physically coming to the earth; these events are special outpourings of the Holy Spirit, resulting in a huge harvest of souls for the kingdom of God. However, already there are Christian ministries and websites denouncing the idea of a last-days revival, and we're likely to see many more Christian leaders denouncing such a revival. Their view is based on these passages (and any similar passages): "As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Messiah,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."" (Matthew 24:3-14)The above passages describe false messiahs, false prophets, false teachers, Christians being deceived and falling away from sound doctrine, and demonic signs and wonders. By lumping all of these passages together (and any similar passages), a number of Christians believe that any claims of a last-days revival with signs and wonders occurring will actually be the fulfillment of the above prophecies. This is why we're seeing Christian websites and Christian leaders denouncing the idea of a great last-days revival. The problem with their view is that there are numerous prophecies throughout the Bible concerning the end-times, and in order to understand them correctly it's important to place them in the proper time frames. For example, some prophecies only apply during the time when the future Antichrist will be in power, and some prophecies only apply after the Second Coming (when Jesus returns to the earth), and other prophecies only apply in other time periods. Therefore, lumping all of the above passages together and assuming that they all apply to the same time period (shortly before the Rapture) is not the way to properly understand and apply end-times prophecies. Matthew 24:3-14, 1 Timothy 4:1-3, and 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (above) all refer to false messiahs, false prophets, and/or apostasy, which can happen at any time during the Church Age and is happening in our times (see sign #16 in my article called End-Times Prophecies Are Coming to Pass Right before Our Eyes). In context, Matthew 24:21-24 (above) is specifically referring to the final 3.5 years before the Second Coming, which is covered in detail in my series called The Rapture of the Church. Therefore, it doesn't apply to a last-days revival during the Church Age because the Church (the body of Christ) will be removed from the earth before Matthew 24:21-24 (above) takes place (see the above series). The above series also describes the future seven-year Tribulation period in scriptural detail (when the Antichrist will be in power), and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10 (above) is referring to the Tribulation period and the Antichrist. That passage specifically says that the Antichrist and his demonic signs and wonders are being restrained until the one holding him back is taken out of the way. As the above series explains, every member of the Church has the indwelling Holy Spirit, meaning that God lives inside of each and every Christian. After the Church has been taken out of the way in the Rapture, only non-Christians will be left on the earth and evil will no longer be restrained. Then it will be time for the Antichrist to be revealed, along with his displays of demonic signs and wonders (including the three passages in Revelation above). This has no bearing on a last-days revival during the Church Age because the Church is still on the earth as a restraining force against the devil. What this means is that when people use the above passages (or any similar passages) to denounce a last-days revival, saying that it will be characterized by false prophets and demonic miracles, their view is based on a misunderstanding of end-times prophecies and where those prophecies fit into the overall scheme of God's plan. Those demonic miracles will not (and in fact cannot) begin until after all Christians are removed from the earth at the pre-tribulational Rapture. They also don't realize that by denouncing the great last-days revival, they're committing the apostasy that Jesus and Paul prophesied about in Matthew 24:10-13 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4. End-times prophecies and foreshadowings indicate that there will be great apostasy and great revival in the final years before Jesus returns and "snatches up" the Church (which we often refer to as the Rapture, based on the Latin word for "snatch up"). In the New Testament we see several mentions of sorcery, which is sometimes translated as witchcraft or magic arts (Matthew 2:1-2, Acts 8:9-13, 13:6-12, 19:18-19, Galatians 5:19-21, Revelation 9:21, 18:23, 21:8, 22:14-15). In every one of those passages, there's never any mention of demonic miracles. There are several Greek words associated with sorcery in those passages, and most of those Greek words and their synonyms refer to the use of drugs in a curative or medicinal sense but also in the sense of occult practices such as trances and magical incantations with drugs. Even today there are occult shops that sell all kinds of potions, spells, hexes, curses, and various mystical items for one purpose or another, but those do not actually contain or result in any miraculous powers. There are only two passages in the New Testament in which sorcerers are named (Acts 8:9-13 and 13:6-12). In the first passage, a man named Simon had amazed all of the people of Samaria with his magical practices, just as people today are often amazed by tricks performed by magicians and illusionists, yet Simon himself was completely astonished by the actual miracles that he saw the Lord doing through Philip and Peter and he offered money to be able to do those things (Acts 8:13-24). He could not do actual miracles himself; he was a fraud who had fooled the people of Samaria. In the second passage, a man named Bar-Jesus (whose first name or nickname was Elymas) is referred to as a sorcerer, and the apostle Paul specifically said that this man was "full of all kinds of deceit and trickery." The same Greek word for "sorcerer" in that passage is used in Matthew 2:1-2 for the Wise Men (Magi) who visited the baby Jesus, and Bible commentaries tend to say that such people searched for the secrets of nature, astrology, medicine, and the practice of magic (as in modern-day magicians) and juggling (see for example Matthew 2:1 in Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament, Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament, and Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary). Again, in every New Testament passage that uses the Greek words for sorcery, there's never any mention of demonic miracles. Even when we see a demonic spirit of divination in Acts 16:16-18, we have absolutely no scriptural evidence that any of those fortune-telling predictions ever came true. The demonic miracles in the above prophecies will not (and in fact cannot) begin until after all Christians are removed from the earth at the pre-tribulational Rapture. The former rain (on the day of Pentecost) was initiated by Jesus to begin the Church Age, and it involved signs, wonders, and miracles from God and multitudes receiving salvation. The latter rain revival will likewise be initiated by Jesus to bring the Church Age to a close, and it will likewise involve signs, wonders, and miracles from God and multitudes receiving salvation. We're either with Jesus or against Jesus, and therefore the Christians who are with the last-days revival are the ones who have sound doctrine (because they're with Jesus). Notice what He said: "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." (Matthew 12:30-32)In the above passage, Jesus made it very clear that we need to be with Him and not against Him, and He made it very clear that when a miracle is done through the Holy Spirit, it is very dangerous for us to claim that it was a demonic miracle. As my article called The Second Coming describes, the Jewish leaders' "unpardonable sin" in the first century was a national sin and therefore many modern Bible scholars believe that the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not an individual sin that people can make today. It was a national sin that only applied to that generation of Jews who rejected Jesus as a nation. But Bible commentaries point out that by saying that a miracle of God was done by the devil or a demon, this is a direct insult against the Holy Spirit who did the miracle (e.g., Hebrews 10:29), and is a sin against the Spirit because "anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven" (Matthew 12:30-32). Therefore, when God does a miracle then Christians who accuse the miracle of being demonic are speaking against the Holy Spirit and will not be forgiven (Matthew 12:30-32, above). This doesn't mean that they will lose their salvation; it means that they will be disciplined (perhaps severely) both in this life and in heaven. For the scriptural evidence, see my three short articles called:
In fact, those who denounce the idea of a great future revival have overlooked or misunderstood a prophecy that will take place during the seven-year Tribulation period: "After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000. After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!" Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes - who are they, and where did they come from?" I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."" (Revelation 7:1-14)The above passage says that during the Tribulation period (shortly before the Second Coming) there will be "a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language" who will receive salvation. The above passage will take place after the Church Age is over, so it's not describing the latter rain revival, but it shows that there absolutely will be a great revival in the future. Therefore, those who denounce the idea of a great revival in the future, saying that the end-times will be characterized by apostasy with no revival, are clearly and fundamentally mistaken. End-times prophecies and foreshadowings indicate that there will be great apostasy and great revival in the final years before Jesus returns for the Church. These two opposing forces will cause great upheaval within Christianity around the world, revealing who is actually with Jesus (with revival) and who is against Jesus (against revival). Rocky times are ahead for the Church, much sooner than we realize. Since the former rain on the day of Pentecost initiated the Church Age, it seems likely that the latter rain (the great last-days revival) will close out the Church Age, ending with the Rapture (see my series called The Rapture of the Church). The following passage is thoroughly examined in my series on the Rapture, and essentially it says that the Rapture and the Day of the Lord (beginning with the seven-year Tribulation period when God will pour out His wrath on the earth) will not take place until "the rebellion" occurs and the Antichrist is revealed: "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us - whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter - asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)My series on the Rapture (above) shows that the Antichrist will be revealed at the very beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period (the beginning of the Day of the Lord), and the above passage says that "the rebellion" (NIV) or "the falling away" (NKJV) will occur before the Tribulation period begins. Bible dictionaries and Bible commentaries point out that the Greek word for "rebellion" in this passage is where we get the English word "apostasy." As my article called End-Times Prophecies Are Coming to Pass Right before Our Eyes shows (see sign #16), there will be a great apostasy (a great rebellion or falling away from proper beliefs) before the Rapture and the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period (the period when the Antichrist will be in power). This means it will happen during the last part of the Church Age, and it will overlap the latter rain revival because the Church Age and the revival will end at the Rapture, when Jesus will "snatch up" all Christians (alive or dead) and take us into heaven. What we've seen is that the last-days revival will reveal who is actually with Jesus (with revival) and who is against Jesus (against revival). This great rebellion or falling away from proper beliefs (prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24:10-13 and by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, above) is currently being fulfilled in large part by the multitudes of Christians who are already denouncing the idea of a great last-days revival. Many (perhaps most) of those Christians believe that miracles, healings, and the so-called miraculous gifts of the Spirit ceased or died out after the first century, but this form of last-days apostasy (known as cessationism) is thoroughly refuted in my article called All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today. The great rebellion or falling away from proper beliefs that was prophesied in the above passage began when pastors started teaching cessationism, which has its roots in Calvin and the Protestant Reformation (see Cessationism ).
Conclusion
In Israel, the yoreh rains (the early or former rains) signal the beginning of the rainy season, and the malkosh rains (the late or latter rains) come at the end of the rainy season just before the harvest is reaped: "The word yoreh (or moreh) literally means "shoots", as well as "teacher", while the word malkosh is related to the Hebrew word mekoshesh (reaper). What do these literal translations teach about these time-bound rains? The Talmud (Ta'anit 6a) explains that yoreh falls at the beginning of the rainy season, thus it is called a "teacher" because it "teaches" people when to reinforce their roofs and bring their produce indoors to avoid possibly being destroyed by subsequent rains. Malkosh is the name given to rain which falls at the onset of spring (Pesach-time). Its name is related to the Hebrew word for reaping because malkosh falls near the harvest season, right before the produce is reaped." (Rain, Rain Come AgainSo the former rain in Israel initiates the rainy season to soften the ground for the first round of planting, and the Hebrew word for it means "teacher." In exactly the same way, the former rain on the day of Pentecost initiated the Church Age, which involved the initial planting of the church and the beginning of Christian teaching. The latter rain in Israel closes out the rainy season, just before the harvest. In exactly the same way, the latter rain (the great last-days revival) will close out the Church Age (ending with the Rapture as we saw), and it will involve a huge harvest of new Christians. According to websites such as the Revival Library ,
pockets of revival have been breaking out in various parts of the world for approximately the past 300 years, which were the first raindrops of the latter rain.
Another aspect of the latter rain revival is that many churches have been voluntarily leaving their denominations or being forced to leave their denominations due to disagreements concerning women as pastors or LGBTQIA+ issues such as gays as pastors. For example: "One fifth of the United Methodist congregations in the United States have left the denomination over the Church's growing openness toward LGBTQ members. Conservative congregations have launched a new denomination called the Global Methodist Church." (Methodist exodus: 6,000 members leave over LGBTQ issuesWe've seen that the end-times will be characterized by both apostasy (falling away from proper beliefs) and revival, and my article called End-Times Prophecies Are Coming to Pass Right before Our Eyes shows that we're in the end-times right now. It would be easy to assume that since a number of churches and denominations are now allowing women and gays as pastors, this must be a clear sign of end-times apostasy. However, that assumption would only be true if the Bible forbids women and gays from being pastors. My series called New Testament Passages Concerning Women shows that the New Testament does not forbid women from being pastors or holding any positions of leadership in a church or ministry, and my article called Homosexuality Is Not Always a Sin shows that the New Testament does not forbid people in the LGBTQIA+ community from being pastors or holding any positions of leadership in a church or ministry. Therefore, churches and denominations that are allowing women and people in the LGBTQIA+ community to be pastors and leaders are restoring proper biblical beliefs to the church, so they are examples of the raindrops that have begun to fall in the latter rain (the great last-days revival). My article called End-Times Prophecies Are Coming to Pass Right before Our Eyes (see sign #11) shows that 7 is a very important number throughout the Bible, and my article called Who Wrote the New Testament? shows that it's reasonable to conclude that Jesus' earthly ministry lasted for 7 years, ending with His death and resurrection. In addition, my article called The Rapture of the Church - Part One shows that the Antichrist will be revealed almost immediately after the Rapture and that his activities will last for 7 years, ending with the Second Coming. If we imagine the great last-days revival lasting for a year or two, this just doesn't feel like enough time for it to have its full world-wide impact. If we imagine it lasting a decade or two, this feels like far more time than is needed. If we imagine it lasting for 7 years, ending with the resurrection of the dead at the Rapture (just as Jesus' earthly ministry appears to have lasted for 7 years, ending with His death and resurrection), this feels like the right amount of time for a revival to have its full world-wide impact and it fits nicely with other patterns of 7 days, 7 years, and 7,000 years throughout the Bible (for example, see sign #21 in my article on end-times prophecies). Time will tell. To see that the latter rain revival has already begun and to learn how close we might be to the Rapture, see the intended impact of my book. The Lord wants you and your church to participate in the great last-days revival, seeing miracles, healings, and multitudes of people receiving salvation. To learn how, see my article called How to Participate in the Great Last-Days Revival. For the glory of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh, was delivered over to death for our sins, and was raised to life for our justification. Dave Root home page and email: https://www.vividchristianity.com "Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3) "Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist - denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." (1 John 2:22-23) "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God." (1 John 4:15) "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." (1 John 4:1-3) "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist." (2 John 1:6-7) "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4:25) |
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| All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (R). NIV (R). Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. (Emphasis added.) |