(New Age Adversary Bulletin & Old Time Gospel Advocate,
Summer 1999) God's promise to give the Holy Spirit to Israel.
God's prophet Joel announced God's plan to pour the Holy Spirit
on Israel and upon all flesh. This promise to give the Holy Spirit,
given in Joel 2:28, was referred to by Jesus, Luke 11:13, when
he spoke of asking the Father for blessings in prayer. The Holy
Spirit was available then to those that asked for it. Peter also
mentioned the promise of the Holy Spirit for Israel in his sermon
to the people of Jerusalem immediately after the Holy Ghost was
poured on the hundred and twenty in the upper room. At that time
any that would repent and be baptized would receive the promise
of the Holy Spirit.
The citizens of Jerusalem had heard the hundred and twenty speaking
in tongues and thought they were drunk, but Peter let them know
the utterances in tongues were of the Holy Ghost. By reading
the rest of the books of Acts we find, however, that the majority
of the Jews did not and would not believe in Jesus, repent and
get baptized either in water or by the Spirit. Therefore the
prophecy of the pouring out of the Spirit upon all flesh was
not fully completed at that time.
A simple reading of the entire book of Joel will reveal that
the promise of the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh
has a specific place in sequence of events that Joel prophesied.
This glorious promise will not be fulfilled until after the war
of Armageddon, Joel 2:1-10. The promise also shall not be fulfilled
until after Israel as a nation repents Joel 2:12-17. Verse 28
of Joel 2 states: "And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I shall pour out my spirit upon all flesh.. " The word
afterward refers to the events of verses 1 through 17 of chapter
2, which include Armageddon, and the national repentance of Israel.
Joel calls the blessings that come upon Israel after Armageddon
and national repentance the latter rain. Those blessings are
both a physical restoration of the fruitfulness of the land of
Israel, Joel 2:21-27, and the pouring out of the Spirit, Joel
2:28-32.
At the beginning of the twentieth century there was a revival
of speaking in tongues among certain churches. That practice
spread among Protestants and produced several new denominations
of churches that collectively call themselves, and are called
by others, Pentecostals. When the tongues phenomena spread a
little later among the Roman Catholics they chose to call themselves
Charismatics. Frequently both Pentecostals and Charismatics claim
they are experiencing the blessings of the latter rain as prophesied
by Joel.
There is no promise of a latter rain for the church. The latter
rain is promised only to the nation of Israel. The people of
the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches are deceived about the
latter rain promise. They want an inheritance before the proper
time. They are like the prodigal son, dead and lost, squandering
their substance on riotous living. You can see them now merging
in the ecumenical movement to form the end time harlot church.
Beloved reader, how many souls do you know who are presently
caught up in one or another manifestation of the Latter Rain
Deception? I know some souls who are most precious to my soul
yet they are caught up in this deception and headed for destruction
unless the Lord intervenes. Would you join me in prayer that
the precious souls will recover themselves out of the snare of
he devil, who are taken by him at his will?
(Mark Harper Ministries July/ August 1999) Leading Children in
Revival: LATTER RAIN MINISTRIES, INC. 1) How to set your child's
heart on fire for God. 2) Holy Ghost Preschool Ministry and 3)
How God is using children today. The letter of introduction on
this magazine stated: ".. sincere thanks .. in sending curriculum
sets for our Children's Ministry Libraries. They will be put
in the libraries in Israel; A.O, India, Chennai, India; Zambia;
and Kenya. On behalf of the 100's of teachers and churches and
1,000's of children who will benefit from their materials, thank
you.. ".. Reach the children when they are young. Why should
we wait? Psychiatry says that 80% of a child's personality is
formed during the formable years from birth to five years.. The
focus of this issue of leading children in revival is a much-needed
area- Holy Ghost Preschool Ministry. PRESHCOOL CHILDREN ARE NOT
AS INTELLECTUALLY DEVELOPED as older children, BUT THEY ARE VERY
CAPABLE OF YIELDING TO THE HOLY GHOST, as you will see from the
testimonies. Acts 2:17 JUMP IN THE RIVER. We want children to
be passionate for God.. on fire.. A little girl two and a half
years old went home and gathered all her dolls up along the wall
.. and laid hands on and prayed for each doll. Next, Jennifer
knocked her dolls over on the floor, then she went by and put
little handkerchiefs over their dresses.. They are imitators..
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO LEAD YOUR CHILDREN INTO REVIVAL IF YOU ARE
NOT IN IT YOURSELF.
Speaking of himself Mark Harper (pastor) confessed that he was
very much involved in drugs in the 70, junior high was the worst.
I was arrested for selling drugs in 1975. Soon after I was released
and skipped classes and got drunk. My dad began to read the Bible
to him and he thought his dad had flipped his lid. Mark and his
father both believe they were born again in a revival meeting.
Preschool Revival Experiences: On one occasion, there were about
12 to 15 children who went to the prayer group with the adults.
The adults were sitting in a circle, INDIAN STYLE. As soon as
the children entered, they began to bow down and worship God
the Father. No one had told them so. The presence of the Lord
filled the room. One child was asked later: "why did you
bow down?" His response was matter of fact: "Because
the Holy Spirit told us to. Jesus was right there, Mom. He was
standing right next to you, didn't you see him?" He told
his mother that Jesus had touched each of them and followed them
out of the room, even spoke to them. Other children confirmed
this. Jim Anderson reports that God is moving the children into
the front line ministry. Brownsville, and Dwight Thompson come
up in the write up. The streams are all merging. David Walters
said that he held a hand of a 7 or 8 year old one evening where
ever she pointed "like guns" people "fell out
in the anointing." (Comment: Just think of the implications
of this)
The slogan: So many times the principles of God are easier "CAUGHT
THAN TAUGHT". Children are leading worship teams.
Jay Hardy: children believe anything. We also tell our children
that "the Spirit of the Lord is upon them because he has
anointed them to preach the Gospel to the poor.." they believe
it.. When I called Rachel up and asked her what the Holy Spirit
said to her she said, "He said, I'm going to throw the Devil
in the lake of fire real soon." I was on my knees and I
fell over from the Holy Ghost "hit" I took.. One day
during the Bible story time in our class one boy jumped out of
his chair and ran a lap around the room. This was totally the
Spirit and when he sat back down he was vibrating. He had never
done anything like that before.. One such object lesson deals
with why people fall down when they get prayer. What should they
do when they fall? We encourage our children to stay and SOAK
IN HIS PRESENCE when they sense His touch on them.. We use a
sponge cut into the shape of a man and a plate of water. As the
sponge "man" stands on the edge of the plate for prayer,
he "goes down under the power, and ends up soaking in the
plate full of water until he is "full". They get full
and give it out.
Jordan, an 8 year old, came forward for prayer in a Leading Children
in Revival evening meeting. He SPENT AN HOUR GENTLY WIGGLING
BACK AND FORTH FROM HEAD TO TOE. The next day when his pastor
asked Jordan what happened to him when he was on the floor, Jordan
replied that he had gone on a trip and that he would need a "Jesus
dictionary" to explain it.