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 Printer Friendly Version - opens in separate window This belief is not held by one particular group but many individuals are influenced by the teaching. It has many names, such as, The Latter Rain Movement, Identity, Joel's Army, Restoration and Reconstruction. The purpose of this article is not to highlight the differences between groups but look at the core beliefs and compare them with the revelation of Scripture. The Manifest Sons of God doctrine has been around in some Pentecostal circles for many years, but it was the 'Latter Rain Movement' of 1948 that gave them a wider audience. This movement was thought of as the last great spiritual outpouring that would see the return of Christ. It would result in the Church being perfected and submitting to the restored ministry of apostles and prophets. These ministries would be in charge of restoring truths that were lost to the Church. Scriptures refer to the rains in Israel as the 'former
rain,' essential for planting and the 'latter rain,' needed for the
harvest. Manifest Sons see the former rain as Pentecost and the latter
rain as a greater outpouring of the Spirit in these last days. There
is evidence that much teaching on spiritual warfare today, is largely
an extension of this doctrine. Scriptural Interpretations 1. All Scriptures that refer to a resurrection or
redemption of the body are to be fulfilled by a select group of overcomers,
'the Sons of God', while here on earth. They believe that they will
be sinless and immortal in their physical bodies when they become manifest
as the Sons of God. 2. All Scriptures that refer to being caught up to
the throne of God are thought to have their fulfilment at this manifestation
of the Sons of God, the "many-membered man child" company
that will rule the nations with a rod of iron. Albert James Dager, in an article in Media Spotlight
Vol. 8. - No.1, gives this summary account, "… man lost dominion
over the earth when Adam and Eve succumbed to Satan's temptation…
God 'lost control' of the earth to Satan at that time, and has since
been looking for a 'covenant people' who will be His 'extension,' or
'expression,' in the earth and take dominion back from Satan. This is
to be accomplished through certain 'overcomers' who… will take
control of the kingdoms of this world. "These kingdoms are defined
as all social institutions, such as the 'kingdom' of education, the
'kingdom' of science, the 'kingdom' of the arts, and so on. Most especially
there is the "kingdom" of politics or government. "… those in control
(at this time)… are referred to as the 'many-membered man child,'
whom Kingdom Theology adherents believe will be the fulfillment of Revelation
12:1-5… Those who hold to Kingdom Theology assume that the Church
(some believe only a small group within the Church, called 'overcomers'),
under submission to the latter day apostles and prophets, is that man
child, and that it has the responsibility to put down all rebellion
and establish righteousness… The many-membered man child must take
control of the earth before Jesus can return." 3. They will become Christ both corporately and individually.
They consider the corporate body of Christ, to be Christ. The body of
Christ is thought to be a literal extension of the incarnation of Christ.
This causes both Scriptures that refer to His ruling the nations and
judging the world to find fulfilment through them. A distinction is made between Christ's coming to rule and judge the world through the Sons of God and His later individual, personal return. He is unable to return until the stage is set by the establishment of His rule and reign through the Sons of God subduing the nations, or taking dominion, and executing judgement on the ungodly, thus establishing the new age. Christ Individually Jesus is considered the 'Pattern Son.' He was the
first one to make it as a divine, immortal, sinless Manifest Son of
God and this accomplishment will be duplicated by each individual who,
following Jesus, become Manifest Sons of God. This Christ Company, now
individually Manifest as Sons of God, will execute judgement at the
Great and Terrible Day of the Lord. Influences ancient and modern For many William Branham is regarded as the
greatest prophet for this 'final age.' He taught about "God's Seventh
Church Age," the final move before the manifestation of His Kingdom
on earth. Indeed, he felt called specifically, "A Voice spoke from there,
and said, 'As John the Baptist was sent for the forerunner of the first
coming of Christ, you've got… a Message that will bring forth the
forerunner of the Second Coming of Christ'" - Brother Branham,
p. 71. There were many errors in Branham's teachings, along
with occult influences, including having the voice of 'an angel' talking
to him regularly and who often would 'heal through him.' Many overlooked the erroneous teachings and accepted the man as a prophet, as such his teachings are still often accepted today. Many of Branham's followers believed that he had come
in the spirit of Elijah; some even believed him to be God, born of a
virgin. When he died, many expected him to rise from the dead at the
end of three days. However, after five days he was buried and to date,
his body is still in the grave. George Warnock's book, The Feast of Tabernacles, written in 1951, became an important part of the Latter Rain Movement and it continues to be used today. According to Warnock, the feasts of Israel described in Leviticus 23, are a pattern for the progress of the church. Starting at Passover, which is Calvary, the church has passed through the different feasts to Pentecost. It must go on through the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Trumpets and culminate in the Feast of Tabernacles, which many believe is fulfilled in the 'present revival'. Warnock taught that the Great Tribulation would be
darkness to some but, not to others, "It shall therefore be Great
Tribulation, such as was never known from the foundation of the world;
but it shall also be Great Glory… one class of people it shall
be a day of 'darkness' and of 'gloominess.' But to the other, 'as the
morning spread upon the mountains.' (Joel 2:2) To the one the Great
Tribulation; but to the other, 'The Manifestation of the Sons of God.'"
- The Feast of the Tabernacles, p.83. Warnock goes on to explain that the 'overcomers' will
be perfected and experience no persecution. Those who don't make it,
will be persecuted, but will obtain mercy from the Manifest Sons. "Now we can understand how
the overcomer in the Day of the Lord, when Great Tribulation is upon
the earth, will be able to administer help and comfort and sustenance
to God's people who are under oppression and persecution. The Great
Tribulation itself is going to be cut short because of the Sons of God…
so the Sons of God, through the exercise of their royal priesthood,
shall actually shorten the Great Tribulation... As priests, they will
be able to present the needs of the people to God, and intercede for
them; and as kings they will have the authority of God to dispense life
and blessing to such as are in tribulation and distress." - The
Feast of the Tabernacles, p.79. Earl Paulk, Pastor and called 'Archbishop'
of Cathedral at Chapel Hill
Church, Atlanta, Georgia is recognised as a modern-day 'prophet'
"If there is a prophet today
who speaks the truth God wants His Church to hear, it is Earl Paulk.
He is the leading voice today in preaching the message of the Kingdom
of God...a man driven compulsively to show this generation that God
is waiting for us to do something that will bring Christ back to earth."
- Harvest Time, December 1984, p.15. "Christ in us must take dominion
over the earth...The next move of God cannot occur until Christ in us
takes dominion." - Held In The Heavens Until..., 1985, p.234. Rick Joyner is another teacher for this movement. He believes that the elite 'overcomers' will conquer the world. This will lead to the greatest revival of history, where the majority of the world will be won to Christ and the kingdom made ready to be received by Christ. "This harvest will be so
great that no one will look back at the early church as a standard;
all will be saying that the Lord has certainly saved His best wine for
last. The early church was a firstfruits offering, truly this will be
a harvest! It was said of the Apostle Paul that he was turning the world
upside down; it will be said of the apostles soon to be anointed that
they have turned an upside down world right side up. Nations will tremble
at the mention of their name." - Rick Joyner, Restoration, May/June
1988. "Angelic appearances will
be common to the saints and a visible glory of the Lord will appear
upon some for extended periods of time as power flows through them.
There will be no plague, disease, or physical condition, including lost
limbs, AIDS, poison gas, or radiation, which will resist the healing
and miracle gifts working in the saints during this time." - Rick
Joyner, The Harvest, 128-129. Biblical Reasoning The Let us Reason website
shows the basis for the error of the movement when the context of Romans
8:19-21 is investigated. The article first quotes from two followers
of the doctrine, Bill Hamon and Bill Britton. "'The Earth and all of creation
is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, the time when they
will come into their maturity and immortalization... When the Church
realizes its full sonship, its bodily redemption will cause a redemptive
chain reaction throughout all of creation.' (Bill Hamon, The Eternal
Church, p.385) "'I see the great year of
Jubilee, when we shall pass through the veil into the very Presence
of the fullness of God, to be filled with this fullness and go forth
proclaiming liberty to all of creation. Romans 8 calls this the "Manifestation
of the Sons of God", and Says the whole creation is groaning and
crying for this day. ...This is the ultimate anointing!' (Eagle Saints
Arise, Bill Britton) "This whole teaching is based
on a distortion of Romans 8:19… The belief is that some will obtain
immortality by incarnating Christ before he returns. What is it that
all creation is waiting for? According to orthodox Christianity, all
creation awaits the removal of the "Curse of Futility", sin
placed upon it by God from the Fall of Adam. What they neglect is the
context and the other passages that explain this event." The Manifest Sons need to operate in order for the
Kingdom to come and the curse to be broken. But surely the Scriptures
teach that man cannot do this but it will be Christ Himself, when He
returns, who will bring the work to completion. It will not happen before
He arrives but when He arrives. Scriptures that show this are Philippians. 3:20-21,
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 and Hebrews 9:28. The Cephas
Ministry has a good explanation of this teaching for those who want
to take it further. We are Gods…We can do
it Belief in this teaching leads to believing that God is fully manifest within us and we are Gods in this world. I will let some of the well-known leaders and teachers in the church speak for themselves. "We are on earth as extensions
of God to finish the work He began. We are the essence of God, His on-going
incarnation in the world." - Earl Paulk, Held in the Heavens, 1985,
p.125. "The living Word of God,
Jesus Christ, was conceived in the womb of a virgin. The Word became
flesh in the God-Man Jesus Christ (John 1:1). Likewise, the Word of
God must be made flesh in the Church in order for us to bear witness
to the Kingdom which God has called us to demonstrate." Ibid.,
p.60. "When the Spirit of Christ
comes into the physical world, He must enter through a physical body...
When Christ first entered our world as a child, it was Mary whom God
chose to give Christ birth. Mary's life symbolized the qualities the
Church must possess to walk in the fullness of Christ ... even now,
he trembles and the heavens watch in awe, for I say to you, once again,
the virgin is with child. Before Jesus Himself returns, the last virgin
Church shall become pregnant with the promise of God. Out of her travail,
the Body of Christ shall come forth, raised to the full statute of its
Head, the Lord Jesus. Corporately manifested in holiness, power and
love, the Bride of Christ shall arise." - Francis Frangipane, In
the Presence of God, 1994. "Every man who has been born
again is an incarnation and Christianity is a miracle. The believer
is as much an incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth." - Kenneth
Hagin, The Incarnation, December 1980, p.13. "[Man] was created on terms
of equality with God, and he could stand in God's presence without any
consciousness of inferiority...God made us as much like Himself as possible...He
made us the same class of being that He is Himself...Man lived in the
realm of God. He lived on terms equal with God...[The] believer is called
Christ...That's who we are; we're Christ" (Kenneth Copeland , Zoe:
The God-Kind of Life, 1989, pp.35-36, 41. "Who are you? Come on, who
are you? Come on, say it: 'Sons of God!' Come on, say it! And what does
work inside us, brother, is that manifestation of the expression of
all that God is and all that God has. And when we stand up here, brother,
you're not looking at Morris Cerullo; you're looking at God. You're
looking at Jesus." - Morris Cerullo, The Endtime Manifestation
of the Sons of God, World Evangelism - Tape 1. "When you say, 'I am a Christian,'
you are saying, 'I am mashiach,' in the Hebrew. I am a little messiah
walking on earth, in other words. That is a shocking revelation…
May I say it like this? You are a little god on earth running around"
- Benny Hinn, Praise-a-Thon, TBN, November 6. But nowhere are we taught in Scripture that we are
Gods or Messiahs or anything like that. The fact is we can never be
God because He is uncreated and we are created. He is distinct from
His creation. Often proponents of this teaching refer to John 10:33-36,
where men are called gods, however, it shows a lack of Biblical exegesis
to rely on these verses. For instance, Jesus said to the thief on the
cross, 'today, you shall be with me in paradise.' Why do we not say
that Jesus said that to us, apart from the fact that there would not
be any Christians left in the world tomorrow we know He said it to the
thief in his circumstances at the time. When Jesus quoted the Psalm
about being 'gods', it was in a specific case talking about Old Testament
judges. They did have the power of life and death and in that sense
they were acting like 'gods.' Are we Old Testament judges? If we are,
then we can call ourselves 'a god'. Another Biblical argument sometimes used is that because
we have been adopted as sons of God, and because like begets like, we
must also be gods. We are only adopted, we were not begotten from the
Father. There is only one, unique, begotten Son, who indeed was the
exact representation of the Father. Our adoption does mean that a change
has taken place in our character and in the moral likeness of God [see
2 Peter 1:4] but not that we have taken on the very nature of being
a god. Elitism The elitism of this group of 'super saints' is very
appealing; who wants to be just one of the crowd. Concepts used to explain
this role are the 30, 60 or 100 fold; outer court, inner court, and
Holy of Holies; the three, the twelve and the seventy disciples. Mike
Bickle put it like this, "There's apostles, there's
imminent apostles and there's most imminent apostles... There's various
levels of apostles and the Lord was showing us that... out of this movement
would be 35 apostles... That will be the highest level of apostolic
ministry... the government rests on apostles and prophets..." -
Visions and Revelations (Audio Tape). This reminds me of the 144,000 of the Watchtower Society.
Yes there are ministries within the church and God has placed some in
authority to be respected as leaders. But the Bible always talks of
the Body of Christ and 1 Corinthians 12-14 shows us clearly that whatever
our ministry we are all in the one body and there is not an elite, upper
class. Different Christ The whole concept of Christ has been changed. In the
orthodox reading of Scripture, Jesus of Nazareth, one person, is the
Christ - the Lord's anointed. This is changed so that, the Body of Christ,
is Christ! Therefore, whenever Scriptures say that Jesus Christ is going
to accomplish something, we now are to read that it is to be accomplished
by the 'man-Christ.' "And this shaking is going
to cast Satan and his principalities from their heavenly throne, while
the Sons of God ascend into "the heavenlies," first of all
in the Spirit to take upon themselves the authority which belongeth
to those who are overcomers. And entering this place of power and authority,
the Sons of God shall be able to administer protection and comfort and
help and deliverance to such as are in need." - George Warnock,
Feast of Tabernacles, p.35. The Sons of God now do the work, not Jesus. This is
a 'different Jesus'. My Bible tells me that it is Christ that will do
the work not men. He is the one who has defeated the enemy and when
He returns, He will set up His Kingdom. The moment I assume that 'I'
will be doing what the Bible says, 'He' will be doing I have dethroned
Christ and sat there myself. May be Satan has found a way to put his
original problem of authority on to mankind but what is interesting
is that it is described in the opposite way. "The change that is coming
to the body of Christ is so profound that the world will have a new
definition of Christianity... Those who submit to Him in truth... will
be the most dangerous and powerful people on earth, and will be the
greatest threat to the Antichrist spirit that now sits in the church
as a substitute for Him." - Rick Joyner, Morningstar Journal, Vol.2,
No.1. Notice this reference to the 'Antichrist spirit' in
the church; a church that is not good enough yet. A church about which
one leading 'prophet' said, "God is bored with the church."
Strange that we do not see this within Scripture but only in the teachings
of men who feel they are to be part of this elite group. Christ loves
His church and died for her; He also says that the gates of Hades shall
never prevail against His church. Jewel Van Der Merwe of Discernment
Ministries, in response to all of this says, "Does that hit you? Now the
true church is being called the spirit of Antichrist! The ones who do
not have their eyes open now to see that the church is God here in the
flesh now! Manifested Sons of God! Are you willing to accept that "we
are to look for another?" Do you accept that the church now coming
forth and being manifest is the coming of Christ we have been looking
forward to since He ascended into heaven and Two men stood by them in
white apparel; which also said Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing
up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven."
- Jewel Van Der Merwe, Joel's Army, p.23. Conclusions As we said at the beginning we are not dealing here with one organisation but with belief and philosophy. A philosophy that teaches that the church is Christ in a corporate sense, and that she then undertakes responsibilities that the Bible says are reserved for Jesus Christ. Not everyone goes to the same extremes, but the basic beliefs that lead to extremes are common. We need to be aware of these potential errors and know what Scripture really teaches.
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