What this shows us is that unbiblical movements recycle through church history under new names. The terminology may change—Latter Rain, Apostolic Reformation, prophetic movement—but the core errors remain the same: an undermining of the sufficiency of Scripture, an elevation of human leaders who claim new revelation, and a fixation on power and experience over the gospel of Christ crucified.
Scripture warns us repeatedly about this pattern. Ecclesiastes says, “There is nothing new under the sun.” And Paul reminds Timothy that people will accumulate teachers to suit their own passions, wandering off into myths. Our responsibility as believers is not to chase after every so-called new move of the Spirit, but to test everything by the Word of God. As John commands in 1 John 4:1: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
The story of the Latter Rain and its modern revival in the NAR teaches us a sobering lesson: whenever the church neglects the sufficiency of Scripture and the finality of Christ’s work, we open the door for counterfeit authority and recycled heresy. But the good news is this: Christ remains the cornerstone. The Word of God remains the foundation. And the gospel remains the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
