Modern Catholicism And The One World Church

By Mike Taylor

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Matthew 23:9  And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
23:10  Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
23:11  But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
23:12  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

We see the signs of the times all around us, and we wonder when and how, will a one world church prophecied in your bible come about?. For over a hundred years, one body has secretly and with stealth promoted a one world religion to draw all religions to the “mother church” and that is the Roman Catholic Church. 

Understand that I have resisted the idea of shining the light on this movement of “another Christ” called the “vicar of Christ”  or god on earth known as the pope, for personal reasons, as my  younger brother has embraced this Satanic form of religiousity, as he feels that only through the Catholic church can his salvation be assured. We must realize that no man, no church, no organization can assure you of your redemption through the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Not the Catholic Church, not any evangelical/Pentecostal denomination, or any power on earth will assure you of a place at the marriage supper of the Lamb.  Our Lord will not be replaced with any mere man or church on the face of the earth.  Paul spoke of our personal responsibility for assuring our own salvation, and it is through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior when he wrote in Philippians:

 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
2:10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
2:11  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Did Paul write that your salvation is through any other means except through the blood of our Savior? I strongly attest, NO! and a thousand times NO! But my brethren, what church organization has promoted for over a thousand years plus that the only way to God, is through their church? Correct, the Roman Catholic Church is that anithesis of all things that God ordained through His Son, Jesus Christ. 

I spoke of stealth in the first part of this commentary message, that one organization has gone fairly silent in recent years directly, but has used deception and the resurgence of it’s goal of a “one world religion” drawing all religions including the Far East religions of mysticism and pagan worship. Don’t believe me? I ask that you read the following article sent to me by a dear brother of my online congregation through the link below: 

http://www.understandthetimes.org/commentary/c97.shtml
(Excellent article)

It’s titled The Jesuit Agenda and the Evangelical/Protestant Church.
In this article, you will see that the agenda of the Catholic church is well and alive through men such as Rick Warren and his cohorts, and the emerging church. Steeped with idolatry and mysticism, they do the bidding of the “mother church” and the secret Jesuit society. 


 We as Christians must understand that we are not to judge the world, as our Lord and Savior will judge according to His Word, but that does not apply to things that are heretical within our own ranks and the preaching of the Kingdom of God by His true church.
1^st Corinthians 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
6:4  If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

All anyone has to do beyond believing what I write, is to take any encyclopedia and read the history of the Roman Catholic Church and how it has subverted the Gospel to its own enrichment, the sins of the clergy and the pope, and the continued practice of false doctrine and debauchery that is the modern Roman Catholic Church. Can anyone say “pedophile priest?”

The history of the Catholic Church, from its Rome headquarters, has been one of blood and domination. We read of popes who were the most hideous of sinful men that claimed the authority of God Almighty and whosoever disagreed with their edicts were either excommunicated, or worse, slain from a thousand different methods of torture and execution. I’m aghast when I read the modern recent position that the Catholic church took against helpless Jewish people during WW2 and basically aligning itself with Nazi Germany and blessing their swastika symbol as a symbol to be revered, and/or, feared. The power and domination of the Church in Rome has dwindled in the last 200 years, but if any power arise that seeks domination of the earth, it’s a safe bet that the Church in Rome will do it’s bidding to be at the table of the power brokers. It’s their history, it’s their entire focus of a One World Religion headed by one religious authority, called the Vicar of Christ, meaning “instead of Christ” or “god on earth”. In itself, the title is outright blasphemy. 

TRUE CHRISTIANS MUST BE WARNED

One of the greatest dangers to Christianity today is the deliberate suppression of biblical truth for the sake of unity. The danger intensifies as we see many highly visible and influential Christians are jumping on the Vatican’s ecumenical bandwagon. Instead of warning believers that this false unity is the emergence of the "last days" apostate church, evangelicals are embracing and applauding those who are engineering it.
Everyday we see ministers, so called shepherds of the flock, misleading people away from the truths of the Bible. They are seldom exposed, except when their sins find them out, to the glee of the secular media. Jesus warned of such charlatans that are wolves amongst the sheep. 


Matthew 7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
7:16  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
7:17  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

And Paul when the fledging church was just beginning warned the people in his ministry in Acts chapter 20:
20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

It is indeed disturbing to see so many folks that are blinded by the deception that goes on in modern Protestant churches that do the bidding of the “mother church” to draw all religions into one common, all powerful religious state. They have been working steadily at bringing “departed brothers” back into the faith, or the “holy mother church”. When Pope John Paul II was alive, he promoted the following:

In his 1995 encyclical Et Unum Sint, Pope John Paul II said he intends "to promote every suitable initiative...to increase the unity of all Christians until they reach full communion" and "to encourage the efforts of all who work for the cause of unity." The pope’s stated desire is "to gather all people and all things into Christ, so as to be for all—an inseparable sacrament of unity... expressed in the common celebration of the Eucharist." During a week of prayer for Christian unity Pope John Paul II said, "I gladly take this opportunity to call the attention of all believers to the ecumenical commitment that marked VC II. The council rightly defined the division among Christians as a scandal. The council Fathers felt the need to beg pardon of God and of their brethren for the sins committed against unity." He asked Catholics "to cultivate an authentic spiritual ecumenism" through the Virgin Mary [not through the Lord Jesus].

I quote now from an article I read concerning the papacy’s sole intent of uniting all religions under one authority, the Church in Rome:

“As we watch the Vatican we can see a seductive strategy for uniting all Christians. They masterfully and deliberately redefine biblical terms to make them more vague, ambiguous and acceptable to both Catholics and Protestants. An example of this is the 1999 Lutheran-Roman Catholic "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification." In the declaration, Rome uses equivocal and indefinite words to affirm the doctrine of "justification by faith alone" but, at the same time, continues to affirm the anathema’s that condemn all who believe this doctrine. We must not be misled. Rome has not changed its position on things that really matter! Instead they take advantage of professing Christians who lack discernment or who are unwilling to contend for "the faith." The Pope's Push for a One-World Religion by Mike Gendron”
I would go a step further than making doctrine acceptable to Catholics and Protestants alike. They are wooing all major religions to their altar of servitude. Religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Shintoism, and every –ism even  pagans out there that are a religion to the people and bring them under one big religious tent, with the power of the papacy in supreme control in religious affairs.

One Word Government, One World Religion

We now see a push for a One World government due to global economic upheaval. Many elites are planning the demise of the capitalistic model of free enterprise and promoting a “new world order.” How this new system shakes out and what will be the catalyst to making the kings of the earth to demand a one world system, is for prophecy in the near future. The stage is set, the actors are being put in place, and all we need is to light the fuse to send the world into utter chaos, even more so than it already is.
John spoke of this period of time that we are fast drawing down to, know as the “end of days”. 

Revelation 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters
17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
John speaks of a woman, when identified, it stands for a religious entity upon the earth. In this case, the woman is a harlot, meaning that she does not serve the true God, but prostitutes herself to false gods and false doctrine and misleads the people into idolatry.
17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

I submit to you, that through the ages since Jesus was ascended to the right hand of the Father, has no other religious body that calls themselves “Christian” perverted scripture to their own enrichment and their own lust for power. Any encyclopedia will affirm that only one religious body of paramount whoredom has committed the sins John mentions here…yes, the Roman Catholic Church. They hold their traditions and the edicts of the pope above clear commands of Holy Scripture. The promote the power of the church, and debase the authority of God’s Holy Word as secondary to their authority. Blasphemy of the most severe.

17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Reader, how many people have been slain in the name of the Roman Catholic Church down through the last 2000 years??….Millions, tens of millions? The number and the atrocity of the sins of the Church in Rome rises like a stench in the nostrils of God.  Read your history.

In this chapter of Revelation, John goes onto describe the Beast power that arises during the last 7 years, called Daniel’s 70 week. You see how this harlot rides the beast and is joined to its power and uses her influence to support and defend the Beast power and it’s administration. Finally, when the Beast is done with her, she is destroyed by fire.

17:15  And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

In Revelation 17, the Woman is controlling the Beast, bringing about its worship. But, she and the Beast are antagonists competing against each other. Furthermore, she is heavily involved in politics (influencing kings), manufacturing, shipping, craftsmanship, and merchandising

The Woman indeed has a relationship with the Beast, but she is not part of the politics, economics, religion, or military of the Beast, at least, not directly. She and the Beast are separate entities, even though both are part of the overall One World system. The Catholic Church has always been part of the Beast, influencing it from within. Conversely, the Woman is portrayed as an external influence, competing with, riding, and at some point exercising control of the Beast.

 

How this harlot will be destroyed by fire is conjecture on anybodies part, but a nuclear blast would destroy all of Rome and the Vatican estate that resides there.

What Time is it?

Many in the Catholic church hierarchy and the leaders within have reported that after this pope, Pope Benedict XVI finishes his “reign” over the Catholic Church, that the next pope will be an apostate. From Wikipedia, we read about what is said about this last pope.

“The Prophecy of the Popes, attributed to Saint Malachy, is a list of 112 short phrases in Latin. They purport to describe each of the Roman Catholic popes (along with a few anti-popes) beginning with  Pope Celestine II (elected in 1143) and concluding with a pope described in the prophecy as "Peter the Roman", whose pontificate will end in the destruction of the city of Rome.”

It is further mentioned in other sources, that this pope, known as Peter the Roman, will not be named so, but may take the name of Pope Pius the XIII and will undo many practices within the Roman Catholic church that he deems against tradition.

I warn every truly converted Christian man or woman, to make yourself familiar with the commands of scripture. Be an informed Berean. As mentioned in Acts

17:10  And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
17:11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

If a Christian takes it upon himself to read his bible, he will not be deceived with “traditions of the church” or any doctrine that is contrary to the Word of God. I beseech each and everyone of you to put on the whole armor of God, as the spirit world is growing more active with each passing day. Ephesians chapter 6:

6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

I pray for my brother, who puts his trust in an organization, not his Lord and Savior to keep him on the straight and narrow path that leads to life. When this world approaches the tribulation, I would pray that each of you, including my brother, would take the Word of God in hand and search its pages to find if these things be true.

I spoke earlier of a catalyst that would ignite the call for a One World Government, and a One World Religion. Everything is in place, the actors are stage left, stage right and are ready to begin their short act of the last seven years of mankind’s attempt to govern himself. What might that catalyst be? If suddenly upwards of a billion people plus suddenly vanish off the surface of this planet, such an economic collapse that we only envision will happen at warp speed. The call for calm and a ruling body to restore order will be set in motion almost immediately to prevent anarchy and chaos. I believe that the removal of the church saints from this earth, to meet Jesus in the air, will be the most catastrophic event to come to this planet apart from the beginning of  His actual 1000 year reign beginning with Armegeddon. Men will search for answers, reasons, and to be comforted that all is well. It is said that the one thing that would unite this world into one solid unit is an “ALIEN INVASION” from another planet.  Next time, we will discuss that very scenario that may be used to explain away an event that will shake mankind that is left to their very core. An alien invasion might possibly be used to explain the sudden disappearance of so many loved ones. Enter stage right, the One World Government, and enter stage left, the beginning of the One World Religion headed by the Beast Power and the Roman Catholic church, in that order. Hold onto your seat, my brother, as the ride could get real bumpy before the Father says, “It is enough. Go get my children”.


John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

This is Pastor Mike Taylor wishing God’s love in your life. God bless you till we meet at Jesus feet.

The Latter Rain Revival Movement? PART 2

The "Latter Rain" Revival Movement Repackaged: Understanding Their Mystical, Metaphysical, Transformation Part II by Dr. Thomas Ice       In our previous issue, I began a series on a significant influence within Evangelicalism called "latter rain" theology.  I began tracing its history and development and will continue in this installment.  I hope to show that this theology distorts God's plan for history when they claim a latter day glory that is meant for Israel and not the church.  I also hope to show that "latter rain" teachings confuse the current church age and the tribulation.      In the last installment, I was providing a historical rundown on restoration movements in general.  I had surveyed the origins of Pentecostalism and how it was born out of a "latter rain" theology.  This began to wane in the 1920's as Pentecostals adopted some of the tenants of fundamentalism, especially dispensationalism. New Order of the Latter Rain      The late 1940s saw a reemergence of "latter rain" teachings at Sharon Orphanage and Schools in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada, among Pentecostals.  George Hawtin and P. G. Hunt were key figures in North Battleford, who along with others, launched a movement characterized by the following distinctives: (1) William Branham, who exercised the laying on of hands in his healing ministry; (2) healing evangelist Franklin Hall's emphasis on fasting and prayer; (3) the church government format in use by the Independent Assemblies of God, which stressed the autonomy of the local church; and (4) the emphasis on the "new thing" of Isaiah 43:19.[i]      As the movement continued to develop it spawned a large collection of teachings, terms, and vocabulary for communicating "latter rain" thought.  While many of the following terms have true biblical significance, I want to list some of the words and phrases often associated with "latter rain" doctrine so that readers will be able to discern whether a given phrase is used in a "latter rain" context. Feast of Tabernacles                                 Tabernacle of Moses Tabernacle of David                                   Revival churches Present day truths                                       Five-fold ministry Manifested sons of God                             Spiritual Israel Bride company                                           New breed Joel's army                                                Elijah Company Many-membered man child                        Jezebel spirit Birthing in the spirit                                    Overcomers Covering                                                   Joshua Generation New thing                                                 Omega Army Forceful men                                                  The latter rain movement has created quite a stir among Pentecostals.  At the 1949 General Council of the Assemblies of God meeting in Seattle, Washington, a resolution was adopted disapproving of the practices of the "latter rain" movement. RESOLVED, That we disapprove of those extreme teachings and practices which, being unfounded Scripturally, serve only to break fellowship of like precious faith and tend to confusion and division among the members of the Body of Christ, and be it hereby known that this 23rd General Council disapproves of the so-called, "New Order of the Latter Rain", to wit: 1.  The overemphasis relative to imparting, identifying, bestowing or confirming gifts by the laying on of hands and prophesy. 2.  The erroneous teaching that the church is built upon the foundation of present day apostles and prophets. 3.  The extreme teaching as advocated by the "new order" regarding the confession of sin to man and deliverance as practiced, which claims prerogatives to human agency which belong only to Christ. 4.  The erroneous teaching concerning the impartation of the gift of languages as special equipment for missionary service. 5.  The extreme and unscriptural practice imparting or imposing personal leading by the means of utterance. 6.  Such other wrestings and distortions of Scripture, interpretations which are in opposition to teachings and practices generally accepted among us.[ii]      "Latter rain" teachings are also said to have made significant inroads into the Charismatic movement of the 1960s and '70s.  Some of the "beliefs and practices of the Latter Rain that found their way into the Charismatic renewal were the 'foundational ministries' of Ephesians 4:11, tabernacle teaching, the feast of Tabernacles, and the 'foundational truths' of Hebrews 6:1-2."[iii]  Vehicles within the Charismatic movement favoring "latter rain" distinctives included Logos Journal and the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International headed by Demos Shakarian. Third Time's The Charm      The 1980s saw a third wave of "latter rain" teachings within the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement.  However, this time the latter rain/restoration teachings are not content to merely sit back and be a part of only a spiritual revival, without the power displays of "signs, wonders, and miracles."  Today's blend wants power, dominion, health and wealth, and socio-political change.  The contemporary onslaught of "latter rain" teaching has virtually taken over today's Pentecostal/Charismatic movement.  As we stand on the threshold of the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Pentecostal/latter rain movement, it is, without a doubt, the strongest influence within Evangelicalism.      Typical of a contemporary "latter rain" event was the "Take It By Force Conference" in Phoenix, August 1-4, 1989, sponsored by an organization called "The Forceful Men."  A six-page, full-color ad announcing the conference was run in the May, 1989 issue of Charisma.  The militant tone was set when the copy announced that "God is raising up a new generation to shake this world, a Joshua generation, '. . . invade, conquer and possess the land.'"  The main section of the ad displayed across the top four famous Pentecostal events, implying that the Take It By Force conference would have continuity with them.  One of the  events listed was the latter rain revival in 1948 at North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada.  The ad said concerning North Battleford:  "God promised that He would restore everything that the church had lost."  Typical "latter rain" belief.      Until recently, "latter rain" formulation was placing great stress upon their prophecy that Christ will return around a.d. 2000, thus making the 1990s the time when the Church will come together and experience the great end-time harvest.  "Latter rain" teaches that the maturity of the Church will be accomplished through the restoration of the gifted men mentioned in Ephesians 4:11.  This viewpoint, received as a new, prophetic revelation and not based on interpretation of the text, believes that the 1950s saw the restoration of evangelists; the 1960s the pastor; the 1970s the teacher; the 1980s the prophet; and the 1990s will see a revived office of apostles.  The result of this supposed return to first century Christianity will reap the following result:      The restoration of the apostle to full recognition and authority will bring the Church to maturity, unity, and proper Church structure.  Signs and wonders will be wrought which will cause the world to look to the Church for answers and miracles needed.  Whole nations will turn to God.  The Church will become glorious and victorious and cause the glory of the Lord to fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.  When all five-fold ministries are fully restored, all the saints are moving in their membership ministry, and the Church is unified and perfected, when Jesus can return and set up His Kingdom and establish His eternal reign with His Bride/Church.  Planet Earth will be purified to become the headquarters for Jesus and His Church to rule and reign over His vast domain forever and ever and ever forevermore.  Amen![iv]      This version of restoration/latter rain appears to be a blend of postmillennialism and premillennialism.  Some postmillennialists have taught that the kingdom will dominate planet earth when a majority of the population is converted and the church is perfected.  Bill Hamon has taken that postmillennial idea and placed it within a non-dispensational premillennial framework.  Hamon's type of premillennialism sees the church age ending in victory, not apostasy, as dispensationalism believes.  After all, "latter rain" Pentecostalism is the end-time perfection of the church to which things are building.  At least, that's what they say.      How does this blend look?  When talking about the current role and destiny of the church, Restorationists speak of her eventual victory before Christ returns.  This is a postmillennial concept.  However, when speaking about future events such as the second coming, they are premillennial.  Thus, they hold to a form of postmillennialism wrapped within the overall framework and vocabulary of non-dispensational premillennialism, which is extremely vocal in their objection to the pretribulational rapture.      Restorationist Rick Godwin typifies this aggressive blend of a postmillennial view of a current victorious and glorious church coupled with anti-rapture rhetoric. The Lord is going to have a "Glorious Church" before He returns. . . . The Glorious Church is to be a mighty army of over-comers through whom God reveals and demonstrates Himself to man. . . . We are to be an army on the offensive, taking the fight to the enemy, instead of sitting around waiting for the Rapture.  We are not instructed to "Hold the Fort"-we are to TAKE THE LAND! . . . Over infatuation with the Rapture produces a stagnant and sterile people.  The OVERCOMER doesn't care WHEN Jesus comes-He is simply "occupying until He comes." (emphasis in original)[v] "Latter rain" advocate, Rick Joyner says, This is the hour when the church will arise as never before to aggressively attack every stronghold of the enemy.  A divine militancy is coming upon the church that will strike gripping fear into the heart of every power of darkness. . . .      The church will not abandon the world in defeat, fleeing when her light is needed the most.  She is about to rise to her full spiritual stature.[vi] Increasingly, many are adopting this mentality of victory, coupled with anti-rapture oratory. An Uneasy Marriage      Perhaps by now you are asking that question that would naturally arise at this point: "If Pentecostalism has such a rich and obvious history of 'latter rain' teaching, then why do they also have a rich history of many who object to such teachings?"  In fact, virtually all of the material I have read over the past few years raising objections and warning people about restoration/latter rain doctrine and practice have come from Pentecostals themselves.  Why is this?      It is not unusual within any movement as large and diverse as Pentecostalism that rival camps of thought would arise.  In addition to the "latter rain" influence, dispensationalism has also added its imprint upon Pentecostalism.  While it may be true, that these two systems are antithetical to one another in many ways, it is nevertheless a fact that both have had great popularity and influence at various times within Pentecostalism.  Based upon current trends it seems obvious that the overall movement is clearly moving away from dispensationalism.  This was clearly illustrated to Robert Dean and I when we had a four-hour discussion with three leaders from the Kansas City Fellowship of Churches in the early 1990's.  They informed us that out of approximately 45 staff members, not one currently held to the pretrib rapture.  Very likely, almost all had held the view a few years earlier.      Early Pentecostalism was born out of a motivation and vision for restoring to the church apostolic power lost over the years.  Now she was to experience her latter-day glory and victory by going out in a blaze of glory and success.  On the other hand, dispensationalism was born in England in the early 1800s bemoaning the latter-day apostasy and ruin of the church.  These two major streams within Pentecostalism have radically different views of the church and the end times.      The latter rain teaching came out of the Wesleyan-Holiness desire for both individual (sanctification) and corporate (eschatological) perfection.  This is why early perfectionist teachers like Wesley, Finney, and Mahan were all postmillennial and social activists.  Revivalism was gaged by both personal and public change or perfection.  It follows then that one who believes in personal perfection should also believe that public perfection is equally possible.  Those who believe the latter are postmillennialists.  After all, if God has given the Holy Spirit in this age to do either, then why not the other?  If God can perfect individuals, then why not society?      However, as the 1800s turned into the 1900s, social change was increasingly linked with Darwin's theory of evolution.  The evolutionary rationale was then used to attack the Bible itself.  To most English-speaking Christians it certainly appeared that society was not being perfected, instead it was in decline.  Critics of the Bible said that one needed a PhD from Europe before the Bible could be organized and understood.  It was into this climate that dispensationalism was introduced into America and to many Bible believing Christians it made much more sense of the world than did liberalism.      Dispensationalism, in contrast to Holiness teaching, taught that the world and the church (visible) was not being perfected, instead it was in apostasy and heading toward judgment.  God is currently in the process of calling out the remnant through the preaching of the gospel.  Christian social change would not be permanent, leading to the establishment of Christ's kingdom.  Instead a cataclysmic intervention was needed (Christ's second coming), if society was to be transformed.  Another emphasis was that the common man could understand the Bible without the enlightened help of a liberal education, once he understood God's overall plan for mankind as administered through the dispensations.  Thus, dispensational theology made a lot of sense to both Pentecostal and evangelical believers during this time.      In the 1920s dispensationalism began to have a great influence within Pentecostalism.  Pentecostal Huibert Zegwaart has noted that "Many of the early Pentecostals came from dispensationalist circles."[vii]  Donald Dayton said that the form of Pentecostal eschatology, "namely dispensationalism, is quite accidental; it happened to be the form of eschatology the early Pentecostals brought along from their former denominations."[viii]  Thus, denominations like the Assemblies of God moved away from doctrines like the "latter rain" teaching and generated official positions against those teachings. CONCLUSION      As we enter the new millennium, dispensational influence, for a lot of reasons, is on the decline within both Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism as well.  Thus, things like the pretrib rapture (once considered orthodoxy within Pentecostalism) are likewise on the decline.  At the same time such "latter rain" teachings as the present glory and victory of the church before the second coming (a form of postmillennialism) are rapidly gaining popularity.      The attractiveness of the perfection of the church teachings within "latter rain" theology is making a comeback within the church at the same time that concepts of perfection are increasingly popular within secular society as well.  "Techno-mysticism," in the form of self-help and New Age teachings proclaim the mystical perfectibility of the individual as well as society.  Thus, people today are predisposed toward, not a moral perfection as heralded 100 years ago, but rather a mystical, metaphysical transformation which could happen in an instant of time.      The Pentecostal/Charismatic movement has a tradition of both latter rain/restoration teachings as well as a dispensational stream.  However, at many points, these are contradictory teachings which appear to be on a collision course.  Either the church age is going to end with perfection and revival of the church or it will decline into apostasy, preparing the way for the church to become the harlot of Revelation during the tribulation.      (To Be Continued . . .) [i] Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids:  Zondervan, 1988), p. 532. [ii] Robert Crabtree, "New Wave Theology," (privately printed paper, 1987), pp. 19-20. [iii] Dictionary, p. 534. [iv] Bill Hamon, "God's Wave of Restoration for the 1980's," Thy Kingdom Come, Aug., 1987, p. 11. [v] "Vision of the Eagle's Nest Christian Fellowship," in Tape and Book Catalog, July, 1990, p. 6. [vi] Rick Joyner, Mobilizing the Army of God (Springdale PA:  Whitaker House), p. 143-44. [vii] Huibert Zegwaart, "Apocalyptic Eschatology and Pentecostalism:  The Relevance of John's Millennium for Today," Pneuma (Vol. 10, No. 1; Spring 1988), p. 4. [viii] Donald Dayton cited in Zegwaart, "Apocalyptic Eschatology," p. 4. Distributed by www.worldviewweekend.co. CLICK HERE for original article.