The Beliefs of John Robert Stevens

There are two ways that the expression latter rain can be understood. The first is a biblical term, and the second is a Christian movement.

The biblical term latter rain comes from Joel 2:23. In this usage, Stevens defined latter rain as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which occurs in the end times. Peter quoted verses from this same chapter when the Holy Spirit fell the first time, in Acts 2. The latter rain is a key element in the restoration of the Church, as it brings the Holy Spirit back as a powerful force in the earth. The rain is symbolic of the refreshing, life-giving flow from the Lord which will bring the Church into its period of fruitfulness.

I am anticipating (though this idea has been relinquished by many people) that there will yet be an end-time ingathering, a latter-rain outpouring of the Spirit upon the nations, and we will see millions of people brought into Christ.¹

The second way the expression is used is in regards to the Latter Rain Movement. Stevens felt that the movement started out as a genuine expression of faith by a group of people who earnestly sought the Lord with prayer and fasting. He believed that they received some very real truths, but that the revelation given to them was not adhered to. Stevens recalls the time when he attended a few Latter Rain services:

I remember going to a church where some men of the Latter Rain movement met, and I was impressed with the singing in the Spirit that came. I went home and carefully sought the Lord, and He spoke that I was not to be a part of the Latter Rain movement, that there was yet a thing He was to bring forth in the earth.²

Stevens founded Grace Chapel of South Gate in 1951, around the same time that the Latter Rain Movement was starting to dwindle. Because Stevens’ church shared a handful of similar beliefs with the Latter Rain Movement, including singing in the Spirit, he was mistakenly identified with the movement. Consequently, many of the problems associated with the Latter Rain Movement were falsely attributed to Stevens. The truth is that while Stevens was a proponent of the latter rain as a biblical reality, he heeded the Lord’s direction and never participated in the Latter Rain Movement.

The term latter rain (Scripture) appears 90 times in Stevens’ written materials.
The term Latter Rain (movement) appears 24 times in Stevens’ written materials.