THE SIGNS AND THE BELIEVERS

"Go into all the world and preach the good news to every creature, he who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover." Mark 16:15-18 Dear reader, let us put our brain to work a little bit now. The word of God states that after Jesus rose from the dead He appeared to His disciples and commended them to "preach the good news to every creature", and He went on to say that the signs would follow the believers as well. Let's pause a little bit here, based on the above passage of the Scriptures, do you see any link between SIGNS and BELIEVERS or am I reading a different Gospel? My point is this, the signs are for today, and they are supposed to follow the believers. Now if you are a believer , but the signs spoken by Jesus are not following you nor being manifested in your ministry in any way, then according to God's word you are actually not considered a believer, the signs will follow those who believe, there's no believer without the manifestation of the signs, if you believe, according to the Scriptures, then the signs will always be following you. Now let me ask you a question, are the signs following you? If not, why not? How about your leaders? If your pastor has no signs accompanying his teachings and preaching, then according to God's word he is not a believer. The believer MUST have the signs following him/her, that's what the Word of God states. Now, ask your pastor when was the last time he cast a demon out of someone? Ask him when was the last time he prayed for a sick person and healed him/her? Ask him when was the last time he spoke in tongues? By asking him those questions you will know whether you are attending the right congregation or not. Test your leaders with the Scriptures to see whether they are from God or just mere business people as some of them even called the pastoral position a job. The percentage of Christians under spiritual bondage, in the church, is very high. I could say without hesitation that the average congregation has approximately 80% of its members with serious spiritual problems even demon possession, so don't let your pastor say he does not have opportunities to set people free from spiritual bondage. I even have heard of pastors and deacons who were possessed by demons. If you read book "Pigs in the Parlor" you will see how a pastor was delivered from demons. A friend of mine, who pastored a church in Eugene, Oregon, mentioned to me that one day, at a home prayer meeting, one of his male deacons had a terrible manifestation of demons, up to that point no one knew that he was possessed by evil spirits. The fact is, in most cases, the people who are spiritually oppressed and possessed by evil spirits are not aware of that fact until some more serious things start happening, then that is when they start looking for help. The Gifts Of The Spirit are for today! Now-a-days it's very common to hear ministers say that the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, such as the gifts, are not for today. Some believe and even teach that the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12) are no longer in operation, they were only assigned to the apostles and operated in the first century. They even say that the church does not need the gifts of the Spirit any longer. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound." Isaiah 61:1 Dear reader, we are Jesus Christ's representatives in the world today, if Jesus was anointed by God to preach, to heal and to set people free, we, as Heaven's ambassadors on earth, ought to do the same. Now my question is this, why are we not doing it? Why is the church neglecting such a wonderful manifestation of the Holy Spirit and not obeying its calling in its fullness? What are we missing? Jesus even gave to His church the same power and authority God gave Him. Please, read these verses below: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." Matthew 28:18 "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy, nothing will harm you" Luke 10:19 " Go , therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20 The same authority Jesus received from the Father He transferred to His church. Are there any more excuses? Below is an email I received from a woman who was desperate for help and can't find any Spirit-Filled church in her region to assist her. Their names have been altered in order to protect their identity: Now let me ask you a question, Why aren't the churches doing deliverance as Jesus commanded them to do? What's the reason each congregation does not have a deliverance ministry available to the public? Why do they normally refer cases like this above one to psychiatrics and psychologists? Dear reader, psychiatrics and psychologists are not qualified to cast out demons and to set spiritually oppressed people free, unless they are born-again believers and filled with the Holy Spirit. That's up to the Spirit-filled Christians only. That's up to the church of the Living God. Give me a break, please! I have lost track of the numbers the emails I have received over the years from people in desperate situations, looking for spiritual help. Our churches are too busy with their programs of all kinds and secular agendas that they can't offer spiritual help to those in need. The Theological Seminaries out there don't really focus much on teaching the leaders of today's church about what really matters. These entities, such as Bible Colleges and Seminaries, especially in the U.S., concentrate more on how to form leaders who will speak fluently and eloquently in order to impress people, that's primarily their focus. Master and Doctor in Divinity are degrees that are frequently offered by these types of entities who focus more on the abilities of man rather than the power of God. It seems to me that they have not yet understood that " the letter kills, the Spirit gives life." "He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." 2 Corinthians 3.