THE SIGNS OF A TRUE BELIEVER

THE SIGNS OF A TRUE BELIEVER
by M.G. Bueno

Luk 10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

Luk 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Luk 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

Mar 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

In this verses Jesus had sent out his disciples to go out and preach the kingdom of God, and alongside with their message was the healing of all diseases, and the casting out of evil spirits in the name of Jesus Christ. When the true gospel is being preached, results will always follow such as miracles and wonders. Because the bible clearly says that their will be signs following the life of those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as it says in the gospel of Mark. The last chapter of Mark tells us who the true Christians really are.

Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

It amazes me how that so many Christians no longer have signs following their so called faith in God, no longer have the results and works of the Holy Spirit yet still professing they believe the Lord Jesus Christ, where healing and the casting out of evil spirits is to them history; where baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues is thought to be some kind of demonic posession, when in reality is God posession. And the only way you can be a true believing Christian is when you are posessed with the Holy Spirit of God.

Many people today are only getting part of the gospel message, which made them unfruitful in their walk with God. Because if you believe in God and God is moving in your life, signs are going to be seen. So what signs are you showing as you profess your faith in God? What signs do you have since you believe? Are they signs of going forward or are they signs of going backward; are they signs of growth or signs of death?

Mar 16:20 And they went forth, (they didn’t back up, but they went forth) and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.  If the Lord is really working with you in his work, there's no such thing as backing up.   And one of the signs of a true believer is to not back up but always going forward. Always growing and not dying. Always learning and not stop learning.  The bible said that these signs are showing up because the Lord is working with them. Signs always authenticate the true preaching of the gospel.  And the reasons why there are no signs following in our life is because we don’t allow the Lord to work in us and with us.  Many have accepted the cessationist doctrine, which is a sister to modernism.  They teach that the miracles and signs that follows when the gospel is preached had already ceased and died with the original 12 apostles.  And they claim that the Christian fathers had never mention it in their writings about the signs and miracles of the Holy Ghost, therefore this is, they say, is the evidence that these signs had already ceased and is not for us today.  When the bible does not even say that this is so.  What had ceased is the faith of so called Christians.  The enemy of their soul had so lied to them, that they no longer believe the promises of God.  God's signs and miracles are still in operation today, it's people who had ceased believing the promises of God.  How do I know this, because I'm a witness of the many manifestations of God's Holy Spirit.

Signs are very important. Why? It’s the only way that we can see, and others see that God is truly working in us and with us.  It's because of these signs that we become effective witnesses for God.  In the book of ACTS 1:8 tells us that we cannot be witnesses unto God unless we've been baptized with the power from on high.  Now if this baptism of power which is according to the bible, as it is written (and not the water down misinterpretation of the Holy Ghost Baptism) had already ceased, how can we today become effective witnesses of Jesus Christ? And not only witnesses in word but in deed, because our life is a better witness than our words.  And if God is moving as we preach the full gospel message of Jesus Christ, there’s not going to be a lack of evidence and signs in peoples lives. We need the real and pure full gospel message to work in our life. Is the full gospel message really working in your life? Are their signs following in your life since you’ve been saved, since you’ve been born again, since you have receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.  The bible is very clear that signs must follow after you’ve been touched by the master’s hand.  Is your salvation real?

Our Christianity must be pure. Not 50 percent pure but 100 percent pure. A 50 percent pure Christianity does not work with God.  Why? Because it’s in the same analogy as sacrificing a sickly animal sacrifice before God. Or giving tithe or offering grudgingly before God. God doesn’t honor those kind of sacrifices. Because you’re only giving an offering that is not worthy of a blessing before God. Do you remember God’s reaction to Cain’s vegetable sacrifice? God did not honor Cain’s sacrifice, no, not even with a tiny flame of fire from heaven. And when we give ourselves to God wholly, God will honor it with a heavenly fire, and not with some strange fire that comes from the devil and this world.  God will make us fired up with the Holy Fire of the Holy Spirit. Because God will not honor a less than 100 percent service or worship. God will not honor a life that is not fully given to God. That’s why there are no real Christians who are less than 100 percent pure. That means, you must give your whole being to God, physical, spiritual and even your material things so that God can bless our all and all. As it says in,

Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

And loving God is not just some mere mental assent, or saying that you believe God, but it is with service, and works of faith, and signs and fruits that shows that you are a true believer, Paul was speaking to the Romans in,

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

How do we do that? How can we do our service effectively as servants of God. How can we be a holy and acceptable living sacrifice unto God? It says in the following verses,

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The words conformed to this world in Greek speaks of the fashions or the patterns that is of this world. That means the way that the world acts, the clothes that they wear. It tells us that Christians are not to be the same as the world. What signs are we showing since we’ve been saved?  To not be conformed to this world, means we must first be transformed.  We can never be transformed unless our mind has been renewed. To be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Our minds need to be washed, our minds need to be given over to God. If our mind is not submitted to God, then we don’t really love God. And if our minds are not renewed, we will never be able to know and prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God in our life. That’s why people are still straddling the fench so to speak or still in a limbo, undecided about serving God, because their minds are not renewed. Therefore a transformation can never take place in their life. How pure is our Christianity? Is it less than 100 percent pure?

There is a need for Christians all over the world to preach the full gospel message that the bible wants us to preach, otherwise we’re just deceiving ourselves and defrauding others for not declaring to them the complete message of the good news.  Sometimes people are too worried about what people are going to say. "Oh they might think we’re crazy." But God is not crazy. It might be crazy to the world, but it’s wise to God. But if it’s in the word of God, why are you not practicing it. That’s why there are no signs following in people’s lives, because they don’t want to be obedient to what the word of God tells them to do, their obedience to the word of God had ceased. We need to have faith in God and do what he said in his word, and not allow the enemy of our soul to put doubts in our mind concerning the promises of God so that we begin to cease in our faith. After Jesus rose from the dead there were at least 500 brethren who saw him before he was taken up to heaven.



1Co 15:3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 
1Co 15:4  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 
1Co 15:5  And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 
1Co 15:6  After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 
1Co 15:7  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 
1Co 15:8  And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.


Yet only 120 were obedient to receive the baptism of power from on high.  Why?  could it be that they have allowed their faith to cease to the command of Christ for them to receive what they really needed to fight the devil?  God is not a liar. And God doesn’t change his ways. The bible said that God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  It's people, because of unbelief that they change what the bible really say.  We need to continue to preach the same full gospel message, where people receive Jesus Christ in their life and repent from their sins, where people receive healing, where the evil spirits are cast out, where people still receive the baptism of the power of the Holy Ghost, where Holy living and modesty is still practiced. There’s no other way, or method to destroy the kingdom of the devil in the world and in the lives of men and women.

In our bible reading, the disciples went and did exactly what the master had commissioned them to do. And the disciples were overwhelmed with joy and told the master, "even the devils are subject to us", meaning that the devils were cast out and were running scared in the name of Jesus Christ.  And when Jesus heard this good report, he said, "I beheld satan, as lightning fall from heaven. Jesus could see satan defeated as quick as the flash of lightning. Why? Because the disciples obeyed what Jesus had commanded them to do.  Satan is that spirit that fights against anything that is godly and pure and righteous and good. But satan doesn’t have power against the name of Jesus Christ, and those who truly follow Him and believe in his name.  Jesus saw satan cast out of heaven, and now, he’s being cast out of the lives of men and women in the authority of the name of Jesus Christ as quick as the flash of lightning. The devil cannot win against God, and against the people of God who believe in the name of Jesus Christ. Is it evident in your life, that satan no longer have dominion over your life? Is their any sign, that Jesus Christ is now living in you?  Has the workings of satan been cast out of your life, and never to return again in your life. Is Jesus Christ now, the King of your life?

Jesus said, Joh 10:10 The thief (who is satan) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly.

Jesus said, I must be about my father’s business. The Father’s business is the soul business. Your soul is what Jesus died for on the cross to be saved. He made it his business to save you from sin.

Jesus said in Luk 9:56 I came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them.

And again in Luk 19:10 Jesus said, I came to seek and to save that which was lost.

The bible said that his name shall be called Jesus for he shall save his people from their sin.  Sin brings death to the whole being of man to include his soul, and it’s because of sin that Jesus died on the cross. It is sin that still separates a man from the fellowship of God.  How long are you going to be separated from God and from his fellowship? How long are going to allow the enemy of your soul to separate you from the fellowship of God.  Now, you can be save and that's with signs following. Because that's the kind of salvation that God wants you to have, with signs.  And everyone will see it, and that’s the only way you can be a witness to the whole world that Jesus Christ saves from sin.

And for you to have that kind of salvation, all you have to do is invite and receive Jesus Christ in your life and believe in his sacrificial death for your sins, and he will lead you to a life of righteousness, having been forgiven and cleanse from your sin and from your sinful desires. And the devil cannot reign over you and he cannot destroy you, because now Jesus lives in you and his reigning in your heart.  And the Bible said,

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, all things pass away, behold all things are become new.

Is God visible in your life, can others tell that you are a new creature in God? Were there signs following since you believe in Jesus Christ?