Signs legitimize and authenticate a ministry filled with the Holy Spirit

The Ministry of Jesus was characterized by the Presence of the Holy Spirit. The prophet John the Baptist spoke that Jesus Christ baptized with the Holy Spirit, and baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, that was and is His specialty.

And the life of the Church must be characterized by that abundant and evident Presence of the Holy Spirit. It is not just a matter of doctrine. The Church of Jesus Christ cannot exist only with doctrine, with religious life, it needs the superabundant dimension of the Holy Spirit. If a Church is not characterized by that dynamic Presence of the Holy Spirit, by the continuous intervention of the Holy Spirit, by the manifestation of the gifts and the miraculous actions of the Holy Spirit, that Church is not reaching the goal that God has for life of His people, that move of the Holy Spirit is needed.

And we see that throughout all of Scripture, and in the New Testament especially, it is clear that God expects His people, in order to carry out the task that He has left to evangelize the world, to move in provision, in the endowment and in the aid of the move of the Holy Spirit.

I want to read a well-known passage, which seems to me that if we do not study it we are going to be omitting a key passage in this doctrine of the Holy Spirit, which is found in chapter 16 of the Gospel according to Saint Mark, where we see there the risen Christ about to already to ascend before His Second Coming, He leaves instructions to His apostles already after having commissioned them. And this passage is a very parallel passage with the passage that we see in Matthew 28 from 16 to 20 which is known as The Great Commission where the Lord tells the disciples: "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature" etc. we know that passage well, and we see here that this is exactly what the Lord says here in Mark 16:15.

It says here: "And he said to them: Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." It does not say the rest that is indicated in Matthew 28 but we have an idea that this is the same moment that it indicates in Matthew 28. But the Lord adds something here that it does not say in Matthew 28. It says: "He who believes will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. " Then he says: "And these signs will follow those who believe" look at this word here: "signs." In other words, these expressions that God is moving, that God approves of the ministry of believers, that the Lord is with them, that these are trustworthy and trustworthy ministries.

In other words, what validates and supports the ministry of the Church is not, let's say, an elegant doctrine or people with doctorates, and great buildings, but what validates and supports a ministry is that Presence and that move of the Holy Spirit. , the evidence that God is with that ministry.

"These signs will follow those who believe. In My Name they will cast out demons, they will speak new languages, they will take serpents in their hands, and if they drink anything deadly" that is to say some poison or something similar "it will not harm them, they will lay hands on the sick. and they will heal. " I assume that the Lord said much more than that in this last message to His disciples but here we have a summary of some of the things that were to characterize the Church.

So what we must ask ourselves is: is a denomination, a Church, a ministry manifesting these things? Is the Church of Jesus Christ at this time manifesting these gifts and this moving of the Holy Spirit? This is what characterizes, as I say, legitimate and authenticates a ministry filled with the Holy Spirit.

In passing I tell you that there have been Bible scholars who have wanted to suggest that this passage is not a totally reliable passage, because they say that some of the original manuscripts do not contain this passage, and some say that this passage was added later, more Forward as a commentary but not part of the original body of Scripture. I think there is not enough evidence to say categorically such a thing, but I just warn you to be prepared because someone may one day say: oh no, but that passage does not belong to the original body of Scripture texts and was added later. There is not enough evidence to make that absolutely indisputable.

Secondly, all the things that are indicated here, which would be signs that would follow those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we see expressed in other passages of Scripture. In other words, this passage fits very well with what was to characterize later in the Book of Acts, in the Apostle Paul's Letters, what was to characterize life, movement, the Ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church, and above all we see in the Book of Acts we see that almost all these things, except perhaps this that they will drink deadly things and will not harm them, but everything else, all the other signs that the Lord Jesus Christ defines here in this passage, they are seen manifesting themselves throughout the life of the Church.

I believe that this passage is an authentic passage, and what it tells me here is that certainly, the life of the Church, the life of those who authentically believe and who are endorsed by God in ministry, should express these gifts, and one what he indicates here is that they will speak new languages. Then we are going to study the passage from First Corinthians chapter 12 where he talks about this, and we will also see that in the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, this was one of the great hallmarks of the Coming and the fall of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. .

So let it be clear that this unit of thought that I want to leave with you is that the life of the children of God is generally accompanied by the incidence of signs of power, works of power, miracles, supernatural manifestations of the Presence and movement. of the Holy Spirit, and we have to ask the Lord to give us that quality in our lives, to live and put in evidence a supernatural life that manifests the Power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. God bless you and until our next meditation.