God is always moving. From the very first pages of Genesis, where the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters, we can know that a move of God is always imminent. It’s just the way it is. God never stands still, and He never goes backward. His direction is always forward. I like what I read about the Australian Coat of Arms. It pictures two creatures—the emu, a flightless bird, and the kangaroo. The animals were chosen because they share a characteristic that appealed to Australian citizens. Both the emu and kangaroo can move only forward, not back. The emu’s three-toed foot causes it to fall if it tries to go backward, and the kangaroo is prevented from moving in reverse by its large tail. Those who truly choose to follow Jesus become like the emu and kangaroo, moving only forward, never back (Luke 9:62)¹ I don’t know about you, but that motivates me. I like moving forward. There is nothing spiritual about stagnation. In today’s podcast, we take a look at how God moved among the Thessalonians. Why Turning from Idols Is A Super Exceptional Move in God, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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#S4-034: Why You Can Absolutely Expect Powerful Healing Moves of God [Podcast]

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Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

Be inspired by researching the many moves of God in your country.

Join the Conversation

Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
This week’s question is:

Question: Are you expecting a Move of God? Share how you engage in this in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

1. #S10-019: Why It’s Vital that Jesus Followers Pray for One Another [Podcast]
2. #S10-018:How to Start a Power-Packed Effective Church: Lessons from Thessaloniki [Podcast]
3. #S10-017: How the Breath of God Inspired the Writing of First Thessalonians [Podcast]

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 45 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic, you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com

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Podcast Notes

1 Thessalonians 1:1–4–9 (ESV) — 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

The Move of God in Thessaloniki

• Paul said this: the gospel came to you in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
• It came with a move of God.
• We saw in previous podcasts that Paul started his gospel ministry in the city of Thessaloniki in the synagogue.
• That is, Paul began in this city by ministering first to the Jews.
• How did that go?
• What kind of results did Paul have via the move of God, the gospel of power, among the Jews?
• Acts 17 tells us.

Acts 17:1–3 (ESV) – 1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

• Verse four lets us in on the results.

4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.

• Did you hear it?
• The gospel of power, the move of God, brought some of the Jews in the synagogue to Jesus.
• Some of them — not all of them.
• Not even most of them — some of them.
• The ‘some’ that did join Paul and Silas.
• But, the move of God reached a great many Greeks and Gentiles as they gave their heart to God.
• Well, this lets us know that Paul was in the city of the Thessalonians more than the three Sabbath days that he was in the synagogue.
• Had to have been — there aren’t a great number of Greeks in any synagogue.
• So, Paul’s greatest impact was among the Gentiles, the people God specifically called him to.
• And from that impact came the Church of the Thessalonians.

The Move of God and Gifts of the Spirit

• This all came by the gospel of power, the move of God but it also came by the Holy Spirit.
• That means that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were manifested.
• Had to have been — Paul certainly moved in those gifts — when I say moved, I mean that he was aware of these miracle-working gifts and yielded to the promptings and the urges of the Holy Spirit along this line.
• The gospel is not just words but should have power displays in connection with it.
• There should be a move of God.

Mark 16:15– (ESV) – 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.

• When the gospel is preached the Lord is there is what this scripture is telling us.
• How is He there?
• Is He just kind of hanging around?
• You know that’s what some people think.
• No, He’s not just hanging around, He is working.
• God is always moving in the company of the gospel.
• How is He working, how is He moving?
• He is confirming the Word with signs following.
• You might say, ‘Well I don’t see any signs.’
• ‘I don’t see any miracles.’
• Then you have not been in the company of THE gospel.
• The gospel produces because God is there.
• No production means no gospel or, we could say it this way, not the right gospel.
• Just file this away in your memory.
• Everything that is said in Jesus’ Name is not necessarily the gospel.
• The miracle of the New Birth should be taking place when the gospel is preached.
• Signs and wonders mean that unusual, out-of-the-ordinary things, should be taking place when the gospel is preached.
• Healings should take place when the gospel is preached.
• There should be a move of God — a move of the Spirit.
• You may say, ‘Yes, I’ve seen people get saved but, I haven’t seen them be healed — what gives?
• Well, you have been in the presence of one-half of the gospel.
• The half you saw is the half that got preached.
• The half you didn’t see is what did not get preached.
• It’s fairly simple.
• Half the gospel means half the results – God confirms the Word, period.
• To see the glory, you have to preach the glory.
• To see revival, you have to preach revival.
• To see miracles, you have to preach miracles.
• To see a move of God, you have to preach the move of God.
• God confirms the Word you preach with signs following.
• No signs mean no Word was preached.
• No move of God? — you can fill in the rest.
• Paul preached about miracles to the Gentiles in Thessaloniki.
• That’s why God moved — that’s how the Gentiles were convinced to drop their idols who were producing nothing and turn to the Most High God, maker of heaven and earth.

 The Move of God Among the Gentiles

• We know that this is so in the church of the Thessalonians, that they were mostly Gentile because of what we read in chapter one.

1Thessalonians 1:9 (ESV) — 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

• Paul said the Thessalonians turned from idols.
• Again, I know I’m repeating myself, but they turned because there was a move of God connected to the preaching of the Word.
• Idolatry was not prevalent among the Jewish people at this point in their history.
• They got cured of worshipping idols hundreds of years before via the judgment of God that came at the hands of the Babylonians and the Assyrians.
• So, how do you get the attention of an idol-worshipping Gentile who bows down to a false god that he doesn’t know is false?
• You must understand that the city is full of idols — packed with false little ‘g’ gods.
• How could a Gentile be convinced that the God that Paul’s talking about is the only true and living God when it would be so easy for this Gentile to just lump Him in with all the other little ‘g’ gods floating around in the city?
• It was the miracle move of God that flipped the city upside down.
• It wasn’t Paul’s ministry to the Jews — they ran him out of town!
• We will see that in just a moment.
• The second clue that the Church here in the city of Thessaloniki is mostly Gentile comes from the fact that there are no Old Testament scriptures referenced in 1 Thessalonians.
• That’s a subtle clue but it proves the point.
• If you want to preach to Jews, you start with the Old Testament and work your way forward.
• We saw that in last week’s podcast.
• The third clue is the actions some of the Jews took against the gospel while Paul was in the city.

Acts 17:5 (ESV) — 5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of them rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

• Jason was a Christian living in the city who had taken Paul in while he was preaching in the synagogue those three Sabbath days in a row.

8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.

• The city got in an uproar over the message that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
• They started a riot at the thought that Jesus is the soon-coming King of planet Earth.
• That’s what the scripture we just read said here.

7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

• ‘there is another King, Jesus.’
• So, Paul must have mentioned that Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in his teaching and preaching.
• That would have gotten political leaders nervous.
• Sedition was the one thing Rome was really sensitive about.
• That was the whole deal with Herod trying to find the child Jesus.

Matthew 2:1–3 (ESV) — 1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;

• King Herod heard that there was another King and everyone became nervous and edgy.
• The word troubled here is the word you want to look at and with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
• King Herod was troubled and all Jerusalem with him — The Greek word ‘troubled’ means to cause inward turmoil, stir up, disturb, unsettle, throw into confusion.
• What’s the inward turmoil about?
• It’s about everyone knowing what the Roman government would do if they heard there was another King that could threaten their domain.
• What would they do? — they would send the military in and wipe everybody out looking to put down this new king.
• I mean it’s no joke having the Roman military drive their chariot tanks through your neighborhood.
• So what did the leaders of Thessaloniki do when confronted with the move of God?
• Acts seventeen and nine states.

9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

• Taking security of them means they arrested Jason because he put up Paul and Silas considering him an accessory.
• They felt had to show the Roman government that they were taking some kind of action.
• They were looking for Paul and company as well but…

10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.

• So, the gospel move of God came in power — power enough to turn idol-worshipping Gentiles into born-again new creations in Christ.
• It came by the Holy Spirit and we know 1 Corinthians twelve gives us nine ways that the Holy Spirit manifests Himself.
• The last thing the Word of God shows us is that the move of God came with full conviction.
• Right?
• Let’s read it again.

5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

• What does the term ‘full conviction’ mean?
• Again, looking here at the Greek definition of the word ‘conviction’ helps us.
• The word means the state of complete certainty or full assurance.²
• The word does not mean feeling guilty of sin or wrongdoing.
• You know someone might say, “I feel so convicted.”
• That’s not what Paul meant when he said the gospel I preached to you came with conviction.
• What he meant per the Greek is that the move of God brought an assurance that what was being said about Jesus was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
• Signs and wonders coupled with the Word can bring even a hardened sinner to this point.

Some Examples of the Move of God in America!!

• Most have heard of some of the great moves of God that broke out in revival in America, but there are a few you may not have heard of.
• For example, the Business Men’s Revival.

The Business Men’s Revival of 1857

• In the wake of Charles Finney’s revivalism, a businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier got converted at Finney’s Broadway Tabernacle in Manhattan, New York in 1842. After working in the business for over twenty years, at age 49, Jeremiah got hired as a local missionary by the North Dutch Church on Fulton Street. He traded his big salary for one that was less than $1,000 a year.
• God began to break Jeremiah’s heart for the lost while he evangelized. He saw that there was a great need for God in those days. Then one day, God gave him an inspired idea in how to reach the people. He decided to host a Wednesday prayer meeting for businessmen from 12:00–1:00 pm. He passed out flyers and began to spread the word. He encouraged people to come no matter how long they were able to pull away. Whether it was 5 minutes, 10, minutes, or more, he welcomed them all to come and engage in prayer with him.
• The date was set for his first businessmen’s prayer meeting to be at noon on September 23, 1857. When the day came, he was ready to welcome the other businessmen for a time of prayer. At noon, no one showed up. Then 12:10, still no one. At 12:25 pm, still no one.
• Then all of a sudden at 12:30 pm, the first businessman joined him for prayer, then another, and another until he had a total of six people join him the first day.
• They planned another prayer meeting for the following Wednesday. This time twenty men came, then the following week forty. He had to move to a bigger room.
• Then on October 10, 1857, the stock market crashed. People lost everything in a matter of moments. Desperation for God increased.
• Soon these prayer meetings were not just weekly but daily.
• In a short time, there were crowds of up to 3,000 people joining the Fulton Street Prayer meeting. People from all different kinds if classes joined in.
• The news of this prayer meeting spread, especially through the Newspapers at that time. One of the six to attend the first meeting was a 21-year-old who had a passion to take the same fire for prayer to his hometown in Philadelphia. His first meeting had forty, then sixty, then 300, then 2,500. Then he had to get a tent to accommodate the incoming crowds. In just four months, over 150,000 had prayed in that tent.
• This revival was made up of people from all different denominations. It was a layperson’s revival. This was a prayer meeting for souls, and within a year it is estimated that over 1 million people gave their hearts to Jesus.³
• Did you hear this?
• This was a layperson’s revival.
• You do understand what a layperson is? — they are not ministers.
• This move of God was not led by trained clergy or any other kind of minister.
• We could say, everyday people.
• But again, not everyday people — they are members of the body of Christ.
• And, we have to get this.
• A minister is no more a member of the body of Christ than a layperson.
• In God’s sight, they are all members.
• It needs to be this in your sight as well.
• It’s your status with heaven that counts not your status as an educated seminarian.
• There’s only one kind of person that God uses and that’s members — not members of the church, but members of His body.
• The Spirit of God stirred this gentleman, this Jeremiah Lanphier.
• Aren’t you glad he did?
• One million people who are in heaven today are certainly glad.

College Campus Revivals At Asbury

• Colleges have been a primary location for revivals.
• Throughout American history, revivals have often occurred among the young and have been especially frequent on college campuses. For instance, a revival at Yale in 1802 led one-third of the student body, then numbering 230, to profess new faith in Christ. Almost 150 years later, a revival in 1950 at the chapel of Wheaton College caught the attention of Time magazine, which observed how “a surge of confessional fervor swept through the auditorium.” And the recent revival at Asbury [Started February 8th, 2023] is the latest in a series of revivals at the college’s chapel. As the college says, “There have been several occasions when significant moves of the Holy Spirit have swept the campus and reached across the nation.” Revivals have occurred on the Asbury campus in 1905, 1908, 1921, 1950, 1958, 1970, 1992, and 2006.
• Asbury University has been known through the years for its history of great revivals. There have been several occasions when significant moves of the Holy Spirit have swept the campus and reached across the nation.
• In February 1905, during a blizzard, a prayer meeting in the men’s dormitory spilled out to the rest of campus and the town of Wilmore.
• In February 1908, a revival broke out while someone prayed in the chapel; the revival lasted two weeks and was signified by prevailing prayer and intercession.
• In February 1921, the last service of a planned revival lasted until 6 a.m., and services were extended for three days.
• In February 1950, a student testimony led to confessions, victories, and more testimonies. This went on uninterrupted for 118 hours and became the second leading news story nationwide; it is estimated that 50,000 people found a new experience in Christ as a result of this revival and witness teams that went out from it.
• In March 1958, a revival began in a student-fasting prayer meeting that spilled over into the chapel and lasted for 63 hours.
• On February 3, 1970, Dean Custer B. Reynolds, scheduled to speak in chapel, felt led to invite persons to give personal testimony instead. Many on campus had been praying for spiritual renewal and were now in an expectant mood. Soon there was a large group waiting in line to speak. A spirit of powerful revival came upon the congregation. The chapel was filled with rejoicing people. Classes were cancelled for a week during the 144 hours of unbroken revival, but even after classes resumed on February 10, Hughes Auditorium was left open for prayer and testimony. These sessions were presided over by Reynolds, Clarence Hunter and other faculty. Some 2,000 witness teams went out from Wilmore to churches and at least 130 college campuses around the nation.
• In March 1992 a student confession during the closing chapel of the annual Holiness Conference turned into 127 consecutive hours of prayer and praise.
• In February 2006 a student chapel led to four days of continuous worship, prayer, and praise.
• College students are members of the body of Christ is what I am saying.
• The move of God can occur anywhere and can be led by anybody who is led by the Spirit of God.

Conscience Scripture List

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References: