FIVE COMPONENTS OF GOD MOVING
Acts 19:17-20 NKJV
17 This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. 19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.
Paul lived for about two years in the city of Ephesus. God used him in miraculous ways with physical healings and people being freed from demonic possession. Ephesus was a major city and very pagan. There was a synagogue for the Jews there, but it was a city engrossed in goddess worship and magic. But God was moving in this city. We see five things that are evidence of God at work.
Fear fell on them all. A great reverence and respect for God and the things of God came on this city. This fear was a direct result of spiritual authority being exercised by the disciples, and for once, people who had been subject to demonic oppression were being set free.
The name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. This is truly one of the best indications of God at work. The name of Jesus was magnified, not the name of Paul or any other person. The people were recognizing the life-changing power of the Lord, and that was who they were magnifying.
Many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Here is another powerful indicator of God at work. When people come and confess what they have done, and we get the sense it was the bad deeds they had done, then God is truly moving. The tendency of people is to hide their deeds not come out and admit to them. This repentance is powerful.
And continuing with the attitude of repentance, people were bringing their magic books and burning them. The magic books being burned were not harmless books on how to make a coin disappear or card tricks. These were black magic books that dealt with spells and curses and other demonic stuff. After receiving the Lord Jesus, there was a realization in the people that these things were not acceptable to those who were now a part of God’s Kingdom. The fact that these book burnings were not done quietly was another sign that God was moving on the hearts of the people. By publicly burning, they were publicly denouncing these books as wrong, and again, we see repentance in the hearts of the people. The cost of the books that were burned was also significant. I am not sure of the value of a piece of silver in Ephesus. But silver is still a precious metal, and 50,000 of anything is quite a sum.
And the last sign of God moving in this area was the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing. God’s word was being spread, and nothing was stopping this move. People were talking about the word of the Lord. People were responding to the word of the Lord. And it was the word of the Lord that was growing, acknowledging that this was not the word of men. What was taking place in Ephesus was not a fad or temporary excitement. This was genuine; this was God.
APPLICATION
When God is moving in an area or moving in a person’s life, we see some of the same indicators. There is a reverence for God coupled with Jesus being magnified. There is genuine repentance where people may not be confessing to others, but they are certainly confessing to God areas where they have sinned. And it is scriptural to confess our faults according to James 5:16.
When God is moving there is the removal of things that are not right in His sight. Typically, these are the things held over from our past life before we came to Christ, but the desire to put them away is strong.
And when God is moving, His word is growing in influence and prevailing over our thoughts and ways that do not line up with His will for our lives.
This is not an exhaustive list, but if you study Church history, you can find many of these five components in every genuine move of God.
PRAYER
Dear Lord, show us how we might see this type of move in our land in our lifetime.