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Podcast Notes:
- ESPAÑOL: ¿Rugió Dios desde Sion?
One of the stranger manifestations that took place when the Holy Spirit fell on the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in 1994, were the animal sounds.
There were other manifestations including Holy Laughter as people experienced overwhelming joy. People were slain in the spirit. Others were shaking and rolling on the floor.
Some became so drunk in the Holy Spirit they could not longer stand, which according to Acts 2:13, also took place on the Day of Pentecost.
The church’s pastor, John Arnott, was actually speaking overseas when he was told that a man was roaring like a lion in the services.
Arnott initially wanted it stopped, but changed his mind and said he would talk to him when I got back. Maybe there was more going on here than he realized.
When Arnott returned, he found out that it was a Chinese man, Gideon Chua, who was roaring.
When asked why he was doing it, Gideon said he felt the Holy Spirit urging him to roar to free China from its oppression. The Lion of Judah was roaring over China.
Arnott invited Gideon to the stage where Gideon asked God to forgive the sin of the Chinese people. Gideon then said, quote “Let the Lion of the tribe of Judah rise and ROAR, and ROAR and ROAR.”
Yes, he literally roared.
Then Gideon proclaimed “Let my people go. Let my people. Dragon let my 1.2 billion Chinese go.”
When you looked at what happened in China over the next twenty years is incredible. The people were freed. It became so open that the underground church was actually constructing churches on street corners.
Along with this came an unparalleled economic prosperity. The oppression has since returned under Xi Jinping who became president in 2013.
But this takes us to an interesting verse in the book of Joel.
Where we read:
The Lord roars from Zion
And utters His voice from Jerusalem,
And the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a refuge for His people,
And a stronghold for the sons of Israel. (Joel 3:16 NASV)
Joel proclaimed that God will roar and utter His voice from Zion and when God roars, the people are protected.
I have looked upon this roaring figuratively. God wasn’t really roaring.
But what if it isn’t figurative. Did the Holy Spirit ask Gideon to roar for God? Did Gideon utter God’s voice from Zion?
What happened next in China, literally fulfilled Joel’s promise as Chinese believers were able to express their faith freely.
When we look at the spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12, many are activated using our voice, such as the gift of prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues, words of wisdom and knowledge.
But our voice is important in the gifts of healing, like Peter did when he told the lame man, “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!” (Acts 3:16).
Or in the discerning of spirits, when Paul bound the spirit of divination with these words “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” (Acts 16:18).
The believer’s voice is important. In 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Paul tells believers to “encourage one another and build one another up, just as you also are doing.”
This involves words. We are told to speak words of encouragement to each other. This is because a believer’s words have power.
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