Holy Spirit and Power #1: The Importance of the Holy Spirit and Jesus the Baptizer

The Holy Spirit and power belong to every believer, not to a select few. In this first message of the series, Dr. William P. Hohman teaches on the importance of the Holy Spirit and shows that all four Gospels introduce Jesus in the same way: as the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. Knowing Jesus as Savior and Lord is vital, he says, but knowing Him as the Baptizer is just as important for living strong in the last days.

Below you will find the full video, a structured summary of the sermon, the Scripture behind each point (linked to the New King James Version on Bible Gateway), a table of how people received the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts, a timestamped outline, and practical steps you can take this week.

Sermon at a Glance

This service at the New Testament Church was posted on July 13, 2020. It opens with worship and a missions offering for an upcoming crusade with evangelist Joan Pierce, whom Dr. Hohman has known for almost 40 years. He also thanks a man from outside the church who donated a new sign so the community can see what God is doing.

Dr. Hohman then explains that the church has just finished a series on being led by the Holy Spirit. He now starts a new series on the Holy Spirit and power, and titles this first message the importance of the Holy Spirit. He closes by leading everyone, in the room and by radio and video, in a prayer to receive Jesus and to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit, Our Governor and Guide

Dr. Hohman begins by placing the Holy Spirit beside the work of Jesus. Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sin, and the Holy Spirit is the governor of the kingdom of heaven in this earth. Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God (Romans 8:14). The Spirit never forces anyone, and He never contradicts the written Word.

The Bible is like a map, and the Holy Spirit is like a GPS. Scripture tells us that he who finds a wife finds a good thing (Proverbs 18:22), but it does not tell you whom to marry. The Spirit supplies that detail, showing not only where you are going but what is available along the way.

The whole kingdom, he says, is about gifts, and God never gives a gift that causes undue stress. On the sixth day God created man and handed Adam everything He had made in the previous five days, with dominion over it. Before that, He gave a gift of humility: the Creator of all things knelt and breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7), so that the first thing Adam saw was the face of God.

Jesus showed the same posture. He came through a woman’s womb, lay in a feeding trough, washed His disciples’ feet and rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, and so God gave Him the name above every name (Philippians 2:8–11).

That is why we are told to lean not on our own understanding but to acknowledge Him in all our ways (Proverbs 3:5–6). Dr. Hohman admits this is the hardest thing a person does, because we grow strong in our own efforts, education and upbringing. Paul chose to glory in his weaknesses, because when he was weak, Christ’s strength rested on him (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

Holy Spirit and Power for the Last Days

Dr. Hohman believes the church is not at the beginning of the last days but at the end of them, even if the end may still be years away. In Matthew 24:12 Jesus warned that lawlessness would abound and that the love of many would grow cold. He says he never imagined how far that verse would reach until he saw it happening around him.

Yet Jesus did not leave His people to be dragged along with the world. When darkness covers the earth and deep darkness the people, God’s people will arise and shine (Isaiah 60:1–2). Our strength comes from submitting to the truth of God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit is the key source of our survival, growth and shining in this time.

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). So believers will not follow the lawless crowd or lose their love. The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5), and He is steadfast. We can be too: steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58).

When we receive Jesus, we are translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love (Colossians 1:13). That kingdom has its own law, its own leading and everything we need. If we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, everything else is added (Matthew 6:33).

This is good news in a day of bad news. Jesus came to give life more abundantly (John 10:10), with no condition that the world must first let you. The Holy Spirit and power are God’s provision for living that abundant life in a dark time.

Jesus the Baptizer: All Four Gospels Agree

To show why this matters, Dr. Hohman explains the fourfold Gospel. Imagine four groups standing on the four corners of an intersection when a car accident happens. The police take a statement from each corner and put the testimonies together into one picture. None of the witnesses is wrong; each saw it through his own makeup. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are four testimonies of one Gospel.

So when all four say exactly the same thing, Bible students should pay close attention. At the official introduction of Jesus’ ministry, all four record that He will baptize with the Holy Spirit: Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16 and John 1:29–34. Matthew and Luke add “and fire.”

In John’s account, John the Baptist says three things. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the Son of God. And He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Only John calls Jesus the Lamb of God, Dr. Hohman notes, yet every one of the four Gospels says He is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit.

Christians often say you need to know Jesus as your Savior and as your Lord, the owner, master and ruler of your life. Dr. Hohman agrees, and adds that it is just as important to know Him as the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. Many people who resist this, he says, have simply been misinformed.

He also defines the word. To baptize means to immerse or submerge, to be made fully wet and drenched. The baptism of the Holy Spirit means being fully saturated with the Spirit’s presence, not merely touched by it.

The Promise Fulfilled at Pentecost

After His resurrection, Jesus Himself repeated the promise. In Acts 1:4–5 He commanded the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me.” It was part of His training. Dr. Hohman observes that we stress being born again, which is stated once, yet this promise is repeated again and again.

Every commentator agrees that Acts 2:1–4 fulfills it. A sound like a rushing mighty wind filled the whole house, tongues as of fire sat on each of them, and they were all filled. It was both corporate and individual: the Spirit filled the room and immersed them, then filled each person.

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). If you came from France you would speak French; if you were born from heaven, you would speak a heavenly language. Dr. Hohman calls it a universal principle that in every passage where people are filled with the Spirit, they speak out.

He points to Peter, who denied Jesus and ran in fear, yet stood boldly on the day of Pentecost and preached that this was what Joel prophesied (Acts 2:16–18). You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you (Acts 1:8). Power is what turned a frightened disciple into a bold witness.

God and man cooperate, he teaches. They spoke, and the Spirit gave the utterance. God does not force anyone, just as He does not force anyone to stop sinning. The disciples also had to wait ten days, because Pentecost means fifty and Jesus remained forty days after rising. After that first waiting period, Scripture never records another. Right now is the time.

Dr. Hohman adds why that power was needed. Before Jesus came, there had been no word from God for four hundred years, which is why Isaiah calls Him a root out of dry ground (Isaiah 53:2). The early church then faced horrendous persecution, and he notes that believers are still martyred today, including over 600 in Nigeria in the first months of that year.

Sealed With the Spirit: The Down Payment

When someone belongs to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is given to seal them and mark them as His. All the promises of God in Him are Yes and Amen, and God has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee (2 Corinthians 1:20–22). Believers were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, the guarantee of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13–14).

The King James Version calls Him the earnest, meaning a down payment. Dr. Hohman says he once wondered how the third person of the Godhead could be only a down payment. The Lord corrected his thinking: what He gives now, the Holy Spirit, is greater than everything still to come.

Then came a parable. You own a run-down house that is a money pit, and you cannot sell it at $100,000, $75,000, $50,000 or even $25,000. That is a person without Christ. Then a buyer offers a billion dollars, saying it is worth it to him. He opens suitcases holding $999,999,999.99 as earnest money and promises to return with the last penny.

That is what Jesus did, Dr. Hohman explains. The Holy Spirit is the overwhelming down payment and the guarantee that He is coming back for us. We are not left alone, and we can live confidently in this present darkness because we have been sealed.

He also describes how kings once sealed an important letter with hot wax and pressed it with a one-of-a-kind signet ring. Any robber who saw that seal would leave the letter alone, or face the king’s whole army. In the same way, God says He will keep and protect those who carry His seal, and He neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4).

Ask Without Fear: How the Baptism Is Received

Some hesitate because they have heard of occult groups speaking in tongues and fear receiving something false. Dr. Hohman answers with two points. First, the draw-near principle: draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:7–8). Second, only a child of God can receive the Spirit, whom the world cannot receive (John 14:17).

Jesus settles it in Luke 11:9–13: no father hands his son a stone for bread or a serpent for a fish. How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? You received the Spirit when you were born again, he says, but you asked for salvation; Jesus says to ask for the Holy Spirit.

He traces the fear to misinformation. When the church’s radio station offered every local church free air time, not one accepted. People attach labels such as Pentecostal or charismatic that do not fit. Believing in water baptism does not make him a Baptist; he is a child of God. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32), and perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).

Dr. Hohman then shows two ways the baptism is administered: directly from heaven, or through the laying on of hands. The table below follows the passages he reads from Acts.

In Cornelius’ house (Acts 10:44–48), the Jewish believers knew the Gentiles had received the Spirit because they heard them speak with tongues. In Samaria (Acts 8:14–17) and Ephesus (Acts 19:1–6), the apostles were not satisfied that believers were only saved. The promise is for you, your children and all who are afar off (Acts 2:38–39).

Dr. Hohman shares his own story. His wife Pam first received at a Catholic prayer meeting as a teenager. He later went to a Bible study, felt something alive like a volcano in his belly, opened his mouth and began singing in tongues. He became bold without being arrogant, served five years as honorary pastor of a Midwest Catholic charismatic convention, and saw the ministry grow to 34 nations.

Living It Out This Week

Dr. Hohman closes by praying with everyone to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord and to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. He reminds those who received that they can pray in their heavenly language any time, and that the more they do, the more freedom they will find. Here are the steps drawn from this Holy Spirit and power message:

• Know Jesus as the Baptizer. Alongside Savior and Lord, ask Him to do His ministry of baptizing you in the Holy Spirit.
• Ask without fear. Lean on Luke 11:9–13: your heavenly Father gives good gifts, not counterfeits, to His children.
• Do your part. God will not force you. Open your mouth and speak as the Spirit gives utterance.
• Pray in the Spirit daily. Dr. Hohman credits praying in tongues for revelation and for the growth of the ministry around the world.
• Test misinformation by Scripture. Read Acts 2, 8, 10 and 19 for yourself rather than relying on labels.
• Arise and shine. Let the love God poured into your heart keep you steadfast while others grow cold.

Timestamped Outline

• 5:02 Missions offering for the crusade with Joan Pierce
• 29:19 A new series on the Holy Spirit
• 31:33 The Bible as map, the Holy Spirit as GPS
• 33:36 The gift of humility in creation
• 37:06 The end of the last days
• 39:17 A spirit of power, love and a sound mind
• 42:53 The fourfold Gospel and the four corners
• 45:03 Matthew, Mark and Luke on the Baptizer
• 47:13 John 1: the Lamb of God and the Baptizer
• 50:22 What the word baptism means
• 51:36 Acts 1: wait for the Promise of the Father
• 54:15 Acts 2: the day of Pentecost
• 57:56 Peter made bold
• 1:02:04 Why they waited ten days
• 1:05:43 Sealed with the Spirit
• 1:08:17 The earnest and the run-down house
• 1:12:41 The king’s signet seal
• 1:13:39 Fear of counterfeits and the draw-near principle
• 1:15:58 Luke 11: how much more
• 1:20:32 Two ways the baptism is given: Acts 10
• 1:22:52 Laying on of hands: Acts 8 and 19
• 1:27:05 Dr. Hohman’s own testimony
• 1:34:22 Prayer to receive Jesus and the Holy Spirit
• 1:38:57 Closing blessing

Holy Spirit and Power Series

This message opens a teaching series at NTC Ministries. Continue with the next message:

• You are here: Holy Spirit and Power #1: The Importance of the Holy Spirit and Jesus the Baptizer
• Next: Holy Spirit and Power #2 — The Language of the Spirit: Gift of Tongues and Prayer Language

Frequently Asked Questions

If I received the Holy Spirit when I was born again, why ask again?

Dr. Hohman agrees that no one is born again except by the Holy Spirit. His point is that when you came to Jesus you asked for salvation, to know Him as Savior and Lord. Jesus also says to ask the Father for the Holy Spirit. In Samaria and Ephesus, the apostles met people who were already disciples, and they still prayed for them to receive. Being born again and being baptized in the Spirit are both part of what Jesus does.

Can I speak in tongues and in English at the same time?

No. Dr. Hohman uses the example of someone who speaks French being asked to speak English: no one can speak two languages at once. So when you ask to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, you stop praying in your own language and let the Spirit give you the words. He encourages those already baptized in the Spirit to pray boldly and aloud so that others feel free to do their part.

Do I need someone to lay hands on me?

Not necessarily. Dr. Hohman shows that in Acts the Spirit sometimes fell directly from heaven, as at Pentecost and in Cornelius’ house, and at other times came through the laying on of hands. Since he cannot lay hands on everyone listening by radio and video, he leads them to ask the Lord directly. He adds that you initiate praying in tongues any time.

Scripture References

All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:

• Matthew 3:11 — He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire
• John 1:29–34 — the Lamb of God and the Baptizer
• Acts 1:4–5 — wait for the Promise of the Father
• Acts 2:1–4 — the day of Pentecost
• Acts 1:8 — you shall receive power
• Ephesians 1:13–14 — sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise
• Luke 11:9–13 — how much more will the Father give
• Acts 19:1–6 — the disciples at Ephesus
• Acts 2:38–39 — the promise is to you and your children

How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.

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