The dancing hand of God is the Holy Spirit moving among His people, choreographing each life so that believers become signs and wonders in a corrupted world. In part 5 of this series, Dr. William P. Hohman teaches that God has always been hands-on with mankind, that the Holy Spirit is the governor of the Kingdom on earth today, and that every Christian needs to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and to desire His gifts.
This message continues from The Dancing Hand of God, Part 4 — The Finger, Hand and Arm of God. Below are the full video, a structured summary of the sermon, every Scripture he uses (linked to the New King James Version on Bible Gateway), a timestamped outline, and practical steps you can take this week.
Sermon at a Glance
This message was preached at NTC Ministries and posted on October 19, 2022. It runs about 82 minutes and ends with an invitation to receive Jesus and a time of prayer for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Pastor Hohman opens with a story from a tent meeting in Summit Lake, Wisconsin, held across the street from a bar, where the Holy Spirit moved so strongly that the bar called the State Police to complain about the noise.
The officers began to laugh, the Holy Spirit touched them, and they prayed and accepted the Lord. That night sets the tone: God is not an idea or a religious form. He is a real person who wants to manifest Himself.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Speaker | Dr. William P. Hohman |
| Series | The Dancing Hand of God (part 5 of 8) |
| Main text | Isaiah 8:18 and 1 Corinthians 12:1–7 |
| Key theme | Believers given to the Lord as signs and wonders through the Holy Spirit |
| Length | About 82 minutes, ending in prayer |
A Hands-On God and the Governor of the Kingdom
Pastor Hohman observes that many denominations began in the power of the Holy Spirit, with the gifts in operation, but later lost the anointing. Satan does not mind people saying they believe in Jesus, he says, as long as they never advance the Kingdom. A church that knows only the Father, the Son and the Holy Scriptures falls short.
He explains that Jesus is Lord over the church, but the Holy Spirit is Lord in the church. Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father until His enemies are made His footstool, and He promised not to leave us comfortless but to send another Comforter (John 14:16–18). The Holy Spirit is the governor of the Kingdom right now, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17).
Why would God want to be so personal? Because of how He created us. He spoke everything else into existence, but when He came to man He said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and give them dominion (Genesis 1:26). He formed man with His own hands. Dominion, Pastor Hohman adds, is worthless without the power to hold it, and that power is the presence of the Holy Spirit.
At a convention in Columbus, Ohio, he dedicated his hotel room to the Holy Spirit, as he does each room of his home. The next afternoon the maid had left a note on the bed: surely the presence of the Lord was in that place.
Because God created mankind hands-on, everything with Him has to be hands-on. Pastor Hohman points to the Lord telling Abraham that He had come down to see whether what He heard about Sodom was true (Genesis 18:20–21). God knows everything, yet He chose to come down and experience people in their fallen state.
When Adam sinned, everything was corrupted, which is why creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8:19–21). God is not angry at mankind; He sent Emmanuel, God with us, to be a faithful High Priest (Hebrews 2:17–18) who understands you perfectly.
Given to the Lord for Signs and Wonders
The anchor text of the series is Isaiah 8:18: “Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion.” Pastor Hohman reminds the church that everything in the Old Testament is a type and a shadow of the New, and in the New it comes to life through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Historically, the verse speaks of Isaiah and his two sons, whose names he says carry the ideas of salvation, redemption and deliverance. In Hebrews 2:12–13 the same words are fulfilled in Jesus and His disciples. We have been given to the Lord for signs and wonders.
God is not going to fix the corrupted world system, he says; He will establish a new one. What He wants to change is people. That is why you were not taken to heaven the moment you were saved. You were left among the wolves, not to be forlorn, but to manifest the Holy Spirit so that lives are changed.
The Finger, the Hand and the Arm of God
Pastor Hohman reviews a theme from earlier in the series. When Scripture describes God’s interaction with mankind, it uses three metaphors of strength: the finger, the hand and the arm. Each carries more strength than the one before. The table below follows his teaching on each.
| Metaphor | What it represents, as taught | Scripture he uses |
|---|---|---|
| The finger of God | God’s strength to deliver | Luke 11:20 |
| The hand of God | God’s creative power, striking with power | Psalm 118:15–17 |
| The arm of God | God’s redeeming power to save souls | Isaiah 59:16 |
In Luke 11:20, when Jesus was accused of casting out demons by Beelzebub, He answered that if He cast out demons with the finger of God, the kingdom of God had come. Just the finger, Pastor Hohman notes, and that is why no believer should ever be afraid of the devil.
He adds a picture from Isaiah’s vision of Satan: he teaches that the word used there describes a tiny speck of dust, the kind you only see in a sunbeam. Why concentrate the light of your life on that? Cast it out.
The hand of God represents His creative power. God formed man with His hands, and Scripture says the span of the heavens is measured in His hand. Psalm 118:15–17 declares that the right hand of the Lord does valiantly, and Pastor Hohman explains that the word valiantly means to strike with power.
The arm of God represents His redeeming power. In Isaiah 59:16, God saw there was no intercessor, so His own arm brought salvation. Most Christians, he jokes, think God’s finger is a thumb to hitchhike out of here, but God says to start using the power He has given.
He links this strength to a clean conscience, which he calls the greatest part of living a now life from the Kingdom. The blood of bulls and goats could never cleanse the conscience, but the blood of Jesus cleanses it from dead works (Hebrews 9:14). The weapons of our warfare are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3–5).
What the Dancing Hand of God Means
The whole Kingdom, Pastor Hohman teaches, is about gifts. God gave Adam dominion; when Adam gave it away, God gave another gift, His only begotten Son (John 3:16). We are saved by grace through faith, and that is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). Those who receive the gift of righteousness reign in life (Romans 5:17). Then the Father gives the Holy Spirit, who gives gifts of His own.
A gift must be received. Unless you receive righteousness, you live condemned; unless you receive the Holy Spirit, you live powerless. He also notes that Scripture never says we ask Jesus into our heart; God gives us a new heart and puts His Spirit within us.
Then he reads 1 Corinthians 12:1–7: there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit, differences of ministries but the same Lord, and the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. He explains that the Greek word for manifestation means to cause to be seen and known by action. In Acts, people knew others had received the Holy Spirit because they heard them speak in tongues.
The Latin roots, he says, join manus, hand, with a word for festive dancing. Put together, manifestation means a hand that dances. That is the dancing hand of God: the Holy Spirit as the choreographer, the conductor of the orchestra, who tells each person which steps to take.
He contrasts this with the June Taylor Dancers on Jackie Gleason’s old show, filmed from the ceiling so everyone formed the same pattern. The Holy Spirit gives each person different steps, and to God the result is a beautiful, ever-moving kaleidoscope.
He also points to God’s name Yah, by which He rides on the heavens (Psalm 68:4), teaching that it carries the idea of exuberant dancing and singing. That is why Zephaniah 3:17 says the Lord rejoices over His people with singing.
In Togo, he heard a church praying in tongues so loudly it carried down the street. Believers there told him they would never survive without the Holy Spirit. And when he first came to Merrill, he says, the Lord told him to wake the devil up, because he was sleeping in the churches.
The anointing, he explains, means to massage in oil. It is the hand of God working the knots out of our lives, so that we accomplish more and grow comfortable with the Holy Spirit moving among us.
Some say to desire the Giver and not the gifts, but 1 Corinthians 12:31 says to earnestly desire the best gifts, and 1 Corinthians 14:1 agrees. No parent is hurt when children rush to their Christmas presents. God’s gifts make us love Him more, never less.
Baptized With the Holy Spirit and Fire
John the Baptist baptized in water, but said the One coming after him was mightier and would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11). Pastor Hohman asks why so many accept water baptism as legitimate but say baptism in the Holy Spirit cannot be for today. The answer, he says, is unbelief, yet even if we do not believe, the Lord remains faithful (2 Timothy 2:13).
The word baptizo, he teaches, means to be submersed into. The Holy Spirit is in us, but He also wants to be upon us, because God created us for a hands-on relationship and He does not change (Malachi 3:6). He is all-loving, but not merely gentle; Pastor Hohman calls Him the hammer that breaks the rock in pieces and the goad that gets us moving.
He then traces the steps in the Gospels and Acts. In Mark 16:9–11, the disciples did not believe Mary Magdalene when she said Jesus was alive. That evening, in John 20:19–22, Jesus stood among them, said, As the Father has sent Me, I also send you, breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit.
How did the Father send Jesus? Acts 10:38 says God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. Jesus came as a man, empowered by the Spirit, and He wants us empowered the same way.
Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem to be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4–5). Ten days later, at Pentecost, a sound like a rushing mighty wind filled the house, tongues as of fire sat on each of them, and they spoke with other tongues (Acts 2:1–4).
Pastor Hohman calls this an incendiary gift that brings a fire of passion, power and purity. Like gold heated until the dross rises to be skimmed off, the Holy Spirit burns away impurities. Even Spirit-filled believers can back away, he warns, and the answer is one step back: Holy Spirit, come, I need You again.
He also teaches on the heavenly language. If you were born in France you would speak French; if you have been born from heaven, you should speak heavenly, praying and singing both with the spirit and with the understanding (1 Corinthians 14:15).
Gifts That Profit Everyone
To show what the manifestation of the Spirit looks like in daily life, Pastor Hohman tells of a flight toward Japan on his way to a convention in the Philippines. While he prayed about his message, the Holy Spirit told him the man two seats over needed to be saved, lived in Kansas City and was running away from his wife and children to Korea.
When he said so, the man asked how he knew. The Lord then gave him a picture of the man as a boy on his grandmother’s lap while she sang worship songs. The man broke down, gave his life to Jesus and stood up to announce it to the whole plane. Flight attendants applauded and praised Jesus, and a pastor seated a few rows ahead offered to disciple him.
Did that gift profit only the man? Pastor Hohman asks. It profited his wife, his children and his whole family. That is what Paul means by the manifestation of the Spirit being given for the profit of all. Tongues, interpretation, prophecy, words of wisdom and knowledge, discerning of spirits, miracles, faith and healings are our weapons on this earth.
He closes with a testimony from his years as a contractor. The Lord sent him to a small hospital in Norway, Michigan, to pray for a 79-year-old woman given minutes to live. He rebuked the spirit of death and commanded life into her. He reports that she woke, ordered breakfast, and that he met her again, well, at 84.
His conclusion: yes, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is for you, but it is also for other people. They need you to rise up in God’s image and likeness, given to the Lord for signs and wonders and miracles, not just at church but wherever you are.
Living as Signs and Wonders This Week
Pastor Hohman ends by leading people to Jesus and praying for everyone who wanted the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Here are practical steps drawn from this dancing hand of God message:
- Invite the Holy Spirit into every room. Dedicate your home, your car and your workplace to Him, as Pastor Hohman does with each room of his house.
- Receive the gifts God offers. Ask the Father for the baptism in the Holy Spirit and pray in your heavenly language daily.
- Desire the best gifts. Ask each morning to be usable, whether through a word of knowledge, prophecy, healing or faith.
- Refuse a guilty conscience. When old words or failures resurface, stand on the blood of Jesus that cleanses your conscience from dead works.
- Take one step back when you drift. If prayer in the Spirit has gone quiet, simply say, Holy Spirit, come, I need You again.
- Listen for the person beside you. Someone near you may be waiting for a word from God.
Timestamped Outline
- 0:00 The tent meeting in Summit Lake
- 2:07 Churches that start in the Spirit and lose the anointing
- 3:09 The Holy Spirit, governor of the Kingdom
- 5:16 The hotel room in Columbus, Ohio
- 7:19 God comes down to Sodom
- 8:21 Creation waits for the sons of God
- 10:54 Isaiah 8:18: signs and wonders
- 14:17 The finger, the hand and the arm
- 17:41 A cleansed conscience
- 20:57 The Kingdom is about gifts
- 26:46 1 Corinthians 12: concerning spiritual gifts
- 30:11 Manifestation: a hand that dances
- 33:34 A church praying in Togo
- 37:42 Earnestly desire the best gifts
- 42:29 Baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire
- 47:05 Resurrection day and John 20
- 52:21 Pentecost and the fire that purifies
- 55:28 The man on the plane to Japan
- 65:57 Speaking the language of heaven
- 68:19 Invitation and prayer for the Holy Spirit
- 75:40 The hospital in Norway, Michigan
The Dancing Hand of God Series
This message is part of an eight-part teaching series at NTC Ministries. Start from the beginning or continue where this one leaves off:
- First message: The Dancing Hand of God, Part 1 — The Holy Spirit From Creation to Today
- Previous: The Dancing Hand of God, Part 4 — The Finger, Hand and Arm of God
- You are here: The Dancing Hand of God, Part 5 — Given to the Lord for Signs and Wonders
- Next: The Dancing Hand of God, Part 6: The Anointing Oil and the Empowerments of the Holy Spirit
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did God come down to see Sodom if He knows everything?
Pastor Hohman admits this puzzled him the first time he read it. He came to understand that it reflects God’s very nature and the way He created our relationship with Him. God wanted to experience and understand people in their fallen state, which was never part of Him. The same hands-on nature is why He sent Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, as a faithful High Priest who understands what we go through.
Does the Holy Spirit always move in a loud way?
No. Pastor Hohman says there are times when we need the comforting side of God, and times when the Holy Spirit moves in a wild, exuberant way. He compares it to a marriage: his wife sometimes needs him to be comforting and sometimes strong and protective, but not either one all the time. The Holy Spirit is a real person who relates to each believer differently.
Will the Holy Spirit make me speak in tongues?
He will not force you. When Pastor Hohman led the congregation in prayer for the baptism in the Holy Spirit, he reminded them that they were the ones speaking: you do it, and He moves in your life. He notes that Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, thanked God that he spoke in tongues more than all of the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 14:18).
Scripture References
All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:
- Isaiah 8:18 and Hebrews 2:12–13 — given for signs and wonders
- Genesis 1:26 — made in His image and likeness
- Romans 8:19–21 — creation waits for the sons of God
- Luke 11:20 — the finger of God
- Psalm 118:15–17 — the right hand of the Lord
- Isaiah 59:16 — His own arm brought salvation
- 1 Corinthians 12:1–7 — the manifestation of the Spirit
- Matthew 3:11 — the Holy Spirit and fire
- Acts 2:1–4 — the day of Pentecost
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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