Dr. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Professor of Greek and New Testament Exegesis at Wheaton College.

The following text is taken from page 238 the book “The Presence & the Power“.

After studying the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament, Dr. Hawthorne wrote this wonderful passage:

“And as it was true of Jesus, so it is true of His followers: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (John 20:21b). As Jesus was filled and equipped by the Spirit, so those who belong to Jesus are filled and equipped by the spirit (Acts 2:4), or at lease potentially so (Ephesians 5:18). Just as it was true that the filling of Jesus enables Him to be and do the extraordinary, so it is true of those who believe in Him. The Acts of the Apostles (of “of the Holy Spirit”), to say the very least, was intended to show something of the nature of these things that God is able to do through people who yield themselves willingly to the influence of the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit, these people of the very early church were enables to preach boldly, convincingly and authoritatively (Acts 2:14-41), to face crises and surmount obstacles with a courage and resoluteness and power they never dreamed they had (Acts 4:29-31), to cheerfully face persecution and suffering, and even accept death with a prayer of forgiveness (Acts 5:40-41 ; 7:55-60), to heal the sick and raise the dead (Acts 9:36-41 ; 26:8), to arbitrate differences and bring about peace (Acts 16:6-10 ; 21:10-11), and so on.

There is no reason whatsoever to believe that what was true of these earliest Christians is any less true of Christians in this century. Surely contemporary crises are no less great, the pains of this world are no less meliorated, the challenges to one’s strength, wisdom, patience and love, are no less demanding of resources beyond human resources than they were in the first century, and followers of Jesus today are no means sufficient for all these in and of themselves than were His followers yesterday. Furthermore, God’s programme for enabling people to burst the bounds of their human limitations and achieve the impossible is still in place and still effective – that programme that involves filling people with His Spirit, filling them with supernatural power.”

The Bible, on which Dr. Hawthorne based his premise confirms his conclusions and arguments ad we read the teachings of Jesus:

Mark 9:23 “… If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

Matthew 21:21-22 “Truly I say to you, If you have faith and do not doubt, you shall not only do this miracle of the fig tree, but also; if you shall say to this mountain, Be moved and be thrown into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.”

Mark 11:23 “For truly I say to you that whoever shall say to this mountain, Be moved and be cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he said shall occur, he shall have whatever he said.”

John 11;40 & 43-44 “… Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? …. And saying these things, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, Here! Outside! And he who had died came out, bound hand and foot with sheets, and his face was bound with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Untie him and let him go!”

Let us be clear and honest here:

1 Nowhere in the Bible did Jesus take back these words! Ergo, these words and promises are still valid for us today!!

2 Nowhere in the Bible did the Apostles and authors of the New Testament tone down their writings. Ergo, we should enthusiastically accept these supernatural powers of the Holy Spirit as the norm for Christians who operate in the Spirit and are in Jesus!!!

Amen and Amen.

“The Presence & the Power” by Dr. Gerald F. Hawthorne.

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