You Need Empowerment! – Bishop David Abioye
The believer’s journey begins with the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that nobody can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts sinners and leads them to Christ. So at New Birth you have some measure of the Holy Spirit of God. But that is not sufficient for the empowerment that you require to enjoy fulfillment in life.
The Holy Spirit you received at New Birth is the Spirit of witness and assurance. “The Spirit Itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). This can not take the place of empowerment. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told His disciples, “You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is come upon you…and you shall be enabled to become my witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth” (Paraphrased). So, there is a witness within and there is a witness without. At New Birth you receive the witness within but to become an effective witness on the earth, you need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
There is no spiritual virtue or experience, no matter how wonderful that can substitute the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. For three years Jesus taught His disciples and after all the teaching, Peter still could not pass the exams. In Luke 22:55-62, he denied Christ three times. He really wanted to stand for his master, he swore, “Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you.”
But as the saying goes, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Despite his hot desire to stand for God, Peter failed because the power to back up his desire was inadequate. And after that experience Jesus told all His disciples, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem till you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).
