4.
Is Tarrying
required to receive the Holy Spirit? Part (1)
On the basis of Luke 24:49 and
Acts 1:4, 8 it is said that the Lord Jesus Himself has
said to the disciples to wait to receive the Holy Spirit. Therefore to teach
that waiting for the Lord’s opportune time for receiving the Holy Spirit is
consistent with God’s Word, and should be done. But in
drawing this conclusion those two mistakes are being repeated once again – taking out of context, and not keeping
in mind the related other teachings. No doubt that the Lord had asked His
initial disciples to tarry or wait to receive the Holy Spirit, but
the main purpose of that tarrying was for those disciples to prepare themselves
for the Great Commission entrusted to them by the Lord, for which they required
the power of the Holy Spirit; it was not simply for the sake of receiving the
Holy Spirit without having any God ordained purpose for their Christian lives.
It is very clearly seen here that the Lord first gave those disciples His
ministry that He wanted them to do, He then commissioned them for that
ministry, and after that came the empowering for that stated ministry – every
related thing and every step decided and directed by the Lord, according to His
will. What people want to do and teach today would is nowhere, not in the
least, like what the Lord had said and done at that time.
Today, all that
people like to say and preach is that once they have the power then they will
see how they can use it. God never does anything without any purpose or merely
for the sake of somebody’s ‘enjoying the experience.’ Today people are asked
and taught to pray and tarry for receiving the Holy Spirit, just for the thrill
of it; for the exhilarating experiences that would come along with that! Those
who want to have the Holy Spirit in such manner, have no understanding or idea
of what God has called them for; and neither do they have any idea of the cost
that they may have to pay to serve the Lord; they are just told and taught to
ask for the Holy Spirit and have the wonderful experience, the exhilaration of
receiving Him and His gifts. This is absolutely unlike the tarrying that the Lord
had asked His initial disciples for. The Lord had never
stated this as a doctrine or teaching applicable for the disciples in the days
to come. If it is said that this was a doctrine or rule given by the Lord, then this too will have to be accepted that in the very first
preaching of the gospel, for the very first Christian disciples, in Acts 2:38
Peter immediately broke this rule, ignored this doctrine, and he was un-hesitantly disobedient to it – if
this is true then how come the Lord’s blessings and support was there for an
act of disobeying the Lord, how is it that the Lord
allowed disobedient people to work in His Church? On the
other hand, if the Lord’s blessing and acceptance were there – as
is quite apparent, then this too is apparent that it was
not disobedience; meaning there was no such rule or
doctrine laid down by the Lord, and to tarry was an
instruction meant only for those initial disciples of the Lord – and
that is what the truth is.
- To Be Continued
Next:: Is Tarrying
required to receive the Holy Spirit? Part (2); Inference
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