If you are like me, you grew up hearing about “Tarrying for the Holy Spirit”.

To “Tarry” means to wait. The teaching was that you had to wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon you as the disciples did in Jerusalem.  Sometimes, this meant hanging out on a bench for a few hours urging the Holy Spirit to come. Sometimes there was intense praying over a person for a long time. Routinely there was always some form of  waiting, praying weeping and agonizing. If nothing happened as evidenced by the speaking in tongues or some other spiritual manifestation you were not considered saved. 

This concept came out of the Pentecostal Revival which started in 1906 around the turn of the 20th century. It started in a “mission” church on Azusa St. They used Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:4 to support this claim. 

One of the rules of Bible Study is not to take a single line of scripture out of context from the rest of passages. To interpret correctly we must read and understand the entire picture of what is happening. 

Jesus is talking to the disciples, he has told them that he is leaving and is going to send a helper to them and that they must wait in the upper room for the Holy Spirit. 

This conversation was for the apostles.  This time of waiting was for a specific time and place and not meant for us to do today. Keep in context the teaching. This is after Jesus has been crucified. They were the BEGINNING of the church. The first time that this power of the Holy Spirit will occur in this way. There is nothing in scripture to indicate that this specific instruction was meant for us today. In fact scripture tells us exactly how we receive the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 13-14 states “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

 BELIEF and then be sealed in that salvation by the Holy Spirit with his promise that we  now belong to Him. 

Translation: If God wanted you to tarry for the Holy Spirit he would have said so.  You heard the Gospel, The truth of Jesus, why he came and why he died. And also why he Rose. It was all about the Gift of Salvation and Life that God has given Us.  We could not earn it or work for it. When we heard it and believed in it. We recognized that we were sinners in need of a Savior, and we received the Gift of the Holy Spirit.

By the way the Holy Spirit is a HE not an IT. He sealed us with a guarantee of promise and redemption.

This is the same Holy Spirit that the apostles waited for on that night. They were then given the power to spread the gospel and bring salvation to all people who believed. 

You do not have to Tarry on a bench/alter/room or any other place to receive the Holy Spirit. You believe and repent and accept Jesus as your lord and savior and the GIFT of the Holy Spirit is given to you as a seal of your salvation ensuring your entry to heaven.

We receive the same Holy Spirit that the Apostles received and he does the same work in us that he did in them. He is our helper, comforter, and he gives us His power to grow in Christ and deal with the pressures of this life.

So don’t spend your time Tarrying, spend it reading your Bible and getting to know Jesus for yourself, through the Word.

Pray to the Holy Spirt to give you wisdom and knowledge, It is not about rules and regulations it is about RELATIONSHIP with Christ.