17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
The infilling or the baptism of the Holy Spirit has already been given to the Church on the Day
of Pentecost as a free gift. To teach people to tarry for the baptism of the Holy Spirit only
produces doubt and confusion in those candidates who desire to receive this gift.
Rev. Howard Carter was the general supervisor of the Assemblies of God in Great Britain for
nineteen years and the founder of the oldest Pentecostal Bible school in the world. He was
also a leading teacher in Full Gospel circles worldwide. Rev. Carter has said that to teach
people to wait or to tarry for the Holy Ghost is nothing in the world but a combination of works
and unbelief. How true that is.
I am not saying that tarrying before the Lord is always unscriptural. Certainly I believe in
tarrying before the Lord and waiting on the Lord in prayer, praise, and worship. Many times in
prayer meetings we have waited up to five and six hours on the Lord in prayer.
So I believe in praying long and waiting earnestly before God. Yet when I see people waiting
and praying, crying out and agonizing to receive the Holy Ghost, it breaks my heart because I
know it isn't necessary.
In my Bible I have not been able to find any record where anyone ever waited, cried, agonized,
struggled, or tarried to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Someone said, "But I believe in receiving
the Holy Ghost the old-time way."
Well, I do too. You can't get any more old-time or any more scriptural than the way the Early
Church received the Holy Spirit in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. I propose that we look
at the Acts of the Apostles, see how they did it, and follow their example in getting people filled
with the Holy Ghost.
Bible Examples of Receiving the Holy Ghost
In reading through the 28 chapters of the Book of Acts, one might suppose that the events
recorded occurred over a period of a few days, fWrvVV