I have said it often and will always say it: God’s people must be a people of the Book. I am not intimidated by that. I do not consider a “Word” person to be Old School, Pharisaical, or legalistic. The Word is good. All of God’s “good guys” have been men of the Word. No Word, no Church. Read my lips.

Nevertheless, we must also, at the same time and in equal measure, be a people of the Spirit. It was the Spirit who spoke to our fathers the apostles, gave them the foundational truths. The Spirit is not changing His mind.

And the greater secret is out. The mystery that some never hear. God wants to pour out His Spirit on anyone thirsty. God is no respecter of persons. He gives the Spirit to those who obey and ask for it. He wants to come and live Himself inside of you. God.

When people hear of such a thing, they want to know what to expect. Jesus gave the eleven disciples a taste, a down payment, of what to expect, when He breathed on them (John 20:22) and told them to receive the Holy Spirit. This was before Pentecost. But God is not bound by our perceptions of timing. The Spirit has been involved in true believers’ lives from the days of Genesis when Enoch walked with God. Is it possible to walk with God without the Holy Ghost?

He spoke through David and all the prophets, and of course found His fullest expression in Jesus. All of this before Pentecost. So you will not be surprised to know that the disciples were given a sip or two of the new wine. Reminds me of how dogs are given a sample “whiff’ of a particular substance they will be hunting so that they know when they have found it.

On Pentecost, there was no question in the disciples’ minds as to what they were experiencing. They had tasted already. And this “feeling” inside felt curiously like the personality of the One with Whom they had shared so many close experiences.

What did they experience? Love. Joy unspeakable. Power. Supernatural gifts. Jesus Himself. Is there any reason why we should not expect the same? When God Almighty enters the human soul and spirit, won’t there be a human reaction, a noticing? Of course!

But when all is said and done (and relatively little of what I have just described is said and done in most places today) the thing that Jesus leaves as a pure deposit in every believer’s life is truth.

Shocking statement? Isn’t the noise and energy the thing? Isn’t it the incredibly warm and wonderful Presence that we crave and need the most? All of this must be present, and will be for those who seek with the whole heart. But it is Truth, Reality, that is the final product.

Three times in His closing remarks to the eleven, Jesus names the coming Helper, “The Spirit of Truth.” Those today who are claiming they know Him, but not walking in the light of His truth, are liars. Per John.

It is possible to manufacture noise and giftedness in public while living in the darkness of immorality and defeat at home. God is after truth by which we can live and grow. Truth that shows us our own sinful self and truth that shows us Who He is and what he wants to make us. Truth that eventually becomes flesh and blood, a whole person.

If I may be so bold as to compare knowing Jesus in this way to the knowing of human intimacy, the intimacy was meant to be a wonderful thing, and is. But its ultimate goal is the production of another human being, the reality called a child.

So, what to expect? Expect the Spirit to give great joy, hilarity, drunkenness if you please. Let Him overwhelm you with Himself and wow you with gifts you never dreamed of. But when you get up off the floor, hangover-free, healed, happy, overawed that you have truly met God, be sure to go home and hug your wife. Go to work and shine for Jesus. Give your money and show up in church and pray. Read His Word. Grow.