Acts 13:52 “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
1 Thessalonians 1:6 “And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit.”
All three of the above passages of scripture confirm the same truth to us, i.e. when the saints are filled with the Holy Spirit, that they at the same time encounter His joy. So what does the scripture mean when it says that the saints were filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit? Well in order to answer that question we need to ask the logical question as to how people react in the natural, when they are full of joy, for it is possible for people to be joyful in the natural. The very least evidence that someone displays when they are filled with joy, is to smile. Some however, who are more expressive, may even chuckle when they are filled with joy. And then you get those who are very expressive, and they would very likely laugh when filled with joy. And so, clearly in the natural, it is impossible for one to be full of joy and not show some sort of evidence of that joy in their countenance. How much more then, when the saints of God are filled with the extreme joy of the Holy Spirit? Indeed it would be impossible for a saint to be filled with His joy and not express that joy in at least the same manner as they would in the natural.
Michael E.B. Maher
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