On Tiptoe With Joy Series

On Tiptoe with Joy

Acts 13:52 “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”

There’s something significant about Luke writing that the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Paul and Barnabas were sent out as missionaries by the church in Antioch – Acts 13:1-4. The Holy Spirit guided them in their travel first to Seleucia and then they sailed on to the Island of Cyprus and stopped at Salamis to preach the Gospel in a Jewish meeting place. Young John Mark traveled with Paul and Barnabas and Luke the personal medical doctor for the team of disciples.

They traveled the length of the Island and at Paphos they met the governor of the Island, Sergius Paulus. The governor invited Paul and Barnabas to tell him about the Good news of Jesus, but a Sorcerer named Elymas or Bar-Jesus was a false prophet. He was a wizard and Fortuneteller. He did all he could to keep the governor from becoming a believer. But Paul full of the Holy Spirit looked the false prophet in the eye and said, “You bag of wind, you parody of a devil-why are you staying up nights to think of ways to scheme up ways to cheat people out of knowing God. Now you have met the true God and His hand is against you and you are going blind and for a time you will not see any light. He immediately started stumbling around and asked for people to help him. When the governor saw that happened he became a believer full of enthusiasm over what they were saying about Jesus.

From Paphos they put out to sea and sailed to Perga in Pamphylia and then on to Antioch in Pisidia. Paul went to the Jewish synagogue and preached God’s plan of salvation telling how moved in history using prophets to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus the Messiah.

The following Sabbath the people of the city crowed the meeting place and when some of the Jewish leaders saw how many people turned out to hear Paul they were jealous and stirred up the crows to shout out with so much noise Paul could not be heard. Paul continued to preach and declared that he would take the good news next to all Gentiles. Non-Jewish people rejoiced at the news but the so called religious Jews turned on Paul and Barnabas and forced them to leave. Paul and Barnabas went on to Iconium to preach the good news there. Verse 52: “And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.”

In spite of opposition and hardships Paul and Barnabas did not walk around flatfooted bemoaning the resistance they faced in preaching the Gospel. They moved forward on “Tiptoe with Joy.”

#When I was in the sixth grade I had my time in the limelight in Gypsum. Prior to a High School Basketball game they set up a boxing exhibition. My only instruction was to put on gloves and go out boxing. I didn’t know how to box, but I danced around on my tiptoes and bounced up and down throwing jabs at my opponent. We have three short, three-minute rounds.

After the exhibition several asked me, “Who taught you to box like that. You did a fine job of boxing.” It was natural to move around on your tiptoes when you are scared and nervous.

Joy is not something static. Joy is dynamic. Joy is a by-produce of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is not some spooky ghost or a scary presence. The Holy Spirit only seems scary and spooky to those who are not acquainted with the miracle work and power of God.

On one occasion the disciples thought they saw a ghost. It was four o’clock in the morning and they were sailing at on the sea. Jesus came walking toward them on the water. They saw Jesus at a distance and thought he was a ghost. He was not walking on still and placid waters. The boat was rocking and rolling in the waves. They cried out in fear as they were scared out of their wits.

Jesus called out to comfort them, “Don’t be afraid, It is me.” When they knew it was Jesus they happy. When Jesus got into the boat the waves died down.

As a Christian you don’t want to walk around flatfooted and joyless. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit you walk around on tiptoe with Joy. What do you know about the Holy Spirit? Who is the Holy Spirit and what does He do?

I. The Holy Spirit is a Person.

The Holy Spirit has personality. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity. During the times of the Old Testament God the Father was at work, during the time of Jesus, The Son of God was prominent. At Pentecost and following Pentecost the Holy Spirit became prominent.