⁵²And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Joy distinguishes the believer in Jesus Christ. It is an otherworldly experience of supernatural origins—either that, or it characterizes someone qualified for lockup in a medical institution for the insane. We have a saying for people whose thinking is so contradictory to common sense, reason, or the conventional way of seeing things: the mocking question, “What universe are you living in?”

When a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ, the knowledge of God’s grace and forgiveness transforms them spiritually, and this eclipses the “common sense, reason, or the conventional way of seeing things.” The physical world, of course, remains the same, but the mental grid for understanding and making sense of life’s experiences has been fundamentally altered. It cannot be adequately explained to a person who lacks faith. How do you describe physical sight to a person born blind? Or a symphony to a person who has always been deaf? Faith in Jesus Christ brings people into a new awareness of true life, an enlightenment that changes everything. It is like a dead person coming to life.

Descriptions of this transformation fall short. The testimony switches to expressions of delight and joy. Unbelievers can only look on and wonder; they cannot understand it. The new believer enters into the fellowship of the enlightened, who all understand and who know the joy that becomes their strength amid suffering and persecution.

Remember how Peter and John reacted after being severely beaten:

So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. (Acts 5:41)

Or the Ethiopian official (i.e., eunuch) who, after hearing the message from Philip, believed and was baptized. He couldn’t help but rejoice:

. . . the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:39)

Or the Philippian jailer who expected execution for failing to secure the prison from which Paul had been miraculously freed:

And [the jailer] brought [Paul and company] into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household. (Acts 16:34)

And so, the Gentile believers in Pisidian Antioch joined in the fellowship of believers who live in the universe of faith, despite persecution.

Lord, I praise You for the overwhelming, all-encompassing gift of grace!