To Encourage You

2 Corinthians 7:4 “I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.”

One of the things that is true about the apostle Paul is that he was filled with the Holy Spirit.  Because of this, the things he says about himself are often nothing less than reflections of the attributes of the Holy Spirit Himself. We see this in the words that Paul speaks to the church at Corinth in the verse above.  Paul talks about his great boldness towards them.  This word means “out-spokenness” or “unreservedness in speech.”  Isn’t it wonderful that the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak to us in obscurity?  He indwells us with His very being as a resident teacher.  He reveals His truth as we read it in His Word, for we are told that the things of the Spirit are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:10-16). He opens our eyes to see wondrous things as we read, study, and meditate on the words of Scripture (Psalm 119:18).  And He tells us exactly what we need to hear if we will open our ears to what He is saying. His Words have the effect of “piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Aren’t you thankful for the Holy Spirit’s boldness? 

And then Paul talks about having “great pride” in the believers. This isn’t pride in the sinful sense. It’s the idea of rejoicing in what God is doing in their lives. It’s giving all glory to God that “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).  This “He” is the Holy Spirit as He brings glory to God the Father by the wonderful fruit He produces in believers’ lives.  Elsewhere Paul talks about believers that he had the privilege of ministering to as being his “crown of rejoicing.” It’s the very same word.  And it’s ultimately the Holy Spirit at work in and through Paul’s life that has produced these wonderful results, crowns that he would lay at Jesus’ feet when he came face to face with Him in heaven one day.

Then Paul talks about being filled with comfort.  Of course, this is true, because he was filled with the One Whose very name is “The Comforter” (John 16:7).  “To comfort” means to come alongside someone to encourage them or help them.  And what a wonderful comfort and encouragement it is to see someone’s life being influenced for the glory of God as the result of the exercise of the spiritual gifts the Jesus has given each and every believer to the blessing of one another.  It’s the Holy Spirit’s work in and through us, bringing encouragement both to the one being helped and the helpers themselves.  

And finally, Paul talks about his overflowing joy.  Joy: it’s something that fills God the Father’s, Jesus’, and the Holy Spirit’s heart as they live, move and act in all their wonderful trinitarian ways, and it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that will fill the heart of all those who are filled with all the fulness of God (Galatians 5:22). 

May God fill us with His wonderful Holy Spirit, for it is only in being spirit-filled that we will display the wonderful characteristics that are the very essence of Who the Holy Spirit is.