The Lord stood by him

Acts 23:11

And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

In the book of Acts is recorded the trials and persecutions of the apostle Paul. As we read the accounts, we are reminded of the trial of our Lord, who was brought before rulers, accused, blasphemed, and condemned when guilty of nothing. He was moreover scourged, and the people had their way over the rulers in crying against him. These same events happened to Paul. And furthermore, they happened at Jerusalem—the same place where Jesus was tried. And so, Paul was counted worthy to suffer shame for His name, and saw it as a great privilege. In this portion of Paul’s journey, he is brought before the council in Jerusalem to be questioned for his faith. And it turned out to be a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, because of the difference of belief between one another. But nothing was accomplished here, except that some, on the following day, bound themselves with an oath to refrain from eating and drinking until they had killed him. The chief captain had brought Paul into the castle, and that night he went to sleep not knowing what would befall him the next day.

But as he slept, the Lord appeared to him with words of comfort and peace. In the midst of Paul’s trial, and in the midst of this great uncertainty, the Lord said to him, “Be of good cheer.” He was telling Paul to rejoice! To cast away all doubt and fear, and to know that “as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.” Paul had been given the opportunity to preach the gospel and testify of his faith in Jerusalem, and to speak of the resurrection of the dead. This was a great privilege for him. And the Lord now encourages him with the promise that he would be preserved all the way to Rome, that he may testify of Christ there as well. That was a dream of his—to go to Rome, and to preach the gospel there! Now, he could be of good cheer!

The Lord wants to give the same encouragement to all of us, that He will stand by us as we testify for Him, just as He stood by Paul. Paul was not alone, and neither are we. Paul need not do it in his own strength, and neither should we. We ought to be of good cheer also! The Lord is with us! No one will set on us to hurt us until the time arrives for us to be offered up. Until then, we must go on witnessing. We must go on testifying the gospel of the grace of God. We must go on serving, living, and working for our Savior. And as we do this, let us be of good cheer!

“Lord, we thank you that you always give us great encouragement in those things to the which we have been called. We do nothing alone, or in our own strength. You stand with us! Your presence goes before us! May we happily and cheerfully be witnesses to testify the gospel of your wonderful grace. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”