The Courage of the Called Text: Acts 23:11
Introduction: A Dark Night and a Standing Lord
The life of the Apostle Paul is a grand adventure story, but it is not a story about a man who was always on top of the world. It is a story about a man who was frequently at the bottom of it, and yet whose God was always on top of everything. We find Paul in our text in just such a situation. He has been arrested in Jerusalem, falsely accused of defiling the Temple. He has just given his testimony before the Sanhedrin, which devolved into a theological fistfight between the Pharisees and Sadducees, so violent that the Roman commander had to snatch Paul away lest he be torn to pieces. He is now a prisoner in the Antonia Fortress, alone, his mission in Jerusalem apparently a catastrophic failure. The city is in an uproar, his own countrymen want him dead, and his future is a black wall of uncertainty.
It is in this precise moment, in the dead of night, in a Roman barracks, that the Lord Jesus Christ decides to pay him a personal visit. This is not a vision or a dream. The text says the Lord "stood at his side." This is an intimate, personal, and profoundly encouraging visitation. When you are at the end of your rope, when the mission seems to have gone sideways, when you are surrounded by enemies and your friends are nowhere to be found, that is precisely when you should expect the Lord to show up. He is not a fair-weather friend. He is a brother born for adversity, and He does His best work in the dark.
This single verse is a dense concentration of gospel truth. It is a lesson in divine sovereignty, a command for Christian courage, and a guarantee of gospel success. It teaches us that God’s plan is not derailed by riots, conspiracies, or political machinations. In fact, God’s plan often runs right through the middle of them, using the very schemes of wicked men to accomplish His unstoppable purposes. What the Jews and Romans meant for evil, God was orchestrating for the good of His church and the salvation of the Gentiles.
We must understand that this word to Paul is a word to us. We are all called to bear witness in our own Jerusalem, and we all have a Rome that God has appointed for us. And in the dark nights between the two, when we are tempted to despair, the Lord stands by us and says the same thing: "Take courage."
The Text
But on that very night, the Lord stood at his side and said, “Take courage; for as you have solemnly borne witness to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must bear witness at Rome also.”
(Acts 23:11 LSB)
The Lord's Presence in the Prison (v. 11a)
The verse begins with the setting and the visitor.
"But on that very night, the Lord stood at his side..." (Acts 23:11a)
The timing here is everything. It was "that very night." The night after the riot. The night after the near-lynching. The night after the failed council meeting. This was, humanly speaking, one of the lowest points in Paul's ministry. He had come to Jerusalem with a great love for his people, bringing relief for the poor, and his reward was a plot to murder him. He must have been discouraged, confused, and perhaps wondering if he had misread God's will entirely. It is in the pit that we find out who our God really is.
And the Lord "stood at his side." This is a posture of solidarity. He is not shouting encouragement from a distance. He is not sending an angelic messenger, though He has done that before. Jesus Christ Himself, the Lord of glory, comes personally to stand with His servant. This is the fulfillment of His great promise: "I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). The Lord's presence is the ultimate antidote to fear and despair. It does not matter who is against you if the Lord of Hosts is with you. It does not matter if you are in a Roman prison if that prison becomes an audience chamber with the King of Kings.
This is a critical lesson for every believer. Your circumstances do not determine God's proximity. In fact, our darkest trials are often the stage for His most intimate revelations. When you feel most alone, that is when He is standing right there. He is not just the God of the mountaintop; He is the God of the valley of the shadow of death. And He doesn't just walk through it with us; He stands by us in it.
The Lord's Command to the Prisoner (v. 11b)
Next, the Lord gives a direct command.
"...and said, 'Take courage...'" (Acts 23:11b)
The command is simple: "Take courage." Or, as some translations have it, "Be of good cheer." This is not a suggestion. It is an imperative. This is important. Courage, in the Christian economy, is not a feeling you wait for. It is a duty you perform. It is a grace you take. Notice that Jesus doesn't say, "Don't feel discouraged, Paul." He says, "Take courage." This implies that courage is available to be taken. Where does it come from? It comes from the one who is speaking. It is grounded not in Paul's circumstances, which were objectively terrible, but in Christ's character and Christ's promises, which are objectively unbreakable.
Christian courage is not the absence of fear. It is acting rightly in the face of fear, trusting in the promises of God. Paul had every human reason to be afraid. More than forty men were about to take an oath to not eat or drink until they had murdered him. But Jesus commands him to look away from the forty assassins and to look to the one Lord who was standing beside him. The command to "take courage" is always grounded in a greater reality than the one you can see with your eyes. It is a call to faith.
The Lord's Commendation and Commission (v. 11c)
The command to take courage is then grounded in a twofold reason: a commendation for past faithfulness and a commission for future service.
"...for as you have solemnly borne witness to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must bear witness at Rome also." (Acts 23:11c)
First, the commendation. "As you have solemnly borne witness to My cause at Jerusalem." From a human perspective, Paul's witness in Jerusalem was a disaster. It started a riot and got him arrested. But from God's perspective, it was a success. Paul had done exactly what he was supposed to do. He had faithfully testified. God does not measure success by our metrics. He does not look at crowd response, or conversions, or whether we got out of the situation unscathed. He looks for faithfulness. Paul had been faithful, and the Lord commends him for it. This is a profound encouragement. Your job is not to secure the results. Your job is to be faithful with the testimony. The results are God's department.
Second, the commission. "So you must bear witness at Rome also." This is not just a prediction; it is a divine necessity. The word "must" is a word of sovereign decree. Paul, you are not going to die in Jerusalem. The plots of these forty men are irrelevant. The schemes of the Sanhedrin are futile. The power of the Roman empire is merely a tool in My hand. I have a purpose for you, and that purpose is that you will testify in the capital of the world. This promise is Paul's ironclad guarantee of safe passage. He will face a shipwreck, a snakebite, and all manner of opposition, but he will make it to Rome. Why? Because the Lord said he "must."
This reveals the grand, sovereign sweep of God's plan. The gospel that started in Jerusalem is going to the ends of the earth, and the capital of the pagan world is its next major stop. And God is going to use a Jewish conspiracy and a Roman prison sentence to get His chief missionary there, all expenses paid by the empire. This is the beautiful irony of God's providence. He makes the wrath of man to praise Him. He uses the enemy's transportation system to deliver His secret agent right into the heart of their territory.
Conclusion: Your Jerusalem and Your Rome
This verse is a snapshot of the entire Christian life. We are all in Paul's position. We are all called to be faithful witnesses in our Jerusalem, our family, our workplace, our city. And that witness will often be met with hostility. It will seem, at times, like a failure. We will have our dark nights in the barracks, surrounded by opposition, tempted to think it has all gone wrong.
But in that moment, the Lord stands by us. He does not promise to remove us from the trial. He promises to be with us in the trial. He commands us to take courage, not because our situation is good, but because He is. And He reminds us that our faithfulness in our small Jerusalem is the training ground for the Rome He has appointed for us. He has a plan, and that plan "must" come to pass.
Therefore, what is your duty? It is to testify faithfully right where you are. Do not despise your Jerusalem. Do not be discouraged by the opposition. Your commendation comes from the Lord, not from men. And your future is not in the hands of your enemies, but in the hands of the one who says "you must." The same Lord who stood by Paul stands by you. The same promise that propelled him to Rome propels you toward your appointed destiny. So take courage. The gospel is on the march, and not even the gates of hell, let alone a conspiracy of angry men, can stand in its way.