We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
— 2 Corinthians 5:8
According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
— Philippians 1:20-23
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
— John 17:4
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
— 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
The Gospel of God’s Grace, by A. W. Pink.
I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task.
— Acts 20:24 b, c
The task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
The gospel is not human counsel, a moral code, or religious sentiment. It is the divine proclamation that the thrice Holy God saves guilty sinners, freely, sovereignly, and eternally through the sin-atoning death of Jesus on the cruel cross. It is the gospel of grace,—unmerited, unprovoked, and unconditional. Grace authored salvation in eternity past. Grace sent the Eternal Son, clothed in frail humanity. Grace sustained Him in Gethsemane, nailed Him to the cross, and raised Him in triumph.
That same grace now calls the unworthy, convicts the hardhearted, converts the dead in sin, and preserves them to the end. The gospel lays man in the dust, and crowns Christ with glory. It shuts every mouth, and opens hearts to worship. It declares with finality that salvation is of the Lord from beginning to end. The condemned are pardoned. The dead are made alive. Rebels are adopted as sons and daughters. Let us proclaim it with boldness, treasure it with reverence, and walk in its power daily. In the hands of the Omnipotent Spirit, the gospel is God’s gracious message that saves undeserving, ill-deserving and hell-deserving sinners.
The gospel is the refuge of the desperate, the song of the redeemed, and the everlasting praise of heaven. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
— Acts 20:24
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