Homilist Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry… "Finish my course." There is a solemnity about the completion of anything. It may he a triumphant success or a disastrous failure. "Finish my course." All things must come to an end. No earthly being or object can go on forever. The river runs till it reaches the ocean, but it ceases then. "Finish my course." How much does this presuppose! The end implies the beginning. The course implies all the incidental events and changing scenes of the journey. "Finish my course with joy." All men finish their course and arrive at the goal. But how few there are who finish their course with joy! Too often the end brings grief, too often the arrival is at a miserable store of sorrow. I. We have GREAT DESIRE — "That I might," etc. Joy is the great thing for which the human heart is always craving. And the joy here alluded to is not the transitory gratification of the moment, but the eternal joy of heaven. It is for this the Christian works, for this the Christian waits. This is his support through all the trials and difficulties of life. And this our Lord has taught us to desire. He Himself set us the example. "For the joy that was set before Him," etc. 1. He will see that he is on the right road. It is impossible to finish the course with joy if we are on the wrong track. 2. He will see that he is exercising right methods. Among the many who would desire joy there is a large proportion who are mistaken in their ideas as to the method of obtaining it. 3. He will see that he is walking under right direction. He who trusts himself will fall, for he has no power to help himself. We must place ourselves under the entire direction of the revealed teaching of the Holy Spirit. II. ANXIETY. There is a fear lest the desire might not be gratified. It is well that this should[ be so. Pride goeth before all. 1. For, alas, it is possible to fail to realise this desire. 2. But the end, if attained, is all-important and momentous. It will make no difference whether a man has been born a king or a pauper, a merchant or a plough boy, if the end is peace and joy.Two urgent thoughts are to be impressed on us here. 1. We cannot possibly anticipate a joyous end unless we live the life of the righteous, and the wish will be as vain as was the desire of Balaam. 2. We cannot possibly anticipate a joyous end unless that end is "in the Lord." "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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