<p>4:13 <i>But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed, and therefore did I speak; we also believe and on this basis we also speak- </i>The GNB gets the point: &quot;The scripture says, &quot;I spoke because I believed.&quot; In the same spirit of faith we also speak because we believe&quot;. Paul is saying that because he takes these things seriously, he really believes this is all gloriously true, he therefore speaks it out. &quot;I believed, and <i>therefore</i>&nbsp; have I spoken&quot; (Ps. 116:10) is quoted in 2 Cor. 4:13 concerning the attitude of the preacher; <i>because</i> we have believed, <i>therefore</i> we preach, after Paul&rsquo;s pattern. We carry in our bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus, and live His resurrection life even now in our mortal flesh- and &ldquo;We having the same spirit of faith as He had, according to that which is written, I believed and therefore did I speak. We <i>also</i> believe, and therefore <i>also</i> we speak&rdquo; (2 Cor. 4:11-13). Here Paul quotes the Messianic Ps. 116:10 about <i>our</i> witness, which is a living out of the spirit which Jesus had in His death and present life and being in Heaven. And we should adopt a similar positive approach.</p><p>We are all terminally ill, if only we would know it. Paul quotes from the experience of Hezekiah at this time and says that this should be the keynote of our witness (Ps. 116:10). He was &ldquo;delivered from death&rdquo; and therefore promised to walk before the Lord &ldquo;in the lands of the living&rdquo;, believing in salvation and therefore speaking to those lands of it (RV). We all face the day when we shall be as water spilt on the ground, that cannot be gathered up; when the delicate, beautiful chandelier of human life will come crashing to the ground, when the rope holding the bucket snaps, and it falls into the well. In all these Biblical images of death, we face the tragic irreversibility of it all. Our bodies are already riddled with the cancer of inevitable decay. <i>Today</i>, while it is still today, we must focus ourselves upon the vital and essential realities of our faith, and away from all the peripheral issues upon which our flesh would far rather dwell.</p>