Paul gladly suffered in this world for a far greater reward in the world to come. He shows us how to face death confidently, triumphantly and joyfully. He had, unlike our society today, no obsession to escape death, rather he sought it. At the end of his life, he said, "I have finished the fight, kept the faith and now I'm ready to go." He looked death in the eye daily and never blinked. And he makes in the text some statements which show us why he faced death with such confidence.