.

PAUL'S LAST DECLARATION OF HIS FAITH

The famous passage in 2 Timothy (4:6-8) shows how the Great Apostle
went triumphantly to his death. It is a declaration of the sustaining
power of his faith in the Savior whom he had everywhere proclaimed.

"I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not
to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing."

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY

+Timothy+ was one of the close companions of Paul. His father was a
Greek and his mother a Jewess, by the name of Eunice, (2 Tim. 1:5; Acts
16:1). He was a native of Lystra, Paul took him as his companion in
travel and addressed two Epistles to him; he was sent on a number of
important missions. Timothy is mentioned twenty-four times by name in
the Acts and Epistles; from these notices we can construct his
itinerary with Paul and see how beloved and how trusted he was by the
Great Apostle. During Paul's last journey he left him in charge of the
affairs of the church at Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3). When Paul was
apprehended a second time and lying in a dungeon at Rome, in
expectation of death, he wrote Timothy the last letter (2 Timothy) he
ever penned, and besought him to come to him as speedily as possible (2
Tim. 4:9).

+Time and Place of Writing.+--Paul in all probability wrote the First
Epistle to Timothy from Macedonia (1 Tim. 1:3) in the year 66 A.D.

+The Purpose+ "involved is through the instruction and exhortation of
Timothy, to purify, strengthen, and elevate the Christian life of the
church in Ephesus." This teaching is put in such a way that it is
applicable to every Christian minister and church.

+Principal Divisions and Chief Points.+

1. Greeting (1:1, 2).

2. The True teaching of the gospel (ch. 1). Timothy is warned against
false teachers and reminded of the aim and end of life in Christ.

3. The order and regulation of public worship (ch. 2). (a) Prayer,
for those in authority and for all men. (b) Instruction. There is one
God and one Mediator (Christ) between God and man. (c) Conduct of men
and women in the church assemblies.

4. Qualifications of the church officers (ch. 3). (a) The ideal
minister. (b) The ideal deacon and the ministering women. (c)
Conclusio