Before going further we must attempt to discover the structure of the

passage.  We have already seen that the three references to `being ashamed'

seem to divide the section up into three parts.  We therefore note this fact

as follows:

Not ashamed of the testimony -- Paul the Prisoner (1:8).

Not ashamed through suffering -- Paul the Prisoner (1:12).

Not ashamed of his chain -- Paul the Prisoner (1:16).

We next observe that in the first division the apostle speaks

particularly of the gospel:

`Be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel ... brought life and

immortality to light through the gospel' (1:8 -10).

In the second section, the subject is `that good deposit' (1:12,14).

In the third section, service is prominent: `he oft refreshed me'; `he

ministered unto me' (1:16 -18).  We therefore note these facts as follows:

The subject of verses 8 -12 is the Gospel.

The subject of verses 12 -14 is the `good deposit'.

The subject of verses 15 -18 is service.

These three subjects, each associated with being unashamed, are

connected by the apostle with two time periods.  The Gospel is connected with

a period `before the world began' (1:9), while the `good deposit' (1:12) and

the recognition of the service of Onesiphorus (1:16 -18) are both connected

with `that day'.

We now have sufficient material to enable us to arrive at the