Travels Through Macedonia and Greece; Acts 20:1 – 6 Part 2

Church History: Date: A.D. 53–57

We have followed this suffering apostle through many disheartening scenes, and will yet follow him through many more; but only on this occasion do we find his heart so sunken within him that he cannot preach the gospel, though the door is opened to him by the Lord. He had hoped that the weight of sorrow which was pressing him down above his strength to bear (2Corinthians 1:8), would be relieved by the sympathy of the beloved Titus, and the good news that he might bring from Corinth. The pain of disappointment added the last ounce to the weight which crushed his spirit, and he rushed on, blinded with tears, in the course by which Titus was coming. A heart so strong to endure, when once crushed, can not readily resume its normal buoyancy. Even after the sea was between him and Ephesus, and he was once more among the disciples of Macedonia, he is still constrained to confess, "When we had come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side; without were fighting; within were fears" (2Corinthians 7:5). Finally, however, the long-expected Titus arrived with good news from Corinth, and thus the Lord, who never forgets his servants in affliction, brought comfort to the overburdened heart of Paul, and enabled him to change the tone of the second letter to the Corinthians, and express himself in these words: "Nevertheless, God, who is the comforter of those who are lowly, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not by his coming only, but by the consolation with which he was comforted in you, telling us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me, so that I rejoiced all the more" (2Corinthians 7:5-12). But the news brought by Titus was not all of a cheering kind. He told of the good effects of the former epistle; that the majority of the Church had repented of their evil practices; that they had excluded the incestuous man (2Corinthians 2:5-11); and that they were progressing in their preparation for a large contribution to the poor saints in Judea (2Corinthians 9:1-2). But he also brought word that Paul had some bitter personal enemies in the Church, who were endeavoring to injure his reputation, and subvert his apostolic authority (2Corinthians 10:1-18; 12:1-21). For the purpose of counteracting the influence of these ministers of Satan (2Corinthians 11:13-15), encouraging the faithful brethren in their renewed zeal, and presenting to them many solemn and touching reflections suggested by his own afflictions, he addressed them the epistle known as the Second to the Corinthians, and dispatched it by the hand of Titus and two other brethren, whose names are not mentioned (2Corinthians 8:16-24). That we are right in assuming this as the date of this epistle, is easily established. For, First, He refers, in the epistle, to having recently come from Asia into Macedonia (2Corinthians 1:16; 7:5), which he had now done according to the history. Second, He wrote from Macedonia, when about to start from that province to Corinth (2Corinthians 8:3; 12:14; 13:1). But he was never in Macedonia previous to this, except prior to the establishment of a Church in Corinth, and he was never here afterward on his way from Asia to Corinth.