During the time that St. Paul was journeying about in Macedonia, he suffered much both from the unbelieving Jews and the infidels; for he says himself, in one of his Epistles (2 Cor. vii.), "when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears." But in the midst of his troubles, the Apostle had one great comfort, for Titus came to him from Corinth, and brought him a very satisfactory account of the state of the Church in that city.

A short time afterwards, he sent Titus back to Corinth, and by him he sent his "Second Epistle to the Corinthians." Some of the teachers, who had been reproved for disturbing the faith of the believers by their mistaken teaching, had, in their anger at the reproof, spoken ill of St. Paul himself. In this letter, therefore, St. Paul shows the Corinthians that all he has done or said has been according to the Will of God, and that therefore they may safely believe him rather than any teachers, whose doctrines do not agree with what he had taught them. Many other things he wrote; above all, entreating the members of the Corinthian Church to keep steadily in the Faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to strive to please God in all things, by living in peace and holiness.

This Epistle St. Paul sent to Corinth by Titus, remaining himself a little longer in Macedonia. "And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, and there abode three months." We are told nothing of what St Paul did during these three months, but no doubt he visited Corinth amongst other places; and we are quite sure that wherever he went he was doing the work of the Lord. It seems that St Paul proposed to go by sea from Achaia to Syria; but the Jews, who were as usual greatly vexed at the success of his preaching, laid some plot to take or kill him, at the port from which he must sail. Hearing in some way of this plot, St. Paul "purposed," or determined, to return through Macedonia, and so disappoint the malice of his enemies. Accordingly he went into Macedonia, where he was joined by several of the brethren from different cities in that province. And they "accompanied him into Asia," together with some others who had come with him from that country.

St. Paul appears to have merely passed through Macedonia at this time, sending most of his company on before, for St. Luke says of them, "These going before tarried for us at Troas,"—that is, they crossed over into Asia, and waited at Troas until the Apostle should join them there.

St. Luke and one or two others stayed with St. Paul, and we read, "And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days." Whilst St. Paul was on his way through Macedonia at this time, he wrote a long letter, called "The Epistle to the Romans," about the year 58 (a.d.). In our Bibles, this Epistle stands first of all; but the Epistles are not chronologically arranged; that is, they are not arranged according to the order in which they were written. If they had been chronologically arranged, "The Epistle to the Galatians," written a.d. 51, would have stood first; then "The First Epistle to the Thessalonians," also written a.d. 51; and next, "The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians," a.d. 52; and that to "Titus," a.d. 53. After these, the next in order would have been, "The First Epistle to the Corinthians," a.d. 57, and "The First Epistle to Timothy," in the same year; and "The Second Epistle to the Corinthians," a.d. 58, just before St. Paul wrote that of which we are speaking, to "The Romans."

In this letter, St. Paul speaks both to the Jews and Gentiles; trying to persuade both, that the only possible way of salvation for all mankind was through Faith in Jesus Christ. He tells the Gentiles that their learning and wisdom will not save them; and that even all their moral virtues, such as truth, honesty, charity, and such like, will be of no use without Faith: they must first believe in Jesus Christ, and then do all these things, because they are pleasing to Him. To the Jews, the Apostle writes, that all their obedience to the Law of Moses cannot save them, or give them eternal life; that the Law was only given to prepare the way for Christ, Who had now made known that the only way of salvation was through Faith in Him, and consequent obedience to His holy Word. St. Paul also explained clearly, that Adam's sin had made all men sinners; and that therefore all men deserved the wrath of God; but that Christ, by His sufferings and death, had undone the evil brought upon all mankind by Adam, and purchased for them forgiveness and justification. Much more St. Paul taught in this Epistle, and we have it to teach us now. The Epistles are of the greatest use to us, for they explain and teach much, that is not even mentioned in the Gospels.

From Troas, St. Paul determined to go on foot to Assos, another sea-port town a little to the south; but at the same time he purposed to send most, if not all, his companions to that place by sea. During the seven days spent by St. Paul at Troas, he of course preached the Gospel diligently; and, on the last occasion of his speaking to the people, a very remarkable event took place, of which we must now read the account given us by St. Luke in the Book of Acts.

"And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow."

The "breaking of bread" here spoken of, was the partaking of the Bread and Wine which, on the night before His death, our blessed Lord commanded to be received constantly by all His faithful followers, in remembrance of His Body given, and His Blood shed, for our redemption. This receiving of Bread and Wine we call "The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper." The early Christians met to partake of the Lord's Supper on the First Day of every week, the day on which Jesus rose from the dead. On the night before St. Paul intended to leave Troas, the disciples met together to partake with him, for the last time, of the Lord's Supper, and to listen to his farewell counsels. Much had the Apostle to say, and his hearers were anxious to learn of him, so that he continued his speech until midnight. "And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together." This upper chamber was, on what we should call the third story, and, like all Eastern houses, would have large windows opening even with the floor. "Many lights," and a number of people, naturally made the room very hot, so that the windows were wide open. "And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead." The terrible death of this young man would, of course, create much confusion and distress amongst the assembled Christians. "And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him." The Apostle did not ask God to bring Eutychus at once to life, but he told the brethren that his life would come back, and that they need not therefore grieve and distress themselves about him. Those to whom St. Paul now spake had faith in God, Whose servant he was, and therefore believed his words, and were content to wait the Lord's time; and so they returned to the upper chamber, leaving the lifeless body of Eutychus for a time, while St. Paul continued his preaching. "When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed," and went at once on his way to Assos. The Apostle grudged no labour done for the Lord; on the eve of a journey he gave up his night's rest to preach the Gospel: Eutychus, who might probably never have another opportunity of learning from him, had fallen asleep instead of listening to the words of salvation. After St. Paul's departure from amongst the brethren, the miracle which he had foretold came to pass; for "they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted." Comforted as to Eutychus himself, and comforted in this additional proof, that St. Paul's words were indeed the words of one under the especial direction and blessing of God Almighty, the Lord of Life and Death. St. Luke now says, "And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot. And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene." This was the chief town in Lesbos, one of the islands of the Archipelago: the whole island is now called Metelin. St. Paul did not stop at Mitylene, for we read that he and his company passed the island of Chios next day, then that of Samos, and landed at Trogyllium, a town of Asia Minor, to the S.W. of Ephesus; and next day they came to Miletus, still lower on the coast, but directly to the south of Ephesus, from whence it was no great distance. St. Paul knew that if he went to Ephesus, he should find it difficult to get away again so soon as he wished; and therefore he "had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost." But although he could not spare time to visit Ephesus, he would not be so near without seeing some of the elders of the Church, especially as he had something he wished particularly to say to them. The chief ruler of the Church under St. Paul was now journeying with him; for Timotheus, or Timothy, was Bishop of Ephesus, and during his absence had left the care of the Church to a certain number of elders, or chief men amongst the believers. From Miletus, therefore, St. Paul "sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him," St. Paul spake to them. He reminded them, that he had freely preached unto them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in spite of all difficulties and dangers; keeping back nothing that was profitable for them to know; "testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." He then told them that now, by the direction of the Holy Spirit, he was going up to Jerusalem, not knowing what would happen to him there; except that the Holy Ghost had made known unto him, that in every city bonds and afflictions awaited him. But St. Paul then declared, that the prospect of imprisonments and persecutions did not trouble him, for that he was quite ready to give up his life also, if so he could best finish the work which the Lord had given him to do: in the faithful service of God he should finish his course, or end his life, with joy. The Apostle then spake words grievous for the Ephesians to hear; saying, "And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men; for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." St. Paul had thoroughly done his duty to the Ephesians, in showing them the way of salvation; and if any of them failed to obtain it, such failure could in no way be laid to him: he was "pure from the blood," the spiritual death, of all men.