ON the occasion of his former visit to Troas[1044] the Apostle had been able to stay but a very short time. Now, however, though disturbed in mind by the late outbreak, he occupied himself for some time in preaching the Word (2 Cor. ii. 12). But a cause of still deeper anxiety harassed him. He had sent Titus to Corinth, either with or soon after the first Epistle, to superintend the great collection now being made for the poorer Christians at Jerusalem, to enforce the instructions contained in his Epistle, and to report the state of the Corinthian church; and he had directed him to return through Macedonia and rejoin him probably at Troas[1045], where he hoped to have arrived shortly after Pentecost. But the late tumult had driven him sooner than he had intended from Ephesus, and he waited for Titus at Troas with a heart full of anxiety respecting the Church at Corinth. Day after day passed, and still Titus came not. At length the suspense became unbearable, _his spirit had no rest_ (2 Cor. ii. 13) in the prolonged absence of his brother, and though at Troas a door _was opened to him of the Lord_, and he was enabled to lay the foundation of a flourishing church, he resolved to sail to Macedonia, hoping the sooner to meet Titus on his return. Bidding farewell, therefore, to the disciples, he embarked, and probably, as before[1046], landing at Neapolis, pressed on to Philippi. There he paused, and for a while was cheered by the zeal and warm affection of his Philippian converts (2 Cor. viii. 1, 2). But still he could think of nothing but Corinth. “Corinth, and Corinth only, was the word which would then have been found written on his heart[1047].” Timothy, indeed, appears to have met him at Philippi (comp. 2 Cor. i. 1), but till Titus arrived his flesh could find no rest; he was _troubled on every side, without were fightings, within were fears_ (2 Cor. vii. 5). At last the long-expected messenger reached Philippi, and bore with him tidings sufficiently cheering to relieve the Apostle of the chief load of his anxieties. His first Epistle had not only been received, but bore good fruit. The majority of the Corinthian church had submitted to his injunctions, and were deeply repentant for the sins they had committed (2 Cor. vii. 7–11); the incestuous person had been excommunicated (2 Cor. ii. 6), and afterwards forgiven (2 Cor. ii. 10); and the collection for the poor Christians at Jerusalem had made good progress (2 Cor. viii. 10). All, however, was not as it ought to be. The parties which claimed the authority of Christ, aided by an emissary from Palestine (2 Cor. xi. 4), who had brought letters of commendation from Jerusalem, had grown so powerful as to openly assail both the Apostle’s authority and his character, charging him with selfish motives, with fickleness, timidity, and self-distrust, and disparaging his inartificial speech, and the insignificance of his _bodily presence_ (2 Cor. x. 10).