This city, the capital of Macedonia, towards which Paul had been directing his course ever since he left Troas, was an important trading center. "Indeed, in all Greece," "if we except Corinth, there is no harbor with a finer situation; the anchorage is of the best; the roadstead is as smooth as a lake, while the neighboring valleys give access to highways leading into Epirus and upper Macedonia." [1] [Sidenote: How Named.] At one time the city was called Therma; but in the days of Alexander the Great, it was named Thessalonica for Alexander's sister, Thessalonica, the wife of one of Alexander's generals. This name, slightly shortened clings to the city today. It is now called Saloniki and is one of the centers of the great war that is, at the present time, [2] wasting all Europe. In importance it is the second city in European Turkey. [Sidenote: Worn in Body; Fresh in Spirit.] Tired and worn and penniless, Paul entered this great city. Tired and worn in body, but fresh and vigorous as ever in spirit, he took immediate steps to give to the people the glorious message of the Gospel of the Redeemer. [Sidenote: In the Synagogue.] The first meeting was probably held in "the synagogue," for Thessalonica was then, and has been since, a strong Jewish center. For three successive weeks, Paul and Silas "reasoned with them out of the scriptures; opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead; and that this same Jesus, whom, he said, 'I preach unto you,' is Christ." Nor was it only in the synagogue that these earnest missionaries proclaimed their message, but in the street and in the workshop. [Sidenote: With Jason.] Paul and Silas lodged with a man named Jason, where Paul worked at the trade he had learned in Tarsus. Paul says himself that he "labored night and day, that he might not be burdensome to any of them." [3] Thus "late at night, when the sun had long set on the incessant spiritual labors of the day, the apostle might be seen by lamplight laboring at the rough haircloth, that he might be chargeable to none." [Sidenote: Aided by the Saints.] We can well imagine that he was frequently interrupted in this work by men and women who would seek for more light on the doctrines of the Gospel. The result was that Paul made scarcely enough money to pay for his food and clothing; and if the good Saints in Philippi had not sent him relief, he and Silas would perhaps have been in actual want. Not many Jews believed, so Paul and his companion turned to the Gentiles, many of whom believed, "of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few." THE STORM GATHERS [Sidenote: A Mob.]