Now when I came to Troas for the [publication of the] glad tidings of the Christ, a door also being opened to me in [the] Lord,
Paul has just written about forgiving the offender and about Satan's schemes. Now he turns to travel notes: a stop at Troas, a door standing open, and a brother who never arrived. This raises a strange question. Why would Paul walk away from an opportunity the Lord Himself gave him?
Here the "door" is not about entering salvation. It is about an opening for work.
This is not about being let into, or shut out of, the Church or the kingdom. It is a "door" of service and testimony, and Christ opens or closes it as He pleases. He has absolute control of the treasures of grace and blessing. "He has the key," and He will not pass it on to another. So when He opens or closes a door, who can shut or open? His right to direct His servants cannot be questioned, and His authority cannot be resisted.
Troas had not always looked like this. On Paul's "first recorded visit to that place" the Lord "gave him little encouragement to stay (Acts 16:8)". This time He "had clearly set an open door before him for His work" (A. Pridham).
Nothing outside Troas drove Paul away. Something inside him did.
The Lord set an open door before him, but he could not take advantage of it. He was too anxious for news of the Corinthians. Here his care for them as a shepherd won out over his eagerness to preach the gospel. If the servant is not at rest in his spirit he cannot serve the Lord well.
Paul came to Troas for the gospel. That he then left it says something about what he valued even more.
We see two things here: the apostle's deep value for the gospel, and his still deeper value for the saints, who were in danger of compromising Christ. So whatever his purpose was in coming into a new region, and even with a clear opening for the work of reaching souls outside, he could not rest without news of those souls. They were so dear to him for the Lord's sake, and so exposed to Satan's tricks... The church has the nearest claim, and the apostle acts on it.
Onlookers judge by what they see. A tireless preacher standing idle beside an open door looks wrong to them.
Here we find the servant doing something that would be judged blameworthy by those who only looked at the outward appearance and did not seek the mind of Christ... Two services lay before him: preaching to the world, or caring for weak and disorderly saints. We find the servant of the Lord led into the one that some might even have called idleness — those who did not judge in the Spirit.
Commentators differ here. Some read the departure as evidence of love. Leaving Troas "was indeed a proof of his affection for the Corinthians," and Paul "recalls the circumstance as a strong demonstration of that affection" (J. N. Darby). Others read it as a lapse, and turn it into a warning for every believer:
Paul made mistakes, for he was a man. They show the danger of treating a godly motive as full warrant for an act, without proper reference to the immediate will of God... A stronger faith would have kept him at Troas by his Master's side, but he hurries into Macedonia over a doubt. Now our own counsel may deprive us of a present blessing, but cannot guide us into rest.
The account does not end in self-reproach. Another was carrying Paul, and He kept leading him on.
A great door was opened at Troas, but he had no rest in his spirit because he did not find Titus his brother, so he leaves it... The word in 2 Corinthians 2:14 does not mean God "causes us to triumph"; it means He "leads us in triumph." He trusted in Him who led him where He pleased, and who led him by his anxieties as well as by His Spirit... He could not say he was right to leave Troas. All was distress in Macedonia. It was love to the Corinthians, and God comforts those who are cast down: that is His way.
- Door. The open door at Troas is a chance to serve. Christ opens it and shuts it, and no one else holds the key.
- Rest. Paul's spirit had no rest. A servant who is not at rest cannot serve well, however wide the opening.
- Love. He valued the gospel deeply and the saints still more deeply; the church had the nearer claim, and he acted on it.
- Risk. Commentators differ on whether he was right. One warns that a good motive alone is not enough warrant for an act, apart from God's immediate will.
- Triumph. He could not say he was right to leave Troas. Yet God comforts the cast down, and leads His servant on in triumph.
I had no rest in my spirit at not finding Titus my brother; but bidding them adieu, I came away to Macedonia.
At Troas the Lord opened a door for the gospel, but Paul did not stay. He moved on to Macedonia, because Titus had not come with news from Corinth.
Paul weighed one love against a deeper one. The door at Troas was real, but he could not stay.
We see two things here. The apostle valued the gospel deeply. He valued the saints still more deeply, since they were in danger of compromising Christ. So whatever his purpose in coming into a new region, and with a clear opening in front of him for reaching souls outside, he could not rest without news of those souls. They were dear to him for the Lord's sake, and they were exposed to Satan's schemes. He had hoped to hear news of Corinth through Titus. But he did not find Titus. So he turned his back on the people of the eastern side where he then was, and went to Macedonia. His heart was on the saints. Anxiety for the assembly decided him to give up, for the time, even so promising a field for the gospel. The church has the nearest claim, and the apostle acts on it.
The word behind "rest" is not sleep or leisure. It is the loosening of something pulled tight.
The word anesis (from aniemi, 'to loose') is more the relaxing of cords or bonds, or rest from trouble. Felix ordered the centurion to let Paul have 'liberty' and that his friends might visit him, Acts 24:23. Paul was waiting for news of the Corinthians, to learn the effect of his first letter to them. He had no 'rest' in his spirit until Titus arrived.
Nothing at Troas was going wrong. The trouble was inside him, and his own love caused it.
At Ephesus there had been a fierce but brief moment of outward tribulation. At Troas everything looked prosperous and encouraging. Yet inside there was nothing but anxiety. "My spirit was not at rest," he tells us. The very warmth of his love, and his care for Christ's glory in the assemblies, only made his anxieties sharper. At last he could bear the suspense no longer.
Three things settled the choice for Paul. To people who judged by appearances, the result looked like doing nothing.
The servant knew how precious the saints were to the Lord. He knew too how much the glory of His name was bound up with their walk. More than this, his own energy depended on it. So he had two services in front of him: preaching to the world, or caring for weak and disorderly saints. And we find the servant of the Lord led into something that people who did not judge in the Spirit might even call idleness.
Commentators differ. Some call the departure right priority. Others call it Paul's own weakness.
His own anxiety and restless haste were weaknesses. The door opened for service should have made him stay at Troas to preach that gospel which he loved so well. Then, in due time, the Lord would have led Titus to him. From all this the Corinthians could learn his great love for them and his deep anxiety and concern. And yet his conscience must have troubled him for losing so great an opportunity to preach the gospel.
Another writer names which love won, and what unrest costs a servant.
In this case his care for the church won out over his eagerness to preach. A servant who is not at rest in his spirit cannot serve the Lord well.
Paul does not stay in his unrest. He turns to thanksgiving.
He might have said, "If I had had a little more faith, I might have stayed at Troas and preached the gospel there." But he comforts himself that God leads him about in triumph everywhere. It is the picture of captives led in a triumphal procession; he was Christ's prisoner. He was feeling for the saints, having left Troas when an open door was there. "Well, God leads me about in triumph wherever I go." We see a heart that has been knocked about, and it is over-full here.
- Door — the Lord Himself opened a real gospel door at Troas. Paul never lacked opportunity.
- Distress — "not at rest" pictures cords pulled tight. Nothing loosened him while he waited for one church's answer to his letter.
- Depth of love — hardship did not cause the strain; love did. Care for the saints hurt him more than any trouble outside.
- Debate — writers differ. Some call the departure right priority for the church. Others call it restless haste and weakness. Both agree it showed how much he loved the Corinthians.
- Deliverance — the unrest ended when Titus came. Paul's comfort was this: God leads him in triumph wherever he goes.