"tempt" in 5: 9 & 15: 10, and the noun form peirasmos occurs in 20: 19 as

"temptation". In Acts 9: 26 we read that the Apostle "assayed" to join himself with the

disciples at Jerusalem, the idea being that he naturally felt somewhat different about his

reception, but made the attempt. It is right, therefore, for the believer, when faced with

an apparently shut door, to try the latch, in case it merely needs a touch to open it, but

there must be no forcing of the lock.

Failing to receive permission to enter Bithynia, these three devoted men went on their

way once more, arriving in due course at Troas. We must not, of course, allow our

imagination to invest these three way-worn travelers with a classical scholar's interest in

ancient Troy, but, on the other hand, it seems almost impossible for a man like Paul,

brought up in the Cilician University City of Tarsus, famous for its philosophy and

learning, not to have had some interest in the scene of Homer's famous poem. And

further, Troy was not only famous because of its legendary past, but on several

memorable occasions it had been visited by men of world-wide renown. Here Xerxes

had passed on his way to the attempted conquest of Greece; here also Alexander the

Great, at the tomb of Achilles, had conceived his idea of world conquest. In Suetonius,

also, we read:

Where the conquerors of earthly territory had gathered inspiration or had cast their

approving gaze, there the Apostle of the Gentiles, harbouring the vast design of

traversing the length of the Roman empire in the cause of Christ, received his call to

cross the sea, and plant the standard of the cross on European soil.

We can well believe that, having arrived at the sea coast, the Apostle and his

companions would feel that they had reached a crisis.  Either they must receive

instructions to enter some specific territory, or there would seem nothing left but to return

from whence they came. Earnest prayer would ascend to heaven before they retired to

rest; and with what relief and thanksgiving they must have listened the next morning to

the Apostle's account of his vision. During the night he had seen a vision of a man of

Macedonia, and the man had cried, "Come over and help us". Not only would they be

grateful for the fact that Asia and Bithynia had been closed to them, seeing that it had led

to this fuller venture for the faith, but they would also realize that, had they stayed in

either Asia or Bithynia, the Apostle might never have met that "beloved physician", who

not only ministered to the Apostle's needs, but wrote the treatise we are at the moment

studying.

Paul makes two references to Troas in his epistles: