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"Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you? I desired Titus, and
with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you?" (II Cor. 12: 17-18).
Paul had made it clear elsewhere, that as an apostle he had rights, but these he had
waived for Christ's sake. In contrast with this legitimate burdensomeness he had taken
their burden upon himself. He had been like a nursing mother, cherishing her own
children. Instead of being burdensome, he reminded the Thessalonians saying:
"For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day,
because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of
God" (I Thess. 2: 9).
Again we must resist the temptation to explore more fully this question of the
Apostle's legitimate burden, and of the contrasted gentleness that he manifested, and pass
on to:
(3) In presence not in heart (2: 17).
"But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart,
endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire" (2: 17).
It could never be said of the Apostle Paul, that with him to be `out of sight' was to be
`out of mind'. His epistles abound with an intense personal remembrance and desire
concerning all those whose salvation and growth, ministry and endurance, were in any
measure a part of his care, extending even to agonizing over those who had not seen his
face in the flesh (Col. 2: 1).
To appreciate the intensity of the Apostle's antonym `in presence, not in heart' we
should acquaint ourselves with the many passages found in the epistles of affectionate
prayerful remembrance, keen interest and deep longing over all with whom his ministry
had brought him in contact. This however is quite outside the scope of the present series.
(4) Paul and Satan (2: 18).
This antonym may appear at first sight somewhat far-fetched, but in one way and
another, Satan is mentioned in Paul's fourteen epistles no less than nine times. He
protested that his absence from the Thessalonians was not because of any desire of his
own.
"Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan
hindered us" (2: 18).
While the Apostle makes no reference to Satan in the epistle to the Romans, the
`hindrance' he speaks of probably came from the same source.
"Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come
unto you, but was let hitherto" (Rom. 1: 13).
"For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you" (Rom. 15: 22).
If Paul, with all the resources of grace at his disposal could be `much' hindered, and
prevented `once and again' from fulfilling his heart's desires in these matters, we should
take heart when we too, in our smaller degree, are at times similarly baffled.