In his ministry Paul was constantly fighting against the power of darkness. As we have pointed out, the power of darkness was behind the idol worship in Ephesus. Humanly speaking, there was no reason for the people in Ephesus to behave so foolishly, crying out without knowing what they were doing. Their behavior was provoked by demons. The demons in the idol worshippers instigated them to do something against God’s propagating ministry. It was of the Lord’s sovereignty that this disturbance took place at the end of Paul’s three-year stay in that city. As 20:1 tells us, “after the uproar had ceased, Paul, having sent for the disciples and encouraged them, took leave of them and went off to go into Macedonia.”
In 20:1-3 we can see more clearly the kind of situation Paul was in. Verse 1 says that he took leave of the disciples and went off to go into Macedonia. It was here that Paul wrote his second Epistle to the church in Corinth (2 Cor. 2:13; 7:5-6; 8:1; 9:2, 4). Paul’s first Epistle to the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 16:3-10, 19) was written from Ephesus at the time of 19:22. We have also seen that at the time of 18:5 Paul wrote his first Epistle to the Thessalonians. It is likely that his second Epistle to the Thessalonians was written not long afterward. Furthermore, during this period of time Paul may have written the Epistle to the Galatians.
According to Acts 20:2 and 3, after Paul passed through Macedonia, he came into Greece and spent three months there. It was at this time in Corinth that the apostle wrote his Epistle to the saints in Rome (Rom. 15:22-32; cf. Acts 19:21; 1 Cor. 16:3-7).
In reading chapters eighteen through twenty of Acts we see that Paul had at least a fourfold burden: a burden for the church in Corinth, a burden for the church in Ephesus, an even stronger burden for the situation in Jerusalem, and also a burden for the church in Rome. In a foregoing message we emphasized the fact that Paul’s heart was toward Jerusalem. He purposed in his spirit to go to Jerusalem and then to see Rome. Because of his burden Paul wrote the two Epistles to the Corinthians and the Epistle to the Romans. Although he was heavily burdened with the work in the area of the Mediterranean Sea, he was also very much burdened for the situation of the church in Jerusalem.
Acts 20:3 says, “And having spent three months there, a plot having been made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he resolved to return through Macedonia.” Paul originally intended to go to Jerusalem through Syria from Achaia in Greece (19:21; 1 Cor. 16:3-7). Due to the Jews’ plot against him, he changed his route northward to Macedonia. From there he returned to Jerusalem. He was aware of and suffering from the plots of the Jews (Acts 20:19). Because of this, he begged the saints in Rome to pray for him concerning his return to Jerusalem (Rom. 15:25-26, 30-31). This was possibly also the cause of his being bound in his spirit to go to Jerusalem (Acts 20:22). Eventually, after returning to Jerusalem, he was seized by the Jews (21:27-30), who sought to kill him (21:31; 23:12-15).
Paul was very cautious concerning the Jews who were plotting against him. When he learned of this plot, he wisely changed his route. By this we can see the difficult situation in which Paul found himself. Although he was in such a situation, he still had the burden to care for the Lord’s interest universally, not only in Corinth and Macedonia, but also in Jerusalem and Rome. It is very important for us to see Paul’s fourfold burden for Corinth, Ephesus, Jerusalem, and Rome.