Even so, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you, not the Gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you had become very dear to us.

 (i) He speaks of Satan blocking his way when he desired to come to Thessalonica. The word he uses (egkoptein, G1465) is the technical word for putting up a road-block calculated to stop an expedition on the march. It is Satan's work to throw obstacles into the Christian's way--and it is our work to surmount them. 