As might be expected, the chief sphere of his activity was in the synagogues of the Hellenists, where he had before distinguished himself as a zealous opponent of Stephen. Now, however, he disputed with the same energy and force in support of the very doctrines which he had then persecuted (Acts ix. 29), and brought down upon himself the same furious opposition which had caused the death of the first Martyr. A plot was formed to secure his assassination, and the disciples perceived that he must retire from the work he had commenced in Jerusalem. The Apostle, himself, was unwilling to quit a place, where his former zeal against the faith was so well-known, and his sincerity, as he hoped, would be appreciated (Acts xxii. 19, 20). But as he was one day praying in the temple, he fell into a trance (Acts xxii. 17), and saw his Lord, who said to him, _Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning Me_; and when he hesitated to obey the command and pleaded his former zeal in persecuting the faith as a reason why he should stay, the injunction to leave the city was repeated, _Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles_ (Acts xxii. 21). Thus assured that Jerusalem was not to be the field of his labours, he allowed the brethren to convey him to Cæsarea-on-the-sea[797], whence he took ship and sailed to Tarsus, his native city, and there probably devoted himself to preaching in its synagogue, and to missionary activity[798] in the regions of Syria and Cilicia[799] (Gal. i. 21). His brief visit to Jerusalem had not been without some result. He had seen and was recognised by Peter and James, and though he remained for the present personally unknown to the churches of Judæa[800], yet the intelligence which reached them from time to time[801] that their persecutor of former days was now preaching the Faith, filled them with thankfulness, and they _glorified God in him_ (Gal. i. 22–24).