THE sphere of the labours of St Paul, as the Apostle of the Gentiles, having been publickly recognized at Jerusalem, he did not deem it right to linger at Antioch, and therefore proposed to Barnabas that they should revisit the places where they had preached the Word of God, and founded churches. To this his fellow Apostle assented, but was unwilling to undertake the journey unless his relative John Mark accompanied them (Acts xv. 37). St Paul, however, was by no means inclined to suffer one, who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia, and _had not gone with them to the work_, to become again their companion on a journey requiring resolution and undaunted courage. Barnabas, on his side, was equally earnest in desiring that his kinsman should accompany them, and the consequence was nothing less than a sharp contention between the two, which at last ended in a mutual separation[941]. They agreed to choose each a different path, and to labour independently. Barnabas, therefore, taking with him John Mark[942] sailed to Cyprus, there, doubtless, though the details of his labours are not recorded, to superintend with advantage the churches already planted there, and to quicken and confirm their spiritual growth. St Paul, on the other hand, selecting for his companion Silas or Silvanus, who had returned from Jerusalem, and _commended by the brethren to the grace of God_ (Acts xv. 40), proceeded to form his own field of labour, instead of trespassing on that of another[943]. As his late colleague, therefore, had selected an insular, so he chose a continental sphere of operations, and traversed Syria and Cilicia confirming the churches[944], and probably exhibiting the circular epistle from the church of Jerusalem.