Obedience being better than sacrifice, Paul, being 'sent forth to

Tarsus' by the brethren, accepted the evident guidance, and there he tarried

until sought out once more by Barnabas.  We learn from Acts 4:36 that

Barnabas was of the country of Cyprus.  This may have been regarded by the

Lord in choosing Barnabas as the man best fitted to go to Antioch, for we

read in Acts 11:20 that:

'Some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come

to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus'.

If the word 'Cyprus' influenced the apostles in the choice of Barnabas,

the word 'Grecians' may likewise have influenced Barnabas in his next move:

'Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul' (Acts 11:25).

We can hardly believe that Paul would refrain from telling such a

friend as Barnabas of the vision which he had seen in the Temple, and

Barnabas, remembering the words addressed by the Lord to Paul, would realize

that Saul of Tarsus was the appointed witness, and that the ministry 'far off

unto the Gentiles' was about to commence.

It was from Antioch that Barnabas and Saul were separated to evangelize

Galatia, and Acts 13 and 14 contain the record of their journeys, their

perils and their return.  The order of their names at the commencement of

this ministry is 'Barnabas and Saul' (Acts 13:1,2), but by the time they have

returned to Antioch, Barnabas is almost forgotten.  It was 'Barnabas and

Saul' that Sergius Paulus called, but it was Saul who was also called Paul

that was the actor and the speaker.  After the incident in Paphos, we read of

'Paul and his company', not 'Paul and Barnabas' or 'Barnabas and Saul' (Acts

Paul and Barnabas are mentioned together in the repudiation of the Jews

at Antioch (Acts 13:46), and at the healing of the lame man of Lystra (Acts

14:12).  The fact that the inhabitants called Barnabas 'Jupiter' and Paul

'Mercury', suggests the greater activity of Paul, Mercury being the so -

called messenger of the gods.  It is interesting to read in Acts 14:14 'The

apostles Barnabas and Paul' revealing, as it does another order of apostles

than 'the twelve'.  Paul departed with Barnabas to Derbe (Acts 14:20), and

until the end of the chapter neither apostle is mentioned again by name; the

record is content to say, 'they preached', 'they ordained', 'they rehearsed'.

The stalwart companionship of Barnabas during this critical period must

have been of tremendous help to the young apostle at the beginning of his

independent ministry.  Once more Barnabas is to stand together with Paul for

the truth and the freedom of the Gentile, and then to succumb to the claims

of family and the influence of fear.  It is in Acts 15 that we find Barnabas

standing by Paul for the last time before there came the great cleavage:

'When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and

disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and

certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and

elders about this question' (Acts 15:2).

Closely parallel with Acts 15 is the record of Galatians 2, where Paul and

Barnabas make their stand 'for the truth of the gospel'.