A Band of Brothers – Acts 18:5-8

What do you think when I mention: Erastus, Gaius and Quartus?

How about Stephanus and Tertius?

These are all names

They are all names of some of the early Christians in the city of Corinth.

This evening, I’d like to tie an handful of scriptures to what we have here in Acts, and in the process pull out some more of the background of the ministry in Corinth.

Is this important information that the saints of God can’t live without? No.

Is this theological material about which we will be tested when we reach the gates of Heaven? No.

But is this information that the Holy Spirit has placed in the Bible?

Do we have the right to ignore anything that the Holy Spirit has given to us?

“ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto good works.”

When Paul was forced to wash his hands of his ministry in the synagogue,

He went into the home of JUSTUS.

“And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house, named JUSTUS, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.”

There are two or three people in the Bible who were called Justus.

In Acts 1:23 we learn that one of the men nominated to replace Judas was Justus:

Actually that man had three names.

“And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.”

Obviously, this man in chapter 18 was not the same as the Justus of Acts 1.

There was also another Justus mentioned by Paul in the Epistle to the Colossians.

That letter was written when Paul was in Rome.

He referred to the fact that he had very few companions,

but one who had remained there with him was named Justus.:

“Marcus, and Jesus, which is called Justus, WHO ARE OF THE CIRCUMCISION.”

Our verse here in Acts reveals things, and at the same time confuses things about this man named Justus.

We are told that his house was next door to the place where the synagogue was built.

And we are told that Justus was a PROSELYTE to the Jewish faith.

That is the common meaning of the phrase that “he worshiped God.”

But we are not told whether he was a proselyte OF RIGHTEOUSNESS or a proselyte OF THE GATE.

A PROSELYTE OF THE GATE was someone who renounced his idols and old religion,

and had recognized Jehovah to be the One true and living God.

But that kind of proselyte had not yet gone so far as to be circumcised.

THE PROSELYTE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS had gone all the way and done everything that he could to become one with the Jews.

There are some scholars who say that the man who was with Paul in Rome – Jesus which is called Justus, who was of the circumcision, was this man here.

They say that he was a proselyte of righteousness and had been circumcised.

But I disagree and think that that kind of reference to circumcision was proverbial of someone one who was born and raised a Jew.

Also confusing is the reference to Justus’ house.

Some scholars say that Paul moved from Aquila’s house to Justus’ house, as his place of RESIDENCE.

By this time Paul may not have found it necessary to keep his tent-making job.

That might have induced him to move out of Aquila’s house.

And there is other evidence that Paul did find a new residence at some point.

But others say that Paul moved from the synagogue to Justus’ house, as his place of MINISTRY.

I tend to agree with this.

Justus’ house was the place where the mission met, not where Paul, Silas and Timothy lived.

So the house of Justus was large enough to use as a meeting place for the young mission work in Corinth.

And it had the distinct advantage of being next door to the synagogue,

so that the proselytes, in particular, had to walk right past Paul’s meeting to get to the Jewish meeting.

As more and more people, like Justus, came to believe the truth and trust Christ, there was more and more curiosity to find out exactly what was going on.

A second blessing in this new meeting place, was that it WASN’T a synagogue.

Not only were Jewish proselytes welcome there, but so were the general population – the Gentiles.

Justus was a converted proselyte, who opened up his home as a meeting place for the mission.

The second brother, who is mentioned here was a man named CRISPUS.

“And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.”

I think that Luke mentioned these two men in particular, because of their importance to the early history of the church in Corinth.

As we’ll see in a moment there were other converts, but these two were especially significant in the early days of the work there.

You see, Crispus was the chief ruler of the Jewish synagogue.

This meant that he was one of the elders of the congregation, and recognized as one of the most responsible members in the group.

He was not a priest, and not necessarily a rabbi; just one of the members, but one of the better members.

Depending on the size of the synagogue, there could be one or several rulers.

That Crispus was the CHIEF-RULER indicated that this was a good size synagogue.

The duties of the rulers were to keep order and to oversee who were to read, publicly pray and preach each sabbath.

So this man was one of the foremost leaders of the Jewish community in Corinth.

He was undoubtedly very highly respected.

When the Lord converted him it must have had a powerful impact on everyone in that synagogue.

There have not been many throughout history, but at times the Lord has reached down and saved a Saul of Tarsus, a Nicodemus, a Sergius Paulus, or a Crispus.

And there is nothing to stop the Lord from doing it today.

Don’t be afraid to witness to the rich and powerful when the opportunity is given to you.

Paul was not in the habit of performing the baptisms of the converts,

but he made an exception in the case of Crispus.

(By the way, despite the fact that he was a true Hebrew, his name was Latin, and meant “curl.”

It makes me wonder if it began as a nick-name for a curly-headed little boy.)

The third member of this band of brothers was named GAIUS.

I Corinthians 1:14 says, “I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.”

The name Gaius is found five times in the New Testament..

The last Gaius is found in III John.

The man to whom the Apostle John wrote his third epistle was named Gaius.

Whether or not this is the same man, is impossible to say, but I have my doubts.

A second Gaius, who is mentioned in Acts 20, was accompanying Paul on his return to Jerusalem.

Acts 20:4 – “And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.”

There seems to be a third Gaius, who was also a child of God.

In Acts 19:29 during the riot in Ephesus, “the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.”

This Gaius appears to have been from Macedonia,

But I suppose that it’s possible that this Macedonian had first been in Corinth and was saved there.

This could be the same man, but we can’t know for sure.

Then there is one more reference at the conclusion of Romans:

Romans 16:23 – “Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you.”

The post-script to Romans says that the book was written while Paul was in Corinth.

That would lead us to believe that the Gaius mentioned there is the same as the Gaius who was baptized by Paul here in Acts 18.

And it appears that for some reason Paul was then living in the house of this same Gaius.

Could it be that Paul moved from house to house so that he wouldn’t have been a long-term burden?

Thus far we have found Justus, Crispus and Gaius in this little band of brothers.

A fourth member was STEPHANUS.

I Corinthians 1:14-16 – “I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;

Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.

And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.”

Paul didn’t want to leave anyone out, but as far as he could remember the only members of the church in Corinth that he had baptized were Crispus, Gaius and the family of Stephanas.

We know next to nothing about this man and his family.

The name “Stephanas” means “crown,” and as such it is found several times in the New Testament.

For example there is Philippians 4:1 – “Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and CROWN, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.”

The only other reference to this man and his family comes at the end of I Corinthians:

I Corinthians 16:13 – “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity.I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,)That ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboureth. I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied. For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore acknowledge ye them that are such.”

The fifth member of this Corinthian brotherhood was a man named TERTIUS.

All that we know about this man was that he was the AMANUENSES for the Epistle to the Romans.

And according to the post-script, the Book of Romans was written from Corinth.

Tertius was the AMANUENSES for the Book of Romans

“Amanuenses” is your vocabulary word for today.

It will come up from time to time as you read some of the older, better commentaries of the Word of God.

An amanuenses is someone who takes dictation; someone who writes down the words of another.

Paul didn’t actually write most of his letters, he dictated them and various others wrote them down.

In Romans 16:22 we read, “I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.”

The sixth Christian of Corinth was a man named QUARTUS.

After Tertius refers to himself, Paul continued to dictate the close to the Book of Romans.

“Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother.”

We know absolutely nothing about Quartus.

But we do know something about the seventh, and last, member of this band of brothers: ERASTUS.

“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.”

But every once in a while the Lord does call and save some of this world’s nobility.

Erastus was the was apparently the TREASURER for the city of Corinth.

When Paul sent his greetings to the brethren in Rome he concluded his letter:

“Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother.”

In Erastus was a man with an enormous influence over the city of Corinth.

Here was a man with a great deal of power.

And as a result here also was a man who had a great deal to loose in identifying with Christ.

But he was willing to sacrifice the things of the world in order to possess the things of eternity.

What a strange little band of Christians, apparently from every corner of Corinthian society:

The leader of the Jewish synagogue, a leader of Gentile politics, and five other men from various ranks in between.

Truly, the Lord’s body is made up of a great variety of members.