The Glad Tidings

by E. J. Waggoner

Apostles Are of God.

“God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings,” etc. 1 Cor. 12:28. Let it be borne in mind that all these are set in the church by God Himself. No other can do it. It is impossible for men to make a true apostle or prophet. There are certain people in the world who say to others, Why do you not have apostles and prophets, etc., in the church? ignoring the fact that God has them in His church until this day, although they are often unrecognized, even as the apostleship of Paul and the others was often denied. Then there are some combinations of people who claim to have all these among them. Reading that God has set them in the church, they see that the true church of God ought to have apostles, prophets, etc. Accordingly they appoint some to be apostles, others to be prophets, and others to be teachers, and then they point to these as evidence that they are the true church of God. The fact is, however, that this is the strongest possible proof that they are not the church of God. If they were the church of God, apostles and prophets would be set among them by God Himself; but the fact that they themselves are obliged to make apostles and prophets, shows that they have none in fact. They are simply setting up a dummy to hide the absence of the reality; but the presence of the sham only emphasizes the absence of the real.

Not of Men.

All Gospel teaching is based upon and derives its authority from the fact of the Divinity of Christ. The apostles and prophets were so fully imbued with this truth that it appears everywhere in their writings. In the very first verse of this epistle we find it in the statement that Paul was not an apostle of men, nor by any man, but by Jesus Christ, who is “the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15), “the effulgence of His glory, and the very image of His substance” (Heb. 1:1-3, R. V.); He was in the beginning with God, and was God, before the world was. John 1:1; 17:5. “He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Col. 1:17, R. V.

The Father and the Son.

“Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead,” are associated on equal terms. “I and My Father are One.” John 10:30. They both sit upon one throne. Heb. 1:3; 8:1; Rev. 3:21. The counsel of peace is between them both. Zech. 6:12, 13. Jesus was the Son of God all His life, although He was of the seed of David according to the flesh; but it was by the resurrection from the dead, which was accomplished by the power of the Spirit of holiness, that His Sonship was demonstrated to all. Rom. 1:3, 4. This epistle has the same authority as Paul’s apostleship: it is from Him who has power to raise the dead, and from Him who was raised from the dead.

The Churches of Galatia.

Galatia was a province in Asia Minor, so called from the fact that it was inhabited by Gauls,—people who came from the country now known as France. They settled in the territory which took its name from them (Gaul-atia—Galatia), in the third century before Christ. They were, of course, pagans, their religion being quite similar to that of the Druids, of Britain. Paul was the one who first preached Christianity to them, as we read in Acts 16:6; 18:23. The country of Galatia also included Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, which were visited by Paul, with Barnabas, on his first missionary journey. Acts 14.

Grace and Peace Be to You.

This is the word of the Lord, let it be remembered, and therefore means more than man’s word. The Lord does not deal in empty compliments. His word is substantial; it carries with it the thing which it names. God’s word creates, and here we have the very form of the creative word.