How strikingly was this invariable principle of order expressed and acted upon by that obedient, yet always gracious and loving One, who was the express image of His Father, As man on earth. He was always to be found in His proper place, always knowing His time and His hour. From the beginning at Cana, when He rejoiced with them that rejoiced, to the end at Bethany when He wept with them that wept, or even after the end of His life on earth, at His resurrection, in the folded condition of His grave clothes, this order was manifested.
The Syrophenician woman, when applying to the Lord, at first takes Jewish ground, and addresses Him as "Son of David." No answer. He was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. She then comes and worships Him, saying: "Lord, help me." She only meets with a still more humiliating, crushing refusal: "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs." For such was then her place as that of the Gentiles generally. She had stepped out of her place, and had to be reminded of it. It is only when she takes her true place that her request is granted.
More Than Crumbs
We were once in the same place (Eph. 2). According to the unsearchable riches of God's sovereign grace we have received blessings which are something more than crumbs falling from the table, even "all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ": infinitely higher and richer than even the meat on the table. Has God's principle of order been set aside or relaxed, on account of those immeasurably higher places and blessings which His grace has assigned to us? Far from it! On the contrary, the highness of our vocation and place, and the nearness of our heavenly relationship are the very reasons why that great principle or order insisted upon and should be observed by us all the more. May it be so in our houses, or in the Church which is the house of the living God.
If a good and great king demands order to rule throughout the realms and unto the uttermost borders of his kingdom, he will certainly and most particularly insist on order in his family, and at his court. Do you think that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom every family in heaven and earth is named, in His heavenly courts above and in His Church, could tolerate that which would be inconsistent with His holiness and derogatory to His majesty? Was His great apostle of the Gentiles and of the Church indifferent to the confusion and disorder in the church at Corinth? He told them that God is not a God of confusion but of peace, and of that order without which there can be no true peace.
Symbol of Authority
It is on the same principle that the inspired apostle commands Christian women in the assembly to have a covering (the symbol of subjection to another's authority) on their heads. It is on account of the angels, because they are accustomed to seeing, in the heavenly courts above, everything, and everyone in their proper places.
Therefore they would be grieved if they saw a woman without that symbol of authority on her head in the Church, where those heavenly principalities study the wisdom of God.
In that most solemn closing epistle of Jude, we find the violation of this all-pervading divine principle of order visited with the most terrible judgments. The awful solemnity shows how God from His throne of holiness and majesty looks at the daring transgressors of the divine law of order, when speaking of certain who had crept into the Church unawares. "Ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." We are reminded there of those "everlasting chains," in which those angels, who "kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation," are reserved "under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." Also we read of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, who suffered the vengeance of eternal fire, (notice the word eternal) for giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh.
We are further reminded of that awful moment when the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up Core and those with him, for their rebellious contempt of the authorities of divine order, instituted by God. Jude refers also to those, who "despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.... To whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”
There are two evil extremes in that solemn epistle, against which we have to be equally on our guard, in these days more than ever. They are: despising dominion and speaking evil of its dignities, and having men's persons in admiration.
As to the heavenly courts above, we find in those passages of the Old and New Testament in which the
Perfect Order
Holy Spirit draws aside the curtain to permit us a glimpse into those heavenly scenes, perfect order pervading the whole. Everything and everyone is in their appointed place, and moving in their appointed sphere and time. They are in perfect harmony of action, whether in divine government in the Old Testament, or in connection with redemption in the New Testament. Even Satan with his wicked spirits must submit to that order, whenever they are permitted to make their appearance there. In regards to this notice that in Job 1:66Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. (Job 1:6) we have order as to time, in 1 Kings 22:1919And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. (1 Kings 22:19) order as to place, and in Isa. 6. Ezek. 1, and Rev. 4 and 5, we see order in both heavenly and earthly scenes. This shows how God wills His own immutable principle of divine order to dominate throughout the whole of His creation, from the highest down to the lowest.
Things and in Persons in Place
By the word order we mean a condition of things and persons where everything and everybody is found and moves or acts in the proper appointed place, sphere, and time.
Even the children of this world agree that order is one of the essential requisites for human happiness, prosperity, and success. "A place for everything (and everybody) and everything (and everybody) in its place" is a well-known adage. the truth of which is generally owned and acted upon, from the chief executive down to the lowest employee. How very important (because divinely required) is the principle of order for the relationships of the Christian, both in the Church and in the family. How much more ought order to characterize everything in the individual believer's life and action.
J. Von Poseck