The Orderly Christian

1 Corinthians 14:40 “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

It has been observed that order is heaven’s first law. God is a God of order, “not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33). Thus, the Bible associates sinfulness with confusion (Leviticus 18:23; 20:12; Isaiah 41:29; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-11), and orderliness with righteousness (e.g., Acts 21:24). With evil works there is confusion (James 3:16), but with good works there is order. The virtue of organization in life is displayed in the example of God, because everything God does is “ordered in all things” (2 Samuel 23:5):

  • God’s Creation is Orderly: God turned the shapeless void into a beautiful handiwork (Genesis 1:1-3; see Romans 1:20). Part of the reason why God said that the creation was “good” was because it was orderly. Within creation, some representative creatures spoken of in the Bible have the greatest orderliness. The locusts all fly together in their own course without interfering with the flight or consumption path of the others (Joel 2:7-8; see Proverbs 30:27). Birds know how to keep time in regard to their migration patterns (Jeremiah 8:7).
  • God’s Word is Orderly: The Bible is one of the most well-organized books in the world. The narratives flow, the epistles are logical, and the writing is sensible. Solomon “set in order many proverbs” (Ecclesiastes 12:9), and Luke wrote “in order” (Luke 1:3). Moreover, through the inspiration of the Spirit of God, God has weaved a grand picture of Jesus Christ in the scripture (John 5:39; Revelation 19:10).
  • God’s Tabernacle was Orderly: Every part of the tabernacle was “set in order” (Exodus 26:17; 39:27; 40:4, 23), with the priests and Levites having their set order (1 Chronicles 6:32), and each function performed, like the sacrifices, was done “in order” (Leviticus 1:7, 8, 12). God commanded the priests to be organized (Exodus 27:21). Even the camp of the Israelites in the wilderness was not to be sprawled out haphazardly, but rather filed orderly (see Numbers 2).

 

  1. An ORDERLY Person Is A PREPARED Person

God’s people’s preparation for the things of God is his one limitation upon working in their lives. We limit God when we are not ready (Psalm 78:41), not “instant in season, out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). God, however, is prepared to bless us for obedience (Deuteronomy 28; see also Malachi 3:10), prepared to save those who call upon him (Romans 10:12), and prepared to reward those who serve him (John 14:2; 1 Corinthians 2:9).

Righteous Biblical characters always prepared their hearts and ways before the Lord (2 Chronicles 19:3; 27:6), but the same was not true of the wicked ones (2 Chronicles 12:14; 20:33). The Bible describes many ways to be a prepared. Purging sin out of our life prepares us for the use of God (2 Timothy 2:20-21). Learning the Bible like Ezra makes us a metaphorical “ready scribe” (Ezra 7:6, 10) with the effectiveness of Ezra, and sanctifying ourself with the word of God like Christ did causes us to be prepared to save others (John 17:19, 17; see also Ephesians 5:26).

1 Chronicles 29:18 “O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee”

Biblical Stories Of Prepared People

  • Moses and Joshua: When the Lord told Moses that he was going to come down upon mount Sinai, he had Moses get them ready by telling them to be clean and holy (Exodus 19:10-11, 22). Joshua also told the children of Israel before they made the miraculous passage through the Jordan river that they should sanctify themselves, “for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you” (Joshua 3:15).
  • King David: Because David had shed much blood, God disallowed him from building the temple (1 Chronicles 28:3). Nonetheless, this did not stop David in his ambition toward the house of God to prepare for the work. Regarding the temple, because he felt that the temple should be “exceeding magnifical,” we find that “David prepared abundantly before his death” (1 Chronicles 22:5). He (1) purchased the place where the temple was to be built (2 Samuel 24:18-25), (2) brought the ark into Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 15:1, 3, 12; 2 Chronicles 1:4), and (3) gathered many of the building materials (1 Chronicles 22:3, 14; 1 Chronicles 29:2-3).
  • The Levites under Hezekiah: After Hezekiah had the temple cleansed and purified; he began to offer multitudes of sacrifices (2 Chronicles 29:1-33). Although the temple was ready, many of the priests did not sanctify themselves for the service, and therefore the already prepared Levites got the opportunity to assist in the preparation of the sacrifices, “for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests” (2 Chronicles 29:34). This caused the work to be “done suddenly” (2 Chronicles 29:36).
  • Cushi: After the defeat of the rebel army of Absalom and the slaying of the unrightfully coronated Absalom, Joab commissioned Cushi to go and bear the news to King David. A man named Ahimaaz, however, desired to tell the tidings first. Ahimaaz did not have comprehensive knowledge about the results, and Joab thus told him “Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?” (2 Samuel 18:22). Before Ahimaaz hastily ran off, Joab sent Cushi to bear the clear story to David (2 Samuel 18:21). As a result of not being ready to give the news, the tidings of Ahimaaz were vague and unsatisfactory (2 Samuel 18:27-30). The prepared Cushi, like a prepared preacher, gave a clear notice to David of everything that transpired on the battlefield (2 Samuel 18:31-33).

Titus 3:1 “Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work”

Just as John the Baptist prepared the people for the first coming of Jesus (Isaiah 40:3; Luke 1:17), we should also prepare ourselves for the second coming (Matthew 24:44; Luke 12:40). We should always be ready to preach the gospel. Paul was “ready to preach the gospel” to the Romans (Romans 1:15), and told the Ephesians to have their feet “shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15). As Bible believing Christians, we should also be prepared to teach the Bible when asked questions, or (if a man) when asked to preach (for those who have the aptitude to teach). God’s word says to “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15). Paul told the Corinthians that before he came to Corinth––where he was undoubtedly going to preach––he was “ready to come” (2 Corinthians 12:14). We must also be ready to serve others in any way that we can. Speaking of the generosity of the Corinthians, Paul said that they were so “forward”––or, willing to help––that they were ready a year in advance to help the poor saints at Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 9:2; see also 1 Timothy 6:18).

Proverbs 24:27 “Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.”

  1. An ORDERLY Person Is A PUNCTUAL Person

Being on time to events and appointments is a good attribute, because a godly person thinks about time (Romans 13:11), but a foolish person doesn’t regard time at all (Ephesians 5:16; Colossians 4:5; see Psalm 90:12). Everyone knows that it is good to be on time, and that tardiness is undesirable (see James 4:17; Romans 14:23). But more than this, all people expect others to be timely, and want God to be on time for them (Psalm 40:17; 70:5; see also Martha with Jesus: John 11:20-21). We should be like Abraham’s servant who did not want to wait around, but was desirous of being were his master had appointed him in good time (Genesis 24:54-56). If God keeps time (e.g., Habakkuk 2:3; Exodus 9:5; 2 Samuel 24:15), so should we.

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is    longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to            repentance.” (See also Hebrews 10:37).

Biblical Stories Of Tardy People

In God’s word we find many bad examples of people who were not punctual, showing that waiting longer than one ought to can cause them to fall into trouble.

  • Amasa the captain of the host: When King David returned to Jerusalem to reestablish his kingdom, he was forced to deal with another traitor, Sheba the son of Bichri (2 Samuel 20:1-2). David gave his new general Amasa three days to assemble the men of Judah to himself (2 Samuel 20:4), “but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him” (2 Samuel 20:5). Because of Amasa’s failure to be on time, if it were not for Abishai and Joab being punctual, David would have been harmed by Sheba more than Absalom (2 Samuel 20:5-6).
  • The Levite in Judges: In Judges 19, there is a certain nameless Levite who pursued his concubine by going to her father’s house. Instead of taking her and leaving immediately, the Levite gave into the temptation to sit around and feast for a while that whole day (Judges 19:1-7). The next day, because he succumbed to waiting about by eating until the afternoon (Judges 19:8), the darkness of night caused him to lodge in a dangerous city short of his destination (Judges 19:9-21), where his concubine was raped and slain (Judges 19:22-30).
  • The man of God out of Judah: The Jewish man of God was given a command by the Lord to preach against the altar of Jeroboam in Bethel (1 Kings 13:1-3). As he was there, he was told by God not to tarry in that place by eating bread or drinking water there (1 Kings 13:9). Although he resisted the first temptation by the king to transgress this command of God (1 Kings 13:7), the man of God delayed by sitting under an oak (1 Kings 13:14). Because of this, he was deceived by an old prophet to come into his house and eat with him (1 Kings 13:15-20). This disobedience to God’s word, occasioned in part by tardiness, caused the man of God’s death (1 Kings 13:21-24).

III. An ORDERLY Person Is A SCRIPTURAL Person

Orderliness is furthermore Biblically equated with living in accord with the scripture (Psalm 119:133). When David at first brought up the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, he put the ark on a new cart (2 Samuel 6:1-10) as opposed to having the Levites bear it on their shoulders (Numbers 7:9). This failure to observe the precept of God was spoken of by David as disorderliness on their part:

1 Chronicles 15:13 “For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.”

Preaching In The Church

The scripture admonishes pastors to “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2), to “teach” (1 Timothy 6:2; Titus 2:15), and to “put the brethren in remembrance” (1 Timothy 4:6), meaning that preaching is one of the most important things that is to take place in church. Men of God like Moses (book of Deuteronomy) and Nehemiah (Nehemiah 8) preached to the congregation of the Israelites. The public reading of the scripture is also a Biblically grounded practice (1 Timothy 4:13; Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27).

The Sin Of Women Preachers In The Church

According to the Bible (1 Timothy 2:11-15; 1 Corinthians 14:34-38), in the house of God, (I) women should not be in authority: “to usurp authority over the man”; (II) women should not be preaching in church: “to teach”; and (III) women should not be speaking during the teaching/preaching time in church: “to be in silence”. It is a contradiction of many existing Biblical orders in the world for women to be leaders, preachers, or talkers in the house of God:

  1. Women speaking or leading in the church transgresses the LEGAL ORDER.

1 Corinthians 14:34 “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto  them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.”

The Bible is God’s word, and as such is the final authority in every matter. The prophets began their message by authoritatively stating, “Thus saith the Lord,” and the apostles confirmed their message authoritatively by saying “it is written.” There is no clearer way to state the command forbidding women to speak in the church than Paul has in 1 Corinthians 14:34-38. They are told to “keep silence,” not “to speak,” to “be under obedience,” and not to interrupt the service, “ask their husbands at home.” By “the law” in 1 Corinthians 14:34, Paul means Genesis 3:16, where God said to Eve about her husband “he shall rule over thee.”

It is shameful for women to speak in the church, because it violates the principle of Christian modesty (1 Corinthians 14:35; cf. 1 Timothy 2:9-11). It is presumptuous for women to speak in the church, because they are not the only ones whom God can speak through (1 Corinthians 14:36). It is unspiritual for women to speak in the church, because Paul’s command is the Lord’s command (1 Corinthians 14:37). It is ignorant for women to speak in the church, because God’s word so unequivocally bars it out (1 Corinthians 14:38).

  1. Women speaking or leading in the church violates the ECCLESIASTICAL ORDER.

The fact that God has only authorized and utilized men in Biblical offices and writing provides a strong precedent of his demand for the male gender being in leadership in the church. Only men qualify for all current and past Biblical offices. The bishop/pastor/elder must be “a man” (1 Timothy 3:1), who is “the husband of one wife” (1 Timothy 3:2), and Timothy and Titus the pastors were just that. The Bible also says of the deacon, “Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife” (1 Timothy 3:12). Even the proto-deacons of the early church in Acts 6 were supposed to be “seven men…” (Acts 6:3). In false Bible versions like the NIV, Phoebe is called a “deacon” in Cenchrea, when she was really only a “servant” there (Romans 16:1 KJV). The only person explicitly called an evangelist is a man, Phillip (Acts 21:8; see also 2 Timothy 4:5). All apostles were men (1 Corinthians 9:5; 15:5-9; see also Matthew 10:2-4); every priest had to be a “son of Aaron” (2 Chronicles 13:10), not a daughter of him; not a single Levite working in the synagogues or in the temple was female, from the porter to the song leader (Chenaniah: 15:22, 27; the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun: 1 Chronicles 25). Furthermore, all ordained major prophets in history were men: for example, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah.

Not a single book of the Bible was written by a woman, the Biblical writings were all penned by men. That is, even though women speak and even prophecy in the Bible (e.g., the prophecy of mother Lemuel was written down by a man: Proverbs 31), all of God’s word was inscripturated by males, because all authors of the Bible were “holy men of God” (2 Peter 1:21). Moses wrote the Pentateuch, or the “law of Moses” (John 5:46). The prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel all wrote the scriptural books bearing their name. The apostle John said that he himself wrote his letters “with ink and pen” (3 John 13). Moreover, even when the ones who spoke the words did not write down their own letters or books, the scribe of the document was always a man: Baruch wrote Jeremiah’s scroll (Jeremiah 36:1-4, 18), Sosthenes wrote the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:1), and Tertius wrote Paul’s epistle to the Romans (Romans 16:22). In fact, to be a Biblical scribe was solely a man’s profession (e.g., see 2 Samuel 8:17; 20:25; 1 Kings 4:3; Ezra 7:6; Proverbs 25:1).

  1. Women speaking or leading in the church disrupts the CREATION ORDER.

1 Timothy 2:13 “For Adam was first formed, then Eve.”

Mankind was created on day 6 of creation, beginning with the making of man. A few points should be observed regarding the order that God set up with man being over the woman. (a) The woman was made after man (Genesis 1:27). Because man precedes woman in creative history (Genesis 2:7), this accords him preeminence in authority over the woman, just as Christ being eternal is illustrative of his preeminence over all things (Colossians 1:15-18). Moreover, (b) the woman was made from man (Genesis 2:21-22; 1 Corinthians 11:8), further establishing the intrinsic difference in power each one possesses. Beyond this, at her creation, (c) the woman was made for the man, and “neither was the man created for the woman” (Genesis 2:18; 1 Corinthians 11:9). Eve’s purpose was ancillary, not dominative. Finally, (d) the woman was named by the man (Genesis 2:23), once again exhibiting his dominion over her, just as he named the animals because he had dominion over the creatures (Genesis 2:19).

  1. Women speaking or leading in the church goes against the FALLEN ORDER.

1 Timothy 2:14 “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”

It is noteworthy that God held man ultimately responsible for the Fall of Man, even though Eve caused him to sin (1 Corinthians 15:22; Romans 5:12-19). God spoke to Adam first, not Eve, when chiding him (Genesis 3:9-11), and he cursed the man greater and more extensively than the woman (Genesis 3:17-19). This is because Adam was the authority, and whereas Eve sinned by deception, Adam sinned deliberately.

Righteous women in the Bible saw the blessing of God by submitting themselves unto the leadership of man. Deborah would only assist Barak, and did not lead the children of Israel into battle (Judges 4:4-9). Jacob’s wives answered him to do what he was told by God, and that they would follow him, saying, “whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do” (Genesis 31:16)

By contrast, whenever a woman was put into a place of power, she caused the ruin and error of the subjects under her authority (see Isaiah 3:12). Eve led the human race into sinning against God and caused the Fall of Man (Genesis 3:6). Sarah led Abraham to commit fornication with Hagar and produce the future enemy of Israel, Ishmael (Genesis 16:1-5). When Miriam rose up against the leadership of Moses, God plagued her with leprosy (Numbers 12:1-2). Queen Jezebel “stirred up” her husband Ahab to work the highest wickedness in Israel (1 Kings 21:25), and removed peace from the land with her witchcrafts (2 Kings 9:22). For six years the illegitimate Queen Athaliah perpetuated sinfulness in the kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 11). The false prophetess Jezebel took control over the church in Thyatira, and seduced them to do much evil (Revelation 2:18-25; see also the false prophetess Noadiah: Nehemiah 6:14).

  1. Women speaking or leading in the church contradicts the NATURAL ORDER.

1 Timothy 2:15 “Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.”

Women are structured as followers, not leaders. Their more gullible state (1 Peter 3:7), more delicate frame, and more supportive anatomy are indications that their role is not to lead. In the aftermath of the Fall, God laid curses upon each of the sinning parties. God’s curses upon the man and woman were the practical means whereby they could redeem their fellowship with God. The woman was told that she was going to bring forth children in sorrow (Genesis 3:16). Because a boss woman is a bad woman (see 1 Timothy 5:11-15), Paul says that by bearing children a woman can spiritually save herself from worldliness.

Worshipping In The Church

A church service is in part a worship service, and we should sing in church because God expects it of us in his word (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19). The Psalms speak of worshipping God “in the great congregation” (Psalm 35:18), “in the assembly of the elders” (Psalm 107:32; and “in the congregation of the saints” (Psalm 149:1).

Dancing In The Church

Swaying and minor rhythmic movements like clapping (Psalm 47:1) are not wrong, but when one begins to dramatically, wildly or sensually move their body about in God’s house, they are not treating it with honor as one should a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; see also 3:16-17). Jesus likened the wicked generation in which he preached unto children desiring to elicit reactions like dancing from others by playing music and lamentations by mourning (Matthew 11:16-17). There are many reasons why dancing should not be done in church:

  1. God’s house must be orderly, but dancing is often inherently disorderly.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians in his first epistle to them to rectify much of the disorder at their church, saying “let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40). Paul told them that there were many things that he was to set in order when he came (1 Corinthians 11:34). The Colossians gave joy to Paul as he, being with them in spirit, said that he was “joying and beholding your order” (Colossians 2:5). When one dances, they typically move at the impulse of music, and do not have choreographed movements. What is worse, the more impassioned a dance, the more loose and abandoned it can be.

  1. God’s house must be a place of solemnity, and dancing is not a solemn activity.

God said to “reverence my sanctuary” (Leviticus 19:30; 26:2), and throughout the history of God’s people, church was a “solemn assembly” (Joel 1:15; 2:15). We can be glad and excited at church (Psalm 122:1; Nehemiah 8:10), but we not should allow our emotions to give way to uncontrollable mirth like dancing. Jacob described God’s house in these terms:

Genesis 28:17 “And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

  1. Dancing is never commanded nor practiced in the Biblical congregations

It is always dangerous to do something significant that God does not command in church (see the strange fire of Nadab and Abihu: Leviticus 10:1-7). In fact, the only time that the congregation of Israel danced as a group in worship was when Moses was away, around the golden calf that they had made (Exodus 32:19). Dancing is an easily abused activity, and is already much misused in the world today. There are plenty of examples of wicked people dancing in the Bible (Job 21:11; I Samuel 30:16).

Beside this, dancing in the Bible was usually spontaneous and celebratory, not liturgical. And admitted that people did indeed worship God by dance, it was never in the congregation. Miriam danced in celebration of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt (Exodus 15:20), Jephthah’s daughter danced to rejoice in the victory of her father (Judges 11:34), the women of Israel danced as a form of merrymaking as result of David’s defeat of Goliath and Israel’s militaristic win over the Philistines (1 Samuel 18:6), and David danced to celebrate the bringing of the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:14, 16). Interestingly, none of these dances were performed in the worship assembly. God has ordained many singers in the Old Testament (see 1 Chronicles 9:33), but he has never ordained a dancer.

Fanatics of dancing will be quick to point out that the Psalms encourage the use of dancing in praising God, saying “Let them praise his name in the dance” (Psalm 149:3; see also 150:4). It must be observed, however, that there is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:4), and church is not the time for dancing. The Psalms also instruct the people of God to do other things that are not permissible in the assembly:

Psalm 149:6-8 “6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; 7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; 8  To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron”

  1. God’s house should be a spiritual place, but most dancing is sensual

Just as Herodias’ daughter seductively danced before King Herod (Mark 6:21-23) and “pleased Herod and them that sat with him,” so also when people dance in church it is a licentious show. The modern dance, and many a “praise dance,” are lewd and suggestive. The modern dance is painted vividly with the following Biblical condemnations: “in lasciviousness, lusts” (1 Peter 4:3), “uncleanness, lasciviousness” (Galatians 5:19), “fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11). When people danced in the Bible, they were either alone (e.g., David, Jephthah’s daughter), or wholly with those of the same gender (e.g., Miriam; daughters of Shiloh: Judges 21), and never in mixed company.