God Of Order

God created everything with order.

• The moon reliably follows a cyclical pattern.

• The planets all orbit in an established, orderly way.

• The Seasons come and go in an arranged and expected fashion.

Such order in the universe is not an accident but rather that the God of the Bible is a God of Orderliness.

He did not create a universe that is chaotic or in a haphazard manner.

• Scientists discern patterns and “laws” in nature because of the orderliness that the Lord placed within creation.

• God is a God of order because such an attribute is an integral part of His character.

• Within His very being, the Lord is orderly and is always consistent.

God being a God of Orderliness what does that mean to us as a church?

He certainly does not want His church to be a place of DISORDER!!!

For example, Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers in I Corinthians to instruct them the proper way of worship.

Regrettably, the Corinthian believers had been conducting themselves in an unruly and chaotic manner during their worship SERVICE.

Instead of being orderly in the way they exercised their gifts, multiple believers would speak at the same time without any interpretation.

Look at 1 Corinthians 14:27-28 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

When Paul uses the word SPEAKING IN TONGUES the word tongues mean languages.

It is not this gibberish that some claim is tongues today.

If God is not a GOD OF CONFUSION, then why is that you can have a congregation where all speak English and someone so called speak in tongues that nobody understands and then someone claims they interpret what they said.

If everybody speaks in English, WHY NOT SPEAK IN ENGLISH TO START WITH?

According to Acts 2 the Christians had a variety ethic GROUPS.

HOW DO WE KNOW?

Look at Acts 2:8-13 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, (Not the gibberish we hear today) wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, these men are full of new wine.

Notice, the congregation also consisted of a variety of ETHICS GROUPS and the Bible tells us they all heard them speak in their OWN LANGUAGE

• On the day of Pentecost everything was done proper and 3,000 got saved.

• But later in the New Testament in the book of Corinthians it was CONFUSION and God is not the author of CONFUSION.

This is why Paul wrote to them.

Notice, in first Corinthians when it talks about UNKNOWN TONGUES in the King James Bible it is in ITALICS.

Why?

Because the writers of the KING JAMES VERSION were honest enough, they wanted you to know UNKNOW TONGUES is not in the original transcript. Someone else added UNKNOWN TONGUES!!!

The word TONGUES IS LANGUAGES.

Illus: That would be like our English congregation and our Spanish congregation meet together for worship service at the same time.

The English congregation speaks English, and the Spanish speaks in Spanish.

• The English needs someone to interpret to the Spanish

• The Spanish needs someone to interpret the English.

Or else the service will be utter chaos.

Apparently, the problem was so bad that it had the potential to make the church appear unappealing to unbelievers who would visit their services.

1 Corinthians 14:23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

For this reason, Paul had to correct and teach the Corinthians church about the proper order in worship.

This instruction from Paul was not based on his own desire for tidiness in worship, but rather 1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

He gives the same instructions to the prophets (Pastor)

Look at the following verses he gave to the congregation.

1 Corinthians 14:29-33 Let the prophets speak two or three and let the other judge. If anything, be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.