The history of God’s church goes back thousands of years. Before Steven was martyred, he spoke of the “congregation in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38), referring to the wilderness wanderings.
During this time, the church was highly organized and there were certain ordinances that if violated would result in the death penalty. The book of Leviticus provides insight into the organizational instructions that the Lord gave to Moses to be used for His church.
Following the establishment of the children in the Promised Land, the church was located first at Shiloh. Later the headquarters were set up at Jerusalem. However, synagogues were set up throughout the land. When Jesus was on earth, He attended the synagogue every Sabbath and was an active participant in the worship services. In John 2 we read that Jesus was intensely interested in the church and respected the offices of the priests. Those He healed were instructed to go and show themselves to the priests as Moses had commanded.
In symbolic language the church is spoken of as a vineyard. In Matthew 21, Jesus told the parable of the husbandmen who killed the servants of the lord of the vineyard that were sent to them. When the son was sent to them, the vinedressers decided to murder him and take his inheritance. In this parable Jesus warned what was going to happen to the Jewish people because they decided to murder the Messiah. He said, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it” (Matthew 21:43).
Because of their treachery, the kingdom of God would be taken away from the Jewish people. They were no longer going to be God’s special chosen people. Jesus said to them, “See! Your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:38).
Of course, any house becomes desolate when God leaves it. Before the final rejection of the Jewish people, Jesus provided a dwelling place for Himself, a church that would be the depository of God’s truth on earth. In fact, a considerable time before the final rejection of the Jews as a nation, Jesus had laid the foundation of the Christian church, which was to take over the vineyard and become God’s custodian of truth for the world.
Since His ascension, Jesus’ chief work in heaven has been on behalf of His appointed church. John, in vision on the isle of Patmos where he had been banished, says, “Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands” (Revelation 1:12). Those are the seven golden lamp stands in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and Christ is seen standing and walking amidst them (verse 13).
Notice what Jesus said in verse 20: “The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.”
Immediately after this is recorded the letters to the seven churches. The number seven represents perfection. This is a number that indicates that Jesus is giving a message to all the Christian churches from then until the end of time.
“Christ designs that heaven’s order, heaven’s plan of government, heaven’s divine harmony, shall be represented in His church on earth.” The Desire of Ages, 680. Notice the three things mentioned – heaven’s order, heaven’s plan of government, and heaven’s divine harmony.
What does heaven’s order involve?
Heaven, at the present time, is the home of the angels. Christian’s hope that heaven will also become their home where they will be able to live and associate with holy angels. O wondrous thought! Are you ready to live with angels? In His mercy God is allowing us this time to prepare ourselves for that blessed experience.
The church on earth and the church in heaven is just one church. When Jesus comes, He is going to take His church on earth to unite with the church in heaven.
Have you studied about the angels, how they live, how they work, and what they do?
“Angels work harmoniously. Perfect order characterizes all their movements. The more closely we imitate the harmony and order of the angelic host, the more successful will be the efforts of these heavenly agents in our behalf. If we see no necessity for harmonious action, and are disorderly, undisciplined, and disorganized in our course of action, angels, who are thoroughly organized and move in perfect order, cannot work for us successfully. They turn away in grief, for they are not authorized to bless confusion, distraction, and disorganization. All who desire the co-operation of the heavenly messengers must work in unison with them. Those who have the unction from on high will in all their efforts encourage order, discipline, and union of action, and then the angels of God can co-operate with them. But never, never will these heavenly messengers place their endorsement upon irregularity, disorganization, and disorder. All these evils [that’s irregularity, disorganization, and disorder] are the result of Satan’s efforts to weaken our forces, to destroy courage, and prevent successful action.
“Satan well knows that success can only attend order and harmonious action. He well knows that everything connected with heaven is in perfect order, that subjection and thorough discipline mark the movements of the angelic host.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 649, 650.
Subjection is a concept that keeps coming up as you start studying about the angels and heaven’s arrangement. “It is his [Satan’s] studied effort to lead professed Christians just as far from heaven’s arrangement as he can; therefore he deceives even the professed people of God and makes them believe that order and discipline are enemies to spirituality, that the only safety for them is to let each pursue his own course, and to remain especially distinct from bodies of Christians who are united and are laboring to establish discipline and harmony of action. All the efforts made to establish order are considered dangerous, a restriction of rightful liberty, and hence are feared as popery. These deceived souls consider it a virtue to boast of their freedom to think and act independently. They will not take any man’s say-so. They are amenable to no man. I was shown that it is Satan’s special work to lead men to feel that it is in God’s order for them to strike out for themselves and choose their own course, independent of their brethren.” Ibid., 650.
Jesus designs that heaven’s order be seen and represented in His church on earth. First of all, there are no politics in heaven, no political campaigns. The political campaign that Lucifer started resulted in a civil war and Lucifer, with his followers, were cast out of heaven. Since that time there have not been any political campaigns in heaven.
I have often studied and prayed about the perfect order in heaven. As a small child, I was very disorderly. I never wanted to go to sleep. I never wanted to take a nap or go to bed on time. I wanted to stay up and do something. When it came time in the morning to get up, I couldn’t find my clothes because I just threw them off when I went to bed. I seemed always to be looking to find my shoes because of my lack of order.
To be orderly does not just apply to our possessions. Order has to do with time. Those who understand order have a place for their things, and things are in their place, and there is a time for things, and things are on time.
God is so orderly that since ancient times clocks have been set by the revolutions of the heavenly bodies that He created.
One lesson that God has given right in the heart of the Ten Commandments has to do with time. As a young minister I decided that I would always endeavor to be early rather than late. This required me to start developing techniques. I knew what time the sun was going to go down, so I needed to start planning my day and figuring out how to accomplish each task on time to avoid being late.
To be prepared to fit in with the perfect order in heaven it is necessary to learn the discipline of being perfectly orderly here on earth.
Another thing about heaven’s order to be learned is that among the angels there are no star players, for all are team players. In other words, the angels work together for common goals and do not compete with one another.
We see team work at the resurrection of Jesus. “When the mighty angel came down to the tomb, he was joined by another, who with his company had been keeping guard over the Lord’s body. As the angel from heaven rolled away the stone, the other entered the tomb, and unbound the wrappings from the body of Jesus.” The Desire of Ages, 789. The angels worked together each doing his part.
There are many places in Inspired writings that describe the angels working together as a team. That type of order is to be represented and revealed in God’s church on earth. There are orders of angels including supervising angels who give directions to the teams to which the angel team members obey.
Angels watched at the trial of Christ and were distressed at what they saw. Ellen White wrote, “Under God the angels are all-powerful. … How easily could the angels, beholding the shameful scene of the trial of Christ, have testified their indignation by consuming the adversaries of God! But they were not commanded to do this.” The Desire of Ages, 702.
How they wanted to step in and save their Commander! They were angry at what the people were doing to Jesus. The least powerful angel, the weakest angel, could have instantly destroyed them all. But they stayed still because they were not commanded to interfere. They follow orders. “It was difficult for the angels to endure the sight. They would have delivered Jesus, but the commanding angels forbade them, saying that it was a great ransom which was to be paid for man; but it would be complete and would cause the death of Him who had the power of death. … The weakest angel could have caused that mocking throng to fall powerless and could have delivered Jesus.” Early Writings, 170. What a temptation they denied because of obedience!
Again, “They [soldiers] covered His [Jesus’] head with an old garment, blindfolding Him, and then struck Him in the face and cried out, ‘Prophesy, who is it that smote Thee’ (Luke 22:64)?” Ibid.
When this happened, Ellen White says, “There was commotion among the angels. They would have rescued Him instantly; but their commanding angels restrained them.” Early Writings, 170. They obey orders. Are you prepared and ready to go into a society like that?
Unless the church members are directed, guided, and controlled by the Holy Spirit they cannot do their work of spreading the gospel to the world.
In The Desire of Ages, 803, 804, Ellen White quotes from John 20:21, 22. “ ‘Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you!” … “Receive the Holy Spirit.” ’ ” Then she wrote, “The Holy Spirit was not yet fully manifested; for Christ had not yet been glorified. The more abundant impartation of the Spirit did not take place till after Christ’s ascension. Not until this was received could the disciples fulfill the commission to preach the gospel to the world. But the Spirit was now given for a special purpose. Before the disciples could fulfill their official duties in connection with the church, Christ breathed His Spirit upon them. He was committing to them a most sacred trust, and He desired to impress them with the fact that without the Holy Spirit this work could not be accomplished.” Ibid., 805.
We must ask ourselves, Have we received the Holy Spirit? That was the question the apostle Paul asked when he met believers with whom he was not acquainted. One time in Corinth, “… and finding some disciples he [Paul] said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ … And he said to them, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ ” (Acts 19:1–3) or what were you baptized for?
When Peter told the people that they were responsible for crucifying Jesus and they realized how guilty they were, they asked, What are we going to do? Peter said, Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (See Acts 2:36–38.) God’s intention is for all who are baptized to receive the Holy Spirit. A person should not be baptized until they are prepared to receive the Holy Spirit. That is why we do not baptize infants, because you can’t receive the Holy Spirit without faith, and an infant cannot exercise faith. That does not mean they cannot be saved. There will be a multitude of people in the kingdom of heaven who died in infancy, many of them as martyrs.
However, to be a member of a church, to conduct the business of the church, and to do the mission of the church requires the Holy Spirit or the work cannot be done. So, after the ascension of Christ, it was God’s will that everyone, on becoming a member of the church, would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The statement that we read in The Desire of Ages, 680, indicated that not only was heaven’s order to be manifested in Christ’s church, but heaven’s plan of government was to be implemented as well.
Heaven’s government is not a hierarchy. The Jewish church was hierarchically organized and the work of Christ tended to break down that hierarchy.
Jesus explained clearly the problem with the hierarchical system. Rebuking the scribes and Pharisees He said, “They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’ [or monsignor]; but you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:6–12).
The apostle Paul explains God’s government to the Corinthians. “Even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live” (1 Corinthians 8:5, 6).
If heaven’s plan of government is to be represented in God’s church on earth, it must mirror the heavenly church without competition, rivalry, contention, or fighting.
Consider these characteristics of the church in heaven:
- It is a kingdom. That is a major subject of the gospel of Matthew. Christ’s church is a spiritual kingdom and He is the Lord of that kingdom.
- All are subject to the King and the law of the King, including the angels. That was a point of contention at the beginning of the great controversy. Lucifer said that the angels should not be subject to or be under law. But all beings need law to be in harmony.
- God’s last church on earth will have the Spirit of Prophecy. Compare Revelation 12:17 and Revelation 19:10. Having the Spirit of Prophecy does not mean that you will have a series of black books, or red books, or some other kinds of books on your bookshelf. It means, “You were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you” (1Corinthians 1:5, 6). To have the testimony of Christ confirmed in you means it is in your mind, that your life is in harmony with its principles. In order for heaven’s plan of government to be manifested in God’s church on earth that church has to be living in harmony with Inspired writings.
Heavenly angels are organized like an army. At the time of and before Satan’s rebellion in heaven, “The angels were marshaled in companies, each division with a higher commanding angel.” Early Writings, 145.
Ellen White saw in a vision that “There is perfect order and harmony in the Holy City. All the angels that are commissioned to visit the earth hold a golden card, which they present to the angels at the gates of the city as they pass in and out.” Ibid., 39.
Each angel has a special work to do. Angels just don’t come down here and randomly decide what they should do each day. They are organized in their work.
From the beginning we read that “The happiness of the angelic host consisted in their perfect obedience to law. Each had his special work assigned him; and until Satan rebelled, there had been perfect order and harmony among the angels in heaven.” The Signs of the Times, January 9, 1879. They accepted the assignment that each of them was given.
To a young minister and his wife, Ellen White once wrote, “With the spirit of self-confidence that you now possess, neither of you could be happy in heaven; for there all, even the exalted angels, are subordinate. You have yet to learn subordination and submission.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 325. This same counsel applies to all today.
We are told: “Each angel has his particular post of duty, which he is not permitted to leave for any other place.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 11, 103. Now that’s interesting. Angels are not at liberty to go where they please. They are assigned duties which they happily perform.
Ellen White illustrates the order that the angels have in heaven by the order of the children of Israel while in the wilderness. In Egypt Moses had become a general who could not be over-ruled by any other man. His organizational skills were also apparent as he led the Children of Israel through the wilderness. Tents were pitched in their assigned places and they all marched in order, receiving orders from the front of the group. Those assisting Moses used trumpets to signal the leaders who were over each section, telling them exactly what was required. There was perfect order, being an example of what God desires among His people throughout all time.
The angels are available to assist those in this fallen world to help us come into the same kind of order and harmony that exists in heaven. Sadly we don’t have it yet. “The Lord gives to every angel his work for this fallen world. … Heavenly angels are working to bring the human family into a close brotherhood, a oneness described by Christ as like that existing between the Father and the Son.” The Review and Herald, July 4, 1899.
“In our churches let companies be formed for service. In the Lord’s work there are to be no idlers. Let different ones unite in labor as fishers of men. Let them seek to gather souls from the corruption of the world into the saving purity of Christ’s love.
“The formation of small companies as a basis of Christian effort is a plan that has been presented before me by One who can not err. If there is a large number in the church, let the members be formed into small companies, to work not only for the church members, but for unbelievers also.” Australasian Union Conference Record, August 15, 1902.
In Malachi 3:6, it says, “For I am the Lord, I do not change.” “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). So if God was a God of order then, He is still a God of order now.
Imagine what will be achieved when there is a church, anywhere in the world, governed by heaven’s plan of government where harmony and order is developed. That will be the condition of the church, ready and waiting for the Lord’s return and we can be part of it.
(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)
Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.