Divine order

“ That man was created a form of Divine order follows from his being created in the image and likeness of God; for since God is order itself, man was therefore created the image and likeness of order. There are two origins from which order exists, and by which it subsists—Divine love and Divine wisdom; and man was created a receptacle of them both. ”

“ It was before remarked, that the Divine commandments are all of them laws of Divine and heavenly order, and that man is required to live in obedience to them, that so his spirit may be brought into a heavenly state, and thus be fitted for heaven. ”

“ The divine truth proceeding from the Lord is what makes order, and divine truths are the laws of order, according to which the Lord leads man. For this reason to save man by immediate mercy is contrary to divine order, and what is contrary to divine order is contrary to the Divine. Divine order is heaven with man, which order man had perverted with himself by a life contrary to the laws of order, which are divine truths. ”

“ If on the one side Christianity seems to set up conscience, as the guardian of the things of God, against positive law, it gives on the other a Divine sanction and consecration to the whole order of things connected with the State by shewing its ministerial relation to, its defined place and function in, God's ordering of the world. ”

“ Things divine and sacred we call both those which God commandeth for the sanctification of our mind and conscience as things necessary, and also those which the decency and order of the church requireth to be ordained and observed for the profitable and convenient use of the things which are necessary ”

“ The primitive apostles claimed no such right and made use of no such unspiritual methods. Order is a good thing and is everywhere to be sought, but God nowhere has conferred upon the heads of His Church the authority to compel conscience or to force tender souls to submit to a system which reveals in itself no inherent evidences of divine origin. ”

“ On the other hand the Divine law directed men to one another according to the demands of that order whereby man is directed to God, which order was the chief aim of that law. Now man is directed to God not only by the interior acts of the mind, which are faith, hope, and love, but also by certain external works, whereby man makes profession of his subjection to God: and it is these works that are said to belong to the Divine worship. ”

“ There must be some sort of sanction to enforce the divine laws,—not only the natural law (lex naturae) , [pg 405] but, a fortiori, the “law of grace” (lex gratiae) , as the supernatural order is so much more important than the natural.
α) By the good works which he performs in the state of sanctifying grace, and with the aid of actual graces (in gratia et ex gratia) , man acquires a twofold merit,—he helps to execute the divine plan of governance in regard to his fellow-creatures and assists in furthering the external glory of God, which is the ultimate purpose of creation. ”

“ As for order, if it be God’s order, let it stand; but if it be man’s order, I must examine whether or not it excludes the essence of Christ’s kingdom; for, if it does, I remember that word, ‘Call no man master upon earth; for one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren.’” [1] }} And in reply to a question put to him as to whether there were no principles in the Word of God which would unite all believers in worship,whatever might be their various views and attainments in the divine life, said,
“Yes there are ”

“ Section II The holy orders, then, of the Heavenly Beings share in the supremely Divine participation, in a higher degree than things which merely exist, or which lead an irrational life, or which are rational like ourselves. ”

“ I wish to say to the Latter-day Saints, and also to those who do not believe in the fulness of the Gospel, that this ordinance, which we are now attending to this afternoon, is, in reality, no more sacred than any other ordinance of the house of God in the eyes of him who has instituted the same. The validity of one divine law is the same as the validity of another with our Father and God. ”

“ This celestial order is God's order, and those who partake of its blessings must be in harmony with God's mind and will. High law cannot be obeyed and lived by inferior beings who are not willing to submit to the first principles of salvation and power. ”

“ But the Word of God, in its Wisdom, teaches this also--that it came to us through Angels, as though the Divine regulation were laying down this rule, that, through the first, the second are brought to the Divine Being. For not only with regard to the superior and inferior minds, but even for those of the same rank, this Law has been established by the superessential supreme ordinance, that, within each Hierarchy, there are first, and middle, and last ranks and powers, and that the more divine are instructors and conductors of the less, to the Divine access, and illumination, and participation. ”

“ And so in every inhabited world, and in every system of worlds, a God presides. Deity in his own right and person, and by virtue of the essence of him; and also by virtue of his being the sign and symbol of the Collectivity of the Divine Intelligences of the universe. Having access to all the councils of the Gods, each individual Deity becomes a partaker of the collective knowledge, wisdom, honor, power, majesty, and glory of the Body Divine—in a word, the embodiment of the Spirit of the Gods whose influence permeates the universe. ”

“ To reveal the universal and perpetual law of grace, which God's common beneficence to the children of men, such as puts them into a better state than that of devils, gives us some ground to expect. The divine authority likewise, which in this book commands our belief and obedience, is universal and perpetual, and knows no limits, either of time or place ”

“ Keep all the Commandments which God has given us either Himself or through His Church; consequently, also avoid Sin, by which the Divine Command is broken, and strive to lead a virtuous life (Part II.) . ”

“ The doctrine, which supposes the Deity to exercise a superintendence and direction over all the affairs of the universe, in any of the modes that have been mentioned, whether by a subordinate agent, or by laws, general or particular, with inherent self-executing power, or by the direct efficiency of the divine will, is called the doctrine of divine providence. ”

“ What we call the commandments of God are simply the laws or modes of his own Divine existence, stated to us in legal forms for our spiritual guidance. To keep the commandments is to live like God in our finite sphere ”

“ Those who arrived at an understanding of this important point, were thus led to see the sacred, unchanging character of the divine law. They saw, as never before, the force of the Saviour's words, “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.”717 The law of God, being a revelation of His will, a transcript of His character, must forever endure, “as a faithful witness in heaven.” Not one command has been annulled; not a jot or tittle has been changed. Says the psalmist: “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.” “All His commandments are sure. ”

“ We have the authority of holy writ that God is infinite, therefore not a person, but a divine Principle, that demands our obedience, the omnipotent Mind that governs the universe and man. Because there is but one God and many personalities, if we worshipped a person we should not worship God, but man. ”

“ Thus it may be seen, how keeping the Divine commandments tends to bring man into that state of love and goodness, which is the essence of the heavenly state. Since therefore, it is the Lord's will that man should come into that state of love, it must be his will that he should keep the Divine commandments, which is the means and the only means of attaining that state. ”

“ Even the inferior lights, the moon and stars, show the glory and power of the Father of lights, and furnish us with matter for praise. 5. The heavenly bodies are not only the creatures of the divine power, but subject to the divine government. God not only made them, but ordained them, and the ordinances of heaven can never be altered. But how does this come in here to magnify God's favour to man? ”

“ The general principles on which her action is based are the maxims and precepts of our divine Lord himself, the character of the holy sacraments which he established in his church to be the channels of grace, the institutions which came to her from the apostles, and which she will ever preserve, and those principles of right and morality which God has planted in the heart of man, and of which her divine commission makes her the highest and the most authoritative exponent. ”

“ Of that Equilibrium in the Deity, between the Infinite Divine WISDOM and the Infinite Divine POWER, from which result the Stability of the Universe, the unchangeableness of the Divine Law, and the Principles of Truth, Justice, and Right which are a part of it; and the Supreme Obligation of the Divine Law upon all men, as superior to all other law, and forming a part of all the laws of men and nations. ”

“ And being Divine,—they are consequently infinite in meaning; for whatever is Divine, is infinite. The Ten Commandments are, in themselves, a summary of all the Divine Commandments, as, when they are traced through their derivations and conclusions, may be seen to be true. ”

“ What obstinacy is that, or what presumption, to prefer human tradition to divine ordinances, and not to perceive that God is displeased and provoked, as often as human tradition relaxes and sets aside the divine command. ”

“ When his doubts and perplexities are resolved and he knows that it is the Divine which must be his law, he aims again and always at such clear and decisive know- ledge as will guide him practically to this source and this rule of his future action. How is the Divine to be distinguished among the various states of being which constitute our ordinary experience ? ”

“ While, however, carefully distinguishing between Reason and Faith, and Nature and Grace, Theology at the same time insists upon the organic connection and mutual relation between the natural and the supernatural order. Hence it is more than ever important that Catholic doctrines should be set forth in such a way as to bring out their organic union and connection. ”

“ It also holds the keys of the administration of ordinances for the remission of sins, and for the gift of the Holy Spirit; to heal the sick, cast out demons, or work miracles in the name of the Lord; in fine, to bind or loose on earth and in heaven. For the exercise of all which powers the student of Theology will find abundant precedents in the sacred Scriptures.
Man holding the keys of the Priesthood and Apostleship after the order of the Son of God, are his representatives, or embassadors, to mankind. ”

“ Further, the state of the Church is between the state of nature and the state of glory. Now we find order in nature, in that some things are above others, and likewise in glory, as in the angels. Therefore there should be Order in the Church. ”

“ We may say, however, that, since man's salvation is from God, those precepts above all seem to be rules of salvation, which direct man to God: and accordingly those which refer to Divine worship are called ceremonial precepts. ”

“ Section I Concerning common and distinctive theology, and what is the Divine Union and distinction.
LET then the self-existent Goodness be sung from the Oracles as defining and manifesting the whole supremely-Divine-Subsistence in its essential nature. For, what else is there to learn from the sacred theology, when it affirms that the Godhead Itself, leading the way, says, "Why dost thou ask me concerning the Good?----None is Good except God alone." ”

“ The principal object of divine law is to render man holy. "Be ye holy, as I am holy," says the Lord. This holiness consists in perfect love of God and man. This charity is the accomplishment of the Law. It is, then, by the practice that we become holy and resemble God. Hence it was necessary that the Old Law should contain different moral precepts regarding the virtues necessary for the perfect happiness of man. These moral precepts are all contained in the ten commandments. These commandments are a full explanation of the natural law. ”

“ The course which the divine dispensations suggest is the course to which divine revelation has afiixed its most solemn and sacred sanction. We are too much accustomed to consider the men of other countries as if they came not within the scope of the sympathies and dispositions of the religion of Christ. ”

“ This doctrine of Deity teaches a divine government for the world that is in harmony with our modern knowledge of the universe; for, as I have remarked elsewhere in effect: (New Witness for God, pp. 473-5.) An infinitude of worlds and systems of worlds rising one above another in ever-increasing splendor, in limitless space and eternal duration, have, as a concomitant, an endless line of exalted, divine men to preside over and within them, as Priests, Kings, Patriarchs, Gods! ”

“ You perceive also, with equal clearness and certainty, that this infinite, eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, all-wise, all-creating mind is perfectly and essentially holy, a pure flame of holiness; and that, as such, he regards sin with unutterable, irreconcilable detestation and abhorrence. With a voice, which reverberates through the wide expanse of his dominions, you hear him saying, as the Sovereign and Legislator of the universe, Be ye holy; for I, the Lord your God, am holy. And you see his throne surrounded, you see [199] heaven filled by those only, who perfectly obey this command. ”

“ Is it not true that all things are ordered according to God’s will, and that His providence governs all things? Is not everything which happens in the universe, whether it be the work of God, of angels, of other demons, or of heroes, regulated by the law of the Most High God? ”

“ But although the divine will as revealed in the Scriptures, is a perfect rule or law for all mankind, and although human laws ought to conform to the divine law, yet it would be impossible to govern the people of a state by that law alone. The divine law is broad, and comprehends rules to teach men their whole duty ”