Do ancient New Testament manuscripts always have the same book order?
No. Ancient New Testament copies sometimes arrange the books differently; even the four Gospels and the epistles of Peter and John are not always in the same order. Yet every available copy keeps Paul's epistles in the same order found today.
Les explains that the books of the New Testament are sometimes found in various copies of antiquity in different order. Every New Testament in libraries across the world is not always Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; even the four Gospels may be mixed up, and the same is true with the little epistles of Peter and John. However, every one of Paul's epistles is always in every available copy, and Paul's epistles are always in the same order we have today. Les says this shows the Holy Spirit was in total control when the men met around approximately 350 A.D. and put the canon of Scripture together, and God particularly brooded over the Pauline epistles because they are appropriate for us today.