Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
In Psalms, we learn much about our Creator. One thing we learn is that He is so holy that His very name is sacred. The Psalmist said, "Holy and reverend is His name" (Ps. 111:9). The word "reverend" properly belongs to no one but God, who alone is holy (Rev. 15:4). Whomever God anoints with His power to govern among the saints may be worthy of some reverence, but only because of the presence of God in his life.
In the Dark Ages, when Christianity was consolidating it's power over Western Europe, one of the tools of oppression it employed was to force the people of Europe to treat the names of its ministers as being sacred, just as God's name is sacred. From this comes the Christian tradition that demands all men refer to Christian ministers as "Reverend". Wealthier classes of Christians, discontent with that small degree of honor, have added suggestive adjectives for their more prestigious ministers, such as "the very reverend", or "the right reverend", or "the most reverend".
The "most reverend"!?? Wait a minute! What about God? Who is really "the most reverend"? Sadly, the title "reverend" is very often granted to men who do not even have the baptism of the holy Ghost, and in most cases, do not believe in the miracle-working power of God. Still, they receive the blasphemous title, "reverend"? I am somewhat embarrassed to confess that I was granted the degree of "Master of Divinity" by the seminary from which I graduated. Good grief! There is only one Master of divine things, and that is Jesus! This glorification of the flesh is one of the qualities of that Whore in Revelation, who "sat upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy." No unsanctified man's name can possibly be reverend to any extent, and Jesus alone is Master, but to use such titles when addressing men who have no anointing of God upon their lives is the history of Christianity. And that is one more reason why the Spirit is calling God's people to "come out of her, My people!"
Young Elihu told Job and his three friends that he had learned from God not to be a respecter of persons. The attitude of someone who is no respecter of persons is this: whatever is right is right, and whatever is wrong is wrong, regardless of who is involved. Part of Elihu's education in this truth was that he had learned not to "give flattering titles unto man. For I know not to give flattering titles; in so doing, my Maker would soon take me away" (Job 32:21-22). If you use the title "reverend" in reference to any man, it must be in the fear of God; it must be because of reverence for God and His anointing upon that particular man. Do not use such titles in reference to men who claim to be ministers of God but who have no anointing from Him. To do that is merely to flatter a man; to do so is to seek man's favor, not God's.
In the Bible, it is considered a form of blasphemy to say that something or somebody is of God when it is not. Jesus showed us this when he said, "I know the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and are not" (Rev. 2:9). For this reason, the names of Christian denominations are "names of blasphemy". None of them is the body of Christ, yet all of them claim to be. And within the religion of Christianity, there are many, many other such blasphemies.
Many are the very wonderful words from God that Christianity has twisted into blasphemies by applying them to things and to people who are unworthy of those sacred titles; "reverend" is only one of them. Let us who seek to please God keep that word holy unto the Lord and not surrender to the vain traditions of ungodly men who ascribe that sacred title to anyone but God, and to those whom He places in authority over us. Why would we want to do anything else?