"These [in Berea] were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." - Acts 17:11

(8) The people I am talking about are behaving just like those dreamers who destroyed their own bodies. They reject all authority and insult angels. (9) Even Michael, the chief angel, didn't dare to insult the devil, when the two of them were arguing about the body of Moses. All Michael said was, "The Lord will punish you!" (10) But these people insult powers they don't know anything about. They are like senseless animals that end up getting destroyed, because they live only by their feelings.

Contemporary English Version copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society.

Dignitaries (New King James) or dignities (King James) literally means "glorious ones," and it refers to the apostles. However, the indignity does not end there because to disrespect them is to also disrespect the One who sent them, as Jesus reveals in Matthew 10:40.

This evil is covered in Exodus 22:28: "You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people." II Peter 3:3 alerts us "that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts." Today, the disrespect is boldly, openly, and directly aimed at God. These vile people not only disrespect God verbally, but they also do so in their public, influential conduct. Never has there been such a universal irreverence for our Creator since the period before the Flood. The worst offenders in this nation are those who are younger and who have been thoroughly schooled in liberalism's concepts.

On the surface, God's sovereignty appears to have been eclipsed, but we must not think this. God is in absolute and complete control. Though it may appear that Satan and his evil influences are in control, it is not the reality. We can be deceived if we allow this line of thinking to continue.

What does the Bible say to the mind of faith? I Timothy 6:15-16 proclaims who is God and who is in control! "[W]hich He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power." This is He about whom they speak evil and at whom they scoff. His time is coming, and we appear to be on its cusp.

— John W. Ritenbaugh

To learn more, see:
Living By Faith and God's Sovereignty



 

Topics:

Disrespect for Dignitaries

Disrespect for God

Disrespect for God's Representatives

Faith,Living by

God's Sovereignty

Irreverence

Irreverence for God

Living by Faith

Scoffers

Scoffing

Speaking Evil of Dignitaries




Back to top