1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,580 It's a great video, and I'm excited about what God is doing in the African American 2 00:00:04,580 --> 00:00:06,560 community in conferences like this. 3 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:12,080 You know, the ways of stirring up His people there to reach that wonderful people for Christ, 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:17,960 and not only in the African American community, but beyond in the minorities of our country. 5 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:19,520 Praise the Lord for that. 6 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:25,000 Would you open your Bible with me, please, to the book of Exodus and the 20th chapter? 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:31,840 As we continue our study of the Ten Commandments today, thinking about the name of the Lord, 8 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:35,480 everyone listening to me right now has a name. 9 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:42,720 That is significant, for it acknowledges the uniqueness of you as a person, but also shows 10 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:46,680 that you are connected to the human family. 11 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,680 How many of you have visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington? 12 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:57,440 It's a sober experience to be there and to realize that within that tomb lie the bodies 13 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:03,960 of several soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our nation and did it in such 14 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:08,840 a way that they lost their identity to man. 15 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:15,320 The Tomb of the Unknowns, it is called, and all of us were glad that the one soldier representing 16 00:01:15,320 --> 00:01:21,520 the Vietnam era was finally identified just a few months ago and the remains were returned 17 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,160 to his family. 18 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:25,800 A name is important. 19 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:31,400 None of us thinks of himself or herself as anonymous entities. 20 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,200 We are persons with a name. 21 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,600 We're not merely numbers on a list. 22 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:39,720 We want to be known by name. 23 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,720 We want to be known personally in that way. 24 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,280 Why is that? 25 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:53,400 Because the name represents our basic identity and our self-esteem. 26 00:01:53,400 --> 00:02:01,600 It is the way that God made us that we desire that identity. 27 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:06,880 We think back to Genesis 1 when God first made man. 28 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:14,680 It says in the 26th verse of Genesis 1, God said, let us make man in our image. 29 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:18,600 The Hebrew word for man there is the word Adam. 30 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,720 Let us make Adam, man, in our image. 31 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:30,880 Then a few verses later in chapter 2 verse 7 it says, then the Lord God formed Adam of 32 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,960 the dust from the ground. 33 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:38,360 God began to call this creature Adam. 34 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,840 He gave him a name. 35 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:49,680 The word Adam comes from the Hebrew word that means red, which may suggest to us his skin 36 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:58,520 color but also suggests to us that he may have been made out of red clay. 37 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:04,680 That name Adam identified him as unique from all of the rest of creation. 38 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:10,200 He was made by the immediate act of God. 39 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,160 He alone was made in the image of God. 40 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:17,520 He was Adam. 41 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:23,760 Then he along with his helpmate Eve formed from his side were given the high status, 42 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:30,040 the dignity of being rulers, co-regents over all of God's creation. 43 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:37,960 Likewise, God's name reveals his uniqueness. 44 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:43,320 It reveals his essential nature and his exalted dignity. 45 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:52,560 If a personal name is important to us, how much more so is God's name important to 46 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:54,680 him? 47 00:03:54,680 --> 00:04:02,840 Finally he has reminded us in our study here in Exodus 20 that he is Yahweh, he is the 48 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:13,400 Lord, their God, our God, our Elohim, two of the names of God. 49 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:25,040 God says in the third commandment, do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 50 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,800 What is the meaning of this commandment? 51 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:29,840 What is God trying to say? 52 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:35,200 Well, let me say first what he is not saying, in my opinion at least. 53 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:41,000 I don't believe he is telling us that we should never speak God's name. 54 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:45,960 There are of course orthodox Jews who will never speak the name that I spoke a few seconds 55 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:46,960 ago. 56 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:51,000 They will never use the personal name for God. 57 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:56,200 They will never let it come across their tongue because they do not want to profane the name 58 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:58,120 of the Lord. 59 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:04,240 There are Messianic Jews today, that is Jews who believe in Jesus as their Messiah who 60 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:08,400 will not speak the name of the Lord for the same reason. 61 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:14,240 But I don't think that is what is being said here. 62 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:18,600 I don't think he is either saying in this particular location at least that we should 63 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:23,880 never use obscene speech or offensive speech or abusive speech. 64 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:25,000 That is not meant here. 65 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,680 Now God does forbid that elsewhere. 66 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:35,720 Ephesians chapter 4, for example, says there must be no filthiness or silly talk or coarse 67 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:41,560 jesting which are not fitting but rather giving of thanks. 68 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:46,280 He says there that no Christian should be known for shameful speech. 69 00:05:46,280 --> 00:05:50,800 That is anything that would make us ashamed in the presence of God. 70 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:56,400 We should not be known for silly talk which refers to foolish babblings like those of 71 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:00,880 a drunkard or for coarse jesting. 72 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:03,240 The idea there is that which turns easily. 73 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:10,880 It is the turning of a phrase, it is the double meaning of words, off color, suggestive kinds 74 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:11,880 of language. 75 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:14,360 He says believers ought not to speak that way. 76 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:18,380 But that is not what is being said in Exodus 20. 77 00:06:18,380 --> 00:06:23,160 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 78 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:24,640 What does it mean then? 79 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,940 Well let's think first about what vain means. 80 00:06:28,940 --> 00:06:31,960 The Hebrew word here is shav. 81 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:38,880 I remember as a little kid we had a neighbor who came over to help us roof one time, well 82 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:45,520 known in our community and still is as a matter of fact, as being a wonderful Christian. 83 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:53,840 I grew up in a household when I was a small child that had a good deal of cursing in it. 84 00:06:53,840 --> 00:07:01,440 Those phrases still echo in my mind today and too easily are tempted to come to my tongue 85 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:03,920 when I am angry. 86 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,560 And if you have ever been around a lot of swearing you know the habit that that can 87 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:08,560 become. 88 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:13,360 And I noticed that this man never used that kind of language. 89 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,960 I was just a little child, not even a Christian yet. 90 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:23,160 And yet I noticed one time as he was building, helping us put a roof on a building he hit 91 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,200 his thumb with a hammer. 92 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:28,040 And I wondered what he would do. 93 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:30,280 Do you know what he said? 94 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:34,720 He said, oh shav, shav. 95 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,720 I thought to myself, well that's interesting. 96 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:40,920 What does that mean? 97 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:45,600 I guess he had to say something and the word that came to his mind maybe out of a habit 98 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:48,760 of his life was shav. 99 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:53,280 As I was thinking about the meaning of vain here it sounds so much like the Hebrew word, 100 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,200 vain, shav. 101 00:07:56,200 --> 00:08:02,440 It means to use God's name falsely. 102 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:09,800 It means to use God's name deceitfully or in a lying manner so as to cause desolation. 103 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:17,880 That's the meaning of shav, shav, as we would spell it in our English language. 104 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:25,720 Do not take the name of the Lord in a deceitful manner or in a manner so as to lie. 105 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,000 So what is God saying? 106 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,200 Well scholars debate back and forth exactly what God is saying here but let me give you 107 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:38,160 what I think are five applications of what God is saying. 108 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:40,600 You shall not take his name in vain. 109 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:45,580 The first place he is saying that we ought not to use God's name in a casual careless 110 00:08:45,580 --> 00:08:47,760 manner. 111 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:53,720 That is we ought not to use it in swearing or cursing or in joking. 112 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:55,960 We ought not to be used in profanity. 113 00:08:55,960 --> 00:09:01,440 As I said before, profanity can become an acquired habit of one's life. 114 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:06,440 I heard about one man who got saved and he testified to his pastor that on that day that 115 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:14,040 he came to Christ he lost half of his vocabulary. 116 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:19,000 It may be a habit that some acquire but the fact is that to use God's name in vain is 117 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:22,740 an insult to God. 118 00:09:22,740 --> 00:09:31,560 It is sinfully presumptuous to use God's name as a throwaway word, as an expletive, as some 119 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:34,840 exclamation that means nothing. 120 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:40,080 To use it in vain is void of meaning. 121 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:44,760 To do so is to blaspheme God. 122 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:50,080 And when we blaspheme God it debases his identity. 123 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:55,920 It debases his unique exalted dignity as God. 124 00:09:55,920 --> 00:10:00,680 Bernard Schneider, writing in his book called Deuteronomy, a favored book of Jesus, has 125 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:02,400 this to say, 126 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:10,040 "...people abuse the sacred name of God and of Jesus Christ almost everywhere and at almost 127 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:12,780 every level of society. 128 00:10:12,780 --> 00:10:18,160 Every time a person uses God's name carelessly, willfully, or even thoughtlessly to give vent 129 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:25,680 to his feelings, he insults God his Maker, and God will not excuse him for doing so. 130 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:31,100 God will not excuse a man for abusing his name, for there is no excuse for this insulting 131 00:10:31,100 --> 00:10:32,100 habit." 132 00:10:32,100 --> 00:10:40,480 The point is that when we use God's name in this careless manner we are truly doing insult 133 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:44,000 to God personally. 134 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,240 We are to avoid belittling descriptions of God. 135 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:56,760 And I would include words like gosh and gee. 136 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:02,920 What are these words but abbreviations for the divine names? 137 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:10,880 And yet those are slang words that we're all just very accustomed to use. 138 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:13,960 We need to watch ourselves in our words. 139 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:15,160 Be very careful. 140 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:20,240 George Washington, the first President of the United States, said this, 141 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:31,280 The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and 142 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:39,480 low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it. 143 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:42,880 You've come a long way, baby. 144 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:52,360 I believe it also means that we need to be careful of using God's name casually in prayer. 145 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:56,520 What I'm talking about is trying to fill up the spaces in our prayer by saying the name 146 00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:00,600 Lord or something like that. 147 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:02,040 You know what speech clutter is. 148 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:06,560 If you've taken a course in speech somewhere that's one of the phrases you often learn 149 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:08,440 about speech clutter. 150 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:15,160 The words that we stick in the empty spaces so that we don't hear nothing. 151 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:23,280 Like or lots of other phrases that we use today. 152 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:28,840 How many times have you heard people say well like, like this or like that? 153 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,320 There are lots of phrases and the one I'm trying to think of doesn't come to my mind 154 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:33,320 right now. 155 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:37,480 What is it? 156 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:42,240 You know, you know, but there's another one too that we hear today so often. 157 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,920 You know? 158 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,720 Like you know. 159 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:57,880 And in our prayers, in our prayers we often use similar kinds of phrases and include the 160 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:01,800 name of the Lord. 161 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:04,960 Listen to yourself pray sometimes. 162 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:11,520 And how many times you use the name Lord in prayer and are just using that to fill up 163 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:13,960 a space. 164 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:18,120 That too can be using the Lord's name in vain. 165 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:23,620 If there's not a meaning, if there's not significance to it, if it's just a throw away word to make 166 00:13:23,620 --> 00:13:30,720 our prayer sound nice or sound full, we're in danger of crossing the line here. 167 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:36,000 Secondly, let me go on to say that I believe when we take the Lord's name in vain it also 168 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:41,320 means to fail to honor an oath. 169 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:49,040 God says in Leviticus 19 verse 12, you shall not swear falsely by my name so as to profane 170 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,200 the name of your God. 171 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,160 I am Yahweh. 172 00:13:55,160 --> 00:14:00,880 We're not to make a commitment and then not do it or we're not to confirm something that 173 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:03,600 is false. 174 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:10,480 In Deuteronomy 6 13 he says, thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and swear by 175 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:14,080 his name. 176 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:22,080 That's where we get the concept of giving an oath before a deposition or an accord of law. 177 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:27,520 To swear by the name of the Lord, he says in Deuteronomy 6 13. 178 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:33,240 So it is a very serious thing to lift your right hand and to promise to tell the truth, 179 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:36,820 the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 180 00:14:36,820 --> 00:14:41,760 So help you, God. 181 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:48,320 And then to turn around and lie is the breaking of the third commandment. 182 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:52,280 Now there are some Christians who don't think that we ought to take oaths at all because 183 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:54,760 of what James says in chapter 5 verse 12. 184 00:14:54,760 --> 00:15:00,000 Do not swear, he says, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your 185 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:07,920 yes be yes and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment. 186 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,840 But I don't think that James is condemning all oath taking. 187 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:17,740 He is simply attacking a custom of that day whereby people used oaths all the time. 188 00:15:17,740 --> 00:15:19,240 And he's saying don't do that. 189 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,400 He says let your yes be yes and your no, no. 190 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:28,840 I like what Charles Ryrie says in his study note on that verse, not all oaths are forbidden 191 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:35,080 by this verse, only flippant, profane or blasphemous ones. 192 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:41,760 Oaths in the sense of solemn affirmations were enjoined in the law, Exodus 22 11, were 193 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:49,880 practiced by Christ, Matthew 26 63 to 64, and by Paul, Romans 1 9. 194 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:54,880 Yes, you find oaths in the New Testament. 195 00:15:54,880 --> 00:16:04,520 When the Apostle Paul says God as my witness, that is an oath that he is taking. 196 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:10,880 When we and I attest to the truthfulness of our word, what we are saying is that our integrity 197 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:14,680 is intact. 198 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:20,360 But when we give an oath to tell the truth or when we make a commitment to say we're 199 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:26,200 going to do this in the name of the Lord and then we do not do it, it is to take the name 200 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:28,600 of the Lord in vain. 201 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:37,920 Third, to take the name of the Lord in vain is to declare oneself autonomous from God. 202 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:44,880 Verse 30 verses 8 and 9 say, keep deception and lies far from me. 203 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,960 Give me neither poverty nor riches. 204 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:55,720 Feed me with the food that is my portion, lest I be full and deny thee and say, who 205 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:58,020 is the Lord? 206 00:16:58,020 --> 00:17:06,280 Or lest I be in want and steal and profane the name of my God. 207 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:08,280 What is he saying? 208 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:17,200 He is saying, God, give me such a state in life that I shall not be rich or poor and 209 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:23,600 in either way declare myself independent from you and say that I don't need you because 210 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:31,640 I have so much or to say that I can't trust you because I must steal to gain. 211 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:36,400 And thus in doing that, profane your name. 212 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:43,400 And so to take the name of the Lord in vain means to declare oneself autonomous from God, 213 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:46,480 according to Proverbs 30 verses 8 and 9. 214 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:54,880 Fourth, we have to take the name of the Lord in vain is to act a hypocrite in hypocrisy, 215 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:56,440 in word and act. 216 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:04,400 It is to be a hypocrite in word and act, that is to identify oneself as a Christian and 217 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:12,000 then shamelessly live inconsistently with what the name of Christ really represents. 218 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:17,160 Jesus said in Matthew 7, so then you will know them by their fruits. 219 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:24,120 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does 220 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:29,520 the will of my Father who is in heaven, many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did 221 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:35,400 we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many 222 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:41,360 miracles that I will declare to them, I never knew you. 223 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:45,640 Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. 224 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:47,000 What is Jesus saying? 225 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:54,320 He is saying that when we call upon him as Lord, we ought not to practice lawlessness, 226 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:59,280 be the hypocrite, because if we do, then we are showing that we don't really belong to 227 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:00,280 him. 228 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:05,600 It is another way of taking the Lord's name in vain, to call upon him as Lord and then 229 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:09,680 to live like the devil. 230 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:15,800 G. Campbell Morgan writes, the form in which this third commandment is broken most completely, 231 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:22,560 most awfully, and most terribly, is by perpetually making use of the name of the Lord while the 232 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:26,920 life does not square with the profession that is made. 233 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:32,240 The man who professes with his lips to honor God and yet denies him in his life will do 234 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:38,440 far more to hinder the coming of the kingdom than the man who openly blasphemes and makes 235 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:43,600 no profession of honoring God. 236 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:50,040 That is why Paul says that you and I are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with 237 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:53,120 which you have been called. 238 00:19:53,120 --> 00:20:05,280 Fourthly, let me say that the name of the Lord is taken in vain when we deny the deity 239 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:08,360 of the Lord Jesus Christ. 240 00:20:08,360 --> 00:20:13,800 When one denies that Jesus Christ is God, it is blasphemy. 241 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:21,440 Paul acknowledges this when he testifies regarding his former life before he knew Jesus as his 242 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:22,600 Lord. 243 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:30,240 He says in 1 Timothy 1 verses 12 and 13, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened 244 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:36,600 me because he considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly 245 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:43,840 a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. 246 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:50,120 Please understand that the Apostle Paul, when he was a Pharisee, was very careful in his 247 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:54,360 use of the name, the sacred name of God. 248 00:20:54,360 --> 00:21:05,440 But now having come to Christ, he recognizes that denying Christ before made him a blasphemer. 249 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:11,720 So the commandment has a broad range of meanings. 250 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:19,000 There's a warning that comes with this commandment I want you to notice, looking now at the text. 251 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:24,960 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him 252 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:30,880 unpunished who takes his name in vain. 253 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:37,360 The Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain. 254 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:40,160 That is, God will not leave him acquitted. 255 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:44,940 God will not leave him innocent who takes his name in vain. 256 00:21:44,940 --> 00:21:49,000 That is, the Lord will punish those who blaspheme his name. 257 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,700 That is the warning that comes with this commandment. 258 00:21:53,700 --> 00:22:00,240 Only commandments number two and three have a warning attached to them. 259 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:02,920 We talked about the one last week. 260 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,140 Here is this one. 261 00:22:05,140 --> 00:22:09,500 God will punish those who blaspheme his name. 262 00:22:09,500 --> 00:22:13,960 We see this carried out in the book of Leviticus, and I invite you to turn there to the twenty-fourth 263 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:21,360 chapter and read about this incident. 264 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:28,300 Starting in verse 10 of Leviticus 24, it says, Now the son of an Israelite woman whose father 265 00:22:28,300 --> 00:22:34,400 was an Egyptian went out among the sons of Israel, and the Israelite woman's son and 266 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:37,040 the man of Israel struggled with each other in the camp. 267 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:38,040 He got into a fight. 268 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,680 He got into a brawl. 269 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:47,720 And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the name and cursed. 270 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,440 So they brought him to Moses. 271 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:57,040 His mothers identified then, and it says in verse 12, and they put him in custody so that 272 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:01,200 the command of the Lord might be made clear to them. 273 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:05,880 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp, and 274 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:10,060 let all who hurt him lay their hands on his head. 275 00:23:10,060 --> 00:23:14,080 Then let all the congregation stone him. 276 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:18,880 And you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, If anyone curses his God, then he 277 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:21,280 shall bear his sin. 278 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:27,360 Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. 279 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:31,240 All the congregation shall certainly stone him. 280 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:36,520 The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the name, shall be put to death. 281 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:41,600 And if a man takes the life of another human being, he shall surely be put to death. 282 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:47,160 And so you see it's put into the same category as murder in terms of punishment. 283 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:52,160 That's how seriously God looks upon blasphemy. 284 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:59,200 It is interesting, isn't it, that when Jesus tells us how we ought to pray, what is commonly 285 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:07,400 called the Lord's Prayer, He says, Our Father who art in heaven, what's the very next phrase 286 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:08,680 after addressing God? 287 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:09,680 What is it? 288 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:11,520 Hallowed be thy name. 289 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:17,000 Literally, He says, Thy name be hallowed. 290 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:22,200 Thy kingdom, let it come. 291 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:25,800 Let come about thy will. 292 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:33,560 Three quick petitions, but the very first one is, Hallowed be thy name. 293 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:39,960 And then wrapping up those petitions, He says, As in heaven, so also on earth. 294 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:45,280 In other words, that refers to all three petitions. 295 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:48,600 Thy name be hallowed. 296 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:52,640 As in heaven, so on earth. 297 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,880 The name of God is sacred. 298 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,080 And it is to be sacred on earth, that is, it is in heaven. 299 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:03,760 To be hallowed means to make it holy, to make it special. 300 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:08,320 It is to be set apart from what is common. 301 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:09,320 It is to be venerated. 302 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:13,720 It is to be consecrated. 303 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,480 It is not to be profaned. 304 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:26,600 Why did Jesus give that petition first? 305 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:36,320 The answer may be found in the human proneness to trash the name of God so easily. 306 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:45,680 To use it so commonly and so in vain, so wastefully as a throwaway word. 307 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:52,480 The human tendency to empty it of its sacredness and of its glory may well be why He said, 308 00:25:52,480 --> 00:26:00,520 First of all, when you pray, pray that God's name may be hallowed on earth as it is in 309 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:02,440 heaven. 310 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,440 How can we protect God's name? 311 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,600 How can we believers protect His name? 312 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:14,040 Let me suggest to you very quickly four ways that those of us who bear the name Christian 313 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:15,920 can protect the name of God. 314 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:23,120 In the first place, by living your life reverently. 315 00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:27,160 And being sure that if you're called a Christian, you live like a Christian. 316 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:33,860 Secondly, by using your tongue carefully. 317 00:26:33,860 --> 00:26:46,640 And if you in your youth or in your adulthood found cursing and profanity to become a habit, 318 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,720 to determine with God's help that your language will be cleaned up, that you will no longer 319 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:54,040 use the name of the Lord that way. 320 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:59,680 Thirdly, make your commitments sincerely. 321 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:04,280 When you say that you're going to do something in the name of the Lord, keep that commitment. 322 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:07,920 Do not blaspheme His name. 323 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:13,320 And finally, invoke His name prayerfully. 324 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:23,240 When you speak the name of the Lord, speak it reverently in prayer. 325 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:29,340 Have you broken the tenth or the third commandment, the third of the ten? 326 00:27:29,340 --> 00:27:36,280 Have you ever blasphemed the name of God? 327 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:41,600 If this morning I were to ask you to stand and honestly acknowledge that, there wouldn't 328 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,020 be an empty chair here. 329 00:27:45,020 --> 00:27:48,000 Because the fact is that all of us have broken this commandment. 330 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,280 We are guilty in some respect. 331 00:27:51,280 --> 00:28:01,960 The law of which is good has been used lawfully because it has revealed our profanity. 332 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:07,840 In the New Testament, the word profane means those who walk on the sacred name. 333 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:13,320 We have all walked on the sacred name of God. 334 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:16,840 The law exposes our sin. 335 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:19,560 You say, well, so what? 336 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:26,680 That means that we are guilty before God and we are condemned. 337 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:33,560 You mean God would keep me out of heaven just for taking His name in vain? 338 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:35,660 Yes. 339 00:28:35,660 --> 00:28:43,680 You mean God actually would send a person to hell who cursed once in His life? 340 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:46,680 Yes. 341 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:50,600 That is correct. 342 00:28:50,600 --> 00:29:00,300 The law of God exposes our guilt as sinners so that the grace of God then may save us. 343 00:29:00,300 --> 00:29:09,320 The law of God demands punishment for the sinful one, the transgressor of the commandment. 344 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:17,320 Jesus Christ bore that guilt and penalty for your blasphemy and mine when He died on the 345 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:19,840 cross. 346 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:27,560 God lovingly arranged the cross so that He could rescue you and me from the wrath that 347 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:35,600 we do deserve because we have broken His commandments. 348 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:42,720 One day years ago there were several people on the street who heard a man using profanity 349 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,080 in such a way that it shocked them. 350 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:50,160 One of them said, get away from that fellow. 351 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:55,440 The God he is cursing may split the earth and let him go down alive into hell for his 352 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:58,880 blasphemy. 353 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:07,680 The man who was doing the cursing and the blaspheming was John Bunyan, who later came 354 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:14,360 to faith in Jesus Christ and wrote, of course, the classic Pilgrim's Progress. 355 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:23,160 John Bunyan was not saved because he cleaned up his language and tried to be a better man. 356 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:31,320 He was saved from sin and condemnation because he realized the one who bore his sin on Calvary 357 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:38,560 and was raised from the dead could save him if he would but trust in Him. 358 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:42,360 And John Bunyan did so. 359 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:52,520 He wrote a little poem that says, Run, John, run, the law commands, but gives me neither 360 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:55,880 feet nor hands. 361 00:30:55,880 --> 00:31:06,040 Far grander news the gospel brings, it bids me fly and gives me wings. 362 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:12,780 You see, the law says, you shall not, and if you do, you will die. 363 00:31:12,780 --> 00:31:16,440 And it's righteous and it's holy and it's good. 364 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:20,080 It exposes our problem. 365 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:22,040 But it doesn't tell us what to do. 366 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,040 It doesn't bring us to the point of redemption. 367 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:29,920 But that's the message of the gospel. 368 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:36,080 Today, if you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, I hope that you understand 369 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:42,000 afresh how needful you are of doing that. 370 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:46,200 Because you see, there's none of us who's going to be able to earn our way to heaven. 371 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:50,000 We've all broken the commandments of God. 372 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:54,360 That's above all of them, the third commandment. 373 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:57,440 And we are in need of forgiveness. 374 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,640 God's provided that for you. 375 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:02,760 Will you claim it today by faith? 376 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:05,760 I hope so. 377 00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:09,560 Let's pray. 378 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:18,360 With our heads bowed and our eyes closed in reverence before God, if today the Holy Spirit 379 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:25,920 has convicted your heart and you realize that you are a sinner in need of salvation, that 380 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:32,480 you are one who has transgressed the third commandment and maybe others as well, and 381 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:44,400 you need to find forgiveness, will you come to Jesus Christ today and trust in Him? 382 00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:55,000 If that is your heart's desire, your heart's trust, I'm going to ask you to lift your 383 00:32:55,000 --> 00:33:03,920 hand and just put it down as a way of visibly saying, yes, this is my commitment today to 384 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:08,740 receive Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sin. 385 00:33:08,740 --> 00:33:12,640 Is there one here like that? 386 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:13,640 God bless you. 387 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:14,640 Yes. 388 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:15,640 Anyone else? 389 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:16,640 Yes. 390 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:27,960 Within your heart of hearts, you can simply pray a prayer like this, Lord, forgive me 391 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:32,480 of my sin. 392 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:41,400 I believe that Jesus died for me, that He bore my penalty on the cross. 393 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:46,280 That I receive Jesus into my heart right now. 394 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:53,320 I believe in Him personally as my Lord and my Savior. 395 00:33:53,320 --> 00:34:02,960 Wash away the guilt of my sin and work in me to clean up my language and to make me 396 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:09,440 the kind of person that you want me to be. 397 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:11,440 God will do that, friend. 398 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:16,800 Father, I pray that these who lifted their hands this morning will make that commitment 399 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:21,880 in their hearts now. 400 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:31,560 Having made it, we'll find a release from the guilt and assurance of eternal life. 401 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:39,720 In Christ's name I pray, amen.