Gratitude: The Third Commandment

Notes:

Writing the introduction for this sermon:

Name of Jesus on the Back of my car…

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

What is the Name?

In NA culture, depends on euphony, genealogy, historical events or geographical locations, maybe events.

In scripture, names are chosen to reflect a persons identity or character or calling or mission. Names were intented to show something about that person.

Eve: Mother of Life

Jacob= Deceiver, “one who grasps the heel”

Changed to Israel=Wrestles of God

Abraham=Father of Many

Ruth=Friend

Moses: Masha: Drew out of Water

Milestone moments for Moses:

Pharoah’s Daughter Drew Moses out of the Water

When he met his future wife Zipporah at a well, he rescued her along with her sisters from shepherds and Moses drew water for their sheep.

Moses struck the rock to draw water out of the rock, cost him admission into the Promised Land

Names are more than descriptive, their names embody their character and personality.

Break Down the Lord’s Name:

“God”

In the beginning… God! Elohim

Elohim: God

Built into Elohim is a PLURALITY to God

El=God

El Shaddai: God Almighty (Genesis 17:1, 48x)

El Elyon: God Most High (Genesis 14:18, 52x)

Elohim:

1. Plurality

2. Holy/Otherworldly

“LORD”

Lord=Imminance/nearness

13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”

15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever,

the name you shall call me

from generation to generation.

Three Names?

1. “I am who I am”

2. “I am”

3. “The Lord”

YHWH=L.O.R.D.

“I am what I am” It points the unchangeableness of God, but not just his essential being, but his essential being in relation to his people. The name contains the assurance of the covenantal relationship to us.

Tetragrammaton:

“I am”

Israelites weren’t allowed to say YHWH

Hebrew class: Collective gasp…

Dead Sea Scrolls

“He who must not be named”

Cursed if you say it

Similar fear

Meaning of YHWH:

Enduring

Reverence

Relationship

“Jealous”

Exodus 34:14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Alan Cole: Name is Jealous: Defines “God’s very nature in terms of his demand for exclusive relationship with him.”

Meaning of Jealous:

Covenantal Relationship

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Father=Abba

Son=Jesus=“YHWH Saves” or “YHWH is salvation”

Holy Spirit

Matthew 28:19: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

“I baptize you into the name of the Lord.” Into fellowship, into God, NOT in the Name of God.

Into: Implies movement! From outside to inside.

Show graph: “IN” v “INTO”

Brought into relationship into the NAME

What does it mean to Misuse God’s Name?

Q&A 100 Q. Is blasphemy of God’s name by swearing and cursing really such serious sin…?

A. Yes, indeed.1 No sin is greater, no sin makes God more angry than blaspheming his name. That is why he commanded the death penalty for it.

Super serious, so how do we avoid it?

Westminster Larger Catechism Q/A 113:

The sins forbidden in the third commandment are:

Part I: Obvious Misuses

Don’t misuse, or abuse God’s name: Blasphemy, perjury, sinful cursing oaths and vows, violating lawful oaths and vows

Looking at Old Sermons on the 1st Commandment: Like reading a diary:

“This past Thursday I went to a coffee shop to prepare for this message. The very moment I put down my books and computer at my table, I overheard a person right next to me say the second person of the Trinity’s name. He used the name Jesus as if it were an explanation mark. The name ‘Jesus’ was just like saying ‘wow’ or ‘amazing. Up to that point I was thinking about this sermon, how we can misuse God name, how precious it is, and perfect timing, someone breaks the very commandment I was thinking about.”

I didn’t do anything about it?!

Q&A 100 Q. Is blasphemy of God’s name by swearing and cursing really such serious sin that God is angry also with those who do not do all they can to help prevent it and forbid it?

Challenge: Can you find an opportunity to challenge people in their language?

Part II: Prying and Misapplying God’s Descrees

“Murmuring and quarreling at, curious prying into, and misapplying of God’s decrees and providences;”

“God told me I should do this or that”

Shaking your fist at God for allowing a certain event to happen.

“Close Family member told me once that Satan was at work in my family.”

“God told me…”

“God spoke to me…”

Part III: Abuse of God’s Word

“Misinterpreting, misapplying, or any way perverting the Word, or any part of it, to profane jests, curious or unprofitable questions, vain janglings, or the maintaining of false doctrines;”

See how this commands starts to widen to beyond God’s name to profaning that which is holy in general, like God’s Word.

Church History has typically used the 3rd Commandment to ensure the proper handling of God’s Word.

Hard to stomach those who do abuse God’s Word.

Unprofitable questions:

Pastor at a youth rally preached on the Rich, Young, Ruler: Mark 10

Rich, Young, Ruler: What must I do to inherit eternal life?

Jesus responds: “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”?

You need to sell what you have and give it to the poor…

“Remember the original question: What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Leaving the audience with: If you want to be saved, you must do something… Left away with this bitter taste in my mouth…

Part IV: Abuse of God’s Church

“abusing it, the creatures, or any thing contained under the name of God, to charms, or sinful lusts and practices;”

IF the Church is BAPTIZED INTO THE NAME OF THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT, then this commandment speaks into the abuse of power not only with the use of the WORD, but of the CHURCH!

Ministry Watch: Watch dog about pastors who abuse their power.

Super sad to hear how many pastors are messed up.

The Church, as embedded into God’s Name, must be a safe, secure, and protected people.

Part V: Aligned Faith and Character

“the maligning, scorning, reviling, or any wise opposing of God’s truth, grace, and ways; making profession of religion in hypocrisy, or for sinister ends; being ashamed of it, or a shame to it, by unconformable, unwise, unfruitful and offensive walking, or backsliding from it.”

Can’t use the advantage of your faith to take advantage of other people:

Command says, you can’t be FAKE Christian.

Casting Crowns, powerful video several years ago. Video about a young lady lost in your brokenness, but wanting to go to church. But the church people make it very difficult for her to be in relationship with her:

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see? Or does anybody even know she's going down today? Under the shadow of our steeple With all the lost and lonely people Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

If judgment looms under every steeple With lofty glances from lofty people Who can't see past her scarlet letter And we've never even met her.

Can’t be a Christian for sinister ends…

Christian Band: Couldn’t hack it, so they went to the CCM scene.

Caught doing illegal drugs in their room.

Jesus sticker in the back of my car

Cut someone off, with the name of Jesus staring them in your face.

Can’t be ashamed of your faith…

Sometimes it’s hard, especially for the young people.

Times when it was hard.

What it means to Bear God’s Name

Live as Branded

This command really forces us to understand what it means to be God’s Temple.

We can’t profane, that which is holy!

I Kings 5:5. Solomon wrote, “I intend… to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.”

But as the Church, as a people who REPLACE the use of the Temple, we have been branded!

Picture of the New heaven and earth.

Revelation 22:4: “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”

We will be able to SEE his face because we are branded with HIS name! We belong to him, therefore we have access to him.

We are marked by the Name!

Hindu: Bindi: A decorative mark on the forehead, worn by Hindu women (and members of some other religious groups), traditionally believed to be venerating an energy center of the human body or representing “the third eye,” but also worn as an adornment or a sign of marriage.

Foreign to us, but it WON’T BE

We are Marked not with a Third Eye, but with the Triune NAME

Sign of being the BRIDE of Christ!

Live as Branded

We don’t slap Jesus stickers on our cars to make us Christians.

“Discipleship applies to speech, too. In this Command Jesus seeks, by guarding the use of God’s name, to make our speech simpler, spiritual, or less filled with spiritual formulas.” Bruner 239