The Third commandment

Introduction

I hope that as we have been going through these commandments these past few weeks, that you have been able to see how Amazing of a God we serve.

Pastor Rick introduced the series by explaining how the Law was a covenant between God’s people and Himself, and then He spent two weeks showing us that God alone is to be Worshiped, and He is to be worshiped as He dictates.

If God alone is worthy of worship, and if He alone defines how He is to be worshiped,

And here we see the logic of the ten commandments…

Because the question logically now flows….

What will we do with the name He has given us?

We looked last week at what His name is and what it means

So today we must ask,

Will His name be treated as holy, with Honor,

or will it be treated as worthless and unimportant?

But I want us to realize that this goes far beyond just the words we use.

When God says,

“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain,”

the word take does not mean merely to speak. It means to carry, to bear, to attach.

We are His people,

called by His name,

representing Him before the World. That means even our actions speak to His name.

So the Hebrew word here for “in vain” did not just mean as a curse-word or in a rude manner.

It meant empty, weightless, or worthless.

To take God’s name in vain is dampen it of His glory and Honor.

So with that in mind, we will spend time this morning examining ways that we often bear this name in Vain so that our lives may better be served as instruments of worship.

We will look at three types of ways we often take light the name we bear as God’s chosen people.

I. Speech That Profanes God’s Name

II. Authority That Profanes God’s Name

III. Lives That Profane God’s Name

so even though this command is about more than speech, let’s go ahead and look at how our speech can still profane His name.

I. Speech That Profanes God’s Name

When we talk about speech, we are not starting with casual mistakes or slips of the tongue.

This is included, but in broader terms,

We are talking about speech that actively empties God’s name of its weight.

speech that treats what is holy as common.

Scripture is very clear that how God’s name is spoken matters,

because it reflects how God Himself is regarded.

We will look at two examples of how our speech can make light of His name.

These are in no way exhaustive, but will hopefully give ways to better examine how you may be violating this commandment in your life.

first, we look at Blashphemy. a) Blasphemy : God’s Name Used with Contempt

In Leviticus 24, God addresses direct verbal dishonor.

He says in Lev 24 15-16

Leviticus 24:15–16 ESV

15 And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

Blasphemy is saying or even thinking something of God that changes who He is.

The Hebrew word can also be translated as Slander.

God’s name is Holy because God is Holy.

We should never speak of Him in a way that Diminishes that truth.

You will notice the more we continue through these commandments that an underlying theme is honor.

So here, God is speaking to How do we Honor the name of God and Who He is.

It is by never attributing anything false to who He is, thus slandering His character.

Job was guilty of this was He not?

He began to accuse God as if God was somehow guilty of wrong doing.

This was Blasphemy. but we can draw this out even more.

When we speak His name lightly, we are denying His very Holiness.

We use the name that reveals His character as something disposable.

That is why Scripture treats blasphemy so seriously.

Some other examples here could be…

Using God’s name in anger or frustration

Dragging God’s name into emotional outbursts without reverence

Mocking God’s name jokingly or sarcastically

Speaking God’s name in a way meant to belittle, dismiss, or trivialize Him

All Of these work to minimize the Holy Glory of God and thus blaspheme or slander who He is.

b) False Oaths : God’s Name Used to Support Lies

A second way our speech can take His name in vain is through False Oaths.

Leviticus 19:12 ESV

12 You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

Here, God connects false oaths directly to profaning His name. In Scripture, to swear by God’s name was to call Him as witness.

It was to say, “God Himself stands behind my word.”

When someone invokes God’s name to support a lie,

or to make a promise they have no intention of keeping,

they are dragging God into their deception.

They are presenting Him as a guarantor of falsehood.

I hope you can see the issue with this since God is truth.

To attach His name to a lie is to misrepresent His nature.

So what does teach the world around us about who God is?

Clearly not a God of honor and truth.

Some examples of this could be saying “I swear to _____” or “as G is my witness” while lying.

Using His name in self-defense despite guilt.

or

Promising obedience in crisis, and then quickly turning away from your promises.

II. Authority That Profanes God’s Name

So If misusing God’s name in our speech is serious,

misusing it in authority is even more dangerous.

Words spoken in God’s name carry weight.

When we claim divine backing for our actions or judgments,

we are no longer speaking as individuals, we are presenting God Himself to others.

And Scripture repeatedly warns that attaching God’s name to what He has not said, is an incredibly serious sin.

Throughout Jeremiah, God rebukes false prophets who repeatedly claimed divine authority for their own ideas.

He says,

Jeremiah 23:25 ESV

25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’

These were not atheists or mockers.

These were religious voices using God-language to give weight to their own sayings.

It was either their own thoughts, or worse, it was Satan speaking through them.

This kind of misuse still happens whenever we say things like, “God told me,” when what follows is really a preference,

an impression,

or a feeling,

Or anything not confirmed by scripture and the council of the Church.

God certainly guides His people,

but not every strong feeling carries divine authority.

In fact, Scripture never forbids us from seeking God’s guidance,

but it consistently warns us against claiming God’s authority,

And even tells us to test the spirits that come to us speaking.

You see, the moment we claim divine authority,

we are no longer speaking for ourselves,

we are claiming to speak for God.

I can’t stress this enough Hutong.

I have seen the authority of His name being thrown around so much and it honestly upsets me with a righteous anger.

To speak as though God has spoken when He has not is to place words in His mouth.

God’s name is not a stamp we place on whatever comes to our minds.

When we do this, we elevate ourselves while diminishing Him.

We train others to associate God’s voice with human impulse rather than divine truth.

And in doing so, we make His name void of His Holiness.

So if you feel God is speaking something to you, you need to keep your mouth shut until you can verify that it is from God.

Go to scripture.

See if it can be verified.

Seek the counsel of others, primarily the elders in the Church.

But don’t you dare speak as if you have the words of God unless it is from God.

I recently had a young man tell me that the Holy Spirit gave him the corrected calendar because ours was wrong.

when I tried to lovingly and gently push back a little, he told me that His calendar is the correct one because it was made by God.

That is using God’s authority to claim something is true that isn’t.

But He fully believed it to be true.

He wasn’t being dishonest.

For many who use language like this, they have simply not been taught properly.

This is why discipleship is so important.

This is why it is so important that we be under the proper teaching of the Word and are not learning from those who lead us to violate this commandment by claiming His authority wrongly.

How often have we heard people lightly use phrases like…

God told me…

The Spirit wanted me to tell you….

Or “I had a dream”

or any other variation that I am sure most of us have heard.

these can be valid, but in my experience they rarely are because so many people use this language so loosely without any attempt to truly test it with scripture and Godly council.

Again, hear me here Hutong, I am not saying that every time someone says something indicating the Spirit’s guidance, that they are wrong.

Sometimes the Spirit does speak to us, but Hutong listen to me closely,

if you are going to use the authority of God, you best do it with the proper guidance.

If you believe God is speaking something to you, bring it to the Church, bring it to the elders, and let us examine it with the full council of Scripture before you presume to speak for God.

I stress this because I have seen so much confusion and damaged cause by people so casually speaking the authority of God.

But most importantly, it dishonors His name!

This now leads us to the third way we often use His name in Vain.

III. Lives That Profane God’s Name

Because The Third Commandment is not only violated by what we say about God,

nor only by what we claim to speak for God. It is also violated by how we live while bearing His name.

The clearest biblical explanation of this comes from Ezekiel 36:20–23. God says:

Ezekiel 36:20–23 ESV

20 But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ 21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. 22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

Did you catch how Israel violated the third commandment?

Israel did not profane His name primarily by their speech, but by their lives.

They bore His name in that the other nations saw their actions as a reflections of their God.

but their behavior denied His character.

As a result, the nations learned the wrong things about God.

And Hutong it saddens me how often I see this happening in our world today.

But what saddens me more is that I too am guilty of this.

I can think of many examples throughout my life where I have made His name void through my actions,

And if you are honest, I think we all could sadly say the same.

For you, it may be being pressured to lie on documents at work,

knowing that the god who’s name you bear is the God of truth.

Maybe it’s the pressure to burn money with your family as an act of ancestor worship,

knowing your god is a jealous God.

Maybe it’s as simple as making crude jokes that go against God’s Holy character.

Maybe it’s gossiping about others,

Or lashing out in anger or pride,

Drinking too much when out with friends,

Having sex before marriage, Or any other number of ways that your life stamped by the Name of Christ makes that name appear unholy.

Honestly, any sin you commit in public is a violation of the third commandment because it shows others that God’s name isn’t Holy since we are called to be Holy.

When our lives deny what our worship declares, God’s name is emptied of weight.

A quote made famous by DC talk comes to mind here.

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

The Third Commandment ultimately presses this question upon us: Does our life make God’s name heavier or lighter? Greater or lesser?

Conclusion

I hope you can see the seroiusness of this commandment, because if we are all honest, we can see how we have not measured up to it’s standard.

Throughout the sermon, I hope the spirit has been opening your eyes to how you have not honored His fully name in your life.

We are all guilty using His name in vain.

Not one of us has perfectly honored the name we bear.

And that leaves us with a problem.

Because the second half of verse seven says…

Exodus 20:7 (ESV)

….. for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

We are all guilty, and He will not hold us guiltless.

We saw in Eziekel the extreme cost of violating this command.

God does not take this lightly.

God is a just God and There is judgment for profaning the name of God.

But praise Him and His name that He is also a Merciful and Gracious God. Where we are on our own without Hope, God made a way.

We see this as we keep reading in Ezekiel 36:22-26

Ezekiel 36:22–26 ESV

22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Do you see the Gospel in the words of the Prophet Hutong?

Long ago, God spoke through Ezekiel and declared that His name would be protected.

That He would make us clean from our uncleanneness.

That He would give us a new heart, and His spirit would live within us.

Our hearts of stone that can do nothing but sin against Him has been turned to flesh.

That is the Gospel Hutong.

That is the good news given to us.

And as we get into the New Testament, we see that although we have all failed, Jesus did not.

And yet , He also bore the guilt of our misuse of that name.

At the cross,

Jesus took upon Himself the shame of our blasphemy,

our hypocrisy,

and our empty religion.

The One who never took God’s name in vain was treated as though He had. The Holy One was treated as guilty so that the guilty could be forgiven. The Honored one took on our Shame so we could go before God in Honor.

But He didn’t just stop at removing our guilt and shame of sin,

He also removed the power of sin.

This means that If you have repented and Believed on the Name of Jesus, you have been given a new heart of flesh.

You are no longer in bondage to sin.

We have a new call to live as people who have been given a holy name.

So Hutong,

are we going to live lives that dishonor the name of God,

or are we going to be a Holy people who declare His goodness not just in words,

but in every aspect of our lives?

May we be a people whose words,

whose authority,

and whose lives cause the world to see that the name we bear is Holy!

So let us now go to God in prayer as a Church.

Let us worship Him for His name is worthy of Worship.

Let us call out to Him for strength in living lives worthy of His name.

Let us seek Him to reveal to us where we have failed to live up to this standard and lead us to repentance and Holy living for His Glory.