Name Power
GPS 3
Exodus 20:7
Gods positioning system
For the hearer to look to God for a realignment
Name Power
Intro:
Review the commandments
Number one
Taboo
Vanity
Door
Alive
Six feet under
Seven year itch
Go straight
Malign
A ten
Importance of God’s name
Jewish tradition
Saying name rare- hashem which means “the name”
Writing name rare- g-d
Respect, do we think we can name God what ever we want!
Saying a name is always the first word we speak in starting a conversation or establishing a relationship. It sets a tone. It initiates the relationship. It is a powerful act to say a name, how we say it affects the conversation and relationship that follows.
Introduced yourself and person does not use your name.
When in anger you yell out name
Wrongly using God’s name
In vain means to abuse
Use it in an empty, ordinary, lightly, ordinary, no clear goal, purpose, reason absently used when no real heart, thankfulness is involved
Perjury
When you swear or make an oath you must perform it.
Numbers 30:2 (NIV) court
2 When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.
Blasphemy
Leviticus 24:15-16 (NIV)
15 Say to the Israelites: ‘If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible; 16 anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.
One who blasphemy curses God by speaking against his name
נָקַב
the piercing, boring through, perforate, pierce, scrutinize
Profanity
When God’s name is used in profanity it is profaning his name because either we do think about God when we say his name or we may actually intend that God damn or punish someone. It contradicts God’s character.
Hypocrisy
James 3:9-10 (NIV)
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
Professing and adopting God’s name but acting in a way that contradicts the claim.
Today’s misuses of God’s name
Profanity and vulgarity
To make
Casual profanity common today
O my God. o my lord
Minced oaths
Darn, dang, heck, gosh darn it gee, gee whiz
What am I thinking?
How does God feel when I play word games with his names?
Vulgar means common, coarse, or unrefined. Vulgarity is often offensive and insulting even though it is not really a violation of the third commandment. We would do better to get our categories straight and concern ourselves with the big stuff, such as profanity
Christian misuses of the name.
Illustration
Football game prayers to beat the other team instead of playing in good sportsmanship and to their best ability
Quote: Alan redpath
Using the name of the lord in jokes, the frivolous use of the name of Jesus in songs, the superficial lighthearted program that so often we put over, the exaggerated account of God’s blessing on his work in order to produce funds for future operations, the hypocrisy of the church is far worse that the profanity of the street. The blasphemy of the pews is a more insidious form of evil that the blasphemy of the slum. To pray and not to practice, to believe and not to obey, to praise and yet at heart to rebel, is to take the name of the lord in vain.
People claiming to to speak for God
If it is just a wish or a way of speaking
Why we misuse God’s name
Name dropping
Names carry the power of the rightful owner
Gretzky
Jesus
Lack of respect for God
Placing God at our disposal instead of us at his
Naming our neighbors
Saying a name is always the first word we speak in starting a conversation or establishing a relationship. It sets a tone. It initiates the relationship. It is a powerful act to say a name, how we say it affects the conversation and relationship that follows.
If we practice respect with God then we are developing a habit that will be carried on to our neighbors.