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All right, you can turn to Deuteronomy 
chapter 5 as we continue to work through the commandments. We're 
in the third commandment. Deuteronomy 5.11, but I do want 
to read the section. It's good to keep it in front 
of us. Remember, this is the longest of the exhortations on 
the plains of Moab, from chapter 5 all the way to chapter 26. 
Moses exhorts the people of God, the children of Israel, to faithfulness, 
to loyalty to their God. And so I'll read beginning in 
chapter five at verse one. And Moses called all Israel and 
said to them, hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which 
I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be 
careful to observe them. The Lord our God made a covenant 
with us in Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant 
with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all 
of us who are alive. "'The Lord talked with you face 
to face on the mountain "'from the midst of the fire. "'I stood 
between the Lord and you at that time "'to declare to you the 
word of the Lord, "'for you were afraid because of the fire, "'and 
you did not go up the mountain.' "'He said, I am the Lord your 
God, "'who brought you out of the land of Egypt, "'out of the 
house of bondage. You shall have no other gods 
before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, 
any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is 
in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 
You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord 
your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon 
the children to the third and fourth generations of those who 
hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love 
me and keep my commandments. "'You shall not take the name 
of the Lord your God in vain, "'for the Lord will not hold 
him guiltless "'who takes his name in vain. "'Observe the Sabbath 
day to keep it holy, "'as the Lord your God commanded you. 
"'Six days you shall labour and do all your work, "'but the seventh 
day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. "'In it you shall do 
no work. In it you shall do no work, you 
nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your 
female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your 
cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your 
male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 
And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the 
Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and 
by an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God 
commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Honor your father and your 
mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your 
days may be long and that it may be well with you in the land 
which the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder, you 
shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not 
bear false witness against your neighbor, you shall not covet 
your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's 
house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his 
donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. These words, the 
Lord spoke to all your assembly in the mountain from the midst 
of the fire, the cloud and the thick darkness with a loud voice. And he added no more. And he 
wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. Amen. Well, the first and second commandments, 
I think Ursinus makes a good observation. They frame the mind 
and the heart for worship by specifying the object and manner 
of worship. The third and fourth commandments 
frame the external members and actions. In other words, the 
reverence we give to the name of God, and then the fourth commandment 
defines or determines the day upon which we worship that living 
and true God. And when we come to the name 
of the Lord, remember the Lord's prayer. The first petition is, 
hallowed be thy name. And in essence, or in psalm, 
the name of God basically represents the being of God, the perfections 
of God, His existence, His works, everything that is true of God 
is revealed in that name. So we're going to look first 
at the significance of the name of God. Secondly, the prohibition 
in the command. Notice it's a negative statement. 
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. But 
as we've learned hermeneutically, when there's a negative statement, 
we can infer or imply positive aspects, and so we'll end on 
that tonight, the positive aspect of the command. So the significance 
of God's name, the prohibition of the command, and then the 
positive aspect of the command. Leaning a bit on Westminster 
Larger Catechism, I want to commend that to you again. If you've 
not read the catechism, the larger one, on the Ten Commandments, 
it's very profitable and very helpful, very expansive, very 
thorough. Pretty comprehensive, and you'll 
see that tonight as we move through this particular material. But 
note first the revelation of the name of God. You can turn 
back to Exodus chapter 3. Exodus chapter 3, we remember 
that famous event where Moses is spoken to by God from the 
midst of the burning bush. And he identifies himself. So 
Moses asks the question, according to verse 13, Indeed, when I come 
to the children of Israel and say to them, the God of your 
fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? And 
God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, thus you shall say 
to the children of Israel, I am has sent me to you. So I am not 
I have become to be not I am in the process of becoming. but 
I am. God just is." And this language 
identifies something of his aseity, means he's independent, he hasn't 
come from anything, he's underived, as well it underscores the fact 
that he is a pure spirit, And many commentators or many theologians 
make various observations on this name. I have a few written 
in my margin. Charnock mentions, it signifies 
his immutability as well as his eternity. Turretin on the name 
Jehovah, but since eternal existence, omnipotent power, and immutable 
truth belongs to God alone, the name Jehovah, which embraces 
these three, ought to be peculiar to him alone. So basically, the 
concepts of the very godhood of God is communicated through 
that title, I am. So those things that we celebrate 
in the confession, he's without body, he's without parts, he's 
without passions, he is independent, he's underrived, he is the one 
from whom all things come, he is infinite, he is eternal, he 
is immutable. All those things are conveyed 
in that language, I am. And then continuing there in 
Exodus 3 at verse 15, moreover, God said to Moses, thus you shall 
say to the children of Israel, the Lord 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 and this 
is my memorial to all generations. And so God's name is that which 
sets forth His perfections, His works, His providence, His decree, 
His word, everything true of God is conveyed by that name. Van Maastricht says, it is therefore 
evident that the nature of God is made known to us by His name. Bovink says, all we learn about 
God from His revelation is designated His name in Scripture. He goes 
on to say, the name of God in scripture does not describe God 
as he exists within himself, but God in his revelation and 
multiple relations to his creatures. This name, however, is not arbitrary. 
God reveals himself in the way he does because he is who he 
is. Summed up in his name, therefore, is his honor, his fame, his excellencies, 
his entire revelation, his very being. So when Jesus teaches 
us to pray, hallowed be thy name, he's not referring to one particular 
name, he's referring to God. He's referring to that divine 
one. Now in terms of the various names 
that we find, there's a wonderful pictorial right up there. Don 
Mars, when she taught Sunday school, had the Sunday school 
class make that. And I think it's wonderful, and 
I'm glad she didn't take it when she left and moved to Oklahoma. It's a good thing. And so the 
various names that we see predicated or given to us in scripture, 
you've got El Elohim, El Yon, Powerful One, Mighty One, Most 
High. Adonai, you've got Ruler or Lord 
or Master. El Shaddai speaks to the almightiness 
of God, but what is conveyed in Exodus 3.14 is typically our 
word Yahweh, or older writers refer to it as Jehovah. It's 
literally called the Tetragrammaton. It's four Hebrew consonants, 
Y-H-W-H, and it's pointed various ways, and whichever way it's 
pointed, that means given vowels, whichever way it's pointed, it 
comes out either Jehovah or Yahweh. It's probably most likely not 
Jehovah. There's no J sound in Hebrew. 
It's kind of like Dutch. I don't think there's a J sound 
in Dutch. Am I right on that? I think it's 
a K. You got a K sound. or yuh, but it's not a juh sound 
like we have. Neither does Hebrew. It has that, 
the guttural sounds, and then it has a yuh sound, but it doesn't 
have a j. So the Jehovah's Witnesses are 
probably wrong, but Jehovah is perfectly acceptable understanding 
it in terms of our traditions. I'm not denouncing the use of 
Jehovah, but I wouldn't hang my hat with the Jehovah's Witnesses 
that that is in fact the name of God. Yahweh is probably closer 
to the truth. Bovink again says, the name Elohim 
denotes God as creator and sustainer of all things. El Shaddai represents 
him as the mighty one who makes nature subservient to grace. 
Yahweh describes him as the one who in his grace remains forever 
faithful. Yahweh sabaoth characterizes 
him as king in the fullness of his glory, who, surrounded by 
regiments of hosts of angels, governs throughout the world 
as the Almighty, and in his temple receives the honor and acclamation 
of all his creatures." Again, this is a good discussion. It's 
a good study. I would suggest specifically 
volume two of Peter van Maastricht. It's a recent publication of 
an older work. It's called Faith in the Triune 
God. It's a pretty hefty volume. It's a hefty volume, but he has 
an extended section where he deals with the names of God. 
It's very edifying, his dealings on the perfections of God, very 
good stuff. At the end he deals with the 
triunity of God, the eternal relations of origin, all of that 
stuff that you've heard in the last several months. in terms 
of the conference, in terms of theology proper, our confession 
studies, that Van Maastricht volume will serve you well. It's 
one of four volumes. I think there's going to be a 
total of seven when all is said and done in terms of the publishing 
venture. I highly recommend that. Francis Turretin, anything you 
read by Turretin is going to be very good, except probably 
on paedo-baptism. I can't commend him wholeheartedly 
on everything. John Owen on anything, again, 
theology proper-wise. John Gill, his body of doctrinal 
and practical divinity. And Gill stood in the tradition 
very well. As a Baptist brother that we 
have a lot of affinity with in terms of baptism, he was spot 
on in terms of the classical theism and the reformed doctrine 
of God, theology proper. So you're not going to go wrong 
reading Gill on such things. So the various names of God, 
basically, again, though, realize that the name represents, or 
rather is, a revelation of who God is. In his works, in his 
decree, in his word, in his providence, in his perfections, it is the 
revelation of God. So then, secondly, the prohibition 
of the command. Again, it's very straightforward. 
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Stuart 
literally translates it this way, raise up Yahweh's name for 
no good. You're not supposed to raise 
up Yahweh's name for no good. You're not supposed to take it 
in vain. It's not supposed to be a curse word. It's not supposed 
to be filler. It's not supposed to be a euphemism. 
It's not supposed to be utilized, except in an authorized sense. In Psalm 139 at verse 20 it says, 
And Calvin rightly comments, And lastly, serve to glorify 
His greatness. I think that's a great rule of 
thumb when it comes to the use of God's name. Whatever our mind 
conceives of God, whatever our tongue utters, should savor of 
His excellency. Match the loftiness of His sacred 
name. And lastly, serve to glorify 
His greatness. And then Westminster Larger Catechism 
number 113. As I mentioned, pretty comprehensive, 
pretty extensive. So it asks the question, what 
are the sins forbidden in the third commandment? The sins forbidden 
in the third commandment are the not using of God's name as 
is required, and the abuse of it in an ignorant, vain, irreverent, 
profane, superstitious, or wicked mentioning, or otherwise using 
his titles, attributes, ordinances, or works by blasphemy, perjury, 
all sinful cursings, oaths, vows, and lots, violating our oaths 
and vows, if lawful, and fulfilling them, if of things unlawful, 
murmuring and quarreling at, curious prying into, and misapplying 
God's decrees and providences, 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, abusing it, the creatures, or 
anything contained under the name of God, to charms or sinful 
lusts and practices, the maligning, scorning, reviling, or any wise 
opposing of God's truth, grace, and ways, making profession of 
religion and hypocrisy, or for sinister ends, being ashamed 
of it or ashamed to it by uncomfortable, unwise, unfruitful, and offensive 
walking or backsliding from it. So next Wednesday, we're all 
gonna have to give a Westminster Larger Catechism 113. Kidding, 
just kidding. They're packing a lot in that, 
as I said, extensive, pretty comprehensive, so we'll just 
unpack a few of those things. So blasphemy against the name 
of God. Blasphemy against the name of 
God. So ignorant, vain, irreverent, profane, superstitious, or wicked 
use of God's name. You can turn to Leviticus to 
see an instance of this where it's punishable under the law. 
Leviticus chapter 24, specifically at verse 11. Leviticus chapter 
24 at verse 11, and the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the name 
of the Lord and cursed, and so they brought him to Moses. And 
then in verse 16, it says, and whoever blasphemes the name of 
the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation 
shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who was 
born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of 
the Lord, he shall be put to death. Again, it's not just a 
word, just a particular word. The name represents God. So to 
blaspheme the name means to blaspheme God. But if you turn to 2 Samuel 
12, you'll notice that we can blaspheme God not just by our words, but by 
our actions or by our deeds. In 2 Samuel 12, this is when 
Nathan the prophet rebukes David for having committed adultery 
and then covering it up with a conspiracy to commit murder. 
And at the end of his sermon in 2 Samuel 12 at verse 14, notice, Well, verse 13, so David said 
to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. Nathan said to David, 
the Lord also has put away your sin, you shall not die. However, 
because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies 
of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you 
shall surely die. Then Nathan departed to his house. 
So this action of David was an occasion for the enemies of the 
Lord to blaspheme. So when we sin or when we, violate 
the law of God, we are giving that occasion. So blasphemy against 
the name of God, the frivolous use of God's name. I would suggest 
euphemisms as well. I think the euphemism, and maybe 
I'm being hyper-Puritan fastidious here, but OMG. That isn't good. That's not bueno. That's a euphemism. Euphemisms are representative 
of the name. It's a way to try to weasel out 
of actually using the name and still using the name. So I would 
just caution all of us against the frivolous use of God's name, 
specifically with reference to euphemisms. And then also, not 
only blasphemy against his name, but unlawful use of oaths and 
vows. And typically we think of ninth 
commandment when we think of this unlawful use of oaths and 
vows, but it really is rooted in the third commandment. It's 
really rooted in the reverence for the name of the living God, 
the sanctity of truth with reference to God. Calvin again says the 
commandment, this unlawful use of oaths and vows, or I'm sorry, 
the commandment to not blaspheme. The commandment has particular 
reverence to the oath, wherein the perverse abuse of the Lord's 
name is in the highest degree detestable, that thereby we may 
be better frightened away altogether from profaning of it. And Turretin 
mainly focuses on this aspect of it in his exposition of the 
commandments. So it's primarily this unlawful use of oaths and 
vows. Now, certainly Scripture forbids 
us to swear by a false god, Exodus 23, 13. As well, Scripture forbids 
us to break a lawful vow. We're supposed to make good on 
vows that we take. We're supposed to carry it out 
and engage in fidelity to the things that we swear. And of 
course, the act of perjury. If we invoke the name of God, 
or we're subject to the name of God, and then we perjure ourselves 
on the witness stand, then we are blaspheming the name of God 
Almighty. So again, the Ninth and the Third 
Commandments are closely connected. And as well, when you read the 
older authors, it's typically the third commandment that they 
use to argue against gambling. If you notice in the Westminster 
Larger Catechism number 113, it talks about lots, and games 
of chance, and things of that regard. Now I'm not sure about 
Monopoly, I'm not sure about some of these innocuous games 
where there's no skin in the game. I guess it's a game of 
chance. I'm not sure if the Puritans 
would smash monopoly, but typically it is gambling or prohibitions 
against gambling are linked to the third commandment. But I 
think our confession speaks well when it says in chapter 23, paragraph 
2, the name of God only is that by which men ought to swear. 
And therein it is to be used with all holy fear and reverence. 
and therefore to swear vainly or rashly by that glorious and 
dreadful name, or to swear at all by any other thing is sinful 
and to be abhorred. Yet as in matter of wait and 
moment," so we don't use oaths and vows in little things, I'm 
going to be home by five, I swear, I vow, I oath, no, no, you don't 
do that. But in matters of wait and moment, 
some people oppose oaths in the New Covenant community. Some 
people say that we are not supposed to take oaths. It's interesting, 
Jesus is placed under an oath by the Sanhedrin and he responds. He says, it is as you said. But 
with reference to the condemnation of oaths or what appears to be 
that in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus isn't condemning oaths 
for matters of weight and moment. He is condemning that frivolous 
approach to life where everybody has to swear on a stack of Bibles 
for everything they're ever saying. Let your yes be yes and your 
no be no. But in a criminal court, in a 
murder charge, in a robbery, you witnessed a robbery, yeah, 
you're going to swear in a matter of wait and moment. And then 
the confession goes on to say, for confirmation of truth and 
ending all strife, an oath is warranted by the word of God. 
So a lawful oath being imposed by lawful authority in such matters 
ought to be taken. I think that is absolutely, positively 
correct. And I think it's wrong for us, 
or those who say, well, oaths are condemned by Jesus in the 
Sermon on the Mount. I've tried to explain the Sermon 
on the Mount relates to our daily activity. It doesn't relate to 
criminal cases. It doesn't relate to rapists 
coming into your house asking where your wife and your daughters 
are. No, when Jesus says, turn the other cheek, he is not suggesting 
that you tell the rapist where your daughter is or where your 
wife is. He's not suggesting you don't 
have a big German shepherd if you're in a crime-ridden area. 
He's not suggesting you don't use locks. He's not suggesting 
you don't have a gun. He's not saying any of that. 
He is saying in your daily personal lives, you are not to be the 
kinds of people that are constantly insisting upon their own prerogatives 
and their own rights. It is personal, relational ethics 
that are being dealt with in the Sermon on the Mount, not 
criminal cases involving multiple victims. not self-defense issues 
where somebody has violated another person's personal space or property. The Sermon on the Mount, when 
it is taken out of the context and universalized, it just doesn't 
jive. We saw Jesus before the Sanhedrin. He gets slapped. And he doesn't 
turn the other cheek in that instance. How on the one hand 
can he say, turn the other cheek, and then by his own activity 
not turn the other cheek? Because when he says not to, 
he's not dealing with a criminal case. He's not dealing with a 
matter of weight and judgment. He's dealing with your daily 
life. If you see a Roman soldier and they conscript you to go 
one mile, go with them two miles. Be that kind of a person. Don't 
be the kind of person that's always, you know, crying out 
about your rights and about your personal feelings and whatnot. I would suggest, thirdly, the 
use of magic or sorcery. Typically, the older authors 
connect the third commandment with a prohibition against the 
use of magic. In the ancient world, the names 
of gods were used to wield power over others. The names were also 
used in order to get stuff from the god. In short, the name of 
Yahweh must not be used in an attempt to manipulate him. And 
brethren, the Word of God, Deuteronomy 18, emphasizes no soothsaying, 
no witchcraft, no necromancers, none of the things that the pagans 
use. You've got prophets and you've got priests. You've got 
a Word, the Word of God. So we're not supposed to take 
the name of God to try to engage in the use of magic or sorcery. 
Dumas writes in a more recent commentary on the Ten Commandments, 
that kind of sorcery reappears whenever we... I thought this 
was an interesting thing, the way he links this. That kind 
of sorcery reappears whenever we say that something is God's 
will, when in fact it is not. This is how we push for what 
we want, using God's name to lend force to our plans. Mentioning 
the name, after all, strengthens our power. People must follow 
us, for we have God on our side. Often this is accompanied by 
noble intentions. to claim something is the will 
of God, and then to use that to beat people up with. Now, 
we know that the will of God is revealed in Scripture. There 
are 31,000 propositions that reveal the will of God. But if 
you say the will of God for you is this, and you can't show that 
from Scripture, I think Dumas might be on the right path, invoking 
the name of God to manipulate somebody else or to exercise 
some ungodly power over them. I would suggest as well, based 
on the larger catechism, the misapplication of God's providence. And in the catechism it says, 
murmuring and quarreling at, curious prying into, and misapplying 
God's decrees and providences. This idea that we are the all-knowing 
surveyors and understanders and nosers out of God's providence. It happened several years ago. A very famous pastor, and not 
an altogether bad one. He's not a Benny Hinn. He's not 
a Joel Osteen. He's written several good things. 
But there was a hurricane that hit a synod, a Lutheran synod, 
wasn't it, in some state, and he, this particular fellow, said, 
well, that was the judgment of God, because they were entertaining, 
you know, allowing homosexuals. Now, Lutheranism is a multifaceted 
thing. There's the hardcore ones, And 
then there's flaming liberals. These were obviously the flaming 
liberals that wanted to have possible homosexuals or whatever. 
So anyways, this particular pastor said this hurricane, you know, 
God sent this hurricane to destroy them because of that. Well, brethren, God's word does 
condemn that, but to suggest that that hurricane was a direct, 
now, again, everything happens under God's government, under 
God's providence, but direct and indirect, to say it's a direct 
act of God to get that. One only wonders, what about 
all the homosexual bars and all the other, like, why didn't those 
get caught up in this hurricane as well? And maybe this pastor's 
right. But maybe he's not. And so we 
need to be very careful, and I think the Catechism says here, 
misinterpreting, misapplying, or any way perverting the word 
or any part of it to profane jests, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, 
you got the next part, murmuring or quarreling at, or a curious 
prying into and misapplying God's decrees and providences. Again, 
it may be the case that that was a direct assault upon that 
group of people. But it may not have been the 
direct thing. It's hard to know. To try to 
interpret the secret things is a difficult prospect. If anybody 
has ever engaged in this, you know that there's times where 
you go, what is the Lord teaching me here? The Lord doesn't send 
providences with instruction lists. You kind of wish He did, 
you know? You fall down and something happens 
and there's your list. Okay, now here's how I'm supposed 
to interpret this falling down. He doesn't do that. And brethren, 
we are not omnipotent when it comes to the interpretation of 
divine providence. So we may have our observations, 
we may have our suspicions, we may suggest certain things, but 
to authoritatively declare this is that is to go too far when 
it comes to interpreting the providence of God. The next section, 
the misinterpreting of God's word. This is 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. This maintaining of false doctrines, 
it's a form of blasphemy. If you look at 1 Timothy chapter 
one, 1 Timothy chapter one, it's a form of blasphemy to entertain 
false doctrine. 1 Timothy 1 at verse 18, this charge 
I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously 
made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 
having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected concerning 
the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, 
whom I deliver to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. 
Their false doctrine is looked at as blasphemy. And you see 
that in the book of Acts. I think interestingly juxtaposed, 
the Jews are saying that the believers are blaspheming, but 
it's the Jews that are actually blaspheming when they do not 
embrace the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the reason, 
it's right there in the commandment. The commandment is very clear 
in terms of the prohibition, why you should not do what You're 
forbidden to do because God will not hold you guiltless. For the Lord will not hold him 
guiltless who takes his name in vain. So we see in Leviticus 
chapter 24, the temporal sort of application of that is death 
penalty. And remember, Stephen was stoned, 
at least according to the unbelieving Jews, for blasphemy. He spoke 
against Moses. He spoke against the Holy Temple. 
and by maintaining fidelity to our Lord Jesus, they termed him 
as a blasphemous man and they executed him. So blasphemy in 
the here and now calls for execution. But with reference to the eternal 
judgment, Jesus in Matthew 12, 36 and 37 says, but I say to 
you that for every idle word men may speak. Now notice that, 
every idle word men may speak. They will give account of it 
in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be 
justified, and by your words you will be condemned. If we're 
gonna give an account for every idle word, how many idle words 
do we say in a day? I mean, things that don't really 
matter at all. I mean, it's amazing. So if we're 
going to give an account for every idle word, how much more 
for blasphemous words? How much more for that speaking 
that is contrary to the name of God Almighty? And so Jesus 
says very clearly, by your words you will be justified, by your 
words you will be condemned. And then Mark 8, 38, for whoever 
is shamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful 
generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when 
he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. So there is a judgment, and that's 
what it says. For the Lord will not hold him 
guiltless who takes his name in vain. So then finally, the 
positive aspect. Again, Westminster Larger Catechism 
112, the third commandment requires that the name of God, His titles, 
attributes, ordinances, the word, sacraments, prayer, oaths, vows, 
lots, His works, and whatsoever else there is whereby he makes 
himself known, be wholly and reverently used in thought, meditation, 
word, and writing, by and holy profession, and answerable conversation 
to the glory of God, and the good of ourselves and others." 
So obviously, if it's wrong to misuse the name of God, then 
positively we use the name of God in a proper sense. We invoke 
it in prayer. We use His name when it comes 
to praise, when we sing psalms and hymns of praise to God. We 
are authorized to use His name when we pray to Him. When we 
engage in theological discourse, when we discuss the glory of 
God, this is perfectly acceptable. This is not incorrect. It's not 
wrong. So the proper use of God's name, 
the proper appreciation for His perfections, I think that gives 
impetus for us to know Confession chapter 2, paragraph 2. We'd 
look at these eternal relations of origin. We need to know those 
perfections as well. Why? Because it is who God is. God is His perfections. God is 
His attributes. And the proper recognition of 
His works. We give glory to God for the 
created order, for the providential order, for the redemptive order. 
We give praise to Him for these things. And then I would suggest 
the proper esteem for His word. Listen to Psalm 138, 2. It's 
a powerful statement. We are told not to take the name of 
the Lord your God in vain, We are looking at this under 
the idea that the name represents all that God is, and the psalmist 
says you have magnified or you have lifted your name, magnified 
your word above all your name. We ought to esteem that word. 
So the proper use of God's name, the reverence due in the worship 
of God in the public means. We consider who God is, his perfections, 
his works, and we enter in with reverence and awe. And in the 
execution of oaths and vows, listen to Hodge. He says, hence 
an oath is an act of supreme religious worship since it recognizes 
the omnipresence, omniscience, absolute justice and sovereignty 
of the person whose august witness is invoked and whose judgment 
is appealed to as final. That is a very serious statement. We think about, do we use oaths? I would suggest that we do. We 
speak of wedding vows. Technically, they're oaths. We 
make vows to God. We make oaths to one another. 
So I'm not going to go on a campaign. No, they're oaths. We can still 
say vows. But technically speaking, vows 
are made to God, solemn promises made to God by man. and oaths 
are made man to man in the presence of God, not in marriage, man 
to woman. In marriage, almost slipped there, 
but you know my point. So oaths are witnessed by God. And so when it comes to keeping 
our word, yeah, it's connected to the ninth commandment, but 
it's certainly connected to the third commandment as well. The 
act of perjury in a courtroom. An unlawful divorce. Those things 
are not legit and they're not righteous. And then the sincerity 
manifested in our profession of faith. The professor of faith 
must have an answerable conversation, is what the catechism says. Answerable 
conversation. In other words, you profess to 
be a believer, There ought to be an answerable conversation. There ought to be some fruit. 
And then the professor of faith must not give cause to the enemies 
of the Lord to blaspheme. In conclusion, Fisher, I think, 
sums it up well. The Lord in this commandment 
does require that we sanctify his name in our hearts, with 
our tongues and in our lives by thinking, conceiving, speaking, 
writing, and walking, so as becomes the excellency of His titles, 
attributes, ordinances, works, and religion." Great compendium, 
great summary statement, I think. So I'll pray, and then if there's 
any questions, we can talk through those. Father in heaven, thank 
you for your word. Thank you for the clarity of 
your holy law, and thank you that the law shows us our sin 
and misery, and it shows us our need for the Savior. Thank you 
for justification by faith and for the presence and the power 
of the Spirit who guides and leads us by that law and its 
normative use. We thank you that you have blessed 
us richly with every spiritual blessing. Give us a zeal and 
a love and a desire to put these things into practice in our own 
lives. And we do thank you for your glorious name. We pray that 
it would be hallowed in our lives as individuals and as families 
and as we come together as a church. And we ask this through Christ 
our Lord, Amen. Well, any questions or comments 
on any of that material? I know it was a lot. Just read 
the Westminster Larger 112, 113, and that Fisher quote I think 
is very helpful. But it's easy to, you know, get 
into some of the common parlances of our day and let our guard 
down, you know, the euphemistic approach to to God's name. We're not supposed to do that. 
God says don't do that. So any questions, comments? Good.