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Well, the first and the second 
commandments define for us the object of worship and the manner 
of worship. The first commandment answers 
the question, who are we supposed to worship? God defines or God 
declares that I am the Lord your God. In verse 6, by way of a 
preface to the Ten Commandments, and then he says in verse 7, 
you shall have no other gods before me. Yahweh alone is the 
object of worship. The Second Commandment specifies 
the manner. We are to approach God in the 
manner that He commands. We are not to add to His Word. 
We are not to take from His Word. We're not to do things contrary 
or innovative with reference to His Word. And then the third 
and the fourth commandments speak to worship as well, or speak 
to the idea of worship as well. Our sign says that the third 
and the fourth commandments frame the external members and actions. The third commandment does not 
only regulate our mouths but our hearts because the mouth 
speaks what is in the heart. And then of course the fourth 
commandment defines for us the day upon which we are to worship 
the living and true God. The third commandment in Psalm 
is a prohibition against the misuse of the titles, the attributes, 
and the works of God. Hermann Bavink says that all 
we learn about God from his revelation is designated his name in Scripture. So tonight we're going to look 
at three things and then draw out some practical conclusions. 
In the first place we'll look at the name of God. It certainly 
is good for us to consider that name that we are not to raise 
up to no good. In the second place we'll look 
at the prohibition of the command And in the third place, the positive 
aspect of the command. And this is the way, typically, 
commentators deal with this, with the commandments. The Westminster, 
larger catechism, I cannot commend it highly enough in terms of 
its treatment of the law, or the decalogue, rather. Calvin's 
Institute, the same sort of way. The prohibition, the positive 
aspect, this is what typically reformed interpreters have done 
with these commandments. But in the first place, the name 
of God. You shall not take the name of 
the Lord your God in vain. Literally, raise up Yahweh's 
name for no good. You're not to misuse it. And 
if, as Bavink says, all we learn about God from His revelation 
is designated His name in Scripture, then titles, attributes, and 
words are certainly what this commandment includes. In the 
first place, the titles of God. There are several words used 
to define for us, or to reveal for us better, the very nature 
of God. The words El, and Elohim, and 
Elyon. We considered this a little bit 
yesterday morning. in our theology study. Essentially 
what we have here is the powerful one, the mighty one. We have 
in this statement the Most High God. Another word is Adonai, 
which means Lord, or Master, or Ruler. Then there's El Shaddai, 
and that means Almighty. But as Birkhoff points out, with 
reference to this Almightiness of God, He is the source of comfort 
and blessing. El Shaddai, the source of comfort 
and blessing. As we look at our particular 
text, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in 
vain. This is literally Yahweh, your 
Elohim. Yahweh seems to be that peculiar 
personal name of God as He gives us, as He declares in the scripture. Turn for just a moment to Exodus 
chapter 3 and verse 14. Exodus chapter 3 and verse 14. 
This name Yahweh revealed by God to Moses when Moses comes 
upon the burning bush and the Lord God sends Moses to bring 
his people out of captivity. In Exodus chapter 3 at verse 
13, then Moses said to God, 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? Moses wants authentication. He wants affirmation. He wants 
confirmation. He wants to be able to relate 
to the children of Israel and to Pharaoh, this godless king, 
the name of the God who has commanded that his people go out into the 
wilderness so that they might worship him. Verse 14, 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. Now you can 
investigate this text in the better commentaries, you can 
investigate this text in the better systematic theologies. In sum, or in essence, I think 
Turretin is right. He says, with reference to this 
name Yahweh, or we might pronounce it in America and Canada as Jehovah. Turretin says, 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 Turretin says the name of 
Jehovah or Yahweh embraces God's eternality. From everlasting 
to everlasting, thou art God, is what the psalmist says. As 
well, this name embraces omnipotent power. Our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases. Didn't Nebuchadnezzar learn this 
lesson well in Daniel chapter 4? There is none that can stay 
the hand of God. There is none that can thwart 
the divine God's purpose in this particular world. His omnipotent 
power, His ability to do all His holy will, the God who made 
this world out of nothing by the word of His power in the 
space of six days and all very good, that God who governs all 
His creatures and all their action, that God who knows how many hairs 
are on our heads, Not because He spends time counting, but 
because all knowledge is always in Him. He knows everything, 
and He is all-powerful. And then as well, He is immutable. 
God does not change. Isn't that beautiful? We change 
constantly, don't we? We get up, and we're all fired 
up, and we're going to go serve the Lord, and then we change 
on a whim. God does not change. He is the 
same from everlasting to everlasting. What a comforting truth this 
affords to the people of God. Be still and know that I am God. Know and realize that He is unchanging, 
that He is omnipotent, that He is, in fact, eternal. This is all contained under this 
blessed title of Yahweh. Again, Bavinck explaining the 
various shades of meaning in these names applied to God. He 
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. That's 
a beautiful thought. 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. As well, the God revealed to 
us in the scripture is Triune, the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit. The Westminster Shorter Catechism 
asks, are there more gods than one? No, there is but one true 
and living God. In how many persons are there 
in the Godhead? There are three persons in the 
Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three 
are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. As 
our confession states, each of these persons has the whole divine 
essence. So the third commandment most 
certainly covers the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 
Jesus speaks about blasphemy against the Son. Jesus speaks 
about blasphemy against the Spirit. We see the Apostle Paul in the 
book of Acts dealing with unbelieving Jews. Speaking about them blaspheming 
when they're maligning the Lord Jesus Christ. So the Father, 
the Son, and the Spirit, each having the whole divine essence, 
are indeed protected, covered by, or referenced by this third 
commandment. And of course, the titles of 
God, the attributes of God, a few we've just looked at under the 
name Yahweh, but all the things the Bible says concerning who 
God is. All the things the Bible declares 
concerning God. His goodness, His righteousness, 
His justice, His mercy, His grace, His loving kindness. You see 
all of these things describe for us who our God is. So when 
we belittle those attributes or we call into question the 
truthfulness of those things, we are indeed impugning against 
God Himself. And then of course the works 
of God. creation, providence, and redemption. So the comprehensiveness 
of the commandment, in fact, deals with the titles, the attributes, 
and the works of our God. Now notice, secondly, the prohibition 
of the command. It's a negative statement. 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. As 
I said, the literal translation is raise up Yahweh's name for 
no good, to no good purpose. Taking that holy name upon your 
lips and using it as a curse word. Taking that holy name on 
your lips and using it to manipulate God or using it to control other 
persons. Using euphemisms, OMG, we see 
that all over social media. Well, I mean, oh my gosh. Well, 
gosh is still a euphemism for God. So no matter what, OMG is 
not a good thing to use. Go ahead and LOL yourself all 
over the place on social media. There's no violation of the third 
commandment there. When did Christians, professing 
people of God, think that somehow it was okay to move into OMG? We need to understand the reality 
of this third commandment. We need to see what's going on. 
John Calvin rightly said this, 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. That's what the commandment is 
designed for. It is to promote an appreciation 
of the greatness of our God. In many respects, we are standing 
on holy ground right now. Because the name of God, as Mike 
read even earlier today, or the name of God as Mike read in Psalm 
138 is glorious, it is majestic, it is excellent. That's how Psalm 
8 is framed. How excellent is your name? How wonderful is your name? And 
when the people of God take that name and they misuse it or they 
raise it up to no good purpose, that is a violation of the third 
commandment. This can be done in several ways. In the first place, blasphemy. Flat out, misuse, improperly, 
the name of the living God. Ignorant, vain, irreverent, profane, 
superstitious, or wicked use of God's names, titles, attributes. We can blaspheme Him with our 
tongue. Leviticus 24 11. We'll have cause to reflect on 
that passage a little bit later. We can blaspheme Him by our actions. You see, we need to understand 
this. You may never curse the name of God. You may never misuse 
it verbally and still be guilty of violating the third commandment. 
Remember that incident in 2 Samuel chapter 12. We just visited. 
David on his way to the battle in the Valley of Elah this morning. 
Well, what happens later on in David's career as the king of 
Israel? David, when the kings go out 
to battle, didn't. He sent out Joab to lead the 
troops. David goes up onto his roof and 
he sees Bathsheba. He sends for Bathsheba. He lays 
with Bathsheba. He impregnates Bathsheba. He 
then tries to get Uriah, her husband, to lie with her so that 
he will get the credit or the blame for her being pregnant. 
You know the story. Ultimately, David signs Uriah's 
death warrant, sends him into the hottest part of the battle, 
tells Joab to put him out front. Terrible thing. And then this 
man dies. You know what happens when the 
prophet Nathan comes? We all remember that story, don't 
we, David? Or Nathan tells him about that 
man who had the little ewe lamb, and that little ewe lamb was 
everything to him, and the man loved it, and he nurtured it, 
and he cared for it, and he treated it as if it was a child. And 
the rich man said, I want your ewe lamb, I've got people coming 
over, and we want to feast tonight. David gets incensed, he gets 
outraged, he gets angry. He is just upset about this particular 
incident. And Nathan, probably somewhat 
akin to Knox preaching to the Queen of England or the Queen 
of Scotland, Nathan says, thou art the man. And David then is 
crumbled before the living and true God. He owns his sin. He confesses his sin. God the 
Lord atones for his sin. You know what Nathan then says 
to him? By this act you have given cause 
to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. So while your mouth 
may never utter blasphemy, if you confess the name of our Lord 
Jesus Christ and you don't have an answerable conversation, answerable 
conduct, if you are living like the devil, then you are giving 
cause to the enemies of the Lord to bring reproach upon that holy 
name. The misuse of his name, the frivolous 
use of God's name, euphemisms. You say, wow, that's a bit... 
You know, invasive. I like OMG. You know what? The 
commandment is what the commandment is. I didn't write it. I didn't 
make it up. God reveals to us how important 
and how valuable and how prized his name is. We need to think 
twice before we engage in such practice. In the second place, 
you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. The 
unlawful use of oaths and vows. This is probably the primary 
reference. Notice in Deuteronomy chapter 
6, verse 13, you shall fear the Lord your God and serve him and 
shall take oaths in his name. Deuteronomy 10 and verse 20, 
you shall fear the Lord your God, you shall serve him and 
to him you shall hold fast and take oaths in his name. before 
you start to say, well, Jesus did away with oaths in the Sermon 
on the Mount. No, Jesus condemned rash, frivolous, 
and hasty oaths. Jesus himself took oaths. The Apostle Paul himself took 
oaths. Oaths have always been a part 
of Get this, religious worship. What Christ condemns in the sermon 
is this idea that we have to swear an oath on everything, 
and that we swear oaths not by God himself, but by temples and 
altars and gold and those sorts of things. Christ's condemnation, 
contrary to the unfortunate interpretation of some parts of the Christian 
church, does not condemn oath-taking. It condemns rash, frivolous, 
and hasty oath-taking. Calvin says concerning the third 
word, the commandment has particular reference 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 all profaning of it. Isn't that good? We need to be 
frightened away from it. We need to be scared. We need 
to be terrified. The thought of misusing God's 
name and swearing an oath ought to frighten us. The act of swearing 
by a false god is obviously condemned. You do not swear by Moloch. You 
do not swear by Baal. You do not swear by Asherah. 
You do not swear by your pile of money. You do not swear on 
your mother's grave. You don't swear on things that 
are contrary to what the Bible says concerning the lawful oaths 
and vows, the act of breaking one. I always say this, you know, 
when you meet that special guy or that special girl, and should 
you indeed covenant before God in this place to get married, 
think twice before you speak once. If you are going to swear 
before God and a body of witnesses to then engage in unlawful divorce 
is to break an oath. It is to break a vow. It is to 
break the third commandment. And of course, perjury. Charles 
Hodge says, with an implied imprecation of God's disfavor if we lie or 
prove unfaithful to our engagements. Consider the swearing of an oath 
in a law court. What do you testify? That everything 
I say is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, 
so help me God. You know what you are invoking 
when you do such a thing? You are invoking God himself 
to punish you should you be found wanting or should you be found 
lying. Hodge says this is generally 
expressed by the phrase forming the concluding part of the formula 
of most oaths, so help me God, i.e. let God so help me as I 
have told the truth or as I will keep my promise. And, may I add, 
may God punish me, may God judge me if what I am testifying to 
proves to be false. So the blasphemy against his 
name. Second, the unlawful use of oaths 
and vows. In the third place, the commandment 
prohibits the use of magic or sorcery. The use of magic or 
sorcery. This is condemned throughout 
the Pentateuch. This is condemned in God's Word. You can't go a-hankering 
after any old thing you want. No, God says don't do it. God 
says stay away from that stuff. Sorcery and magic, oftentimes 
in the ancient world, was done in the names of the gods. You 
swear by your god to engage in magic. You swear by your god, 
or you invoke the name of your god, to commit sorcery. In the 
ancient world, the names of the 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. This is what 
it ultimately boils down to. I'm going to use God simply to 
get what I want. Does this ever happen? Does this 
go on? Is this something we need to 
be careful of? Delma in his good book on the Ten Commandments 
says, this kind of sorcery reappears whenever we say that something 
is God's will, when in fact, it is not. You ever meet people, 
I just know the Lord would have me to do this, that, and the 
other. Well, how do you know that? Do you have a direct line 
to God? Do you have a red phone in your 
house and God calls you and says, I want you to do this. Be very 
careful, brethren, about interpreting the will of God. Now, there is 
the decretive. All that happens, happens according 
to the purpose and plan of God. We are to guide or live our lives 
regulated by the preceptive or the revealed will of God, what 
He tells us, what He commands us. Back to Delma. 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. Isn't this what cultism is guilty 
of? You have the cult leader who 
knows how to interpret the will or the mind of God in such a 
way that persons ought to follow what he says and do how he says 
it. Isn't that magic? Isn't that sorcery? Isn't that 
invoking the name of the living God to try to get what you want? And we can do that too, I'm not 
just suggesting, it's the cult leader. Well God, if I pray this 
prayer every day for 40 days, then I trust you're going to 
enlarge my territory. I pray this prayer every day, 
Lord God, and I trust that you will give me what I want. Has 
prayer then devolved or degenerated into an act of magic or sorcery? The faithful never approach prayer 
as a means by which to manipulate God in order to get what they 
want. Now, I suspect that we all probably 
at one point or another have done this. Oh Lord, if you'll 
just this. I remember being next to the 
Seal Beach Pier as a very young man and I got caught underneath 
a raft. It was a wavy day. Typically 
it wasn't that way at Seal Beach, but that day there happened to 
be some decent waves. There was a bit of an undercurrent. 
There was a guy on one of these dinghies, one of these rubber 
dinghies, and I got stuck underneath that dinghy. I thought I was 
gone. And I made a deal with God. God, 
if I get out of this water, I'm going to serve you. God, if I 
get out of this water, I'm going to be yours. Well, I got out 
of the water and forgot all about that. It was an attempt to manipulate 
God. It was an act of sorcery. It 
was an act of magic. And we need to guard against 
this sort of an approach. In the fourth place, there is 
a misapplication of God's providence. The Westminster Larger Catechism 
describes it this way. Murmuring and quarreling at, 
curious prying into, and misapplying God's decrees and providences. We need to be careful of this. 
We do not have the red phone that connects us to heaven's 
throne room. Now we can, with sober reflection, 
with consideration, We can understand what God is doing in certain 
things based on what he has revealed to us in his word, but we need 
to be very careful of making pronouncements based on providence 
that thus saith the Lord. Suppose, for instance, we have 
a place where a church is going to vote on approving homosexuals 
as part of their membership and or as part of their clergy. What 
if, in the course of this gathering together, a hurricane comes, 
or a tornado comes, and it wipes out this particular church? It 
would be in us to say, well, this was an act of the judgment 
of God. Now, I don't want to suggest 
it's not. But I do want to be a bit careful 
because what about every homosexual bar that happens to remain open 
after that day that wasn't struck by a tornado or a hurricane? Would we interpret that as an 
act of God's favor, an act of God's blessing, an act of God's 
approval? Again, judgment does come. I 
am not neglecting that or negating that, but we need to be careful 
about pontificating on the secret things that belong to the Lord 
our God. and study those things that have 
been given to us and to our children. Now please don't leave here and 
say, Butler doesn't think God judges sin. I do think that. 
This commandment tells us that He judges sin. But just be careful. Providence isn't a crystal ball. 
Providence isn't tea leaves. Providence isn't tarot cards. 
Providence is not some ability that certain perceptive Christians 
have been given by God. We need to be careful. in this 
area of misapplication of God's providence. In the fifth place, 
the misinterpretation of God's Word. Did you notice when Mike 
read the psalm earlier in the evening? If I were to ask you 
what psalm did Mike read in the evening, this is how I know if 
everybody's awake and alive and with us. I hope you'd all say 
Psalm 138. You would be correct. You know what the psalmist says 
in Psalm 138? Now you're pushing it. I gave 
you the place. I didn't know I had to realize 
what the contents were. Notice in Psalm 138 too, I will 
worship toward your holy temple and praise your name for your 
loving kindness and your truth. For you have magnified your word 
above all your name. God esteems his name. God esteems his word. So misinterpretation of God's 
word is condemned by the third word. Again, the Westminster 
Larger Catechism. I love the way they describe 
this. Misinterpreting, misapplying, or any way perverting the word, 
or any part of it, to provain jests, curious or unprofitable 
questions, vain janglings, or the maintaining of false doctrines." 
You mean if I maintain a false doctrine, I am sinning against 
God via the third word? Yes, because He magnifies His 
Word above His name. Brethren, maintaining false doctrines 
is bad. That's why we provide in our 
church a study of our confession of faith. That's why we preach 
expositorily through the scriptures, because maintaining false doctrine 
is bad. In the world of man, in the world 
of things, there are things that aren't so bad. Walking out into 
the rain without an umbrella is not so bad. But maintaining 
false doctrines is bad. And this is probably being done 
very consistently in the church at large. We don't care about 
doctrine. We don't care about teaching. 
We just want to experience Jesus. Well, apart from doctrine and 
teaching, which Jesus are we experiencing? The only way we 
know the Jesus we want to experience is through the Word of God. We 
need to beware. We need to be careful. We need 
to make sure that we're not misinterpreting God's Word. So those are some 
of the prohibitions. There are certainly others. Again, 
I point you to Westminster Larger Catechism numbers 112 and 113. But notice the reason furnished 
in our passage for this. You shall not take the name of 
the Lord your God in vain. Why? For the Lord will not hold 
him guiltless who takes his name in vain. God will not hold you 
guiltless if you take his name in vain. This is both temporal 
and eternal. Turn to Leviticus 24 for a moment. Leviticus chapter 24, verses 
10 to 16. A classic example of a temporal 
punishment which probably ended in an eternal punishment as well. 
But notice in Leviticus 24.10. Now the son of an Israelite woman, 
whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of 
Israel. And this Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought 
each other in the camp. And the Israelite woman's son 
blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed. And so they brought 
him to Moses. His mother's name was Shalami, 
the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. Then they put him 
in custody, that the mind of the Lord might be shown to them. 
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Take outside the camp 
him who has cursed. Then let all who heard him lay 
their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone 
him. Then you shall speak to the children 
of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 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 is born in the land. When he 
blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death." Now, 
I don't know if you saw in the news recently, I think it was 
in Indiana, some father was punishing his daughter because she was 
a thief. This young woman, I don't know, probably 13 or 14, stole 
from the parents, stole from her siblings, stole like it was 
going out of business. So the father made a billboard, 
like a sandwich sign, right? You got one on the back and one 
on the front. The guys used to walk around, you know, eat at 
Joe's. It said that on the front, it 
said that on the back. Well, this young woman had to stand 
out first, I think, in front of her school, and then in front 
of the courthouse, and then in front of the jailhouse, and it 
said, I am a thief. I have stolen, and thief was 
spelled wrong, which is just unfortunate. You're trying to 
shame your daughter, and you misspell thief. Like, dude, that's 
not cool. But anyways, I am a thief. I 
steal from my parents. I steal from my family members. I even stole my nine-year-old 
cousin's Christmas present. I mean, to shame this girl. And 
she looked unhappy. Now, I'm not here to suggest 
that all you kids get sandwich boards and whenever you do something, 
you walk up and down Wellington and ring a bell so everybody 
knows what bad things you have done. But to see some of the 
comments, I read it on, I think, The Blazer, one of those other 
things, and the comments, oh, this father, he's terrible, he's 
terrible, he's terrible. What would they think of Leviticus 
24? What would they think of Yahweh, of Israel, saying, stone 
him? Horror of horrors that we should 
ever expect or ever think. that God so esteems His name 
that He commands the execution of someone who raises up the 
name of Yahweh to no good. You see, if we have that response, 
if we have that reaction, we have not come to grips with who 
God really is. We have not come to grips with 
the reality of His eternality. of His omnipotence, of His immutability, 
of His grace, of His mercy, of His kindness, of His justice, 
of His wrath. We do not understand God because 
we get so upset. One of the biggest complaints 
from non-Christians, and unfortunately at times from Christians, is 
what appears to be the harsh penal codes in the Old Testament. Why are they harsh? Why are they 
bad? Why are they wrong? Do you know 
how to avoid what you perceive to be a harsh penal sanction? Don't break the law. If you don't want to get stoned 
for blasphemy, I got a zany idea. Don't blaspheme. Don't do it. If you happen to be the daughter 
of that man in Indiana and you don't want to wear a sandwich 
board that says, I am a thief, don't steal before it wells up 
in us to say, wow, that seems a bit harsh. Let us consider 
the majesty of the name of God, the excellency of it, the greatness 
of it, the loftiness of it, and the sweetness of it. Why would 
we misalign? Why would we blaspheme? Why would 
we slander the Lord God Most High? Leviticus 24 highlights 
the temporal judgment. Matthew 12, 36 and 37, there 
is an eternal judgment, but I say to you that for every idle word 
men may speak. Now, if it's idle words that 
is condemned by Jesus here, I mean, how many idle words do we speak 
in a day? Just think about it. How many things do we say that 
really don't need to be said? That's how I take this whole 
idle word thing. Just think about it. How much do we say that really 
doesn't need to be said? We yammer on and on and on and 
on all day long. It's just, we have to talk. We've 
changed Descartes from, I think, therefore I am, to, I talk, therefore 
I am. That defines me. That is my essence. That's what I do. I talk. If 
we will be judged for every idle word, then what about the blasphemy? What about the curse? What about 
the misuse of God's name? What about raising up Yahweh's 
name to no good? The Lord Christ says, But I say 
to you, that for 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. He points 
us to the day of judgment. there is an eternal consequence 
for raising up Yahweh's name to no good. Mark 8.38, for whoever 
is ashamed 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 the prohibition, some specific examples, and the reason. Let's 
move thirdly and finally to some positive aspects. The first place, 
use God's name properly. If it is prohibited that we misuse 
it, then what ought we to learn? We ought to use it properly. 
We ought to speak with reverence. We ought to speak with joy and 
delight concerning God. It is a proper use of His name. 
It is a proper appreciation of His attributes. You know how 
many times people complain against sovereignty? Isn't this what 
Wesley said concerning Whitefield? If that's the kind of God that 
there really is, or I don't know if it was Wesley who said this, 
somebody said this of Whitefield. If that's the kind of God God 
really is, I don't want to worship him because he's a monster. Well, 
if Whitefield's right, and he's accurately expounding the Word 
of Truth, and Romans 9 is in the Bible, and Ephesians 1 is 
in the Bible, and John 6 is in the Bible, and Psalm 115 and 
135 are in the Bible, and Daniel 4 is in the Bible, and the entirety 
of Genesis chapter 1 and 2 is in the Bible, then God is indeed 
sovereign, and to speak ill of that, It's not a good place to 
be. We ought to appreciate the attributes 
of God. We ought to properly recognize 
His works and give Him praise and give Him glory and give Him 
adoration. And we ought to esteem His word. 
We ought to esteem it. We ought to say with the psalmist, 
you have magnified your word above your name. That's the case, 
brethren. Do not neglect your Bibles. Do 
not neglect the Word of God. Be in the Scripture. Be studying 
the Scripture. Know the truth. Know what His 
titles are. Know what the attributes are. 
Know what the works are. The only way you're going to 
know those things is by studying the Scripture. It's not going 
to just come to you. It's not going to be a, you know, 
eureka moment, wow, now I have figured out the theological enterprise. The light bulb's not going to 
go off over your head without a bit of diligence and a bit 
of work and study in the scripture. When we say that, it almost sounds 
like going to the mines to dig out coal with a spoon. That's 
not the way it is. What's better than the Word of 
God for the Christian? What does the psalmist say? It's 
better. It's more to be desired than 
much fine gold. What does Jeremiah say when God 
puts His words in his mouth? They were sweet to me. The Word 
of God is good. It's delightful. It's blessed. It's wonderful. So the proper 
use of God's name, titles, attributes, words. Secondly, the reverence 
due in the worship of God. both in public worship and in 
oaths and vows. Our confession in chapter 23 
deals with oaths and vows under the rubric of worship. Worship. How do we honor God 
when it comes to the house of the Lord? We reverence His name. You know, we don't pick up our 
hymn book or our Trinity Psalter and tune out while we're singing 
about God. Isn't that to lift up the name 
of Yahweh to no good? Are we called in the Christian 
religion to let go and let God? Are we called in the Christian 
religion to climb up mountains and just experience the Lord? 
No, we're to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, 
mind, and strength. That means you need to engage 
in public worship. This is not an hour and a half 
or an hour for you to tune out. Well, you know, we can just yammer 
through these hymns. I can think about what I'm going 
to do tomorrow at work. I can think about who I'm going to 
visit for coffee on Tuesday. I can run through my whole week and 
plan my week and all the while pretend like I'm singing praises 
to God. Don't lift up Yahweh's name to no good. Public worship. Private worship. with reference 
to vows, the act of perjury in a courtroom, the act of unlawful 
divorce. All of these things are evidences 
of a taking of the name of the Lord of our God in vain. So conversely, 
when we take a vow, when we take an oath, let's keep it. Swear 
by God, mean it. If you're gonna say, I do, mean 
it. If you're gonna say, I swear, 
then mean it. Christians need to be known as 
men and women of their word, especially when we swear fidelity 
under God. And then the sincerity in our 
profession of faith. The professor of faith must have, 
as the catechism says, an answerable conversation. It says there, 
by an holy profession and answerable conversation to the glory of 
God and the good of ourselves, and others. 2 Timothy 1.9, let 
everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. The professor of faith must not 
give cause to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. We saw 
that, at least I've alluded to that in 2 Samuel chapter 12. 
So it's not just the tongue that's involved, but it's the heart, 
it's the mind, it's the soul, it's the strength. Well, in conclusion, 
in terms of the normative use of God's law, In other words, 
when we are converted, we've been justified freely by His 
grace, what does Jesus then do? He sends us back to the law as 
a pattern or as a definition or as a rule of life. Normatively, 
this commandment ought to shape the way that we conduct ourselves 
in word and in deed. It ought to affect us on a daily 
basis. We ought to use God's name properly. We ought to speak well of Him. 
We ought to consider that when we use the name of God, it is 
grave. We ought to do so with reverence. 
We ought to do so with esteem. We're not to use it when we hit 
our, you know, thumb with a hammer. Oh, you know, that sort of a 
thing. How many times do people do that sort of a thing? We use 
the name of God in prayer. We use the name of God in worship. 
We can use the name of God in theological discussion. Those 
are all proper uses of God's name. But as a curse word, or 
as an expletive, or as a thing that is filler in a sentence, 
that's simply unacceptable and condemned by the Word of God. 
In the second place, the pedagogical use of the law. What's that use? 
The law serves as a pedagogue, a child tutor. The law defines 
for us our sin, shows us we are guilty, and drives us, hopefully, 
to the cross for forgiveness. if you are guilty of breaking 
the third commandment. If any of these things tonight 
have stuck, if any of these things have affected you, or any of 
these things, rather, have found you out, then come to the Lord 
Jesus. That is one of the uses of God's 
law, to show us our sin, to show us our misery, to show us our 
need for the Savior. The law serves as a tutor to 
press us, to point us, to drive us to the Lord of glory. And 
for those who, by God's grace, are believers, we ought to praise 
Jesus for the fact that He bore our sin on the tree. Because 
who of us can ever say, we never broke the third commandment? 
Who of us can ever say, we never misused the name of the Lord? 
Who of us can ever say, I never, ever once departed from a right 
and a holy approach to the titles and the attributes and the and 
the works of God. All of us are guilty, and I suspect 
that every redeemed Christian is guilty on a daily basis. Praise God for Jesus, who never 
murmured against God, who never spoke in vain against His Father, 
who never lifted that name up to no good, but that blessed 
Christ who always did what God the Father commanded. And he 
carried out, in perfect fulfillment, all of the law of God. And then 
he died, and he rose again, so that sinful, blaspheming wretches 
could, by God's grace, look to him and live. One of the most 
famous sinful, blaspheming wretches, at least in the last several 
hundred years in the Christian church, was the man called John 
Newton. We like John Newton because he 
wrote Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved 
a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I'm found, 
was blind but now I see. Do you know what Newton did before 
he was a believer? He was a slave trader and a blasphemer. You see, God saves sinners. God saved Newton. God put the fear of God in Newton's 
heart. So there is hope for blasphemers. There is hope for those who raise 
up Yahweh's name to no good. And that hope is in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we do thank you for this gathering together tonight on the Sabbath 
day. We thank you for your titles and for your attributes and for 
your works as they are revealed to us in Holy Scripture. Grant 
us grace to not take your name in vain. Cause us to be careful 
in the way that we speak. Cause us to be careful in the 
way that we conduct ourselves. Cause us, Lord God Almighty, 
to see the great danger in treating lightly the name of our thrice 
holy God. We ask that you would go with 
us into this week. We ask that you would grant us 
grace so that we may shine as lights in a crooked and perverse 
generation and grant us great boldness, God, to hold forth 
the word of truth. We thank you for our time together 
today. We thank you for the fellowship 
of the saints. We thank you that we are able 
to sing praises to our God, to call upon you in prayer, and 
to hear from Holy Scripture. We praise you in Jesus' name. 
Amen.