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exodus chapter 20 our focus tonight will be verse 7 which is the third commandment but i do want to read the chapter to set it in its larger context so beginning in verse 1 and god spoke all these words saying 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 remember the sabbath day to keep it holy six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the sabbath of the lord your god in it you shall do no work you nor your son nor your daughter nor your male servant nor your female servant nor your cattle nor your stranger who is within your gates for in six days the lord made the heavens and the earth the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day therefore the lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon 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 house you shall not covet your neighbor's wife nor his male servant nor his female servant nor his ox nor his donkey nor anything that is your neighbors now all the people witnessed the thunderings the lightning flashes the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking and when the people saw it they trembled and stood afar off then they said to moses you speak with us and we will hear but let not god speak with us lest we die and moses said to the people do not fear for god has come to test you and that his fear may be before you so that you may not sin so the people stood afar off but moses drew near the thick darkness where god was then the lord said to moses thus you shall say to the children of israel you have seen that i have talked with you from heaven you shall not make anything to be with me gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves an altar of earth you shall make for me and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings your sheep and your oxen in every place where i record my name i will come to you and i will bless you and if you make me an altar of stone you shall not build a build it of hume stone for if you use your tool on it you have profaned it nor shall you go up by steps to my altar that your nakedness may not be exposed on it amen well in terms of the book of exodus there's three major parts if we were to break it down into sort of a preaching outline chapters 1 to 18 deal with deliverance god delivers his people from bondage in egypt and then in chapters 19 to 24 you have demand god gives commands to his redeemed people on how they're to function when they get into the land that god is giving them and then from 25 to 40 it's dwelling so god not only calls them to himself but then he has or gives orders for the tabernacle such that he can dwell in the presence of his people well we're in the demand section here specifically in exodus chapter 20 you have the ten commandments and then in chapter 21 to 23 you have the detailed legislation on working out those principles in the body politic of the nation of israel and then of course chapter 24 is covenant ratification where they swear fidelity to yahweh all that he has commanded they say they will do obviously they were biting off a bit more than they could chew because by the time we get to chapter 32 they're dancing around a golden calf but that's sort of the flow of the book and so the people of israel are at sinai for quite some time not only to receive the legislation but as well to receive instruction on the building of the tabernacle prior to their going forth to the promised land so tonight as i said we're focusing on verse 7 and the third commandment 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 so the first and the second commandments frame the mind and the heart for worship by specifying in the first place the object of worship in commandment one and then the manner of worship in commandment two then commandments three and four come along and also sort of uh uh buttress that they encourage us in terms of the way that we revere the name of god and the way that we revere the day upon which he is worshipped so these first four commandments describe our duty toward god and certainly with reference to god we have a responsibility to use his name properly and that's the emphasis in this third commandment so i want to look first at the significance of the name of god secondly the prohibition in the command and then finally the positive aspect of the command but in terms of the significance you can turn back to exodus chapter 3. now it's not just the name yahweh that's in view in this third commandment but certainly the revelation of that name in exodus chapter 3 is quite significant when god comes to deal with moses and moses asks who shall i say sent me we notice in chapter 3 at verse 14 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 and then notice the significance of this in 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 jacob or isaac and the god of jacob has sent me to you this is my name forever and this is my memorial to all generations now when we consider the name of god it is a means by which god reveals himself to us so again it's not just the name yahweh but it's all the names that are given to us in scripture by which we understand who god is what god does then maastricht says that it is therefore evident that the nature of god is made known to us by his name and that's what's really writing on this particular commandment we're to revere the name of god because that name represents god himself bobbing 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 so again it's a means by which god reveals truth concerning god to us that's why we're to re esteem and to revere and to respect his holy name bhavink goes on to say 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 that's why there's this emphasis you shall not take the name of the lord your god in vain as we move through the prohibition as we look at the positive aspect of the command we'll see that there are certain uses that the the believer is to take the name of god upon his lips for but over our chain the concern is is that we esteem the god of absolute glory the living and the true god and that the names given to god in scripture reveal something about god to us as his people for instance you have el and elohim and elian this refers to god as the powerful one the mighty one or the most high in fact that's a very often used ter identifier of god in the old testament is god most high you've probably heard the name adonai it refers to god as ruler or lord or master and then there's el shaddai we used to have actually a banner up here i don't know where it is now after these guys have tinkered with the room and all that is the banner still here it's in the building so the banner's in the building the banner was made by don mars in the sunday school class and it's a very good banner in terms of the names of god we probably should find a place that probably right over there would be a good place yeah yeah we can move that not right this second obviously but we should get that back up there because it is most excellent so yeah el shaddai almighty the source of comfort and blessing and then that name yahweh that is revealed there in exodus chapter 3. some have referred to that name as jehovah others say yahweh yahweh is probably the better understanding and again bhaving sort of describes the names here 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 yahweh describes him as the one who in his grace remains forever faithful yahweh sabayoth 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 each of these names give us information about god so god identifies or rather reveals himself via these names so we're not to take the name of the lord our god in vain because if we do it is to suggest that god has issues or problems so the prohibition for specifically the use of god's name in vain the literal translation is do not raise up yahweh's name for no good psalm 139 verse 20 for they speak against you wickedly your enemies take your name in vain we're not supposed to do that we're not supposed to misuse the name of god we're supposed to use it reverently we're supposed to use it in worship we can certainly use it in theological discussion we absolutely positively use it in prayer but we don't use it as a curse word we don't use it as a canadian a we don't use it as simply filler we don't uh bring this credit upon the great name of god most high calvin says 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 it's good sort of emphasis to keep in our minds as we approach the use of god's name now the westminster larger catechism in a detailed explanation tells us the sins that are forbidden now there's not going to be a quiz you don't have to you know jot all this down but it's a very full definition the sins forbidden and 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 of our oaths and vows if lawful and fulfilling them if of things unlawful murmuring and quarreling at curious praying prying into and misapplying god's decrees and providences misinterpreting misapplying or any way perverting the word or any part of it to profane just 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 in hypocrisy or for sinister ends being ashamed of it or a shame to it by unconformable unwise unfruitful and offensive walking or backsliding from it again a very robust sort of a description as to the manner in which we can violate this particular command now in terms of some of the main applications we have blasphemy to blaspheme the name of god invoke the wrath of god in time and ultimately in eternity if you look specifically at the book of leviticus in chapter 24 we have an instance of a man who blasphemes the name of god and this does not go well for him leviticus chapter 24 specifically at verse 11. and the israelite and the israelite woman's son blasphemed the name of the lord and cursed and so they brought him to moses and then dropping down to verse 16 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 so by a verbal blasphemy an israelite could indeed bring upon him the the death penalty and you see that in this particular instance but turn over to ii samuel chapter 12. we need to appreciate that we may not break the commandment in terms of blasphemy by an outward act or by a verbal uh statement but we can break it by outward act or by some sort of a sin remember that david engaged in wickedness he engaged in adultery and then he engaged in murder to cover up that adultery and we notice that the prophet nathan comes to rebuke him he tells him that story david gets incensed and david gets upset and then nathan he uh you know rears back and says thou art the man and then nathan brings the judgment of god to bear upon david now obviously with reference to david he found forgiveness to be sure but notice what we find in verse 13. so david said to nathan i have sinned against the lord and 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 it's not just the case that by a verbal expression we engage in blasphemy it can be our conduct it can bring uh it can be a misuse of the name of the lord in principle in terms of our conduct so blasphemy against god's name a second way that we can violate this and it was covered in the catechism is the unlawful use of oaths and vows the unlawful use of those oaths and vows now our confession of faith has a chapter on oaths and vows and basically an oath is something that a man swears to another man before god has witness a vow is specifically directed to god with god as a witness now there are some in the history of the church that suggests based on jesus teaching in the sermon on the mount and james is teaching in james chapter 5 that there's no longer a place for lawful oaths and vows and they would suggest that our confession is wrong for having a chapter dealing with lawful oaths and vows well the bible teaches the practice of lawful oaths and vows it does not teach unlawful oaths and vows and that's what jesus is against in the sermon on the mount and that's what james is against in james chapter five they're not against the idea of actually swearing an oath or a vow in matters of seriousness and importance what jesus is condemning is this sort of an attitude where everything in everyday life we we swear by a stack of bibles that's not what we are to be doing let your yes be yes and your no be no but in certain contexts in giving evidence in a courtroom in other matters of weight and importance lawful oaths and vows are legit now when it comes to lawful oaths and vows we swear by the name of god alone there is the act of swearing by a false god that is condemned exodus 23 verse 13 and in all that i have said to you be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods nor let it be heard from your mouth so we are to swear according to god's word we swear by god in matters of weight and importance turn over to deuteronomy chapter 6. again we see not only these statements in terms of legislation but we see the practice in the new testament the apostle paul takes an oath the lord jesus when he's endured by the high priest responds as well god swears by himself according to hebrews chapter 6 which indicates indicates that the act of swearing is not necessarily evil it's how we swear it's what we swear upon and it's how we live in light of that oath or vow but in deuteronomy chapter 6 notice at verse 13 you shall fear the lord your god and serve him and shall take oaths in his name you shall not go after other gods the gods of the the peoples who are all around you for the lord your god is a jealous god among you lest the anger of the lord your god be aroused against you and you and destroy you from the face of the earth so when it comes to lawful oaths and vows we swear by the name of god in matters of of importance and weight and we do so with sincerity and with a genuine desire to do what god has caught or what we are swearing by god to actually engage it and when we look at chapter 23 in our confession that that deals with lawful oaths and vows the obvious connection is to the ninth commandment because we're not supposed to you know engage in false witness but the ninth commandment and the third commandment go hand in hand because we are swearing oaths and vows in the name of yahweh and that's what underscores the seriousness of it and therefore when we invoke god in an oath we better be committed to carrying out that oath and obviously perjury would be condemned under this particular heading you shall not bear false witness against god a third sort of prohibition that comes from exodus chapter 20 is the use of magic now by magic i don't mean sleight of hand there used to be a mexican restaurant called cinco de mayo in bellingham and we'd go there not a lot but when we would go there on friday nights they would have a magician and he'd walk around and pull a quarter out of your ear and that sort of thing and i think that's what we think when we hear magic that's not what i mean by magic i mean what the pagans and the heathen engaged it i mean this use or attempt to use or manipulate either natural or supernatural forces to try to get what we want and there are those who use or misuse the name of god in order to try and get what they want 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 or get him to act in a manner that we desire there's a guy by the name of dalma and he's got a book on the ten commandments published by presbyterian and reform he says 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 it typically is but this is a very difficult place to sort of rest ourselves we have to be very sure that something is god's providence or is god's will in order to use him to back us in our particular plan and certainly when we tell others oh yeah this is the will of god be careful about that brethren you may not always know what the will of god is in every given circumstance or instance we have the written will of god we have the precepts we have the commandments we have the promises we have about 31 000 of them from genesis to revelation we have providence for the most part it's pretty cut and dry we see that god's world works according to his plan but there are those times where persons become interpreters of a providential act and i typically and i have in the past suspected at times they were wrong not because i had a secret window into the will of god but i just know that you're not always supposed to invoke something as being god's will unless you're pretty positive that it is in fact god's will so we can fall prey to these sorts of misuses with reference to the name of god and again as delma says often times accompanied by noble intentions well this this is the will of god this is what god wants for me again if it's 1st thessalonians 4 i mentioned this on sunday morning this is the will of god your sanctification that you abstain from sexual immorality i won't argue with that but if you say god's will is for me to meet a girl who's five foot nine who looks like a model who has the godliness of uh of uh amy carmichael and that he's gonna do that next week i'm gonna be suspicious about that because you don't know that you don't know the ins and outs of the secret things that belong to god so there are believers that again using this as noble intention get into the secret things and start to manipulate that for their own well-being and then oftentimes can use it to bully people around them well this is the will of god you got to be careful with religious leaders and with religious teachers this is what cult you know cult leaders are made of guys who know the will of god when it comes to things that aren't revealed in the scripture brethren that is a dangerous proposition and a man might be guilty of using the name of god in vain while he's trying to to to gain ascendancy over others as well dovetailing along with that is the misapplication of god's providence the westminster larger catechism says murmuring and quarreling at curious prying into and misapplying god's decrees and providences turn to deuteronomy chapter 29 deuteronomy chapter 29 verse 29. we need to appreciate this concerning god's will it's not that there are two wills in god but there are those things that he has clearly revealed and there are those things that he hasn't revealed and in deuteronomy 29 29 the secret things belong to the lord our god but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law so this idea of misinterpreting or or rather uh uh curious prying into and misapplying god's decrees and providences this is dangerous business that the children of god really shouldn't venture into be be content with what god has revealed be content with the explicit statements of scripture in terms of this is the will of god as well the misinterpretation of god's word the misinterpretation of god's word the catechism again misinterpreting misapplying or any way perverting the word or any part of it to profane just curious or unprofitable questions vain janglings or the maintaining of false doctrines so we take the name of god in vain when we maintain heresy when we say in the name of god this is the way we're supposed to do this that or the other that is to misuse god's name that's why doctrine matters that's why teaching is important that's why instruction from scripture is absolutely crucial turn to first timothy chapter one timothy chapter 1 where you see this idea first timothy chapter 1 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 uh which some having rejected concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck of whom are hymenaeus and alexander whom i delivered to satan that they may learn to what they may learn not to blaspheme hymenaeus and alexander alexander is mentioned later on in second timothy 4 where the apostle paul says that alexander the coppersmith did mean much harm may the lord repay him hymonaeus is mentioned again in connection with a man by the name of philetus and hymonas and philetus taught the doctrine of of a hyper preterism they taught that there would be no second physical coming of our lord jesus christ as far as paul is concerned that false doctrine concerning the resurrection is blasphemy so when we hold the heresy that is to blaspheme god that is to misuse the name of god and that again is why it's important that we understand christian doctrine that we understand god's word with reference to his truth because if we do not then when instead of honoring the name of god we're going to actually be abusing it and misusing it and holding it or using it in vain so go back to exodus chapter 20. with reference to the third word those are just some suggestions of things that we ought to avoid when it comes to the use of the name of god but notice in verse 7 there's a reason or a rationale or a a a purpose as to why he says not to do this you shall not take the name of the lord your god in vain and then notice four the lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain if somebody insulted your wife or they insulted your husband or they insulted your child what would you do well you know that's just your perspective that's just the way that you see it no you'd probably want to punch him in the eye or some other sort of a thing i'm not advocating punching them in the eye uh but but you would not be happy about that well persons blasphemed the name of god and god appends to this prohibition a statement concerning judgment for the lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain that temporal judgment we see it in leviticus what happened to the blasphemer he was stoned to death you see this in acts chapter 7. now it's misapplied in the situation concerning stephen but nevertheless that's why they stoned him to death because they thought he was guilty of blasphemy a blasphemy or at least that's how they formulated so that they could execute him for the crime of blasphemy but then there is the eternal judgment of god most high turn to matthew chapter 12. matthew chapter 12 in many respects is a sort of a chilling snapshot as to the coming judgment of god almighty in matthew 12 at verses 36 and 37. we'll pick up in verse 33 either make the tree good and its fruit good or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad for a tree is known by its fruit brood of vipers how can you being evil speak good things you kind of see why they didn't always appreciate jesus right you know i've heard this over the last two years more than i've ever heard it oh your sermons are political tell me that this isn't political then jesus is talking to the religious leaders and he calls them bags of snakes if that doesn't have some sort of political ramification i i just don't know what does anyways brutal vipers how can you being evil speak good things for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things now listen to verses 36 and 37. but i say to you that for every idle word men may speak think about that idol words how many idol words do we spend do we do we say in a day how many idol words proceed from our mouths that we are one day going to give an account for he says 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 verse 37 does not upgrade the doctrine of justification by faith alone jesus is not teaching that by the way that you speak will determine whether or not you're saved or not no the way that you talk is a demonstration or an evidence of whether or not your heart has been changed by our gracious god but for the purpose at hand i say to you that for every idle word men may speak what about the blasphemy what about the taking in the name of the lord god in vain if that evoked in the commonwealth of israel the death penalty for someone who misused the name of yahweh how's it going to be on that day of judgment for persons who use the name of god most high and who used the name of jesus as only filler in sentences or they used it as curse words or they used it in such a way as to bring reproach upon that holy name of god most high so there is judgment to be had justice to be had for those who misuse the name of god almighty so those are some of the prohibitions involved there's certainly others as well that we could investigate but let's look finally at the positive aspect of the command again the westminster larger catechism 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 holy and reverently used in thought meditation word and writing by an holy profession and answerable conversation to the glory of god and the good of ourselves and others in other words if there's these statements or prohibitions of what we ought to avoid in terms of the use of god's name conversely we use it for good purpose we use it for good ants we use it with reverence and and with esteem for who he is but something else that this catechism gets at the name of god his titles attributes ordinances word sacraments prayer all that stuff it is revelatory so the names of god the perfections of god the works of god the things that god does are all revelatory of who god is we know god based on the things that he does we know god based on the way that he reveals himself to us via these particular names so it's a revelatory vehicle that is for the children of god to learn about their god and when they respond to that god they do so with the respect with the love and with the adoration that is fitting so we have first a proper use of god's name turn to leviticus chapter 22 leviticus chapter 22 legitimate or proper use of god's name leviticus 22 verse 32 you shall not profane my holy name but i will be hallowed among the children of israel i am the lord who sanctifies you who brought you out of the land of egypt to be your god i am the lord turn over to psalm 8. psalm 8 verse 1 o lord our lord how excellent is your name in all the earth who have set your glory above the heavens and then again in verse 9 oh lord our lord how excellent is your name in all the earth you see how the scripture extols the name of god such that if we attack that name or we misuse that name we're working contrary to what scripture calls us to and then of course matthew chapter 6 where does jesus begin in the lord's prayer he begins with the name of his father our father in heaven hallowed be your name prior to us asking for our food our forgiveness or our protection we first pray concerning god's name god's kingdom and god's will god comes first in the lord's prayer just like god comes first in the ten commandments there is order there is priority and god is above us so the first petition in the lord's prayer our father in heaven hallowed be your name as well a proper appre appreciation for his perfections again the catechism does this and the bible does this it links for us the names of god the perfections of god the word of god and those various revelations of who god is and so when we understand his perfections we esteem him we have been talking of late on our saturday morning meetings about some sort of uh there's a bit of a division right now going on among reformed baptists at the point of the perfections of god at the point of the without body parts and passion statement in our confession of faith if we do not properly understand those perfections if we do not esteem the god of those perfections then that is to hold god's name in vain i know we don't look at it that way but if we're called to thank god's thoughts after him then anything that is contrary to that is something that is condemned and therefore we need to think properly concerning who god is and then again a proper recognition of his works the primary works of god creation providence redemption the cpr you think in terms of god add extra or those things outside of god that he relates to it is creation and providence and redemption and again knowing these things the way that the bible sets them forth helps us to not bring the name of god into disrepute or to not use it in vain and then a proper esteem for his word turn to psalm 138. psalm 138 makes an incredible statement concerning god's name and god's word and by esteeming the one we esteem the other and vice versa psalm 138 a psalm of david i will praise you with my whole heart before the gods i will sing praises to you i will worship towards your holy temple and praise your name for your loving kindness and your truth for you have magnified your word above all your name beautiful statement i mean talk about a very powerful statement concerning the the word of god we have a commandment that is specifically directed to not misusing the name of the lord and here in psalm 138 david tells us that god has magnified his word above all his name so when we approach the name of god it is in concert with his perfections it is in concert with his works it's in concert with his word and so the way that we approach those things is indicative of the fact as to whether we use god's name in vain or whether we use it in a proper manner so there is that proper use of god's name and then the reference due for god in the worship of god now our church services should reflect this i'm not suggesting it ought to be stoicism and everybody looks miserable and sorrowful and agonizing from the moment we gather into the house of god i'm not saying that there ought to be a reverence that marks the house of god almighty we've come to have dealings with the most high god it shouldn't just be casual it shouldn't just be you know levity it shouldn't just be punctuated by you know sipping lattes and chewing gum and just a casual sort of a friendly environment again not that we shouldn't be friendly not that we shouldn't like each other but we are in the presence of god most high there ought to be a reverence that is there in the midst of the house of god turn to ephesians 2 a passage that we have looked at in many connections over the last year in ephesians chapter 2 at verse 18. the apostle says for through him we both have access by one spirit to the father it's what's happening in public worship for through christ we both jew gentile have access by one holy spirit to the father so you've got the triune god verse 19 now therefore you're no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of god having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets jesus christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into what it's a holy temple in the lord in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of god in the spirit i mean if that doesn't promote in us some degree of the fear of the lord then we're not reading this properly remember when they built the tabernacle at the end of exodus chapter 40 and that shekinah glory comes down moses himself couldn't enter into the tabernacle moses was too sinful moses needed to go through leviticus 1-9 before he entered into the very tabernacle of god almighty and yet today in our churches it's like a it's like a social club it's like it's just you know chat time it's just you know rah-rah time the the the pastor is more of a of a pep squad rally leader and he's just here to put a little you know juice in your batteries for the coming week this is the the house of the living and true god there ought to be reverence in our heart there ought to be respect and esteem for the name of god turn over to hebrews chapter 12. again another emphasis on public worship hebrews chapter 12 he makes a contrast between sinai and zion and zion in this context is the church of god under the gospel dispensation so verse 22 and chapter 12. you have come to mount zion and to the city of the living god the heavenly jerusalem to an innumerable company of angels to the general assembly in church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven to god the judge of all to the spirits of just men made perfect to jesus the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of abel see that you do not refuse him who speaks for if they did not escape who refused him who spoke on earth much more shall we not escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven whose voice then shook the earth but now he is promised saying yet once more i shake not only the earth but also heaven now this yet once more indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken as of things that are made that the things which cannot be shaken may remain now notice this therefore therefore since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken let us have grace by which we may serve god acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our god is a consuming fire so again this concept of of a church gathering and again it shouldn't be morose sorrowful depression everybody wants to have a you know a 38 held up to their head because they're just so miserable that's not the point but the absence of the reverence for god that is rampant in the church today ought to make us hang our heads in shame brethren it is no accident that we value and prize the second table over the first table i've used the illustration on several occasions mark driscoll was a man who basically jockeyed his way to a very prestigious position in a pastoral ministry that was quite lucrative what led to mark driscoll's downfall was a second table violation it was uh not perjury what's the word isaac plagiarism they caught him uh plagiarizing but prior to the plagiarism debacle they gave the right hand a fellowship to a modalist to a man who denies the doctrine of the trinity i thought back then and that was before i had done any you know detailed study in terms of the doctrine of god or theology proper but it sure seemed odd to me we'll give a a a modalist we'll give a sabellian you know a a right hand a fellowship and welcome him into our church but it's plagiarism that's going to end this man's career now hear me i think plagiarism should end a man's career that is vile it is reprehensible it is theft it is intellectual theft that does not belong in the church of the lord jesus christ but neither does the exchange of the true and living god for an idol made by a man like sibelius and championed by td jakes you see it evidences our priority the way we respond to the decalogue we are far more committed to that latter table than to the former table and in the church today that's pretty evident when it comes to public worship when it comes to a wholesale rejection of a day for god to be worshipped on i mean you'd think we were suggesting you know ripping people's teeth out with pliers and no novocaine to actually suggest that there is a binding sabbath for the people of god today oh no way are you kidding me that is offensive to people who name the name of jesus the giving of a day to your god is offensive somehow wouldn't it be nice if we gave every day to god in a manner that was consistent with the fact that we've been saved turn to matthew chapter 28 just so we can see that this idea of reverence and respect and esteem and fear for god does not militate joy happiness and thanksgiving again we have this concept you either aren't reverent or you're joyful no you're reverent and joyful matthew 28 8 so they went out quickly from the tomb with what with fear and great joy those things are consistent in the heart of the believer fear and joy can coincide psalm 2 is very instructive at this point as well when david takes to evangelize evangelizing the kings around him he says now therefore be wise o kings be instructed you judges of the earth serve the lord with fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little blessed are all those who put their trust in him so the reference and esteem and the fear for god that we should manifest in public worship or in private worship or in family worship is consistent with that joy and thanksgiving that is symptomatic of the redeemed heart these aren't contrary to one another in the public worship of god but rather they are consistent one with another in the public worship of god so when we come to worship we ought to engage in a reverent use of god's name as well in the execution of oaths and vows hodge makes the observation 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 so again jesus doesn't do away with lawful oaths and vows and neither does james but rather they regulate the use of lawful oaths and vows and they confine it to matters of importance and weight but when we do enter into that use of a lawful oath and vow we do it the way god says we do it in a manner that is consistent with the revealed will of god and then a final positive aspect is sincerity manifested in our profession of faith it is to misuse the name of god to profess to be a christian and then to live like the devil now i'm not suggesting that any of us live as we ought all the time but there are those who engage in rank hypocrisy there are those who engage in ranked inconsistency there are those who make a profession of faith and it's the furthest thing from them turn for a moment to second timothy chapter one second timothy chapter one those who confess faith in christ seek to live by grace in a manner consistent with that profession i'm sorry second timothy chapter two so ii timothy chapter two verse nineteen nevertheless the solid foundation of god stands having this seal the lord knows those who are his and let everyone who names the name of christ depart from iniquity so if we name the name of christ we should as far as paul is concerned as far as the rest of the bible is concerned seek by grace to depart from iniquity again we're never going to have a testimony that's 100 percent consistent across the board we have remaining corruption romans 7 galatians 5 their realities in the christian life but there are those who engage in complete hypocrisy when they name the name of the lord jesus christ so the professor of faith must have an answerable conversation and the professor of faith must not give god to the enemies of the lord the blaspheme the way that david did when david engaged in his activities with uriah the hittite that was nathan's point in 2nd samuel 12 at verse 14. so when it comes to this particular commandment and by way of summary we need to avoid any misuse of god's name and the only time that we use god's name is in a positive and in a right way and in terms of the use of this commandment there is a civil use there is a political use of this law the creature shouldn't blaspheme the creator just shouldn't be done in other words we know by nature by creation by the fact that we bear the image of god that there is a god romans 1 teaches us that but the bottom line is the creature shouldn't misuse that name so all men everywhere are duty bound to not blaspheme the name of god now the second use of the law is the pedagogical use that is the use of the law that shows us our sin that shows us our need for the savior now we can bring this law to bear upon sinners that we evangelize again persons misuse the name of jesus they misuse the name of god in a whole host of ways if one of those persons happens to be your friend and you want to evangelize them use that particular violation of the law to show them their sin when it comes to sin if someone doesn't see their sin they'll never see their need for the savior and so use that i mean obviously you need to calculate all the ins and outs involved but that is a law that god has given and a law that that man by nature breaks very often and then the normative use we must understand and embrace the reality that god's name his perfections and his works and word show us who he is and it should frame our hearts are right privately before him as families before him and as churches before him in a right and reverent use of his name and that we would enter into that prayer of our lord jesus christ that first petition how often do we actually pray that god's name would be hallowed in this earth that god's name would be esteemed that god's name would be prized that god's name would be praised i'm not asking for a hand show or anything like that but think about that particular petition is it something that comes out in our prayers at the throne of grace in terms of the concern for jesus it was the first petition for the people of god it certainly ought to be right up in there and we ought to esteem that name and seek to promote that name both with saints and sinners and it will be reflected in the way that we conduct ourselves with reference to the name of god almighty well let us close in a word of prayer our father we do thank you for the revelation of who you are in scripture and we know that the names of god given to us all throughout the bible show us so many excellent and wondrous things about your being about who you are god help us to esteem that name help us to revere that name help us to use it properly and not to not to take it in vain and that as individuals and as families and as a church lord god in heaven i pray that we would come to this house of god with fear with trembling and with great joy and with great gratitude for your having saved us by grace through faith in our lord jesus christ and help us god to live in a manner that is consistent with your will and with your word and we ask this through jesus christ our lord amen any questions or comments on the name of god anyone isaac nothing what about the word god like it's not his name but it's just what we use in english like i guess it would be the creator that's the closest thing i can think but you know just oh elohim it it yeah like it means the supreme power the powerful one i mean in english when we say god yeah it's not like god is not necessarily one of his names is it well god is what he is yahweh is who he is god is a good name for god yeah supreme being the the powerful one typically you'll see the name elohim elohim used in in creation context providence things like that not that it's not used in redemptive contact uh context but typically yahweh is the the covenant name of god that seems to be that seems to be more prevalent in redemptive use so so different you know i don't want to say facets of god but as god is revealed to us that's a legit name it's a it's a legit use of god as his name now obviously there's little g gods even david in psalm 138 says that he's praying you know before the other gods um [Music] the the use of the name god i would suggest stay away from it you're not going to make a distinction and blasphemy oh i'm doing that in the name i'm not suggesting you're going to blast me i i mean that in a little god sort of a sense no don't don't go near the name of god in a misuse sort of a way i i know it seems odd and i'm maybe just showing my fastidiousness here i typically don't think i'm real fastidious or or pharisaical um i mean i guess we all have our our nasty elements but even like omg in my mind that is what's the word a euphemism right when you see omg i've always thought it meant oh my god and to me you know i i have never disciplined anybody i don't go on facebook and say oh well you know so and so i'm going to check them off but i just think when it comes to the name of god saying that there is a commandment namely the third commandment and seeing that the way jesus calls us to invoke the name of god and use the name of god in terms of how it would be thy name for me i it's one of those things that i'd want to put you know guard rails around and not get near it just seems too easy to to violate or too easy to fall prey to a misuse of god's name yes sir with that i'm just thinking about that in a sense like basically anything that like someone else is there to ask you even if you don't think the name like god dod is that like if someone asks you who's your god well you're going to tell them you know what they mean by that right so it's either way i think it's like and you lessening something that is meant to be holy and intelligent held in a steam right yeah and revered and again it's not you know outlandish right you would as i used the analogy earlier analogies always break down but if if somebody used your wife's name in an ill way or somebody used you wouldn't you wouldn't stand for that we wouldn't want other people to perceive that right if we didn't need it that way it's like if someone else perceives that because we use that and also he doesn't really take god or shouldn't they god seriously even if that's not our intent you wouldn't want that yeah yeah i think that the the link between you know obviously the third commandment and then what we have in the lord's prayer hell would be your name that that's just you know the first petition in in in that prayer and and my fear in my own prayer life is jump into that second half of the the lord's prayer you know i i need daily bread i certainly need forgiveness and and i'm gonna need some protection from the evil one and just sort of bypass his name his kingdom and his will but we're not supposed to bypass his name his kingdom and his will because that's most important more important than our food our forgiveness and our protection so yes sir um this is why we don't use yahweh more often we use it versus god well ralph davis you'll get lots of yahweh yeah he's pretty conspicuous he he says it very earnestly that's the name of god and and the way the way jehovah came up was it's the four letters so it's called a tetragrammaton so you've got four consonants and because the jews this is the the story the jews you know held the name in such reverence that they wouldn't pronounce it so when they were reading they wouldn't pronounce the name so they pointed it with vowel points from adonai and so that's what spawned this idea that it was jehovah or yahweh so this as the story goes and you'll hear even jews today or if you see them online sometimes you'll see them write g dash d because it's too much for them to write god because they're so reverent john owen in one of his volumes that escapes me now says that's not why they do it they do it because they're covenant-breaking wretches that have rejected and resisted the true and living god so i i think he had a very compelling argument yes sir someone culturally and then accused of not taking god seriously because of that yeah how would you respond to that i would say that's a a very curious phenomena that happened in the dutch tradition i when i first got here a buddy of mine he was my hebrew mentor and my team my tutor he visited here and we went to the free reform in the afternoon and he said how did the king james bible become such a tradition among the dodge it's just a strange thing but that's one thing but the other thing is is that there's no distinction in greek or hebrew there's no you know distinction among pronouns like this pronoun is a special one and this pronoun is not a special one it's really just a man-made tradition you know i hate to pop anybody's bubble or hurt anybody and i i know that the the this sounds and i've met it too i certainly had to counter this as being a an american living in chile but uh um no it's just an odd thing i would say there's no distinction in greek or hebrew in terms of pronouns that there's no you know holy ghost pronoun or some special way to refer to deity that's an english tradition based on the king james bible and from what i understand in dutch i've heard this that there is a bit of distinction in terms of pronoun use but the older the you're nodding you've heard this right the but but the older kind wasn't necessarily more reverent or something like that was it i hope it's still being used but there is a distinction in dutch there's a there's a more proper use of you uh if i call my mother-in-law james bible was that it i don't know that was more familiar more common um more respectful it's also singular versus plural yeah that's helpful the actual when when you use the king james bible you're not left wondering in terms of singular and plural that's a good benefit and me me is plural the plural form yeah translation judgment calls because the greek doesn't have that's true yeah but for the most part i i don't think there's a ton of difficulty in terms of there's a few contacts that you need to sort of figure it out but i think for the most part greek would be greek would have her plural singular and plural pronouns for sure i i was just going to say i think there's a distinction between the social construction of reference around the singular problems versus the actual fact of taking greek and hebrew languages and taking it into english touch french spanish etc now as far as french spanish portuguese italian goes as far as latin and romance vendors i'll just quickly point out that in terms of this dutch listing that was just mentioned there's a similar convention in terms of two versus blue or something like this in french where there's like a formal second person and then there's an informal right so for example spanish would be uh two and uh that would be our example so idea being is now in terms of what i've seen in those contexts i don't think they're gonna make a huge deal out of two of who said or two in blue because that's more of a social or um basically politeness issue among people as opposed to a reference issue in worship so i think that over time like let's say a couple hundred years ago or rather a couple hundred years from now english evolves further i think the objective should be for christians to be as reverend as possible at all times as language shifts as things happen and then this brings us back to all this emphasis on corporate worship that you were saying earlier um i think this is very sobering to consider that when heretical songs are sung in worship or heretical sermons are preached and therefore our you know we use this uh quote of idol factories a heart is a title factory dare i say that there are churches that are black sweet factories in the same way yeah and if that's the case that is very sobering that is a cold shower right there that's a wake-up call now to bring all this back tough it's tough that if somebody has been trained from the womb that that's the reverent use it's it's tough where i think it mostly stems yeah so so my encouragement would be to to to go that way to go that angle how would you you know how do you know that the these and those well the king james bible but then when you get in each of these as you well know as everybody every person from one of those churches in here knows right these are cans of worms after cans of worms and i have had those cans of worms too i i sympathize it's not not an easy situation i would suggest have some basic understanding i i mean you know it's it's interesting because i think everybody should read the king james i i'm a big fan of the king james i think if if you are a christian and you haven't read through the king james bible one time in your life then you know heaven help you i'm just kidding i i just think it's imperative i think just the the richness of the language the beauty it is it's a beautiful thing but it's not the only translation and and i think that that's where you need to be able to get with people and say look it's a beautiful wonderful translation but it's one translation among many translations and basically you've got hebrew and you've got greek and you take those and you translate them into a target language the king james does a fine job there's actually better translations though there's and there's anomalies in the king james bible um you know easter and in acts 12. no one really knows why or how that got in there um but it's in there and some king james people try to defend that reading so so you're dealing with people that are committed over and above you know what they sh i'm willing to die for the bible but not for the reading easter in acts chapter 12. so so it becomes a very strange persuasion that persons get when you know and again they're steeped in it they're brought up in it it's assumed that this is the only bible it's tough to bust out of that so i i would suggest caution and and kindness and compassion and firmness though in the sense that you know typically my thought is not going like a bull in a china shot oh yeah you know the king james is bad here no no no esteem it praise god for it don't attack it but point out that it's one translation among many and and the many you know are good there's some really valuable excellent i think the new king james is a very good translation i think it betters the king james in in a lot of ways um there's some things i wish they would have retained in the new king james from the old king james so you esteem it and and revere it and and and speak well of it but just try to get them to see your persons to see it's you know there's other translations and that this theon vowel that has become enshrined as sort of sacred language that's never how it was intended it wasn't like okay we're going to use this language we're going to use this body of literature to make a distinction between the deity and but that's not that's just not the way it happened and and you know some of that they may not get it the first pass through um and and i've found this too it's very easy for them or seems to be easy for them to accuse us of irreverence so you don't use that language therefore you're irreverent well that's a tough one too i mean i typically don't wander around with other christians and say my that's irreverent and yet they're okay sort of dulling that out i would ask at that point what do you mean by irreverent what does that mean blasphemy do you think i'm misusing the name well no no so i have to adopt pronouns that were in vogue in the 1600s you know and and utilize that when i speak of deity and what about if i you know spoke in another language what if i you know i'm sure you know isaac just rattled off a bunch of languages but not all the languages they don't all have categories of special pronouns to refer to deity so we're gonna you know consign all those persons to being irreverent when their language itself doesn't contain what the demand so it really it's a time maybe to reduce it to absurdity graciously kindly and yet pull it apart because it just it doesn't make sense it makes sense you know in a cultural socio you know religious context but doesn't make sense in terms of common sense or rationality or reason so so yeah but but never my don't attack the king james bible i mean that that's just like that's not cool i don't care how much you don't think the king james should be the pew bible never attack it it's like a good thing yeah is it just real quick i think my best um response to the theme that was or the for god if jesus uses the endow for sinners he talks to them with that so that [Music] yeah it's not that jesus only uses one class of pronouns for his father and then uses regular pronouns for the rabble and that is uh yeah that's a that's an exactly so would have you know the reformers and anybody in the 1600s they talked to god they talked to their friend as the end exactly we don't talk to you know our superiors now as ian dao or those we want to show it's a the language has changed that's right i will quickly cite chapter one of our confession where our confession specifically calls for the translation into vulgar tongues as well part of my journey out of the real world was just simply digesting the preference to the key to the king james i don't know how many and they did not think they were the end and the be all they said were we're throwing our hat in the ring to do a good translation but you know we know we're limited so yeah the preface to the king james is excellent [Music]