Jeff Schreve - Hallowed Be Thy Name

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The third commandment says, «You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain». Have you been breaking that important commandment? «The LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain». Hi, I’m Pastor Jeff Schreve, and we’re in a series on the Ten Commandments, «Written in Stone,» and today’s message is titled, «Hallowed Be Thy Name».

So, in our study, «Written in Stone,» we’re going to look at commandment number three, and just to give us background and a running start, we’re going to start Exodus 20, in verse 1. «Then 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 slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.'» Commandment number one. Commandment number two, «You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments».

Commandment number three, «You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain». Commandment number three, of all the Ten Commandments, it’s the only commandment that has expressly written in it, «This is what happens if you break this commandment». «For the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain». Now it’s not a minor thing, a trivial thing, an incidental thing to break the third commandment, and I dare say everyone in this room, everyone under the sound of my voice has broken the third commandment. «Oh, it’s no big deal». It’s a really big deal, and we’re going to discover why it is such a big deal, today.

So, what’s the big deal about it, why does God seem to get so upset about it? Two insights for this morning. Number one, God’s name represents all his goodness and all his glory. His character, his nature, his splendor, everything is wrapped up in his name. Now, as you read the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, you’ll find that God has many names. I mean, we read about different names for God, and somebody has said there’s 102 different names for God. And so God is very-very interested and committed to his name and the holiness of his name, that’s high-high-high on his list. I am going to carve ten words, ten commandments into stone, and that’s one of the commandments, «You shall not take the name of the LORD your God,» Yahweh, your Elohim, «In vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain». His name represents all that he is, all his goodness and majesty and glory and grace.

You say, «Well, where do you get that, that his name represents all that»? I’m glad you asked, Exodus chapter 33. Moses says to the Lord, «Lord, if I have found favor in Your sight, I pray, show me Your glory»! And the Lord said, «I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you». Your glory, your goodness is in the name, in the name.

That’s Exodus 33, and what happens in Exodus 34? He hides Moses in the cleft of the rock and he covers him with his hand, and he says, «Moses, you can’t see my face, no man can see my face and live. I’m going to show you the backside of my glory, I’m going to show you the edges of my glory, I’m going to show you the afterglow of my glory,» so to speak. And this is what the Lord said when he passed by, «The LORD, the LORD God,» Yahweh, Yahweh, El, just the shortened version of God, El, «This is my name and this is who I am,» «Compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations».

And when Moses had that encounter with God, he made haste to get low and worship God. His name encompasses all of who he is. Now let me ask you, when you think of the name of God and who he is, do you ever read Scripture and say, «Well, I like this aspect of God’s character, but I don’t like that aspect of God’s character»? Some people say, «Well, I don’t like the idea that God judges, I don’t like the idea that there’s a hell and that people could actually end up in hell, I don’t like the idea that there’s a great white throne judgment where the Lord says, 'Depart from me, all you who practice lawlessness, ' I don’t like the idea of that».

Well, so what, who cares what you like? God is God. Remember what I’ve told you, God is not who you want him to be, he is who he is. And when you have people who say, «Well, I like this about God, but I don’t like that about God, and so I’m throwing out the things I don’t like about God,» well, then you created another god. As it says in 1 Corinthians, «They had another Jesus, in whom we have not preached». Just because somebody uses the name of God, somebody uses the name of Jesus, doesn’t mean it’s the Jesus of the Bible. The Jesus of the cultist is not the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus of the liberal is not the Jesus of the Bible, God is who he is. And when we read things about God that we say, «Man, I mean, 'God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by raining down fire and brimstone, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter, ' well, that sure doesn’t sound like God».

It does sound like God, it is God, and you need to know about God, the fullness of who he is. Well, his name represents that, all his goodness, all his glory, all his grace, all his splendor, everything is wrapped up in his name. That’s the first insight. And, second insight, God’s name is to be feared and revered far above all other names. The Lord has bestowed on Jesus, «The name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father».

Now, you want to know something that’s so cool? So, in the Old Testament, you have the special name of God, and if you have a Bible like mine, New American Standard, any time you run into the four letters, Y-H-W-H, it’s always capitalized, L-O-R-D, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, and it’s to let you know that that’s the name, that’s the name. And used 6,500 times, 6,519 I think, LORD, YHWH, it’s not used once in the New Testament, Y-H-W-H. You say, «Why is that not used once in the New Testament»? Because the name that’s used in the New Testament is Jesus. «You shall call His name Jesus,» Yeshua, «For it is He who will save His people from their sins». And the name Jesus means «Yahweh saves,» «Yahweh saves».

We read about Yahweh in the Old Testament, and we see Yahweh in the New Testament, and Jesus said, «If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father,» «And Jesus came not to condemn the world, but to save the world». Now, the last book in the Old Testament, they were breaking the third commandment in such a horrible way, this is what the Lord says to them, the priests, it was especially in the ministry, it was rotten and it was polluting the people. And the Lord says, «'For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations, ' says the LORD of hosts,» says Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord of angel armies.

And then he goes on to say, «'But cursed be the swindler who is a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great King, ' says the Lord of hosts, 'and My name is to be feared.'» Psalm chapter 8, verse 1, «O LORD, our Lord,» how excellent, «How majestic is Your name in all the earth». «Holy and awesome,» Psalm 111 says, «Holy and awesome is His name». And in Malachi’s day, they were profaning the name, they were breaking the third commandment. You broken the third commandment? «You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain».

So let’s look at that in the Hebrew. «You shall not take». We kind of interpret the word «take» to mean «speak,» «You shall not speak the name of the Lord in vain». But the word «take» means a whole lot more than just «speak,» the word «take» literally means «to bear, to carry, to lift up». «You shall not bear the name of the Lord in vain,» «You shall not lift up the name of the Lord in vain,» «You shall not carry the name of the Lord in vain». «In vain» means «emptiness, nothingness, falsehood, worthlessness». Now I want to share with you five ways that people take the name of the Lord their God in vain, how Christians take the name of the Lord our God in vain. It is horrible, but it definitely happens.

So, first way, we take his name in vain when we use it flippantly, when we use it lightly, when we use it mindlessly. We text a friend and what do we use? Those three letters, OMG, everybody knows what that means. And those that are trying to cover their tracks, they say, «Well, I mean, 'Gosh.'» Well, what does gosh stand for? «Oh, well, it’s my way of not saying, 'God.'» Yeah, we just use it, we use the name of God as an interjection. You say, «What’s an interjection»? It’s just something that you say, it’s just mindless, somebody tells you a story, «Oh man, that’s something». The «oh man» is an interjection. «Oh wow, that’s cool,» that’s an interjection, it’s words that don’t necessarily have some tremendous meaning to them, you just use it.

«Wow, cool, neat, eww,» that’s an interjection. And we use God’s name that way, the name that is above all names, we use it flippantly… hey, you know you can sing a hymn or a praise song, and if you’re not engaged with what you’re singing and you’re singing about God’s name and your mind is a million miles away, you’ve broken the third commandment, because you’re mindless in speaking the name. And people say, «Well, you know, Jeff, don’t get all bent out of shape, I don’t mean anything by it». You probably don’t, that’s what «in vain» means, it means you’re not thinking about it, you’re mindless, it doesn’t mean anything to you.

And so we break the third commandment and take his name in vain when we use it flippantly, lightly, mindlessly. How about number two? We take his name in vain when we use it contemptibly, contemptibly. You say, «That’s a big word, what does that mean»? Well, I had to look it up, it means «deserving scorn, that which is despicable». You know, in a court of law, they can hold you in contempt. And we use the name, so many of us, we use it contemptibly, we use it as an expletive, we use it as a swear word. Hey, we take the name of the Lord in vain when we use it flippantly, when we use it contemptibly, thirdly, when we use it dishonestly, we take his name in vain. We use it in a false way, we use it in a dishonest way.

You say, «What do you mean»? Leviticus 19:12, «You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD». «I am Yahweh, don’t use my name in any kind of an oath and swear falsely». Jeremiah 5, verse 2, «The people make promises and say, 'As the LORD lives, ' but they don’t really mean it». «As the Lord lives» would be like our way of saying, «I swear to God,» but they don’t really mean it, and we take God’s name in vain when we use it falsely, dishonestly. You say, Well, who does that? People who get married, they make vows and they say, «I promise to love you, I promise to honor you, I promise to cherish you, I promise to be to you a true and faithful spouse as long as we both shall live,» and then they’re not true and they’re not faithful, and they bail out.

Now there are reasons and exceptions to divorce that the Lord gives us. Continued adultery is an exception, you can divorce in that situation, abandonment, you can divorce in that situation, I think that abuse, you could put that in there just based on the character and nature of God, he didn’t call anybody to be a punching bag in marriage. But lots of people divorce for what reason? Irreconcilable differences. Well, you should have thought about that before you got married, figure that out before you get married.

Now, I’ve had people over the years tell me, they say, «Well, when we do our wedding, Pastor Jeff, will you do our wedding? But we want to do our own vows». I say, «That’s fine, you can do your own vows, but you’re going to do my vows too, because I don’t know what your vows are, but I know what I’m going to have you say, and it’s going to be a vow before God and these assembled witnesses, and it’s in the name of the Lord Jesus». Don’t swear falsely in the name of God. When we use that dishonestly and you swear falsely by his name, you profane it, and that is taking his name in vain.

Fourthly, we take his name in vain when we bear it dishonestly. See, it’s not just what comes out of your mouth, it’s how you live. And the Pharisees and the religious leaders of Jesus’s day, they wouldn’t use God’s name in a flippant manner or in a contemptible manner, but they bore his name in such a dishonorable way. And see, for them it was all just external, it was all outward, and it wasn’t inward. Now, remember, when it says, «You shall not take,» «Take the name of the Lord,» that means «to carry, to bear, to lift up». «You shall not carry the name of the Lord in vain,» «You shall not bear the name of the Lord in vain,» «You shall not lift it up in vain».

You shall bear, and as believers in Jesus, we bear his name, we’re the people of God, called by his name, we are baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. «Go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit». So we bear his name, we belong to him. As the Bible says, «Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? You have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your bodies».

And so, as Paul prayed in Colossians chapter 1, he said, «For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects». Hey, how are we to live as Christians? We bear the name, we belong to him. Romans chapter 2, verses 23 and 24 says this, «You boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For 'THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU, ' just as it is written».

That’s quoting from 2 Samuel chapter 12, when Nathan the prophet went to David, and confronted David with his sin with Bathsheba, and said he said to him, «Because you have done this, King David, you’ve given occasion for the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme God». They say, «Ah, you know, this God stuff must not mean anything if that’s the way his followers act». Serious business when we bear it dishonorably. And then lastly, we take his name in vain when we fail to take him seriously. «You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain». «My name is feared among the nations,» God says. And you have the audacity to take it in vain as if it’s meaningless, as if it’s nothing, as if it’s worthless, the majestic name of Yahweh, the King of kings and Lord of lords?

Leviticus 24, «You shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, If anyone curses his God, then he will bear his sin. Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD, Yahweh, shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death». Serious business to take God’s name, to bear God’s name, to lift up God’s name in a worthless, meaningless, vain manner. So, you think about it and you say, «Good grief, I’m guilty of breaking the third commandment. I’m hearing you, Pastor Jeff, and I’m guilty of breaking the third commandment. You know what, Pastor Jeff? You’re going to be so happy with me, I’m going to do better».

Listen, I learned from my dear friend Dr. Wayne McDill, you never preach for people to do better, you preach for people to trust God, for people to look to God, for people to cry out and say, «Lord, I’m guilty, Lord, help me, Lord, change my situation, 'Change my heart, O God, make it ever true, change my heart, O God, may it be like you.'» You know, the Lord says to us, «'COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND BE SEPARATE, ' says the Lord, 'YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.' And you need to honor me in the way you live, you need to honor me in the way you talk, you need to quit being like the world and quit compromising with the world, and do a serious check on what you’re allowing to go in your ears, to go through your eyes, that’s polluting you, because you belong to me, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit».

I love how the Lord commanded Moses, through Aaron, to bless the people. Numbers chapter 6, «Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, „Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace“. So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them. My name.'» Wouldn’t it be wonderful?

You’re here and you say, «You know, Pastor Jeff, I know the name of the Lord, I know about him, I know things about him. I know Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead, I know that he is God in the flesh». But, like so many people, you have that in your head, it’s just facts in your head. You know who else believes all those things? The devil, «The demons believe and tremble». That doesn’t save you, believing facts about Jesus in your head, what saves you is when you come to Jesus with a broken heart and you put your faith and trust in Him, when faith goes from your mind to your heart. Jesus said, «Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOUL. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light». You have to come to him, you have to say yes to him. And when you come to him and say yes to him, you become his very own.