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The Ten • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Intro
Intro
What’s going on friends and family
I’m Jamie I’m one of the pastor here, I’m so glad you decided to come and worship with us today
Before we dive into the Word today let’s pray
Pray
Pray
Thank God for His Word
For His name
For SF and WT
Sermon Intro
Sermon Intro
We are smack dab in the middle of a sermon series called The Ten!
That means we have been counting down the Ten most important laws that have ever been given to anyone
Today we are looking at the 3rd commandment
And I know what you might be thinking: “Jamie, we are supposed to be on commandment four, not three”
And you’re exactly right, but Pastor Matthew told me he has a sermon on keeping the Sabbath holy that is so good, he wanted to be the one to share it with you
So we decided to switch it up!
Today we will be looking at the third commandment, so take your Bible, or your iPhone, or iPad, or eyelids and open them up to Exodus 20
Body
Body
The Commandment
The Commandment
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes his name in vain.
The third commandment says in plain terms: don’t misuse the Lord’s name, or there will be consequences
God told Moses to make sure the people knew that they should not take His name in vain - they should not misuse or abuse His name
This should naturally lead us to three questions that over the next 30 minutes we will seek to answer
What is God’s name, and why is it important
How do you obey the commandment
What is the punishment for taking His name in vain
God’s name
God’s name
So the first question we are looking to answer is what is God’s name?
Yes obviously God’s name is God - what we really are asking is what is significant about God’s name?
My name just showed up the screen, lets all shout it out as a group!
Wrong! It’s DANNY!
What about my middle name! Shout it out!
Wrong! It’s JAMES!
See I go by Jamie because it accurately represents who I am as a person
Back in Biblical times, names meant something - they had significant meaning
Today we name kids based off of what is a popular name in a baby book or the best name, so obviously we know that Jamie is the best name because look at me
but back in Biblical times, names were given based off of the character of the kid
It described who they are
For example:
The prophet Elijah’s name mean “my God is Yahweh”
The prophet Elisha meant “My God is salvation”
Moses himself the author of Exodus’ name means “deliver” or “drew out” which can refer both to how he was drew out of the Nile as a baby, and how he drew out Israel from slavery
The good thing is, God tells us what His name is
14 God said to Moses, “I am that I am.” And he said, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘The Lord—the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial from generation to generation.’
God’s proper name is “I am” or the translation “Yahweh”
When we read the OT and see the name “Lord” in all capital letters it is always the proper name for God “YHWH”
It is meant to show us that the Lord is constant - that He is always present
It literally translates as a verb “To be” that is that God is always existing
He is always present
He is sustaining by everything that has ever existed all at the same time
He is holding it all together, keeping it together
YHWH was seen as the deliverer as we see in Psalm 107
13 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
YHWH offers forgiveness as we see in Psalm 25
11 For the sake of your reputation, O Lord,
forgive my sin, because it is great.
YHWH gives guidance to his people as we see in Psalm 31
3 For you are my high ridge and my stronghold;
for the sake of your own reputation you lead me and guide me.
God also has many other names each of which revels an aspect of His character
Elohim - seen all the way in Genesis 1:1, means “creator, mighty, and strong”
Adonai - seen in Genesis 15:2, means “Lord”
Yahweh-Jireh - seen in Genesis 22:14, means “the Lord will Provide”
Yahweh-Rapha - seen in Exodus 15:26, means “The Lord who heals”
There are many, many more names for the God, but all of these names denote something about the character of God
They show us who God is
What God does
What He is all about
He is the God that sustains, He is the God that heals, He is the God that provides
His names are sacred and meant to denote the exact character of God
That means this, here’s the first thing to write down:
God’s name reveals God’s character
His name, God, Lord, Yahweh, Adonai, Elohim, Jehovah they are sacred
They tell us exactly who God is
They tell us what He is about
His name is sacred and holy, to the point that God commands us to take his name seriously
Listen to what the OT Scribes would do:
In fact, when the scribes were making copies of the Holy Scripture, when they came to the name of God they would place their pen down, rise, go bathe themselves, and put on different garments.
Then they would come with a pen that had never been used before and with a brand new pen they would write down the holy name of God.
That’s what the name represents.
They took the name of God so serious because it identifies His character, its how we know who He is
They wouldn’t even write his name with the same pen
It’s no wonder that God tells us not to misuse His name
It’s who He is
Misusing God’s name
Misusing God’s name
The second question the command must bring up is simply what does misusing God’s name mean
What does it mean to take the Lord’s name in vain?
The Hebrew word for vain is “ha saw” which is of the same root as the word in Ecclesiastes for vanity
It means futile, nothingness, worthless
It can also mean without giving compensation
So in laymen terms God is telling us not to use His name when we don’t really mean it
Don’t use Lord/God/Jesus if we don’t actually mean it and believe it
Don’t use the words of Heaven if we don’t mean it
Now that can mean two things
Cussing
Cussing
Watch your speech
For example: it can mean the language you use when you are talking
Lots of people like to say phrases like “Oh my God” or Christians like to say “gosh”
There is a ton of different cuss words that use the Lord’s name
This can also refer to when we say something out of anger and curse someone to hell
And I know what you are thinking, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal, it’s just words or language
Would you say the same about someone who says I only kill a little bit? I only cheat on my wife a little bit? I only watch a little bit of porn?
The severity doesn’t change, sin is sin to God
God calls us not to do it
More than that our language and speech is important
Listen to what James, Jesus’ brother, said about our language
8 But no human being can subdue the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people made in God’s image. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters.11 A spring does not pour out fresh water and bitter water from the same opening, does it? 12 Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, or a vine produce figs? Neither can a salt water spring produce fresh water.
He tells us that our tongue, our words, are full of deadly poison
He says with it we can bless God, but we can also curse people
Earlier he tells us that it sets a forest ablaze with destruction
I would be willing to bet you can remember the last time someone made a comment about you
Maybe it was a positive comment, and it built you up and uplifted you spirit
Maybe it was a negative comment
Yeah we remember the negative comments
They stick with us for years
I can still remember when I was in middle school - I got bullied a lot
I had a speech impediment and that caused a lot of kids to constantly bully/pick on me
We remember the words that are said because words are powerful
God in Genesis used words when He created everything
The Bible says He spoke it into existence
So when it comes to taking God’s name in vain, our language and speech matters
It also deals with using God’s name when it comes to making promises you don’t intend to keep
“I swear I’ll do this thing… if I don’t let the Lord strike me down!”
You ever heard someone say that?
I have
I have heard people say that with no intent on actually doing what they are swearing
They are playing with Lord’s name to back up a claim that they themselves never intend to keep
That’s why Jesus says:
37 Let your word be ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no.’ More than this is from the evil one.
We should let our talk be plain and honest. If we plan to do something say yes, if not say no
Don’t add in the Lord’s name
But here’s the other meaning for vain
Reverence/Holiness
Reverence/Holiness
Moses is telling us not only are we to watch our speech when it comes to God, but he says:
Watch your actions
The second way to obey this commandment is by watching our actions
That looks like us claiming to believe in Jesus, come to church, sing worship songs, and yet not believe any of it
I heard one author put it this way:
It is abused when the insincere and hollow professor joins in the most solemn act of worship, honours Him with the lips while the heart is far from God—nay, when one strives to curb Satan, and reclaim his fellow-sinner, by the use of good and holy phrases, in which his own belief is merely theoretical; and fares like the sons of Sceva, who repeated an orthodox adjuration, but fled away overpowered and wounded.
If you don’t remember the sons of Sceva let me remind you
11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, 12 so that when even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his body were brought to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.13 But some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed by evil spirits, saying, “I sternly warn you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 (Now seven sons of a man named Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.)15 But the evil spirit replied to them, “I know about Jesus and I am acquainted with Paul, but who are you?”16 Then the man who was possessed by the evil spirit jumped on them and beat them all into submission. He prevailed against them so that they fled from that house naked and wounded.
Paul is preaching the word of God in full faith, and God is doing amazing works through Him
Yet there are son Jewish priests, the Luke the author of Acts even identifies them as the sons of Sceva, are trying to capitalize on the fame
The go and try to cast out a demon
But notice what they did, it wasn’t by their faith in God
It was simply by Paul’s God
It wasn’t through the Holy Spirit, it wasn’t their belief
Because of that, we see what happens to them, they run off naked and wounded
The sad reality is that is so many people in the local church today
Especially here in the South
They don’t actually have faith in Jesus
They don’t trust that He came, lived a perfect life, died a death He didn’t deserve, and was raised
They come to church simply because they think they are “supposed” to
The sons of Sceva didn’t believe in Jesus, they just repeated His name because they thought that would help
You can repeat the name of Jesus all you want. You can claim to do work in the name of Jesus. But if you don’t actually trust in Him, and surrender to His Lordship, it doesn’t matter
You are just taking His name in vain
Wrapping up
Wrapping up
Taking the Lord’s name in vain has to do with two key things
Our speech
Our life
We can take the Lord’s name in vain when we use it to curse others
When we use His name, or the things of God as curses
We take His name in vain when we swear by His name, but don’t intend to keep the promises we make
And we take the Lord’s name in vain when we do the things of God, without actually believing and surrendering in the name of Jesus
Punishment?
Punishment?
So this leads to the last question, what’s the punishment?
We know why God’s name is so important: it shows His character
And we just outlined all that taking His name in vain means
So what is the punishment?
When the command is wrote, there is no defined punishment for it, it simply states that we are not guiltless
There is punishment for breaking it
Dampens your witness
Dampens your witness
The first punishment is this:
It dampens your witness
When we take the Lord’s name in vain we are dampening our witness of Jesus and who He is
Peter tells us this:
16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.”
We are called to be Holy, set apart, different
If you follow Jesus and surrender to His Lordship you are not of this earth, you are different
But when you take the Lord’s name in vain, through speech and action
You no longer become set apart
You are no longer Holy and different
You no longer represent your Father in Heaven
Nothing pulls people away from Jesus faster than someone who claims to follow Jesus, but their life doesn’t show it
If you ask people why they don’t go to church, one of the main answers you will hear is “all the hypocrites”
That’s because there is a lot of people that claim they follow Jesus but their life isn’t about it
They are breaking the 3rd commandment in speech and action and people are watching
Jesus told this to the church in Laodicea
16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth!
We are to either be Hot or Cold!
No one goes to Dunkin’ Donuts and asks for a lukewarm coffee
You ask for iced or hot
Iced coffee refreshes you
Hot coffee warms you up
Lukewarm does nothing for you and is down right nasty
That’s what Jesus is saying we are, when we take His name in vain
We are helping no one, and hurting everyone
You pull people away from Jesus, you hurt your church, and you hurt your fellow believers
Separates from Jesus
Separates from Jesus
Not only does it dampen your witness, but taking the Lords name in vain can
It separates you from God
Taking the Lord’s name in vain can separate you from God
It can cause us to be sent to Hell, eternally separated from God
That sounds extreme, but when your entire life is built around a God you don’t believe in, it should make perfect sense
Listen to what Jesus says to people like this:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’
He tells us plainly that there will be many people on the last days when they stand before the Lord Almighty that will be declared lawbreakers and cast away into Hell
But Lord I went to church every Sunday
Lord I gave to the church
Lord I cared for the poor and the widow
Lord I kept your commandments
Lord I did all these things
But here’s the reality, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done
If you don’t surrender your life to Jesus it’s all for nothing
That is a scary reality but it is a reality
One day we will all stand before God and all our works will be judged
He will pull out books of every action we have ever done, everything we’ve ever said, and we will be judged based off of it
It won’t matter how many times we went to church or did an action - all that matters is do we trust in Jesus
Is your name wrote in the lambs book of life
This might sound severe to us, but think about what happened to Ananias and Sapphira:
In Acts 5 we see that Ananias and his wife Sapphira had sold land
They decided to keep half and give the other half to the church - not a bad thing at all
The problem was they lied to the church telling them that the only sold it for the amount that they gave to the church
They wanted the praise from the church, while also profiting, all of this done through the name of Jesus
If you know the story Peter talks to Ananias and declares that he is of Satan since he is lying in the house of the Lord, and God strikes Ananias dead
Later his wife comes to the church, Peter asks her about the money and she declares the same story, done in the name of Jesus
Because of this God strikes her dead as well
Think about it - God takes His name and reputation so serious that He struck down two people immediately for lying under His name
Wrapping up
Wrapping up
The punishments for breaking the commandment aren’t defined
God didn’t tell Moses to write: if you take my name in vain ______ will happen to you
Instead God said: “you will not be guiltless” you will be punished
Breaking the commandment causes us to have a dampened witness - causing people to turn away from the Lord
If we it is a life of breaking the commandment - not believing in Jesus, but just going through the motions it can cause us to be completely separated from the Lord
Conclusion
Conclusion
The Lord’s names are sacred and hallowed
They represent who God is, it’s how we know about God
I want to leave you with this thought
Jews would treat God’s name with such respect that they wouldn’t even mention the name of God
They wouldn’t say or write Yahweh, instead they wrote YHWH
They wouldn’t speak it because it was so sacred
Do you treat the Lord in this same light?