Honor Up
Finding Freedom in the 10 Commandments • Sermon • Submitted
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7 “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.
The 3rd Commandment
The 3rd Commandment
The 3rd Commandment
The 3rd Commandment
The first two were challenging, but this one might seem like a relief, right?
I don’t use GD or swear on God’s name...
It almost seems like God is just getting picky.
But there is a powerful and life altering meaning and purpose behind this commandment.
Just like the other commandments, God isn’t trying to restrict us or keep us from joy.
The commandments are an avenue to freedom as we consider how they:
Reveal God to us
Confront us in our sin
Instruct us in our following
Promise us true, lasting joy
There is great freedom in honoring the Name of God.
God obviously takes His name seriously as we see the end of the verse.
Reveals God’s Character
Reveals God’s Character
1. It reveals God’s UNIQUENESS and SUPERIORITY.
1. It reveals God’s UNIQUENESS and SUPERIORITY.
Reveal about God’s Character.
13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘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 thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
ex 3
God comes to Moses and says “I have heard my people’s cry from Egypt. I am sending you to bring my people out of Eygpt.”
Moses response is “but who am I to say has sent me.” He is asking about authority, why should they listen to you?
Moses understand the importance of a name, it speaks to character, power, and authority.
God also understand the importance of a name, He says “Tell them ‘I am who I am’ is sending you. ‘YAHWEH (which means LORD)’ has sent you.”
The NAME that is above all other names send you Moses.
You are to claim the authority of YAHWEH Himself, whose name stands unique to all other names.
This is God’s PERSONAL NAME
He has no beginning. No ending. No dependence.
He simply is, always was, and always will be.
He communicates all of this with a personal name, a name that is superior to ALL other names.
So a few months later, as Moses is with God on Mt. Sinai, God commands His people to use His name in it’s unique and authoritative purpose only.
To do otherwise was discredit the name and character of God.
2. It reveals that God is KNOWABLE and PERSONAL.
2. It reveals that God is KNOWABLE and PERSONAL.
If you were to call the Atlantic ocean a Sea or a Pepsi a Coke (it is pop BTW) you aren’t going to hurt their feelings because they are not personal or knowable. (I can know what a Pepsi tastes like, but I can’t have a conversation with it).
But God is Personal, not just a distant force that governs the universe.
So to use God’s name in a way other than to refer to Him is dishonoring and degrading.
The word Vain here means falsely, deceptively, or trivially.
God’s name should not be used in a way that misrepresents his character, presents Him in a way that is deceptive to others, or makes light of who He is.
The Israelites understood the know-ability of God in the way the referred to Him.
They wouldn’t use the term YAHWEH in speech or writing, in order that they might miswrite it or mispronounce it.
They did use other names for God that pointed at His character.
El Shaddai: God Almighty- It’s an expression that reflects on God’s strength, majesty, and power.
Elohim: Father God / God the Creator – This name comes from being in awe of His power displayed throughout nature. He is the Sovereign God, and God of Eternity. In the beginning, He created – just by the power of His spoken Word.
Jehovah-jireh- The name that speaks to the Lord’s provision. He sees and provides for our every need as He provided the ram for Abraham to take the place of Issac at Mount Moriah.
God’s name should speak to WHO HE IS not used in a false or trivial way.
Confronts our Sinfulness
Confronts our Sinfulness
1. It confronts our IRREVERENCE.
1. It confronts our IRREVERENCE.
How we use the name of God speaks to the respect we have for His name.
OMG, for God’s sake, good God, Jesus Christ, GD...
When we use God’s name as an expression of emotion (joy, anger, frustration…) it empties His name of the meaning it was intended to have.
2. It confronts our INEPTITUDE.
2. It confronts our INEPTITUDE.
To be inept means to be inappropriate, out of place, or unsuitable.
We show our ineptness with God’s name when we use God’s name in an inappropriate or unsuitable manner.
In a manipulative manner
God told me...
God told me to tell you...
I feel God wants...
God is calling me/us/you to...
I do not doubt that God is actively speaking to us, but I believe God speaks to us through His Word.
It is dangerous and harmful to use statements like this for a couple of reasons:
We are potentially putting words into the mouth of God.
Had a lady tell me one time she feels like God is telling her to step down from helping in our children’s ministry to focus on
We are potentially suggesting we have a unique access to God. Potentially more mature or more spiritual.
You may very well be more in-tune with God’s Word through study, prayer and mediation, but to suggest that God speak specifically to you is dangerous and potentially harmful.
Even in the gift of prophesy there is an expectation that the words received would be examined in light of scripture and would be for the building up of the body of Christ.
We must be cautious and careful what we ascribe to God as His Word.
We also must be cautious and thoughtful about what we ascribe to the Lord.
We can be frivolous and inappropriate when we use phrases like “Praise the Lord” “Thank the Lord” “Hallelujah” and other like that.
“The Raptors won the NBA Championship, PTL!”
“The McRib is back, thank you Jesus!”
“No school tomorrow, Hallelujah?”
Sports broadcasters and weather men over use the term “historic” to the point it has lost it’s meaning.
Modern lingo throws the word “Epic” out for most any fun or exciting experience, and it has lost its power.
We we
3. It confronts our HYPOCRISY.
3. It confronts our HYPOCRISY.
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
13 The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
1 jn
One of the most frustrating experiences is going into a home improvement store not sure exactly what you are looking for
is
90% of the people who work there do not know ANYTHING about home improvement. They where the smock, have a tape measure attached to their side, but they have no clue what the standard size fitting you need for you plumbing project is.
The uniforms and the patches and metals are earned, not something that should be bought.
Confession: I was that guy for a summer. And I got pretty good at acting like an expert plumber, praying the whole time they would come back after my shift to find the right part.
It is dishonoring to wear something from the military you did not earn.
We might wear the smock and act like we know what we are talking about, but we are actually making a mockery of the ones who do know.
Ever asked a Marine “Were you are Marine?” they would respond “I am a Marine!” because it is a title that is earned.
There was one of those guys there and he, I’m sure was often frustrated with me and my bad advice.
We bear the name of Christ if we call ourselves Christians.
When we don’t live out the life God has called us to live we dishonor the name of God and the name of Christ.
The third command confronts our hypocrisy as we do not live out a life that honors God’s name.
John tells the Christians in Ephesus, “if you say you know Him, then it will show in how you live.”
It isn’t simply not saying GD or using Jesus as a curse word.
Our obedience, our lifestyle, our day to day speaks to our respect and love for God and His great name.
Instructs our Obedience
Instructs our Obedience
1. It instructs our THEOLOGY.
1. It instructs our THEOLOGY.
The way we use the name of God speaks to what we believe about God.
The 3rd commandment compels us to know God in order that we may speak about Him truthfully.
The more we know about God, but more we understand the holiness and power of His name.
2. It instructs our WORSHIP.
2. It instructs our WORSHIP.
The 3rd commandment empowers our worship of God.
1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! 2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! 3 Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! 4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! 5 Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created.
The heavens, the heights, the angels, the hosts, the sun and moon, and all the shining stars are told to PRAISE HIS NAME for He SPOKE and they were created.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created.
ps 148
That goes for us to. We praise the name of the one who SPOKE us into BEING.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters.
We should use God’s name only in the posture of worship (making much of who He is).
2.
2.
The way we use the name of God speaks to what we believe about God.
The 3rd commandment compels us to know God in order that we may speak about Him truthfully.
3. It instructs our ALLEGIANCE.
3. It instructs our ALLEGIANCE.
The 3rd commandment puts us in our proper place with the God of the universe, in a subordinate, humble position.
We do not have the right to define who God is, but He has the right to define us, and we have the privilege of being defined by Him.
The 3rd commandment instructs us to honor God as Lord (the very meaning of the name YAHWEH).
He is in charge.
He calls the shots.
He is in control…and that is good news.
Promises us Eternal Hope
Promises us Eternal Hope
1. It promises us SALVATION IN JESUS.
1. It promises us SALVATION IN JESUS.
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
The Third commandment points to Jesus, at whose name salvation is found.
The promise in is that if we respect the name of God we will not be punished.
The most essential way we must respect the name of God is by submitting out lives to the one name that is able to save us…the name of Jesus.
2. It promises us NEW IDENTITY.
2. It promises us NEW IDENTITY.
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
When we trust in Christ, believe in His name, we receive that name as adopted Children of God.
It isn’t just a ticket to Heaven, it is a new identity as a loved, accepted, cared for Child of God.
God the Father is a proud Father who loves His children and blesses His children with Good gifts.
The Third commandment is a promise to us that we are redeemed by the name given to us by Jesus.
3. It promises us ETERNAL HOPE.
3. It promises us ETERNAL HOPE.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
And that same name promises us a glorious inheritance in Heaven.
We have a great reward waiting for us in Heaven.
The third commandment should draw our attention away from creating a name for ourselves, and direct our gaze to the name we have been given and the glorious promise that name holds.
Bowing at the name of Jesus
Bowing at the name of Jesus
Philip
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The only proper response to this message today is a bowed knee.
Three Groups Represented Here
In Heaven- those who had faith in Jesus and bowed their knee in surrender.
On Earth- that us. Daily, moment by moment we must surrender our allegiance to the name that is above all names.
Under the Earth- those that died in rebellion, died in their sin. Oh yes, they will bow before the name of Jesus, under the wait of the wrath of our Holy God.
Will you bow now or later?
For some you have bowed to Jesus, but you are not bowing in obedience to baptism.
For others you have bowed to Jesus, but you have not bowed in the commitment to be members of EHBC.
For others your bowing is to Him as Lord of ALL. Lord of your finance, Lord of your future, Lord of your family...
He is worthy of your worship
His name is MUST BE PRAISED.