This morning we consider together the Third Commandment. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. We begin by reading the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 36 and 37 on page 21 and 22 in the back of the Psalters. What is required in the Third Commandment that we not only by cursing or perjury but also by rash swearing must not profane or abuse the name of God, nor by silence or connivance be partakers of these horrible sins in others, and briefly, that we use the holy name of God no otherwise than with fear and reverence, so that He may be rightly confessed and worshipped by us, and be glorified in all our words and works. Is then the profaning of God's name by swearing and cursing so heinous a sin that His wrath is kindled against those who do not endeavor as much as in them lies to prevent and forbid such cursing and swearing? It undoubtedly is, for there is no sin greater or more provoking to God than the profaning of His name. and therefore he has commanded this sin to be punished with death. May we then swear religiously by the name of God. Yes, either when the magistrate demands it of the subjects or when necessity requires us thereby to confirm fidelity and truth to the glory of God and the safety of our neighbor. For such an oath is founded on God's word and therefore was justly used by the saints both in the Old and New Testament. May we also swear by saints or any other creatures? No, for a lawful oath is calling upon God as the only One who knows the heart, that He will bear witness to the truth and punish me if I swear falsely, which honour is due to no creature. As we look at the third commandment, beloved, we must keep in mind the first and the second commandments. In the first commandment, we saw that God was the proper and the only object of worship. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. And this means not only that God is the first among many gods, but that God is God alone. There is no other God. who can be worshipped beside Him. And for us, that means that we must strive with our whole being to serve the Lord, with our whole existence, with everything that we have, to live unto the name of God. And we find, and we saw this, that in our lives there are many other things that we seek and that we worship alongside of God. And we need to repent of those things and turn to God alone. So the first commandment tells us whom we should worship. In the second commandment, God comes to us and He tells us how we should worship Him. He said to Israel, thou shalt have no other graven image. And worshiping God then means not only acknowledging Him as the only God, but it means following His will with regard to how we worship and serve Him, the only God. That we don't do this according to our own innovation or imagination, that we see that it's impossible for us to create some image of God that is worthy of Him, and that we worship Him as He has commanded in His Word. We looked last week at the classic example in Scripture of the worship of God by image, and that was the golden calf. Aaron erected it as a representation of Jehovah God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. And they declared a feast unto Jehovah, and they worshiped the golden calf. And the reason they did it was this was easier. This was something that their minds could get around. We worship a God beyond the capacity of our mind. And we should strive to worship Him as He commands, ever reaching higher in our worship of Him. So the first commandment tells us who should be worshipped. The second, how we should worship Him. And now we come in the third commandment And God speaks to our attitude, our heart, as we come before Him in worship. This is the question. What do you think of God? What do you think of God's revelation in the Scripture? How do you deal with, how do you treat the name of God? And the Catechism says, we should worship Him with fear and reverence. That's what this commandment is about. It's about our attitude toward God and what He has revealed Himself as we come before Him in worship. This morning we look at this third commandment under the theme, the commandment to honor God's name. And we'll notice first its breadth Second, it's seriousness. And then third, it's positive application. Now, if somebody would ask you, what does the third commandment mean, how would you answer that question? And probably the first thought that would come before your mind is the third commandment forbids the use of God's name with your lips in a way that's frivolous. And then you would think of those who curse and swear and use vile language in which they use the name of God. And then you would be able to take this third commandment and apply it to the ungodly in the world around us, to what you see on the television set, to what you hear in the break room at work. But I wonder. Could you find a meaning in this commandment that applies to you? You see, we confess as we come to the law of God that we have grossly transgressed all the commandments of God. And we saw that in the second commandment and the first commandment already. And now this morning as we come to understand the meaning of the third commandment, we have to see that this is another commandment that we have grossly transgressed. And unless we see that, The law of God hasn't worked the Gospel in us. It hasn't brought us to see ourselves and come in repentance to see the need of Jesus Christ. And so this morning we need to look at this commandment more broadly than just that application to the vain use of God's name in the way that people speak. Now, it's not that that is not included in this commandment. It's not even that that is not the most obvious and the main application of this commandment. Certainly, that is the case. The Heidelberg Catechism recognizes that. It begins, what is required in the third commandment? What's the meaning of the third commandment? That we, not only by cursing, but also rash swearing, must not profane or abuse the name of God. That's one of the main sins. That's the worst sin against this commandment of the law of God. We have an example of that in the Scriptures. Leviticus chapter 24, where the commandment is applied that way. Leviticus 24 verse 10, And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel And this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp, and the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses, and his mother's name was Shelahmith, the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. And they put him in ward, they put him in prison, that the mind of the Lord might be showed them. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him that have cursed, without the camp, and let all that heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death." And so we have to see that this is a serious sin. This is one of the main applications and breaches of this commandment of the law of God. And you young people, as you go through high school, as you leave high school and go out into the world, as the influences of the world around us begin to come into your life, You're going to hear cursing and swearing. And you men, as you go out into the workplace, and you're on the job, or you're in the factory, or you're in the break room, or wherever you are, this is what you're going to hear. And the question you should ask yourself is, how do I stand up before this commandment of the law of God? Do I treat the name of God with fear and reverence? You see, sometimes you don't have to quite use the same language that the world uses. They might use words like, God damn. And you say, well, I would never say that. But you find other ways to associate yourself with their idle speech, evane use of God's name. And it begins with words like the S-H word. And you go down the path to identifying with the world in this sin. You're not a light. You're silent about the name of God. So this is a very serious breach of this commandment. But the application of this commandment, we should see, is much broader. This was somewhat the problem in the way that the Pharisees and the Jews in the Old Testament understood this commandment. They saw its application rather narrowly. And you have the proof of that in the way that they honored the written name of God. They would not say the name of God, the name Jehovah. Instead, in the Hebrew Old Testament, there were four consonants that really line up with our consonants J, H, W, H. Yahweh. But they never said that name. Because they thought, that's a name that's so holy that we can't express it in words. We can't say it. And so instead of it, they said, Adonai or Lord. And so we have in the King James, Lord in capital letters. But here was the problem. They were too narrow in the application of this commandment. They saw it merely as applying to writing and saying the name of God. And so even though they revered the revealed personal name of God, Jehovah, and they wouldn't say it in case they'd use it in vain, they broke this commandment in many other areas in their life. Now to see the breadth of this commandment, we should look at two words in the commandment itself. And the first word is name. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. What is the name of God? The name of God stands for His person. God doesn't reveal Himself visually in pictures, but God reveals His person to us in the Scriptures by His name. tells us something about His person. When Adam named the creatures in the beginning, this was similar. God brought before Adam each of the creatures in the Garden of Edom, and Adam gave them their name, the Bible tells us. And that means that the name that He gave to them was not just a title or a tag or a number like a farmer might give to all his cows. today, but that name reflected something of the character, of the true character of that creature as Adam was able to see it in his state of perfection. And in the Old Testament, people had names like that too. You know that. You're very familiar with that. The Old Testament names were descriptive of the person. Some of those names were prayer. Some of them were a prophecy. Some of them reflected something in the character or the action. that that person did or would do. Eve was called the mother of all living. The name Noah means rest. Abraham, the father of many. Nabal, fool. Elisha, God is my salvation. Those names had meaning and significance. God gave them those names. And God meant something by giving those names to them. If that's true of the people that God named in the Bible, how much more true of God Himself. God's name refers to His person, His character. And so the name of God includes in the Scripture all His proper names. And there are many of them. The main ones, Jehovah, Lord, God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, those are all names in Scripture that refer to God. They are all the descriptions of the character of God, or we call them the attributes or the perfections of the being of God. God is infinite, eternal, unchanging, wise, holy, just, good. Those are all a part of the name of God. But God's name extends beyond the attributes and the titles. God's name extends to all His self-revelation. Everything that God uses to reveal something about His own character is a part of the name of God. And so, all His works in creation and in salvation are a part of the name of God. God's revelation in the Scripture is His name. And so the Scriptures must be treated with fear and reverence and not lightly. Not only do they come with authority because God spoke these words without error, but they say something in every part about God Himself. When they reveal to us something of the character of God, not only but also when they showed to us the work of God, because God's work is His revelation. The heavens declare the glory of God. All men can see that, and they're all left without excuse. What can be known of God is seen in the creation, His eternal power and Godhead. And so that is all a part of the name of God, His works, the Scripture, and His revelation. And then the name of God is personified. It comes to its highest revelation in Jesus Christ, His Son, who is the fullness of the Father, an express image of His person come in our flesh. And He reveals in human flesh, not just humanity, but divinity, the power and the wisdom and the knowledge of God in His person in the human nature. And so that is the name of God. And so you see that this commandment is very broad in what it covers. It's not just when we take a word on our lips that we break this commandment. It's not just when we use one of the titles of God that we break this commandment, but we come in our daily lives repeatedly into contact with the name and the revelation of God. The other important word in the commandment itself that shows us the breadth of this commandment is the word take, and perhaps this one is even more important. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Now, how do we take the name of the Lord? Well, the idea is that we make use of the name of God. That's the idea of take. We make use of the name of God. And we make use of it in a way that benefits ourselves. We use the word take that way. For example, you take the bus to town. That means you're making use of the bus in a way that's beneficial for you. And that's the idea of taking the name of God. We associate ourselves with the name of God. We assume that name for ourselves because we hope to derive some benefit from our association with the name of God. Now again, if I would ask you, what does it mean to take up the name of God? What would you say? And you would probably go here to Lord's Day 37, where in the courtroom setting, under oath, somebody takes the name of God. And they take the name of God to confirm fidelity and truth to the glory of God and the safety of the neighbor. And perhaps if I would ask you what does it mean to take or make use of the name of God, you would say, that's what it means. In a courtroom setting to put your hand on a Bible and swear before Almighty God to tell the truth and the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Now again, that's not wrong. That is what it means to take the name of God, but that's not the only way that we take the name of God. Certainly it's a very solemn way of taking the name of God. The Catechism points to that because when we take the name of God, that way we're calling God Himself to be our witness, the only One who knows the heart, that He may bear witness to the truth of what we say and punish us if we swear falsely. And so it's a very grievous sin to swear falsely under such an oath. So fearful of this were the Anabaptists that they did something like Israel in the Old Testament who wouldn't say the name Jehovah. The Anabaptists said at the time of the Reformation, we may swear by the name of God. And they used as their proof What Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, swear not neither by heaven nor by earth. Jesus' point there is not that you may swear at all in the name of God, but two things. One, you may swear in the name of a creature, and the other, You shouldn't need to swear in your daily conduct and conversation with other people. The Christian ought to be one who has such a reputation that he's known as one who tells the truth. Jesus says, let your yea be yea and your nay, nay, so that when you say something, you don't have to use an oath to verify what you're saying. But he doesn't mean by that that you may swear an oath by God Himself ever. In fact, this is a very important part of the Christian life. There are oaths that we take before God that are the most important decisions and commitments of our life. When a man and a woman make their wedding vows, they make them before the Lord. They call God as a witness to that vow. And God holds them accountable to that so long as the spouse is living. When parents bring their children for baptism, they stand up and they make an oath. And that's an oath before God. Not only that they see their children as sinners, but a commitment to rear these children in the nurture of the Lord to the best of their ability. When the young people come and they make confession of faith, they take an oath before God It's not just a commitment to the teaching of the church. It's not just a vow before others in the church and before the elders in the church. But it's an oath before God of faithfulness and commitment and faith. We take the name of God in oaths and we mustn't do it lightly, but we may in some cases do it. But taking God's name extends far beyond the vow or the oath. To take is to assume to ourselves for our own advantage. A wife becomes married to her husband and she takes the name of her husband. There are all kinds of ways that we take God's name. We take God's name when we claim to be Christian. We take God's name when we come into the assembly of the saints to worship God and we use our lips to say words of praise to God. We take God's name when we open up the Scriptures, when we take it into our hands to read it. We take God's name when we pray, when we say such things in our prayers as, Our Father, or For Jesus' sake. That's taking God's name. We take God's name when we work in the churches as office bearers, when we have an office in the church under Christ. then His name is on us. We take God's name when we speak about the way that God is working in our lives, when we speak about trials and troubles, or when we speak about the goodness of God to us in our lives. We take God's name when we take some good gift from this world that God has given, when we take bread and put it in our mouths And we say, give us this day our daily bread. God's name is tied to that piece of bread. So you see how often we come into contact with the name of God, how often we take up the name of God, and how easy it is for us to take the name of God in vain. Those words in vain have the idea of treating something as not very important, as empty and as worthless. Now, we wouldn't say that the Bible is not important. We wouldn't say that the name of God and the attributes of God which describe his character are not important. But sometimes we use those things as though they are not very important. as though they have no meaning. Holy cow. No. God is holy. That description of the character of the being of God is a title that God has set apart for Himself, for His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and for Those things which He has consecrated to Himself for the saints who are called holy, for the holy things of the worship of God. We aren't to use that word in such an empty way. What about the Bible and its content? What about frivolous talk and jokes which include religious things? God's name is in all these things. But the sin against this commandment is one that's especially committed in the church. That comes out in the commandment itself. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. God directs this commandment especially at His people. And this is the sin. It's to assume the name of God, to call ourselves Christians and believers, to identify ourselves with the name of God here in the earth, in the church, and then not to live that name. Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is the main sin against this commandment. You come into worship and you use the name of God in your singing and in your prayers and you hear the Word of God preached and you seem to be paying such good attention to it. But you go out tomorrow and you have no consciousness of the name of God that you confessed, that you worshipped today. You take the name of God. You assume it to yourself for some advantage to yourself. You hope to be saved by assuming the name of God. And then you treat that name with dishonor. and disrespect. You live in hypocrisy. That's the sin against this commandment. That's the sin that the prophet Isaiah identifies in Judah. In Isaiah chapter 48, which we read, and especially the first two verses, "...Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord and make mention of the God of Israel." What a pious people. They were called Israel. They were called the Church of God. They came out of the Jordan River. They were the recipients of the work of God in bringing Israel into the land of Canaan. They swear by the name of God. They use the name of God in their court systems. What a wonderful thing. They testified in the name of the Lord. They made mention of the name of the God of Israel. It was part of their conversation. Part of their daily life. They prayed with the name of God. They spoke with their children. They taught their children in the name of God. They were a religious people. In the end of verse 1, "...but not in truth, nor in righteousness." They took the name of God to themselves for their advantage, but there was no heart and there was no love for the name of God. Verse 2, "...for they call themselves the Holy City, and they stay themselves upon the God of Israel." But it was all in vain. There was no meaning. There was no substance. There was no sincerity. There was no heart in what they did. They didn't obey the revelation of God. They took it for their advantage, but they didn't follow it when it applied to their lives. They said, we are the people of God. But they didn't live as the people of God. They treated lightly. They treated as nothing the name that God had put on them. You find the same thing in the New Testament. Jesus says, in that day, many will say unto me, Lord, Lord, we prophesied in thy name. We cast out devils in Thy name. We did all kinds of things in Thy name." And he's going to say, I never knew you. And he means by that there never was any intimacy. There never was any love in you for me. I never knew it. There are plenty of people that go by the name Christian. There are plenty of people that say Jesus is Lord. There are plenty of people who say that the God of the Bible is the only God. But Jesus is going to say, I never knew you. I never knew you. The taking of God's name was in vain. And this, beloved, is one of the great dangers that faces the church. Certainly it's a great danger in the society of nominal Christianity in which we live. A society in which people fight for the Ten Commandments. A society in which people fight for prayer in public schools. A society in which people want the name of God on our currency. and in the odds of office, and so on. But most often they're taking the name of God, just like Judah here. They call themselves by the name of God, but not in truth and not in righteousness. And it would be better But they said nothing about God. Then worship Him in such hypocrisy. God says, these people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. But again, what about us? What about you? You have so much. Reformed confession. The Word of God, sound preaching, good worship. Are you staying yourself on those things? Or do you have a heart for the name of God? Now this is very serious. God brings out the seriousness of this sin. in the commandment itself, the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. And the catechism reiterates that by saying there is no sin greater or more provoking to God than the profaning of his name. That's an awesome warning against this sin. Now, it's not the only commandment and not the only sin in the Bible for which God demands the death penalty in the Old Testament. But it is the one in all of the Ten Commandments to which the death penalty is tied. The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Now, how are we to understand this part of the commandment in the New Testament? And the answer is that God will hold those who take his name in vain to the same standard that he held them in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament that was demonstrated by capital punishment. They were executed for their blasphemy. It's no different today. When men and women stand before God on the Judgment Day, God is not going to overlook this sin. God is not going to hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Those who take this name to themselves for their own advantage without any true faith and acknowledgement of God will perish in hell. God takes this name seriously. And so we should take His name and this commandment seriously as well. We've talked about the danger. The danger is that I rest on the externals for my advantage and reputation. This has to be about God and His name. Is my heart in it? Do I worship Him with true fear and reverence? Why does God take this commandment so seriously? Well, God takes it so seriously because it has to do with His name, and His reputation, and His person. And we can understand that when we think about our own person, and our own name, and our own reputation. A salesman calls and he says, he slaughters your Dutch last name. Is Mr. Kalayan there? Well, he doesn't live here. But we like our name, even just our name itself, to be pronounced properly, to be spelled properly. And God wants His name to be correctly represented. And God is jealous of His name because it's about His person and His reputation. We're always concerned about that too. So-and-so said this and this and this about you. Or I heard this about your dad. And we're very concerned about the name. We want our children to take our last name and be a good testimony to the family in their lives. So much more, God with His name. Because His name is holy. His name sets Him apart as infinitely greater than the rest. Above the creature. To take His name and to treat it in vain is a serious sin against the God who is jealous of His name. The positive application, first of all in a question, do you love the name of God? Of course, that's the positive application of this commandment. What's the summary of the law? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your being. Do you love the name of God? Now think for a minute of what the name of God is. Not just his titles, not just his attributes, but his revelation, and his work, and his Son, Jesus Christ. Do you love the Name of God? What will you do for the Name of God? What will you give for the Name of God? How much zeal, how much dedication, how much commitment is there in your life, in your behavior, in your mind, to the name of God? This is first. In your life. The worship of God. The knowledge of God. The life of the people of God. God's name is in those things, the Scripture. What do you do with these? Do you love the name of God? God loves His name. He loves His Son with a perfect love. Do you believe, do you have faith in the Son of God? And then the second positive application is an encouragement to thankfulness. We have much reason to keep this commandment in gratitude to God. And the reason is contained there right in the commandment itself, the word name. Thou shalt not take the name of God in vain. What a wonderful thing that we know the name of God, What a wonderful thing that God has spoken and revealed Himself to us. What a wonderful thing that He's not only done that with one title, with one work, but that He's unfolded His being to us in the Scripture. What a marvelous thing that He's shown His grace to sinners in the revelation of His Son, Jesus Christ, who died for us to save us also from this sin. and the punishment we deserve for this sin. God doesn't hold us guiltless. God puts our guilt on Him. Do you know why Jesus was crucified? The Jews said He blasphemed. They executed Him for supposed blasphemy. What did He do? He remains silent in his innocence so that our sin of blasphemy could be laid on him. He didn't blaspheme in the name of God, but we have, and that sin is forgiven in Christ. And so we have great reason for thankfulness and great reason to honor and revere and love the name of God. Out of gratitude, out of gratitude, we also keep this commandment. Amen.