1 John 3, we'll begin reading at verse 4, and read down through verse 10, and then we'll read from Deuteronomy 5, verse 11. Hear now the word of the living God. Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins, and no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you. The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin because his seed abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother." And now, Deuteronomy chapter 5 and one verse, verse 11. 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." And thus ends the reading of God's Word. You may be seated. We continue to work through the summary of God's Law, the Ten Commandments. As a personal confession to you, I must tell you how undone I feel every time I study the law of God. The law of God is a reflection of God's nature. It's a reflection of who He is and what He is. He's holy. And as we draw closer to those precepts and those commandments, We draw closer to understanding more clearly who God is. And when that happens, when we see how perfect He is, we see how undone we are, and we can rightly understand how Isaiah would fall on his face in the presence of Christ. We can see very clearly how Isaiah would recognize that he was a prophet, a man of unclean lips, and a member of a nation of unclean lips. You can recognize how Isaiah In this glorious vision that Isaiah experienced that, he recognized that the depth of his own heart could not dare touch the majesty or the glory or the holiness of the King that he just had this vision of. He knew that there was nothing that he could say that would encompass the glory that he had just seen. And he could recognize that he failed to give the glory due his name. And beloved, that's me and you. That's you and me. That is, when we draw close to God and we begin recognizing His majesty and the depth of His glory and the breadth of His goodness and all of His attributes and His being and His works and all that He has revealed to us, we are so undone before Him and we recognize that we have not yet I mean, we have not begun to give Him the praise worthy of Him. We have not begun to say the things we need to say of Him. We have not begun to defend His holy name. We have not yet begun to use our lips and our tongue to praise Him that which is worthy of Him. And we fall so short. It's almost like we need to repent of our praise, repent of our repentance, and when we get finished worshiping here this morning, we need to repent of our worship because we know that in and of ourselves it has fallen way short. Now, there is, beloved, a bright side to this, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He has done what we couldn't do, and we're going to speak of these glorious things, but we must recognize Beloved, that in 1 John, this was the source, this was the foundation of even going to the commandments, and that is that God has revealed Himself as a righteous God, a God who does righteousness, a God who practices righteousness. And John makes it clear that if we are the people of God, if we are the children of God, then we are going to be the people of righteousness, the children of righteousness. And John begins to explain and to exposit what it means to be the children of righteousness. And that is we are obeying. We obey the law of God. We obey the revealed revelation of God. Not because we have figured it out, because we've come to this conclusion on our own. Not because we have the strength to. No, the text we read completely tells us it's all by grace that Jesus Christ came to do what? To take away sins and to destroy the works of the devil. He came to do what we could not do. That is the church. The true church is a church. That's totally dependent upon Jesus Christ, totally dependent upon grace, totally dependent upon the sovereign saving work of the triune God. And beloved, that alone, that alone should cause us to hate doctrines like Arminianism. That alone should cause us to hate and despise, not the people that hold them, but the doctrine that espouses that man can do something to save himself. Can do something in order to please God when we can do nothing that God has revealed to us that we cannot do anything good whatsoever this side of the fall. And anything that espouses or promotes such a ridiculous idea, we should hate it. Because it's distracting from God's glory. And there's nothing more precious than that. You know, we love these little babies. You know, what's more precious? than a father or a mother holding that newborn child, or a grandparent holding that newborn child, or any member of the family. I mean, that's probably one of the most precious things we understand in our lives. But beloved, that small child pales in comparison to the glories and the majesty of the triune God. And that really is the distinction among all Christians. And that's overwhelmed with God. You know what it means to be overwhelmed with God? That every facet of your life is affected by the presence of God. that you have to forsake yourself. And you strive, and you battle, and you fight, and you want to be perfect, though you're not perfect. And you're striving in prayer, in the study of God's Word, in the reading of God's Word. You're striving under the preaching and the means of grace to be what God has called you to be by the power of Christ and the power of His Spirit and by the blessings of the covenant of grace. But, beloved, you know that He is worthy and that you have no No reservations to consecrate your whole self to this glorious God. None whatsoever. You hold nothing back because He is worthy of all that you are and all that you have. Every bit of it. You get the glimpse of God. He gives you the Holy Spirit. He writes the law in your heart. And you know He's worthy, even to the point of laying down your life if called upon. Because there are things worse than dying. You teach this to your children. There are things worse than dying. The thing that's worse than dying is rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of the Triune God. There's nothing worse than that. There's nothing worse than being separated from God. There's nothing worse than not being in the house of God forever. There's nothing worse than not having God's favor upon you, His countenance shine upon you, beloved. That's worse than dying. On the third commandment, and as we've seen that these commandments, how they expose our sinfulness and how they exalt the glory of God. We continue in the third commandment and we see all around us, beloved, this blasphemy in the earth and among God's people. As when we rightly understand the third commandment. We are going to be like Isaiah when we leave here. We are people of unclean lips and we live in a nation of people filled, a nation filled with people with unclean lips. That's going to be the result. And it should cause you to cling to the Lord Jesus Christ more than you ever have. More than you ever have. You know, that's this Lord's Day. It's Covenant Renewal Day. Beloved, what's the purpose of this of the Ten Commandments? I want to read to you several statements by some of the divines and preachers of old that will help us get in our minds how important the Third Commandment is. Listen to Calvin. He said, the purpose of the third commandment is the majesty and name of God. It is, Calvin said, to be held sacred. Calvin says the purpose of the third commandment is to promote the sacredness of God's name in the earth. He says, therefore, it means that we must not profane it by using it irreverently. or contemptuously. This prohibition implies that it must be our study, listen, our study and care to treat His name with religious veneration. Calvin says that God is so majestic. He is so wonderful. He is so awesome that the earth ought to make it its aim and duty to study His perfections and to use His name in a way that's honoring to Him and make sure that we don't use it in a way that brings profanity in a blasphemous way. Listen to these words. And this is words of wisdom so pastoral. He says, Wherefore it becomes us. That being true, it becomes us to regulate our minds and our tongues. So as to never think or speak of God and His mysteries without reverence and great soberness, and never in esteeming His works to have any feeling towards Him but one of deep veneration. Oh beloved, how many times have we spoken the name of God without deep veneration? How many times have we complained about the weather? Who sent the weather? It wasn't the weatherman. The weatherman had nothing to do with it. And the weatherman violates the third commandment when he stands up there thinking somehow he can predict what God is going to do. It's blasphemy. That is all that we Experience all that we know of God, all that we see of His works, all that we know of His Word. Every bit of it will cause us to honor, glorify, and reverence His name that is above all names. Deep veneration, Calvin says. He says, this would cause us to do the following. He gives out some advice, and we're going to look at some of these before we get into the heart and the meat of the commandment. He said, first, whatever our mind conceives of Him, whatever our tongue utters must speak of His excellence and correspond to the sublimity of His sacred name. In short, our words must be fitted to extol His greatness. That is, whenever you're going to speak about God, you better make sure that you're speaking correctly about God, because if you do not speak correctly about God, you're misusing His name. That's why false doctrine is a violation of the third commandment. To believe in false doctrine is to blaspheme the name of God, because that's not what He's revealed to us in the Word of God. He says you better make sure that your thoughts that your heart, that your words appropriately match his greatness. You know what? That's you know, I tell you what that's done for me as a minister. You know, I often consider myself not very educated in the sense of formal education. You know, but becoming a Christian, and particularly becoming an elder, and particularly becoming a minister, I've been so overwhelmed with the importance of using the right words to describe the right things. And not being so broad, they're meaningless. that God is so worthy, that His revelation is so worthy of what He's revealed of Himself. It causes us to labor and to work to make sure we broaden our minds and broaden our hearts to understand His glory. That is, the more we know about God, we cannot be lazy according to that revelation. The more we understand Him, the more we're able and the more we desire to work so that all that we say, so that all that we do rightly corresponds to His glory. And it's not a burden. Oh, no, it's not a burden. It's not a burden to the one who's been saved by grace. It's not a burden to the one that's been called out of the kingdom of darkness, has been washed in by the Spirit, has had the law of God written on their hearts. Oh, he's so worthy. He's been revealed to us. We see that we must expand our vocabulary. That's why it's so important to teach our children a proper religious Christian education. Now, the whole point In days of old, even reading was so that men could read the Bible. Why? Where would they find God? Particularly in the Bible. And it was so important to teach our children to read so that they could go to the Word of God so that they could read it and God would reveal Himself to them in His Word. He says, secondly, we must not rashly or preposterously pervert His sacred Word and adorable mysteries to purposes of ambition. or greed, or amusement, but according as they bear the impress of His dignity, must always maintain them in due honor and esteem." He says, listen, He says this commandment promotes the understanding that when we go to the Word of God, we must handle it reverently because it's the revelation of God. It's the revelation of His name. It's the revelation of His person and works. That's why, parents, you should spank your children when they want to play during Bible reading. That's why you discipline your children to sit in church. Because, not because you're mean. Not because you're an ogre. Not because you desire that your children will not love you. No. Your love for God far exceeds your love for your children. And your love for your child is that they may love God. That they may come to know Him. That they may come to follow Him. And all of these things, that God would be merciful to them. And that you're teaching and training and disciplining them to hear the voice of God, to reverence His name. Not to the violation of the third commandment and you're perpetuating it to the next generation. Total chaos when a parent tries to read the word of God and children are bouncing all over the furniture, there's no benefit there. You must learn to control the situation so that you may read the word of God and beloved, listen. Until you can read the word of God, get the children in control. Love them, listen. The labor of doing so is well worth it because God is worth it. He's worth it. That's what the third commandment is impressing upon us. He's worthy of it. He's worthy of our sweat. He's worthy of our labors. He's worthy of all that we do. He's worthy of our frustration. He's worthy of our daily striving for these things. God's worthy of it. He goes on to say that we must not detract. Or let me say one more thing, one other thing about the church. I know I've dealt with the parents, but I'll tell you this, how ministers today who are unfit for the pulpit stand and just use the word of God with amusement, making people laugh. Ha ha. You know, preachers, some preachers are more known for the jokes they tell than for the words they exposit out of the Bible. That's a shame. That's a shame. Men that use the word of God to promote some personal gain and greedy for money, as Paul warned Timothy about, is a violation of the third commandment. And then lastly, Calvin says we must not detract from or throw disgrace upon God's works. He says, as miserable men are in the habit of doing, but we must love every action which we attribute to Him as wise and just and good. This is to sanctify the name of God. When we act otherwise, His name is profaned with vain and wicked abuse because it is applied to a purpose foreign to that which it is consecrated. We have this today. We have theologians in print, on the internet, and in their sermons, excusing the behavior of the God of the Old Testament. Excusing the behavior of this mean God of the Old Testament, because the God of the New Testament is the God of overwhelming love, and He overlooks all things, and He's not about to in any way cast anyone into hell. But the God of the Old Testament, oh, be glad you weren't born and lived under that dispensation, because He was a mean God, and He killed people at the drop of a hat. That's a violation of the third commandment. That's thinking thoughts according to the works of God that's not becoming of the God who performed them. Let me tell you this, beloved. You may, and I'm sure you have, you're reading through the Bible, come to places in the Bible that you can't understand. You can't understand when God would tell Israel to go in and kill every man, woman, boy and child, every infant, dash them upon the rock. You can't understand it as far beyond us. We can't grasp it in our own humanness on this far away from the glory that God has revealed to them. But, beloved, we must know this. We must know that God is all good and there's not one ounce of darkness in Him. What did 1 John tell us? God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. That God cannot act contrary to His character and nature. That God is an all-loving God. That He is the God of light. That He is the God of goodness. And He cannot act contrary to His nature. You must impress yourself with that. You must counsel yourself with that. Remind yourself of that. And you must cause yourself to believe that. Because in your fall in this, you're going to accuse God. In your fallenness, you want to blame God. And somehow, when you present the Gospel to somebody, you don't want to talk about election, you don't want to talk about the tribes of Israel going into the Promised Land and all that happened there, and you don't want to talk about slavery, you don't want to talk about any of these difficult socio-political ideas, because in one sense, you're kind of embarrassed about the actions of God. That's a sin. What do we have to be embarrassed about concerning God? Nothing. Nothing. He is the God of all glory, and we must always remember that He is an awesome and majestic God, and everything we read in the Bible, we must continually conform ourselves to it, even when it comes to things that we can't comprehend. Beloved, as we look at the third commandment, we must realize that it has three parts to it. It's very simple. It has a prohibition. That is not to take the name of the Lord by God in vain. And of course, with every prohibition, remember when we studied the principles of interpreting the commandments, we know that every negative commandment has a positive precept to it. So there's a negative aspect, a prohibition. Don't take the name of the Lord by God in vain. And there's a positive precept. Sanctify God's name. Don't profane God's name. The positive aspect is sanctify the name of God. And then the third aspect of the third commandment is that God will vindicate His name and cause. God will. Does that mean we don't defend God's name in public? Not at all. But ultimately, in the end, beloved, know this, God will vindicate the cause of truth and justice. There is a judgment day coming. There is a judgment day that all men will stand before Him, and it doesn't matter if you've escaped the tribunals of men on earth. You will not escape to the Divine One. Thus, no one ever gets away with anything. That's the one tremendous truth to teach your children. They may fool you, but they do not fool God. They may trick you, deceive you, But they cannot deceive and trick the divine judge. The commandment promotes that God will vindicate His name and cause. Calvin said this. He said that God vindicates His own right. He defends His own sacred name, but does not teach the duties of men, but does not teach the duties which men owe to Him. You see, beloved, God is in the process of bringing judgment upon the earth that does not give to Him the glory due His name. And look at all the psalms that we've read. We've been reading through the psalms in our worship and we're all the way up to Psalm 97. And look at the psalms. You go back and you look at how many times in those psalms that the whole earth is called to come and worship God because He's God. And because there's no one like Him. That's it. When you're evangelizing, when you're trying to get people to come to church, come and worship God. For He's glorious. For He's majestic. For He is overwhelming glorious. Versus all of the other tricks and things that we try to use to bring people to church. If the first commandment protects true theology and the second commandment protects true worship, the third protects the name of God. William Plummer said this concerning the third commandment. He said, the scope of the third commandment is to secure the holy and reverent use of all that whereby God makes Himself known to His people. And so to guard His sacred name against all that is calculated to make it contemptible. You know, there are a lot of people out there that desire to make the name of God contemptible. You know, you believe in that God. You mean you believe in God that kills people? I mean, you believe in the God of election? You mean to tell me you believe in a God that would allow people to go to hell? Violation of the third commandment. Have you ever had that said to you? That's what William Plummer's referring to. Listen to Henry Cromendam, where he says the third commandment requires us to know God. and all that He has revealed concerning Himself. You see, the first commandment, what? Requires us to have a God. To have God as God. The second commandment requires us to use the Word of God to regulate our worship and obedience to Him. The third commandment requires us to recognize all that He has revealed to us and embrace it. Embrace it lovingly, joyfully. Embrace it as the words of life. To embrace it, not begrudgingly, not picking and choosing what we like and dislike, but embracing all of the revelation of God and not seeking to excuse the actions of God to men, fallen, sinful, depraved men, who in their hearts hate God. And if they could, they would snatch Him down out of heaven and stomp on Him. If they could. And here, so many Christians strive to excuse the majestic God to make depraved man feel good about themselves. You see how sinful that is? How unbecoming that is to our great God? Matthew Henry, let me paraphrase him. He said, this commandment causes us. He says, this commandment should cause us. To be ever so cautious how we speak the name of God. He said this commandment should cause us to what? To be cautious. To be ever so careful how we speak His name. The faults we have about God. He gives five different areas that we ought to be careful in. He says one, we need to be careful about hypocrisy. Okay, hypocrisy. You know, that's one of the things that the pagans love to point a finger at the church. They say, well, it's just the church is full of hypocrites. He says, by hypocrisy, I mean making a profession of God's name, but not living up to that profession. Hmm. What does 1 John say? If we say we know him and do not walk in his commandments, we lie and do not know the truth. Do you see the test of a true Christian, you know, of a Christian, is not the sincerity we feel after we pray a sinner's prayer. The test is life that's being conformed to the image and the will of God in His Word, even when we don't feel like we're saved, because our salvation is not based upon how we feel. He says that the name of Christ, those that name the name of Christ but do not depart from iniquity as that name binds them to do, name Christ's name in vain. That is when, think about the worship that's taking place in the, just in the, in Macon, let's just keep it to Macon, Georgia. All of the hymns, the preaching, all of the things that's taking place in worship, all, and anybody that gathers under that, in that worship, under that preaching, and under the ordinances of God, who do not mean to keep it, are violating the third commandment. And they're blaspheming and profaning the name of God because they have no intention of conforming their hearts and their minds and their ways to the revelation of God. He says, Matthew Henry says, their religion is in vain. He says, secondly, by covenant breaking, he says, We violate and profane God's name in the third commandment when we make promises to God, when we bind ourselves to Him. And yet we do not perform what we vow before the Lord. Therefore, we become like fools. And we begin by our actions to mock the name of the Lord. You know, when we come, you know, and again, we talked about the worship and the second commandment, and when we come in together, what are we doing? We made vows. We made vows to God to be members of this church, that we would come and we would commit ourselves to the government and the institution of the church, that we would present ourselves under the sacraments. of the Lord's, in the covenant of grace, preaching the Word of God, prayer, edification of the saints. We've committed ourselves to these things. We've promised to walk as becoming of a Christian, to grow in grace. We've promised to give ourselves to Him, to give our money, our tithes, and our offerings to the church in order to benefit the Kingdom of God. And when we gather every Sunday, those are renewal of those vows. We're reminded that He's worthy of those five promises we made. He's worthy of it. And yet, when we don't take those vows the way we ought to, and we leave here, and we don't improve ourselves, and we don't seek to be a benefit to our neighbor, and we don't really remind or are reminded of the means of grace, and we take it lightly, and we don't reflect upon it, it's covenant breaking, and it's taking the Lord's name in vain. Matthew Henry talks about rash swearing, making these rash oaths, mentioning the name of God, any of His attributes in the form of an oath without any just cause or reason for it. Just to speak the name of God rashly without thinking through it is a violation of the third commandment. And he says it serves no good purpose at all. He says by false swearing, I want to go on. I want to cover a lot more material, but again, to swear by his name, a part of the religious regard, the Jews that were taught to pay their vows to God and to swear by his name, Deuteronomy 10 and verse 20. But they affronted God instead of doing him honor. They called on him to be a witness to a lie. When you go to the end of Deuteronomy and they tell the Lord when they make this great covenant, they say, we will do all that you've asked us to do. What does Moses say? You will not. That there wasn't an intention to do what God had asked them to do. Therefore, they take the name of the Lord. They take the name of the Lord in vain because they call him to witness to the lie. They never intended on doing what they said they were going to do. You see, some take a vow intending to keep it, intending to perform it, yet they fall by the wayside. And some take it knowing they're not going to keep it. They know they're not going to keep it. They swear by the name of God, knowing that there is no way they plan on walking in the path of God. Therefore, they rashly use the name of God in calling upon God to witness to their lie. You know, one of the things we have done in Presbyterian and in particular counseling situations, and don't do it often because it's a weighty thing. That is, when you're dealing with a situation and you can't get to the bottom of it. I mean, it's just something not right. You've got two different stories. And everybody's accusing the other person of lying. You bring in an oath before the Lord God Almighty. Is what you're telling this session true? As God is your witness, is what you're saying true? And you'd be surprised how many people back up and change their thoughts, change their words because of the magnitude of lying in the name of God. Because what does the third commandment say? God will not let them go freely. So Matthew Henry points out, he says, we must not use the name of the law of God lightly or carelessly without regard to its significance. All forms of God's name should be forbidden. We should forbid the use of God's name lightly in every kind of area. And that's why, you know, you don't say, you know, this commandment deals with those words like gosh. You know, you see these banners written across there that talks about someone turning 40 years old and they use the name of the Lord in these little cutesy rhymes. That's profaning God's name. I mean, beloved, Jesus said we'll be judged by every word that comes out of our mouths. Now, what does this commandment mean when it talks about not to take the Lord's name in vain? Well, it's talking about a sacred use, a sanctified use of God's name. Remember Deuteronomy 29.29, it says, all that God has revealed to us, all that God has revealed to His people belong to us and to our children. Everything God has revealed belongs to us and we are to be good stewards over it. And we're not to misuse it, to misapply it, or to abuse it in any way. But we are to be stewards of it, over the revealed will of God. Remember how Paul talked to Timothy and he said, Timothy, you are but a great steward of the mysteries of God. Guard them, protect them. There's many false teachers out there in the church, but God has revealed to us, God has given to His church a precious gift called the Word of God. Defend it, preach it, teach it, disciple with it, counsel with it. Make sure that these false teachers don't come in and have an effect upon your people, but protect the treasure given to you as the precious gift given from God. Listen, Proverbs 18.7 says, The mouth of the fool is his ruin. His lips are a snare to his own soul. Proverbs 18, 7. Psalm 1914. Again, we're talking about the use of God's name. We're talking about the use of all that God has revealed to us, all of his works, his attributes, his ordinances. Psalm 1914 says, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. You say, what does the Christian, the demand of the Christian is this, Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you. And if these words are not acceptable to you, may I repent of them and forsake them and do those things you want me to do. That's the life of a Christian. Isaiah 8 and verse 13, it is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy and he shall be your fear. And He shall be your dread." You see, one reason this commandment today is forgotten in the church is because there is no fear of God in the earth anymore. There is no dread of the Lord God, particularly in America. That's full of pride and arrogance. The Bible clearly says there should be fear of God. There should be a dread of the God of the Bible. Notice that, I mean, the very psalm we read in our worship, Psalm 97, says that the mountains are like wax before Him in His presence. That His presence is so awesome the mountains melt like wax. I can't comprehend that. Can you? That his presence is so fearsome, so holy, so majestic, I mean, so overwhelming that the mountains totally melt. Think about a Christian nation and the duty a Christian nation has in its civil laws concerning the profanity of God's name and the abuse of God's name. You know, if we were a Christian nation, which we're not, there would be civil penalties for blasphemy. And God's people would rejoice because they were there in place. You know why? Because the wicked do not fear God. The wicked have no fear of God, and it's due to God's people to make sure there's a healthy fear in the earth, even if it means judgment. So when you begin the capital punishment of profaning and blaspheming the name of God, let me tell you, you will put fear in the heart of the wicked. That's why whenever we have been at war and I go around and I see all these signs, pray for the troops and the healing of the nation, I really do. My stomach turns. I'm sorry. My stomach turns, not because I don't want to pray for the troops, we have prayed for the troops diligently. but because a nation that is so quick to turn to God in the time that they need Him, and yet the rest of the time they blaspheme His name, they profane His name, and it's just a nation of idolatry that really doesn't love God, they love themselves. It means ascribing to God all that is rightfully His, that we should recognize God's ownership and speak highly of Him in all things, believing in what He has revealed to us as being the truth. That's why it kills me when so many people, you know, read the Word of God and you see, you know, particularly just like even the doctrine of election and when the word predestination is in the Bible, and they say, well, I don't care. I don't believe that. I don't care the word's in the Bible. I refuse to believe it. I refuse to believe in election. I know the word's in the Bible, but it doesn't matter. Oh, beloved. profaning the name of God. You know, it's amazing how men scream when they're not given the credit of some trademark or some you know, intellectual property or some idea or some concept. I mean, we have copyright laws and we can copyright our material. And if you don't, you know, give credit or pay certain dues to, if you use these copyrights or trademarks, you're going to get sued. You're going to go to court. And people are going to scream up and down how they deserve their rights, how they deserve their property, how they deserve their dues. Beloved, look at the name of God being profaned in the earth. And He owns it all. He has all authority. And yet men profane His name without any reservation. And it's promoted in the church. Because the church has taken the Ten Commandments and they've watered them up and they've thrown them away. Men will scream from the rooftops if they're not given the credit for something that they've done. How much more so God when he says, I will vindicate my purpose, I will vindicate my name and I will bring all men to account. Are you scared yet? There's fear. Have you thought about some of the things you said, some of the words and phrases you use, some of this flippant use of the Bible? We ought to be. I tell you, we're so undone before these commandments, so undone. You can barely get up and preach them. You can barely get up, and like I've said in times past, it's just by the grace of God and by his mercies, his covenantal mercies, he don't strike preachers dead that even preach the truth. Because we're so unworthy to do so. The wicked do not recognize God's ownership or authority. Thus, they envelope themselves in profanity or words and thoughts which are an assault on God, on the God of heaven and earth. Their actions are attempts to rid their own consciences of God, which cannot ever be done fully. The reprobate fights this losing battle because they cannot do anything else but hate God. You see the whole development of the profanity and the making promises that don't mean anything, blasphemies, believing false doctrine, promoting false doctrine, believing in this multiculturalism, all of these isms, post-modernism, all of these are violations of the third commandment and all of these are attempts to spit in God's face. That's what they are. They're just men, sinful men, ignoring being created in the image of God and thus fighting this battle that rages, that that is they speak these profanities and these blasphemies and somehow convincing themselves they've prevailed and overcome when they fight a losing battle. When in the end, who will vindicate what? God will be the one vindicating His name and honor. And when they stand before Him, beloved, make no mistake about it, they will gnash their teeth, and they will speak probably more blasphemies, and God will cast them into the lake of fire. Well, they will suffer for an eternity for blaspheming the eternal name of God. And when they shake their fist at Him, He will hurl another thunderbolt of judgment, because God is in hell, not in His comfortable presence, But in his wrathful vengeance, he will be there judging the guilty. So when we talk about God's name, we're talking about everything that God stands for, everything that God is, everything that God has revealed, and nothing less. It encompasses everything about him, his being, and all of his works. Isaiah 44 and verse 6 says, the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first and I am the last and there is no God besides me. That's God's testimony of himself. I just wish the church could embrace it. I just wish we could embrace it. I wish we could live in the boldness of that statement where God says there is no one besides me. Don't even give lip service, don't even give intellectual service to these other gods. They are nothing. I am the God. Of gods and king of kings, I am the great redeemer of Israel, the Lord of hosts. Acts 9 and verse 15 and 16 concerning the apostle Paul, he says, but the Lord said to him, go. For he, referring to Paul, is a chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the sons of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake." You see, Paul was called into the service of God's name, under God's authority. Paul was to preach all of God's authority, all of God's revelation. To be commissioned in the name of God was to be commissioned under the authority and the banner of God Himself. God's name includes His titles, His attributes, His ordinances, His words and works. What about some of God's names that we've been familiar with in the Ten Commandments? The name of El, E-L. meaning the mighty one. Remember the second commandment where he says, I am a jealous God. Visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the third and the fourth generations. I am El. I'm a jealous God. I have the power and the might to perform all that I have said I would do to you and to your enemies. El Shaddai, the powerful one. The powerful one. Jehovah, the one who is I am Jehovah, and I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. I have brought you out of the house of bondage to worship and serve me in the land that I promised to your forefathers. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I am Jehovah. 49 and verse 25 says, from the God of your Father who helps you and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the beasts and of the womb. He says, I am God. I am the mighty one. I am El. And I am the God who is able to bring to you, into your life, the blessings all that I promised you. See, you must know that God is powerful. that God is just not making empty promises, that God is able to perform all that He has said that He can do and will do. And, beloved, how many times have we blasphemed the name of God by doubting His power and doubting His strength, doubting our own sanctification? There's no way God could save me. There's no way God could sanctify me. I'm a wretch questioning the power of God. He says, I am the one who is able to perform all the blessings that I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Psalm 50 and verse 1, the Psalm of Asaph says, The Mighty One, El, God, Elohim, the Lord, Jehovah, has spoken and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. In the opening of Psalm 50, Asaph uses these three names of God all together. What do you think he's trying to do? In the very first verse, Asaph uses all of these powerful names of God for the purpose of getting the attention of Israel. Listen, says the mighty God, this is Spurgeon, says the mighty God, even the Lord El, Elohim, Jehovah, three glorious names for the God of Israel to render the address the more impressive. These titles are mentioned just as in royal decrees the names and dignities of monarchs are placed in the forefront. Here the true God is described as Almighty, as the One who is perfect, the perfect object of adoration, and as the self-existent One, hath spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun until the going down thereof. The dominion of Jehovah extends over the whole earth, and therefore to all mankind is His decree directed. The East and the West are bidden to hear the God who makes the sun rise and the sun to go down. Shall the summons of the great King be despised, says Spurgeon? He says, we will dare provoke him to anger by sliding his call. You see, all these people that are not gathered together under the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ to worship the blessed God is profaning the third commandment. Exodus 6, verse 1-3, listen to these words. And then the Lord said to Moses, He says, Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for under compulsion he will let you go, and under compulsion he will drive you out of his land. God spoke further to Moses and said to him, I am the Lord. And I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah, I did not make myself known to them." That's interesting, isn't it? He says, I am Jehovah God, I am God Almighty, and I revealed myself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But Moses, I am revealing myself in a unique and particular way to you that I did not reveal to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I made promises to them, and now in you I'm going to begin fulfilling these promises that I made to them, and that is I'm going to bring you out of the house of bondage. And I'm going to bring you into the land that I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You see this glorious revelation of God, how he keeps his promises through generations and is generational. Psalm 68, verses 3 through 8 says, But let the righteous be glad. Let them exult before God. Yes, let them rejoice with gladness. Sing to God. Sing praises to His name. Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts, whose name is the Lord, and exult before Him, a Father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows. Is God in His holy mountain? God makes a home for the lonely. He leads out the prisoners into prosperity. Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land. O God, when You went forth before Your people, When you marched through the wilderness, the earth quaked. The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God. Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel." Do you see how glorious God is? Do you see what he's saying here? He says, listen, he said, when God walked in the desert, rain fell. It quaked. Mount Sinai trembled at the presence of God. You know, beloved, we talk about all these other names, these titles in Jehovah, but God is called Father, Son and Spirit. Matthew 28, 18-20 talks about the authority of Jesus. And Jesus says, All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and make disciples of nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you to the very ends of the age. To be baptized in His name is to be placed under His authority. To be given His law, His ordinances, to be under His government. And of course, when we don't act accordingly to that baptism, we are profaning God's name. You know how the Confession talks about the improving of one's baptism. Every Sunday we are to be striving to improve our baptism. How does God's name differ from his titles? That is, in his names, he's described who he is. And in his titles, it's described the relationship he has with his creation. Let me give you an example. He's called the creator of the earth. And this is something that all men have in common with God. He is their creator. Remember what Psalm 100 said, it is He who has made us and we not ourselves, even though the overwhelming majority of people out there today believe in evolution, which is a violation of the third commandment. which is a profaning of God's name. And not only that, you have many people in the church that don't even believe that God created in six days, which is a violation of the third commandment and a profaning of God's name. When God says in the beginning that God created the heavens and the earth and in six days he created, that's it. That's it. And when men begin to try to rationalize and intellectualize all of these things to make the Bible more compatible to fallen science, it is blasphemy and profanity. And of course, if the Bible is wrong about that, what else is the Bible wrong about? See the seeds we're sowing? When you can excuse the Bible and write thousands and thousands of pages on why one day, morning and evening, is not a 24-hour day, what else are you sowing seeds for? Well, maybe Jesus really didn't. Was Jesus in the tomb for three days? Which was a mark of Him being the Messiah. Do you see what we're doing? Do you see what we reduce ourselves to when we just don't embrace the revelation of God, how He has revealed it to us? And believe that. No, His titles refer to His relationship to His creation. He is the Creator of all of the earth. Therefore, all of the earth should come before Him with praise and thanksgiving. All men should offer devotion to God because He is their Creator. Now, men will deny this by trying to convince themselves of evolution. But again, we talk about these losing battles that pagans fight. And this is another losing battle that pagans fight. That is, they try to convince themselves that evolution, that science somehow has the answer. But every time they speak, every time they think, every time they rationalize something, every time they look in the mirror, they cannot escape the image of God. It's a losing battle, because they will stand before God one day and He will vindicate His name, honor, and truth. It's in futility, beloved. In the end, they will stand before the glorious God and be overwhelmed with their own wickedness and profanity. And they will realize that they have spent their whole lives in futility, trying to convince themselves of something that was not even true. Isn't that something? What a letdown. I can remember just, you know, becoming a Christian and coming along and all of a sudden having these things revealed to me about the Reformed faith, and I can remember feeling let down. Where's this stuff been all my life? You know, I wasn't a Christian until late in life. Well, late for me was 22 years old. I'm not that old. But I can remember. spending several years in a broad evangelical Armenian church and becoming familiar with what was called Calvinism and election and the sovereignty of God and His glorious attributes and becoming more convinced of the commandments of God and His law and the place of the law and the life of the believer, I was overwhelmed and let down because I thought I'd wasted all my earlier days. Where's this stuff been? And you have to repent of profanity and blasphemy. You have to repent because you have not given God the glory due His name, because somehow I saved myself by walking the aisles, shaking the preacher's hand, by believing, by saying the sinner's prayer. Somehow I saved myself because I'm in church every time the doors are open, and I don't smoke, and I don't chew, and I don't dance, and I don't go to the movies, and I don't do Christmas, and I don't do Easter, and I don't do all of these other things. You know, I don't buy my clothes in the stores. I buy them off the Internet. I make my own, but all these things. All of these things are made for self-righteousness. We are not righteous because of anything we do. We are righteous because God is righteous. And He, as 1 John said, has put His seed in us. He says you are righteous because God has put His seed in you and you cannot do anything but righteousness now. You see, because Calvinism causes you, forces you to forsake yourself and embrace Him. You know, the overwhelming difference among Reformed Christianity and the rest of Protestantism is the view of God. How do you view God? We don't have elder-centered churches. We don't have family-centered churches. And we love all of those things. We don't have children-centered churches. We don't have men-centered churches. Women-centered churches. We have God-centered churches. Not eschatology. Not even the law. Church discipline. Lord's Supper. We have God-centered churches. He's the Creator. And that's exactly what Pharaoh... Pharaoh is given to us as an example because he, in his own heart, epitomizes all pagans. Here's what he said when confronted with Moses in Exodus 5 and verse 2. But Pharaoh said to Moses, when Moses declared to let God's people go, Pharaoh said this, Who is the Lord? Who is Jehovah? Who is Jehovah that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I don't know Jehovah. And besides, I will not let Israel go. What was Pharaoh saying? Pharaoh was blaspheming the name of God. He was profaning God's name when Pharaoh said his authority was greater than God's. Who is he that I should obey him? Isn't that what pagans say? Isn't that even what your sweet little neighbors say when you invite them to church? Well, I know all to be in church, but what I want is more important than what God says. Right? Even sweet little grandmas baking cookies and bringing them next door. Listen, nothing is more glorious than God. And that's what we need to get in our minds. Because I've had so many people say, you mean to tell me that my grandma who never done one bad thing in her whole life, who never said any bad word in her whole life, who's just been overwhelmed. I mean, she's been the example of all these things. Are you telling me because she didn't believe in Jesus Christ, she's going to hell? You have to have the boldness to say, yes sir, that's exactly what I'm saying. That's exactly what I mean. And if they spit in your face, and they walk off and they never grace the doors of the churches, That's in God's hands. Pharaoh was denying the authority of God. But what about those who love God? Isaiah 40, verse 28-31 says, Do you not know? Have you not heard, people of God? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator in the ends of the earth, does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary. And to him who lacks might, He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, and they will walk and not become weary." You see, where the pagans and the blasphemers of God's name become burdened and weary and confused and overcome with this raging battle within them all about the authority of God. But to those who recognize they are totally helpless, to those who recognize they have no strength to save themselves, who is their strength according to Isaiah? God is their strength. He says, listen, you grow tired and weary, God does it. You grow tired and you stumble. He says, even you young men, Stumble badly, not the Lord. He is your strength. He is your salvation. He's the one that brings all these things to completion. The strength of the profane is sapped, sapped by fighting an endless and unwinnable battle with God. But not those who sanctify God's name, not those who trust and rest upon him. They receive new strength, a renewed strength to persevere in this life. God's not only the creator of men, he's the preserver of men. I'm just going to read a couple of these verses as we get to the completion of our sermon this morning. He is the preserver of men, God who made the world and all things in it. Acts 17, since he is the Lord of heaven and earth. who does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all people life and breath and all things. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and boundaries of their habitation." You see, it's God who is the preserver of all men, even to the profane, which they hate. which they hate. The blasphemers hate the fact that God is preserving them right now, even as they blaspheme God's name. He's the great preserver of all men. Isn't that something? They hate it. They despise it. They want to be self-sufficient. They want to have their own strength. They want to have their own power, their own authority, and their own might, and they're pathetic. And they are just without strength. And yet God sustains them that they may blaspheme His name, so that in the end, He will glorify His name by casting them into the lake of fire. And beloved, that may make you cringe, but don't blaspheme the third commandment by rejecting it, because it's a fact. God does all things for His glory, and all things means all things. He's the King of the nations, Jeremiah 10, verses 6 and 7. He says, There is none like you, O Lord. You are great, and great is Your name, and Your name is might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? Indeed, it is your due. For among all the wise men of the nations in all their kingdoms, there is none like you." The Bible says that God is the King over all of the nations. He's also called Redeemer. You know, we can move on. He's called Redeemer. One of God's titles is He is Redeemer. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God who redeems His people from their sins. Isaiah 48, verse 17, He's the Holy One of Israel. Thus says the Lord, Your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord your God who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go. That's God's title. He is the Redeemer and the Holy One of Israel. He's also the King of Saints. the king of his people. He's the father of all mercies. That's the title. He's merciful. He's holy. He's good. He's truth. He's justice. He's light. He's righteous. He's love. All of these things, beloved, you can see how the third commandment encompasses everything, right? Everything you think, everything you say has some relationship to the third commandment, because there are some relationship to this world, to this created order, to its Creator. He is the God of salvation and the hearer of prayers. I'm going to read to you Psalm 98 and then we're going to close with some application. Psalm 98. Listen to these nine verses. Again, it's everything we've been saying, but let's listen to the Word of God. It says, a song. Oh, sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonderful things. His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. The Lord has made known His salvation. He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His lovingkindness, His faithfulness to the house of Israel. All of the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre in the sound of melody, with trumpets in the sound of the horn. Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord. Let the sea roar in all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth. And He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity. Again, Spurgeon says this is one of those sacred songs. He says it's a sacred hymn officially proclaiming the conquering Messiah as the monarch over all the nations with the blast of trumpets, the clapping of hands, and the celebration of triumphs. It is boldly and a lively song of the great triumph of the Messiah. He says in this hymn there are three stanzas. Verses one through three is a stanza that talks about the subject to be praised. Four through six talks about how we should praise this great God. And then verse seven through nine talks about the universal extent of this proclamation. That is, because of who He is, we should praise God and so shall the whole earth. Notice how the Bible speaks in the past tense of victory. God has revealed his salvation. There's nothing going to stop him. There's nothing going to stop God from being judge of the earth. There's nothing going to stop Jesus Christ from ruling over the nations. There's nothing going to prohibit God from carrying out all his holy will. Beloved, it's as good as done. And of course, men have to choose what side they're going to be on. This corresponds with Mary's song in Luke 1, 46 and 55. Listen to Mary. She says, My soul exalts the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God, my Savior, for he has had regard for the humble state of his bond slave. For behold, from this time on to all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is upon generation after generation towards those who fear Him. He has done mighty deeds with His arm. He has scattered those who were proud in their thoughts and in their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given up to Israel his servant in remembrance of his mercy. He has spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever." Here's Mary saying, I have been blessed because now my Savior, the God of my salvation has blessed me with a Savior, a mediator. Because I cannot save myself. God is Redeemer. Jesus said this in John 17, He says, O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You, and these have known You that You sent Me, and I have made Your name known to them and will make it known, so that the love which You loved Me may be in them and I in them. Jesus Christ was the full revelation of the love and salvation and mercy of God to those who love Him. But to those who hate him, Jesus Christ is a judge and a righteous one. And he says, I have made Yourself, I have made Your name known to them, Father, and I will continue to make Your name known to them. You see, one of the titles given to God in the New Testament is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And there's so much more we could say and we'll have to save it for tonight to finish this. Beloved, let me conclude with the words of Calvin again and let us reflect upon it today when he says this, the third commandment. should cause us to regulate our minds and our tongues so as to never think or to speak of God and of His mysteries without reverence and great soberness, and never, in estimating His works, to have any feelings toward Him but one of deep veneration. Let us pray. Father, we praise You for what You have taught us today, the light of Your revelation, the power that You have brought with Your Spirit, Lord, to instruct us and to teach us and to confirm us, Lord, in the covenant of grace. We pray, O God, that our lives, that our thoughts, that our actions and all that we do would be pleasing to You, Lord, as You continue to bless us throughout this week. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.