Please turn with me in the scriptures to the book of exodus and chapter 20 exodus and chapter 20 which in the church Bibles you will find on page 83 page 83 in the church Bibles exodus chapter 20 and verse 7 These are God's words in the giving of the third of the Ten Commandments as he spoke them to his people. Exodus 20 in verse seven, 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. And many of you are probably aware, you've known me long enough to know that I find it difficult to remember names. It's a bit of a burden when it comes to being a pastor, to find it hard to remember people's names. You see people once in a blue moon sometimes, and trying to recall who they are and what their name is. I'm pretty good with faces. I remember faces, but I struggle with names. But one of the most helpful tricks that I've found to help my reluctant brain to remember people's names is to use their name in conversation with them. When somebody speaks to you and tells them their name, to repeat it back to them. Oh, hello, John. Good to meet you. Good to see you. How are you, John? Repeat it two or three times. Apparently, they say if you do that two or three times in an initial conversation with someone, It helps the brain to retain that information. Repeating someone's name back to them. It helps fix that name in our mind. As well as that, it has a power regarding your relationship with that person. It builds that relationship. It helps show the other person that you care about them, you're interested in who they are. There's a sense of joy which comes from using someone's name. And in a different and perhaps greater way, another thing that I find personally helps remember people is when we pray for them by name. When we pray for our brothers and sisters by name. When we pray for those people whom we've had opportunity to share the gospel with by name. It establishes them in our thoughts and our cares, our emotions, and our petitions before the Lord as we pray that the Lord would break into their heart, that he would lift them in their trials, in their distress, that he would draw alongside them in their troubles and sorrow. We bring that person and their name and their circumstances before the Lord who cares for us. That's a powerful thing. It's a wonderful thing to do because names do have a power. They have a relational power. You know, I'm not talking about some kind of superstition here. There are superstitions and spiritualist beliefs that names have power over people if you know their names. I'm not talking about that kind of thing. I'm talking about the power of a name, of your name, of my name, and how using that name affects our relationship together. The Bible contains many names for God. Each one of those names that God has given to us is a reflection of who he is. He is God Almighty. The only one, the one true living God. There is none like him, there is none alongside him. He is unique in that sense. He is God almighty. He is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord, our provider. And as we think about that with our harvest display here this morning, we're reminded, as I've said previously, about more than his provision of food and sustenance for us, but in a greater way, his provision of the Lord Jesus Christ, his provision of a name for us, a name given among men by which we might be saved. He is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord, our healer. He is Jehovah Sikhenu, the Lord, our righteousness. And many, many, many more besides. The scriptures are replete, they are full, they resound with names of God. He's the God who hears. He is the God who listens. He is the God who speaks. And each of these names reveals something of his person, something of his character. But there's a difference between the names of God and our names. Our names are given to us for the most part by our parents, aren't they? Our mother and father gave us that name that we carry. It was, if you like, it was a gift to us from them. It was the first thing they ever did for us together. But God's name is different because God's name wasn't given to him. God's name is more than a label that tells us who he is. It's an expression of his character, an expression of his purpose, a representation of who he is. Man, human beings in our foolishness, have made up many names for gods. Just last Sunday morning we were thinking about the second commandment in which we're told not to make any carved images. And I think we can expand that to think about names of gods. Because false names of gods reflect falsely upon his character. For instance, those who would claim and say that Allah, the god of Islam, is the same god that we worship. That's a falsehood. It is untrue because the character of Allah is nothing like the character of our gods. And so to say such a thing would be essentially to break this commandment. to take the name of the Lord in vain, to ascribe to him things and ways that he has not shown us. It does an injustice to him. It portrays him in a light which he has not revealed. The third commandment then is a safeguard, if you like, against misusing, misappropriating, twisting, changing the divine name of God's, which has been given to us, provided for us as an instrument of his revelation, as a proclamation of his salvation. It is a vital part. Each name of God revealed in the scriptures is a vital part of the self-disclosure of himself. So that we might not consider that name. And so that we might not consider him flippantly or lightly. But when we use his name, We must think about the context in which we are using it the way in which we are using it what we are saying about God when we do use it Because that name his name is at the center of redemption history He saved Israel from Egypt. He brought them to Mount Sinai in chapter by chapter 20 He saved them and brought them to himself why he says for the honor of his name Psalm 106 verse 8 he saved them for his name's sake that he might make his mighty power known His greatness his strength his wonders are for the sake of his name. He saves us. Christian today, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are saved in the name of Jesus Christ because of the honor of his name. We're told that God so loved the world that he sent his only son, and yes, that is very true. But He saves, not just for His love for you, but out of His love for Himself. Out of the honour of His name, to the praise of His name. In particular, this commandment, we've talked about a number of different names that are revealed in scripture, different names of God, but this commandment particularly draws attention to the covenant name of God, which we may know as Yahweh, or Lord, as it is described in our Bibles, in our English versions. This name that wasn't given to God. Instead it was given by Him to us. It was given to Abraham, it was given to Moses at the burning bush. And it's a powerful name. It's a name of salvation, it's a name of truth, it's a name of power and glory and might. But we see that same power, we see that same reverence for God's name given to the name of Jesus in the New Testament. And so with those things in mind, I want to look at this commandment together this morning and consider it under a few headings. First of all, I want to think about the positive aspects of this commandment, because all of these commandments, though most of them are phrased in a negative sense, that we're not to do something, they all have a positive inference from them. This one no less than the others. because what God forbids is not the use of his name but it's misuse God has given to us his name he has revealed it to us as a wonderful gift as he has given us his son in the name of Jesus the only name by which we might be saved Philippians 2 and Philippians chapter 2 and verse 9 therefore God has highly exalted him that is Jesus and Given him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and Of those on the earth and of those under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father We are then to, in the words of John Calvin, hallow the majesty of his name. To hallow, to make it holy on our lips. Not that we're making God holy. But we are to use that name, to use the name of God in a holy, reverent way. Hallowed be thy name, says the Lord Jesus as he prays that great prayer that we know is the Lord's prayer. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Holy be your name. May his name be holy among his people. We use God's name in a proper sense as we praise, as we pray, as we give him honor, as we bless him, and as we bless one another. We celebrate that name. We rejoice in that name. We direct worship and adoration towards him in the name of the Lord. We lift high the name of Jesus Christ, the name of our salvation. We ascribe to the Lord all glory due to his name. We sing to the glory of his holy name. Believers in Jesus Christ are those who have faith. In his name we are told. We are justified in the name of Jesus. We are baptized into the threefold name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Bible speaks of, the New Testament speaks of healing, preaching, adoption, Life, assurance and forgiveness and many all besides belonging to you as a believer in the name of Jesus. What a name. What a name this is. The name in which we are saved. The name in which we are forgiven. The name in which we have all things for life and eternity. The name given to us by the Lord. The name given to us by the Almighty. The name of Jesus Christ, His Son, our Saviour. And when God's name is honored, when it is hallowed among his people, then his kingdom will grow. When he is lifted high, when his character, which is what the name of God represents, is honored among his people, when the church prays in Jesus' name, When we worship the name of Jesus, when we behave in ways that honor that name and seek to follow the pattern that he has given to us, that he has shown us, to be made in his image, to walk in his image, to walk in his name, then his kingdom grows. Then God works in power. Then God shows his love among his people. When we honor that name, when we do not take it in vain, when we do not take it flippantly, but we hold and cling to it and honor it among ourselves and in the world. That's the positive side of this commandment. That's what it teaches us. It teaches us to honor the name of God. But when we think about the name of God, it's not just the text. It's not just the words. It's what lies behind that name. And what is behind that name is God himself. His character, his person, his love, his salvation, his justice, his mercy, his wrath. His righteousness and holiness, His loving kindness, His fatherliness, all that He is and when we honor Him, we do so in His name. The idea that as a believer we could misuse, that we could twist and warp this wonderful gift that God has given to us. It is, I hope, after what we've been thinking about just now, it's quite shocking to us. It should arrest us, that we should treat his name in such a way. That we should think of his character in ways in which he has not instructed us, in ways that he has not revealed. That we should use his name in ways that are not holy and are not righteous. It should shock us. It should cause us to stop and think and ask for forgiveness. But it's just so common in the world to find this, isn't it? And so the need for this commandment and the warning that comes with it that God will not hold guiltless the person who takes his name falsely, who takes it in vain. How is it that we misuse God's name? Well, as I said, it's about more than how we speak, isn't it? The most obvious thing that comes to mind when we read this commandment and we start to dig into it a little bit is using the Lord's name as a swear word or a curse word. That most certainly would be included in here. We read a passage from Leviticus, didn't we? Leviticus 24. which tells an account that happened not long after the days in which God had given this, where a young Israelite, in the midst of a tussle, a disagreement, a fight, blasphemes the name of the Lord. Takes the Lord's name in vain. Calls upon him in an inappropriate way. We're not told exactly what he did. But he cursed in the name of the Lord. And we saw what happened to him. The Lord instructed that he should be killed, that he should be stoned to death. And that was the penalty in God's law for that crime. This is how strong the Lord spoke about these things and how much honor he instructed his people to have in his name. See, the verses following, which if we look at Leviticus 24, if you want to turn that up once again, that was page 141 in the church Bibles. If you want to just have a quick look at it, we see this account of what happens to this man, the son of Shalemeth. who is put to death, and what does the Lord say? He then talks about somebody who kills a man, that that person should be put to death. For somebody who kills an animal, that that person should make good what he has done, should replace the animal that he has killed effectively. That if somebody causes a disfigurement to his neighbor, like he knocks his tooth out or something, then the same should be done to him. But when God's name is taken in vain, the life of the person who does it is forfeit God will not hold guiltless says Exodus 20 verse 7 God will not hold the person guiltless who does this and so bearing his name yes it's about how we speak his name about using his name in a particular way and we must resist that with all that we are I don't know if I've said this before, but back in my teenage years, although I was a believer, I was saved as a child, about nine or 10 years old. As a teenager, I was a foul-mouthed person. I cursed, I blasphemed. but the Lord convicted me over it and he was gracious to me and merciful to me. But I know this sin and it is awful. It's a horrible thing for me to think back on those days and the way that I used the Lord's name, the way I cursed. But bearing his name, as we do as his people, it's about that. But it's about more than how we speak and use his name. It is about that character of God. It is about his very person. The character that we bear as believers, as Christians, as his image bearers. And to some degree or another, every human being bears the image of God. And so when we sin against him, we are blaspheming him. We are taking his name, taking his image, taking his character that he has poured into us in vain. As believers, we must keep away from such things. We must resist attempts to manipulate God through use of his name. We're thinking that if we pray in God's name that he'll give us anything we ask for, whatever it might be. We must resist teaching falsehood in his name, claiming that God is on our side in war, in politics, in social circumstances. claiming that God has told us to do something. Making false claims. The inward leading of the Holy Spirit as he guides us in life should not be misrepresented as the authoritative word of God. He does guide us in the ways we go. But he has spoken to us through his words. We must resist false oaths. to use his name to prove what we are saying is true because his name has been given to us the name of Jesus has been given to us as a blessing it's been given to us as a name of salvation a name of joy and for rejoicing How dare we use it as a curse? How dare we misuse or abuse it? How dare we offend against God and the very purpose for which he gave us his name? There are many other ways to take God's name in vain. We do it when we say things like praise the Lord as a Christian cliche. We don't really mean it, we shouldn't say it. When we use his word to make jokes or to write songs with trite and meaningless lyrics. We're careless in worship, thoughtless, without reverence or awe. When we trivialize it, we trivialize God. We trivialize his name through careless talk and behavior. When our thoughts wander as we pray. When our eyes pass over the pages of scripture but our minds are not focused or open to it. When we sing his praises but our hearts are not in tune with our voices. The character Hamlet in the eponymous play by Shakespeare says this of his words, he says, my words fly up, but my thoughts remain below. He didn't think you were gonna get a Shakespeare quote this morning, did you? My words fly up, but my thoughts remain below. That's what I'm talking about. Our words might sound right, Words might be good, but where is our heart? Where are our thoughts? We can pray and we can read the Bible we can sit in a church service we can sing the words of the hymns almost blindfolds Because we know them so well and that's a good thing But if our heart is not following after those words that we are saying if our heart is not after the words that we are hearing or reading If God is not at the center of our thoughts when we are doing that, then we are as guilty as those who use the name Jesus as a swear word. It is a very great sin. It is a direct attack upon the honor and the glory of God to misuse his name in such a way. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. at the heart of God's Ten Commandments and particularly at the heart of the first four is the unique position that Israel had in relation to God. In Exodus 4 he proclaims them his firstborn son He adopted them as his own. He called them to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. And so each believing Israelite had a responsibility to live as part of that special people, to bear his name, to bear his character, his image with honesty, with integrity. as a witness before the watching world. We find that same principle carries over into the New Testament era to today. When we find that the character, the person of God revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ, his son, is given the same honor, the same standards. The word Jesus itself, it wasn't an uncommon name in those days. In some parts of the world, it still isn't an uncommon name today. There's lots of people given the name Jesus. Literally, the word means the Lord saves, in the original Hebrew of it, Yeshua, the Lord saves. But this Jesus, The Son of God stands alone. His name stands alone and different to be hallowed, to be worshipped, to be honoured, to be born by His people in truth, in grace, with sincerity and without hypocrisy. We have that responsibility, the same responsibility as the people of Israel did. To live in accordance with the new character that we have been given if we have been born again by the Spirit of God. To live in accordance with that new character, that new life in Jesus Christ. To do anything less is to blaspheme against his name. For we who have been renewed through the Spirit of God are called to put on that new self, created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. And having been granted that new life from being dead in trespasses and sins in the darkness of this world, having been brought into the wonderful light of the true God to share the gospel, to declare the praise of God through all of life, so that others might come to and praise and glorify the holy name of Jesus. That through that living witness, without deceit, without hypocrisy, we might be living witnesses to that name. It is right that the Lord God is honored through the words and through the actions of his children, those he has called, those he has redeemed by the blood of his son whom he gave. And it is for us who know him an incalculable privilege to bear that name. Do not bear it lightly. Do not bear it flippantly, do not bear it in hypocrisy, but bear it in holiness, bear it in righteousness, bear it in truth and grace and love together. The fear, the respect, the love, the honor in which we are to hold him and his name testifies to the reality of our new position in his grace. And we are encouraged, exhorted, even commanded in the New Testament to keep a close watch on our lives as Christians, that we might not break this commandment, that we might not violate his holy and precious name, but rather we might hallow it and honor it with all that we are. Amen. Let's pray. Our God and Father, we thank you for the name of Jesus Christ, that name which we have been given, the name which we carry as Christians, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, that name is associated with your people. It is associated with your church. And so let us bear it in truth. Let us bear it in honesty. Let us bear it in rejoicing, in joy, in praise, in respect, in love, and in fear. For you tell us that you will not hold him guiltless who takes your name in vain. Forgive us, Lord, we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, for those times in which we have not lived up to that standard. The time in which we have been hypocrites. The time in which we have borne false witness. The times in which we have blasphemed and cursed in your name. Lord, forgive us. and call us on to put such things away from us that we might live to the praise and the glory of the name of the only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.