Exodus chapter 20 and we will read what's called the first table of the law and that is verses 1 through 11. And God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers. on the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 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. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work. You or your son or your daughter, your male servant or your female servant or your livestock or the sojourner within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." And from Exodus chapter 20, Acts chapter 4, verse 11 and 12. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone, and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Let's pray. Lord, we pray that as we look into the third commandment today, that it would be done unto your glory, and that we would use your word in an honorable way, and that we would not be vain in our use of your word, but that we truly would use it in a way that brings glory to you and lifts you up. Can we pray in Jesus' name? Amen. Since we're using the Shorter Catechism as the as the skeleton for our afternoon preaching. I'll read questions 54 and 55 and 56 in the shorter catechism as well. What is required in the Third Commandment? The Third Commandment requires the holy and reverent use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and works. And 55, what is forbidden in the Third Commandment? The third commandment forbids all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God makes himself known. And 56, what is the reason annexed to the third commandment? Answer, the reason annexed to the third commandment is that however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment. So that's what we have in the third commandment. So, the ten commandments. The first table of the law are commandments that deal with loving God. Commandments one through four. The second table of the law are the commandments 5 through 10, which deal with loving your neighbor. That's why Jesus says the summary of the law is to love God, that's commandments 1 through 4, and love your neighbor. That's commandments 5 through 10. And we have dealt with the first commandment, which asks the question who we worship, and we have dealt with the second commandment, which deals with the question how we worship and commandment three is different in that we've already answered these first two questions but it tells us something of our attitude if we are a worshipper of the true and living God. How are we to use God's name now that we've been given permission through right worship to use God's name The larger catechism, question 12, asks what is required in the third commandment, and the answer of course is a little larger. The third commandment requires that the name of God, his titles, attributes, ordinances, the word, sacraments, prayer, oaths, vows, lots, his works, and whatsoever else there is whereby he makes himself known, be holily and reverently used in thought, meditation, word, and writing by a holy profession in answerable conversation to the glory of God and the good of ourselves and others. Now, you might read that larger catechism question and think, you know, that the Westminster divines have basically gone out of control at this point. You know, here the commandment simply and beautifully says that we do not use the name of God vainly, and they're like His word and His works and prayer and basically everything in the whole world that relates to who God is. Why do they do that? How do we get to that point when we're talking about using God's name vainly? Well, we can answer that with a question. Who are you? Say someone comes up to you and they simply ask that question. Who are you? What are you going to say? you're going to give them your name. I'm Nathan. Does that really answer the question, who are you? No. It answers the question, by what are you called? But it doesn't really answer the question, who are you? You see, our name is something that is very important to us. Even without considering this fact, when we say our name or when we give our name to somebody, what we're doing is we're saying, here's who I am and everything in this name that I'm giving you is my character, is who I am, are my likes and my dislikes, what I do for a living, how I choose to reveal myself to people. All of these things are locked up in somebody's name. Because our name is what backs up character and all of what we are. When parents historically have named their children They've named their children with the intention of wanting something of what is behind that name placed on the child. We see that in the scriptures when Abram's name is changed to Abraham. Something of all that Abraham means God wanted placed on him. So we see that names are very important. And when we look at God, and we look at God's name, we're able to say that in the name of God is included his title, his character, his attributes, his ordinances, his word, all the ways in which he reveals himself includes the name of God is included within the name of God. And that is how the larger catechism is able to make that statement. It's a biblical understanding of what a name is. The command is not to take the name of the Lord our God in vain. What does this mean in its original context? Well, first off, what it doesn't mean, it doesn't mean that we're not allowed to say the name of God. And it doesn't mean we're not allowed to write in the name of God. God doesn't say to avoid using his name. He says to avoid using it in any other way except with reverence. To not use it in a vain way. You know that the pharisaical tradition that builds up around the name of God is that the name of God was not pronounced when you're reading in the Hebrew and you come to Yahweh you don't read it as Yahweh, you read it as Adonai because you're trying to avoid using the name of God and you will see that even in modern conservative and orthodox Jewish cultures where even if they swear It's G slash D and then a word to follow. They won't say God, but they'll use the phrase in writing, but with a dash in the place of the O. That's not what the text is talking about. What the text is talking about is that we are to not use the name of God in a way that is vain. Now all through the scriptures we find examples of God telling the people of Israel not to even have the name of false gods on their lips. Right? You've seen that. You've read where it says, you know, not to have the name of Baal on your lips or not to even speak of the Ashtoreth. And obviously in the context You're allowed to say the word because we've just read the word. But what's behind that is in worship we're not to use the name. There are to be no false gods named among you, meaning in worship. You're not to worship false gods. So when God says not to use his name vainly, at the core of what he's talking about is his worship and not just public worship, but all of life included in the way in which we use the name of God. J.G. Voss says, the name of God includes all forms of God's self-revelation, whether general in nature or special, which exists in the form of the Scriptures. And this is even in how we pray. We're even praying towards this if we use the Lord's Prayer as a model for our prayers. We pray in the first petition, or the first section of the prayer, that God's name would be hallowed. And what does hallowed mean? When I was a kid I didn't know what hallowed mean and I always thought of sleepy hollow and made that connection. But hallowed means to be holy or to be set apart for holiness. And this is really what we pray when we ask for God to hallow His name or for God to make His name holy. We're saying, do not allow me or my family or those in my community or those around me to take your name upon yourself in a vain way. To use your name with holiness. One pastor wrote concerning what this looks like, he wrote, by a holy and reverent attitude towards God's name, we mean first of all a sober, serious, and respectful attitude that keeps us from treating God's self-revelation lightly or flippantly. Second, we mean a worshipful attitude as we are impressed with the infinite majesty and greatness of God and filled with awe and wonder as we stand in the presence of the One who is Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being and attributes. So when we come to this question of what it means to not use God's name in vain, the first thing that it means is we are to look around and we are to look in the scriptures and we are to see God for who God is and we are to magnify Him. And I think that The John Piper illustration for magnify is helpful. We're not looking at God as through a telescope trying to make something far away seem a little bigger. We're looking at God like through a microscope where we see God for all that he truly is. We magnify, or make Him seem bigger. And when we have a biblical view of God, and we call ourselves Christians, and we look throughout the world, we're able to think with a biblical framework, or think with a biblical worldview, and we begin to see things the way God sees things. And isn't that the goal with our worldview? Don't you want to be able to look around to our culture and read things and reflect on things that are going on, whether events in society or other things, where we're able to think God's thoughts after Him. This is only able to be done when we've taken God's name in an appropriate way and we live a life where we see things as He sees them and we worship God in here and worship God at home and worship God in private and live that life where we're thinking Godward thoughts. We are to not take His name in vain. So what do we do that does take His name in vain. What are ways that even those who are Christians or those who profess Christ, what are ways that at times we take His name in vain and break this commandment? Well, one way is when we speak irreverently of His name. Remember, when we talk about His name, we're talking about all of those ways in which He has revealed Himself. How often do we use God's Word, or God's name, or God's character in an irreverent way, not truly in a worshipful way? Friends, I think every one of us know we're guilty of this. Because our whole life is to be a life where we're attempting to put our minds and our hearts around who God is, where we worship Him properly with a reverent spirit. And when we don't do that, it's part of taking His name in vain. that's closely tied to the second way, when we profess God's name but we don't live according to that profession. How many people do you meet at work or at school or on the street that say, of course I'm a Christian. And everything they do except for that one statement seems to disprove their very statement. By the way they live, by the choices they make, by the way they think, by the way they speak. Friends, it is very dangerous to claim to belong to God and yet not live as though we do. The Scriptures give great warning for those that take on the name of God and yet do not live in such a way. So much of the history of the Old Testament is just that, isn't it? It's the ancient people of God using His name in vain. And what happens? Assyria happens. Babylon happens. Those are serious, serious things for taking the name of God in vain. Thirdly, when we use God's name in idle discourse, Oh God, Jesus. This happens all the time. People use this so lightly. Yet, this is God revealing Himself to man, and man will take that name and just use it so idly, like it's meaningless. Fourthly, when we worship God with our lips, but not with our hearts. I think that Psalm 103 is a very important psalm for us every Sunday morning, and even every morning, where David starts with, Bless the Lord, O my soul. All that is within me, bless His holy name. where David is saying, within myself, I don't have the ability to come before you with a proper frame for worship. I'm not thinking correctly. My heart isn't correctly. There's stuff going on at home, and I come to worship, and things aren't right. I have to tell myself, bless the Lord, O my soul. All that is within me, bless His holy name. when we worship God even according to regulated worship when we worship Him and yet our minds are off somewhere else we do it vainly let you in on a little secret during the week I kind of pick up around here because I You know, you're reading for a long time and you just need to get up and go do something else. And one of the things that I often do is I come in and pick up bulletins that you guys all leave all over the floor and everything. And one time I picked one up and there was a whole schedule for the week written out. I'm not going to judge you, but I suspect you weren't very worshipful if you have your whole week planned during worship. But that's just on paper. What's in our hearts? Because we all go there, don't we? Where we're worshiping And then we're thinking about this. And when I say all of us do, all of us, that's me, that's all of us. You know, when I was ordained I didn't get the magical ordination that keeps my mind from ever wandering during worship. I still have that. But when we wander during worship and when we are not giving God all that we have during our worship, we've taken his name in vain. I'll tell you another one I'm guilty of since I gave away your scheduling during worship. Family worship is difficult for me. You know, I come here and I try to read the scriptures like they're meaningful. I try to liven him up a bit, and I know I'm really working on it, but it's something that I attempt to do. Sometimes during family worship, it's like, and I'm not even awake. It's like, this is the Word of God, and I'm supposed to be leading my family into his presence for the day? That's vanity. Friends, we need to think about the way in which our lives are structured and our minds are structured and our hearts are structured. And the third commandment tells us that all of this, all of our life, all of our existence is to be taking on God's name and character and attributes in such a way that we reflect who He is in our life. and in our worship. The fifth way is closely related to sluggish worship. When we pray without belief. Have you ever told someone that you'll pray for what they've asked you to pray for and you're kind of thinking, God will never answer that. How many people do you know that have had cancer and you pray with unbelief? These are real examples. We have a God who says, I will answer all prayers that are prayed according to my will And we pray, and we can even pray some prayers that we know are obviously within the will of God, and we still struggle with belief. I mean, I pray huge prayers for churches that worship God according to His Word all up and down the West Coast. And sometimes people say, well, yeah, that's pretty big. That seems to be a little out of control. God hasn't revealed in His Word that He wants worshippers covering the earth from sea to sea. I mean, I think that is within the revealed will of God. And yet at times we pray with unbelief. Six, when we profane and abuse His Word, when we use the Bible for our own means and our own ends. Now the easy way to illustrate this is to turn on TBN. Any pastor that has multiple Mercedes, a private jet, and two homes is probably doing something wrong. But there's ways that all of us do it as well. How many times have you gotten into a discussion with a friend about the things of God and you use the Word of God not to win the relationship or not to win them to Christ, but to win the argument? How many times have you defended Calvinism for yourself? How many times have you used the Scriptures when your spouse says, Honey, I really wish you would do this. And you say, Well, here's what the Bible says you should do. Friends, when we use the Word of God for our own means and not with the glory of God as the central purpose for being in the Scriptures. We are at risk of using His name in vain. When we swear by His name in ordinary discourse, we swear to God I saw a bear yesterday. And it's so common, not to see a bear, it's so common to hear people say that, even for ourselves. And Jesus makes it very clear that we're not to do that. You don't swear by God, you don't swear by heaven, you don't swear by the temple. You let your yes be yes and your no be no. In our ordinary discourse, we don't need to be taking oaths and vows in our conversations. We just need to speak. And we need to use the judgment of charity which says, I believe what you're telling me until it's disproven. We should take that out of our vocabulary. I swear to God, I swear to God, I swear to God. When we attach God's name to wicked actions, we use His name in vain. We live in a country that in our last presidency it was God's revealed will to our president that he attack another nation. I have a hard time with that. according to the Word of God. God did not tell anyone in current society to attack another country. He did not reveal that. A way that we can make that more personal and less attacking political figures is God wants me to be happy. And then the actions by which God wants you to be happy are things that are not in accord with the Word of God. That's something that we hear a lot. God wants me to be happy, so I'm going to do this. Nine, when we use our tongues in any way that dishonors God's name, and the book of James talks about this, doesn't it? When we use this little member, the tongue, when we use the same little member for cursing our brother and blessing God, that means we've taken his name in vain. When we make rash and unlawful vows, tently. We take God's name in vain. You know the story of Jephthah? Jephthah says, see this is the door, I'm going to sacrifice whatever walks through that door. He makes a vow to do it. Who comes through the door? His daughter. Oops. Probably the wrong thing to say, Jephthah. It's a rash vow that dishonors God. Our confession talks about two other unlawful vows. The vow of poverty and the vow of celibacy. That these vows are unlawful vows to make. And of course, it's in connection with the Roman Catholic clergy that requiring clergy across the board to take vows that the scriptures do not require people to take are unlawful. And lastly, we take God's name in vain when we call ourselves Christians and we're not. This is the highest form of taking God's name in vain because literally to take a name is not to say a name, but it's to take ownership of what that name means. So if I call myself a Christian, then it's my job to go to this and see what a Christian is and how a Christian lives. And the first thing that means is that my heart is to be converted. So if I call myself a Christian, if I say, I have committed myself to Jesus Christ, and I haven't, that is the highest form of taking God's name in vain. Because God is holy. And God is to be honored. And God is to be respected in how He reveals Himself. And that means that if we keep commandment 1, and we only have the true and living God of the Bible, and we keep commandment 2, which is we worship the God who's revealed himself in the Bible. If we worship him the way he tells us to worship him, then three, when we take on his name, that means that we are going to honor him and reverence him in a way that is revealed in the scriptures. because the Scriptures are central to the law. Commandment 1, the God who's revealed himself in the Bible. Commandment 2, worship God the way that the Bible says to worship God. Commandment 3, live your life in such a way that it reflects what the Bible teaches and honors the God of the Bible. a God who is to be honored and worshiped and respected in his name, character, attributes, and revelation. I think that really this is at the heart of what the Apostle Paul meant when he said that our whole lives are to be lives of living epistles. Our lives are to be read by those around us. And friends, that is a very high calling. Because when we're in the grocery store, or for me, the DMV, we're called to be able to be seen as a reflection of the work of the gospel. And that requires us to keep the third commandment. To have all of our life as a reflection of the grace of God in Christ. So essentially this commandment is a call to faithfulness. A call where we do not take God's name upon our lips for our own purposes. but for God's glory and for the good of our neighbor that is avoiding taking His name in vain. Amen. Lord, we pray that You would help us to keep Your Word. We pray that The multiple ways in which we violate the third commandment would drive us to the cross. And for those of us who are in Christ, may the multiple ways in which we violate the commandment drive us to the cross. Lord, help us to keep Your name holy, reflecting that which the Scriptures reveal for us. Amen.