All right, today we come to the third commandment, but as we begin, join with me in prayer. O Lord, our God, we give thanks to you for revealing your name to us, your ways, and yourself. We ask that you would teach us this day that we might honor you in our words, in our deeds, in our thoughts. For you are our God, our Savior, and our King. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Today as we go through the Ten Commandments, well as we go through the Westminster Shorter Catechism and the portion of the Catechism that is on the Ten Commandments, we come today to the Third Commandment. And that is the first question. Now, we are going to go through, at least my plan is to go through all four questions on the Third Commandment, especially because the answers are very well tied together. I might make it easier to simply cover them all today. But the first question is, which is the Third Commandment? Yes. The Third Commandment, thou shalt not Very good. Let's say that together. The third commandment is, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. What is required in the third commandment? Yes. That's right, that's right. Let's say it all together. The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and works. Reverend. And then what is forbidden in the third commandment? Yes? The third commandment forbids the... All? Forbids all? Forbids all. Abusing? Something or abusing. Forbidding or abusing of anything that God will not Right, right. Of anything whereby God maketh himself known. Let's say that together. The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh himself known. All right, so we'll get to the last one at the end, but those are the first three. And I'm noticing the version of the catechism I was copying for question 34 says holy and reverend. That might be a typo, because I'm looking over here in this copy, and it says reverent, which makes more sense. So holy and reverent use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and works. All right, so let's begin with how does the focus of the third commandment differ from the previous two, the first and the second commandments? What's the unique focus of this commandment? God's name, right? So the theme there is especially on God's name. How else might the focus be unique? If we think of the first three commandments, and really the first four commandments, especially with regard to our duty to God and our worship of God, the first one talked about who to worship, right? The true and living God, God of not any other God. The second one referred to the means of worship, you know, like what should we do to worship Him. The third commandment would refer to the manner of worship, or the attitude of worship, that we worship God in a holy and reverent way. Not only should we have the right object of our worship, not only should we have the right things to do to worship Him, but we should do those things in a way that is holy and reverent. we should have the right attitude as we diligently use these ordinances. So, you know, we'll look more detailed as we go along, but we should not take God's name in vain. We should worship God with sincerity and holy reverence. Now, the third commandment Well, I've kind of already answered the next question, but the third commandment forbids taking God's name in vain. What does it therefore imply we should do? Now, how would we draw the positive commandment from the negative commandment? And seriously, reverently, It's not in vain, right? So vain refers to kind of emptiness, you know, it should, we should take God's name for real. We should take God's name with giving it weight. In fact, the Hebrew word for glory and honor is kind of also the idea of weightiness, rather than emptiness or lightness, that we should take his name and giving it due reverence. So, rather than using His name lightly or profanely, we should use it in a weighty manner as a holy thing. Now, what does God's name refer to in this commandment? When it says we should take God's name in vain, or not take His name in vain, what is it referring to? What is God's name? Right? So you see here that the catechism is expounding on the meaning of God's name. And so it lists a bunch of different things. How we might summarize all those different things in one phrase we find in the next catechism. Answer. Anything whereby God maketh himself known. A name is kind of a revelation, describing who that person is, identifying that person. I am so and so, right? Well, most immediately, of course, in the commandment, it refers to the Lord thy God. That's how God is referring to himself in the first, I think, five commandments, right? That phrase is found. And the word Lord there, we've talked about this before, but that's, you know, all capital letters would refer to his name, like Jehovah, based on the phrase, I am that I am. You know, that he has revealed himself with that name. But as the Shorter Catechism notes, in principle, this refers to anything whereby God maketh himself known. That is, his names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and works. For example, where do we find this in the Bible? Malachi is a good example of this. Malachi, that book of Malachi, makes a strong connection between God's name and his worship, word, and ordinances. See, the priests, especially the priests, the priests and the people, had despised God's name. How? How would they despise God's name? In fact, that's the question they ask. Well, it was by treating these holy things with contempt. Let me read as part of chapter 1, 6 through 14. This is God speaking. He says, a son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? If I am a master, where is my fear? Says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise my name. Okay, so what's the problem? The priest despised God's name. That's like, you know, taking it in vain, not giving it its due worth. But you say, how have we despised your name? And so the priests are probably thinking, well, when we say your name, we don't abuse it. How are we despising your name? Well, verse seven, by offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, how have we polluted you? By saying that the Lord's table may be despised. So how are they despising God's name? By treating his worship with contempt. and offering polluted food on it. When you offer blind animals and sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor. Will he accept you or show you favor, says the Lord of hosts? And now entreat the favor of God that he may be gracious to us with such a gift from your hand. Will he show favor to any of you, says the Lord of hosts? Oh, that there were one among you would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain. I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name, again focus on his name, my name will be great among the nations. And in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering for my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. But you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food, may be despised. But you say, now get this is the attitude that they're treating it with, but you say, what a weariness this is. And you snort at it, saying, and it says, the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering. Shall I accept that from your hand, says the Lord? Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock and vows it and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations. So God's name here kind of refers to his reputation, his glory, his honor, and that is being despised here. The priests are especially targeted because they were supposed to teach the people how to worship God. And God is noting that he is being despised, and the attitude that they show toward his worship, which then also leads them to offer worship that is It shows that contempt. Now, also we can look at how Jesus rebukes the vain oaths that the scribes and Pharisees were using. How did he critique them? In Matthew 23, he pointed out the connection between God and His altar and His temple. You know, if you swear by the temple, you can't get away with breaking that oath because the temple is made holy by the God who dwells in it. You know, that God's name is connected with the altar with the temple with these ordinances that are made sacred by God's worship. So that wasn't a way to get around the binding nature of the oath. In fact, you should just swear by God's name because that's what all these things are bound up to and you should not do that in a vain manner. They had profaned God's name when they had sworn by his altar and temple in vain. You could also think about how in Exodus 34, after the golden calf incident, and Moses appeals for the people, then God reveals himself to Moses, and it says that God proclaims his name to Moses, and what does then God say? He does say, the Lord, the Lord, or we might say Jehovah, Jehovah, but then he keeps going. A God gracious and merciful, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. And he goes on to reveal his character, his justice, his mercy, that this is like his full name, if you will. It's his attributes, his titles, himself. So the name of God refers, of course, to the names for him in scripture, but also his titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and works. All of this should be treated in a holy and reverent manner. So I've already mentioned some of this. What are some of God's names? It does mention his names. What are some of God's names? You can repeat what I've said, that's okay. Jesus, especially for the second person of the Trinity there. Jesus. Jehovah. God the Father. We might say the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thinking about being baptized into the name. The triune name. Yeah, I am. I am that I am. What are some of God's titles? Here, you could spend a lot of time, but... Creator. Christ. Christ, right, as his messianic office. Savior. The Lord. The Lord. Redeemer. Redeemer, yes. The Holy One of Israel. The Holy One of Israel. The Beginning. The Beginning and... The End. Yeah, the first and the last. Mm-hmm, right, from Isaiah 9. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of titles in the Bible. The Lord of Hosts, or Jehovah of Hosts is another one. Thomas Vincent the Puritan. I mean, you could list probably many titles, but here are some that he mentions. Lord of Hosts, Holy One of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Creator, Preserver of Men, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, King of Nations, King of Saints, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Mercies, the God of Salvation, Hearer of Prayer, and the like. These are God's titles, descriptions of Him. What are some of God's attributes? There's a catechism question that can help you out with this. What are some of God's attributes? Do you know what an attribute is? It's something you attribute to Him. It's like qualities. Right, think of the answer to what is God. He is spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, and is being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. You know, those are, think of those attributes, and each one of those is very meaningful as we describes God, who he is. Now, what is it to use his names, titles, and attributes in a holy and reverent manner? Right. To be serious about them, not to use them in a flippant way, a meaningless way. Don't make fun of them. Think about, do you like it when people make fun of your name? You know, when people start just using it and kind of make fun of you or to joke about it. Most people don't like that, right? You know, we shouldn't, especially we shouldn't do that with God's names, titles and attributes. We should use them. We should use God's names, titles, and attributes, but we should use them in a holy and reverent manner. We should think and speak of them, and we should think and speak of God by them to holy purposes and reverent manner, something that befits his majesty. We should use them and use them in the right attitude. So not just use them as kind of a vain expression, but if we say God, we should really be thinking about God, the majestic one who made heaven and earth. What is it to profane or abuse his names, titles, attributes? Kind of already answered some of this. I have three different ways in mind. I think we maybe mentioned the first one, using it in a light and empty manner. How else might we profane or abuse? We shouldn't, but how would one do that, sin in that way? So we can tell clearly when someone says, or something in a situation where they're upset. But when they're in a situation where they're happy and they say, thank God, you wonder to yourself, are they being serious or not? And I think it's how it's said. There's where it needs to be referenced. Right, and really the person saying it often is the best judge of whether they mean it or not. Because we should pray without ceasing in that sense of always being aware, but often it's easy for those expressions just to become expressions of pain or gladness without thinking of the object. There's a bunch of hands going up and down here. Luke, yes. To swear by his name or take a oath by his name and not actually meaning to keep that oath. Right, right. Kind of an abbreviation of the same thing. What was that? Using them incorrectly. Right, and that's probably a lot of different ways that we could speak about God wrongly, misrepresent Him. So we could use We shouldn't use them. I say we could, not in the sense that it's right to, but one might end up using them in a blasphemous manner. You know, not just in an empty manner, but in a positively evil way. You know, speaking against God, cursing God. things of that sort, or using them in a superstitious or magical way. Often sacred things are used by people who want them to become magic charms, magical formulas that you say. For example, think of the Sons of Sceva who tried casting out the demons in the name of Jesus without being servants of Jesus. It didn't work, but it was a wrong use of God's name. It's not just a magical formula that you can abuse in that way to get what you want. So not in a light and empty manner, not in a blasphemous manner, not in a superstitious or magical manner. And we mentioned oaths. How is God's name either honored or profaned in the use of oaths? So that would be the profaning of it, right? If we break our oaths? Yes. What is an oath? It's often a promise. It could also be where you assert something to be true. And then you call God to witness to the truth of that statement or to your fulfilling of that promise So a person might call God to witness to the fact that I did not commit that crime for example That's a statement about something or you might say you know I call God to witness that I'm going to do this thing you know and so If you don't do that thing, that would be breaking that oath. Or if you say, I did not do that thing, but you did do that thing, that also would be a false oath. God is being called to witness because he knows the heart. He knows the truth. He is the judge. He's being invoked. And that's why only God should be invoked as that witness, because he is the one who sees all things. So we are to swear only by God. We don't always have to swear, but it's appropriate on certain occasions where we call him to witness and judge. But we should do so reverently. We should assert nothing but what we are fully persuaded is the truth, so we should be careful to swear rightly. If you say, I did not do that thing, but you're not entirely sure one way or the other, maybe I did that, maybe I don't, well then don't swear that you didn't do it. Only assert what you are fully persuaded is the truth, and bind yourself only to what is good and just and what you are able and resolved to perform. So don't promise to do something that you're not able to do, you know, with respect to your physical abilities, and don't bind yourself to do something sinful. If you swear to do something sinful, you shouldn't do that thing, but the oath itself was wrong. And you should only swear to do something you're actually resolved to perform. Don't say, I'm going to do it, if you are not resolved to actually do it. And you should not swear vainly, just as an expression, or rashly, without thinking, or falsely. And you should not break your oaths, unless they bind you to sin. And in that case, the oath itself was sinful. So, this is tied up with God's name. Leviticus 19.12 says, What are God's ordinances? We talked about that last week, right? What are some of God's ordinances? Any of the girls back there, do you know what ordinances refer to? Things that God has ordained or appointed for us to do? To worship Him? Anyone? Yes. Sacraments would be some of these ordinances, right? Right, preaching of the Word and prayer. And we should use these things in a holy and reverent manner. So the commandment requires us to hear and read his word attentively and submissively, not misusing God's word for profane jests, vain disputes, false teachings, In fact, a lot of these ordinances and the right use of them are going to be later questions in the catechism. We should partake of the Lord's Supper in a worthy manner. The problem in 1 Corinthians 11 where they were abusing the Lord's Supper and some going hungry and some getting drunk and being misused, that was a violation of the third commandment. It also requires you to remember your baptism and remember that you bear God's name and you ought not to profane it by living in a manner contrary to it. A false and empty profession of faith is an instance of taking God's name in vain. This commandment requires you to pray with sincerity and honesty, to mean what you say to God, to not pray mindlessly, and not to pray to show off before others. That was a fault of the Pharisees, that they would for pretense make long prayers so that they would be seen by others. That's not what prayer is for. It requires you to be careful in your use of oaths and vows. In short, all hypocritical use of God's ordinances is forbidden, while holy and reverent use of them is required. Finally, what are God's works? What is a holy and reverent use of God's works? So that's a good thought, you know, sanctification is a work of God's grace, it's probably what you're thinking of there, and that would apply as well. But think of an earlier catechism question about how God performs his decrees. Creation and providence. Yeah, we could add redemption to his works as a special work of providence. So we should use God's works reverently. Think about creation. Think about providence. These are works of God to be used well, with reverence and awe, so that they provoke you to humility, gratitude, and worship. You should be careful what you deduce and apply from providence. Some people misuse providence and say, well, God must mean this, without good grounds for deducing that. Thomas Vincent puts it this way, God's works are profaned and abused when persons pamper their flesh, gratify their lusts, and are intemperate in their use of God's creatures. That's first way, you know, where you abuse God's gifts, where they were meant for your good, but you use them for drunkenness or for harm. Secondly, when in prosperity, persons are forgetful of God, unthankful for mercies, and indulge themselves the more in sin because of God's patience and bounty. God's gifts are meant to lead you to repentance and thanksgiving and a grateful use of them, not to forget God. That's an abuse, a profaning of God's works. Or thirdly, when in adversity, persons murmur, are impatient, when they are incorrigible, and grow more hardened in their sins. We should make a sanctified use of both blessings and trials to not forget God or become hostile to God. That would be a misuse of these works, but rather to draw near to God through these works of God. All right, lastly, let's come to that last question, number 56. What is the reason annexed to the Third Commandment? Let's say it together. 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 this is the part of the commandment, for the Lord will not hold them guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Some of the sins against the third commandment are punishable by men. Certain forms of blasphemy, for example, are public and you can see them. But even these often escape punishment. And since this commandment is especially aimed at the attitude and intent of religious observance, these sins are often hidden from man. It's hard to know people's intentions. But God knows the heart. God would have all to understand that He knows the heart and hypocrisy is not hidden from Him, nor will He overlook it. God's not just concerned that you outwardly perform these actions, but He looks to the heart and looks for love and fear. And he will vindicate his name in time. Now, him vindicating his name is great for those who have trusted in his name, in truth, right? That Christ will confess us before his father. But for those who have despised his name, This is a warning. He especially desires the worship of the heart, a love and reverence that is sincere. I think of the sons of Eli as they took God's name in vain and profaned God's worship or the priests in Malachi. You know, God would take action even though man was not taking action against them. But Isaiah 66 too says, but this is the one to whom I will look. He who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. Or think of how Paul expressed in 1 Timothy 1.5 the aim of our charge. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. That should be the aim of our charge, the aim of ministry, but also the desire for us to offer our hearts promptly and sincerely to our Savior, to our God. Let's go ahead and pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your revelation of yourself. It is indeed good to know your name. But we ask that you would grant us the grace to use it in a holy and reverent manner, to worship you in spirit and in truth, to draw near to you in a sincere way, to offer worship acceptable to you through Jesus Christ, our mediator. We ask that you would indeed bring your name glory and honor throughout the earth, on earth as it is, revered in heaven. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.