My Sermon Transcript from the message today at NRN:
Opening
ILL:
When the 1960s ended, San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district reverted to high
rent, and many hippies moved down the coast to Santa Cruz. They had children
and got married, too, though in no particular sequence. But they didn’t name
their children Melissa or Brett. People in the mountains around Santa Cruz grew
accustomed to their children playing Frisbee with little Time Warp or Spring
Fever. And eventually Moonbeam, Earth, Love and Precious Promise all ended up
in public school. That’s when the kindergarten teachers first met Fruit Stand.
Every fall, according to tradition, parents bravely apply name tags to their
children, kiss them good-bye and send them off to school on the bus. So it was
for Fruit Stand. The teachers
thought the boy’s name was odd, but they tried to make the best of it. “Would
you like to play with the blocks, Fruit
Stand?” they offered. And later, “Fruit
Stand, how about a snack?” He accepted hesitantly. By the end of the day,
his name didn’t seem much odder than Heather’s or Sun Ray’s. At dismissal time,
the teachers led the children out to the buses. “Fruit Stand, do you know which one is your bus?” He didn’t answer.
That wasn’t strange. He hadn’t answered them all day. Lots of children are shy
on the first day of school. It didn’t matter. The teachers had instructed the
parents to write the names of their children’s bus stops on the reverse side of
their name tags. The teacher simply turned over the tag. There, neatly printed
was the word, “Anthony.” Luanne Oleas in Salinas, California,
Reader’s Digest
Names are important to us, especially our own. A name is more than a means of identifying someone. It conveys information about our family, social and economic status, race and sometimes religion too. The mere mention of some names would elicit an immediate emotional response from you.
What images come
to mind when I say Sadam Hussein or Jimmy Fallon? How about Graham or Gotti?
Have you ever known anyone who named their baby boy, Judas, or their baby girl,
Jezebel?
Those names conjure up images that even nonreligious people
resist. If you’ve had children there were certain names you would not consider
because they reminded you of someone you did not like in school. On the flip
side, we tend to name our kids after people who we feel good about. Names are
important.
Today we continue in the teaching series from the Ten
Commandments. The past 2 messages are posted on my blog if you would like to go
back for a review. Just a brief review: I
also called this series: The Ten Commandments – 10 effective ways to live a
life of worship.
The Ten Commandments are so much more that a list of rules
given to us by God – they are the elements of a life style that sets us free
and helps us live free in Christ.
1st Commandment: “I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other
gods before Me. Exodus 20:1-3 (NKJV)
Forbids
FALSE gods
2nd Commandment: “You shall not make for yourself a carved
image—“ Exodus 20:4a
Forbids FALSE WORSHIP
3rd Commandment:
"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." Exodus 20:7
Forbids FAKE WORSHIP
In the
third of the Ten Commandments we find that God is protective of his name. We
are commanded to proceed with extreme caution in handling the name of the
Almighty.
THE
NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD:
YAHWEH
=
Sovereign One. In the Hebrew, there are four
consonants used to spell God's name. In English we see them as YHWH. We
pronounce them as Jehovah or Yahweh. The name Jehovah comes from the Hebrew
verb to be. In Exodus 3:14, Moses was at the burning bush and he asked God
what His name was. God replied, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said,
"Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you."
He didn’t say His name was Frank, or Greg; Sam or Harry. He
did not say his name was Baal, Krishna, or Allah, which are all names given to
false god’s by people. His name is the transcendent, the eternal; the
continuously present and holy pronouncement of "I AM". We see this as Yahweh, or Jehovah.
But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be
declared in all the earth. Exodus 9:16
And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative
of the Lord Jesus, and come with him into the presence of God the Father to
give him your thanks. Colossians 3:17 (LB)
IN
VAIN = Empty, trivial, meaningless.
The word vain is the Hebrew
word shav. It has a variety of
translations including emptiness, vanity, falsehood, nothingness, emptiness of
speech, lying, and worthlessness. To misuse God's name means literally,
"to lift it up to or attach it to emptiness." No one is to use the
Lord's name in this manner. It's disrespectful; it's dishonorable.
The flip side of that is what Jesus teaches us
in Matthew 6:9, "Hallowed be your name," "Holy, respected, revered, honored be
Your name."
What does taking the Lord’s Name in vain
look like?
Four ways we often take The Lord’s name in
vain.
1. False PROMISES
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of
old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have
sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it
is the throne of God, or by the earth,
for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take
an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’;
anything more than this comes from evil.” Matthew 5:33-37
ILL: When you make a promise you
are giving your word on it. When you buy a car or home you sign a Promissory
Note, which states that I will give company z x amount of money for the next X
amount of time, until this item is paid in full. If you keep your promise and
do what you said, you build what is called credit, and when it comes time for
you to try to get more money, they look at the promise you made, and if you
keep the promise you can usually get the money, but if you don’t keep your
promise, not only do you not get more, but may even have what you already have
taken away. WHY because you broke your promise.
2. False PROPHECIES
“Then the Lord said, “These prophets are telling
lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them
any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or
heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts.” Jeremiah 14:14
“Beware of
false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous
wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits” Matthew
7:15–20
Therefore, teachers who exhort us to live out
Jesus’ rules for kingdom life bear good fruit. Sound teachers call us to
repent, live as salt and light, recognize our inability to keep God’s law under
our own power, and follow Christ wholeheartedly. True teachers never knowingly
reject Scripture’s clear teaching.
John
Calvin comments, “All doctrines must be brought to the Word of God as the
standard, and that, in judging of false prophets, the rule of faith holds the
chief place.”
3. False PRETENSE
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’
will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my
Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your
name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’
But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s
laws.’” Matthew 7:21–23
Many invoke the name of the
Lord. People claim all their lives are in His name, but sometimes it isn't for
His name. They use God's name for their own benefit. False pretense, is when
your words and your works are incongruent.
"False pretenses are
occasions on which we are pretending. We are pretending to be one of God's
people when we are not one of God's people because it benefits us." We
want all the benefits, but none of the commitments.
Example: In 2013 President Barack Obama set history by
being the first sitting President to speak at the yearly Planned Parenthood
convention. Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the United
States of America and has been in the news recently. The president finished his
address by saying, "Thank you, Planned Parenthood. God bless you." So
Obama was saying, "God please bless them so they can take the life of more
children.” My friends, this is a violation of the third commandment.
4. False PLATITUDES
“You shall
not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the
Lord. Leviticus 19:12
What does the word "profane" mean? It
means the God of the Bible is a God of glory... He is weighty, He is heavy, He
is preeminent, He is significant…
Profanity is when we treat Him lightly and
inconsequentially, and just dismiss Him, and make sport of Him... and fun of
Him.
We're not to avoid God's name or abuse God's
name. We're to use God's name in a way that honors God.
“But refuse
and avoid irreverent legends (profane and impure and godless fictions, mere
grandmothers’ tales) and silly myths and express your disapproval of them.
Train yourself toward godliness (piety), [keeping yourself spiritually fit].” I Timothy 4:7
Conclusion: Unfortunately,
our society, including well intentioned believers, misuses the name of God
daily. The words misuse or vain means empty of content or to make void of
meaning. It describes that which is empty, idle, or insincere.
One of the ways God's name is misused is
through profanity. Webster's dictionary defines profanity as to violate or
treat with irreverence or contempt something regarded as sacred. The word
literally means "before the temple." So, a profane word is one you
would not use in church.
Example:
Some people use God's name to impress how
spiritual they are. They become spiritual showoffs by employing spiritual
sounding phrases and words while their heart is not in it. Every sentence is
punctuated with the words, "Praise the Lord," "Hallelujah,"
"Amen," and "God Bless You." Don't misunderstand, I believe
that we are to praise the Lord but let's not reduce God to a cliché.
Well-meaning Christians have thoughtlessly
cheapened God's name by continually and mindlessly saying these spiritual
sounding phrases. For many, these phrases have been used with no more thought
or sincerity than the popular but empty, "Have a nice day."
God's name is also misused frivolously. We
often hear God's name uttered as an exclamation point.
"I caught a ten pound fish."
"Good God."
"Bill and Sarah got married."
"Oh Lord."
"I tore my pants." "Oh my
God."
Such frivolous use of God's name reduces God to
the level of "wow" and "amazing." God's name is not an
exclamation point. Let's not misuse God's name. Let's be ambassadors for him -
not an embarrassment to him - because he is the Name above all names.
When we take the name “Christian” upon
ourselves, we must do so with an understanding of all that signifies. If we
profess to be Christians, but act, think, and speak in a worldly or profane
manner, we take His name in vain. When we misrepresent Christ, either
intentionally or through ignorance of the Christian faith as proclaimed in
Scripture, we take the Lord’s name in vain. When we say we love Him, but do not
do what He commands, we take His name in vain
The name of the Lord is holy, as He is holy.
The name of the Lord is a representation of His glory, His majesty, and His
supreme deity. We are to esteem and honor His name as we revere and glorify God
Himself.
To do any less is to take His name in vain.
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