the sermon here. Exodus 20 and verse 7, the third commandment reads, 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. The first commandment prohibits worshiping a false god. The second commandment prohibits worshipping God in a false manner. The third commandment prohibits putting the name of God to a falsehood. The first commandment concerns the person of God. You shall have no other gods before me. The second commandment concerns the essence of God. We must not limit the essence of God or the glory of God by making images of Him. No image can do Him justice. Our worship must befit the Almighty God of glory. And then the third commandment concerns the name of God. God is jealous of His name. Just like you're jealous of your name. Don't your ears perk up when you hear somebody use your name? Well, God's ears perk up when somebody uses His name. And the third commandment is about the name of God. Just as you notice when your name is dragged through the mud, God notices when somebody drags His name through the mud. And so we must take note of how we use and misuse the name of God. And remember, from a scriptural perspective, the name of God isn't just LORD in all caps, or Jehovah, or Elohim. The concept of the name of God in scripture includes all that God has revealed about Himself. The name of God is the revelation of God. And we'll come to a better understanding of what it means to put the revelation of God to a lie as we go through the message this morning. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Precisely what does that mean? Well, the most literal translation runs something like this. You must not utter the name of God for unreality. The point is that we must not do anything or say anything in relation to God that would lower the estimation of who He is in the eyes of other human beings. I've spent a great deal of time in the last few weeks reminding us of the majesty and the glory of our God. He is altogether different than us. He is altogether beyond us. He is altogether above us. and how we speak of Him to others must be in line with who He truly is. Perhaps the greatest American theologian to ever live, Charles Hodge, put it this way, this commandment forbids every indication Every outward indication of that lack of fear, reverence, and awe due to a being infinite in all his perfections on whom we are absolutely dependent and to whom we are accountable for our conduct. Any outward indication. Now, as I've tried to indicate there in your bulletin, the third commandment builds on the first two. The first commandment deals with one person. It deals with God Himself, who He is. The second commandment deals with two persons. It deals with the believer, with God's child and God. How do I approach God? How do I worship God? How do I interact with God? And now the third commandment concerns three people. It concerns how I portray God to another person. What do I cause another person to think of God as I interact with that person? That's what the third commandment is all about. Now that's pretty far reaching, isn't it? It certainly goes a whole lot further than a couple of swear words. Any time we speak of God in the presence of others the third commandment applies. God is the unseen third party in every conversation and he will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Now this morning I want to suggest just some ways, not all the ways, just some ways in which this commandment applies in our lives. First of all, we must not profess the name of God in hypocrisy. We must not profess the name of God in hypocrisy. The first way in which we can put the name of God to a lie is when we take the name of God to ourselves when we put it on our lives, but we do so in hypocrisy. Titus 1.16 speaks of those who profess that they know God, but in works deny Him. Profess that they know God, but in works deny Him. There are many people in our culture who take the name of God to themselves, who profess to be God's children, and yet they do not depart from iniquity. I see this more and more today. We've got huge churches out there. They're being built based on entertainment. Drawing thousands of people from right here in our community. And people are going and they're professing the name of Jesus Christ. And they're professing to know God. And there is no change in their lives. Their walk and their talk cast a shadow over the name of the God that they have taken to themselves. Turn with me in your Bibles to Romans chapter 2, if you will, please. We'll look at a couple of different passages of Scripture this morning. Turn with me to Romans chapter 2. Romans 2 and verse 24. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written." Now in the context here, Paul is referring to the Jewish people, who according to verse 17, what does it say? Make their boast in God. They boasted that they knew God. They boasted that they were God's people. And yet, because of what was seen in their lives, according to verse 24, the name of God was blasphemed. You see, here is why the Lord Jesus Christ hated hypocrisy more than any other sin. You look at the preaching of Jesus Christ. Jesus preached with compassion to the multitudes. But when he came to the Pharisees and the scribes and the Sadducees and the religious leaders who were filled with hypocrisy, he said, Woe unto you hypocrites! And he pronounced the curses upon them. His whole attitude changed when he encountered hypocrisy. Why? Because hypocrisy is a violation of the third commandment. Hypocrisy is bad enough because the hypocrite gives the church a bad name. Hypocrisy is bad enough because he makes every Christian look bad. But worse than all else, hypocrisy gives God a black eye. It drags his name through the mud, and God says, I will not hold him guiltless. Perhaps there's someone here this morning, you're here just for show. You're here because it just kind of makes you feel good, makes you comfortable to be in church on Sunday morning. But if your profession is a sham, if you are just playing church on Sunday, I want to take away your comfort this morning. You may be sitting on a padded seat, but I want to take away your comfort because if you understand this commandment, you ought to be very uncomfortable. if your life is a sham. God says, I will not hold you guiltless. He says, how dare you slap my name on a life like yours. Now, we understand this. There are companies out there in our economy that spend millions and millions of dollars in order to do what? In order to build a brand. It's called branding. Some of them are so successful at it that you don't even think of the product without thinking of their brand. I mean, when you go to blow your nose, what do you get? I don't know about you. I don't get a tissue. I get a Kleenex. See, they have built that brand. They have built that name. And there are some of them that have spent millions, if not billions of dollars, building a brand name. And then some third world country entrepreneur comes along and he builds an inferior product and he sticks that brand on him. And what do they say? They stick the law on him. They say, shut him down. He's selling an inferior product with my name on it. And listen, God isn't any less concerned about his name. He spent an eternity building His name. He spent the lifeblood of His only begotten Son building His name. And He says, you will not put My name to a lie. You and I cannot afford hypocrisy in our lives. God says He will not hold us guiltless. In the second place, we must not literally put the name of God to a lie. In fact, this third commandment can be translated that way. You shall not put the name of God to a lie. And the idea here is that of taking an oath before God, of using God's name in an oath and then lying or defaulting on that oath. Jesus commented on this third commandment in the Sermon on the Mount and he counseled that it's unwise for us really ever to take an oath if we can keep from doing so. Let's turn over a few pages to the book of Matthew chapter 5 and read what Jesus said there about this issue. Matthew chapter 5, beginning in verse 33. Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord. But I say to you, do not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your yes be yes, and your no, no, for whatever is more than these is from the evil one. You need to understand what was taking place in Jesus' day. There were Jews in that day who were masters of evasion. If they did take an oath in God's name, they would seek to keep that oath, but they would do anything that they could to avoid taking such an oath. Rather, they would swear by heaven or by earth or by Jerusalem, and then they would feel free to break such an oath. Because it didn't actually include the literal name of God. And Jesus saw through all that foolishness. And He made clear that heaven is God's throne, and the earth is God's footstool, and Jerusalem is God's city. And the point that Jesus is making here is that you cannot possibly keep Jesus out of any transaction. You cannot possibly keep the Lord out of any conversation. whether his name is mentioned or not. And so Jesus is teaching us here that since God, the judge, is always present in our conversations, the best course is always to be honest and straightforward. Let your yes be yes, let your no be no. I think one of the old Puritans put it this way, the man who swears, the more a man swears, the less others believe him. And I'm not talking about swearing in the sense of cursing or cussing. I'm talking about swearing in the sense of taking an oath. We need to be careful here, though. There are those, like the Quakers, that believe, because of what Christ says here in Matthew 5, that Christians are never to take an oath under any circumstances. But such a view will not hold up under scrutiny. Paul took oaths right in the pages of his letters which are now inscripturated in the New Testament. Jesus took an oath before the Sanhedrin. We're told in Hebrews chapter 6 that God himself took an oath regarding the certainty of our salvation. So we cannot make a blanket statement that all oaths are wrong and sinful, but we should not make a habit of using oaths. Rather, they ought to be reserved for the most solemn occasions, occasions in keeping with the dignity and majesty of Almighty God. On the witness stand when someone's freedom or life is at stake, at the marriage altar when we are making a lifelong commitment. And then on those cases, when we do take an oath, we need to be certain that our statements are true and that our vows are kept. Because what does it tell people if we can take an oath falsely? Well, it says either that God is not omnipresent and he doesn't hear, or it tells people that God is not a judge who is able to avenge. or it tells them that God is not righteous and He doesn't care. And that's just exactly what has happened in our culture today, people. You say, I don't have this kind of problem. Well, this is a cultural problem. We have people that go into court all the time and swear before Almighty God that they will tell the truth and then lie bald-faced. We have people all the time that come to an altar of a church before hundreds of people, and they take an oath before Almighty God to be faithful to another person till death do them part, and in three or four years, they're gone. What does that teach people about God? Is it any wonder that in our culture today, people don't have any real idea of what God is really like? In the third place, we must not use the name of God for our own ends. We must not use the name of God for our own ends. Let me step aside here for a minute and talk about a word that we often use in relationship to the third commandment, and that's the word profanity. Now, the word profanity comes from the word profane. And the word profane simply means common. You see, profanity is using the name of God just like I would any other common word in English. When I bring the name of God down to the level of any other word, when I am willing to use the name of God just as I would any other concept or word in the English language, I am using profanity. I am profaning the name of God. And so in the third place, we must not use the name of God for our own ends as we would use many other things. Now, we may use God's name in several ways. First of all, we may use God's name to excuse our actions. To excuse our actions. We see a biblical example of this kind of thing in the person of Absalom. You remember the story of Absalom. He was about to overthrow David. And he was supposed to be at a feast where all of the noblemen would be gathered. And he begged off by saying that he had to go pay a vow to the Lord in Hebron. And actually he went out while all of the noblemen of the kingdom were gathered and led a rebellion. and he used the name of God to cover his tracks. To use the name of God in such a way is to profane his name. I'm sorry to say that quite often I hear even religious leaders using the name of God for their own ends. Do you remember some years back It's been quite a while back now when Oral Roberts proclaimed on the public airwaves that God was going to end his life if he did not raise eight million dollars by such and such a date. Do you remember that? What do you think the common man who heard that thought of God? What do you think they thought of that kind of a claim? And folks, this happens all the time on Christian radio and Christian television. We hear people that claim to serve God using His name for their own ends. We need to be really careful when we say, God told me this or God told me to do that. We must not be guilty of using God to excuse our actions. Or there's a second way in which I see many people using the name of God, and that is to sanctify their actions, to sanctify their actions. When God laid down this commandment, it was commonly believed in the Near East that if you knew the name of a God, you could control that God, you could manipulate that God. The story of Balaam illustrates this idea, this practice. Apparently, Balaam knew the name of God, and so he thought that in the name of that God, he could curse Israel, or he could bless another nation. Now, we're many centuries removed from that kind of religious magic. But you know what? I still find pastors often using the name of God to bless the most absurd things. from Apple Blossom Festivals to county fairs to stock car races. I know people that think it's wonderful that at every stock car race out there that there's a prayer offered before the event. But I got to tell you folks, that doesn't raise the level of the event. It simply brings the name of God down to the profane. I think the most bizarre example of this that I've ever heard of was a prayer rendered by the then president of the Southern Baptist Convention at the dedication of the world's largest brewery. I've got it in print if you want to read that prayer. God says, I will not hold him guiltless. Another illustration of this kind of thing is the way liberal theologians today are willing to attach the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and Almighty God to practices like homosexuality, to try to sanctify them somehow, to try to clean them up. But they're not cleaning them up. They're simply profaning the name of our God. Feminists are willing to call God she in order to sanctify their movement and on and on it goes. And then in the third place I see some people who are willing to use God's name simply to pursue their own profit. To pursue profit and I could go a number of ways here but the way that comes home to me most often in our culture today is what's happening in the area of contemporary Christian music. Let me ask you, do you know who owns the companies that put out the great mass of contemporary Christian music? Do you know who owns those companies? Do you know who calls the shots? I challenge you to go do some research. I'm not talking about some of the good new music that's out there, and there is good new music out there. But I'm talking about where they have the CCM charts and And all of this, who do you think controls that music? You go do some research. It's not Christian organizations that are there to minister. It's organizations that are there to make a profit. And they're willing to tie the name of Jesus Christ and Almighty God to anything they need to if it's gonna make them a buck. And by the way, folks, many CCM artists, where do they want to go? What's their goal? Their goal isn't just to make it to the top of the CCM charts. Their goal is to become a crossover and to make it big on the pop charts. Why? What are they after? They're pursuing their own profit and they're willing to use the name of God to do it. God says, do not put my name to a lie. Do not profane my name. I will not hold him guiltless who does such a thing. Then in the fourth place, and this one may surprise you. I won't dwell on it long. We must not reflect upon the name of God by murmuring. We must not reflect upon the name of God by murmuring. You know there are Christians that are nothing but one big huge complaint. You can't be around them for any length of time without the conversation turning negative and soon the sound of murmuring will fill the air. We need to remember something folks. God says that murmuring and complaining is always aimed at You remember the story we read last week? The story about the fiery serpents? The people complained because they had been brought out into the desert and all they had was this nasty manna to eat. And God just looked down from heaven and said, it looks to me like you've got a problem there, Moses. Right? Is that what he said? No. He said, these people are complaining against me. You see, the name of God includes His character. And when we speak in tones of murmuring, we speak against the wisdom of God, and the love of God, and the justice of God, and the power of God, and of course, the glory of God. What do other people think of our God when they hear us murmuring and complaining? Turn over with me to Numbers chapter 14, if you will, please. Numbers 14, and let's read verses 27 through 29. This is Almighty God speaking. He says, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against me, Say to them, as I live, says the Lord, just as you have spoken in my hearing, so I will do to you. The carcasses of you who have complained against me shall fall in this wilderness. All of you who were numbered according to your entire number from twenty years old and above. You know, there are Christians who would never think of using God's name as a swear word, who will murmur and complain at the drop of a hat. And God says, I will not hold him guiltless. And what we read here in Numbers chapter 14 is just exactly an example of that. And then finally, and perhaps where you thought I was going to start is where I'm going to end. We must not profane the name of God by treating it lightly, by taking it as a light thing. I hope you've gained some sense here as I've been preaching this morning of the responsibility that God lays upon you and I. There is a sense in which we are the keepers of his reputation. What do others think of our God when they listen to our language? That's the question that the third commandment asks. And yet, how many times do we use the name of God or Christ with no sense of majesty? We use it to no real purpose. We use it lightly. We might even say with abandon. I would ask you to, in your own mind, if you can do this, to kind of step back and objectively listen to your own conversations for the last week. Hear them through the ears of another. Do you joke about God or Jesus? Do you jest about the things of God? About the church? About the Bible? Do you take God's name as a swear word? I read the following story a book. I thought it was to the point. In the midst of a hectic noonday rush, a grocery boy arrived late at a sorority house and he came in whistling a happy tune, looked for a place to put down the groceries, and he found a work table there in the middle of things and he stacked the groceries neatly there on the work table where the cook had planned to lay out the noontime spread, the lunch. And when she discovered what this innocent redhead had done, she let him have it with a volley of profanity that would have made a lumberjack blush. And Red took a step back and placed his cap over his heart and solemnly question, ma'am, do you eat out of that same mouth? Now, that's a good scriptural concept there, folks. James chapter 3 says, how can bitter and sweet come from the same fountain speaking of our mouths? Let me pause here for a minute because I think at times we as Christians have a misconception in this area of profanity. We need to distinguish between profanity and vulgarity. Many Christians don't see much of a difference between cursing and cussing. They don't see much difference between using God's name in vain and using other four-letter words. But I believe scripturally there is a difference. See, God doesn't say, you shall not take four-letter words in vain. I will not hold you guiltless. He only says that about His name. Now, I'm not trying to Condone using cuss words using four letter words. There are other scriptural reasons for not using vulgarity. I'm not condoning that language using that kind of language is an indication of what fills our hearts. But listen. When we put how we what we use four letter words on the same level with how we use the name of God that in its in itself profanes the name of God. These are two different things, folks. Four-letter word is vulgar. It shouldn't be uttered in polite society. It indicates something is in your heart that ought not be there. But taking God's name in vain is a whole step above. And God says, you shall not take my name in vain. I will not hold you guiltless. And in fact, you know, and here's what really gets me. It seems to me that many Christians are actually more concerned about using four letter words than they are about using God's name in vain. Let me explain what I mean. There are many Christians who would never use the actual name of God like a four-letter word, but they will say gosh, golly, or geez. And they think there's not any problem. Let me read you the dictionary definition of those words that I just uttered. Quote, interjection, an exclamation or mild oath, euphemistic alteration of God. The way I think about it is like this. They're simply nicknames. And there are Christians who have no problem using the nickname of God in vain. Imagine some Sunday morning, I lost my sermon in my computer. This is one of those things that I'm always concerned about. It's going to happen someday. I mean, imagine that. And what if I came up to the pulpit and I said, I can't get my sermon out of that gosh darn computer. Geez, that makes me mad. Now, what if I said that? Twelve of you, before I ever got out the door, would have stopped me and said, Pastor. And the elders would call for a meeting. And rightly so. You're a pastor. You shouldn't be talking like that. Well, you're a Christian. And you ought not be talking like that. It's no different. Folks, I hear this all the time. I work at Bob Jones University where everybody ought to know better with this than just the other day. By golly, just rolls right off the tongue, doesn't think a second thing about it. I'm thinking, do you realize what you're saying? He would never use a four-letter word, but he's euphemistically willing to take God's name in vain. Perhaps some of you excuse you. So it's just a habit. I don't mean anything by it. You know, oh God or oh gosh, it just kind of slips from my lips and I don't even really know it. That's not an excuse. That's a condemnation. See, that's just an indication that God's name has indeed become common to you. I mean, would you accept that kind of excuse if I made that kind of excuse about the Sixth Commandment or the Seventh Commandment? Well, I don't really think about it anymore. It's just a habit. What greater condemnation can there be than the fact that we can use the name of the God of holiness, majesty, and glory without even thinking about it? Back in the days of the Puritans, there lived a woman who had born three sons. And she told her husband that only one of the three was his. And as the father lay dying, he instructed the executors of his estate to find out which was his natural son and to settle the entire estate on that one son. And so when the father died, the executors took his body and they set it up against a tree. And then they took the sons out and they gave to each of them a bow and arrows. And they told them that whoever could shoot nearest to the father's heart would have the entire estate. And two of the sons shot, did their best to come closest to the heart with the third. There was just something inside of him that would not let him take that action, and he refused to shoot. Whereupon the executors judged him to be the true son, and they gave him the entire estate. You see, a true child of God has something inside. that won't let him shoot words that would wound the heart of his heavenly Father. Some of you, that's something that's inside of you right now. It's working on you. Your heart is grieved because you know that the name of God has been dragged through the mud by your hypocrisy or by your murmuring. Or you've used God's name or his nickname as a swear word or lightly at least. And right now your soul is heavy. Others of you here are nearly in despair because you cannot control your tongue. James 3 says that no man can tame the tongue. It's like a raging forest fire out of control. But for all of you, for all of us, upon whom the Holy Spirit is at work, the Lord Jesus Christ can not only forgive sin, but He can create in you a new heart. A clean heart. I urge upon you again that the purpose of these messages is not to get you to try to ratchet up your efforts to try to keep God's law in your own strength. You will fail. The purpose of these messages is to cause us to run to Jesus Christ. that he might cleanse our hearts, that he might renew within us that part of us that will not shoot an arrow into the heart of Almighty God. As we close, would you turn with me to Psalm chapter 51? If your heart is breaking right now, if the Holy Spirit is convicting you, then I would channel the cry of your heart into the words of King David. Psalm 51, verses 9-12. David cried out to God and he said, hide your face from my sins. and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. As we close today, some of us need to take those words to the throne of grace in Jesus' name.