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3rd Commandment

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WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:06.559 Today's reading is from Exodus chapter 20, verses one through seven. 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:14.240 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. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:16.879 You shall have no other gods before me. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:27.359 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. 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:30.399 You shall not bow down to them or serve them. 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:46.240 For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to 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. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:54.320 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. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:55.840 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:56.640 Thanks be to God. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:02.560 Well, good morning. 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:05.120 It's great to gather together with you all. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:08.959 My name is James Rathman, I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:12.719 And we are continuing through Exodus this morning. 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:20.159 And at this point, we're moving pretty slow because we're basically just adding about one verse at a time as we're moving through the Ten Commandments through the rest of fall. 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:23.840 And we are covering the third commandment this morning. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:34.000 And the third commandment is 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. 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:35.519 That's the third commandment. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:37.359 Would you pray with me? 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:40.640 Father, we praise you for gathering us together. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:43.200 Lord, for showing to us your name. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:02:00.879 How majestic is your name in all the earth, Lord, that we might know the name that we might call upon for our salvation, that you have revealed yourself to us fully in your Son Jesus Christ, and you have rescued us by great wonder and power of his resurrection. 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:06.640 Lord, I pray that we would learn how to revere and honor your name. 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:20.479 That just as we pray so often, as we pray each Sunday together, hallowed be your name, Lord, that we would understand and grow to understand what that means, Lord, that we might know you more completely and honor you as Lord. 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:22.159 We lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:23.039 Amen. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:37.039 I was thinking that if you if you aren't in church often or or uh if this is like your first time or something, I would think, I would, I would probably think that the Ten Commandments, that's probably something that those church folks talk about all the time. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:40.159 It's probably like every other week they're talking about the Ten Commandments. 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:47.759 But I've been asking around on how many people have ever heard a sermon series on the Ten Commandments or gone through the Ten Commandments. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:52.560 And it's not, it's not, it's actually pretty rare, I think, that we talk about the Ten Commandments. 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:54.080 It's recently rare. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:03:00.879 This would have been a part of uh your ch We would have taught our children the Ten Commandments, they would have memorized it. 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:06.639 The Ten Commandments were an ordinary pattern of prayer in the Christian life for most of the church's history. 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:23.919 If you read the Reformers and you're looking for like how to pray, and the Reformers are teaching you how to pray, they'll it's typical that they will teach you how to pray through the Lord's Prayer, and then they'll teach you how to pray through the Ten Commandments as sort of a survey of your own soul before the Lord. 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:54.159 But it's a language that we've really lost, and so I'm thankful that we have the opportunity here moving through Exodus to re-look at the Ten Commandments, the central ethical, the summary of the moral law in Scripture, especially because I think one of the most unique things that Christianity has to offer right now, this is the understatement of all understatements, but uh something that maybe might capture people's attention the most is that we have an ethical framework. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:57.360 That we there is a clear Christian ethic. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:06.639 I think one of the things that surprised me in talking with non-Christians is how attractive the Christian ethic is. 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:21.600 I think we have this sense, this sort of understanding that the Christian ethic needs to be sort of hidden because it can cause so much offense in our culture or to people who don't hold to this Christian ethic. 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:28.000 But in my experience, more and more, it is the Christian ethic which has been so attractive to people. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:36.720 And I think that's because so much of our world is just tossed about with no grounding in terms of what is right, what is wrong. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:41.839 Is there anything that could inform practically how I'm living in a meaningful way? 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:43.040 Well, praise God. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:45.680 We have the law of God that He has given to us. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:57.360 And it I think we can underestimate just how grounding that is uh and uh what it what it means to have something that
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provides such meaning to our ordinary actions. 00:04:58.079 --> 00:04:59.839 Okay, so the third commandment. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:05.040 The third commandment is uh not taking the name of the Lord your God in vain. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:17.360 What I've noticed in moving through the Ten Commandments is that I think I know what they mean, and then I read them, and I think I don't think I really know what that means. 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:20.560 And that's been that's happened three times so far. 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:23.759 And we are on the third commandment. 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:26.959 And so I think uh that will probably continue to happen. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:30.879 But this is one I I think the Ten Commandments are something that we think we know. 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:36.000 This one, especially, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:40.959 This is the commandment about cussing, is what we think. 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:43.839 And that's true. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:45.759 That's true. 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:49.199 This is a commandment about cussing. 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:57.600 This is a commandment which which informs that you you should tame your tongue, especially with regards to speaking about the Lord. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:02.319 But even more broadly, that we should have pure speech. 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:15.439 This is a good reason to teach your kids to s to say fiddles fiddlesticks and zoinks, silly pants, these are all good ones. 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:16.560 These are all good ones. 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:30.079 It is it is good and right to give exclamations that are not curses and that are not cursing, especially not cursing the name of our Lord. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:36.720 This is the commandment which which is is proof that that our Lord has no middle initial. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:41.920 And it is not H, what his middle initial is. 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:50.800 But where this commandment gets confused uh amidst all of that and all of that good stuff, like that is that is good. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:07:02.560 I think like for a if I were to imagine like what like uh you know, pastors have moves, there's pastor moves, well-worn grooves that we have that we can trot. 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:21.920 If I were to do uh like a like what I would anticipate as like a pastor move for the Ten Commandments, it would be like, you know, everybody, you think it's about cussing, and you think it's about like, you know, saying the Lord's name when you stub your toe, but really it's about how you represent that would be that would be the pastor move. 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:30.959 What I want you to hear, and what I want to be clear from the outset, it is about saying the Lord's name when you stub your toe. 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:34.000 It is certainly about that. 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:52.399 And my hope at the end of this is not just to expand your view of the third commandment, but also to see the unthinkable weight, the incalculable offense of saying the Lord's name when you stub your toe. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:55.040 That's part of that's part of my hope for this. 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:12.000 The risk of taking the Lord's name in vain is that we will wear out the Lord's name such that when you need to call on him, you're not able to. 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:16.480 That is the risk of the third commandment. 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:28.959 That you will find yourself, after repeated violations of the third commandment, you will find yourself in such a situation where you need to cry out to God and you have no name to call. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:32.240 That is the risk of the third commandment. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:35.279 So, what we're going to look at is the name. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:36.799 What is the name? 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:39.200 Taking the Lord's name in vain. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:40.639 What's the name? 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:42.720 We're going to look at taking. 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:45.120 It says taking the Lord's name in vain. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:46.399 What is the taking? 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:48.320 Then we're going to look at vanity. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:49.759 What is the vainess? 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:52.879 Why is it that why is why is this the word that's given to us? 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:54.480 Why is it the vainess? 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:58.000 All right, so first at the name, we'll refresh your memory what it says. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:03.919 Exodus 27, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:09.120 For the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:11.039 What is the name of God? 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:20.240 The larger catechism offers a large extent to the name of God, that the name of God maps onto a lot of categories. 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:24.159 In question 112, it says, What is required in the third commandment? 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:27.039 And I'm just going to read the first part of it so we can get the sense of name. 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:49.279 It says, 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 to us. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:52.879 This is the extent of the name of God. 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:56.879 So you can kind of capture that last summary phrase. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:03.120 This is the way that the catechism often is, is they could have done one phrase, but it's nice to have a lot of examples. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:11.919 Because the phrase that would have worked is uh whatsoever there is whereby he makes himself known. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:14.799 That is the extent of the name of God. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:19.840 Anything by which he makes himself known. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:36.960 So we are not to misuse or
slander or swear by wrongfully any uh the very name that God has given us, when we say God and we know that we are referring to the true God, we are not to use that as a slander. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:39.600 We are not to use that name in vain. 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:47.279 The Lord Jesus Christ, when we say Jesus' name, because we understand who he is, he is the fullness of the revelation. 00:10:47.519 --> 00:11:12.720 We are not to use that in vain, when we swear by the word, when we speak of the word, when we speak of his creation, the glory of his creation, the glory of the mountains that we love to go see, the leaves that are changing colors that we love to go see, whereby these things whereby he makes himself known, these are not to be taken or treated as though they are vain. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:27.679 Now, the importance of this is that these are the name of God is all that by which God reveals himself to us. 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:39.600 And this is the central thing that we must grasp in the Ten Commandments, and that we've grasped since the first commandment, is that these commandments are coming from the mouth of God to his people. 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:44.639 This is God's revelation of himself to his people. 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:52.480 This is not an act of human imagination coming up with what we think God is like. 00:11:53.679 --> 00:12:00.480 This is not us surveying creation and saying, here's the framework, here's the ethics that this determines. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:04.399 This is the revelation of God to us. 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:09.759 It is from the top down, him telling us who he is like. 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:14.720 And what God discloses to us is his name. 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:23.360 And because God has shared with us his name, because it it the this is the the way that we have to think about it. 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:28.559 Most names names are the type of thing that humans give give to things. 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:31.759 Humans do the naming. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:34.720 That's what we that's one of our creaturely roles. 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:36.799 Did you guys hear about the new cat? 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:44.559 There's a new cat out here with us. 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:57.200 But when we say new cat, right, there's I do do you there's literally they found a cat for those of you with the blankest of stairs. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:12:59.519 Stay in like the jungle. 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:02.480 You guys, you know jungles like from children's storybooks. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:04.799 Turns out they're real places. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:11.600 And there's this little cat in them, and they brought the cat to a vet, and the vet was like, I don't know what this thing is. 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:15.200 And then they, you know, look up, they go through all the cat books. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:17.120 I don't know what biologists do. 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:29.360 And then they're like, not still not in here, still not in here, and they look back and forth at each other, like, it's in yours, it's in yours, and then after a certain amount of time, if enough time has passed, that it's not in either of their books, then they look at each other and they say, New cat. 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:33.519 And then they have to name it. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:35.360 Humans do the naming. 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:36.799 Is the cat new? 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:39.840 No, I think we assume the cat has been around. 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:44.399 What's new is it we've we've named it. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:46.639 We've granted it an identity. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:47.679 That's what humans do. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:49.200 We're the naming things. 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:56.559 And so we expect that all names are the types of things that we we are the ones granting an identity. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:01.840 If it has a name, that means it's been granted an identity by a human. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:04.320 Because we're the naming things. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:12.480 But God, in revealing his name, this is not us granting God an identity. 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:20.240 This is receiving the revelation of who he is. 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:24.879 That's what the Ten Commandments are designed to protect. 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:29.519 So this is not a work of human imagination. 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:36.320 This is God telling us how we are able to address him. 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:42.080 In that sense, it's like the way we introduce ourselves. 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:49.200 You know, when I introduce myself, although it's a received name, but you understand the analogy, I say, hello, I'm James. 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:53.600 And then the other person doesn't get to be like, I'm gonna call you Steve. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:15:08.799 If they do, then they're then there's some sort of masculine challenge taking place, and you it now is a it's a test of your I don't know, wits or strength. 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:13.120 They must call you by your n by your name. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:17.600 If they don't use your name, they're not addressing you. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:34.320 And so, in this sense, the name of God, what I want you to grasp when you hear the name of God, and even looking at the large extent that the name of God has, that the larger catechism shows to us, what you need to see is that it it works just like any other name. 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:36.879 It works like your name. 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:45.679 The difference is that God has placed this name, has to has told you, he has revealed his name to you. 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:52.720 This is not something that humans have placed upon him in the way that we named that new that new cat. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:58.639 The way his name works is just the way ordinary names work. 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:06.480 Names are a way of describing the exact identity and all of the attributes of somebody. 00:16:06.720 -->
00:16:09.440 This is all captured in a name. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:19.440 You can imagine that uh somebody uh that that I uh uh talk I'm talking behind somebody's back and I'm slandering them. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:20.799 Imagine this. 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:28.080 And uh while uh and it when then it gets back around and the person confronts me and they say, You were talking badly about me. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:30.960 You you were you were dragging my name through the mud. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:35.759 And I say, No, no, no, I was just saying bad things about your name. 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:38.480 This isn't you. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:42.080 It's not you're not your name. 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:45.919 And they they would, this is this is obviously absurd. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:49.440 Because we know what names are. 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:56.720 We know that names are real, that names matter, they actually adhere. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:04.160 You know, there's like uh uh you you could you could imagine uh an instance of somebody being like, who are you? 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:05.920 you know, and then you tell them your name. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:07.519 This would happen in Boulder. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:10.400 You know, imagine this story is going to sound absurd. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:12.319 Now imagine it in Boulder. 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:15.680 It won't sound absurd, it'll sound won't sound absurd. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:20.640 You'll say, like, what's it, what's, you know, you introduce yourself and it's like, hi, I'm James. 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:24.160 You're like, yeah, that's your name, but who are you? 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:25.839 You know? 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:27.039 Who are you? 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:33.039 That's uh we we get the sense of that, but the re but really what I'm wanting to say is that's absurd. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:35.440 That's not how names work. 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:48.400 Names are these have this quality of capturing all of me and all of my attributes, and when I give you my name, you have the opportunity to bless me or hurt me with it. 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:52.400 You have this incredible power that is not a false power. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:55.279 It is a real power over me. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:18:00.000 It is a real mechanism of relating to me. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:07.359 So the name of God is what I want you to see in this is why is it handled like this? 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:10.720 Well, because this is what names are. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:14.079 This is how names ordinarily work. 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:15.759 You already know this. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:17.680 You already know this. 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:25.440 In order to pretend otherwise, you'd have to do some very intentional forgetting about how to how the world ordinarily works. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:28.160 So that is what we are discussing. 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:30.319 We are discussing the name of God. 00:18:30.880 -->
00:18:40.400 And we know that the name of God is how we address him, who he has shown himself to be that we have received, not an act of human imagination. 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:49.119 And the name of God carries with it an identification with all of his attributes, all of the truths of who he is. 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:52.319 We express this by his name. 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:54.400 Just like you. 00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:59.519 Now, the commandment is against taking the name of the Lord in vain. 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:00.720 What is it to take the name? 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:02.319 In Exodus 20, verse 7. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:03.519 Let's just hear the commandment again. 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:04.960 I'm going to do this a couple of times. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:12.720 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. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:20.880 Now, this commandment is mostly about speech, because a name is a word. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:23.359 You say it with speech. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:33.599 But interestingly, the commandment does not say you shall not say the name of the Lord your God in vain. 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:37.039 Hebrew has a word for saying, it doesn't use that word. 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:43.279 Instead, it uses a word which sounds like Nassa, and it means to lift up. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:50.720 So when you're learning Hebrew, the way that you memorize that word is Nassah lifts up rockets. 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:52.720 That's how I remember that. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:58.000 And this name means to lift up or to bear or to carry. 00:19:58.160 --> 00:19:58.880 To take. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:02.640 The word take means lift up, bear, or carry. 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:09.440 You shall not lift up or bear or carry the name of the Lord your God in vain. 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:16.240 It is not just say, but of course it includes the saying, the speaking of the Lord's name. 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:19.680 Take or carry or to lift up. 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:27.680 What this means is that we, in a sense, we bear the name of God as Christians. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:37.599 And the people of God that are gathered before him at Sinai, who are his covenant people, they are having the name of God placed upon him. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:40.480 They are God's people. 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:45.839 We are, the church, we are God's people. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:47.359 We are Christians. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:50.240 His name is in our name. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:54.640 And so that means that we are representatives of him. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:00.079 That we demonstrate what it looks like to be God's people. 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:02.799 We bear his reputation. 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:07.200 We fly his colors, we wave his banner. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:09.759 That is who we are as a people. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:14.799 Therefore, you can see the large extent of
taking the Lord's name in vain. 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:23.279 Taking the Lord's name in vain is any violation of any of the Ten Commandments by His people. 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:29.920 You cannot violate any of the Ten Commandments without violating the third commandment. 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:32.079 We'll see that they all work like this. 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:52.960 Because what you are doing when you lie, when you commit adultery, what you're doing is at least as an even just as an image bearer, let's say a non Christian who just bears the image of God by dent of creation, they are demonstrating that the image bearers of God are covenant breakers. 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:59.599 This shows that what God, what the name of God demonstrates, which is which is His righteousness. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.200 His fidelity, his faithfulness. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:09.119 It shows that that's actually vanity. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:13.680 Our thinking of God's name that way is actually vain. 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:18.319 And so we have violated the third commandment. 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:24.319 So this commandment, like the others, can be a taking on. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:25.279 It is. 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:32.400 You cannot violate any of the other commandments without violating the third commandment. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:38.799 The close of the ironic blessing, which Zach recites at the end of each week, he'll recite it at the end of this week. 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:40.319 May the Lord bless you and keep you. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:42.559 May the Lord make his face shine upon you. 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:45.920 May the Lord lift his face upon you and give you peace. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:51.200 This blessing is described in Numbers 627. 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:52.480 Let me see if I got it right. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:53.759 There's maybe. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:55.279 Numbers 627. 00:22:55.359 --> 00:23:04.960 It's described as putting, God says, so shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:20.400 When you are blessed with that blessing, the way that the Lord describes it is you are putting, he is putting his name upon you, so that the whole of your life becomes a demonstration of the name of God. 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:24.559 It is tied to the name of God. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:29.680 To bear God's name is to bear his blessing. 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:32.559 Would you bear his blessing in vain? 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:41.440 Would you have the blessing of God upon you and then live as though you didn't? 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:51.440 Most directly, would you have the blessing of God upon you and then speak as though it is meaningless? 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:55.759 This is to bear the name of the Lord your God in vain. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:57.920 Now I want to talk about vanity. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:23:59.440 What is the vainness of it? 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:03.839 In Exodus 20, verse
7, we'll all be able to say it together by the end of this. 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:15.039 What is the word vain here? 00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:23.440 Well, in Job 7, verse 3, it refers to emptiness. 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:27.759 Job says, I am allotted months of emptiness. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:36.000 Or it can refer to general human wickedness, as in Job 11, 11, which refers to worthless men. 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:39.119 The word for worthless there is the same word for vain. 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:44.640 Or it can refer specifically to lies, to lying. 00:24:45.200 --> 00:25:06.640 In fact, in Deuteronomy chapter 5, where the Ten Commandments are stated for the second time in Scripture, the tenth commandment, which is not, or the ninth commandment, which is not bearing false witness against your neighbor, the word for false there is this same word for vain. 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:12.880 The way that that commandment is given to us in Deuteronomy. 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:19.039 So empty, worthless, wicked, false. 00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:28.799 These are ways that we are prohibited, commanded not to handle the name of our God. 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:35.200 Empty, meaningless, or a lie. 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:49.519 Now what this means is that we are treating the name of God, which he has given to us, as though it doesn't actually refer to anything out there. 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:52.480 You know what a lie is? 00:25:53.279 --> 00:25:57.200 A lie is when there's, you know, reality out here. 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:04.480 And then you say something, and that thing that you say does not connect with anything in reality. 00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:13.440 In fact, it's even meant to kind of hide it or shield you from what reality is, from what's actually happening out here. 00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:22.559 So you can see that that phrase, the word that you would say, the signal that you would send with that word, it signifies nothing. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:25.200 It adheres at no level. 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:26.799 There's nothing there. 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:31.839 If I were to say, look at the giant Christmas tree behind me. 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:34.720 Well, there's not one. 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:44.400 So that word, giant Christmas tree, or that phrase, it doesn't connect to anything out here in the world. 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:49.279 It touches nothing, it's meaningless, it signifies nothing. 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:53.519 We have the name of God. 00:26:54.640 --> 00:27:02.400 And when we treat it in vain, what we are saying is this word signifies nothing. 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:05.839 There is nothing really there. 00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:08.960 It is fundamentally meaningless. 00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:12.160 We might say it's just words. 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:15.279 It's just words. 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:23.839 This, I think, is one of our greatest traps culturally. 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:38.960 One of our greatest traps is that we treat our words as
though they are merely words that have no responsibility for connecting to reality. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:57.599 And one of the ways that we do this is we treat our talking about God as only mattering insofar as it affects our internal psychological state. 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:11.200 So that if we talk about God in such a way that it creates positive states inside of us, then that is true and good and worth pursuing. 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:23.359 If somebody around you talks about God in ways that create negative internal states around you, then we would say that is bad or that is wrong. 00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:27.039 That is not the way people should handle the name of God. 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:32.960 Here's the problem with this mode of thinking or that level of assessment. 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:35.839 You know who it leaves out of the picture? 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:37.279 God. 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:41.920 You know what this subtly teaches us? 00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:48.640 When we talk about God, we can use this word however we want because there's no one really there. 00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:54.240 And it doesn't actually refer to anything. 00:28:55.920 --> 00:29:01.680 God has given us his name, and God's name is not any word. 00:29:04.079 --> 00:29:13.759 To say that God's name could be any word, is to say that we are the ones who fundamentally do the naming. 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:16.240 We identify him. 00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:19.440 This is not the story of God's name. 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:25.039 The story of God's name is that he reveals it to us. 00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:38.720 The one who named man, like he found a new cat, is the one who named us, and this is the one who reveals to us his name. 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:47.359 It is not any word, because we are not the ones who chose it. 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:53.200 And how much more particular do we see this with the people of God here? 00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:56.160 The phrasing is the Lord your God. 00:29:57.119 --> 00:30:03.119 The word that's being used there is the famous Yahweh, the covenantal name of God. 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:07.200 When you see Lord translated in your Bibles, it's typically Yahweh. 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:10.319 And this is the covenantal name of God. 00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:15.599 Where he is saying, I am your God, you are my people. 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:23.200 He is placing his name upon his people the way a husband places his name upon his wife. 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:30.160 And when she takes on that name, she's not saying, Well, really, it could be any name. 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:34.799 What she's saying is, no, no, it's his name. 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:41.759 And so if another man walks up to her and says, Hey, do you mind if I call you Mrs. 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:42.480 Jones? 00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:47.279 Jones is my last name, and I'd prefer to call you by my last name. 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:49.680 She would say, no, no, no. 00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:54.880 This is not, it is not that any name will do. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:57.759 This one must be associated with my husband. 00:30:57.839 --> 00:30:59.599 It has to be associated particularly. 00:30:59.759 --> 00:31:03.599 There's a there's a that's where the meaning in this is. 00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:07.680 And yet we treat God as though he could go by any name. 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:14.000 When we treat God as though he could go by any name, what we are saying is we're the ones that do the naming. 00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:18.720 We're the ones that ultimately are over him. 00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:28.000 There is a phenomena in existence, and we have the power over it to identify it and place it within our story. 00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:29.359 That's what naming is. 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:32.079 It's placing things in the human story. 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:35.519 That is not the way this is working. 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:39.039 The name of God is not from man upward. 00:31:39.279 --> 00:31:41.920 The name of God is from heaven downward. 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:55.119 It is something we receive, and he places himself into our story and defines the terms of our story and reveals the truth of who he is. 00:31:55.599 --> 00:31:59.839 His identity belongs to him to be revealed. 00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:07.039 When we treat the name of God as though it could be any name, and here's how particular this must get. 00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:12.000 It has to come down to the name Jesus Christ. 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:16.319 Because here's the claim of Christianity. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:23.200 God has revealed himself in the fullness of his revelation in a man who has a name. 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:28.079 And that man's name is Jesus Christ. 00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:35.599 And it is the only name given under heaven by which we may be saved. 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:39.519 And you say, Well, couldn't I say any name? 00:32:39.839 --> 00:32:40.160 No. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:43.920 You can't. 00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:50.799 To say that you could say any name is to say that you could come up with a way to save yourself. 00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:52.880 That is not the story we are in. 00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:04.079 Consider this in relationship to the second commandment, which we looked at last week. 00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:09.279 The second commandment says that we cannot worship God by images. 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:27.680 And the reason that we cannot worship God by images is because you can see how both of these commandments work together, and all of the commandments work together, as a hedge of protection around God's people as he is revealing himself to them. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:31.279 He is saying, Really see me. 00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:36.960 Really see God as He is revealing Himself to you. 00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:40.240 Do not see some work of your own imagination. 00:33:40.400 --> 00:33:44.400 Do not get distracted into the worship of something else in
creation. 00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:47.599 You're seeing something very unique here. 00:33:47.920 --> 00:33:49.839 I don't know if you can qualify unique. 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:56.319 In fact, I know from an episode of West Wing that you can't qualify unique because the speechwriter says you can't qualify unique. 00:33:56.559 --> 00:33:58.079 Because he says very unique. 00:33:59.200 --> 00:34:01.920 That is the end of that thought stream. 00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:09.039 What is being revealed is God Himself to you. 00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:16.159 These are a hedge of protection around that prevent us by obedience to these commandments. 00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:21.119 What's happening, why God is giving them to us, is so that we won't miss him. 00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:28.960 The second commandment says, don't worship him by images. 00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:37.119 And that's because to worship him by images is to worship him according to an act of our own imagination. 00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:40.800 He has not revealed himself to us by images. 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:48.320 And so we are not to worship him according to our own imagination. 00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:53.519 We are to worship him according to how he has revealed himself to us. 00:34:54.800 --> 00:35:00.239 You know, we are receiving him in truth of who he is. 00:35:01.920 --> 00:35:16.480 So you can imagine that there is like a container, you know, it's to worship God according to images is to take the transcendent glorious God as he has revealed himself to us and to place him within this container that he doesn't fit in. 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:20.400 And then we worship that container as though it is God. 00:35:21.199 --> 00:35:24.559 Now, words are like containers of meaning. 00:35:24.880 --> 00:35:26.079 Stay with me. 00:35:27.840 --> 00:35:52.159 And God has given to us this legitimate container of meaning, which is his name, Yahweh, God, the Lord, Jesus Christ, his word, all these revelations, the sacrament, these true revelations of who he is that are meant to refer our minds to him so that we can direct our gaze to him, so that we can see him by the eyes of faith. 00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:55.519 He has given us this container of his name. 00:35:55.840 --> 00:36:02.960 And what we are doing when we use that name in vain, we are emptying the container of its meaning. 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:10.880 And what we are left with is just a mere word that cannot connect us to God in any way. 00:36:11.119 --> 00:36:19.280 And that's why this commandment is about stubbing your toe and saying Jesus Christ as a curse. 00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:27.119 Because that word, those words, that's the name. 00:36:28.159 --> 00:36:36.079 And that name either has meaning and refers to a real person, or it is vain and meaningless. 00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:52.559 And if we empty the meaning of the name, if we pour it out as curses, you know, here's the way that this to think of this, because what you may be thinking is this is
just a verbal tick that people have. 00:36:53.199 --> 00:36:58.559 Like if you just stub your toe and you sh and you shout out the Lord's name, this is just a verbal tick. 00:36:58.639 --> 00:37:05.280 It it really amounts to the same meaning as, you know, shucks, zoinks. 00:37:06.320 --> 00:37:08.400 Those something like that. 00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:12.639 It really amounts to that say it carries the same amount of meaning as those. 00:37:13.039 --> 00:37:22.960 So is it really violating the third commandment to shout out something that is equivalent to shucks or zoinks? 00:37:23.440 --> 00:37:31.599 Well, don't you see that is right to the this is right to the heart of the third commandment. 00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:35.920 Because there is a name. 00:37:37.199 --> 00:37:38.480 We know it. 00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:43.519 We know the name is Jesus Christ. 00:37:44.719 --> 00:37:49.199 We know the name is our Lord, we know the name is God. 00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:52.320 We know the name. 00:37:52.559 --> 00:38:00.559 If we treat it as meaningless, what we are saying is this name actually refers to nothing. 00:38:01.039 --> 00:38:09.599 There is no being there, and because there is no being there, he doesn't care how I use these words. 00:38:13.039 --> 00:38:23.360 But in Exodus 20, verse 7, uh in this set in this verse, what it says at the end of it is for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 00:38:25.360 --> 00:38:27.679 He has given us his name. 00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:37.840 He cares how we use it, he cares how it is used, because, and this is the heart of the Ten Commandments, he's really there. 00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:47.039 And he is calling himself our God, placing his name upon us. 00:38:47.199 --> 00:38:53.440 And what he's saying is, when you call my name, I'll be there. 00:38:54.480 --> 00:38:56.559 Somebody should write a song like that. 00:39:00.719 --> 00:39:12.000 Acts 4.12, Peter says in his speech, 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. 00:39:14.559 --> 00:39:19.840 No other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. 00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:21.360 There is a name. 00:39:21.679 --> 00:39:23.679 Jesus Christ is the name. 00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:26.880 You know how here's another way that names work. 00:39:28.880 --> 00:39:30.800 Imagine a crowd. 00:39:31.519 --> 00:39:35.280 And you're one of the you're one of the you know people in the crowd. 00:39:35.360 --> 00:39:36.800 Have you ever been that? 00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:46.639 And when you are, and when you're one of the people in the crowd, uh somebody's trying to get your attention. 00:39:47.519 --> 00:39:54.000 And what they shout is human person, human, human in the crowd, human in the crowd. 00:39:54.239 --> 00:39:57.599 You don't, it doesn't get your attention. 00:39:58.159 --> 00:40:06.559 But for me, I don't know if it's like this for you guys, when somebody shouts James, man, I it captures my attention. 00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:10.400 And it and it draws my attention to that person. 00:40:10.960 --> 00:40:14.960 We uh we are now in a position to relate to one another. 00:40:17.920 --> 00:40:28.480 Imagine that there is a crowd that you are shouting into, and you know that there is someone in there, someone in there that you need to meet. 00:40:28.800 --> 00:40:35.599 You know, they have the magic beans, something incentivizing for you. 00:40:35.760 --> 00:40:42.559 You would like to meet this person, and you're shouting into the crowd, but you don't know their name. 00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:48.800 You shout into a void, and no one turns around. 00:40:52.320 --> 00:40:55.840 You can think of the name of God, it's like a coin that's been given to us. 00:40:56.079 --> 00:41:02.719 And when we use it in vain, it's like the embossment has worn off the coin so that we can no longer tell what it is. 00:41:03.039 --> 00:41:12.079 And then it has that shape, and then we go to spend with it, and then the person says, it doesn't, it I know this is supposed to be a coin, but I can't tell what this is or what this is even worth. 00:41:12.159 --> 00:41:13.360 It has nothing on it. 00:41:13.519 --> 00:41:16.960 It's like it's been used so flippantly. 00:41:17.760 --> 00:41:21.679 It's been rubbed down into something that has become meaningless. 00:41:21.840 --> 00:41:26.480 There's no sign of what this amounts to anymore on this. 00:41:26.719 --> 00:41:27.840 This is just vain. 00:41:28.559 --> 00:41:31.360 And the person says, I cannot accept this. 00:41:31.519 --> 00:41:33.199 This amounts to no value. 00:41:33.440 --> 00:41:35.840 This is the way that we treat the name of God. 00:41:37.440 --> 00:41:40.320 And what that means, what the here's the risk. 00:41:40.800 --> 00:41:53.280 So when when we treat the name of God as though it has no meaning, as though it could be any name, it plunges us into a world of total meaninglessness. 00:41:53.599 --> 00:41:56.239 This is where we exist as a culture. 00:41:59.920 --> 00:42:02.559 This is the truth of where we are. 00:42:04.880 --> 00:42:09.679 We're a Christian nation that has to restart the church every generation. 00:42:09.760 --> 00:42:17.280 We're restarting the church right now in a world of people who have never experienced, never heard the name. 00:42:17.440 --> 00:42:28.239 And that means we are surrounded by friends and neighbors that are shouting into the void because they have not been given the name. 00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:32.880 There are not many names. 00:42:33.840 --> 00:42:37.519 You cannot attain to him by spiritualism. 00:42:37.760 --> 00:42:41.760 You cannot shout any name into the void. 00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:52.719 To pretend that we could shout any name into the void is to pretend that he has not revealed himself to us and that we don't know his name, but we do. 00:42:53.199 --> 00:42:54.480 We can say it. 00:42:54.880 --> 00:42:56.719
It's Jesus Christ. 00:42:58.880 --> 00:43:00.320 It really happened. 00:43:00.639 --> 00:43:04.880 He introduced himself to humanity by being one of us. 00:43:06.639 --> 00:43:20.719 It is not a hidden name, but it is a name which has been used with such vanity that the general assumption of people is that why would I turn to that name? 00:43:20.960 --> 00:43:22.800 There's nothing there. 00:43:24.239 --> 00:43:26.079 It's empty. 00:43:26.639 --> 00:43:30.880 When I call that name, nobody turns around. 00:43:31.039 --> 00:43:33.599 It captures no one's attention. 00:43:33.840 --> 00:43:36.400 It refers to nothing. 00:43:36.960 --> 00:43:50.480 What would a world look like if there was a people of God who God had placed their name upon him and we had consistently treated his name as though it were vain? 00:43:51.119 --> 00:44:03.039 We would have taught the oncoming, the we would have, we would have taught the onlooking world that if they cry out according to this name, they Should expect to receive no response. 00:44:03.360 --> 00:44:05.599 And what is the truth of the matter? 00:44:05.840 --> 00:44:20.159 The truth of the matter, the true reputation of God, is that if we cry out according to the name of Jesus, if he's walking in a crowd, he hears it and turns around and he pays you attention. 00:44:20.639 --> 00:44:25.440 And by his name, you might be saved. 00:44:26.000 --> 00:44:32.320 By the saying of his name, there is power in the name of Jesus. 00:44:33.199 --> 00:44:36.320 Wish I were Billy Graham to preach this to you right now. 00:44:37.039 --> 00:44:41.119 There is power in the name of Jesus. 00:44:41.280 --> 00:44:45.119 It is not vain, it is not some empty container. 00:44:46.159 --> 00:44:47.920 It does not refer to nothing. 00:44:48.159 --> 00:44:49.280 He's really there. 00:44:50.960 --> 00:44:52.719 You can really call upon him. 00:44:53.039 --> 00:44:56.079 Do you treat him in your speech as though he's not? 00:44:57.519 --> 00:45:00.000 As though you could say anything. 00:45:00.960 --> 00:45:05.039 As though him being handled flippantly amounts to nothing, to nothingness. 00:45:05.199 --> 00:45:11.840 You are plunging yourself into a world of vanity, a world of total meaninglessness. 00:45:12.159 --> 00:45:25.119 Everybody who talks about all the all the reformers and throughout church history, when you talk about the third commandment, you have to talk about oaths, making vows and oaths. 00:45:27.840 --> 00:45:35.840 And the reason for that is because this has to do, one of the ways that we take the Lord's name in vain is we swear falsely according to his name. 00:45:36.079 --> 00:45:38.960 We say, God is my witness, and then we lie. 00:45:39.760 --> 00:45:46.079 We place our hands on a Bible and we make a vow and we don't mean it, or we break it later. 00:45:46.320 --> 00:45:50.559 We take vows at a marriage ceremony and then we don't adhere to them. 00:45:50.719 --> 00:45:53.119 We treat those words as though they meant nothing. 00:45:53.280 --> 00:45:56.880 And those are counted as third commandment violations. 00:45:58.159 --> 00:46:10.159 Because what is tied to us being able to say the name of Jesus and it actually refer to the man who is God who saves me. 00:46:11.280 --> 00:46:24.079 If the reality of that connection is broken, then the reality of our being able to communicate any sort of relational fidelity to anyone in our lives is broken. 00:46:24.400 --> 00:46:27.760 We are plunged into a world of meaninglessness. 00:46:30.079 --> 00:46:32.239 And that's what our world looks like. 00:46:33.760 --> 00:46:43.519 There is no fidelity, there is no loyalty, there is no sense of real connection, there is no sense that our words matter, that they hold weight, that they convey things. 00:46:43.679 --> 00:46:56.960 There's like somebody needs to write the paper, some philologist needs to write a paper on how all of language and the ability to make ourselves communicable at all hang on the third commandment. 00:46:57.519 --> 00:47:01.920 And that without it, we are shouting into a void. 00:47:04.400 --> 00:47:08.639 Here's what to not use the name of the Lord our God in vain means. 00:47:10.960 --> 00:47:13.679 To not use the name of the Lord our God in vain. 00:47:19.679 --> 00:47:21.760 You know when children get lost in the grocery store? 00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:23.840 First of all, remember grocery stores? 00:47:24.960 --> 00:47:28.239 Well, there was a time when children would get lost in them. 00:47:28.480 --> 00:47:35.039 And what the way what a child would do is they would call out dad or they would call out mom, mom. 00:47:39.360 --> 00:47:41.679 This is what the third commandment is about. 00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:49.199 Jesus Christ has purchased for us the right to say father. 00:47:56.480 --> 00:48:08.400 The hope of the third commandment is that when we shout out Father to God in heaven, he turns around and hears us like he's our father. 00:48:10.079 --> 00:48:13.360 And he gives to us the fullness of his attention. 00:48:14.079 --> 00:48:20.880 To use God's name in vain is to say that word means nothing. 00:48:21.119 --> 00:48:32.159 And then when you need it, you will be a child in the supermarket calling out father and no one hears. 00:48:34.239 --> 00:48:36.239 Shouting into the void. 00:48:39.119 --> 00:48:49.119 Don't wear out, don't misuse, don't flippantly, flippantly pass off the name of God. 00:48:49.360 --> 00:48:52.000 Here's the last thing that I want to talk about is I'm skipping a section. 00:48:52.079 --> 00:48:54.639 Just know that I'm skipping a section to talk about a new thing. 00:48:54.880 --> 00:48:59.119 So it's not just I'm doing some favors up here. 00:49:05.599 --> 00:49:09.760 We if only it were just misusing. 00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:12.639 If only it were flippantly casting off. 00:49:13.440 --> 00:49:16.719 But let us be honest with the way we use the name. 00:49:17.360 --> 00:49:19.920 We curse by the name. 00:49:21.119
--> 00:49:23.199 We curse by the name. 00:49:24.400 --> 00:49:36.320 One of the ways that you can tell that our world is a world that has plummeted away from obedience to the third commandment is that we are a world that is trapped in irony. 00:49:37.840 --> 00:49:40.639 We are completely trapped in irony. 00:49:42.639 --> 00:49:46.079 And this is what the world of the crucifixion is. 00:49:46.880 --> 00:49:58.239 The world of the crucifixion is a world that is trapped in irony, unable to sincerely participate with God as they are face to face with him. 00:50:00.159 --> 00:50:05.039 And you know what they're doing when they're interacting with Jesus during the crucifixion? 00:50:05.280 --> 00:50:08.400 The people that are crucifying him, you know what they're doing? 00:50:08.559 --> 00:50:13.039 They're using all the right words. 00:50:14.800 --> 00:50:18.480 They're performing all the right actions. 00:50:19.119 --> 00:50:22.639 When they crucify him, they make a crown for him. 00:50:23.920 --> 00:50:25.840 Does he deserve a crown? 00:50:26.079 --> 00:50:29.039 Yes, he is the king of kings. 00:50:29.519 --> 00:50:32.000 And it is a crown of thorns. 00:50:32.639 --> 00:50:36.400 It is the crown stripped of its meaning. 00:50:37.519 --> 00:50:39.440 They put a robe on him. 00:50:39.920 --> 00:50:40.960 Is he royal? 00:50:41.119 --> 00:50:42.880 Does he deserve a robe? 00:50:43.119 --> 00:50:45.280 What do robes signify? 00:50:45.599 --> 00:50:46.559 Royalty. 00:50:46.880 --> 00:50:48.880 What does this robe signify? 00:50:49.199 --> 00:50:51.119 False royalty. 00:50:53.599 --> 00:50:55.119 They hail him. 00:50:55.920 --> 00:50:58.320 They hail King of the Jews. 00:50:58.559 --> 00:51:00.559 Is he the king of the Jews? 00:51:00.880 --> 00:51:04.159 Should he be hailed as king of the Jews? 00:51:04.480 --> 00:51:05.119 Yes. 00:51:06.239 --> 00:51:14.400 It's the right words, so full of irony that they neglect the God who is right in front of them. 00:51:15.519 --> 00:51:18.000 There's a sign that's placed above him. 00:51:18.239 --> 00:51:21.280 And the sign says King of the Jews. 00:51:22.400 --> 00:51:24.960 The sign placed above him is King of the Jews. 00:51:25.119 --> 00:51:26.880 Is he the King of the Jews? 00:51:27.440 --> 00:51:28.079 Yes. 00:51:29.679 --> 00:51:32.639 Why is the sign placed there by Pilate? 00:51:32.960 --> 00:51:35.679 Because Pilate thinks he isn't. 00:51:42.079 --> 00:51:54.159 All of these, what those are instances of, by the right words, what's taking place on Christ, what is happening to him is he is being cursed. 00:51:55.920 --> 00:51:58.000 He is being cursed. 00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.880 When we curse his name, we curse his name. 00:52:05.199 --> 00:52:07.840 Why was he treated like a curse? 00:52:08.079 --> 00:52:10.639 Isn't it funny that we say curse words? 00:52:11.039 --> 00:52:12.639 Like we're witches. 00:52:16.159 --> 00:52:20.000 It shows that we understand what I think that's a breakthrough. 00:52:20.239 --> 00:52:22.320 We get what we're really doing. 00:52:24.559 --> 00:52:27.599 That we can curse with our words. 00:52:27.920 --> 00:52:30.880 Why was Jesus treated like a curse? 00:52:33.119 --> 00:52:40.480 Why do we see in the plainest way all of these third commandment violations stacking up to curse the Son of God? 00:52:40.800 --> 00:52:43.760 Because we deserve to be cursed. 00:52:44.639 --> 00:52:57.519 We deserve to be the ones that shout into the void as though we've been forsaken by God and hear silence in return. 00:52:58.639 --> 00:53:01.039 Because we've worn out the name. 00:53:03.199 --> 00:53:18.800 Jesus shouts his forsakenness so that when we shout Father, we are heard for real by God the Father. 00:53:19.679 --> 00:53:22.320 We are tended to by him. 00:53:24.480 --> 00:53:27.679 We know his name. 00:53:28.800 --> 00:53:30.960 We know his name. 00:53:32.079 --> 00:53:34.800 It is a heavy thing to know the name. 00:53:35.280 --> 00:53:37.760 We should not pretend it's just any other word. 00:53:38.480 --> 00:53:43.119 Or it can be used flippantly or uselessly or ironically. 00:53:43.440 --> 00:53:45.920 We do not want to find ourselves trapped there. 00:53:46.320 --> 00:53:50.639 There's salvation in no other name than Jesus Christ. 00:53:51.599 --> 00:53:52.880 Let's pray. 00:54:03.199 --> 00:54:08.880 Father, all of these prayers at the end of the Ten Commandment sermons must be confessions. 00:54:11.280 --> 00:54:25.519 Because the goodness of your word, especially, is as we see it manifested in Jesus Christ, bearing the curse for breaking this, bearing the guilt that we deserve for breaking this, Lord. 00:54:25.760 --> 00:54:30.960 We see the terror of it, and we see the wonder of your mercy and grace. 00:54:32.320 --> 00:54:36.239 Lord, may your name be held above all names. 00:54:36.880 --> 00:54:41.119 Might we pray in a new way that hallowed would be your name. 00:54:41.519 --> 00:54:47.360 Lord, would we not take for granted that we have been given your name to call upon? 00:54:48.880 --> 00:54:52.079 Lord, that we can call out Abba, Father. 00:54:53.039 --> 00:54:58.400 That your spirit testifies with our Spirit, that we are sons of God, co-heirs with Christ. 00:54:59.360 --> 00:55:04.719 Lord, would we not think of these as just worn-out words or as flippant curses? 00:55:04.880 --> 00:55:16.960 May we not think of you flippantly, but may we think of you as you have revealed yourself to us, because it is more glorious than we would imagine on ourselves or by ourselves. 00:55:17.760 --> 00:55:20.800 Father, let us hallow your name. 00:55:21.440 --> 00:55:22.719 Have mercy on us. 00:55:22.880 --> 00:55:27.360 We confess we have used your name in vain. 00:55:30.800 --> 00:55:37.840 Lord, praise you for giving us the name of Jesus Christ that we might pray in with such confidence. 00:55:39.280 --> 00:55:41.360 And we do pray this in Jesus' name. 00:55:42.000 --> 00:55:42.480 Amen.
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