Good morning. I'm. Thankful for the opportunity
to be here with you all this morning. Had a good crowd travel
with us as well. We. So thankful for your pastor. Don't get it. Don't get a seam
as often as we'd like to, but. Thanks to Sermon Audio, if nothing
else, we do get to travel with him from time to time. We download some messages and
get a listen to him. I want you to open your Bibles.
Text's gonna come from the book of Exodus. Exodus 20 and chapter
seven. Exodus 20. Verse seven. Before we get into our text,
I would like for you to think about a few things here, considering
the name of the Lord. Back in Exodus three, God spoke
to Moses there at the burning bush. And he said this, he said,
I've seen the affliction of my people." He said, I've heard
their cry. He said, I know their sorrow.
He said, I've come down to deliver them. He said, I've come to bring them
up out of the land of bondage up to a good land, a land that
flows with milk and honey. If you would hold your place
here in Exodus 20, just look at Exodus 3. Look at verse 13. Moses said unto God, he said,
when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto
them, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they
shall say to me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? What shall I say to them? And
God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, thus shalt
thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto
you. His name, his name is to be exalted. His name is to be exalted above
all. Look at a few other passages
of scripture, Psalm chapter eight. Psalm chapter eight and verse
one. David says here, oh Lord, how
excellent is thy name in all the earth, who has set thy glory
above the heavens. In Psalm 29 and verse two, Psalm 29 verse two, give unto
the Lord the glory due unto his name. Worship the Lord in the
beauty of holiness. And then just a few more pages,
Psalm 111. Psalm 111 verse nine. He hath sent redemption unto
his people. He hath commanded his covenant
forever. Holy and reverent is his name. The name, the name of the Lord. When the Lord Jesus Christ taught
his disciples to pray, he started and he said, he said, hallowed
be thy name. Well, with that in mind, Exodus
20 and verse 7. Here we read, thou shall not
take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain. John Gill wrote this. He said, it's to use the name
of the Lord God in a light and trifling way, without a show
of reverence or affection. The Lord God ought never be mentioned,
but in a grave and serious matter, with all of his great majesty. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain." Well, what does it mean to take
God's name in vain? I've worked in several different
places. I've worked in a garage. I've
worked on the farm. I've worked a little bit in construction. And on more than one occasion,
as all of us have, we've heard God's name taken in vain. To swear by His name, to, you
know, curse using his name, and these are obvious ways. You know,
when you hear somebody say something like that, there's no question
in our mind somebody's used God's name in vain. But in our time, in our time, I fear
that often, God's name is taken in vain from the pulpit, from
the so-called pulpit, from the so-called preacher of God's word. I have three things here this
morning I'd have us to consider about taking God's name in vain. And if you look that word up,
this is what you'll find. First is this. It's to treat his name as it
is nothing. To treat God's name as it's nothing. It's to lie about his name. It's to lie about who he is. And then third, it's to treat
his name as if it was worthless. It's to treat him as if he were
worthless. And with that in mind, let's
look at this passage here this morning. To treat his name as
nothing. Now when we refer to the Lord,
we refer to him as the Lord Jesus Christ. His full name. And to do otherwise is to treat
his name as no different than anyone else we might know. His
name declares who He is. It declares His deity. He's God. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. It declares His dominion. He's
Lord over all, blessed forever. And we can never praise Him too
much. We can never speak too reverently
of Him. We can never give him a title
which he does not deserve, one that is too high and low. Holy
and Reverend is his name. That's reserved for him and him
alone. Men say this, men flippantly
say this, they say, Jesus did this. Or they'll say, Jesus did
that. Or just ask Jesus. Like he's just some kid that
lives down the street from them. And when they do this, when we
do this, we treat his name as if it's nothing. He is, he is
Lord. Turn with me to Philippians.
Turn to the book of Philippians. Philippians 2, look at verse 10. 10 and 11, Philippians 2, that at
the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth. And that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. To take the name of the Lord
in vain is to treat it as it is nothing. We read this, we read this. And this is to the believer,
to the believer. He is everything. Christ is all. That's what Colossians 3.11 says,
where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, but Christ is all and in
all. Men treat God as nothing and
themselves as everything. Their nationality, their outward
works, the works of the law. But listen, by these things shall
no flesh be justified in his sight. But to the believer, Christ
is all. He's all in regeneration. He's all in righteousness. He's
all in sanctification. He's all in acceptance in Christ. He's all in love. He's all in
redemption. The Lord Jesus Christ is all. To the world, to the world he's
nothing. To the world he's no different
than them. but to the believer, to those
whom he's been pleased to reveal himself to, the Lord Jesus Christ
is all. Well, second, second, it's to
lie about who he is. You know, when we lie, we fail
to tell the truth. That's a pretty simple definition. When we lie, we fail to tell
the truth. Men lie on God when they say
this, when they say this, when they say, He loves everybody. They make that up. They just
grab that out of the air and say, He loves everybody. But that's not what the scriptures
declare, is it? The scriptures declare this.
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. Romans chapter nine,
turn there with me to Romans. Chapter nine. Look beginning here in Romans, in Romans nine,
look at verse nine. This is the word of promise.
At this time will I come, and Sarah will have a son, and not
only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by
our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it is written.
Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. We read this, God is
angry with the wicked every day. Psalm 711, turn there with me. This is what the scriptures declare.
This isn't just me grabbing things out of the air and saying them.
Listen to this. God judges the righteous and God is angry with
the wicked every day. Don't you wish, wouldn't it be
great if men would just quit lying about God and just read
the scriptures? Just declare what the scriptures
say. Lying about God is taking His
name in vain. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. And until a man's eyes are opened
to the truth, he'll be content. Wasn't there a time when we were
all content just to hear lies? Wasn't there a time we were just
content to just hear lies? But the believer, the believer
desires the truth. The believer desires that sincere
milk of the word. To hear the truth, to hear the
truth about God, the eternal God, the God of creation, the
God of sovereign mercy, the God of righteousness, the God of
unchanging grace. To hear the truth about man.
There's none righteous, no not one. There's none that understandeth,
there's none that seeketh after God. The truth about man, man
is sinful. And to hear the truth about the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's not a beggar. The Lord Jesus
Christ is not a beggar. He's God. He's the Messiah. He's the victorious, conquering,
and successful Savior. And our hope, and our rest, and
our righteousness is in Him and Him alone. Well, third, what
is it to take the name of the Lord God in vain? It's to say
he's worthless. Do men really say God's worthless? I mean, as we travel, we see
all these crazy little signs out in front of buildings, and
I've yet to hear them in quotation marks say God is worthless. But most of what I read on those
things, that's what they say. That's what they say, whether
they realize it or not. Do preachers do that? Do preachers,
so-called preachers, stand up and say, God is worthless? Well,
they might not be quoted in saying that, but if you listen to what's
being said, that's what they're saying. They're saying God is
worthless. Hold your place and turn to Daniel
chapter three. You know that account of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. Look here in verse 14, Daniel
chapter three in verse 14. Nebuchadnezzar spake and he said
unto them, is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not
you serve my gods nor worship the golden image which I've set
up? Now if you be ready, that at the time you hear the sound
of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery,
and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and you
worship the image which I've made, well, it'll be good, it'll
be good for you. But if you worship not, you shall
be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace."
Listen to what he says. Listen to what he, he said, who
is that God? Can you imagine, who is that
God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Who is that God? Turn to Psalm
115. That's a man speaking, and even
though Nebuchadnezzar's the king, what foolish, what foolish words.
Who is that God? Look at Psalm 115. We're beginning with verse one.
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name. Give glory
for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say? Who would say? Wherefore should
the heathen say? Where is now their God? Isn't that what Nebuchadnezzar,
who is that, who is that God? Let's read on, our God. Our God
is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Their idols are silver and gold,
the works of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but
they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell
not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet have they, but
they walk not. Neither speak they through their
throat. that they may make them like unto themselves, and so
is everyone that trusteth in them." The God men speak of is nothing
more than an idol. False gods, gods of their own
imagination, that God with a little g is worthless, absolutely worthless. That God couldn't deliver me
any more than that glass of water could deliver me. It's an idol.
It's a false God. But what did David say? Huh? Not unto us, oh Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name. Unto the true and living God. Give honor. Give praise. Who is this God? Our God's in
the heavens. Our God's in the heavens. Is
He worthless? Oh, no, no. He hath done whatsoever
He hath pleased. His providence undisturbed. You know, we have things happen
and we think, what's going on? God's providence is undisturbed. His throne His kingdom's an everlasting
kingdom. His throne is unshaken. His purpose
never changes. He's sovereign. He's sovereign
in creation, in providence, in salvation. Back there in Exodus
20, verse seven, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy
God in vain. What does that mean? It means
to treat him as nothing. It means to lie about him. It
means to say that he is worthless. And listen, listen to the rest
of this. For the Lord God will not hold him guiltless that taketh
his name in vain. He'll not look upon him as innocent. How are we seen in Christ, huh? completely free from sin, innocent. He'll not hold him innocent that takes his name
in vain. He'll not be counted as just and righteous as God's
sheep are. Now, he'll be found as guilty. Isn't that a stern warning? He'll
be found, for those that would take his name in vain, to those
that would treat his name as nothing, to lie about who he
is, to say he is worthless. He'll be found guilty. He'll
be found a transgressor of the law. Daniel told this to King
Belshazzar. This is what he, I think this
is what could be said. You've been weighed into balance
and found wanting. Oh, aren't we, aren't we thankful,
aren't we thankful that the Lord God in his mercy has been pleased
to reveal his truth unto us, to reveal unto us who he is,
what he did, why he did it, where he is now, to reveal his love
for his people, to reveal his salvation. All right. God be pleased to bless his word.