Exodus chapter 20. I think most. Professing Christians,
if you ask them. Do you believe in the 10 commandments? The answer would be yes. But then if you ask, where are
they found? listed in the Bible, many would
answer, I'm not sure, but I know they're in there. Well, here's
where they are. Exodus 20. Exodus 20. Let me read the first couple
of verses. And God spake all these words saying, I am the
Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt
out of the house of bondage. Now, a few chapters later, when
Moses is in the mount, communing with the Lord, you know this
story, the Israelites will get anxious and they'll make them
an idol, a golden calf. And they'll get so worked up
in an emotional frenzy a religious high, till they'll say concerning
that idol, that golden calf, this is the God that brought
us out of Egypt. Isn't that awful? But here in
verse two, the Lord said, I am the Lord thy God, which have
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage. The first commandment is in verse
three, thou shall have no other gods before me. This is a command against polytheism,
which means more than one God. In ancient times, most people
had multiple gods. Not only that, But in present
times, most people have multiple gods. A God for every area of
life, they had it back there. And the Lord here forbids that. He is literally saying, thou
shall have no other gods besides me. Besides me. The word before in the text here
could be easily misunderstood. We sometimes use the word before
in reference to priority. And you could read it like this,
thou shall not put any of your other gods ahead of me, before
me, but that would allow for other gods. So, uh, this, this
provided their inferior to the Lord himself, but that's not
what he's saying. And, uh, so we correctly interpret
the word before. to mean before my face, or instead
of, thou shalt acknowledge no other gods before my face, not
in my presence. He said to Israel in Isaiah 45,
5, I am the Lord and there is none else. There is, there is
no God beside me. The second commandment here is
in verse four. and it's directed at idolatry
specifically. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven 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. Thou shalt not bow down thyself
to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing
mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. The third commandment is in verse
7. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain. The fourth commandment
is in verse eight. Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy. Now, if you want to, if you want
to understand this more about this, why we don't do that. Be here for the Bible class next
Sunday. We're going to talk about the
seventh day and the Sabbath day worshipers. Christ changed the
Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. No he didn't. He didn't change
it. He fulfilled it. So that's why. The fifth commandment
is in verse 12. Honor thy father and thy mother
that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee. Now does that necessarily mean
that everybody that honors their father and mother truly Will live to be old? Not necessarily. That too has its distinction. The 6th commandment, verse 13,
thou shalt not kill. The 7th commandment, verse 14,
thou shalt not commit adultery. The 8th commandment, verse 15,
Thou shalt not steal. The ninth commandment, verse
16, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. That means lie in case anybody
didn't understand what false witness means. It means lying. And the 10th commandment, verse
17, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt
not covet thy neighbor's wife nor his manservant, nor his maidservant,
nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. So those are the 10 commandments. They're not 10 suggestions. They're
not 10 ideas. They're 10 commandments given
to old Testament Israel. They weren't given to the Canaanites.
They weren't given to, uh, Any of the heathen nation, they were
given to the nation of Israel. The Hebrew ancient Hebrews called
them the 10 words, the 10 words, and these 10 things we call the
10 commandments. They include in seed form. We could say the entirety of
the old Testament law. You see, many would be the specific
question or situation that would arise, the specific circumstance
to deal with, thousands of scenarios in individual lives, in civil
life, in religious life. And yet in these 10 statements,
nothing is missed, everything is covered our treatment of God,
our treatment of others, and our treatment of ourselves. So
this is, this is blessed. And then all through Leviticus
and numbers is an expansion of these 10 things in many areas
of life. But I want this morning to. Back
up to verse 7, and my interest for a few minutes is in this
third commandment. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. For the Lord will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Now most always when
we hear this commandment quoted or read, reference is being made
to someone who uses profanity, indecent language, calling God's
name as if it were nothing and as if He were nothing. And we
speak of that as someone who takes God's name in vain, and
certainly that it is. But then there are many people,
good people, religious people, people I know, people you know,
who wouldn't dare use profanity, as we call it, but yet they take
God's name in vain as a byword. with no consciousness whatsoever
of what they're actually doing. I know people like this, you
know, people like this in almost every sentence. It's oh my God,
or oh God, or I swear to God. It's God this or God that with
no thought at all of actually referring to the living God.
And that too is speaking His name in vain. It is vanity. It is vain speech. It is of no
value to use His name that way. Well, the Bible is full of references
to God's name. He speaks very highly of Himself. He has a right to. He is very jealous of His name. His name is holy. There is the power of His name.
Isaiah 48-2, the Lord of hosts is His name. The word host means
armies. The Lord of armies, that's His
name. And Proverbs 18-10, The name
of the Lord is a strong tower. Powerful. And then His name is eternal. Exodus 3, verse 15, He said to
Moses, This is my name forever. Forever. And then His name is
enduring. Psalm 72, verse 17. His name shall endure forever. We find that it's an excellent
name. Psalm 8 verse 1, Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy
name in all the earth. We find that it is a blessed
name. Job said, Job 121, blessed. Be the name of the Lord, whatever
He does. I come here naked, I'll leave
naked. What's the big deal? Blessed
be the name of the Lord. Then we find that it is a feared
name, Deuteronomy 28, 58, that thou mightest fear this glorious
and fearful name. It is a trusted name, Psalm 27,
20 and verse 7. Some trust in chariots and some in horses. But we will
remember the name of the Lord our God. It is a faithful name. David said in that 23rd Psalm,
he leadeth me in paths of righteousness. For what? For His name's sake. He's faithful. And then, this
is the name of salvation. God incarnate, Jesus Christ. Acts 4.12, Neither is there salvation
in any other. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. So the Lord has a lot to say
about his name. It is a holy, hallowed name. This is so important
that when Christ taught us to pray in Matthew 6, our Father,
which art in heaven, here's the first thing, hallowed. Be thy name. Thy name. And on and on we could go with the superiority and the glory
of God's name in the Scriptures. I think today's world, not just
in society but in the religious world, and even among the Lord's
people, even among us here, we fall way short in reverencing
the name of the Lord. How serious is it? I'm going
to tell you how serious it is. Let me read you one passage.
Turn over a little bit to the book of Leviticus chapter 24. Leviticus 24. We could read numerous
passages, but I want to read this. Leviticus 24. This may
not be serious to some of you, but it is serious. It is serious. Leviticus 24. Verse 10, And the son of an Israelitish
woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of
Israel. And this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove
together in the camp. They got in a fight. And the
Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses,
and his mother's name was Shalometh, the daughter of Debrai of the
tribe of Dan. And they put him in ward, that
is, in jail, lockup, that the mind of the Lord might be shewed
them. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp,
and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and
let all the congregation stone him. And thou shalt speak unto
the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall
bear his sin. And he that blasphemeth the name
of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death. And all the
congregation shall certainly stone him. as well the stranger
as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name
of the Lord shall be put to death." So taking the Lord's name in
vain, speaking in profanity or just speaking in vanity is very
serious. Using His name without meaning,
Oh God this, Oh God that, It's very serious. It comes under
this commandment where we're studying Exodus 20 in verse 7. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. And then the latter part of the
verse is the stern warning. For the Lord will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain. But I believe there
is a deeper meaning to this verse, this commandment, than what we've
talked about so far. Often times in the scripture,
the name is meant for the person. That's why God made so much of
His name, it's really His person He's talking about. In other words, what you would
do With the name of God is what you would do with God. What you
would do to His name is what you would do to Him. So the name
is the person. Now here's the catch. Here's
what I want to look at. Notice the verse does not say,
Thou shalt not speak the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
That's what we've been talking about and certainly that's included.
But what it says here is thou shalt not take the name of the
Lord thy God in vain. You say, well, now what's the
difference in speaking the Lord's name and taking the Lord's name? There's a big difference, a big
difference. The scriptures are abundant,
Old Testament and new, with the Lord speaking of his people as
his choice of a spouse. his bride, his wife, one with
whom he would become intimately related, give himself for and
give himself to. That's why we have in the Scriptures,
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall
cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. God could
say this to man. He could say this to creation
because he is going to act this out. He is going to demonstrate
this in his love for his people. So when a man and a woman come
together to be married, I hadn't had a wedding in a long time
now. I guess last October was the
last one. But I'll say somewhere in the
ceremony to the girl, do you take this man to be your lawful
wedded husband? Do you take him? And when she says, I do, she
takes him and she takes his name. She takes his name. Now, I have
heard of weddings. where, you know, the woman don't
take the man's name, but, you know, I reckon all that kind
of prenuptial stuff, wealth and whatever, this flat-out rebellion
one. I've heard of getting married
and the woman not take the man's name. I don't like that. Upon
taking the man, she should take his name. Her maiden name gives
place to her married name. That's how it works. His name is now her name. That's
how it's supposed to be. She has become part of him. She has taken his name. She takes
it. And such should be the case to honor it, to uphold it, to
protect it. His name is her name now. They're
one. The two have become one flesh. My wife back yonder, my wife
of 45 years, two months and four days, on June 26, 1970, she took my name and she took it to be one with
me. And in all this time, she has
not dishonored my name, she has rather honored it. And in so
doing, she has honored me. See, the name and the person
are one. Now, when we consider that taking
another's name in marriage, which is really taking the person,
becoming one, it sheds light on this commandment. Thou shalt
not take the name. In other words, thou shalt not
walk to the marriage altar with the Lord and say I do in vain. This is talking about easy believism. Cheap professions. Get your ticket
to heaven. That stuff's out of hell. The
bottom line is, if you do not want to follow the Lord, if you
do not want to take His name in reverence, in honor, in full
commitment, if you don't want to be intimate with Him, if you
don't really want to be a Christian, then don't even profess to be
one. Don't take His name in vain. The Bible is full of this. Psalm
45, 10. Hearken, O daughter, and consider
and incline thine ear. Forget also thine own people
and thy father's house. Isn't that what we quoted from
Genesis? A man shall leave his father and his mother. Get away
from your father's house. So shall the king greatly desire
thy beauty, for he is thy Lord. and worship thou him. Walk away
from your parents, Adam and Eve, and embrace Christ. That's the
message. Take the name of the Lord with
all your heart, but don't take it in vain. Don't take his name as a ticket
to heaven, as so many have done. that will damn you, that will
damn your soul. Could you imagine, and I know
this happens, but could you imagine two people coming together to
be married? And she says, I don't really care anything about him, but I'm about to say I do. I don't really love him, but
I'm about to say I do. I don't even like him, but I'm about to say I do. But he is wealthy and he could give me a lot. And he did ask me to marry him. That's why I'm here. I want what
he's got, but I'm not interested in him. Now that happens a lot in the
literal sense of people getting married. But in the religious side of it, the religious thrust
in this country over the past 50 years has been say yes to
Jesus. He's got a big piece of pie in
the sky just for you. All you have to do is say, I
do, even if you don't. I'm telling you folks, that heresy
is at the core of all the problems we have in this country today. Study your Bible. Many, many
times God would send deliverance to his people, sometimes for
just one whose heart belonged to him entirely. But he does
not send deliverance to a nation where millions are sitting in
church today and they've all said, I do. when they really don't. Take His name. Respond to His love. Commit yourself to Him. Commit
your life to Him. But don't take His name in vain. No, no. Lay in the bed next Sunday
till noon if you want to, but don't take his name in vain. Get you a couple of six-packs
and go to the lake if you want to. Don't take his name in vain. If you don't want the Lord, get
away from religion. Period. Don't play religion. Why? We read you why. For the Lord will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Four things quickly about taking
the Lord's name, truly. One, there is a mutual choice.
From eternity, the Lord chose a bride. He chose whom he wanted
to be his exclusively. Apart from which none of us would
have ever chosen him. If it's in your heart to choose
him. That's because he chose you. Second, there is a mutual affection. Just as love draws two people
together, over a period of time, she confesses
her affection for him, maybe at first to her friends. I like
him, but I don't know if he likes me. We've all been through that. And when he makes it known that
the feeling is mutual, Then things move forward quite rapidly. And when he says something like,
I've cared for you a long, long time. Her heart melts. Well, that's what the Lord said
to us. We love him because he first loved us. Third thing. There is a mutual union. We refer
to this already in the scripture. Two become one flesh. And the two becoming one is manifest
in reproduction, in children. Our daughter back yonder, Monica.
You all know her. And I will tell you what she
is. She is me. And she is her mother. She is to. Becoming one flesh,
a mutual union. And the spiritual union. Is Christ
in us and us in Christ. It can't be one sided. It's,
it's, it's, it's a mutual union and it's an eternal union. We were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world. And we'll be in Christ forever.
And he'd be in us forever. That's blessed. That's beautiful. And this, this, this really gets
good when you get to thinking about it in the, in the reproductive
thing. I meant, and I fooled around
and didn't do it. I forgot it. I meant to bring
a grain of corn today. Now, y'all pretend I got a grain
of corn in my hand, okay? You don't have one in your pocket,
do you, Doc? Anybody got a grain of corn? This is, let's make
a deal. All right. Okay. A grain of corn. If I were
holding a grain of corn, I could tell you that this grain of corn
was in another grain of corn 50 years ago. Some of you have been around
long enough to be doing a little farming, a little gardening for 50 years. And to think you could hold a
grain of corn and realize that that was in another grain 50
years ago. And not only that, but it's the
other way. That grain of corn back yonder
50 years ago that you have no idea what went with it, whether
a man eat it or a hog eat it or it rotted, who knows? But
somewhere, somewhere that grain of corn is still right here. This one's back yonder and that
one's up here. This is us in Christ and Christ
in us. What a union. What a union. Mutual union. And the fourth
thing, a mutual commitment. The Lord says, I've loved you
forever. Jeremiah 31, 3, I've loved thee
with an everlasting love. And he's promised us, just like
a young man promising his girlfriend, trying to get her to say, I do. I've loved you. I do love you. I'll provide for you. I'll protect
you. I'll honor and cherish you. I'll
never leave thee nor forsake thee. I'll be there for you no
matter what. And then she says, I feel exactly
the same way towards you. I make the same commitment to
you. And they both say, I do. Salvation is a matter of true
love. He loves us and we love him. We do not take his name in vain. He calls to us in the song of
Solomon as his bride. Oh, my dove, in the clefts of
the rock, in the secret place of the stairs, I catch a glimpse. Let me see thy countenance. Let
me hear thy voice. For sweet is thy voice, and thy
countenance is comely. Behold, thou art fair, my love.
You're beautiful to me. Behold, thou art fair. Thou hast
ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse. Thou hast ravished
my heart with one of thine eyes. I'm afraid to look at you with
both of them. Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes,
with one chain of thy neck. Won't you say yes? Won't you
be mine forever to have and to hold? Won't you say in your heart,
I do? I do. I have failed as a Christian
many times in life, and who hadn't? But I do not want to be guilty
of ignoring This commandment, thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord, thy God in vain. If you've said, I do then do. Amen. All right, stand together.