LAW HOMILY: God's Name And Our Behavior

Every week we look at the law of God because we want to understand what God has to say to his people and we want to understand his heart for his people and we want to understand what it means for us to actually obey God as his people.

So this week we'll be looking at the third commandment which because it's after the second so let's look at the third together. Exodus 20 verse 7. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain.

Now as we've said many times before the third commandment is not merely about profanity. It is about a kind of profanity of the soul. It's about dragging the holy name of God through the mud of human vanity.

It's about using the name of God makes angels tremble and devils shriek as though it were a common thing as that were just a prop a tool or a garnish in our linguistic vocabulary or a mask for our presumption.

The Westminster larger catechism in question 113 says that of the sins forbidden in the third commandment include the abusing of the name of God in an ignorant vain irreverent profane superstitious way or wicked mentioning or otherwise using his titles attributes ordinances or works all sinful cursings oaths and vows.

So immediately we're like okay the vulgar atheist who uses God's name in vain got it that most dangerous violation of the third commandment. Don't do it. And yet the commandment confronts us every single time that we use the name of the Lord our God as a common thing and not as a precious thing.

That's the thing that's most convicting to me. Ecclesiastes 5 4 through 5 says when you make a vow to God do not be late in paying it for he takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than you should vow and not pay.

Notice the language there a promise that you make between you and your brother or a promise that you make between you and your sister or you and your family member or you and your neighbor. The Ecclesiastes Solomon there is equating it to language before God.

He's putting it on the same level even as the third commandment of taking the name of our God in vain because the name of God throughout the scripture represents his person his attributes his being and when we sin against him in a way we're sinning against his name and when we are saved we are saved also in his name for there is no name under heaven and earth by which man may be saved.

So in a way our behavior actually can take the Lord's name in vain. Our behavior can treat the awesome glorious name of Yahweh as if it were common and we like children scribbling with crayons on a wall treat such holy things with such commonness don't we.

So whether it be in speech or whether it be in life whether it be in word or whether it be in deed however we have diminished the supreme value of God. However we've lived ignorantly of the awesome beauty of God.

However we live defiantly against the surpassing wealth and riches of God. Let us pray and ask that same God to forgive us because his name is also powerful the name we violated his name can also save and he does save his people and he does forgive his people amen.

Let's pray together dear Lord God every time we talk about the third commandment I.

Pray in my heart or at least I hope I do and pray that I would that that I would treat your name like Moses treated your presence at the burning bush trembling before it or Elijah before the whirlwind or Isaiah in the heavenly throne room or Joshua before the commander of the Lord's army or John before the transfigured Christ.

Lord your name is indistinguishable from who you are and your power and beauty and majesty. Lord let us not evoke it as if it were a trifle thing. Let us not evoke it in a thoughtless way and Lord let us even recognize that even our behavior even our behavior can be a sin against your name.

Lord as we recognize in the commandments every one of them seems to be broken constantly by us. If we sin by bearing false witness we've also sinned by having another God before us whether it was our reputation or whether it was justice or whatever it was that caused us to lie in the first place.

When we've when we've committed adultery of any kind we've also sinned against our neighbor. Lord it it's the interconnectedness of your commandments has been so eye-opening to me that every time we sin we don't just sin once we sin in multiple different dimensions and ways so that our sin is heaped higher than the heavens and who could possibly deal with it but Christ.

Lord for all our sins you have died and you have been raised so that we may by your sheer unimaginable kindness be reconciled to you. Lord help us to speak that name with great honor and and great appreciation and affection all our days in Jesus name we pray amen.