The Third Commandment (2) - 09/04/2022

First Baptist Church Leominster

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In accordance with your laws, we look to you, our God, in faith. Help us to be instructed, our

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God, and help us to be obedient and responsive to your word. Help Pastor Jason now.

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Fill him with the blessed Holy Spirit that he can speak to us. And fill us with the blessed Holy Spirit so we can hear rightly and respond in faith and obedience.

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For we pray, Father, in Jesus' name, amen. One of the most fascinating and prominent figures in all of the

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Old Testament scriptures was the prophet Moses. Moses was born a

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Hebrew slave in the land of Egypt. He was born under the sentence of death, born during a time of great anguish and great trouble for the children of Israel.

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But through the providential hand of the Lord God, the life of Moses was spared, and he grew up as a prince of Egypt.

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Later in life, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, but he chose to be mistreated with the people of God rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

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The Lord God appeared to Moses and commissioned him to set free the children of Israel.

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The Lord God spoke through Moses to Pharaoh and sent 10 devastating plagues which ravaged the house of Pharaoh.

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And his armies in all the land of Egypt. Moses led the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

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Even the death of Moses was unique. According to the word of the Lord, Moses died in the land of Moab at 120 years of age.

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He was buried by the Lord God opposite Beth Peor, but no one knew or knows the place of his burial to this day.

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Indeed, Moses was a great leader, a great prophet, a great intercessor, a great savior, and a great deliverer.

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Moses was a man of God. In the book of Numbers, Miriam and Aaron spoke out against Moses.

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They spoke out against his ministry. Miriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron was the brother of Moses and both stood in opposition against him.

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Numbers 12, one and two. Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the

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Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, has the

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Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also? And the

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Lord heard it. Miriam and Aaron were not happy with Moses because he had married a

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Cushite woman. A Cushite was someone from the land of Cush, which was a region south of Ethiopia where the people were known for their very dark skin.

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But his Cushite wife was not their only complaint. Miriam and Aaron were also unhappy about his ministry.

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Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?

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Indeed, the Lord had spoken to all three of them. Miriam was a prophetess, Aaron was a high priest, and Moses was a prophet.

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But the position and the prominence of Moses overshadowed his siblings and their ministry.

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This led to feelings of envy and resentment. Miriam and Aaron were bitter and felt that they were just as deserving as the acclaim and applause of Moses.

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Moses didn't respond to their complaint. Moses didn't even defend himself.

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He didn't even seem to notice. But someone did notice. The Lord God noticed.

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The Lord God heard their complaints. Numbers 12, three.

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Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.

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And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.

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And the three of them came out. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called

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Aaron and Miriam. And they both came forward. And he said, hear my words.

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If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision. I speak with him in a dream.

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Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.

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With him I speak mouth to mouth clearly and not in riddles. And he beholds the form of the

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Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

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The Lord God not only defended the ministry of Moses, he also defended the character of Moses.

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The Lord God described Moses as very meek, more meek than anyone else on the face of the earth.

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The Lord God described Moses as faithful in all his house. And he also described the unique manner by which he made himself known to Moses.

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It was not through visions. It was not through dreams like every other prophet. It was face to face and mouth to mouth as a man speaks to his friend.

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The communication between the Lord God and Moses was crystal clear. It was without any mysteries or any riddles.

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And in Numbers 12 verse eight, the Lord God said something that was truly remarkable about Moses.

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Moses beholds the form of God. Moses beheld the form of God.

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What's the meaning of this phrase? And when did Moses behold the form of God? Please turn with me to the book of Exodus 32.

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Exodus 32 through 34. In Exodus 32, Moses was up on the mountain,

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Mount Sinai, where he had just received the law of God. The two tablets of the testimony.

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And the people were down below anxiously waiting for Moses to return. Roughly 40 days had passed since Moses had ascended the mountain and the patience of the

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Israelites was waning. Verse one. The people gathered themselves together and said to Aaron, up, make us gods who shall go before us.

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As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of them.

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So Aaron said to them, take off the rings of gold that are in your ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters and bring them to me.

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So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and they brought them to Aaron.

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Aaron received the gold from their hand and he fashioned it with a graving tool and he made a golden calf.

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Verse four. And they said, these are your gods, oh Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

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Then Aaron built an altar before the golden calf and he made a proclamation, tomorrow shall be a feast to the

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Lord. When the people rose up early in the next day and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings and sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

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Exodus 32 says, verse seven. And the Lord said to Moses, go down for your people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.

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They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, these are your gods, oh

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Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people and behold, it is a stiff necked people.

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Now therefore, let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them, that I may consume them in order that I may make a great nation of you.

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And in the remaining verses of this chapter and into Exodus 33, Moses intercedes on behalf of the people of Israel.

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Moses implores the Lord God to turn away from his burning anger, to turn away from his righteous indignation.

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And the Lord God listened to Moses intercession and he relented his burning wrath.

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Moses returns to the camp of Israel and he rebuked his brother Aaron. He rebuked the

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Israelites and then he disciplined them. He took the calf that they had made and he burnt it with fire and he grounded into powder and he scattered it on the water and he made the people of Israel drink it.

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Then Moses and the sons of Levi struck down 3000 men in zeal for the

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Lord their God. The next day, Moses returned to the mountain and he once again intercedes on behalf of the people.

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He sought to make atonement for their sin, begging and pleading with the Lord God to forgive them.

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Begging and pleading with the Lord God for his divine presence to go on before them. And it was during this time that Moses asked the

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Lord God a question. Exodus 32, 12. Moses said to the

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Lord, see, you say to me, bring up this people but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.

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Yet you have said, I know you by name and you have also found favor in my sight.

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Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.

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Consider too that this nation is your people. In Exodus 32, 18,

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Moses said, please show me your glory. And in verse 19, he said, the

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Lord God said, I will make all of my goodness pass before you and I will proclaim to you my name, the

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Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, will show mercy on whom

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I will show mercy. But he said, you cannot see my face for man shall not see me and live.

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And the Lord said, behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock while my glory passes by.

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I will put you in the cleft of the rock and I will cover with you my hand until I have passed by.

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Then I will take away my hand and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.

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Moses was shown the glory of the Lord God. Moses beheld the glory of the

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Lord God. The goodness of the Lord passed before him. The name of the Lord God was proclaimed, the

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Lord Yahweh. Yahweh. In the following chapter, Exodus 34,

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Moses again had another amazing encounter with the Lord God, as he once again beheld the glory of the

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Lord God. Exodus 34, five, the Lord descended in a cloud and stood before him there and proclaimed the name of the

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Lord. The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

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But who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation.

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The name of the Lord was proclaimed. The Lord passed before Moses and proclaimed, the

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Lord, the Lord, a God merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, abounding in faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin and exercising justice.

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Beloved, beholding the glory of the Lord God begins with understanding his glorious name.

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The name of the Lord is a means of his self revelation. The name of the

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Lord is his identity. It is the essence of his being. It is the description of his nature, his character, his attributes.

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It's a description of his very essence. The name of the Lord is representative of his entire being, his entire existence and his entire reputation, which is why the name of the

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Lord God must be hallowed. It must be esteemed. It must be revered.

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The name of the Lord God must never be taken up and used in a vain and empty manner.

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This morning, we conclude our study of the third commandment. Exodus chapter 20, verse seven.

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You shall not take of the name of the Lord your God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

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To take the name of the Lord God in vain means that you use it in a frivolous, false or inconsiderate manner.

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It means that you use it in an irreverent, superficial or lighthearted manner, in a manner that empties the

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Lord God of his great significance. In a manner that empties the Lord God of his great gravity and weightiness.

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As if the Lord God really didn't matter at all. As if the

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Lord God didn't really exist at all. There are many different ways by which we commonly take the name of the

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Lord our God in vain. Last month, we looked at two ways in which we transgress the third commandment.

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By breaking our word, by breaking our oaths and our vows and by living hypocritically.

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By living in a manner that is inconsistent with our profession. All of these behaviors transgress and violate the third commandment.

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In our remaining time, I'd like to look at one more very common way by which we take the name of the

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Lord our God in vain. By using the name of the Lord God as an expletive.

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By using it as a swear word or a curse word. In moments of anger, irritation, frustration, exasperation, surprise, shock or astonishment, the name of the

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Lord God is often used in a profane and blasphemous manner. Mankind is very creative when it comes to transgressing the third commandment.

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Years ago, my daughter got a pair of pajamas from Old Navy. And they were your typical girl pajamas.

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They had a top, a bottom, bright color, soft material. As a connoisseur of fine pajamas, my daughter loved them.

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But later that night, upon closer inspection, we noticed something about those pajamas. There was a pattern of three letters that repeated throughout the design.

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And the letters were OMG. OMG. I had wrapped my daughter in a direct violation of the third commandment.

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Why is man so creative in taking the name of the Lord our God in vain? Why does man continue to use the name of the

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Lord our God in such an empty and meaningless manner? Well, it might be because of ignorance.

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Many take the name of the Lord God in vain because they just don't know any better. They haven't really thought much about it.

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They don't know the contents of the third commandment. They don't know the significance of the name of God.

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Nor do they understand the severity of transgressing this commandment. It might be because of the example that has been set by others.

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In other words, it might be behavioral. Many take the name of the Lord God in vain because they have learned this behavior from watching other people misuse the name of the

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Lord. Their parents, their families, their friends. Taking the name of God in vain is normal.

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It's just a part of everyday speech. Everyone else takes the name of the Lord in vain, so why not me?

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But the real reason, which is the root of every other reason, is because taking the name of the

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Lord God in vain suits the purposes of the adversary. Taking the name of the

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Lord God in vain suits the purposes of Satan, who is the God and ruler of this world.

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2 Corinthians 4, 3. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

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In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel, of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

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The adversary does not want people to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The adversary hates the

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Lord Jesus Christ. He despises the Lord Jesus Christ. He actively opposes the

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Lord Jesus Christ. And the adversary wants everyone in this world to be just like him, to hate, despise, and oppose the

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Lord Jesus Christ. The adversary and the spiritual forces of darkness are actively striving to keep people from seeing the light of the gospel, the glory of Christ, who is the image of the invisible

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God. So the adversary influences and tempts people to use the name of the

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Lord God as a blasphemous profanity, because it helps keep them blinded to the truth of the gospel.

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The adversary does not want people to think of the Lord Jesus Christ as a true and historical figure, a person who actually lived a perfect and sinless life, as a person who actually died as a substitute for sinners, as a person who actually rose again from the dead, defeating death, defeating the adversary, and as he who ascended on high, triumphant and victorious to the throne of heaven.

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No, the adversary wants people to think of the Lord Jesus Christ as a vain, empty and meaningless profanity, which is not what you do with real people.

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Can you think of any other person in all of history whose name is used with as much disdain and disregard as the name of the

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Lord our God? Can you think of any other person whose name is constantly and repeatedly used throughout history in every culture and society in such a senseless and meaningless manner?

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The desire of the adversary is for the world to dishonor the Lord Jesus Christ. His desire is for the world to disrespect the

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Lord Jesus Christ. The adversary's desire is for the world to completely disdain and disregard the

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Lord Jesus Christ. And on the surface, his strategy seems to be working.

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In our culture, the name of the Lord God is under constant attack. It is either mocked and ridiculed or it is discounted and brushed aside.

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The name of the Lord our God is not hallowed in the world as it should. But even within the church, even among those who profess the name of the

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Lord God, we often use his name in an irreverent and profane manner.

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We just do it in a far more delicate and subtle fashion. OMG, oh my gosh,

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GD, gosh darn it, geez, jeepers creepers, holy smoke.

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There seems to be no end of words, phrases and expressions that are used to describe, denigrate and deplore the glorious name of our

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God and Father. Well, what's wrong with these phrases? None of these phrases use the name of the

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Lord God in vain. So why is it wrong to speak them? Is it wrong to speak them?

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Well, these types of phrases, OMG, gosh darn it, geez, jeepers creepers, holy smoke, these are euphemisms.

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And a euphemism is a mild or indirect word, phrase or expression that is substituted for one considered to be taboo, too harsh, too blunt or too explicit.

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And these milder words are often used to soften the blow of our speech while retaining the original intent.

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These milder words are often used to skirt or avoid any offense or any violation of the third commandment.

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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meaning changes throughout history.

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If you were to do a study on all the acceptable or Christianized swear words, each one of them would eventually circle back and find their source in the name of the

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Lord God, in the name of Jesus Christ, in the name of the Holy Spirit.

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Some of these phrases date all the way back to the 1500s, but most of them come from the

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Victorian era of the mid 1800s. And it was during this time that all forms of profanity and obscenity and uncivilized speech were culturally rejected and renounced.

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This type of speech was considered to be lowbrow, unlearned and unrefined, especially if spoken in the presence of a lady.

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So the common folk developed a wide variety of similar sounding words to avoid the lowbrow social stigma.

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And the result is the colorful language that we speak today. One of my daughters, who will remain unnamed, went through a stage in her early years when in anger and frustration, she would call her siblings the

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B word, brat. And we repeatedly told her that we did not want her to use this word to refer to her siblings or to anyone else.

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But she continued to use this word multiple times a day. Sometimes it was multiple times an hour.

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And if we caught her using this word, then we would correct her. But whenever we caught her using this word, she would flat out deny it saying,

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I didn't do it. Even if we heard the B word with our own ears.

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Eventually she became more sophisticated in her deceit. And if we had caught her in the act, she would say, well,

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I didn't say brat. I said drat. Or some other word that rhymed with brat.

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And in her little mind, she thought that if she could convince us that if she had merely used the term drat rather than the term brat, then she would be absolved from punishment.

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But what she didn't understand is that the word itself meant very little to us. It was the attitude behind the word that mattered.

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It was the heart motive behind the word that mattered. Like the common folk of the 1800s, she failed to understand the spiritual nature of the law.

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The law of God is spiritual. And the law of God demands both inward integrity as well as outward conformity.

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Beloved, the Lord God takes notice of our words. The Lord God takes notice of all our words, but not only our external words, also the internal motivation behind our words.

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There is a direct connection that exists between what you say with your mouth and what you believe in your heart.

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Because it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. Matthew 12, 33, either make the tree good and its fruit good or make the tree bad and its fruit bad.

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For the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you are evil?

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For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good.

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And the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak.

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For by your words, you will be justified. And by your words, you will be condemned.

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Beloved, by your words, you will be justified. And by your words, you will be condemned.

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Your mouth speaks that which is in your heart. Your mouth pours out that which is in your heart.

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Your mouth speaks out of the overflow or abundance of your heart.

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Proverbs 18, 21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit.

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Or as J .C. Ryle remarked in his commentary on the gospels, a word spoken is physically transient, but morally permanent.

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If a good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and if an evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil, then what does it say about the person and the treasure of those who use vain, empty and meaningless words about the

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Lord our God? Taking the name of the Lord our God in vain reveals a low view of the

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Lord God. It reveals a shallow and worldly view of the Lord God. It reveals a lack of understanding about the infinity, the immensity, the gravity and the magnificence of our great and glorious and awesome

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God. Beloved, the Lord God is nothing like man.

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Do you remember our study of Psalm 50? Do you remember the reason for the Lord God's rebuke of the wicked, the religious hypocrite?

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Psalm 50, 21. These things you have done and I have been silent. You thought

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I was one like yourself. In our sinfulness, in our pride and arrogance, our view of the

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Lord God often more closely resembles ourselves than how he has revealed himself to us in the scriptures.

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You thought that I was one like yourself. How very, very wrong.

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The Lord God is nothing like you. The Lord God is nothing like me. I may not care if someone uses my name in vain.

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I may not care if someone uses a euphemism or a variation of my name in vain, but I'm nothing like the

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Lord God. And he does care a great deal about how his name is used. The Lord God takes the use of his name very, very seriously.

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Beloved, if you're going to employ the name of the Lord God then you had better mean it.

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Your words had better carry the full weight and the full magnificence of the majesty of the great

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I am, the Lord your God. Otherwise, you're in violation of transgressing the third commandment.

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Now, some of you may not completely agree with this position on euphemisms.

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Some of you may feel that euphemisms like oh my gosh, gosh darn it, geez, holy smoke, these are entirely acceptable to use in everyday language.

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Some of you may feel that these words and phrases are not a violation of the third commandment.

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And the argument that I've heard that are in favor of these expressions is that they are completely meaningless.

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At one time, they may have been used to refer to the Lord God, but not today. No one thinks about where these terms originated.

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Today, these are just empty, pointless, and frivolous words. And beloved, that's my point.

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Why use a word, phrase, or expression that was once used to blaspheme the name of the Lord our

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God? What's the advantage? What is the benefit? What is the value gained from using these types of expressions?

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If these words truly are empty, if they truly are pointless and trivial, then why use them at all in our daily speech?

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Especially in light of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 12, 36,

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I tell you on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak.

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For by your words, you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned. Taking the name of the

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Lord God in vain, taking his name without due consideration and due reverence, speaking his name in an empty and meaningless manner, or speaking one of the many euphemisms in an empty and meaningless manner,

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I would argue that these are careless words. These are careless words by which we will most assuredly be judged.

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The writers of the Westminster Confession, the larger and shorter catechism written in 1646, placed a great importance on the third commandment.

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In the Westminster shorter catechism, question 54, what is required in the third commandment?

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The third commandment requires the holy and reverent use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and works.

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Question 55, what is forbidden in the third commandment? The third commandment forbids all profaning or abusing of anything by which

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God makes himself known. In other words, if the Lord God has made himself known by a certain name, title, attribute, ordinances, word, or work, then we need to be very careful not to profane or abuse it.

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Rather, the names, titles, attributes, ordinances, words, and works must be revered and esteemed and hallowed.

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At the end of the day, it is vitally important for us to remember that the name of the

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Lord God, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ has been exalted above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is

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Lord to the glory of the Father. Beloved, the only appropriate response to the name of the

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Lord God, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, is to submissively bend the knee in appreciation, adoration, affection, and subjection.

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The third commandment cautions us that the Lord God will judge those who take his name in vain.

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The Lord God will judge those who are irreverent, hypocritical, blasphemous in their use of his name.

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The Lord God will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Almost 2 ,000 years ago, a group of people took up the name of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. They publicly hailed him as the true king. They hailed him as the true

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Messiah. They cried and they shouted, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the

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Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And five days later, they took his name in vain.

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They cried and they shouted out, let him be crucified. Let him be crucified.

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To those of you who profess to know the Lord Jesus Christ, have you ever taken his name in vain?

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Do you take his name in vain? Do you ever use the name of the Lord your God or a variation of the name of the

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Lord your God as an expletive or as a swear word? Does your life reflect your profession?

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Do you keep your vows? Do you keep your oaths? Do you keep your word?

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Are you trustworthy? Is your yes, yes, and your no, no? The Lord God will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

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To those of you who do not profess the Lord Jesus Christ, have you ever taken the

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Lord's name in vain? Do you take his name in vain? Do you think that the

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Lord God will pardon your transgression without your bending the knee? There is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

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Unless you call upon the name of the Lord, unless you turn away from your sins and turn to him in faith, then you cannot be saved.

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The Lord God will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Beloved, we will all answer to the

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Lord God for all irreverence of deed, all irreverence of word, all irreverence of thought.

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Each one of us will answer to the Lord God for our flippant and profane use of his name. When we use his name without thought, when we pray without sincerity, when we sing and worship him in apathy, when we worship him with our lips and not with our hearts, make no mistake, the

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Lord God will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Moses was a man of God.

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Moses beheld the glory of the Lord God. The name of the Lord God was proclaimed to him, the

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Lord, the Lord, a God merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, faithfulness, forgiving, and just.

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Beholding the glory of the Lord begins with an understanding and an exalting of his great, mighty, and glorious name.

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And like Moses, we too have beheld the glory of God. The name of the

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Lord God has been proclaimed to us through his beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.

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And he upholds the universe by the word of his power, for in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

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And thus, we must exalt, we must uplift, we must magnify, we must hallow the name that is above every name,

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Jesus. Arthur Pink, in his book, The Ten Commandments, he writes, form the habit of solemnly considering whose name it is you're about to utter, that it is the name of him who is present with you, hearing you pronounce it, who is jealous of his honor, who will dreadfully avenge himself upon those who slight him.

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Beloved, do not slight the Lord God by misusing his name. The Lord God is ever -present.

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The Lord God is all -knowing. He hears your words, and he knows the heart behind your words, and the

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Lord God is a jealous God. He's a consuming fire. He is jealous of his name.

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He is jealous for his glory. He is jealous for your affections. Consider whose name it is that you lift up.

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Thus, Psalm 29, one and two, ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the

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Lord glory and strength, ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name.

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Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. Let's pray.

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Our Father, you are a great and mighty

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God. You are glorious. And Lord, I confess that I have misused your name throughout most of my life.

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Lord, give me a right understanding of your name. Give each one of us here a right understanding of who you are, of what you've done.

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Lord, I pray that we would exalt and adore and uplift the great name,

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Jesus Christ. We pray, Lord, that in our lives, that we would not violate this commandment by living according to our own desires.

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We pray, Lord, that we would walk in the light and walk in holiness, that every day we live would be a day where we worship you in the splendor of holiness, in the beauty of your perfection.

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Lord, we pray that you would teach us these things. We thank you for the law of God. We thank you that while the law doesn't save, it points us to Christ, who accomplished each and every one of these commandments.

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Christ fulfilled your will perfectly. And Lord, you give us your law that you might reveal to us what is your will and how we are to live.

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And we pray, Lord, that like David, your law would be on our hearts day and night, that we would meditate upon your law day and night.

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Lord, reveal to us our sin, reveal to us our savior, and we pray that we would live in the light of his truth.