Misusing the name of the LORD

[As usual, these are my notes for a sermon, and not the sermon itself!]

Exodus 20:7

When I was playing bowls last week, whenever one of my opponents played a bad shot, he'd use the name of Jesus Christ to curse/swear. Some of his team-mates, knowing that I'm a vicar, tried subtly to tell him that he shouldn't do that in my presence!

Most of us think of the 3^rd commandment as saying we mustn't use the name of the Lord as a swear word.

And if you read it out of context, as a standalone verse, then you'd naturally come to that minimalistic understanding.

But if we zoom out a bit, and see how it fits in with God's character and plan, then we see that the 3^rd commandment is about much more than saying God's name when we play a bad shot or hit our thumb with a hammer.

When God's people, Israel, were still in captivity in Egypt, God revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush that didn't burn up. Have a look at Exodus 3.

God spoke to Moses and appointed him as his spokesman to lead Israel out of slavery to Pharaoh and into the freedom of the kingship of God and the delights of the promised land.

But like so many of God's people since then, Moses made various excuses for not taking on the role God called him to.

One of his excuses was that he didn't know God's name. So, 'God said to Moses, I am who I am. This is what you're to say to the Israelites: I am has sent me to you.' Ex 3:14

However... it's really hard to know what God meant by that – gallons of ink have been spilt on discussing how to translate it, let alone what it really means.

So let's read on a bit – v15a

Here God uses his name, “Yahweh”, “LORD” (capital letters in most English translations).

But what does Yahweh or LORD mean?!

Well, let's read on a bit more – vv15 – 17.

Now we see that the LORD is the one who made promises to Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.

He's the LORD who 'watched over you and has seen what has been done to his people in Egypt.'

He's the LORD who promised to bring them out of slavery and into a land flowing with milk & honey.

That's what God did for his people – but what's that got to do with his name, the LORD?

Well, in days gone by, people's names were inseparable from what they did – so Mr Carpenter made things out of wood; Mrs Baker made bread and Mr Smith was the smithy.

It was the same in Bible times – Job = persecuted one

Abraham = father of many etc.

So with the LORD – he's called 'LORD' – Yahweh – 'I am who I am' - because he does as he is. His actions are always an outworking of his character and that's reflected in his name.

If we move on to Ex 34, we can see this in a bit more detail.

Here, the LORD meets with Moses and speaks to him again. And again we see how his name reflects his character and his activity: Ex 34:5-8

So here God is revealing two main aspects of his character and his action – ppt...

Saves: loving, compassionate, forgiving, faithful.

The LORD

Judges: will not allow sin to go unpunished.

Now, notice how Moses responds to that revelation of the LORD's name, character & actions: Ex 34:8-9. ...

Moses bows down, worships and confesses his and his people's sin – that's the right response to the LORD because he is the LORD. He is the saving and judging LORD.

Then Moses demonstrates that he trusts in this LORD who is faithful – he asks the LORD to go with them and bring them into their inheritance – the promised land.

So Moses accepts that the LORD will be true to his name – that he will be who he is – the faithful saviour who is compassionate and gracious and forgives sin.

Now all of this is really important because what the third commandment really means is 'Don't take the LORD's name as though it were not significant – don't empty it of its meaning – don't think of it as worthless.'

Why not?

Because the name of the LORD signifies who he is and what he's done.

Do you remember all those old Skoda jokes?

What do you call a Skoda with a really long radio aerial? A bumper car .

What do you call a Skoda at the the top of a hill ? A miracle.
How do you overtake a Skoda ? Run

What do you call a Skoda with a sun roof ? A skip

Jokes like that are not just about the name 'Skoda' they're about the thing itself – the car & the company. And they insult the company itself – accusing it of unreliability, worthlessness etc.

And if you say the the LORD is not faithful, not forgiving, not loving, not compassionate, not angry with sin then you insult him.

But the Psalms show us what it is to respond appropriately to the name of the LORD. Here the LORD's name is to be trusted, loved, praised, thanked, sung of, hoped in, glorified, rejoiced over, proclaimed, desired & honoured.

Anything less than this is misuse of the LORD's name.

And we find this echoed in the NT.

So Jesus says, 'When you pray, say, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name' – may your name be be trusted, loved, praised, thanked, sung of, hoped in, glorified, rejoiced over, proclaimed, desired & honoured all over the world.

But then we find that Jesus takes on the name, 'Lord' in the NT.

And he can do this because he is exactly exhibits the name of the LORD.

In Jesus we see the LORD's love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, faithfulness, and justice and at it's most extreme.

In fact, it's at the cross that we see the name of the LORD most clearly displayed. PPT

It's here that we see the fullness of his compassion, mercy, faithfulness, forgiveness – and his refusal to allow sin to go unpunished.

So we must ask, 'what would it mean for us to misuse the name of the Lord Jesus?'

PPT

Q: What would it mean for us to deny that the Lord Jesus is the saviour who loves, forgives, is faithful and compassionate?

Arrogance, failure to admit & confess sin. 1 John 1:8f

Unforgiving heart towards others. Col 3:12f

Works-based righteousness – Galatians 3:1-3

Lack of assurance – Col 2:6-8

Q: What would it mean for us to deny that the Lord Jesus will punish sin?

Failure to ask for forgiveness – denial of the gospel 2 Thess 1:6-10

Lack of concern for our own holiness – beginning to think it doesn't matter if we sin.

Pretty much whole of 1 Corinthians is about this problem – Corinthians thought that, since they'd been forgiven and filled with the Spirit of God, what they now did, how they now behaved didn't matter.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 & 19f

Gal 6:7ff Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.