I. Introduction
-- turn in
your Bibles to Exodus 20:1-7
Exodus 20:1-7 (NIV)
1 And God spoke all these words:
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt
3 "You shall have no other gods before me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form
of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the
LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the
fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who
love me and keep my commandments.
7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God,
for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
-- well, you can imagine my surprise when I opened up the Drudge Report on Wednesday morning of last week and I read the lead headline: "NBA Suspends World Peace"
-- my initial thought was, "Wow! I didn't know the NBA was that powerful. How can they stop the world from having peace? Have they declared war on the world?"
-- I'm not a basketball fan -- I had no idea what was going on, so I clicked on the article to find out what the headline was all about
-- World Peace is actually the name of a pro basketball player -- last September, Ron Artest legally changed his name to Metta World Peace -- "Metta" is his first name and "World Peace" is his last name
-- in a statement on the day his name was changed, Artest said, "Changing my name is meant to inspire and bring youth together all around the world"
-- he chose "Metta" as his first name because it is a traditional Buddhist word that means "loving kindness and friendliness to all" -- and he chose "World Peace" as his last name because it represented the direction he wanted to inspire youth to try to attain in their own lives
-- which makes that headline from last Wednesday all the more ironic -- World Peace was suspended for fighting -- for viciously elbowing another player in the head in last Sunday's game
-- and this was not just a one-time event -- according to the article, this is the 10th time that World Peace has been suspended since 2003 -- World Peace evidently has a history of fighting and not getting along with other players
II. The Importance of Names
-- I was
telling Kim about this headline later in the week -- and we both agreed that if
you're going to change your name to something like "World Peace,"
then you've got an obligation to live up to that name
-- you just
can't call yourself "World Peace" and then keep getting suspended for
fighting
-- in our
day, names are just not considered that important -- I guess it's because most
of us were given our names as infants and we had no say in what we were going
to be called the rest of our lives
-- some
parents spend a lot of time thinking about what they are going to name their
child -- trying to be sure that the name they give them is a good name -- a
name that they will have to grow into -- other parents don't spend a lot of time thinking about names but just choose whatever the most popular name is for that particular year -- I remember a few years ago there was a short-lived sitcom about a family in the suburb -- the father was coaching a girl's softball team, and in one episode he was giving the batting order to his players -- he said, "Okay, Heather, you're up next -- and then Heather you're after her and then Heather, you're batting third"
-- rather than spending time picking out a name, their parents had all just named their daughters with the most popular name that year -- so, don't be surprised if you run across a lot of Ethan's and Emma's in a few years, because those are the most popular names for this year
-- I wish
we placed greater importance on our names -- I kind of like the tradition in
the black Muslim community here in America where they change their name after
they come to faith in Islam -- their new name is supposed to reflect their
faith and who they hope to become as they grow in their faith -- that's why
Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali
-- the
Bible recognizes the importance of names -- all the way back to the book of
Genesis, we see God changing the names of people to reflect who it was He was
calling them to be -- a name to fulfill -- Abram was changed to Abraham --
Sarai to Sara -- Jacob to Israel -- Simon to Peter-- God didn't just do this on a whim -- He did this for a reason -- He gave each of these people a name to live up to -- and He's done the same for us
-- when we
received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God gave us a new name -- He gave us the
name of His Son -- no longer were we to be known by the names that our parents
gave us, but we were to be known by the name of Christ -- we are the people of
Christ -- we are the people known as Christians and He expects us to live up to
that name
-- several
times in the New Testament we are admonished to do just that -- in Philippians
1:27, we read "conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of
Christ." and in Ephesians 4:1 we read, "I urge you to live a life
worthy of the calling you have received." -- we are to live in a manner
worthy of the Name by which we have been saved
-- God's
pretty serious about this, because our lives should reflect His presence -- and
if we do not live up to our high calling, then we bring shame and disgrace --
not only to ourselves -- but to Him and His name, as well-- a lot of people don't realize it, but this emphasis on living up to the name of God goes all the way back to the Ten Commandments, especially the third commandment
-- let's look at this passage in Exodus again
III. Scripture Lesson (Exodus 20:1-7)
-- look
back at verse 1-3
Exodus 20:1-3 (NIV)
1 And God spoke all these words:
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt
3 "You shall have no other gods before me.
-- here in
the first commandment, we see that the most important thing is to recognize God
and to exalt Him and Him alone
-- He makes
it clear -- He is our God -- we are His people -- and we are to have no other
gods but Him-- this commandment is calling for us to worship God -- to make Him the center of our lives -- and to proclaim with the angels that all praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength is to be to our God for ever and ever (Rev 7:12)
-- the next
two commandments give specific ways that we are to do this
-- look at
verse 4-6
Exodus 20:4-6 (NIV)
4 "You shall not
make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the
earth beneath or in the waters below.
5 You shall not bow
down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,
punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth
generation of those who hate me,
6 but showing love to
a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
-- in this
second commandment, we are told to honor God and give glory to Him by staying
away from idols -- God says we will not bow down to them or worship them -- all
honor and glory is His -- He alone is who we worship -- He alone is who we
exalt
-- our God
is a jealous God -- He does not share His glory with anyone -- and so He
commands that we turn away from the worship of idols -- from anything that we might
place higher and greater importance on than God-- I know that we're not putting statues in our backyards and bowing down to them -- but we do make idols of things in our lives -- money -- work -- family -- entertainment -- hobbies -- clubs -- all of these things can be idols if you let them become more important than God
-- God says we are to worship Him and Him alone and we are not to let any idols into our lives
-- but, the
commandment I really want you to think about this morning is the third commandment
-- look at verse 7
Exodus 20:7 (NIV)
7 "You shall not
misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone
guiltless who misuses his name.
-- most of
us grew up knowing this third commandment from the King James Version --
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain"
-- what
does it mean to misuse the name of the Lord -- to take the name of the Lord in
vain?
-- if
you're like me, when you learned this commandment, you probably thought it was
only about speaking God's name in wrong ways -- I was taught growing up that
the worst thing you could do was to use a cuss word with God's name in it
-- now, I'm
sad to say, but we live in a society where cussing has turned into a way of
speech -- we hear it in the movies and even on our primetime TV shows -- we
hear it in the stores -- we hear it public -- I hear it a lot among the younger
military members out at Moody -- and, sad to say, I've gotten somewhat jaded about it -- I've gotten used to it -- I don't cuss, but I generally don't take offense at it the way I used to, except when they use the name of the Lord as part of a cuss word
-- I'll say something then, because that's what I was taught -- that is taboo -- that is not something that you do
-- that's what it says right here in this verse -- don't take the name of the Lord your God in vain -- don't misuse His name -- that's typically what we think of when we read this commandment, right?
--
actually, this is not what this verse is referring to -- while it's certainly applicable
to us, this passage was written to instruct the early Israelites, and they
would never think to use the name of the Lord in this manner
-- in fact,
the Israelites recognized the great importance of a deities' name -- keep in
mind that they were still heavily influenced by the pagan Egyptian culture that
they had been living in for over 400 years -- these pagan religions would call
on the name of their god to manipulate them -- it was believed that if you
invoked a god's name, in connection with wanting something to happen, it was
possible to make it happen -- they respected the names of the deities around them -- that's one reason why, when Moses was speaking with God at the burning bush, he asked God what His name was so he could tell the Israelites who had sent him
--in this commandment God was trying to stop the Israelites from using His name like the pagans used the names of their gods -- He was trying to make them understand that this was a vain or empty use of His name
-- by doing this, it was an attempt to use His power without submitting to Him or living in trusting relation with Him -- in other words, it would be like using God's name as an incantation or spell to make something happen -- like saying "abracadabra" before you did a magic trick
-- so, this was one of the main
intents of this commandment -- to keep the Israelites from using the Lord's
name in a vain manner and treating Him like a god who could be ordered to do
their bidding
-- Another way the Israelites were
being tempted to misuse the Lord's name was in the matter of swearing oaths,
either to God or to others -- today, we tend to put less importance on the term
"I swear" than the people living in biblical times did
-- in those days, the term "I
swear" meant to give one's sacred, unbreakable promise as a testimony that
they would keep their word on a certain matter -- it was a common practice in
the O.T. times to make these binding oaths using God's name- God's name was misused when people would make an oath using His name and then break that oath -- this showed disrespect to God's name -- if the people really respected God and His name, then they would keep their promises sworn in His name -- the fear of the Lord would keep them honest -- however, by breaking their promises, they were showing that they really didn't put much stock in God or His name
-- when you used to testify in court,
what would they have you do? -- put your hand on the Bible and swear to tell
the truth, the whole truth, so help me God -- that was an oath that the person
was making using God's name
-- did you know they don't do that
any more? -- when you testify in a court now, you don't swear an oath on God's
name -- Why? -- Because a lot of people either don't believe in God or don't
put much importance on keeping oaths made in God's name -- it just became a meaningless type of oath -- people would make that oath and then misuse God's name by breaking that oath by lying on the stand
-- this is exactly the situation that God was trying to prevent in the Israelites and that He is trying to prevent in us
-- but I really want you to focus
this morning on the third way that God's name can be misused -- this is the one
that is most applicable to us -- we misuse God's name when we commit the sin of
hypocrisy -- by making a profession of God's name but not living up to that
profession
-- we have many people in the world
today who profess the name of God but don't live up to it -- we have many
people in the world today who call themselves Christians but who don't live up
to that name -- who don't act in a Christian manner -- just like World Peace
didn't live up to his name but got suspended for fighting
-- right now we are engaged in a
war with Muslim extremist terrorists who have justified their actions because
we are infidels -- those not of the faith or the worship of the true God
-- but, as Dean Snyder pointed out
in an article in the Wesleyan Advocate several years ago, if you were to look
at the American church through the eyes of a deeply committed fundamentalist
Muslim, our lives would appear to be very ungodly
-- while we claim the name of
Christ and profess to be Christians, we are extremely materialistic and
unreligious in our daily lives -- alcohol is freely available -- drugs are
illegal but still accessible -- we allow sacrilege in our art galleries and
theaters -- many marriages end in divorce -- we have state-sponsored gambling with the lottery -- even the most religious of us do not pray publicly five times a day like the Muslims -- honestly, we're doing good if we pray before our meals and before we go to bed -- less than 30 percent of the U.S. population regularly goes to church
-- and while we do not adhere to
the tenets of Islam and we are not trying to live the Muslim life, you can how
the world would look on us as hypocritical -- we are claiming to be one thing
while living a life that is different from what we proclaim
-- by doing so, we violate this
commandment -- we are misusing the name of the Lord our God
-- I saw a bumper sticker one time
that said, "Lord, Deliver Me from Your Followers" -- that bumper
sticker was put on that car because a Christian didn't live up to his name --
we have to be mindful of who we are and of who we are called to be
-- by coming here this morning, you
are identifying yourself as a Christian -- by putting religious bumper stickers
or fish symbols on your car, you are identifying yourself as a Christian -- and
what is a Christian -- a Christian is someone who has identified their life by
the name of their God....Christ -- a Christian is supposed to be a "little
Christ"
-- so, when you call yourself a
Christian but engage in worldly activities, you are misusing the name of God
-- when you call yourself a
Christian but walk past the homeless person needing help, you are misusing the
name of God
-- when you call yourself a
Christian but bend the tax laws, you are misusing the name of God
-- anytime you call yourself a
Christian and knowingly act in disobedience to God in a way that others will
see, you are misusing the name of God-- basically, this third commandment calls us to lift up the name of God through our public actions -- this commandment calls us to holy living -- to character and integrity
-- we should live up to the name by which we are known
IV. Closing
-- thinking about World Peace this
week and his failure to live up to his name got me to thinking about myself --
do I live up to my name? -- do I live up to the Name that I profess?
-- when people look at me -- when
they hear me proclaim the gospel with my life -- do they see a life that
reflects holiness and virtue and deliverance from sin? -- are they drawn to
Christ because of what they see in me?
-- or does my life cause them to
reject the God I claim? -- am I guilty of violating this third commandment? --
am I misusing the name of God through my actions?
-- when we call ourselves a
Christian, then we have a responsibility to live up to that name -- God wants
our lives and our behavior and our character to be worthy of the gospel and the
name of Christ -- He wants others to be drawn to Him because they see Him in us
-- Jesus said we are to be the
light of the world -- a city set on a hill -- a people who proclaim His name
and who lead other into the Kingdom because they are drawn by our love and our
lives
-- so let me ask you this today --
are you living up to the Name that you proclaim?
-- Warren
Wiersbe shares the a story about a church member who came to his pastor and
said, "We have some neighbors who believe a false gospel? -- Do you have
some literature I can give them?"
-- the
pastor opened his Bible to 2 Corinthians 3:2 and read these words, "You
yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by
everybody."
-- the pastor told his member, "The
best literature in the world is no substitute for your own life -- Let them see
Christ in your behavior and this will open up opportunities to share Christ’s
Gospel with them."
-- You've
probably all heard the old quip -- "You may be the only Bible that someone
else reads"
-- I want
to live up to my name -- I want to live a life worthy of the gospel -- a life
worthy of the Name of Christ -- I want my life to be a Bible that others can
read and that leads them to salvation and deliverance from sin
-- I don't
want to be known as a hypocrite --I don't want someone to look at me and reject
Jesus because of the life I am living -- I don't want to be a person who lives
their life in violation of the third commandment
-- I want
to be a person that Jesus is proud to call His own
-- as we
close today, I want to ask you to just take a moment and think about your name
-- not the name that your parents called you at birth -- not any nickname that
your friends call you -- but the name that your God gave you when you turned to
Him for salvation through faith
-- are you
living up to that name? -- what do people see when they look at you? -- what do
you see when you look at yourself in the mirror?
-- let us pray
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