Do Not Misuse My Name (part 2)

[0:00] Ezekiel chapter 36. Ezekiel is the third of the major prophets. So this is the word of God to us.

[0:31] Ezekiel 36, 16. Again, the word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions.

[0:46] Their conduct was like a woman's monthly uncleanliness in my sight. So I poured out my wrath on them because they shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols.

[0:57] I dispersed them among the nations and they were scattered through the countries. I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned my holy name.

[1:15] For it was said of them, these are the Lord's people. And yet they had to leave his land. I'd concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.

[1:29] Therefore, say to the house of Israel, this is what the sovereign Lord says. It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things.

[1:41] But for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone, I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them.

[1:57] Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. For I will take you out of the nations.

[2:10] I will gather you from all of the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.

[2:24] I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

[2:36] I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers.

[2:47] You will be my people and I will be your God. Let's hear the preaching of God's word. I run in the way of your commands for you have set my heart free.

[3:03] We're looking at those commands that freed hearts, new hearts, redeemed hearts, delight to run in. And last week we came to that third commandment and we saw how important God's name is to himself that he is exalted above all things his name and his word.

[3:27] And in the third commandment he demands that we honor it and exalt it as well for he says you shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. And then we looked at some of the very practical ways, specific ways, five of them in which we can misuse the name of the Lord our God.

[3:47] And we saw it. It's from the most obvious vulgarities and cursings in which we curse men using the name of God. It can be just to use God's name as a word of surprise and filler.

[4:00] It can be using God's name for deceitful and personal sinful reasons to appeal to God's name. It can be using God's name in a wrong way in our vows when we make vows and oaths calling on God as witness and then telling a lie after we've called on his name or not keeping our vows and oaths that we have made in his name.

[4:25] And then we saw that we can misuse his name by the vain and thoughtless use of it even in worship when we sing and use his name and pray in his name and hear his word in which his name is used.

[4:39] And we do it without thought. On our lips, yes, but our minds and thoughts maybe are far from him. Well, the Bible speaks of another way that we can misuse the name of the Lord our God.

[4:51] And I've saved it for last and for today since it's so often mentioned in the scriptures. God's name is misused in the sixth place then by an unholy life that brings reproach on God's name that we bear.

[5:12] When God's reputation on earth is damaged by our professing God's name but not living in a manner worthy of God's name, then do we misuse the name of the Lord our God.

[5:27] What do the following people all have in common? Ryan Lochte, Tiger Woods, Maria Sharapova, Lance Armstrong, Mike Tyson, Adrian Peterson, and I could go on.

[5:46] They all have in common. Well, they're all famous athletes who lost millions of dollars when their sponsors dropped them like hot potatoes because of some disgraceful behavior on their part.

[5:59] Why? Why would companies like Pepsi and Visa and Nike cancel these sponsorship deals with these athletes?

[6:10] Because their name is on the line. Their reputation is at stake. They've put their name on those athletes. Sometimes quite literally on their hats, their shirts, their sportswear, the clothing that they wear.

[6:26] They have their name on that man or woman. They become representative, then, of that company which stands to profit or to suffer based on that athlete's behavior.

[6:42] Well, they're supposed, expected, then, to uphold the name and the value of that, the values of that company. And, indeed, when the athlete does something stupid and scandalous, the company often cancels their sponsorship saying they no longer represent who we are and what we are all about.

[7:02] They do that to protect their name, their reputation, in the eyes of the public. Now, this brings us to a very important application of the third commandment which says, you shall not misuse the name of the Lord, your God.

[7:20] And, if you're a Christian, the Bible says that God has placed his name upon you. That God, that you bear the name of the Lord, your God, wherever you go, whatever you do, and that his name stands to be honored or dishonored because of you.

[7:42] To be praised and magnified or to be misused and maligned, even blasphemed because of you, you who bear his name. You're his representatives to the world.

[7:55] And it's this theme that I want us to develop this morning so that when we leave here this morning, we'll be very conscious of the fact that we bear God's name. We're carrying it with us wherever we go.

[8:09] Just as really as if we all had witness wear in that says, I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ. We do indeed bear the name of Jesus. Jesus. Just as truly as Michael Jordan bears the name of Nike upon him.

[8:25] And I want us to both know and feel the privilege of that and also the obligation that is ours as those who bear his holy name not to misuse it.

[8:37] So let's start in the Old Testament. When God chose the nation of Israel out of all the nations of the earth to be his people and entered into a covenant an arrangement with them.

[8:51] He was attaching his name to them. He was putting his name on that nation. For out of all the nations of the world they are called his people.

[9:04] And he was called their God. Indeed, Deuteronomy 27.9 Moses says to Israel, you have now become the people of the Lord your God.

[9:16] And this reality is also seen in the names by which God is known. He's not just called the Holy One but he's called the Holy One of Israel.

[9:29] You see, his name has been placed upon them. He's not just called God but he's called in many, many, many places the God of Israel. Remember what Moses said to Pharaoh when he came down to Egypt?

[9:43] And he said to Pharaoh, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, let my people go. So God's name is now attached to this people for good or for ill.

[9:58] Who are these people? They are the Lord's people. They're Jehovah's people. And they bore his name as truly as branded animals. Bear the name of their owner.

[10:10] Now this fact is also seen in the threefold priestly blessing that was pronounced upon the Israelites. When the priest would come out from the temple, he would bless the people of Israel.

[10:24] Number six, God says, tell Aaron, that's the priest, the high priest, tell Aaron and his sons, this is how you are to bless the Israelites. You're familiar with these words.

[10:35] the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

[10:49] Listen, so they will put my name on the Israelites and I will bless them. I'll put my name on them and I will bless them.

[11:02] Now there's no higher honor in the universe than to bear his name, to be one of his people, to be a sheep in his pasture, to be a child in his family.

[11:13] Kings and queens and princes, athletes, billionaires and celebrities are as nothing compared to this honor. And brothers and sisters treasure it.

[11:24] Treasure it as your highest privilege to have the living God say of you, she's mine, I'm hers. I have placed my name upon her.

[11:38] A privilege. Now, this was not merely an Old Testament reality, it's equally true in the New Covenant in which we live. The fact is that you, no less than they, bear the name of the Lord your God.

[11:54] Let me ask you, what happened at your baptism, Christian? Well, you were baptized, as Jesus commanded, into the what?

[12:05] Name. You were baptized into the one name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You were baptized into the name of God.

[12:18] God's name was placed upon you at your baptism. You took that name upon you in baptism as you were professing God as your Father in heaven.

[12:29] And you were professing Jesus Christ, God's Son, as your Lord and Savior. And you were professing the Holy Spirit as your indwelling comforter and sanctifier.

[12:41] So you now bear God's name as Israel of old did. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you now go and do as God's people, as Christ's sheep, and as the Holy Spirit's temple.

[12:56] His name is on you. And that's the testimony of the rest of the New Testament. God has put His name on us, and so now we bear that name.

[13:07] What does James say to his hearers when they started showing favoritism to the rich and said, oh, you've got a lot of money, you sit up here in a good seat, and said to the poor, well, you just sit back there, sit here at my feet.

[13:20] James says, these rich ones that you're showing favoritism to, are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name by which you were called? You were called by this noble name of Christ, and aren't these the very ones who are blaspheming that name?

[13:38] And then we have that reference in Acts chapter 11 and verse 26. The disciples were first called what in Antioch?

[13:53] Christ-yans. that's right. Christians. They were identified by their master. Christ is your master?

[14:03] You're a Christian. You are a follower of Jesus. You bear his name. Christian? Acts chapter 11 verse 26 tells us that they were called Christians first at Antioch.

[14:18] And then the prophet Amos records in chapter 9 and verses 11 and 12 the words of the Lord where the Lord foretold a day when the Gentiles would actually be called by God's name.

[14:32] And he says, after this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent, its ruins I will rebuild and I will restore it that the remnant of men may seek the Lord. Listen, and all the Gentiles who bear my name says the Lord who does these things.

[14:50] Think of it. His name now carried about not only by Jews but carried about by Gentiles as well. People from all nations bearing the name of the Lord.

[15:08] That's the very passage that James quoted at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. He says, that prophecy is now taking place among us.

[15:20] We just heard Paul tell us how the Gentiles are believing in the name of Jesus. And that is now happening. God's name is now being carried about.

[15:32] God's name is being born by the Gentiles. You remember in Acts 5 where Peter and the apostles were drug in before the Sanhedrin and they were accusing them of preaching in Jesus name.

[15:49] And they were so popular they couldn't do what they wanted. They wanted to kill them so they just flogged them. Just beat them good. And Acts 5.41 says that they left the Sanhedrin beaten but rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name for the name.

[16:16] The name they bore. The name of Jesus. They were counted worthy of having their worthless names associated with his. And they rejoiced.

[16:28] So Peter writes in his letter to suffering Christians, persecuted Christians in 1 Peter 4.16. He says, if you then, I knew what it was like to suffer as a Christian, but if you, if you suffer as a Christian for the name of Christ, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

[16:51] You do bear that name. Praise God that you bear it. What a high and holy privilege to bear the name of Christ. To have his name upon us and all that blessing that he brings with himself, his name.

[17:08] So it's a high privilege, but it also carries no small obligation, doesn't it? To bear his holy name. Because his name, his reputation in this world, rides on the backs of his people.

[17:23] The reality is that no small part of what the world thinks about your God will come from what they see in you, his people, the people that profess his name.

[17:37] So what's a good name worth? Well, companies know that it's everything in the world of business to have a good name.

[17:50] Ecclesiastes 7.1 says a good name is better than fine perfume, expensive perfume, a good name, a good reputation. Our mom and dad gave to us, their children, a good name in this community.

[18:08] It was a name they built over a lifetime living here. And now we as their children now bear that family name, carrying it with us wherever we go.

[18:19] And by our behavior, we either bring honor or dishonor upon the family name. By the way, we'll see in the fifth commandment, that's part of what children owe to their mother and father, is to not live in such a way as to dishonor their father and mother, but to honor their father and mother.

[18:40] But you see, we bear the name of the family, therefore the name of Heaney stands to be honored or dishonored by the way we carry it and live with it.

[18:52] And it's much the same in the family of God. That's what we're seeing in the scriptures. We bear the name of God, our heavenly father, and of Jesus Christ, our elder brother.

[19:04] Remember that account in Genesis 34 where Jacob is complaining to his two sons, Simeon and Levi, that because of their wicked behavior in Shechem, he says, you've brought trouble on me, making me a stench to the people living in this land.

[19:25] Yes, children can make the family name to stink in the community or can make it a sweet aroma that's pleasing. And so it is with God's children who bear His name.

[19:39] When we walk honorably in this world, God's name is honored. But when God's children don't live God-like lives, God's name is dishonored.

[19:50] God, it is misused at our expense. Well, we saw this in our scripture reading. That's why I had Pastor Jason read it in Ezekiel 36.

[20:06] God had attached His name to His covenant people, Israel. He is the God of Israel. And when because of their refusal to walk according to His ways, when they rejected His commands, He drove them out of the promised land and He scattered them as a desolate broken people among the nations.

[20:27] And I'm reading verse 20 of chapter 36. Wherever they went among the nations, they profaned my holy name. For it was said of them, these are the Lord's people.

[20:39] And yet they had to leave His land. You see, wherever they were scattered among the nations, people were asking, who are these losers?

[20:53] Look at them. Oh, these are Jehovah's people. You know that God who claimed that land from, but He wasn't even strong enough to keep them in His own land.

[21:09] And so His name was profaned. It was the high and holy name of God was drugged down and treated as something common. He's a loser God and He's got a loser people.

[21:21] And you can learn about Him by looking at them. These are Jehovah's people. And Jehovah says, I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.

[21:35] You see, He's concerned. These nations around, they don't think much of me. Why not? Because of the way my people live among them.

[21:47] And He says, I have concern for my holy name. They don't think I'm very holy when they look at my people living their unholy lives. I want to show the nations who I am.

[21:58] The great and wonderful holy God that I am. They're getting a wrong idea. My character is being maligned here by my people. Therefore, say to the house of Israel, Ezekiel, say, this is what the sovereign Lord says.

[22:13] It's not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I'm going to do these things. No, it's for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you've gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them.

[22:30] And then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the sovereign Lord. When I show myself holy through you before their eyes.

[22:44] And what follows is I'm going to come and cleanse you. It's all about what I will do. Did you see that? I will wash you. I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart. I will put my spirit in you.

[22:56] I will take out your old heart and put a new heart in you. And I'll make my spirit cause you to keep my ways. It's all about what I'll do. And I'm doing that to recover my name that you have profaned in the earth so that people will once again have a right idea of me when they hear the word Jehovah or the Lord, the God of Israel.

[23:20] They had disgraced his name and it was a gross misuse of his name and God's jealousy for the glory of his own great name could take it no long longer. He was going to do something himself for the sake of his name.

[23:36] Well, there's David. He's God's own chosen king. King of the Israel of God. And he's known as a man after God's own heart.

[23:48] And he especially of all the Israelites bears the name of God as his as its king. God's son. And he commits adultery with Bathsheba.

[23:59] And he takes the life of her husband Uriah. And the surrounding nations scoffed and said, you are no different than us and our kings. And God sends Nathan the prophet to David and says, the son born to you will die because by doing this, you have given the enemies of the Lord a reason to blaspheme.

[24:24] You have made them show utter contempt. You've given them occasion to laugh at your God. Not just at you, David. But at the God whose name you bear.

[24:40] Look at Jehovah's king now. The holy one of Israel. Indeed. He, he, ha, ha. Isn't it true that when the Lord's people fall and especially their leaders, the tongues of God's enemies wag and the fingers are pointed and laughing not only at the person but that the whole business of Christianity, the whole shoot and match of, of religion often.

[25:14] The world seems to know the commandments of God better than the church. Sometimes they know what to expect of us, the kind of behavior to expect. And when we violate that, they seem to be very quick to point it out in order to profane God's holy name.

[25:29] They throw it in our faces and lay the charge of hypocrite upon us and dismiss the whole of Christianity as bogus because of those who profess Christ.

[25:41] Well, that's the concern that God has for his name. And why he's so concerned, why there's a third commandment, because we do indeed bear that name and he doesn't want that name drug through the mud.

[25:54] So in Romans 2, 23 and 24, Paul says to Jews who claim to be God's people, you who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

[26:07] As it is written, God's name is blasphemed. God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. the heathen, the pagan Gentiles.

[26:20] They speak evil of God because of the evil that they see in God's professed people. They're taking God's name, these people of God, they take God's name on their lips, but they don't take his law to govern their lives.

[26:34] And when the people around them see this, they laugh and they blaspheme the name of God because of those who profess it. They make God's name to stink in the nostrils of the world.

[26:48] They're saying, if that's what a Christian is, I don't want any part of it. You lie and gossip and cheat and steal. You are sexually immoral just like we are. There's not a nickel's worth of difference between us.

[27:01] You're just as hot headed, just as unforgiving, just as selfish and greedy as we are. There's nothing to this Christianity. Your Christ is a farce. And the name of God suffers, you see, on the backs of those who profess him.

[27:18] Yes, it's true that we can misuse the name of the Lord our God without even speaking his name, just by the way we live and carry it in this world. God's name is blasphemed when the marriages of professing Christians end in divorce at the same rate as non-Christians.

[27:37] We no more honor God's name than they do. We took vows in God's name. We called on God as our witness to be faithful as long as we both shall live. And we misuse that name when we break our vow.

[27:50] Our marriages are supposed to reflect the beauty and the holiness of the Lord and to show forth the power of Christ to live supernatural lives. And when not so, God's name is dishonored and degraded.

[28:05] Oh, but when the world sees holy and happy marriages, they say, this is different. What is this?

[28:17] Self-denying husbands giving themselves up in sacrificial service to their wives. That's strange. Respectful, sweetly submissive wives happy to be the helper of their husband.

[28:34] What is this? What strength to die to self-interest and to put others before themselves, becoming poor to enrich others.

[28:53] See, that's that's kind of like Jesus, isn't it? Yes, they're Jesus' people. You know, even the world recognizes the rarity and beauty of a self-sacrificing service to others.

[29:09] Last week, our president awarded the Medal of Honor to Gary Mike Rose for his selfless service during the Vietnam War. He and his company were taken back behind enemy lines in Laos.

[29:22] It took heavy gunfire, cut off from help. And over a period of four days, Mike Rose treated 60 to 70 men and saved many lives.

[29:38] He was wounded himself, taking shrapnel from a hand grenade on the second day. But it didn't slow him. And without proper medical supplies and crawling through gunfire to get to his wounded men, he cared for them.

[29:55] I listened with my ears pricked up when the president especially drew the highest praise for him by saying that he served others without regard for his own life, which he risked in order to save others.

[30:16] That's Christ-like character, isn't it? He laid down his own life for us. And this Christ-likeness is to be demonstrated by his people, those that bear his name, not only on distant battlefields, but in marriages, in family relationships, in churches, in neighborhoods, in workplaces, and communities.

[30:42] Wherever we go to the praise and honor of Jesus' name, his name is on the line, folks, wherever we go. And we're either honoring it, and we are crowns of splendor in the hand of the Lord to display the beauty of his glory, or we're embarrassments to him, defiling his holy name among the nations.

[31:07] So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory, for the honor of that name that you bear.

[31:20] In 1 Timothy 6, 1, Paul writes to Christian slaves, and they're commanded to consider their masters worthy of full respect. Why? What's the big concern?

[31:31] So that God's name and our teaching may not be slandered. You see, when you are a disrespectful slave to your master, the name of God that you bear will be slandered.

[31:43] His character will be maligned. Rather, honor that name in the way that you treat your master and serve him. You see, the heathen slave owners would gather at their parties and no doubt would be complaining about how hard it is to find a good slave nowadays.

[32:00] And someone might pipe up, we have a Christian slave, and he's as dependable and respectable as you would want. Never had one like him.

[32:12] What a praise to the name that he bears. And remember that, Christian, as you daily step into your workplace. You carry the name of the Lord with you there. Don't misuse the name of the Lord your God.

[32:24] Rather, honor that name in the way you work, the way you interact with your fellow workers, your employer, your employees. God's name is on your back. That's the same concern Paul showed in his letter to Titus as he charged young, he was to charge young men, young women, older men, older women to live in an honorable way.

[32:45] Why? So that no one will malign the word of God. It's not just any word. It's the word of God. It's the word that God has attached his name to. You don't want to dishonor that word.

[32:57] You don't want to misuse his name. So that in every way they would make the teaching about God, our Savior, attractive. You see, it's the name of God, our Savior.

[33:09] It is to be adorned by the purity and holiness of your life as you live before this fallen world. God's name, God's word, God's teaching stands to be honored or dishonored by the manner in which his people live.

[33:26] And so Paul is saying that the world will make conclusions about God based on what they see in you. And he doesn't say shame on them for ever doing that, but rather regards this as something that is proper to do.

[33:40] And why we need to get on with God-like behavior, Christ-like behavior. They have a right to expect the people of Jesus to walk as Jesus did.

[33:52] First John 2.6. And that's why Paul in 2 Timothy 2.19 says, everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.

[34:04] Do you confess the name of the Lord? I heard many of you saying of Christ alone. I am his and he is mine. You confessed his name, bought with the precious blood of Christ.

[34:17] If you confess his name, you must turn away from wickedness because Christ's holy name has nothing to do with unholy works of wickedness. Those are those are not compatible.

[34:30] So everyone that confesses the name of the Lord Jesus must turn away from wickedness. Must be repenting daily, turning from our old ways and walking in the ways of our Savior.

[34:46] To attach Christ's holy name to an unholy life is to misuse his name. Alexander the Great was holding a military tribunal during his campaign to conquer the world.

[35:00] And a certain foot soldier was brought in before him who had deserted in the heat of battle. And the great conqueror asked him, what is your name, soldier? And in a quiet voice, he said, Alexander, sir.

[35:15] What is your name? Came the question back. Alexander, sir. And once more with red face and rage, what is your name, soldier?

[35:29] And he stuttered, Alexander, sir. And the great captain said, soldier, change your name or change your behavior.

[35:42] You are dishonoring my name by the way you're fighting or not fighting. And I want to say that the Lord is asking you this morning, what's your name?

[35:59] Christian? That's right. You bear my name, my worthy name. That name that is above all other names. You do.

[36:10] You bear that name. Now, don't misuse my name. Hold it in reverence and bring honor to it in the way that you live day by day. I say, brothers and sisters, here's motivation for killing our sins.

[36:24] I've got some stubborn sins. And they don't want to go away with just a few swats of the sword. They just keep coming back and they stick to me and I've got to have something more to fight against.

[36:36] Here's some motivation. My Lord's name is Jesus. Do you know why his name is Jesus? Because he will save his people, not just from hell, but from their sins.

[36:56] Their sins, all of them. Those nasty, stubborn sins that don't want to give up. He is a savior for sinners. And he saves, he delivers his people from their sins.

[37:12] So I want my life in every part to demonstrate the saving power of Jesus' name. All hail the power of Jesus' name.

[37:24] We sing that song. Does his name have power to break the rain? Of, of ruling sin. Yes, it does.

[37:38] Then let your life add its own verses to that song, hailing the power of Jesus' name. Power to put to death the very sins that once reigned and that still love to hang around in our lives.

[37:51] So I ask you, as I am asked by my Lord and Captain of my salvation, how does his name fare with you?

[38:03] Well, do people think more highly of him because of what they see in you? By the grace of God, let's hallow God's name. Let's lift it high and represent it well.

[38:15] Well, what are we? We're servants of the Lord, aren't we? And the Lord's servants don't get to choose how they will honor God's name. The Master chooses for us, doesn't he?

[38:29] And some will honor his name in Christian families. And they'll bring great honor to Jesus in Christian families. Others will honor him in non-Christian families. Some will honor him in freedom.

[38:42] Others will honor him in oppressive governments. Some of his servants will honor him in wealth. Others will honor him in poverty. Some will honor him in health.

[38:56] Others will honor him in chronic sicknesses. And yes, some will honor him in life. And others will honor him in death. And he deserves to have a people who honor him in all the circumstances that this world can place us in.

[39:12] That we might stand side by side with other people who are hurting in these situations. Other people who are prospering in these situations. And there in our circumstances where God has placed us, where he has chosen for us to bring honor to his name, let's shine.

[39:29] Let's let the light of Christ flow through us. Our business then is to live for the honor of his name wherever he has us. Not to be saying, oh, if only I was over there. God didn't put you over there.

[39:40] He's got you here. Shine for him here. You know what Job teaches us? He teaches us that the name of the Lord is to be praised even in the hardest trials.

[39:52] And when he had lost all ten of his children and his wealth in a day, he said the Lord gave. There's that name.

[40:04] The Lord, Yahweh, Jehovah gave and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised. Now that's your assignment.

[40:15] Wherever you are, to so live and so to speak that the name of Jesus would be praised. Well, I'm sought out.

[40:26] I'm sorry. I'm found out guilty. I have broken the third command. I told you that last week and I can say it again before this application of it. If that's the only command there was, I would deserve to be in hell and if you came and saw me a billion years from now, I would still be there paying the price for the dishonor that I brought to the name of my God.

[40:49] But God did not leave me there but sent a Savior to deliver me from my sin. His name is Jesus and he saves his people from their sins. And you know what?

[41:00] This Jesus is fully God and he's fully man. And as a real man, as real as any of us here, he fully and perfectly kept the third commandment. He came down from heaven to lift up the name of God.

[41:14] He was God's representative on earth and in seeing him, we see what God is like. Look, he's just like. He's the exact image of God. That means in every situation, he lived for the honor of God's name.

[41:30] It could never be said of him that he misused the name of the Lord is God. That he used it in a way that brought reproach upon the name of God. No, he always magnified it.

[41:42] In all he said, all he did. And when he came to the critical hour in his mission with the hellish cross looming before him, it's the honor of God's name that drives him onward.

[41:56] He says, Now is my heart troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

[42:09] Father, glorify your name. That's the most important thing in my life, Jesus is saying. Whether I live or die, whether I suffer the wrath that sinners deserve, your name.

[42:22] Glorify it, Father. And he says, a voice from heaven says, I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.

[42:34] So he's willing to suffer the torture from men and to suffer the wrath of God on the cross. If by only doing so, God's name might be glorified.

[42:45] Say, did he accomplish that? Did he not glorify the name of his Father in heaven by what he did on the cross? Is the name of God not circling the globe today and in dark places?

[42:57] Is there not the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ being demonstrated? Yes, he lived for the glory of God. And when he was put under oath and asked in God's name if he was the Son of God, he spoke the truth.

[43:13] When to do so meant the cross. While outside, Peter was said, you're one of them. And he took God's name and said, I don't know him.

[43:26] Well, there we are. The Savior and the sinner. Peter found forgiveness, didn't he? For his breaking of the third commandment. And David, that adulterer and murderer, he found forgiveness, didn't he?

[43:40] Through the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who was to come to bear the wrath of God for sinners who would trust in him. And this Jesus is just as determined to vindicate the honor and glory of his Father's name.

[43:55] That's why he's coming back to judge the earth. God's name has been slandered in the world. It has been falsely accused. It has been blamed for many things. And in the final judgment, every slur on God's name will be taken off.

[44:09] And it will be clearly seen that all his ways are perfect and there is no unrighteousness in him. That's our Savior. Perfectly kept the law that he might have a righteousness to give to us who trust in his name.

[44:28] But the Father's equally determined, isn't he, to honor the name of his Son. And so he raised him from the dead and has given him a name that's above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow. Now, this third commandment is enforced with a threat that is attached to it for those who break it.

[44:49] I've told this story before, but it bears repeating. Our late friend Gordon, Pastor Gordon Hawkins, and his wife used to come and visit us every year and a half or so. On one such trip, he was traveling through one of our busy airport terminals.

[45:04] And as you know, these are often places of cancellation and disappointment. And it was the same that day for some guy there next to Pastor Hawkins who in his frustration misused the name of the Lord his God.

[45:21] Probably a common occurrence to him as he let it fly as if it was nothing special. But I guarantee you that what happened next was not a common occurrence for him. For with those kind and penetrating eyes, Pastor Hawkins looked at him and said, my friend, you don't want to say that.

[45:40] For God has said, and then quoting from the King James perfectly, 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.

[45:54] A brief, a kind, yet bold witness to the high and holy name of the Lord his God. And often in situations like this, when we object to how our Lord's name is taken, people fall all over themselves, don't they?

[46:09] Apologize. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. You've been in those situations? Altogether missing the point. It was the holy God who was offended at the way they used his name.

[46:27] Yes, it pains me to hear you talk that way, but it's not my name. You just blaspheme. It's God's name.

[46:38] Your greatest problem is with him. I'm convinced that most people who misuse the name of the Lord don't have a clue of how serious this matter is to God. A peccadillo, perhaps, an insignificant slip of the tongue, a poor, bad habit, but nobody's hurt, no harm, no foul, no big deal.

[46:57] Do you know that the following words are written to correct such wrong-headed thinking? For the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

[47:12] You see, it does matter greatly to God how you use his name because how you use his name reveals your heart toward that God. And anyone who belittles God's name belittles God in their heart.

[47:24] And that's not a little matter to God. Do you think you're guiltless for it? Many do. Don't fool yourself. He hears. He remembers. He himself will judge you on his terms.

[47:38] And one of the matters will be, what did you do with my name? And he will be the avenger of anyone's guilty of misusing his name.

[47:48] If men have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word, careless word, how much more for every misuse of the holy name of God.

[48:00] For by your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned. And we know this, it's not a small thing to misuse a man's good name, is it?

[48:12] None of us likes to have our name drug through the mud. None of us likes to have our name slandered, falsely accused. Men sue other people for defamation of character, destroying their good name by false accusations and slander.

[48:27] And should almighty God stand by and do nothing when his good name is slandered and his character maligned? He will not stand by. He's jealous of the honor of his name and he will hold men guilty for it.

[48:44] Don't show up in the day of judgment with the guilt of the third commandment or any other commandment upon your record. Flee to the Savior we've been talking about and singing about this morning.

[48:57] The Savior whose blood cleanses us from all sin. All sin. The third commandment offenses included. I wonder, lost person, if you have considered how you are misusing the name of God.

[49:13] The name of Jesus is clearly set forth as the Savior of sinners. There is no other name given among men under heaven whereby we must be saved, whereby you must be saved and God has given him up that you might be saved from your sin.

[49:29] He's gracious, he's compassionate, he's slow to anger, he's plenteous in mercy, he forgives all who seek him and yet you do not seek him. You dishonor his name by not coming to him for forgiveness.

[49:42] forgiveness. You will not bow and give him the honor of trusting in his name. Stop your abuse of his name today. Honor his name by calling upon the name of Jesus to forgive you of your sins.

[49:58] To make you right with God and then go forth from this day glorifying that name. Speaking well of it. Living in a way that brings honor to it.

[50:08] and join the company of those who will praise his name forever and ever. Let's address that glorious God together. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we do want to see your name hallowed, that one name of God.

[50:26] And we are found out to be sinners before your law and we flee to this wonderful Savior that you sent to save us of our sins. and your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.

[50:41] Would you please wash and cleanse us by his precious blood and by the powerful working of his spirit that we might uphold that holy name wherever we go, whatever we are doing, whether singing your praises here or drinking water on our breaks.

[50:59] Give us to do all that we do for the honor of your name that the world might not have a wrong view of our God predominating, but that they might learn who this great God of heaven is, what a glorious, good, and saving God he is, but what a holy God, what a terrible enemy, what a glorious friend.

[51:21] Bring others to trust in the Savior today. We ask in his name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.