In The Name Of God!

In the Name of God

Exodus 20:7

© 2007 Eric Bain

NOTE: This sermon is available in audio format at www.sanctuary-church.com

HOOK –

Using my dad’s Gas Card

• A piece of plastic… with my father’s name on it.

• He gave it to me to use in case of an emergency

• Which was good cause I had an emergency… the first time I ran out of gas!

• So emergency was defined as - any time I needed Gas

• But then one day… something happened.

o I was experiencing an emergency

o When I happened to bring a bag of Combos and a soda to the counter

o The clerk asked me if I wanted to place the snacks… on the card?

• Emergency was redefined to include every time I needed a snack/soda

• Which turned into any time my buddy’s and I needed snacks/sodas

• I bet I charged thousands of dollars on that card over the years

• And do you know what?... I never even thought twice about it!

What do you think he would have done if he had caught me?

I called my dad this week to confess (I’m 37).

• He had no idea!

• I’m grounded… & I will no longer be getting an allowance from him!

Here’s the reason I bring this up. You see, this is a pretty clear example of me not only doing something that was clearly wrong. But I was misusing…

• My father’s name

• What it represents

• And the power and authority that it wields

POINT: What if I told you that many of us (right here in this room – right now) are do a similar thing to God. And just like me when I was a teen… I would venture to bet that we don’t even think twice about it. In other words, we do it… and we don’t even pause to think about how wrong it is.

Well, that’s what we’re going to talk about today. So, grab a Bible and open up to the book of Exodus, Chapter 20, verse 7…

We’ve been making our way through the 10 Commandments, talking about how they can be compared to a 10 pt tune up – not for your car – but for your life.

• You see, these Commands aren’t intended to be a legalistic set of rules that bind us up and tie us down

• But rather, they’re intended to be a set of life rules that lead us to the best possible life.

• That if we would just apply these Commands to our lives, then we would not experience bondage, as we might think… but rather… we would experience a new level of freedom.

The apostle Paul wrote much of the New Testament, and this is what he said about our faith… and legalism:

GAL 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

In other words, Paul would want us to realize that God is on our side and he wants us to experience the most amazing freedom! Not slavery!

But last week, we talked about idols… and how idols tend to burden us… they tend to weigh us down. Well, one of the things that didn’t get mentioned when I asked us to list off things that tend to become idols in our contemporary culture… was the Bible. Did you know that it’s possible to turn the Bible into an idol? And get this… when we do… it leads to something that is so heavy… and so miserable… and so oppressive… Paul describes it as slavery!

But God didn’t come to lead us to slavery. And the Bible wasn’t written to lead us to an oppressed… miserable… legalistic life! So, if we’re Christians, and that’s what we’re experiencing… something is wrong! And it might just be our perspective.

You see, God is on our side – God is on my side. (Say that with me! – Turn to the person next to you and say… God is on your side!)

• The Bible is the word of God revealed

• And it was written out of a deep love and passion for us

• Not to lead us to slavery… but to guide us to the best possible life

I believe that. God is on our side!

From the 1st Commandment we learned…

• We need to come to a point where we love God with all our heart… mind… soul… strength…

• Then in addition to that… we need to put him at the front of the line.

o In other words, because of our love for him… and because of the respect and honor that he is due… we view everything else in life through the lens of our relationship with him.