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.
o You see, a relationship with God changes/influences everything else in your life.
Again… it doesn’t lead us to slavery!
It leads us to the best possible life… in every area of our life!
From the 2nd Commandment we learned…
• We have a tendency to make idols
• We make idols every time we adapt something from our culture…
o And use it to inform us about God’s will.
Money… relationships… security… (lot’s of examples)
o POINT: We let these idols lead us… as if they are God!
o We bow down to them. In other words, we give them more honor & respect than they deserve.
o We worship them
o We serve them
But again… that just leads us back to slavery. So we need to destroy these idols.
The message of the 2nd Commandment was…
Don’t let our culture influence our relationship with God, in such a way…
that we begin to bow down… and worship an idol…
and yet we call it God!
Today we come to the 3rd Commandment. It’s found in Exodus, Chapter 20, verse 7…
EX 20:7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Now let me just say, right off the bat… to say that this command is about cussing…
• In other words, to say that it’s about misusing using words like God… Jesus… or Jesus Christ… as a form of expletive…
• Well, that’s not really what this is about!
• I mean, I guess in one sense you could apply it that way… but to do so… would be to soooo greatly trivialize what this command is getting at… that I don’t even want to waste my time there!
• Am I clear?
Now that I’ve likely offended somebody in the room… let me talk a little bit about God and history. You see, I think before we can really come to an understanding of what this Command means for us today, we need to know something about God & history. And that’s that God has been in the process of revealing more and more of himself… throughout all of history.
In other words… what the 3rd Commandment meant to the early Hebrews is going to be quite different than what it’s going to mean to us today, because over time… God has revealed more and more about himself… to us!
Let me give you an example:
• The 10 Commandments can be thought of as the core of the OT Law
o In other words, the original Hebrews believed that following this Law was the way into right relationship with God
• But the NT, something new is revealed….
o And that’s that… Nobody could live up to the law!
o In other words, the standard is too high…
o We always seem to mess up…
o So really, all the Law seems to do… is point out our inadequacy
• But in the NT we also learn that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law
o In other words, the 10 Commandments are really just pointing to Jesus
o And that the way into a right relationship with God isn’t through a remarkable ability to follow the Law
o But rather the humble ability to admit that we can’t do it on our own
o That we literally need Jesus… and therefore we begin… to follow him.
So, it’s this idea of something that’s introduced in the OT… and then is developed and built on over time… throughout history… as God reveals more and more about himself.
Well, early on the Hebrews looked at the 3nd Commandment…
EX 20:7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God
And unlike myself – when I was 16 – misusing my father’s name on his credit card…
• They not only recognized that there was great power and authority in that name!
• But they also recognized that God’s name was something sacred!
You see, in the ancient days, someone’s name was symbolically equivalent to the actual person.
• So to name somebody… was to exercise authority over them
• To know somebody’s name… was to possess power over them
• The point is… the god’s don’t reveal their personal names!
But the God of the Hebrews was different…
• He chose to reveal his personal name
• It was an extraordinary privileged… representing a unique relationship!
• You see, this wasn’t some distant, anonymous deity… but rather it was a being with a personal name… and he chose to share that name… Yahweh!
It was a name that was so revered… so sacred… that in time, they quit saying the name. In other words, you didn’t vocalize, Yahweh – it was too sacred to pronounce! You might misuse the name. So rather, they replaced Yahweh with adonai, which means “my Lord.”
Ironically, this is an example… of God’s love turned into legalism.
• You see, God’s name is reverent… it is sacred (they had that down).
• But what they misunderstood… was that God shared his name with his followers… because of his relationship with them.
• In other words, to allow them to be closer to him…
ILL – Sheila Gallegos (Sp?) (Guy-a-gos)
o Chase’s new school nurse
o She’s a really great nurse
o When I first met Sheila, she introduced herself as Ms. Gallegos
o To which I said… Nice to meet you, Sheila.
o As if to say… You’re going to be taking care of my chronically ill child. I want to have a closer relationship than just Ms. Gallegos.
o (pause) She responded, It’s Ms. Gallegos!
o She was letting me know she didn’t want that close of a relationship yet.
So the point is… God shared his personal name with his followers…
• He was allowing them to be closer to him
• But they turned the privilege of knowing his name… into bondage. And they did it the moment they said… You must never pronounce his name.
Thankfully, God didn’t leave it at that. But rather, he took it to the next level when he literally lowered himself to our level and became a human
• His name… was Jesus
Flip in your Bibles to the book of John, Chapter 10, verse 22… (page number ________)
JN 10:22 Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade (a courtyard). 24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ… tell us plainly."
The Christ, meaning… the Holy One of God… the Messiah… the God’s Promised Savior…
So the Jews are asking… If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."
Verse 25…
JN 10:25 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you don’t believe! The miracles I do in my Father’s name… speak for me. 26 But you do not believe because you are not my sheep (my followers). 27 My followers listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father - who has given them to me - is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one."
JN 10:31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, "I’ve shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
JN 10:33 "We are not stoning you for any of these miracles," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy… because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
You see, Jesus said… I and the Father are one
What the Jews understood… is that Jesus was claiming to be God!
• Now that can be confusing: How can Jesus be God… and be human?
• That’s something you need to work out in your theology!
But the point is… God chose to further his relationship with us, by not just giving his name…
• But by lowering himself to our level
• By coming here
• By revealing himself… as a human
• And get this, Jesus said that if we are his followers… Well then we’re also his friends!
Now think about that…
• If we’re a slave… then we’re in bondage… and we obey because we have to!
• But if we’re truly a friend… then we obey… because we want to!
• You see, a slave driver tells you what to do… only to benefit himself.
• But a true friend only tells you what to do… to benefit you… or maybe… to benefit your relationship.
• The truth is, we may not always understand what our friends tell us to do… but we trust our true friends.
Another thing that the early Hebrews did… was they swore oaths… in God’s name.
• You see, if God’s name has such power, authority and reverence… by what greater thing could you swear by?
• To swear an oath in God’s name was the most powerful kind of oath.
o We see remnants of this today when you go into the court room and swear on the Bible
• Nonetheless, as a result of this understanding… some took the 2nd Commandment to be addressing false oaths.
• In other words, telling us, that if we swear an oath in God’s name… we darn well better keep it!
But then some time passes, and Jesus comes along, and he corrects that misunderstanding.
Flip to the book of Matthew, Chapter 5, verse 33. (Page ________)
MT 5:33 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all (again, not cussing): either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your `Yes’ be `Yes,’ and your `No,’ `No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
To summerize… Jesus said, Don’t lie!
• You don’t need to swear by anything… just have integrity!
• When you say you’ll do something… do it!
• When you say you won’t do something… don’t do it!
o Certainly don’t say… I’ll pray about it.
o Just let your No be No.
o And your Yes be… Yes.
Well, that’s pretty clear…
But what about the 2nd Commandment?
Don’t misuse the name of God!
Well, I have to tell you, the more I looked into this… the more I studied Scripture… the more I thought… prayed and meditated… the more it completely blew my mind! And to be honest, I don’t think I have my mind wrapped around it yet. In fact, I’m not sure I ever will. But let me share with you… what I think this is getting at…
Throughout the Bible… the name of God and the actual being of God are used interchangeably.
In other words, often when the Bible speaks of something in the name of God… it is actually stressing the essential identity of God.
• Who he is
• What he’s like
• His character
• Mind
• Purpose
In other words, saying that you believe in the name of Jesus (as it is Biblically used)… is synonymous with, and the summation of… saying that you believe in…
• Jesus himself… In all of his fullness
• One with Yahweh
• His purpose… his passion… his identity
• His power… his authority…
All of it… rolled up in one… in his name!
It’s like the most powerful… potent… complete way of saying… God!
But, get this… Jesus teaches that we can be in him… as he is in God. That’s not to say that we can be God… but rather, that we can function… in his name!
In other words, when we become his follower… we somehow… in some way… become him!
I am no longer Eric Bain, but I am Christ… in Eric Bain! And that blows my mind!
Eric Bain is…
• A looser!
• He’s a…
o Weak
o Foolish
o Prideful
o Egocentric
o Scared… individual!
But I am no longer Eric Bain… I am Christ in Eric Bain!
You see, the old Eric Bain has been…
• Washed
• Sanctified
• And Justified
And Christ in Eric Bain
• Is a conqueror!
• And I am…
o Powerful
o Wise
o Humble
o I have a mission
o Sacrificial
• And I have no fear… because I am victorious!
I am, who I am, in my heart of hearts…
• Before the world beats me down
• Before sin grabs a hold
o I am beautiful
o I am sacred
o And I am loved
I am Christ in Eric Bain… and in his name I can…
• Bring hope to the world
• I can bring joy to any situation
• Commune with God
• I can call down the angels
• I can perform miracles
• I can bring healing
• I can declare God’s word without shame or fear
• I can see lives transformed
o Sins forgiven
o Faith restored
• And one more thing that is so often forgotten… I can live in unity with others that are also in his name!
I am Christ in Eric Bain…
And every second I live any other way… I am misusing the name of God!
Did you know Jesus prayed specifically for us. This is what he prayed…
JN 17:20 "I pray for those who will believe in me through the message of my disciples… 21 that all of them may be one - Father - just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them… and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
The message of the 3rd Commandment for us today is…
Stop acting like who you were…
And start living like who you are!
You are you… in the name… of God!
Amen! Let’s pray!
© 2007 Eric Bain
