Word of Salvation – Vol.47 No.48 – December 2002
Our Use Of God’s Name
Sermon by Rev. M. P. Geluk on Lord’s Days 36 & 37
(Q&A 99-102 Heid Cat) & Exodus 20:7
Scripture Readings: Ecclesiastes 5:1-7; James 3:1-12
Suggested Hymns: BoW 407:1,2; 371:1,5; 496; 8a:1,2; 176
Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Most people are very touchy about their name and personal reputation. No one enjoys being a victim of malicious gossip or false accusations. People with high profiles in public life will take others who drag their name through the mud to court. The threat of court action teaches people to think twice before they try a smear campaign and spread false accusations about a person’s name.
But not many folk get as upset when someone publicly ridicules Jesus Christ. There is no court case when someone says that going to church is a sheer waste of time. Some want legislation that bans Christians from witnessing about the gospel. And the law that was against people mocking God’s standards of right and wrong is long gone. We’ve become used to hearing that Christian missionaries have made bad mistakes in bringing Christian teaching to Australian aborigines because it helped destroy their tribal culture. Saying something negative about homosexual lifestyles can get you into trouble, but television shows that ridicule the Christian lifestyle are considered harmless.
We Christians must not forget where our name comes from. We are called ‘Christians’ because we are members of Christ and confess His name. It is not our reputation but Christ’s that is on the line. We all know that it just takes one dishonest evangelist, one bigoted believer, one fanatic church member to do immense damage to Christ’s church in the world. Damage that far outweighs the good done by a thousand honest, balanced and peaceful Christians. That may seem unfair, but it’s a fact. The hostile world will take that single misstep by one Christian and consider it more representative of what we truly are than a thousand good deeds.
If misrepresenting Christ is a bad thing, refusing to represent Him at all is even worse. Jesus tells us that anyone who is unwilling to carry the name ‘Christian’, anyone who will not stand up before others and say, “I am a follower of Jesus Christ”, and anyone who denies Jesus, will be denied by the Lord Himself. Some day that person is going to be standing in front of all the angels in heaven and Jesus will say, “You don’t belong here! You never confessed my name. How can you expect to be one of my family now?”
To be named with the name of Christ is a great privilege. It’s greater than sharing the name of royalty or of some famous person. It signals where we stand in life and whose side we are on. It sets us over against sin and the devil, and lines us up with goodness and God.
And now the third commandment says that we must not misuse the name of the Lord our God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name.
We are, then, speaking about OUR USE OF GOD’S NAME.
- Our use of God’s name – it is from heaven or hell?
It is the custom in some churches right at the beginning of the worship service to hear the words from Psalm 124:8, “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Liturgically speaking, this part in the order of service is called by its Latin name, the Votum, which means a declaration. We are declaring that our help is in the name of the Lord. Right up front, before we do anything else, we say that we expect our help from the Lord, because He is the Maker of heaven and earth. There is none more powerful than God.
Straight after the Votum comes the Salutation. It’s God’s greeting to His people. It goes something like this: “Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” In His greeting to us, as we come before Him to worship Him, God tells us who He is by describing Himself as our Father and Christ Jesus as our Lord. In response to this declaration about God and a greeting from God, the congregation sings an appropriate psalm or hymn of praise to God.
It would be quite inappropriate, therefore, to begin the worship service with a folksy “Good morning, congregation!” Such words are fine for greeting people to a congregational meeting or a Bible study but not for the beginning of a public worship service where God speaks to His covenant people.
Similarly, the benediction at the conclusion of the worship service. “Benediction” literally means “good words”. They are also from God and go something like this: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God our Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” We are sent on our way with the blessing of God’s triune name pronounced over us. His grace, love and fellowship are with us as we leave church and step back into the world.
Therefore, the declaration and greeting at the beginning of a worship service and the benediction at the conclusion are very much in keeping with what God requires in the third commandment, the honouring of God’s name.
Then notice how Jesus fulfilled this commandment by using His Father’s name with honour and respect. He said to His Father, “I have revealed (your name) to those whom you gave me out of this world” (Jn 17:6). I have revealed your name, the Lord says. Christ makes God known to us as He brings us the gospel of salvation. Jesus also prayed, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name” (Jn.17:11).
In sticky situations people sometimes mention the name of someone who is known for their influence and power. A defenceless boy being set upon by a bully might say, “Don’t mess with me, my Dad is a policeman!” and hopes the bully believes him. Grownups might say, “I would like to get a job here. My father is a director on the board that controls the company.” People hope the name alone will protect them from danger, or give them advantages.
The Christian has God as the most powerful name to protect him in life and in death. There is salvation in the name of God. The Bible says, “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21). The whole church is baptised into only one name, the name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Mat.28:19). The apostles declared without fear, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
The Australian historian, Manning Clark, did not believe that. He said that God is dead, which is curious because his book, “A Short History of Australia”, is peppered with words and phrases that come from the Word of God, except this one: “At the name of Jesus every knee will bow …and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father” (Phil 2:10,11). At Jesus’ coming on the final day of history, Manning Clark will not bow before in God in worship, but he will be made to bow before God, whom he thought did not exist. The submission of all God’s enemies will bring glory to the Father. It is God who triumphs in the end.
However, to the Christian God is very precious because we know that we owe our very lives to Him as the Creator. We believe that we are forgiven of all our sins through Christ the Redeemer and that we have God the Spirit living in us. For all those reasons, and many more, we want to use His name with reverence and awe. Think of someone precious to you whose name is slandered and terrible untrue things are said about that person. You would object and protest in the strongest way possible. How much more should we do all we can to have God’s name kept holy.
Among the good things on television there is also a lot of rubbish, as we all know. What often offends most is the constant swearing. God’s name is used in vain. Christians want to use God’s name with reverence and awe, which is the way heaven approves. But the profanities that are uttered in some movies are echoes from hell.
The hero’s gun jams at the critical moment and he spits out the word “Christ!” But he is not using the Lord’s name in worship. He is frustrated and angry and the use of Christ’s precious name in that context becomes a terrible blasphemy. The woman sees a disaster happening and her hand goes to her mouth and calls out, “Oh my God”. But we know very well from the way she has portrayed herself in the film she is far from being a believer in God.
Does frequent swearing at your work still bother you? Do we still cringe when we hear such blasphemies? When people deliberately misuse the name of the Lord in such terrible ways, then our attitude may well be the same as the psalmist. He said, “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies” (Ps.139:21,22). You still pray for their conversion so the hate is not of the kind that’s wants to see such people struck by lightning on the spot. But the way they misuse God’s precious name with their foul and blasphemous talk can make it very difficult for the Christian to like such people.
In James, Chapter 3, it says that the tongue, though only a small part of the body, can make great boasts. Just like that small bit in the horse’s mouth can control the whole animal, or that small rudder can steer a big ship, so also can the tongue do big things. With that little tongue we Christians can praise our great God and Father, but that same small tongue can use God’s name in vain, or speak about His wonderful works in a critical way.
Why do people swear and use God’s name in vain? Mostly they are not even aware that they are doing it. They probably never pray to God or worship Him. Yet in the very moment they see that car crashing into them, or that big wave is about to knock them off the rock, they say, “Christ”, or “Oh my God”. Is the mind of such a person admitting in the moment of disaster that God rules after all? And is that admittance a not wanting to seek God’s mercy but to curse His name in angry defiance? Is that why people swear?
And why are God’s ways sometimes ridiculed? Is it because deep down sinful man realises that God will have His way but they don’t like it so they attack Him with ridicule? And why are people sometimes bitter about God? Is it because deep down in their hearts there is deep disappointment with God because the outcome of His will was different from what they expected or hoped would happen?
God is sovereign. That’s why Job had a problem. It was God who dealt him terrible blows. And God never explained why. Yet God is always pure and holy. Job knew that, and it stopped him from cursing God. Yet Job did grumble a lot. How important, then, that Christians control their thoughts and watch their tongue. The psalmist says, “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer” (19:14). That means that we have to constantly make our thoughts and words God-honouring.
The apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Colossae, “Let your conversation be always full of grace” (4:6). Yes, God is the silent listener to all that comes out of our mouths. And the Lord Jesus said, “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mat.12:36).
- The good use and misuse of God’s name
God’s name is misused when our prayers are no more than routine mumbles. Prayer is a wonderful thing. It’s talking to God in response to Him talking to us through His Word. But God’s name is misused when the person praying in public is hoping that his prayer impresses others. It was one of the sins of the Pharisees.
The psalmist prayed that the Lord not remember the sins of his youth (25:7). Young people sin when they show irreverence in prayer and worship. God is speaking through His Word, or the congregation is responding to God in prayer and singing, and you’re not participating because you’re bored, or talking to someone else, or doing something that you shouldn’t be doing in worship.
When parents speak to their children and want to make sure the message gets through to them, they might say when speaking to them: “Look at me when I am talking to you.” God wants the same from His children. Having late Saturday nights, which could have been prevented, and then being too tired to concentrate in worship on Sunday is another misuse of God’s name. Through the prophet Isaiah God warned against bringing meaningless worship (1:13). Whoever calls on the name of the Lord must do so with awe and reverence.
Even preachers misuse God’s name when they talk glibly of God but their own hearts are not in it. And theologians misuse God’s name when they argue about God as if He were some mathematical formula. And elders, deacons and evangelists saying pious words at the right time, but from what they say at other times it makes you wonder if it is the same person.
It’s good for Christians to witness to others about the Lord having blessed them, or Christians saying that they are doing this or that for their Lord. But let such positive witness be backed up with godly lives and a humble obedience to God’s commandments. The teacher in Ecclesiastes gave this wise warning, “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your hearts to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few” (5:2).
That does not mean that God’s children may only use the name of the Lord when they are near perfect. Some Christians, acutely aware of the holiness of God and their own unworthiness, may well think it’s best to use the name of the Lord as little as possible. They limit the use of God’s name to worship in church and devotions at home but avoid it at any other time. Their children, as they grow older, do not even know how close Mum and Dad are to Christ, for their parents hardly speak about the Lord and His ways. Such children will find it difficult themselves to be open about their relationship to God for they had no role model at home.
Surely we may use the Lord’s name in a positive way. Using the Lord’s name in the right way can be a powerful witnessing tool. If you have prayed for health, or to find a house, a job, or a partner for life, then why not openly say so when you are talking to others about these things? It would dishonour God’s name when you as a Christian were to say that you were lucky to come out of that accident alive, or it was all your hard study that got you through the exams. Why not testify to God’s goodness to you? For how else can we as Christians let the world know that we have a heavenly Father who cares and loves us?
To speak of God in a loving and worshipful way is to give Him the place He deserves in our lives. Does not Scripture say, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Rom 10:9,10).
God has made Himself known in His Word and that Word is given to the church, which is made up of believers like you and me. It means that God has entrusted His name and His works to Christians like us. He has put His name in our mouth and on our tongues. God is honoured when you speak of Him to your children, friends and neighbours, “when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deut.6:7).
You may even swear by God’s name if you do it truthfully and in the right place. Our courts of law require it when you give evidence under oath. The oath taking should not be necessary for Christians, and among ourselves we have no need for it. Our ‘yes’ has to mean ‘yes’ and our ‘no’ has to mean ‘no’. But among people who have no regard for God, lying comes easy.
In court the jury and the judge want to be sure that the witness speaks the truth and therefore he or she is required to swear an oath. There are different formulations, but the traditional one is, with your hand on the Bible, saying, “I swear by almighty God that the evidence I give is the truth, the only truth and nothing but the truth – so help me God.” Anyone lying whilst under oath commits perjury and will be punished by men. But not only men, God will also call the false witness to account for His name was used in vain.
The third commandment uses an expression that is not found in any of the other nine commandments, namely, “…for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” And the Catechism says, “No sin is greater, no sin makes God more angry, than blaspheming His name. That is why He commanded the death penalty for it.”
This does not mean that there is no forgiveness for sins committed against the third commandment, because Christ can forgive any sin. But it does mean that God regards the use of His name very seriously. In the Old Testament blasphemy was punished by death. Of course, the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who breaks any of His commandments. All sin is punished by death. It is because of God’s grace that judgment on sin does not immediately happen. But on judgment day all sin will be punished by eternal death.
But God is also merciful and He says that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. That means to repent of sin and to believe in Christ as the Saviour. The cursing of God is a terrible sin but it can be repented of, like all other sins.
Supposing now that you have asked and received forgiveness of any misuse of God’s name – how should you now use His name? Well, in our worship of God at this very moment, God is among us, for where two or three are gathered in His Name, there He will be also. We have again been reminded of His holiness and awesome majesty. Therefore, would you not want to use His holy name with reverence and awe? Would you utter God’s name casually and carelessly when our Lord has suffered and died on the cross in order to save us from God’s judgment on blasphemy? Would you still swear when you are known as a follower and worshipper of Christ?
There is enough worth in Jesus’ name to pray with these words borrowed from Psalm 135:
“Let your name be praised O Lord.
We, your servants, praise your name.
We praise you, Lord, for you are good.
We sing praise to your name, for that is pleasant.
You have chosen your people to be your very own, your treasured possession.
We know that you are great, greater than all gods.
You, O Lord, do whatever pleases you,
in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.
You make clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
you send lightning with the rain
and bring out the wind from your storehouses…
Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
your renown, O Lord, through all generation.
You, O Lord, will vindicate your people
and have compassion on your servants.
The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
They have mouths but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see;
they have ears, but cannot hear,
nor is there breath in their mouths.
Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
We praise you, O Lord.”
Amen.