Turn with me to Psalm 145. Psalm 145, you probably noticed that's the song that we just sang, a setting of Psalm 145. I want to read together this chapter this morning in connection with the third commandment. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Psalm 145. Hear now the Word of God. I will exalt you, my God, the King. I will praise your name forever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. His greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another. They will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty. And I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works. and I will proclaim Your great deeds. They will celebrate Your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of Your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all. He has compassion on all He has made. All You have made will praise You, O Lord. Your saints will extol You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might, so that all men may know of Your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him. He hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise His holy name forever. And ever. If you would turn with me in the back of the Psalter Hymnal to Lord's Day 36. Lord's Day 36, page 50. As we find there, questions and answers 99 and 100. Again, as we continue our consideration of the Ten Commandments as explained by the Heidelberg Catechism. And we confess our answers here together. Question 99 asks, What is God's will for us in the third commandment? That we neither blaspheme nor misuse the name of God by cursing, perjury, or unnecessary oaths, nor share in such horrible sins by being silent bystanders. In a word, it requires that we use the holy name of God only with reverence and awe so that we may properly confess Him, pray to Him, and praise Him in everything we do and say. Is blasphemy of God's name by swearing and cursing really such serious sin that God is angry also with those who do not do all they can to help prevent it and to forbid it? Yes, indeed. No sin is greater. No sin makes God more angry than blaspheming His name. That is why He commanded the death penalty for it. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, some people like to collect autographs of famous or well-known people. I remember it as a boy, my sisters used to have autographed books. Not a lot of autographs of famous people in northwest Iowa. But they would have them just the same. And maybe even some of the children here have an autograph tucked away in a special drawer somewhere. Maybe of a professional athlete like Tony Gwynn. Maybe he wrote his name on a piece of paper. That's his autograph. Now, of course, I'm not sure why so many people are interested in other people's signatures. Maybe somehow it makes them feel special, makes them feel like they are someone. But we do know that even today, autographs of certain people who are long dead are sometimes worth a lot of money. Yet there's really only one autograph that really counts, isn't there? And that's God's autograph, which is His name. To be sure, people will pay big bucks for an authentic autograph of a formerly famous dead person. But God's autograph, His name, is often tossed around as absolutely meaningless. As we continue to consider the commandments of our God in order, we are reminded once again that the God of Scripture is the one and only God who is to be worshipped properly. You recall the first commandment deals with God Himself. The second commandment deals with our worship of Him. And now with the third commandment, it deals with our attitude toward Him reflected in our attitude toward His name. And that's because His name stands for who He is. His name stands for everything about Him. And therefore, when we honor His name, we honor Him. But the dangerous truth, beloved, is that this commandment is probably sinned against more violently and ignorantly than any other commandment. And that's because both religious and irreligious, both pulpit and pew, both sinner and saint, take God's name in vain. With regard to this third commandment, I preach to you grateful living through the proper acknowledgement of God's glorious name. As we notice, first of all, the importance of His name. Secondly, the proper use of His name. And finally, the punishment for misusing His name. Now, of course, we know that when it comes to our names, our names really do little more than identify us. Our names really don't say a whole lot about us. But with the name of God, His whole being is wrapped up in His name. And that's why, as we consider the third commandment and the catechism's explanation of it, we first need to be reminded of the importance of His name. because only when we understand how important His name is, will this commandment even begin to make sense to us. And of course, there's only one place where we can go to learn about that important name, and that is from God's own Word. Again, we said that God's name is His autograph. And like with you and me, it deals with His reputation. Now, we cannot escape the truth that there is a reputation, Whether that reputation is good or whether it is bad, but there is a reputation that is associated with our names. When you hear certain names such as Adolf Hitler or O.J. Simpson or Judas Iscariot or King David or Abraham Lincoln or John Calvin or any number of names, undoubtedly certain things come to mind. Yet nothing can compare with the reputation of God. When Moses asked God what His name is in order to tell the people of Israel, God identified Himself, we know, as I Am. Not I was, not I will be, I am. In other words, He is self-existent. He is life completely and totally in Himself. He is independent. He doesn't depend on anyone or anything else for His own existence, unlike us. We are dependent. We depend upon Him completely for everything. He is from everlasting to everlasting. He is without beginning and without end. He is not limited by anyone or anything. And as well, He is the one who enters into covenant with His people. But then also, God's reputation is intimately tied to His being. In other words, what He does matches who He is. Yahweh, the great I Am, identifies Himself through His names. When we speak of the name of God, as we have it here in Psalm 145, that's like an umbrella over all His names given to Him in Scripture. But His names identify Him. For example, Elohim refers to God as the Almighty Creator and Preserver of all things. Yahweh Sabaoth means Lord of hosts. El Shaddai means God Almighty. And there are many other names that speak of God's sovereignty and His righteousness and His providence and that speak of all of His attributes. And what this means is that the name of God reveals His glory and His majesty and His fame. Psalm 135, verse 13 says, Your name, O Lord, endures forever. Your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations. Psalm 19, verse 1 says, The heavens declare the glory of God in the firmament shows His handiwork. And that means that God's signature is on everything He has made. And therefore, David can say in Psalm 8, verse 1, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth. You have set Your glory above the heavens. We read Psalm 145 and David begins, I will exalt You, my God the King. I will praise Your name forever and ever. Every day I will praise You and extol Your name forever and ever. Now why is this? Why can David do this? He goes on to explain throughout the rest of the chapter. Verse 3 says, Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. His greatness no one can fathom. And then he goes on to tell what that greatness is. He speaks of God's works, of His mighty acts, of His majesty and greatness and goodness, of His righteousness, of His loving kindness, His mercy, glory, power, His everlasting kingdom, His dominion, provision, kindness, and nearness, and all of these glorious things are wrapped up in His name. And therefore, when we hear or when we speak of the name of God, these attributes are to shape our image of God. Because these things describe the importance of His name. Again, our names are virtually meaningless. when it comes down to it. But God's name is filled with meaning. According to Isaiah 56, verse 6, to love the name of the Lord is to love Him. Jeremiah 23, verse 27 tells us that to cause His people to forget the name of the Lord is the same as to forget Him. Psalm 105 teaches us that to call upon the name of the Lord is to call upon Him as He has revealed Himself to His people. His name is near, the psalmist says. His name is holy and great, Ezekiel 36 says. His name is a strong tower unto which the righteous run and are saved according to Proverbs 18. Psalm 20 teaches us that the name of the God of Jacob defends those that trust in Him. Are you beginning to see why it is that to take the Lord's name in vain is to attack His very being and to attack all of His blessings. You see, congregation, the name of the Lord reveals who He is and what He has done. His name is matchless and the most wonderful thing His name reveals for you and me as believers is salvation through the most precious name, Jesus. Jesus Christ Himself is God's signature of salvation. His name is above all other names and there is no other name given by which we might be saved. Repentance and remission of sins must be preached in His name among all nations. And the whole revelation of God was written as John 20 verse 31 says, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. What is so important about the name of God? His name means life. And especially eternal life for His people. And since our life comes from and is bound up with Him, our entire life revolves around His name. And therefore, we also then need to be instructed about the proper use of His name. Question and answer 99 once again. What is God's will for us in the third commandment? That we neither blaspheme nor misuse the name of God by cursing, perjury, or unnecessary oaths, nor share in such horrible sins by being silent bystanders. In a word, it requires that we use the holy name of God only with reverence and awe so that we may properly confess Him, pray to Him, and praise Him in everything we do and say. The proper use of God's name includes, first of all, not misusing His name or using it improperly. To blaspheme or abuse the name of God is to separate His name from the truth about Him. Who He is and what He has done as we have just taken the time to describe. To blaspheme His name is to make something that is uncommon make it common. And therefore, with regard to the name of God, it is to wipe out or destroy the distinction between His name and other names. It is to use His name in the service of sin and corruption and to use it to our own advantage. And again, this is done by taking His name in vain. The commandment says, You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Boys and girls, to take God's name in vain is to take it upon our lips. To raise it up, to use it, to speak it in an empty, wasteful, meaningless, worthless, and degrading way. It is to use the name of God flippantly, unthinkingly, falsely, evilly, and wickedly. It is to tear it apart from His majesty. And the Catechism describes doing this by cursing, by perjury, and by unnecessary oaths. I think it would be wise for us to consider some practical examples that no doubt will make each one of us squirm a little bit in our seat. I know it does me, and I hope it does, that it will you as well. You see, when we consider perjury, we're talking about lying. All lying, but especially after having promised to tell the truth. For example, in a court of law, so help you God. But all lying is attack upon the God of truth. As well, unnecessary oath-taking, which is done to give weight to what we are saying or to try to convince another that we are telling the truth. It's dangerous. When I was a boy, sometimes we would say, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye in order to be convincing. But how wrong and how dangerous this is to hope to die, to stick a needle in my eye. You see, beloved, that's messing with the sovereignty of God, the Creator, who also created me. But since these two things, perjury and oath-taking, And since they are considered more comprehensively in the next Lord's Day, then I would like us to concentrate on what it means to take God's name in vain by cursing. Cursing. Or as it is considered, blasphemy, which is insulting to God. It shows disrespect for Him. And what we need to understand is that since God's name reveals Him in all of His creative work, His power, and all things about Him. And since He Himself says in Romans 1 that what may be known of God is manifest in creation so that His invisible attributes are clearly seen. In other words, since His autograph is on all of creation, to misuse creation in any way is to misuse His name. As well, to break any other commandment is attack against God and is also taking His name in vain. This cursing or blasphemy, we know, takes place both verbally and non-verbally. And unfortunately, we are all most likely familiar with verbal cursing. It's hard to escape because it takes place all around us. Wherever there are people, there is cursing and taking God's name in vain. But you see, beloved, this is evidence of a lack of knowledge of God and a lack of fear and reverence for God. Cursing and swearing is to make a plaything of God's name. It is to throw it around as meaningless. What happens is that God's name becomes a vehicle or an instrument to express all kinds of corrupt emotions, sinful wrath and anger, bitterness, rebellion, hatred, envy. and malice, you all know what I'm talking about. I know you do. We all know what we're talking about. As well, God's name or forms of God's name are used for expressions of exclamation or surprise or simply used out of sinful habit. And allow me now to be a little more specific. We know that unfortunately it's not uncommon to hear those who utter exclamations such as, Oh my God! Or Jesus Christ! And maybe I should ask you, does that offend you? I hope it does. But whether it does or does not, you need to know that God is greatly offended. Many pray, hallowed be thy name. Holy be thy name, O Lord. May your name be lifted up and exalted. May the earth bow before your holy name. But then they turn around by treating his name as nothing. There's nothing. But what about golly, gosh, and geez? Which many say, even around here. Many, maybe even some of you here, don't think that there is anything wrong with using these words. But I ask you to think seriously about this. And I submit to you that if you think this through, that you will agree, I hope that you will agree, that using these terms takes God's name in vain. If you look these terms up, these words up in Webster's Dictionary, you will find that it says that golly and gosh are euphemisms, boys and girls, substitutes for God. And G is a substitute for Jesus. And you might say, well, why would we worry about what Webster's has to say? What does that matter to us? But think about this. If the secular world, most of which doesn't believe in or acknowledge God or Jesus Christ, if the secular world understands, they can read it just like you and me, if it understands that these words are substitutes for God and Jesus, how much more is it our responsibility, as Christians, not to misuse God's name by using these words, which treat Him as nothing. Especially in front of those who already treat Him as nothing. Now you might also say, well, I don't mean anything by it when I use these words. It's just a habit. Well, I submit to you that that's almost worse. Because then you unthinkingly use God's name in a useless way. And we need to be reminded that whether it's a habit or not, the sin has still been committed. And we also need to be reminded that the guilt of sin is not dependent. It does not depend upon whether we mean it or not. These expressions have no place in our homes, in this church building, in our school, in our vocabulary, in our Christian walk. In short, they have no place in our lives. but this also includes the flippant use, for example, of other words like hell. Hell is a place that must be taken seriously because it is the place of God's wrath, and when it is used in a vain and thoughtless way, it is to mock the place where God's wrath burns eternally. And when one damns another, which means to call down a curse upon another, And incidentally, forms of this word are included. Dang, dang it, darn. They all mean the same thing, whether you think so or not. When one damns another or tells them to go to hell, that also is to mess with the sovereignty of God, to do something that only He can rightfully and truthfully do. And unfortunately, the examples are endless, And each of us must think before we speak. When we tell or hear cute little jokes about St. Peter and the pearly gates or jokes which incorporate any part of Scripture to convey a humorous idea, we are not filled with reverence for the Father's house or His Word. And believe me, I'm guilty. I've told those jokes. I've laughed heartily at those jokes. But as believers, in a way, we are also in greater danger of violating this commandment than even the world because of our attitude at times toward worship and our own spiritual lives. And that is when, as Isaiah says, we draw near to God with our lips, but our hearts are far from Him. How often do we pray just because it seems like the right thing to do? Or even worship. Come to worship because it's the right thing to do, but there's no sincerity in it? How often don't we rush through mealtime prayers or even our devotions just for the sake of doing it, to say that we did it? How often do we sing psalms and hymns in the assembly of God's people with every outward appearance of piety, but once the song is over, we really have no idea of what we just sang? What is worse? Ignorantly taking God's name in vain in the bar, which is not right, or piously taking it in vain in church. When we sleep in on Sunday morning only to rush to church without thinking why we are coming and miss God's greeting. Not my greeting. God's greeting, which is important. Only then to sing as we did last Sunday evening, my soul is longing, fainting, thy sacred courts to see. Then adding, My heart and flesh are crying, O living God, for Thee. Kind of a contradiction, isn't it? This ought to remind us, as Answer 100 says, For no sin is greater or makes God more angry than blaspheming His name. Beloved, in so many ways, we do not take God seriously. So often we take God and His name for granted and we rob Him of His rightful honor. The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins, What is the chief end of man? And we know the answer. To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. God created our mouth to glorify and praise Him and to take God's name in vain is to use our mouth for the very opposite reason that God placed us here. But the catechism also warns us of partaking in the breaking of this commandment by being silent bystanders. Again, I'm terribly guilty. When another takes the Lord's name in vain in our presence, His cursing throws the pure name of God in the mud and when we remain silent, we leave it there. To take God's name in vain is to neutralize or to try to neutralize Him. To treat Him as nothing or meaningless. To treat Him as non-existent. For example, the wrong understanding of the separation of church and state has neutralized God in many, if not most, areas of life. For example, our nation's public schools, there in those schools, God is treated as non-existent. So that children are taught about this world, our Father's world, without reference to Him. But how can this be when the whole earth is full of His glory and His name is excellent in all the earth? You see, a neutral something may appear to respect the convictions of everyone involved, except Him who is supreme over all and the only one who truly deserves our respect, and that is God. Beloved, all of this is to step on God's reputation and His honor with the foot, and in a sense, grind it into the ground. You see, not one of us here, I trust, not one of us here likes it when our reputations are smeared and stained. And we even have laws in this land against that. Some have been imprisoned for libel. And we like it less when we are ignored. But this is what taking God's name in vain does. On the one hand, God's name is violated on TV and in the movies to add drama and suspense. But then on the other hand, it is ignored in school and politics and state and press. And the saddest thing is that in so many ways, we have become desensitized to it. But we are called to stand up against those who take God's name in vain. We would do it for our spouse, wouldn't we? Yeah, we would. We would do it for our children or our parents. We would do it for our best friend. We would do it without even thinking. Why? Because we love them. We love them. How are we to use God's name? The second half of answer 99. In a word, it requires that we use the holy name of God only with reverence and awe so that we may properly confess Him, pray to Him, and praise Him in everything we do and say. And notice again from Psalm 145, beginning at verse 4. One generation will commend your works to another. They will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty. And I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works. and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. Verse 10, All you have made will praise you, O Lord. Your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Verse 21, My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise His holy name forever and ever. Very simply, our God must be at the forefront of all of our thoughts and words and actions. Our entire attitude toward life and living and the things of this life must be shaped by the glory of God. And our motivation for excellence in education, at work, in relationships, in the home and everywhere, our motivation must be the sanctity of God's reputation. We are called to lift up, to praise, to give glory and honor to God's name. Congregation, even the most trivial misuse of God's name, whether we mean it or not, is dangerous, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. The punishment for misusing his name is death. In Leviticus 24, we read of the son of an Israelite mother, an Egyptian father who got into an argument with a man in Israel. And Scripture says he blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed. And what did the Lord say? Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. And Paul includes blasphemers in the litany of those who shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. God is jealous for the honor of His name. His name, which is a revelation, His revelation of His very being. And those who ignore Him and His being by taking His name and His reputation in vain will be ignored by His grace. For those who take His name in vain by rejecting that name above all names, the name of Jesus, they treat salvation as something trivial, as something worth very little. For salvation is in no other name. And for them, there will be no eternal life, but only eternal death. But God's people, those who confess with Isaiah, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips. And by God's grace, turn to him who experienced firsthand what it meant that God commanded that blasphemy of his name be punished by death. Those who turn to him, by the grace of God, enjoy the forgiveness of all their sins, even taking God's name in vain. Boy, but this is an awesome thing. Especially when I consider these first three commandments and even the fourth commandment. Those who deal directly with God. God even forgives those sins. Matthew 12, verse 34 says, For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. Very simply, your mouth will speak what's in your heart. If your heart is filled with the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, that's what will flow from your lips. If your heart is empty of Him, then only emptiness and vanity will flow from your lips. Jesus Christ was accused of blasphemy. That was the charge, remember? That was the charge that nailed Him to the cross. But don't forget, beloved, He was crushed for our iniquities. And as someone has said, he who kept silent when he should have kept silent died to atone for our silence when we should have spoken and for our speaking when we should have been silent. Paul says in Romans 11, verse 33, Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out. And that's what I believe we have right here. When we consider our treatment of this commandment, we must know how true this is, that God, in His mercy and in His grace, would take those who have given Him a bad reputation and ignored His identity by our sin and freely given to us a new identity in Him through our Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, may we walk in the light of His name every moment of every day. And as Scripture says, may we praise His name. Trust in His name. Seek refuge in His name. And above all, give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. What is our comfort? Notice again verse 18. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. Praise be to God for His signature of salvation in Jesus Christ and for His eternal autographed book, the book of life, in which He has written the names of every single one of His elect, those who would believe on Him. And He has sealed them with the blood of Jesus. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we thank You again for Your Holy Word. We thank You for Your name, Your name which is above all names. Your name which is glorious and splendid and magnificent. Father, we confess that so often we do damage to Your holy name. Whether thinking or unthinking. And for this we are truly sorry. We pray, Lord, that You would work in our hearts and lives more and more by the power of Your Spirit. That every day we would use Your name in a way that glorifies You more and more. That we would not speak without thinking, but more and more we would think before we speak. And thereby would You be glorified and honored and praised. Father, sometimes these things that we hear from Your Holy Word are difficult. These life lessons sometimes step on our toes, oh so hard and heavy. We pray, Father, that You would, through this, increase, strengthen our faith and increase our assurance in the salvation which is ours in Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name alone we pray. Amen.