The Ten Commandments Lesson 3: Respecting The Name of the LORD | Devin LaBay

Good morning, church.

Well, it's good to see y'all this morning.

Again, to all of our visitors, thank you all for being here today.

We are honored to have you with us here at Central.

We're going to be talking about the name of the Lord this morning.

And you know, uh, who was it?

Was it Shakespeare that said what's in a name?

Um there's a story about um a young family, and uh it was late in this 1960s, actually the early 1970s out in the Haight Ashbury area uh of San Francisco.

And by this time, all of the flower children had pretty much vacated that area by and large because the rents had gone up and it was just a little bit more exclusive place to live.

And so this young family was was living there.

But the thing about it is uh a lot of these folks were were were uh upper middle, uh upper income uh folks of the same uh kind of philosophy.

And so they were naming their children all kinds of interesting names like Moonbeam uh and uh and flower and just different things like that.

And so this this young family um move into they move into the area and they send their son uh to to kindergarten.

And so he gets to kindergarten.

I can remember this being a kid during this time.

Uh he had a little his little circular piece of of leather that that that had the his bus number on it, okay.

And I remember when I was a kid, our bus, our buses for kindergarten were kind of weren't identified with numbers because we hadn't figured out numbers yet.

Uh, but they were they were designated by like uh animals.

So, you know, I would I rode the you know the elephant bus or whatever.

Um but anyway, they send their son to to school and um he can't read, obviously.

And so when he gets there, his kindergarten teacher welcomes him and says, Well, good morning, fruit stand.

And the kid doesn't say anything.

And so throughout the day, hey, it's uh fruit stand, would you like to color this picture?

Nothing.

Fruit stand, it's do you have your lunchbox?

Do you have your your lunch?

And he still did not respond to what he was being called.

And this kind of puzzled the teacher a little bit until the end of the day.

They're looking uh to for what bus to put him on, and and she she notices that uh there's no indicator underneath what she's been calling him all day to tell her what bus he goes on.

Okay, and then she flips his name tag over and sees a bumblebee in the name Anthony.

You think about what we're called.

You know, what our names have have meaning.

Uh different families, you know, pick different names for different reasons.

You know, you may be uh uh a William the III in your family, or you may be uh, you know, Robert Jr.

or whatever.

That's that's kind of a passing down of names within a family.

Um, you know, I've I have four biological brothers, David, Danny, Dean, and Darren.

I was not going to be named Bobby.

It wasn't gonna happen.

Okay.

And so at that point, my parents had somewhat of a predicament they had to find another D name so they could continue the thing.

And I came this close, I kid you not, I came this close to being named Derek.

But they chose Devin, a unisex name that I've had to struggle with my whole life, okay, and correct people, no, it's not O-N, it's I N, okay.

The O N is kind of the girly name.

So, you know, different families, different names, they have different meanings uh for everyone.

Um and the thing about it is, you know, uh we we all had D names, we all had Bible names.

So my first name is Mark.

But if you walk into a room and say, hey Mark, you're not talking to me.

I'm Devin.

And so this morning we're gonna talk about respecting the name of the Lord.

Now, in our culture and in our society, this really doesn't seem to be as big a deal as it should be.

And there's gonna be some things, and I'm gonna share with you this morning regarding this that you may in your mind be saying, Come on, Devin, really?

Are you serious?

Yeah, a little bit, a little bit.

I think we I think we kind of neglect this commandment more so than we ought to.

And so before we get into the message this morning, I I think we should ask the Spirit to share this with us and to be present uh in the message this morning.

So let's pray together.

Father God, we we thank you for loving us so much.

We're here because of your love for us, and we're here as your children to do the best we can in expressing our love for you in spite of ourselves.

We hope that our expression of love and worship this morning has been a blessing to you.

Jesus, we thank you for accepting the mission to come, to be like us in every way except for failure.

To be like us, to feel the things that we feel, to be tempted in every single way as we are, and yet not submit or succumb to it.

That gives us hope.

That gives us courage to live this life and knowing that what we face and what we challenge are challenged with, you were challenged with and you overcame it.

Lord, give us the courage and the and the love for you to be able to do the same, even though we will fall.

But praise God for the grace that's found in your blood that was shed for us.

Spirit, I pray that the message this morning will be yours, that you will speak to our hearts, speak to our minds, open our hearts and minds up to the message this morning, just beyond the spoken word, but what you really want us to know about respecting your name.

Lord, we love you and we thank you and we praise you for all that you are and all that you do for each one of us.

In Jesus we pray.

Amen.

There's a scene in the movie, The Sting, where Paul Paul Newman is setting the stage.

He's setting the table, he's setting up the one of the other main characters in the movie, Robert Shaw, for the big con, or the sting, as it would come about later in the movie.

And so they're on a train from uh going to Chicago, and Paul Newman's character uh is gotten himself into a pretty high-stakes card game with Robert Shaw's character, who's named Doyle Lonigan, Irish guy.

And so, in order to get under Lonegan's skin, Paul Newman's character keeps mispronouncing Robert Shaw's character's name.

He calls him everything you can possibly call him except by his his name, his true name.

Uh and so he keeps messing it up over and over and over again.

And by the end of the scene, Lonigan is ready to kill him.

I mean, he's literally telling his guys, hey, look, take him in the back of the train, take care of it before we get into the station.

I mean, he is mad.

He's lit because his name is being purposely misused in the scene.

You know, my name, LeBay, seems pretty simple to me.

It ain't that hard.

L A B A Y.

How can you possibly mispronounce that?

You would be amazed.

You would be amazed.

I've been called Mr.

Labby.

I've been called Mr.

Lab.

I even have family members who have put in a space put a space between La and Bay in order to make it easier.

Some people just can't figure it out.

It seems pretty simple to me.

And I'm sure that some of you have a very simple name, and it gets mangled every single time somebody else tries to pronounce it.

Here's the thing.

Because of that experience in my own life, it's always been very, very important to me to make sure that I get other people's names correct.

Now, why is that?

Because our names have meaning.

Our names are special to us and important to us.

And I want to show respect to someone by handling their name carefully and correctly and respectfully.

Church, the third commandment is all about respect.

Specifically, the respect of God's name.

Church, God's name represents who He is.

And when we show honor and respect for the name of God, we also in that process show honor and respect for the position of authority that the Lord holds in our life.

You know, there was a time in this country when we called people older than us, sir, and ma'am.

There was a time when the national anthem was played at any event that people would rise.

They would take gentlemen, but they would take their hats off.

Everyone would put their hand over their heart and they would stand respectfully for the national anthem.

Out of respect for those who had fought and those who had ultimately died for the freedom that we so often take for granted.

You didn't have to ask anybody to do those things.

You never had to ask anybody to do those things because everyone was taught to do those things.

Why?

Out of respect.

Church, I can understand the need to relax.

I can understand the upside to a more informal environment in the workplace and in the church to encourage efficiency in the workplace and acceptance in the church.

But to some degree, family, we need to realize that in our pursuit of informality in our society, we've lost our sense of honor and respect for our elders, for one another, and for the Lord.

Church God wants us to treat him with honor.

He wants us to treat him with respect and the honor and respect that is due him.

And the third commandment tells us, tells you and tells me that one of the most important ways in which we do that is by honoring and respecting his name.

The commandment is stated pretty simply in the NIV, which says, You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

The Israelites would say Lord, capital L lowercase O-R-D, Lord, instead of Yahweh, which is the proper name of God, the Father, when reading the scriptures.

The difference between all caps, L-O-R-D, which is Yahweh, and Capital L lowercase O R D Adonai is that the all-caps, Yahweh is the proper name of God.

Whereas Lord is more of a description of who he is.

In fact, to the point that they didn't even say the name Yahweh at all.

They took it very seriously.

The closest that they would come is to refer to him with the consonants of his name.

YHWH, which is known as the Tetra Grammaton.

Out of respect, it's also substituted with Adonai, meaning Lord, capital L-O-R-D, or Hashem, which means the name.

Here's what we need to understand about the Israelites during this time and during their culture.

They would never flippantly throw the name of the Lord around, or the word Lord, as many people do today.

Now, to some, that may seem a little extreme.

In our culture in our 21st century world, that may seem, that may seem a little extreme regarding this commandment, but here's the thing: the Israelites clearly understood what God clearly commands.

That we treat him and we treat his name with the proper respect.

Family, today as we take a closer look at the third commandment, there's some areas in our culture that we can see this commandment being broken.

And we need to be aware of it.

We need to be more aware of it.

We need to be conscious of it.

First, the obvious breaking of the third commandment comes through profanity.

There's a lot of profanity out there.

A lot of misuse of the names Lord, the Lord's name through profanity.

And we all know the obvious infractions, so I'm not going to go there.

But here's the thing: there's other ways that may seem to be innocent or harmless.

And by doing that and using those terms, we can inadvertently profane the name of the Lord.

And when we do, we can influence other people to do so.

And then they accept that as being normal.

If we do that in our home, our children are going to pick up on it.

And they're just going to assume that it's normal.

And it will continue generation after generation after generation.

Church, so many of us, including myself, I'm not excluding Devin from this at all.

So many of us, including myself, have used these expressions innocently, not meaning to be disrespectful, but also not realizing the potential detriment that's caused through our influence.

For instance, how many of us have heard someone respond to this disappointment by saying, Good Lord?

Or maybe you have a grandmother or a grandfather who commonly uses the phrase, Lord have mercy, when something doesn't go their way.

You may use that term when something doesn't go your way.

How many of us, or how many people that we know, when they use, you know, send an email or they're texting someone, use the three-letter term OMG.

You see, it's followed us into our technology.

Family, I realize that what I'm saying today is probably coming off as a little nitpicky.

And the reason why is because most people who use these expressions do not do so with vain intent.

And that's where the key's found.

Most people who use these terms, they don't do it with vain intent in their heart.

And that's the key.

The key's found in the heart.

You shall not take the Lord's name in vain.

Don't miss that.

The word that's translated from the Hebrew as vain means to desolate, to destroy, or to ruin.

In other words, don't take the Lord's name for that purpose.

Doesn't mean that we can't say, Lord, have mercy.

Unless our intent is vain.

Does that make sense?

But we still need to be careful.

That's the point.

That's what we want to avoid with the third commandment.

But it even goes beyond that.

When we take the characteristics that are uniquely God's and then attach them to things of the world, church, we break the third commandment.

According to Revelation chapter 15, verse 4, which says, only God is holy.

Revelation 15:4

So what am I talking about?

Holy mackerel.

Holy cow.

Anybody ever watched the Chicago Cubs way, way back when Harry Carey was the announcer?

Man, he'd say that like every other sentence.

Holy cow.

Even holy Moses.

You see, when we do that, when we say these things, what we're actually doing, we attach holiness or the word holy to things of this world, church, what we're doing is we're weakening what the meaning of holiness is.

Whether we realize it or not.

Holiness is a divine attribute.

It's not a word we need to throw around flippantly.

It's kind of like the word love.

Need to be careful with that one.

I love my wife.

But I also love bluebell ice cream.

I like bluebell a lot.

I don't love it.

See what I mean?

God is awesome.

Not that 67 GTO I keep dreaming about.

You see what I mean?

There are some words that are reserved for God and God alone.

You may disagree with me on that.

That's okay.

I don't think it'll keep either one of us out of heaven.

Family, to profane God's name is to treat his holiness as being common or unclean.

Now I know what some of y'all may be thinking.

Man, I can't say anything anymore.

Don't worry, because you're not the only one.

I thought the same thing until I studied it and I thought about it.

Church, what this means is that we all need to be a little more careful of what we say.

Because we're accountable for every word.

Excuse me.

Jesus reiterates this in Matthew.

Matthew 12:36

Chapter 12, verse 36.

Listen carefully at what he says.

He says, But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

Now take a good look at that.

And think about what that means when we make references to God.

Think about what that means when we consider what we say to our family, to our children.

Jesus says we're accountable for every careless word, every single one.

Family, the third commandment's really pretty simple when you stop and think about it.

If we ever talk about God or his character in a context that is less than or inconsistent with who he is, that's profanity.

And it's a breach of the third commandment.

A second breaking of the third commandment comes through perjury.

Perjury is when we swear an oath before the Lord that we're telling the truth, but instead tell a lie.

From a biblical standpoint, church, taking an oath is very serious.

Because when we swear an oath before the Lord, we're attaching his name to the truthfulness of what we're saying.

You ever thought about it that way before?

That's exactly what that means.

And in such a situation, if we're not telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, because we've asked God to do so, help us.

Church, we're attaching God's name to a lie.

When we do so, we not only diminish the Lord's name and reputation, but we also invite his retribution in doing so.

It's a big deal.

Maybe this is why Jesus encourages us not to complicate things.

Remember what he said?

He said, Let your yes be yes, let you no be no.

So as a Christian, family, when we make a promise before God and man, does it affect God's reputation?

Absolutely, it does.

Just look at the world's view of marriage today.

Family, keeping our word and fulfilling our commitments are important.

And the reason why is because when we don't, we bring dishonor upon the name of the Lord.

And the result, church, is the Lord's name being taken in vain.

A third breaking of the third commandment comes through misrepresentation.

Have you ever heard anybody say, Well, you know, the Lord told me so?

Or have you ever heard someone say, Well, you know, God told me such and such last night.

God spoke to me.

As if God speaks to them just like he spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Or at least that's the impression that's given.

Church, that's just not the case.

If it were the case, think about it, if that were the case, then why would we need the Holy Spirit to guide us and to lead us into all truth?

That makes sense.

That doesn't add up, does it?

This is addressed actually in Ezekiel chapter 13, verse 6, when the Lord speaks to Ezekiel about Israel's false prophets.

Ezekiel 13:6

Listen to what the Lord says.

He says, Their visions are false and their divinations a lie.

They say, The Lord.

That's all caps, that's Yahweh.

Yahweh declares, when the Lord has not sent them, yet they expect their words to be fulfilled.

Church, the prophets of Israel were misrepresenting God.

And when we declare that God has spoken to us or has told us something, even if we don't mean literally, vocally, spoken to us, that could misrepresent the Lord.

And in the process, we mislead people in doing so.

Probably the most obvious way that the Lord's name is misused is through hypocrisy.

Family, this is basically when we claim that we belong to God and then don't act like it.

You know what?

We're all guilty of that.

We're all guilty of that one.

Church, if we claim to be a Christian in word, then we have to live like a Christian in action.

Because when we don't, think about it, when we don't, we misuse the name of the Lord.

How many of us have seen cars and traffic zipping in and out of traffic?

And right before it looks like they're about to take the front bumper of your car off, you notice the sticker on the back window of their car that says, Follow me to such and such church.

Ever seen that before?

And then when you pull up beside them and you're actually trying to figure out what this person actually looks like, they get they they speak to you in an unspoken language, and then they zip on and still weave in out of traffic.

There's two things.

There's two things that you remember.

You remember that sticker on that car, you try to try to get a good look at their face, and you also remember their license plate number.

And you're trying to figure out what kind of a Christian does that?

I wouldn't maybe I'm the only one that's ever experienced that before.

I seriously doubt it.

Family, when we see people do that, they're showing their hypocrisy through their actions.

And it's not just limited to that.

I mean, think about it.

Have you ever known somebody who claimed to be a Christian and didn't act like it?

And you said to yourself in your mind, you know what?

They claim to be a Christian, but they sure are not acting like it.

When we do that, we misuse the name of the Lord.

People show the hypocrisy through their actions.

Revelation chapter 20, verse 12 says, And I saw the dead, the great, and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.

Revelation 20:12

Books opened.

And another book was opened, which is the book of life.

And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, in the books that were opened.

They were judged according to their deeds recorded within the books.

That's what that means.

Church, take a good look at that right there.

That right there is a day, that right there is an event that we're all going to be present for.

Whether you wear the name of Christ today or not, every last one of us will experience that.

Everything we say, everything we do is recorded by God.

And in the judgment, we'll be accountable for it.

Every action, every word.

I don't say that to scare anybody.

I don't say that to coerce anybody.

I don't say that to be legalistic or sound.

I say that because that's what the scripture just says, right there.

It's what Jesus says.

What we say, what we do, is important.

As a Christian, we need to understand that.

Church of the Lord calls us to live consistently.

But here's the deal: it's just not enough to call on his name and be saved.

That's just the beginning.

God has expectations for us.

God has expectations for you and for me.

And we should have expectations for ourselves and for one another.

Now, in light of that, we have to hold one another accountable.

In a spirit of love and in a spirit of gentleness.

So here's the bottom line of the third commandment.

It's that God wants us to treat his name with the proper respect that is due him in every way.

You know, I hear Christians gripe about the deterioration of the country because of the removal of prayer from schools and the removal of the Ten Commandments from our public buildings.

Family, if Christians ever hope for prayer to get back into school, and I'll tell you this right now, prayer has never left the school.

I can tell you, any kid who comes from a Christian home who's about to take that test, they're praying.

Because I know I was.

But if we ever expect prayer to be back in our schools as it was back in the day, then we have to practice prayer in our home.

And if we ever hope to see the Ten Commandments revered and respected in our public buildings, then we have to revere and we have to respect them in our home.

Because that's where it begins in the home.

Church, until we start living the Ten Commandments and living a Ten Commandments lifestyle, they'll never have any meaning to us or anybody else.

So the way that we begin to do that is by following what we have seen in these first three commandments, by exalting him in our life, by worshiping him and him alone, and by not misusing his name.

It's like I said in the first lesson.

If we break any of the commandments, from commandment two to commandment ten, we've already compromised the first commandment.

You shall have no other gods before me.

It's all uphill from there.

So as we close, let me just ask you a question.

Where do you stand?

Where do you stand with the Lord on the first three commandments that we've looked at in this series?

Do you worship God and God alone?

Or do you find yourself compromising that commandment?

The first and very important one.

Think about how many ways you've possibly misused the name of God in the last week.

I say that not because I am not guilty of it, because I am human and I make mistakes just like you do.

But you know what?

When you stop and think about all the possibilities, it's staggering for a lot of people.

The most important thing I think we can take from the third commandment this morning is a greater awareness of how holy the name of God is.

And how we not meaning to, but we misuse it.

Maybe this morning, for whatever reason, you find yourself in a position where you need to be right with God.

I don't know what the details are.

I don't need to know what the details are.

But I do know this: God loves you.

And Jesus died for you.

And the Lord wants you to be in the right relationship with Him.

And that can mean a lot of things.

It can mean coming back to the Lord this morning and letting us pray with you and pray for you.

Shepherds will be up here up front with me.

We would love to be able to do that with you and for you.

Maybe it means confessing Jesus is Lord and truly obeying the first commandment, you shall have no gods before me by dying to yourself and having your sins washed away.

Everything's ready for you.

Are you ready for the Lord?

Maybe you are visiting this morning and you're looking for a church home where you don't have to be perfect, where you can worship and serve with a church family who realizes that they aren't perfect, but they're worshiping and serving a perfect God.

We want you here.

We really, really do.

So whatever you need this morning, if you feel the Spirit calling you to respond, don't resist that call together while we stand and sing.