The 3rd Commandment - Using God's Name in Vain

Thank you, Mr. Graham. It's been a few years since I've heard him do that very beautiful song. Good things do take their time, much like our lives and God working with us patiently in spite of some of the personal challenges that we may have. Thank you very much again, Mr. Graham, for that very beautiful music. A few months ago, I spoke on the second of the Ten Commandments, and at that time, I promised that in the future, as time permitted, that we would go through some of the other commandments together. And this is very important because in our world, we've gone from when I was a child, being taught the Ten Commandments to being morphed into the nine suggestions, and the approach the world has today, God's opinions, are basically what they are today instead of the Ten Commandments. So today, I would like to discuss the Third Commandment in perhaps greater detail than we have before. So let's turn to Exodus chapter 20 to give a little context. I might as well mention the first two before we get into this Third Commandment, Exodus chapter 20, beginning in verse 1.

And Moses wrote this, and God spoke—this is from the authority of God Almighty—and God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, a phrase that's used oftentimes throughout the Bible. God wanted to remind them that I brought you out of slavery, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me, you shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of the third and fourth generation to those who hate me. And last time we discussed how this isn't an automatic curse, but human dysfunctions are passed down from generation to generation. Human dysfunctional cultures are passed down from generation to generation until somebody or some group of people rise up and say, we have to stop this. We have to change our family habits, our family mindset, or we have to change our culture, and we have to stop doing these things that harm us so badly. Verse 6, but showing mercy to thousands to those who love and keep my commandments. So those are the first two. Again, building on the kind of relationship that God says, these are the things that we must do if you want to have a relationship with me, if you want to truly know me, it's important for you to respect these commandments and these principles. Now verse 7, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. So if in some way we take God's name in vain, we will be punished. Now when it says God will not hold them guiltless, doesn't mean we're condemned forever, but what it says is God's name is so precious that when we take his name in vain, there will be a punishment, there will be a price to pay for taking God's name in vain. The Hebrew word vain here is shav, and it means evil or destructive or using something in a useless way. I'm going to quote to you from the Believer's Study Bible, quote, to take the Lord's name meant to lift it up or use it. To do something in vain means to do it with no good purpose or effect. In this case, in vain includes both the frivolous use of God's name and its wicked or deceitful use in an attempt to deceive, such as swearing to a lie. Remember the old covenant allowed someone to use God's name to make an oath, to swear that they were telling the truth. We'll see later that Jesus changed that. He brought a spiritual application to this very commandment here. Another example here from the Believer's Study Bible, or to accomplish a selfish or wicked goal, such as a false prophecy, claiming God said something when he did not. I'm going to read this particular commandment. A couple of different translations might put a little different light on it. Verse 7 from God's word today, Never use the name of the Lord your God carelessly. The Lord will make sure that anyone who carelessly uses his name will be punished. Here's verse 7 from the translation, the New Century version. You must not use the name of the Lord your God thoughtlessly. The Lord will punish anyone who misuses his name. Now, we correctly understand that this commandment states that we should never trivialize God's name by casually looking at it as being insignificant. We should never use it to advance negative purposes or use God's name thoughtlessly in worship, as some do. We should never connect God's name with profanity or blasphemy, and that would include euphemism. Whenever we utter God's name, it should always be with a deep sense of respect and reverence.

But there are two ways that an individual can take the name of the Lord God in vain.

We are all familiar with the first, and that is the spoken or verbal violations that come from our lips. We might curse and associate God's name with it. We may verbally say something that's blasphemous. We may use God's name through our lips, something we say thoughtlessly or uselessly. But there's another way that we can violate this commandment that is often overlooked, and that is this commandment can also be violated by our conduct. Most people don't realize this. Most people don't even consider that this commandment can be violated by our conduct. And that's what I would like to talk about today. That's actually what I would like to focus on today. I would like us to think of this commandment more than the fact that we can violate it just through something that we say from our lips, as we will see that we can also violate this command through our very conduct. Let's begin by going to Jeremiah 29.8. We'll see an example of a verbal violation of this commandment as brought to us by the prophet Jeremiah in a prophecy that God gave him. Again, that's Jeremiah 8.9.

It says, For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Do not let your prophets and your diviners, who are in your midst, deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to you in my name. So this is a classic example of someone saying or applying something to God that God isn't for, that God is not involved in. By the way, churches can do this all the time. Churches can do this, and I might add churches will be punished for doing this. For saying, God says whatever the church wants to teach, and God doesn't say that.

So when we put that out there, and it's not true, we actually set ourselves up to be punished. Continuing in verse 9, For they prophesy falsely in my name. I have not sent them, says the Lord. Let's take a look at verse 30, drop down to verse 30. Another example, this was a prophet, that false prophet, that was in conflict with Jeremiah.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, send to all those in captivity, saying, Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah, the Nephomite. Now, the Nephomite, there's no city, there's nothing that's ever named that in scriptures. Some scholars believe that Jeremiah means this in a mocking term, meaning he's a dreamer, and that it means that he is from the land of dreamers, rather than from a literal city. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I have not sent him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie. Therefore, says the Lord, I will punish Shemaiah and his family. He shall not have anyone to dwell among his people, nor shall he see the good that I will do for my people, says the Lord, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord. Now, this is important because not only is God condemning Shemaiah for his lies, but he's violated God's commandment because he is teaching others rebellion. Rebellion is an action. Rebellion isn't just something that comes from our lips. Rebellion is an action.

Let's go to Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse 20. Again, Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse 20.

God says, When they came to the nations wherever they went, they profaned my holy name. When they said of them, these are the people of the Lord, and yet they have gone out of his land. But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel has profaned among the nations wherever they went. Therefore, say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. Now, part of this profaning was the fact that it was embarrassing to God that his covenant people that he gave his law and that he wanted to be a precious jewel to the world that they had rebelled and he had forced them to go into captivity instead of being obedient, the people of God. They had rejected the one true God and gone into captivity. So that is one way in which they profaned God's holy name. Certainly, some of the things that they said and did in captivity, perhaps they no longer kept the Sabbath, but the things that they said and did in captivity also was part of profaning God's name. Let's take a look at verse 23. And I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations. Again, Israel was doing this. And you have profaned in their midst, and the nation shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I am hallowed in you before your eyes, for I will take from you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. So even though Israel then, and perhaps today, it continues to profane God's great name because they don't keep the Sabbath, and they don't really have a relationship with God, the encouraging news is he says in the future, I'm going to gather you from among the nations and bring you into your own land. So Israel, again, was unfaithful to God and was sent into exile everywhere they went. Their legacy of rejecting their God and their rebellious conduct profaned God's name among the nations they settled into. So with that background, now let's go to the New Covenant and see how Jesus brought a spiritual application to this commandment, and not only to God, but he brought a spiritual application of how we deal with one another. Let's begin by going to Matthew 12 and verse 35. Matthew 12 and verse 35. Jesus here is correcting the Pharisees because of their poor attitude and the things that they said. Matthew 12 and 35. Jesus said, A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give an account of it on the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

I can't tell you how much this scripture terrifies me, because I certainly have said a lot of stupid and idle comments about other people and things in my lifetime. So that's what repentance is all about. That's what forgiveness is all about, because this is a very easy and very common thing for us to do as human beings. But Jesus taught the spiritual application of the law, and the spiritual application is always more demanding than the letter of the law. This word, idle, here comes the Greek word, argos, and it means to be inactive or lazy or useless or barren. And I can, I've certainly said things that were barren, that were totally useless and harsh. In a similar way, Jesus also stated in Matthew 5, something we don't have the time to turn to today, he says, whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hellfire. Now the English word we use today as fool is not the meaning of when Jesus used the word fool. As a matter of fact, Mr. Graham's special music used the word fool in it as one of the words. And it's a common word that we use today, but the original Greek word actually was moros from which we get the word moron today in our culture. And the application was to tell someone they are absolutely good for nothing. So to disparage another human being that that degree, someone who has been created by God and has the potential to be the child of God, Jesus is saying that that obviously could put us in danger. If that's truly our attitude towards other human beings, that can put us in danger of hellfire. Here's another example of Jesus applying a spiritual application to the law that he gave Moses. Let's take a look at Matthew chapter 5. Let's go back a few chapters and we'll see where he enlightens his audience at that time to understand that there is now a spiritual application to this third commandment that we've been talking about so far today. Matthew chapter 5 beginning in verse 33. Jesus says, again, you have been heard that it was said to those of old, that is the old covenant, what we would call the Old Testament, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord. Now what it meant by that, and it was commonly understood in the Old Testament, is you were allowed to swear in the name of God. Growing up, I and my siblings would often say, I swear to God that that's true, right? That's a very common phrase in our culture and in the Old Covenant when they wanted to make sure that someone was telling the truth or put special emphasis on the truth, an individual could do that. Verse 34, but I say to you, do not swear at all. You're not to swear using the name of God in your oaths. Neither by heaven, nor by God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, nor by Jerusalem. These are things you should not swear by anything, is what Jesus is saying, let alone the very name of God. Not by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black, but let your yes be yes and your no no, for whatever is more than these is from the evil one. I want you to think about this. The purpose of swearing an oath is because people often lie, and the purpose of the oath is to force us to be honest, right? If someone goes into a courtroom, they ask that person to take an oath, put their hand on the Bible to take an oath, because they want to force, they want to impel that person to be honest.

Jesus is saying, no, my followers are always honest. They do not need to be compelled to tell the truth because they're asked to swear to something. They live by honesty. They know no other way, if they're my disciple, than to be truthful. So that's the point that Jesus is bringing out here. His disciples don't need to swear an oath to prove they're truthful.

They are always truthful. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 4 verse 28.

Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 28. Paul writes to the church at Ephesus, Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands, what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. So rather than sitting around doing nothing and expecting other people to take care of you, is what Paul is saying, you need to be productive so that you can help other people who are struggling. So you can help those who are aged or those who are not able to work. So you need to be productive, is what Paul is saying here. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification. That means to build up. We have buildings, we call them edifices, because they're built up. So Paul is saying that the words that should proceed out of our mouths should be words that build other people up, that it may impart grace to the hearers. What I'd like to do now is I would like to see and discuss how we can take the name of the Lord our God in vain, not just by the words that come out of our lips, but how we can literally do it by our conduct. Because we need to be aware of that. Let's go to Romans chapter 2 and verse 17. Romans chapter 2 and verse 17.

Paul is correcting those who were of Jewish heritage but were hypocritical. He says, Indeed, you are called a Jew and rest on the law, and make your boast in God and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish. Here Paul uses that word foolish. Again, I just want to emphasize that the original Greek word when Jesus says you shouldn't call someone a fool is not the same meaning as the word fool that we use in our culture today in the 21st century. An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? Paul says, are you being hypocritical? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, do not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?

You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.

Pretty strong words. The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because you Jews, and Paul certainly was a Jew himself, you Jews who take so much pride in your heritage and knowing the law are absolute hypocrites and everyone can see it. And your conduct blasphemes God in the eyes of the Gentiles. He's quoting, by the way, from the Septuagint version of Isaiah chapter 52 and verse 5, that is verse 24.

So Paul reminds us that hypocrisy, knowing God's law and teaching it but not obeying it ourselves, dishonors and blasphemes God's name. So it goes far beyond the words that come out of our mouths. Using God's name in vain can certainly also include our conduct. I'd like to focus on a personal example from King David to emphasize how important our conduct is, especially we who have been baptized and have God's Holy Spirit and have been called to be ambassadors for Christ and consider ourselves the children of God. I'd like to bring out an example from King David today and hopefully we can learn from it and more appreciate the breadth of not using God's name in vain.

Let's go to 2 Samuel chapter 11 and verse 1. 2 Samuel chapter 11 and verse 1. This is not a good place in David's life. Something's going on here. He's like a cat on a hot tin roof. It's the season for wars and battles. It's the season, it says, when kings go out to war and instead of David being with his army, he's back in Jerusalem. So something is going on that even leads up to his adultery with Bat Shema.

Now we don't know exactly what it is, but it's obvious. Let's read it here beginning in verse 1. It happened in the spring of the year at the time when kings go out to battle, but not David. That David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabah, which was a city or we might call it a village today, but David remained at Jerusalem.

Why? Don't kings lead their armies out to battle? Isn't that why they give you the title king? Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and he walked on the roof of the king's house and from the roof he saw a woman bathing and the woman was very beautiful to behold.

So David sent and inquired about the woman and someone said, is this not Bat Shema, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? Then David, instead of shutting it down right there, well she was awful pretty with the watch while she was bathing, but she's married to someone else.

I need to shut this down and shut this down now because this is another man's wife. He doesn't do that. And David sent messengers and took her and she came to him and he lay with her for she was cleansed from her impurity and she returned to her house and the woman conceived so she sent and told David and said, I am with child. Now the following verses, Uriah the Hittite demonstrates more character than King David does at this point in his life. David invites Uriah to Jerusalem and he entertains him.

And at the end of the entertainment he says, go home. Your wife's waiting for you. Enjoy the pleasures of being home. You see, this was all a setup. David really didn't care about entertaining him. He was just trying to get him to go home that night, make love to his wife so that everyone would think that he was the father of this child. But Uriah would not indulge himself in pleasure while his comrades slept in open fields trying to conquer the city of Rabah. He just refused to do it.

So a few days later David tries another tactic. He gets Uriah drunk, hoping that if he's in a stupor that he will let down his morals and let down his desire not to indulge in pleasure. And what does he do? He gets him drunk and he's hoping that he'll go home to his wife, but instead he crashes with David's servants.

Probably got him too drunk. So he crashes and he falls asleep with David's servants, does not go home to his wife. So that didn't work either.

Then David writes a letter to Commander Joab and he tells him, I want you to put him on the front lines with the troops and then I want all of you to abandon him so that he's left there all alone. Well, let's pick it up here in 2 Samuel 11 and verse 27. And sure enough, we know that that's exactly what happened. In essence, David plotted Uriah's murder. So not only has he committed adultery, he's now a murderer. The deceit is thick enough you could cut it with a knife, bringing him to Jerusalem, entertaining him, trying to get him to go home to his wife. The next night or a few nights later, getting him drunk, hoping that the deceit oozes out of David through this entire episode. As I say, this is not one of the highlights of his life. 2 Samuel 11 and verse 27. We'll pick it up here. And when her morning was over, this is because of the death of Uriah, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son, but the things that David had done displeased the Lord. So if I can be frank and crude after a period of mourning for her husband, Bathsheba's added the David's trophy collection. He already has a lot of wives. What does he need another wife for? But he adds her to his trophy collection of wives, and while in David's possession she gave birth to a son. But as I mentioned in a number of sermons in the past, God had a check and balance system in ancient Israel. He had the king, he had a power source from the Levites, but then he also had the wild card. He had prophets who were not the result of nepotism, like kings and Levites were. The prophets he could call from anywhere, from any of the tribes, they were unique individuals, and they would speak directly for God. Usually the Levites were too terrified to have conflict with the king and vice versa. Not a lot of check and balance there, but God instituted in ancient Israel these prophets who would go and speak boldly. And that's exactly what happens here. Chapter 12 verse 1. Then the Lord sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said, I'm going to tell you a story, David. You can just see, I see the jaws of the trap opening up before they're slammed shut. And he came to him and said, there were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. David obviously was very rich. Uriah was just a military soldier, very poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. David had all kinds of wives. It was like the flavor of the month club. He had many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little eulam of which he had brought and nourished, and it grew up together with him and his children. It ate of its own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom. And it was like a daughter to him, close enough to be a blood relative, like maybe Uriah's wife.

And a traveler came to the rich man who refused to take of his own flock from his own herd to prepare for one, the wayfaring man who had come to him. So he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. And David, he doesn't even let him finish. It says, David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, as the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die.

And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb. Well, in this story, you can't, because you murdered her husband. He can't receive any benefit any further. He's dead! Because, David continues, he did this thing because he had no pity. What about the pity for Uriah the Hittite to take his one wife? What about the pity for Uriah, sending him in the heat of battle to take over a city and then instructing Joab to have everybody withdraw and abandon him in the heat of battle? How about the pity for that? Then Nathan said to David, you are the man. Thus says the Lord, a God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel. David, I gave you everything you have. It's a gift. You didn't earn it. There's nothing that special about you.

I gave you these things. I delivered you from the hand of Saul, who sought to kill him. I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. God says, I did these things for you. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more. All you needed to do was ask, not take, not violate my law. All you needed to do was drop on your knees and ask for something you didn't have. Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite. You are a murderer to kill Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. And if you look at the history of Kings and Chronicles, you will see that many of his sons rebelled against him. There was a lot of conflict within his family, including rape, including tremendous jealousy among brothers, and open rebellion against their father. So this prophecy totally came true from Nathan. Verse 11, Thus says the Lord, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house, that happened, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of the Son. One of his sons did that, I might add. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the Son.

So David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. All of this obviously cut him to the quick.

Nathan came on strong, double-barreled shotgun. Boom! Boom! And it obviously cuts David to the heart.

I have sinned against the Lord, and Nathan said to David, because he's in mind to mind, he's in connection with God. So God immediately gives Nathan these thoughts and this understanding. And Nathan said to David, The Lord also has put away your sin. So God acknowledged that this quick repentance that he's saying from David is sincere and valid. The Lord has put away your sin, and you shall not die. However, remember the commandment says that when we use God's name in vain, we will be punished. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord the blaspheme, the child who is born to you shall surely die. Why? Because you cannot use the name of the Lord God in vain and avoid punishment. This is what Nathan is telling him. The child also which is born to you shall surely die, then Nathan departed to his house, and the Lord struck the child that you, Raya's wife, had bore to David, and it became ill. You know, Brethren, Luke chapter 12 verse 48 states that to everyone who much is given, much will be required. David was given so much as a gift, and the same is true of us. We have been given so much. God called us. He removed the blindness from our eyes. He gave us the gift of his Holy Spirit. For most of us in this room, we live very comfortable lifestyles. Thank you. We are blessed in phenomenal ways spiritually, materialistically. As I say, most of us live comfortable lifestyles. We are just blessed phenomenally. David was appointed by God just like you and I have been called and appointed by God to be his children. He was given power, wealth, and prominence as a blessing from God, but David's shameful personal example gave the Gentiles and others the ability to mock the name of God because of David the blatant sins and hypocrisy. They knew what the commandments of God say, and they knew that it is a sin against God to commit adultery. They understood that. I want you to notice that upon repentance, immediately, God forgave David. Immediately, he said, the prophet your life is spared. Yet the third commandment states that the Lord will not hold him guiltless, who takes his name in vain. And because of David's blasphemous conduct, the child would die. Second Samuel chapter 12 verse 16.

Therefore, David pleaded, it says in dropping down to verse 21, it says, he wept. David pleaded with God for the child. He's going to do everything humanly possible to stop God from taking this infant child's life. He pleaded with God for the child. David fasted and went in and lay all day and night on the ground. So the elders of the house arose and went to him to raise him up from the ground. They're afraid that he's suicidal. They're afraid that he's literally going out of his mind.

But he did not eat food with them. Then on the seventh day, so for seven days, he went without eating. And we complain about the day of atonement. On the seventh day, it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said indeed while the child was alive, we spoke to him and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm. Again, they're afraid he might harm himself. They're afraid he'd gone out of his mind, laying on the ground for seven days without eating, weeping, fasting, begging God to spare this child's life. When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore, David said to his servants, is the child dead? And they said he is dead. So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. I want you to notice he didn't get bitter because of the punishment that was fulfilled by him violating the commandment of God. How does he react? Even though he did everything to try to convince God not to take the child's life, the first thing he does is he cleans himself up so he doesn't smell. I mean, seven days of laying on the ground in your clothes, you probably do not smell like a rose. Cleans himself up and he goes to the house of the Lord and worships, acknowledges the great God, who and what he is in his commandments. Then he went to his own house and when he requested, they set food before him. So he was still fasting when he went and worshiped at the house of the Lord. They set food before him and he ate. Then his servants said to him, what is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food. And he said, while the child was alive, I fasted and I wept. For I said, who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me? The child may live, but now that he is dead, why should I fast? How can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he shall not return to me. David said, I'm going to go into the grave where this child is dead, unconscious, awaiting a resurrection. I'm going there. This dead child is never coming back to me. So it's a very powerful, personal example from King David that our conduct with what we know and the things that we've been given and the knowledge that God has granted us and the gift of the Holy Spirit within us, that we indeed, by our conduct, can use the name of the Lord God in vain. And other people will see the hypocrisy, other people will see it, and they'll mock God, his calling for us, and the fact that he's even working with a bunch of shallow hypocrites. That's how they'll view it.

And that, frankly, that's a view that a lot of non-believers have of Christians in this world today for good reason because of the hypocrisy they see.

Gandhi said once that I almost became a Christian, and then I met one.

Pretty sad commentary, isn't it? Very sad commentary. So as God's children, here are some ways that we can use God's name in vain by our conduct.

When we who claim to be Christians don't grow in Christ-likeness. When we say, hey, I'm a Christian, but there's never any growth. There's always being in this spiritual rut, always being the same as we've always been. No growth, no personal development, no deeper connection with God. We claim to be Christians, but we don't grow in Christ-likeness in our lives.

Another way is when we who profess to be saved from sin act like the unsaved in the world.

When we act no better than they do, and we make those compromises, and our conduct is as low or shallow as sinful as the unsaved in the world. Another way we can do that is when we proudly say, yep, I'm a child of God, but we act like children of the devil. That's obviously a form of conduct which violates God's third commandment. So, brethren, the heart and core of my message today is that we should not think of the third commandment as limited to some verbal violation of God's law by our lips, by something we say. It most certainly includes that, but it also includes our conduct. Paul said, we are an ambassador for Christ for good reason. He chose that word very selectively, and he said it for good reason. Please, let's be sure that we are not using God's name in vain by either the words that come out of our mouths or by our conduct. Let's make sure that we are growing and that we are not exhibiting hypocrisy in our lives. None of us should be on any form of substance abuse. We should not be drinking too much. We should not be stealing. We should not be deceptive. We should not be lying. We should not be putting material things before our God.

We need to make sure that our conduct does not blaspheme the name of God.

And let's not forget the sin of omission. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 25 and verse 44, He answered, when He said, when did we see you as stranger or naked or sick or in prison? Jesus said, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did not do it to me. So we can sin by openly violating God's commandments, and we can sin by the sin of omission, by something we should be doing but are ignoring.

Usually for selfish or greedy reasons, something we should be doing to help someone else. And we're capable and we have the ability to do it, but we're not doing it. That also is a sin. One final scripture today, James chapter 3 and verse 13.

James chapter 3 and verse 13. And I know some parts of this sermon today may have come across as a little strong, but I do believe very sincerely in God's commandments, and I do believe very sincerely that the scriptures teach us that if we don't want to violate the third of God's Ten Commandments, that we need to be careful not only of what comes off of our lips, but we need to be very careful in our conduct and how we live our lives. James wrote in chapter 3 and verse 13.

Who is wise in understanding among you? I think we all want to be considered wise. I think we all want to be considered people of understanding. Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. So, brethren, I hope that today we've seen perhaps an aspect of the third commandment that we didn't appreciate or understand before. Let us understand how important our conduct is, how important our examples are, not just to one another in this building, but certainly to those people out there, to our own families, family members who might be converted or unconverted, to the neighbor across the street, to the person you engage in a conversation at Walmart. Wherever it may be, our conduct is important.

Our examples are very important, and I hope by what we've discussed today that we can appreciate the importance of good conduct more than perhaps we have before.

I wish all of you a wonderful Sabbath day.