The Third Commandment

That statement shows that the power of guilt is a very powerful tool. Thank you very much. And all of you did a great job. Well, I don't know about the looking cute part, but all of us sang very well in special music, so thank you for that. Well, again, happy Sabbath! Today I would like to talk about just one of the Ten Commandments. About a year ago, May of 2013, I talked about the Tenth Commandment. We had a sermon on that about coveting and how it's such a difficult issue in our world today of materialism. Just take a look at the Sunday paper and all the ads, all the stuff that's available for us to buy and the temptations can be a real problem for those of us that are alive in the 21st century.

We often talk about the Fourth Commandment regarding the observance of the Sabbath. We do that in sermons almost every week, emphasizing the importance of the Sabbath. Today I would like to talk about the Third Commandment because I think that's also something very appropriate for us to think about, especially in the world that we live in today. If you turn to Exodus 20 and verse 7, let's take a look at the third of the Ten Commandments and see what it says.

Again, that's Exodus 20 and verse 7. It says, That's a pretty powerful statement. The Lord will not hold him guiltless. In other words, he's going to be held guilty. Anyone who takes God's name in vain. I'm going to read this from a couple of other translations, give it a little different slant.

And again, from the New International Version, As a young boy, I was taught the physical application of this commandment as a boy in the Methodist Church. And I was taught that I should not curse or damn anyone using God's name. That's how it was, in my mind, applied to me growing up as a child. And I was taught, of course, that you shouldn't use the name of God in a silly or frivolous manner.

Over the years, I've heard sermons railing against euphemisms, and people talking about how we shouldn't use phrases like golly or gee or gee whiz, because these are euphemisms for using God's name in vain. Well, these certainly are a misuse of God's name, but the focus on these things misses the major intent of what this commandment is all about. It misses the heart and core of what this commandment is really all about, and that's what I would like to discuss today.

According to the Believer's Study Bible, here's what it says about Exodus 20, verse 7. It says, quote, "...to take the Lord's name means to lift up or use it. To do something in vain meant to do it with no good purpose or effect.

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," it says here, "...swearing to a lie or to accomplish a selfish or wicked goal, like false prophecy, claiming God said something when he did not." End of quote. And again, that is from the Believer's Study Bible.

In our culture, in which people routinely misuse the name of God, you know, we have a text symbol, O-M-G, oh my God, and you may have seen actors in TV, it's supposedly so funny, when in a very emotional tone, a young lady will scream, oh my God, when she's scared or something. That becomes just part of our culture. It just flows, one of those language ticks that flows in and out of our culture, especially one that no longer has a reverence for God.

And we do live in a nation today, a post-Christian nation that no longer has a reverence for who and what God is. The Jewish people took the intent of this commandment, that is, not using God's name in vain, they took it to an extreme, as they often did with a lot of things, and they eventually, because of this commandment, interpreted it to mean that you shouldn't even pronounce the Hebrew name of God, that you should not pronounce it at all.

The reasoning is, well, let's see, if you don't pronounce it, you cannot use it in vain. That was their reasoning. And if you look here in verse 7, we just read it, you will notice that most translations, and probably the one that you have, has the word Lord in all capital letters. How many of you have a translation where you have Lord in all capital letters there? In verse 7, Exodus 20, verse 7. The word in the original Hebrew was just four letters, consonants, Y-H-V-H, the four Hebrew consonants.

And this divine name, translated into English, the close that anyone can get to it, because the original spoken Hebrew was lost, the Hebrew that people speak today, by the way, was invented. But the divine name, translated into English, the closest we can get to it is Yahweh.

And that means the eternal self-existent one. I'd like to read to you from Holman's Bible dictionary what the Jews did in an attempt not to take the Lord's name in vain. Here's what it says, quote, God's name in Hebrew, known by the technical term tetragramaton, which means those four letters, Y-H-V-H, these are four consonants and make up the divine name. It's found more than 6,000 times in the Old Testament. So that name for God, Y-H-V-H, is usually capitalized in most translations, is found more than 6,000 times in the Old Testament.

Continuing, quote, the written Hebrew language did not include vowels, only the consonants were used. Thus, readers supplied the vowels as they read, and it says this is even true in Hebrew newspapers. Reverns for the divine name led to the principle of avoiding its use, lest one would run afoul of the commandments, such as in Exodus chapter 20 verse 7 that we just read. In time, it was thought that the divine name was too holy to pronounce at all. Thus, the practice arose of using the word adonai, which is translated in English, Lord, lowercase.

Many translations of the Bible followed this practice. In most English translations, YHVH is recognizable where the word Lord appears in all capitals. In the course of the centuries, the actual pronunciation of YHVH was lost. It says in the Middle Ages, Jewish scholars developed a system of symbols under and beside the consonants to indicate the vowels. They called them vowel points, and that was only invented in the Middle Ages by Jewish scholars. YHVH appeared with the vowels from adonai as a device to remind them to say adonai in their reading of the text.

A Latinized form of this was pronounced Jehovah. So that's where the word Jehovah comes from. But quoting again from Holman's Bible dictionary, but it was actually not a real word at all. From the study of the structure of the Hebrew language, most scholars today believe that YHVH was probably pronounced Yave. So again, in order not to defile this commandment, they even avoided saying the name of God at all. And oftentimes I'm asked by people, by the way, just a little sidebar, should we refer to God as Yave?

And my response is, of course not. Jesus taught us to address God as our Father. You see, when you have a close, intimate relationship as a son, you don't call your Father by His first name. I never called my Father by His first name. I never called my Mother by her first name. Because of the honor of being part of their family and being their child, I had the right to call my dad, dad, father, and my mother, mom.

And Jesus gave us that right to address the Father that way rather than worrying about pronunciation of Hebrew names as revealed in the Old Covenant. So even though the Jews misapplied this commandment to the point of even avoiding saying God's name at all, we can see that the physical application of this law was intended to prohibit anyone from using God's name in a vain or a useless or deceitful way. And that's true. But for those of us who are part of God's Church and those of us who live under the New Covenant, we are held to a higher standard.

And I'd like to talk about another application of this commandment that gives a deeper meaning to this observance. And it is so important, so important that we can discover the other application, what I think is the spiritual application of this commandment. When we look at the story of the prophet Nathan confronting David over his sins with Bathchibba. So if you turn with me to 2 Samuel 12, we'll go to verse 1 and 8, and we'll take a look at an event here that tells us a lot about the mind of God and tells us that God, there was one thing that God would not hold David guiltless for. God said, I'll forgive you of your sin of adultery. I will forgive you for killing Uriah the Hittite, but there's one thing I will not forgive you for. There's one thing that you're going to have to pay the price for. Again, 2 Samuel 12, and we're going to pick it up here in verse 1. And I believe that this helps us to understand the spiritual application of this commandment. So let's go to 2 Samuel again, chapter 12, verse 1.

Nathan, I've always admired Nathan. This was a courageous thing for him to do, to go and confront the king of Israel like this, because he could have ended up in jail. He could have ended up being executed. He was sent by God to give this parable, and he cloaked it so well that David did not see that he was falling into a trap.

Then the Lord, all capital letters, by the way, sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said to him, There were two men in one city, two men. One rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. You see, the rich man represents David in this parable. But the poor man had nothing. The poor man represents Uriah the Hittite. The poor man had nothing except one little eulam which he had bought and nourished, and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom and was like a daughter to him. So in contrast, David is wealthy. He's got lots of wives. He has everything. Uriah is just a simple soldier. He doesn't have much. He just has one thing that's very precious to him, a beautiful wife.

Verse 4.

But he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. And it seems like David doesn't even let him finish the story. Verse 5, it says, He just condemned himself, didn't he? Pretty powerful statement. And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb because he did this thing and because he had no pity, because he callously took away that one thing that was so precious to that poor man, by extension of what Nathan would say, he took away the one thing that Uriah the Hittite had, and that was a beautiful, loving wife.

Verse 7, This is God speaking to David.

This is God speaking to David.

God was saying, David, you have forgotten where you came from. You have forgotten this fact. If it weren't for me, you would still be a little shepherd boy out there stepping on sheep poo-poo. I am the one who gave you everything you have. Kingship, glory, wealth, women, everything you have is because I gave it to you. You have forgotten who and what you are, David. And if it had been too little, I also would have given you much more. All you had to do was drop on your knees and ask me for blessings, and I would have given those blessings to you, God says. So Nathan framed this story in a way that David could not see the analogy to his own life. He certainly wouldn't have condemned himself if he had not seen the analogy to his own life. He would have condemned himself if he could pick up on this parable. He didn't see it. You can almost hear the traps being shut, as Nathan tells this story. Let's pick it up now over here in verse 9. Continuing, this is Nathan speaking on behalf of God. Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord to do this evil in his sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You 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. How did David despise God? He despised God because in spite of all that he had been given, the grace that he had been given. His example was an embarrassment. He was the king of Israel. He was supposed to be a model of what someone who had a relationship with God was all about. The lifestyle of someone who was close to God. And his example fell far short. He says, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife, thus says the Lord, behold I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. And sure enough, he had a number of sons rebel against him. Even to the point where he had to leave Jerusalem and flee to another city to protect himself. 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 sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel before the sun. And sure enough, that came to pass. Absalom did that in 2 Samuel 16. And it wasn't about gratification. It was about dominance. It was about they put up a tent and he went into David's concubines and it was a demonstration of dominance. I now am in control. So it was about authority. And that's what that act was all about. And God told him prophetically that you did this in secret, but I am going to humiliate you publicly. And sure enough, that came to pass. Verse 13. So David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And obviously, from the next words that statement says, from the next words, that these were repentant words. When he says, I have sinned against the Lord, it obviously was something that the prophet, through God's Spirit, detected was very sincere on behalf of David. That through this parable and through this public humiliation, because he walks into David probably in front of the royal household and does this, that it's a true repentance.

And Nathan said to David, the Lord also has put away your sin, and you shall not die. So it's by that statement that I think we can infer that when David says that I've sinned against the Lord, that that was an honest repentance. But I want you to notice verse 14. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child, also his born to you, shall surely die. God says, I'll forgive you of the adultery. I'll forgive you of the murder. What I won't forgive you for is that your conduct has put shame on me. Your conduct has given other people a reason, a legitimate reason to mock me, God says. Your example, David, he said, has fallen far short of someone who is part of my covenant.

The Believer's Study Bible says this about verse 14. Sin always involves a slandering of God's character, especially his goodness and truthfulness. As the accuser, referring to Satan in Genesis 3, verses 1-5, and Job chapter 1 and chapter 2, knew quite well. Furthermore, when those who profess faith in the Lord speak such slanders by their actions, the Lord's enemies will always take the opportunity to repeat the charge to all who will hear. Brother David was a leader. He was a king. He was expected to be a good example to the nation. Other nations were looking at this nation of Israel to see their relationship with Yahweh, to see what kind of God he was, to see what kind of people they were. The word translated blasphem, or blasphemy, is from the Hebrew word n'atz, meaning to scorn, to abhor, to pierce, to despise or provoke. And this is how God feels pierced. God has emotion. We were created in his image, and he has emotion. Jesus Christ wept when he saw people struggling. He wept when he went to bring his son Lazarus out of the grave, and he saw the grieving of all the Jews as he walked up to call Lazarus and tell him to walk out of that grave. He wept because he has emotion. God has emotion. And when his name is abused, when it's used in vain, when it is mocked, especially because of the poor conduct of those that are part of his covenant, it hurts God. It wounds him. It pierces him, which is one of the meanings of this word blasphemy here. God was willing to forgive David's sin of adultery and murder. However, there was one sin for which David would not be held guiltless, his personal example. Unfortunately, it encouraged people to mock God. And David would not go unpunished for the disrespect directed against God by his sins. His personal example slandered God's name, and God said, for that reason, the child will die. And even though David prayed, the child would live, and David fasted, and David prayed fervently, God would not forgive him.

God would not hold him guiltless, who uses his name in vain, and in the case of David, this example. Let's now go to the New Testament and look at some things that Jesus Christ said to the religious leaders of his day. Again, people who were part of the covenant, people who should have been people of integrity, morality, people who led lives of good example. And let's see what Jesus said, what he found among the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes of his day.

Matthew 6, verse 1.

Jesus says, Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them, otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do it a charitable deed, do not sound the trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly I say unto you, they have their reward. And what is their reward? It is the fleeting glory of trying to impress other people. He said, if you're going to give something to the food bank, don't put a big placard up. I'm giving to the food bank.

I gave $100 to the Red Cross. I do this. I do that. Unfortunately, that was part of the culture in something that many Jews were doing in the synagogues to promote themselves, to make themselves appear righteous in front of other people. Verse 3.

We read that, but when you do a charitable deed...

No, we didn't read this. When you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. In other words, your charitable deed should be a spontaneous, random act of kindness. You see a need, just do it. You see something you can do to help someone else out, just go ahead and do it. That's what he means here.

Verse 4.

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say unto you that they have their reward. I don't know how many of you have ever seen examples of Jewish people praying at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. But they're sitting there, and they're just, you know, in Hebrew they're saying their prayers, and they're rocking back and forth. And they're all in their own little individual prayers and going back and forth. And it's very showy. And Jesus said that isn't the kind of prayers that God was impressed with. Let's pick it up now in verse 7.

And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as they heathen do, for they think they'll be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. Jesus is saying in a nice way that when you pray, get to the point.

If you look at all the prayers of Jesus Christ in the Gospel, every prayer of His, none of them are longer than 30 to 45 seconds. Period. What does He do? He gets to the point. God knows what we need before we even ask. He says so rather than babble, ramble, stretch our prayer out, put a time clock on, clicker, like the beginning of a 60 minutes episode, rather than doing all of that, get to the point.

Tell God what's in your heart. Let Him know how much you love Him. Let Him know of your needs, your hopes, your dreams, and your aspirations. And just get to the point, because He knows already. He can read our hearts. He can read our minds.

So why was He so harsh on them? He says some pretty strong things here. He calls them hypocrites a couple of times. It's because these were the so-called religious leaders of the day. They presented themselves as the model of Judaism, as a model of righteousness. Others looked at them as an example of what godliness should look like in a believer. But it was all a facade. It was all a show. The Greek word here, the word that Matthew recorded, that we have in Greek, translated in English, it's hypocrite. It's actually in Greek, hupa-retes. And here's what it literally means in Greek. It means an actor pretending to be an assumed character.

That's literally what it means in Greek. So they're just acting. They have this facade of righteousness. But inside, it's all to draw attention to themselves. Inside, it's all to stroke their ego. Inside, it's all so that people can tell them how wonderful and how great they are. Let's struck down to verse 16. Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites with a sad countenance. Oh, you look terrible today. Why do you look so bad today?

Oh, it's... I'm fasting. That's exactly what we laugh at. But that's exactly the response they wanted to get. That's what people were trying to get. He says, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to be fasting. In some cases, they weren't even fasting. It's like the story of the guy in New York City, the panhandler, who panhandles all day from 8 to 5. And he's on a street corner. He's got a little sign. You know, I'm hungry. Please help me, right? He says it all day long. And at 5 o'clock, he closes his little box.

He goes to the parking garage. He hops in his Mercedes, and he drives home. Right? It's just pretend. It's just a scam. Only in this case, there was a religious scam. And Jesus continues to say here, verse 17, When you fast, anoint your head, wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your father, who is in the sacred place. So you shouldn't even look like you're fasting. If you're fasting, comb your hair, wash your face, brush your teeth, and just look.

This is between you and God. Look normal. For some of us, that's difficult. But look normal, because that's what's important, not to give this pretend grotesque face and this martyrdom look as if we're dying and on our last legs, because we've been fasting for a whole hour now. He says, But to your father, who is in a sacred place, and your father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.

So again, these were just examples of a major underlying sin of the Jewish leaders that Jesus had to confront with all the time. It was hypocrisy. Why did Jesus condemn this sin so vigorously? The examples of these people from the perspective of Jesus Christ is very hard on them. Their examples were sickening to him. They were pretenders. They were phonies. And many of the people, including Jesus, easily saw through their cheap facade of righteousness. Their personal example slandered God's name.

Remember, they were part of the covenant, the old covenant. It slandered God's name and it violated the Third Commandment. Let's take a look at another example. Let's go to chapter 23 in Matthew. Chapter 23 and verse 23. Let's see one more example here from Jesus Christ.

Here again, he lets them have it with both barrels. Jesus was very concerned with the religious leaders of his day because for most of them that he met, this was their one and only chance for salvation. He could read their hearts and deep down they knew he was the Christ. But they wouldn't accept him. Because to accept him meant that they would no longer receive their ego boost. They would no longer be in charge of the synagogues. They no longer would be highly respected of the people. Christ was upsetting their apple cart. They didn't like that. He says, There's that Greek word again.

These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. He's saying tithing out was great. That's part of the law and you should have done that. He says, but the more important things than the physical things is our heart and our attitude. He said, those are the weightier matters of the law. How just we are as a person. How much compassion and mercy we have towards other people. Those aren't physical things. It might be reflected in the things we do, but those are things that come from the heart. And faith, that also is something that comes from the heart. He says, Remember, they were the leaders. They were the ones who were supposed to be guiding the average Jew towards God. That was their role in their culture.

You're so worried about the little things that you let the big things, the weightier matters of the law. Those are the things that come from the heart. The attitude, you let those slide while you focus on the minutia of little physical things. Jesus is saying, woe do you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, where you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside are full of extortion and self-indulgence. He's talking about their hearts again. Blind Pharisee first cleansed the inside of the cup and dish. That the outside of them may be clean also. Woe into these scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you are like white-washed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead man's bones and uncleanness. Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Again, pretty powerful words from Jesus Christ. In no uncertain terms, Jesus warns the Pharisees of the condemnation of hellfire. Because again, in their case, this was their one and only chance of salvation to acknowledge him as their Lord and Savior. Besides their public and private example, or because of their public and private examples, they were condemned.

They were hypocrites, and the average Jew despised them and became cynical and irreligious towards God by their own examples. Brother, this is one reason why so many people today are turned off towards religion. They've seen so much slander in hypocrisy in religious people that they have grown to despise them and they've grown to despise God. I'm not saying ourselves, per se, because we're a very, very small group.

I can tell you this, and I believe this is true in what I've experienced in my lifetime. As a child, late 50s, early 60s, there have always been people who were not very religious. Always knew them, understood that. But today, and I sense this from some of the people that I coach in my business, today, there's a higher percentage than ever before of people who despise religion. It's not that they're not interested, that they say, well, that's a different cup of tea. You know, you do your thing, I'll do... No, they're beyond that. They despise religion.

And what has brought the world to this point? Well, what has brought a lot of it to this point is people's perception in looking at so-called religious people. The hypocrisy they were... See, they see televangelists doing all kinds of despicable sins and things, and it erodes the credibility of what religion is, and by extension, God. They see pedophile priests, they read about it in a newspaper. What does that do? That makes people against religion, because by extension, they say that represents religion, and by extension, they despise God. Of course, we have the influence of evolution today, in which people believe that the world was created without the influence of a God, and the evolution is used to explain everything from biology to psychology to everything in our world today, and it has eliminated the need for God.

Therefore, God is put into the status of myth, like the Greek gods or the Roman gods. They have added Yahweh. That's what has occurred in our culture today, and much of that has happened because of the hypocrisy of many people who are, have called themselves religious leaders in the late 20th century, and here in the 21st century, and that has resulted in people, as I said, not just being neutral towards religion, but being violently opposed to religious belief, being very vocal, being very bold to speak about it, and you find it on the Internet, if you read any blogs, it usually comes up in only a matter of time.

There are people who hate religion of every type and of any type. I'd like to give you a New Testament example of the seriousness of disrespecting God by an example. If you'll turn there with me to the book of Acts, Acts 5 and verse 1. I don't believe Ananias and Sapphira lost their eternal life, but the loss of their physical lives caused great fear and reverence for God's Spirit in the early New Testament Church. Let's see what happened here in Acts chapter 5 and verse 1. I'll give you a little bit of background.

This is not an example of communism, as some have said. What's occurring here is many of the Jews who accepted Jesus Christ were ostracized by their families, their Jewish families who did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. Some lost their jobs. Some lost their family connections. They were disfellowshipped, to use a modern term. So what the church did is the church came together and met. And voluntarily, anyone who had lands or had things that they could sell, they would sell, and that would be put in common to help those who were out of a job, looking for work, to do certain things.

This was a specific time in the history of the church when this was going on. And voluntarily, what occurred is people would sell their land. They would take the full value of that land and they would bring it to the apostles, and they would say, I would like to donate the full value of this land to be used to help those in the church who are struggling.

So that's a little bit of background. And with that, as we go to chapter 5 and verse 1, we read the story of a husband and wife. But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession. But he did something a little different than what everyone else was doing. He kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and he brought a certain part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.

Now, what's unsaid, but what he did is he said, I sold my land, and here's the full value of the land that I received for this land, because that's what others have done, and I'd like to give this as a gift to the church. Verse 3, Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? He said, you didn't even have to sell the land. There was no requirement for you to sell the land.

And when you sold it, you didn't have to pretend that you were giving it all here. You could have kept all the money to yourself. There was no requirement or command for you to do this. But unfortunately, just like the Pharisees and Sadducees and the hypocrites that we had read about that Jesus confronted, Ananias and his wife had hypocrisy in their hearts. They wanted the acknowledgement as if they were giving everything from that land to the church. Verse 4, while it remained, was it not your own?

And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? In other words, you didn't have to give one cent of it. You could have sold the land and kept it all to yourself. You have that right. Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God. So it says earlier, he lied to the Holy Spirit. It says he lied to God. Remember, God is the giver of the gift of the Holy Spirit. So when you lie to the Holy Spirit, you lie to the giver of that power, and that is God. Verse 5, then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last.

So great fear came upon those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter answered her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much. The full price? Did you sell the land for this full price?

And is this all that you sold the land for, the entire amount? Yes, for so much, she said. Then Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out. Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last.

And the young men came in and found her dead, and probably said to themselves, Not again! Anyway, they came in and they found her dead and carried her out, burying her by her husband. So great fear came upon all the church and upon all those who heard these things. This is a lesson. Now, this doesn't happen today, but the reason it did happen is that God wants each and every person of the covenant to realize that God will not hold them guiltless, who takes his name in vain.

And though punishment isn't meted out as quickly as it was in this case, or as quickly as it was in David's case, there is a price to pay when our example is so poor that it allows other people to literally mock God, to question if there is a God, to literally say things that blaspheme the name of God. Paul also had this situation, 1 Timothy 1, verse 18. Let's turn there. If you would with me, 1 Timothy 1, verse 18. Paul writing to Timothy, he says, So he said, So he said, This is from the Greek word, in this case, it's a Greek word, blaspheméo, which means to speak impiously to defame or to speak evil of. So you see here that Paul also experienced individuals in the church whose personal examples and actions scorned and mocked God. And Paul said he needed to put them out, that they could not reside in the faith, that that was an issue. Well, that's enough of the negative talk. That's enough of talking about this particular commandment. I want to talk about, as we conclude this sermon, the opposite of what blasphemy is, because we are a covenant people. And our examples are very important. They're an example to our spouses, our children, they're an example to our neighbors, they're an example to those who meet us in a grocery store, the person who lives across the street that we might engage a conversation with. It's obviously important to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. The opposite of blasphemy is giving glory to God by our behavior and good works. And that's the life that we have been called to do. Let's take a look at 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 20. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 20.

So again, the opposite of blasphemy, which is an example that we don't want to demonstrate, is giving glory to God by our behavior and our good works. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 20.

Paul says, You see, once we are reconciled to God, then we can implore others by our example and by our conversations as if we are pleading on God's behalf to hear the positive message of the good news that's available for the world to hear.

So let's use God's Spirit to present a positive lifestyle as living ambassadors for the kingdom of God. The book of Proverbs states in chapter 13, verse 17, Is that how people feel when we're around? Do we bring a sense of, here comes a person who will lift me up? Here comes someone who will be an encourager. Here comes someone who has good news. Or, here comes Dumpy Dan. Here comes Grumpy Gus. Here comes Mary the Martyr. What kind of ambassador are we to the people that we meet? Hopefully we bring health. People feel better when they're around us. They're picked up. They're lifted up when they're influenced by the energy that comes from our lives because of all that we've been given and the grace that we have been given through Jesus Christ. Matthew, chapter 5 and verse 13. Matthew, chapter 5 and verse 13.

Let's read about the salt of the earth.

Matthew, chapter 5 and verse 13. Jesus said, you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how can it be seasoned?

If you have salt in a salt shaker and you put it on your food and it enhances the taste of your food, if somehow that salt loses its saltiness, what good is it? You throw it away, wouldn't you? I mean, if you put it on your food and you taste it and it doesn't season the food, you probably throw it down the drain. It's worthless. It is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Maybe those of us in northern climates would use it to melt ice on our sidewalk. But, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket. What happens when you light a lamp and you put it under a basket? No one can see it. No one knows that light even exists. Put it under a basket, but on a lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven. Remember what the opposite of an example of blasphemy is? An example that is so pathetic that it gives people a reason, the mind, and the soul. It gives people a reason, the mock God, because of a poor example. The opposite of that is somebody sees us and they say, This person has their act together. This person is refreshingly different. This person has confidence. This is a person of faith. We glorify our Father in Heaven. And indeed, what a contrast that is. Let's read these verses from the translation of the New Century Version.

Salt does four things. We are the salt of the earth, Jesus said. First of all, salt enhances the taste of food. In John 4, verse 37, Jesus said, Are we enhancing the world around us? Is our persona, is the way that we conduct our lives, are our attitudes enhancing the kingdom of God, enhancing the work of Jesus Christ by people seeing how we live and what we do? So again, the first thing that salt does is it enhances the taste of food. The second thing that salt does is that it preserves. We are on this earth to preserve the truth that God has given us. Indeed, there is a God. And this God has a plan for all humanity that is revealed in His holy days. And one day every week, one part of His plan, is the Sabbath day that reminds us as we look forward to the kingdom of God to be established on earth at the return of Jesus Christ. And each and every Sabbath day, that day of peace, pictures that soon-coming kingdom. That is a precious truth that we have, and we need to preserve it. We need to live it. We need to demonstrate it in our lives. The third thing that salt does is salt creates thirst. Salt creates thirst. Our examples should create another's desire to thirst for the knowledge of God. When they see our lives, they should want what we have. Yes, we may be weird in some ways. We don't accept the Trinity. We don't accept same-sex marriage. We don't keep the so-called mainstream holidays. We keep a seventh-day Sabbath. We keep the holy days. We don't believe you go to heaven when you die. But the point that I'm trying to bring here is that if our lives demonstrate the light of Jesus Christ, people should want to know more about it. That kind of a life. By our examples.

So again, salt creates thirst. And four, salt cleanses. And we should be living examples of what repentance and forgiveness means in the lives of the converted people. We once were sinners. We once were lost. We had no savior. If our course wasn't changed, our course would have been condemnation. But we have been cleansed by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And that should change everything. When we receive God's Spirit, we become new creatures in Christ. And when people see us, they should see people who know that their lives have been cleansed for a purpose and for a reason. They should see in us the dynamic love of God and the grace and the appreciation for knowing that we have a savior. And that He has washed away all of our sins. The Believer's Study Bible says, regarding these verses in Matthew 5, As the light of the world, a subject of the kingdom is to witness to his faith through personal example and manifest the light by his testimony and actions.

Well, brethren, as Christians, to a certain degree, we all live in fish bowls, especially because we're different. Some of us live in bigger fish bowls than others. Our neighbors don't expect perfection, but they do expect us to reflect Biblical values, acknowledged values of kindness and service and honesty.

People have a right to expect that when they see our example. And we must practice what we preach. Our loving Father doesn't expect perfection. Do you realize that? That's why He's willing to forgive us upon repentance. Perfection is a goal. Perfection is something that we will achieve someday when we no longer have this flesh and we shed this physical tent and we enter His family and we are divine. At that point, we will reach perfection. But we're not there yet, and God understands that. He does not expect us to be perfect, but He expects us to be growing to spiritual maturity. What does He expect from us? He expects sincerity and commitment from us. He has even given us something to help us, the gift of His Holy Spirit, so that we can give glory and honor to His name by the way that we live. By our examples. By our conduct. So, brethren, in conclusion, let's respect the importance of the Third Commandment. There's more there than just meets the eye when you first read it. And let's live the kind of examples that glorify God. Because we are the light to the world. We are this world's only hope. Jesus Christ is taking a small handful of people and training them to be kings and priests and servants, to help Him build a new world in a new government and a new society, in a new culture that has been lost in this world since the Garden of Eden. We are that hope. Let us continue to remain strong in the faith. Let us continue to preserve. Let us continue to be cleansed. Let us continue to enhance the good news of the Kingdom of God by our very lives. Have a wonderful Sabbath day.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Thomas.