Bearing God's Name With Fear

Minister:
Date: AM
Text: Isaiah 48; Lord's Day 36
Psalters: 276, 1, 206, 203
  1. What is God’s name?
    1. God’s name is His revelation of Himself to man (Psalm 75:1; 72:19; Acts 4:12; Romans 10:13).
      1. Each of God’s names and all of them together are part of His special revelation in Scripture.
      2. His Name shows Himself so that man is able to know Him.
    2. How are we to handle God’s names? (Psalm 29:2; 66:2; 96:8).
      1. We must acknowledge His greatness and give Him praise befitting His level of majesty.
      2. To “take” is to carry, because God has put His name on and in the elect, so we carry it (II Chron. 7:14).
  2. This commandment would have us use God’s name only in awe and with the greatest honor.
    1. “In vain” means that we empty the name of the honor He deserves.
    2. All mis-use of God’s name dishonors Him: profanity, sorcery, rash interjections, connivance and silence.
    3. God is highly insulted when His name is misused or abused.
      1. “Not...guiltless” makes it emphatic that all violators are guilty.
      2. Thus the penalty is nothing less than death (Leviticus 24:15; Heb. 12:28,29; 10:31).
  3. We must use God’s name with great reverence, honoring Him.
    1. The reason: God is the highest good.
    2. He is worthy of our worship, both publicly and privately.
    3. Our chief good and enjoyment consists in glorifying Him and our chief end is to know and praise God forever.
    4. We rightly use God’s name when we thank Him.
    5. Therefore, let us sincerely confess our violations of this command, and earnestly resolve to honor God’s name.