The Name of the Lord

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 134
• Hymn
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin — Psalm 51
• Assurance of Pardon — Psalm 51:17
• Scripture Reading — 2 Samuel 11
• Pastoral Prayer
• Hymn
• Scripture Reading — Exodus 20:7
• Sermon
• Hymn
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

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Sermon Title: The Name of the Lord

Scripture: Exodus 20:7

I. We Hallow the Name of God by Honoring Him as Free

A. In Hebrew culture, a name carried one's reputation, character, and identity — the third commandment is about protecting God's name from defamation and frivolous use

• The Hebrew word for "take" (lift up) was associated with oath-taking and invoking a name to add weight to a promise
• The commandment covers far more than using God's name as a curse word; it addresses all careless, empty, insincere, or self-serving use of his name

B. In the ancient Near East, pagans invoked the names of their gods (Baal, Ashtoreth) to produce magical acts for selfish ambition — Israel's God, Yahweh, is never to be treated this way

• Yahweh alone determines when and where he acts; he is not bound to human incantations or manipulation
• Deuteronomy 18 prescribed death for false prophets who claimed a word from the Lord that did not come true

C. The third commandment is broken whenever God's name is used to serve human convenience, ambition, or selfish desire

1. False prophecy and presumptuous claims of divine direction are a serious violation
2. Swearing by God's name to gain another's trust, rather than doing the hard work of being trustworthy, breaks this commandment
3. David's sin in 2 Samuel 11 illustrates how even a man after God's own heart can wrongly assume God is bound to his desires

D. To honor God as free requires self-sacrifice — we must be willing to sacrifice our own name and reputation so that God's name remains unstained by our sinful ambitions

II. We Hallow the Name of God by Honoring Him as Creator

A. The specific name given in the commandment is Yahweh (rendered LORD in small caps in English translations) — the covenant name of Israel's God, treated with such reverence that scribes substituted Adonai when copying Scripture

B. Yahweh is presented throughout Scripture as the one true Creator God

• Moses interweaves the covenant name Yahweh throughout the creation narrative in Genesis 1–2, identifying Israel's God as the Creator
• Psalm 8 is bookended by "O Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth," with the description of Yahweh as Creator — especially of man, the crown of creation — as its content

C. To hallow God's name as Creator is to honor those made in his image

• James 3:9 — blessing God while cursing those made in his likeness is a contradiction; these things ought not to be
• The Hebrew word for "image" was used of a king's statue placed throughout his kingdom to assert sovereignty; to dishonor God's image bearers is to dishonor God himself
• Tearing down God's image bearers — through contempt, cursing, or political hostility — soils the name of God just as surely as any verbal blasphemy

III. We Hallow the Name of God by Honoring Him as Redeemer

A. The preface to the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2) establishes Yahweh as Israel's Redeemer — the God who brought them out of Egypt — and the Exodus is the most repeated event in the Old Testament

B. Yahweh's relationship to Israel is depicted as a marriage; idolatry is spiritual adultery that dishonors his name before the nations

• Romans 2:23–24 — "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you" — covenant unfaithfulness by God's people brings dishonor to his name before onlookers

C. In the New Covenant, the name that is above every name belongs to Jesus Christ

• Philippians 2:6–11 — Christ humbled himself to death on the cross; therefore God has highly exalted him and given him the name above every name, so that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
• As Christ made a name for himself through his redemptive act, those who bear the name "Christian" are called to carry that name with honor in every area of life — workplace, home, neighborhood, and worship

D. Practical application: We must not give the unbelieving world any ammunition to blaspheme the God we serve; living in covenant faithfulness to our Redeemer hallows his name before a watching world