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Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

Honor God's Name

Bryan Schneider · September 25, 2021

Exodus 20:7

sharonrpc.org/sermons/honor-god-s-name

Summary

  • God reveals his covenant name so that his people may know, praise, and call upon him with reverence.
  • The third commandment forbids empty, profane, superstitious, deceptive, or trifling use of everything by which God makes himself known.
  • False prophecy, careless oaths, blasphemous speech, and religious joking can all misuse God's name.
  • God promises not to hold guiltless those who take his name in vain, exposing every hearer's need for forgiveness.
  • Jesus perfectly honored his Father's name and bore the punishment of blasphemers; believers now bear Christ's name and are called to live consistently with it.

Reflection and discussion

  • Do my speech, messages, humor, and exclamations treat God's name as holy or as common?
  • Have I attached God's authority to claims or predictions he has not actually spoken?
  • When I make promises or give testimony, do I speak truthfully without evasive formulas?
  • Does my conduct honor the name of Christ that I bear as a Christian?
  • How does Christ's perfect reverence and atoning death give hope to those who have misused God's name?

Key terms

Yahweh
God's revealed covenant name, represented by LORD in many English Old Testaments and associated with his self-existence and faithfulness.
Tetragrammaton
The four Hebrew consonants of the divine name, commonly represented as YHWH.
Taking God's name in vain
Lifting up or using God's name and all by which he is known emptily, falsely, irreverently, or for wicked purposes.
Oath
A solemn appeal to God as witness to the truth, which must never be made carelessly or falsely.

Notes and prayer