1 00:00:05,542 --> 00:00:07,625 Howdy, Pastor Mark here, all sweaty 2 00:00:07,667 --> 00:00:09,125 got done just yelling, 3 00:00:09,167 --> 00:00:11,000 got to start the Ten Commandments series, 4 00:00:11,083 --> 00:00:12,417 really excited. 5 00:00:12,500 --> 00:00:13,875 We got, of course, 10 weeks together 6 00:00:13,958 --> 00:00:15,500 going through the Ten Commandments 7 00:00:15,583 --> 00:00:18,333 and I wanted to thank you; you are part 8 00:00:18,375 --> 00:00:20,708 of our extended family of Mars Hill Global. 9 00:00:20,792 --> 00:00:23,208 Many of you pray for us, many of you podcast, 10 00:00:23,292 --> 00:00:25,708 many of you give generously and faithfully 11 00:00:25,792 --> 00:00:27,333 thank you, thank you, thank you 12 00:00:27,375 --> 00:00:29,708 you're helping us introduce people to Jesus, 13 00:00:29,792 --> 00:00:32,625 get solid Bible teaching out, see lives change. 14 00:00:32,667 --> 00:00:34,833 The band is playing behind me right now, 15 00:00:34,875 --> 00:00:36,625 people are giving their lives to Jesus. 16 00:00:36,667 --> 00:00:38,000 If you hear some cheering 17 00:00:38,042 --> 00:00:40,292 it's 'cause they're getting baptized right now. 18 00:00:40,333 --> 00:00:43,500 And our extended family goes really all around the world. 19 00:00:43,542 --> 00:00:45,875 At 4 o' clock today, at our last service 20 00:00:45,958 --> 00:00:48,333 at the Bellevue location where I'm preaching live 21 00:00:48,375 --> 00:00:50,417 we've got a guy in from China. 22 00:00:50,500 --> 00:00:51,917 And apparently he can't get baptized 23 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,583 where he's at in China because the legalities 24 00:00:54,667 --> 00:00:56,333 and for some reason he's in the U.S., 25 00:00:56,375 --> 00:00:58,125 he's part of our extended family 26 00:00:58,167 --> 00:01:01,417 and we're gonna baptize him here from China at 4 o' clock. 27 00:01:01,500 --> 00:01:04,375 We love the opportunity that technology affords us 28 00:01:04,458 --> 00:01:07,625 to get the Bible teaching about Jesus out to the world. 29 00:01:07,667 --> 00:01:09,125 Somebody else getting baptized right there; 30 00:01:09,167 --> 00:01:10,625 I hope you can hear the shouts. 31 00:01:10,667 --> 00:01:13,125 Sincerely thank you, thank you, thank you. 32 00:01:13,167 --> 00:01:16,000 If you're not already part of the extended family 33 00:01:16,042 --> 00:01:18,500 or if you wanna invite others to join us 34 00:01:18,583 --> 00:01:21,083 and know what's going on and be kept up to speed, 35 00:01:21,167 --> 00:01:23,083 marshill.com/global 36 00:01:23,167 --> 00:01:25,208 is the easiest way to sign up for an account. 37 00:01:25,292 --> 00:01:27,208 And for those of you who want to follow along 38 00:01:27,292 --> 00:01:28,583 in the Ten Commandments, 39 00:01:28,667 --> 00:01:30,000 we did put together a study guide. 40 00:01:30,083 --> 00:01:31,333 You could do this individually, 41 00:01:31,375 --> 00:01:32,833 you could do this with your family 42 00:01:32,875 --> 00:01:34,500 you could do this with a small group. 43 00:01:34,583 --> 00:01:36,125 All the proceeds go back to the church 44 00:01:36,167 --> 00:01:37,708 I'm not putting my hand on the till 45 00:01:37,792 --> 00:01:39,708 and it was all written by people in the church 46 00:01:39,792 --> 00:01:43,583 who love Jesus; men, women, single, married, 47 00:01:43,667 --> 00:01:47,333 serving and using their gifts to help serve our church 48 00:01:47,375 --> 00:01:48,667 and I want to thank you 49 00:01:48,750 --> 00:01:50,792 for being an extended member of Mars Hill. 50 00:01:50,833 --> 00:01:52,708 So thanks a bunch and be praying. 51 00:01:52,792 --> 00:01:54,792 I'm pretty fired up to be in the Ten Commandments. 52 00:02:05,333 --> 00:02:08,375 The people of God were stuck. 53 00:02:08,458 --> 00:02:11,042 For centuries, they lived as slaves 54 00:02:11,125 --> 00:02:12,958 to terrifying task masters 55 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:18,042 whose cruelty was only preceded by their power. 56 00:02:18,125 --> 00:02:20,000 In these dark days, 57 00:02:20,042 --> 00:02:21,875 God's people gave birth to children 58 00:02:21,958 --> 00:02:25,292 who would inherit nothing more than misery. 59 00:02:25,333 --> 00:02:28,583 Their strongest ally was a God, 60 00:02:28,667 --> 00:02:33,333 who they had assumed had forgotten them. 61 00:02:34,667 --> 00:02:36,875 Far from forgotten, the people of God 62 00:02:36,958 --> 00:02:41,000 were rescued by the might of his hand. 63 00:02:41,042 --> 00:02:44,000 He put their masters to open shame 64 00:02:44,042 --> 00:02:47,375 and led them into the wilderness. 65 00:02:47,458 --> 00:02:51,250 Though they were set free, they weren't yet living free. 66 00:02:51,333 --> 00:02:55,292 They started to live as slaves to their own sin. 67 00:02:55,333 --> 00:02:57,000 What happened next 68 00:02:57,042 --> 00:03:00,458 reverberates for over 3,000 years of history 69 00:03:00,500 --> 00:03:02,667 to this current day. 70 00:03:02,750 --> 00:03:04,583 Like a loving and patient Father, 71 00:03:04,667 --> 00:03:08,167 God instructed his children, 72 00:03:08,250 --> 00:03:13,042 giving them the Ten Commandments. 73 00:03:19,833 --> 00:03:22,792 "Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain"-- 74 00:03:22,833 --> 00:03:25,292 third commandment, Exodus 20:7. 75 00:03:25,333 --> 00:03:29,042 As you're finding your place, my question to you would be, 76 00:03:29,125 --> 00:03:30,875 do you know what that means? 77 00:03:30,958 --> 00:03:33,500 I mean, have you ever actually considered it, pondered it, 78 00:03:33,542 --> 00:03:35,500 heard a sermon preached on it? 79 00:03:35,542 --> 00:03:38,542 I really hadn't thought about it much until I was in college. 80 00:03:38,625 --> 00:03:40,167 I became a Christian in college, 81 00:03:40,250 --> 00:03:43,167 and I moved into one of those college-guy houses. 82 00:03:43,208 --> 00:03:44,750 You know what I'm talking about? 83 00:03:44,833 --> 00:03:49,083 Really dirty, super cheap, 57 guys in a studio apartment, 84 00:03:49,167 --> 00:03:51,667 1 guy living in the food pantry for half price-- 85 00:03:51,750 --> 00:03:53,167 one of those places. 86 00:03:53,250 --> 00:03:54,583 Grace would come over, 87 00:03:54,667 --> 00:03:56,083 wouldn't even use the bathroom 88 00:03:56,167 --> 00:03:57,500 because she was too terrified. 89 00:03:57,542 --> 00:03:59,250 It required a Hazmat, not a cleaner. 90 00:03:59,333 --> 00:04:02,250 A Hazmat crew really was needed in the bathroom. 91 00:04:02,333 --> 00:04:03,667 One of those places. 92 00:04:03,708 --> 00:04:06,292 And I got my first Christian roommate, and I'll never forget, 93 00:04:06,333 --> 00:04:10,000 he was sitting over on his side of the room with his back to me, 94 00:04:10,042 --> 00:04:12,667 and I was sitting over on my side of the room 95 00:04:12,708 --> 00:04:14,667 with my back to him, and we're studying. 96 00:04:14,708 --> 00:04:16,292 And at random intervals, he would, 97 00:04:16,333 --> 00:04:21,292 with sort of loud passion, just say various food items, like, 98 00:04:21,333 --> 00:04:22,958 "Ham and cheese!" 99 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:24,333 You're like, "What the--?" 100 00:04:24,417 --> 00:04:26,542 I look over, and he's just doing his homework. 101 00:04:26,625 --> 00:04:29,792 OK, wait a little while--"Chips and salsa!" 102 00:04:29,833 --> 00:04:31,167 What the--? 103 00:04:31,250 --> 00:04:33,375 You know, another one, he really liked--peanut butter. 104 00:04:33,458 --> 00:04:34,792 How do I know? 105 00:04:34,833 --> 00:04:36,292 Because I heard it a lot. 106 00:04:36,333 --> 00:04:37,667 "Peanut butter!" 107 00:04:37,750 --> 00:04:39,167 He'd really emphasize the peanut butter. 108 00:04:39,250 --> 00:04:41,167 And finally, feeling like a short-order cook 109 00:04:41,250 --> 00:04:42,583 at a bad diner, 110 00:04:42,667 --> 00:04:44,292 I finally asked him, "Hey, you know, 111 00:04:44,333 --> 00:04:46,500 what's up with the menu here in our room?" 112 00:04:46,542 --> 00:04:49,250 And he says, "Well, I'm trying to obey the third commandment 113 00:04:49,333 --> 00:04:51,292 "and not take the Lord's name in vain, 114 00:04:51,333 --> 00:04:53,000 "so instead of saying the Lord's name 115 00:04:53,042 --> 00:04:54,542 "every time I'm frustrated 116 00:04:54,625 --> 00:04:56,833 I say whatever food comes to mind." 117 00:04:56,917 --> 00:04:58,458 Here's the deal. 118 00:04:58,500 --> 00:05:00,167 So, I thought, "Hmm, that's different." 119 00:05:00,208 --> 00:05:02,333 I didn't even know what the third commandment was, 120 00:05:02,417 --> 00:05:04,333 and I was like, "What's the third commandment?" 121 00:05:04,417 --> 00:05:07,083 "Like, when you use the Lord's name in a bad way." 122 00:05:07,167 --> 00:05:08,792 I was like, "Is that a thing?" 123 00:05:08,833 --> 00:05:10,500 He's like, "Yeah, that's a bad thing." 124 00:05:10,542 --> 00:05:13,500 I was like, "Oh no," because I played on a baseball team, 125 00:05:13,542 --> 00:05:16,167 and our rule was every time you hit a home run, 126 00:05:16,250 --> 00:05:17,583 everybody would yell, "Ding dong," 127 00:05:17,667 --> 00:05:20,083 and every time you struck out, we'd say Jesus' name, 128 00:05:20,167 --> 00:05:21,583 and we struck out a lot. 129 00:05:21,667 --> 00:05:23,583 And so we said Jesus' name negatively, publicly, 130 00:05:23,667 --> 00:05:25,083 loudly, frequently. 131 00:05:25,167 --> 00:05:27,292 I thought, "Oh no, man, I'm in serious trouble." 132 00:05:27,333 --> 00:05:28,792 So I started thinking about it. 133 00:05:28,833 --> 00:05:32,167 I then went over to my roommate and I was like, "Wait a minute. 134 00:05:32,250 --> 00:05:33,833 "But you're saying 'Peanut butter' 135 00:05:33,917 --> 00:05:35,792 "or 'chips and salsa' or 'ham and cheese,' 136 00:05:35,833 --> 00:05:38,000 "but God knows your heart, and in your heart, 137 00:05:38,042 --> 00:05:39,500 you're really cursing, aren't you?" 138 00:05:39,542 --> 00:05:41,250 He's like, "Yeah, I guess I am." 139 00:05:41,333 --> 00:05:43,750 I said, "OK, well this whole thing is peanut butter." 140 00:05:43,833 --> 00:05:45,167 That's what I told him. 141 00:05:45,208 --> 00:05:47,792 And at the end of the day, it got me thinking, 142 00:05:47,833 --> 00:05:50,500 "Like, wow, have I been using the Lord's name in vain? 143 00:05:50,542 --> 00:05:52,667 "Have I been using the name of Jesus wrongly? 144 00:05:52,750 --> 00:05:54,667 Am I guilty of violating the third commandment?" 145 00:05:54,750 --> 00:05:56,875 I had to go look up the third commandment. 146 00:05:56,958 --> 00:05:59,042 What is the third commandment? What does it mean? 147 00:05:59,125 --> 00:06:00,500 What does it not mean? 148 00:06:00,583 --> 00:06:02,667 Before we jump into it, let me tell you 149 00:06:02,750 --> 00:06:04,458 what the third commandment does not mean. 150 00:06:04,500 --> 00:06:08,000 How many of you had moms who would serve soap as a an entree 151 00:06:08,042 --> 00:06:09,667 if you had a "potty mouth"-- 152 00:06:09,708 --> 00:06:11,292 to use your granny's language, right? 153 00:06:11,333 --> 00:06:13,292 You would say a word and mom's like, 154 00:06:13,333 --> 00:06:16,458 "Ah ha ha, have some soap, OK?" 155 00:06:16,500 --> 00:06:20,375 And what your mom thought-- so tell your mom this-- 156 00:06:20,458 --> 00:06:23,750 is that there's a list of good words 157 00:06:23,833 --> 00:06:25,542 and a list of bad words, 158 00:06:25,625 --> 00:06:28,667 and if you are a good person, you'll say the good words 159 00:06:28,750 --> 00:06:31,958 but not the bad words, and if you say the bad words, 160 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,500 we'll fix it and you'll have to eat soap, OK? 161 00:06:34,542 --> 00:06:36,750 I don't think it's that simple. 162 00:06:36,833 --> 00:06:39,000 In fact, I'm very convinced that it's not, 163 00:06:39,042 --> 00:06:41,458 because we should use bad words for bad things 164 00:06:41,500 --> 00:06:43,375 and good words for good things. 165 00:06:43,458 --> 00:06:46,042 And we really cause problems when we use good words 166 00:06:46,125 --> 00:06:49,000 for bad things or bad words for good things. 167 00:06:49,042 --> 00:06:51,667 That's why Isaiah says, "Woe to those who call evil good 168 00:06:51,708 --> 00:06:53,042 and good evil." 169 00:06:53,125 --> 00:06:55,583 Bad words for bad things, good words for good things. 170 00:06:55,667 --> 00:06:57,667 I'm not arguing for a potty mouth. 171 00:06:57,750 --> 00:07:00,250 I'm not arguing for inappropriate speech. 172 00:07:00,333 --> 00:07:02,583 But the Bible does have some strong language. 173 00:07:02,667 --> 00:07:04,083 Let me just say that, OK? 174 00:07:04,167 --> 00:07:06,292 I was going to read some stuff from Isaiah, 175 00:07:06,333 --> 00:07:07,792 but you probably couldn't handle it. 176 00:07:07,833 --> 00:07:09,500 I was going to go to Ezekiel, 177 00:07:09,542 --> 00:07:11,875 but we'd have to "boop, boop, boop" me on YouTube, 178 00:07:11,958 --> 00:07:13,375 because it's, like, sort of frank. 179 00:07:13,458 --> 00:07:15,875 You jump to the New Testament, Paul tells some Galatians 180 00:07:15,958 --> 00:07:17,958 to remove some appendages. 181 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:19,667 It's sort of a thing. 182 00:07:19,750 --> 00:07:22,750 And in addition, Jesus says some stuff to the religious guys, 183 00:07:22,833 --> 00:07:24,667 like, "Your mom shagged the devil" 184 00:07:24,750 --> 00:07:26,375 and "you're a bag of snakes." 185 00:07:26,458 --> 00:07:28,667 Kind of strong, kind of strong, kind of strong. 186 00:07:28,750 --> 00:07:31,167 In Amos 4:1, 187 00:07:31,250 --> 00:07:35,083 he has got a little message for a women's Bible study 188 00:07:35,167 --> 00:07:40,333 in Bashan, and so he says, "To the cows of Bashan." 189 00:07:40,417 --> 00:07:43,958 Now, how many women, you go, "Yeah, our group needs a name. 190 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:46,875 "Oh, what will it be? The Sisters United? 191 00:07:46,958 --> 00:07:50,292 "The Sisters of Perpetual Awesomeness? 192 00:07:50,333 --> 00:07:52,667 Cows, OK? All in favor?" 193 00:07:52,750 --> 00:07:54,792 Offensive, right? 194 00:07:54,833 --> 00:07:56,583 Always offensive, cross-culturally offensive. 195 00:07:56,667 --> 00:07:59,083 There's no culture you can go to and be like, 196 00:07:59,167 --> 00:08:02,167 "Dear, cows" and they're like, "Oh, can we get shirts? 197 00:08:02,208 --> 00:08:04,292 We love that." OK? 198 00:08:04,333 --> 00:08:06,500 The Bible has some strong language. 199 00:08:06,542 --> 00:08:08,958 That's why they murder prophets, they murder Jesus, 200 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,250 that's why Paul starts an occasional riot. 201 00:08:11,333 --> 00:08:13,667 So, it's not always like, you know, greeting cards 202 00:08:13,708 --> 00:08:16,458 and, you know, pithy statements that you would read 203 00:08:16,500 --> 00:08:18,000 in some fortune cookie. 204 00:08:18,042 --> 00:08:19,750 The Bible does use strong language. 205 00:08:19,833 --> 00:08:23,583 It doesn't use it frequently, but it uses it strategically. 206 00:08:23,667 --> 00:08:26,000 And it can't just be, "Use good words!" 207 00:08:26,042 --> 00:08:27,667 No, use good words for good things, 208 00:08:27,750 --> 00:08:29,083 bad words for bad things. 209 00:08:29,167 --> 00:08:30,500 I'll give you an example. 210 00:08:30,542 --> 00:08:31,875 Some years ago, 211 00:08:31,958 --> 00:08:33,875 I was in a conversation with some pastors, 212 00:08:33,958 --> 00:08:35,292 and they were talking about, 213 00:08:35,333 --> 00:08:37,292 "Hey, did you hear about what so-and-so did?" 214 00:08:37,333 --> 00:08:39,042 I was like, "I don't know, no." 215 00:08:39,125 --> 00:08:41,542 "Well, he stole a bunch of money from the church, 216 00:08:41,625 --> 00:08:42,958 "and took the church secretary, 217 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,667 who was younger than his daughter, and ran off with her." 218 00:08:45,750 --> 00:08:48,667 So, one of the guys says, "Yeah, it was quite an indiscretion." 219 00:08:48,750 --> 00:08:50,667 Wrong word; we need a bigger word. 220 00:08:50,750 --> 00:08:52,833 OK, because "indiscretion" is when you're playing Scrabble, 221 00:08:52,917 --> 00:08:54,583 and it's coming down to the end, 222 00:08:54,667 --> 00:08:56,583 and the box is almost empty of tiles, 223 00:08:56,667 --> 00:08:58,583 and you're neck and neck with your opponent, 224 00:08:58,667 --> 00:09:00,125 and you've got a Z. 225 00:09:00,167 --> 00:09:03,292 And you know it's a ten point deduction if you don't dump that 226 00:09:03,333 --> 00:09:06,667 Z before the end of the game, so you try and get away with 227 00:09:06,750 --> 00:09:08,667 spelling "buzzer" with one Z instead of two. 228 00:09:08,750 --> 00:09:10,083 That's an indiscretion, right? 229 00:09:10,167 --> 00:09:12,083 If you grab the money and the secretary 230 00:09:12,167 --> 00:09:15,333 and run away from the church, we need a bigger word. 231 00:09:15,417 --> 00:09:17,042 Something like "adultery," to quote Jesus, 232 00:09:17,125 --> 00:09:18,750 "son of the devil"-- something like that. 233 00:09:18,833 --> 00:09:22,000 We need a good, big word that articulates rightly a bad thing 234 00:09:22,042 --> 00:09:23,792 with a bad word. 235 00:09:23,833 --> 00:09:25,333 Do you understand what I'm saying? 236 00:09:25,417 --> 00:09:28,333 I always hate when people will be like, "They had an affair." 237 00:09:28,417 --> 00:09:29,750 What, prom? 238 00:09:29,833 --> 00:09:31,750 You know, I mean, use the right word. 239 00:09:31,833 --> 00:09:33,750 Use a good word for a good thing, 240 00:09:33,833 --> 00:09:36,750 use a bad word for a bad thing. And the third commandment 241 00:09:36,833 --> 00:09:39,083 is not primarily about, "Oh, just only say 242 00:09:39,167 --> 00:09:40,875 "nice, pleasant things and never say anything 243 00:09:40,958 --> 00:09:43,750 that's strong or poignant." 244 00:09:43,833 --> 00:09:47,333 So, this leads to the question, "How should we speak about God?" 245 00:09:47,417 --> 00:09:49,083 That's the question. 246 00:09:49,167 --> 00:09:52,083 How should we speak about God? 247 00:09:52,167 --> 00:09:54,833 So, Exodus 20:7, Ten Commandments. 248 00:09:54,917 --> 00:09:56,333 First one, there's one God. 249 00:09:56,417 --> 00:09:57,792 Second one, we worship him alone. 250 00:09:57,833 --> 00:10:02,792 Third commandment, how we speak about God is how we worship God. 251 00:10:02,833 --> 00:10:04,625 So, here's what he says: 252 00:10:04,667 --> 00:10:07,917 "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain"-- 253 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:09,583 pay attention to that word, "vain"-- 254 00:10:09,667 --> 00:10:11,708 "for the Lord will not hold him guiltless 255 00:10:11,792 --> 00:10:13,208 who takes his name in vain." 256 00:10:13,292 --> 00:10:16,000 Right, really emphasizing this, like two barrels on a gun here. 257 00:10:16,042 --> 00:10:18,000 Not in vain, not in vain, all right? 258 00:10:18,083 --> 00:10:19,917 Very much emphasizing this big idea: 259 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,167 don't take God's name in vain. 260 00:10:23,250 --> 00:10:26,333 You say, "Well, what if I do or what if I have?" 261 00:10:26,375 --> 00:10:27,792 "Will not hold him guiltless"-- 262 00:10:27,833 --> 00:10:29,500 so there's going to be some consequence. 263 00:10:29,583 --> 00:10:32,000 It might be something minor; it might be something major. 264 00:10:32,083 --> 00:10:34,500 I think it's in Leviticus chapter 24, around verse 11, 265 00:10:34,583 --> 00:10:37,500 there's a guy who takes the name of the Lord in vain, 266 00:10:37,583 --> 00:10:39,000 young guy, dies. 267 00:10:39,083 --> 00:10:40,500 Can you imagine that? 268 00:10:40,583 --> 00:10:43,000 Can you imagine if today on Twitter, God just said, 269 00:10:43,083 --> 00:10:45,917 "Everybody who takes my name in vain is going to die today." 270 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,125 It would really free up some Internet traffic, right? 271 00:10:48,167 --> 00:10:50,917 I mean, it would really thin the herd on that one. 272 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,833 "OM--" pow! 273 00:10:53,875 --> 00:10:56,208 Right? 274 00:10:56,292 --> 00:10:57,833 So, this is serious. 275 00:10:57,875 --> 00:10:59,333 How many of you, you're like, 276 00:10:59,375 --> 00:11:01,500 "Oh, I don't want God to punish me." 277 00:11:01,583 --> 00:11:03,125 God's got our attention here. 278 00:11:03,167 --> 00:11:05,625 A couple things I want you to know about this: 279 00:11:05,667 --> 00:11:07,125 Number one, we don't name God. 280 00:11:07,167 --> 00:11:08,625 God tells us his name. 281 00:11:08,667 --> 00:11:11,667 Some people are like, "Oh, well, who do you think God is? 282 00:11:11,750 --> 00:11:13,167 "And what's your name for God? 283 00:11:13,250 --> 00:11:15,083 "And what's your spirituality, and your religion, 284 00:11:15,167 --> 00:11:16,500 and your philosophy, and your ideology?" 285 00:11:16,583 --> 00:11:19,292 "I think God is this," and "I think God is that," 286 00:11:19,333 --> 00:11:22,667 and "I think God's name is this," and "I think God's name is that." 287 00:11:22,750 --> 00:11:25,167 "And I think that everybody's talking about the same God, 288 00:11:25,250 --> 00:11:26,583 we just use different names." 289 00:11:26,667 --> 00:11:28,000 No, we don't. 290 00:11:28,042 --> 00:11:30,167 There's one God, and he tells us his name. 291 00:11:30,250 --> 00:11:33,167 And we have no right to create a name for God because 292 00:11:33,250 --> 00:11:34,583 that's an act of leadership. 293 00:11:34,667 --> 00:11:37,208 For example, when you were born, your parents named you because 294 00:11:37,292 --> 00:11:38,708 they were in authority over you. 295 00:11:38,792 --> 00:11:40,917 If we name God, we're exercising authority over God. 296 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,125 We have no right to exercise authority over God, 297 00:11:43,167 --> 00:11:44,500 he is in authority. 298 00:11:44,583 --> 00:11:47,000 We don't name him; he reveals his name to us. 299 00:11:47,083 --> 00:11:49,208 He says he is the Lord, the Sovereign One, 300 00:11:49,292 --> 00:11:50,625 the One who's over all. 301 00:11:50,667 --> 00:11:52,792 In fact, here, it's the name Yahweh. 302 00:11:52,833 --> 00:11:55,417 It appears almost 7,000 times in the Old Testament. 303 00:11:55,500 --> 00:11:58,375 It was such a sacred name and the Jews were so fearful 304 00:11:58,458 --> 00:11:59,792 of violating the third commandment 305 00:11:59,833 --> 00:12:02,500 that many wouldn't even say the name of God 306 00:12:02,542 --> 00:12:04,667 for fear of misstating it 307 00:12:04,708 --> 00:12:07,375 and enduring the consequences. 308 00:12:07,458 --> 00:12:10,167 Something else I want you to know, that God copyrights, 309 00:12:10,250 --> 00:12:13,292 he trademarks, he patents his name. 310 00:12:13,333 --> 00:12:16,083 How many of you work for a company and the name 311 00:12:16,167 --> 00:12:19,375 of the company is not public property? 312 00:12:19,458 --> 00:12:22,083 How many of you work for a company and their icon 313 00:12:22,167 --> 00:12:24,083 and imagery, it belongs to the company. 314 00:12:24,167 --> 00:12:25,792 That's why, if I decided, for example, 315 00:12:25,833 --> 00:12:27,792 to start a coffee company, I couldn't say, 316 00:12:27,833 --> 00:12:30,542 "Oh, I like the name Starbucks and I was thinking about 317 00:12:30,625 --> 00:12:31,958 "a green mermaid. 318 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,333 If I put that on the cup, I bet you that would increase sales." 319 00:12:35,417 --> 00:12:38,292 I would find myself in grave danger because I have no right 320 00:12:38,333 --> 00:12:42,042 to use that branding, to use that trademarked, 321 00:12:42,125 --> 00:12:44,167 patented naming and imaging 322 00:12:44,250 --> 00:12:47,958 because I have no license agreement to use it, OK? 323 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:49,792 Think of it in that way. 324 00:12:49,833 --> 00:12:51,875 God owns his name. 325 00:12:51,958 --> 00:12:55,375 He will allow us to use it under certain conditions, 326 00:12:55,458 --> 00:12:57,792 but he's patented it, trademarked it, 327 00:12:57,833 --> 00:13:00,042 he's branded it, he owns it. 328 00:13:00,125 --> 00:13:02,875 It's his name and how it is treated 329 00:13:02,958 --> 00:13:05,792 should be according to his requirements. 330 00:13:05,833 --> 00:13:07,792 You get that? 331 00:13:07,833 --> 00:13:09,500 So, all that being said, God says, 332 00:13:09,542 --> 00:13:11,583 "Don't take my name in vain." 333 00:13:11,667 --> 00:13:14,500 Well, what does that word "vain" mean? 334 00:13:14,542 --> 00:13:16,667 It's super important. 335 00:13:16,750 --> 00:13:23,083 It means "emptiness," "falsehood," "in a way that is trivial, 336 00:13:23,167 --> 00:13:26,583 light, inconsequential, or small." 337 00:13:26,667 --> 00:13:32,000 It's disrespectful; it's dishonorable. 338 00:13:34,333 --> 00:13:36,583 The opposite--and you need to know that every commandment 339 00:13:36,667 --> 00:13:38,000 has two sides. 340 00:13:38,042 --> 00:13:41,292 So, when it says, "Don't commit adultery," what it's saying is, 341 00:13:41,333 --> 00:13:43,292 "Be faithful to your spouse." 342 00:13:43,333 --> 00:13:47,792 When it says, "Don't covet your neighbor's goods," 343 00:13:47,833 --> 00:13:51,458 the flip side is "Celebrate the grace of God 344 00:13:51,500 --> 00:13:54,333 in the lives of other people without getting jealous." 345 00:13:54,417 --> 00:13:57,333 Here, when it says, "Don't take God's name in vain," 346 00:13:57,417 --> 00:14:01,250 the flip side of that is what Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6:9, 347 00:14:01,333 --> 00:14:03,292 where he teaches us how to pray. 348 00:14:03,333 --> 00:14:04,792 Remember the line? 349 00:14:04,833 --> 00:14:06,958 "Our Father who art in heaven"-- what's he say? 350 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,333 "Hallowed be your name." 351 00:14:09,417 --> 00:14:14,583 Holy, respected, revered, honored be your name. 352 00:14:14,667 --> 00:14:16,875 The opposite of hallowing God's name 353 00:14:16,958 --> 00:14:19,292 is taking God's name in vain. 354 00:14:19,333 --> 00:14:23,083 So, Jesus teaches us how to not violate the third commandment, 355 00:14:23,167 --> 00:14:27,792 by honoring, by hallowing the name of God. 356 00:14:27,833 --> 00:14:32,292 Well, this leads us to some practical implications 357 00:14:32,333 --> 00:14:34,792 and applications of the third commandment. 358 00:14:34,833 --> 00:14:37,167 I want to proceed from the theology 359 00:14:37,208 --> 00:14:39,292 to what this means for you and I. 360 00:14:39,333 --> 00:14:42,458 If it's so serious that God has, depending upon how you slice it, 361 00:14:42,500 --> 00:14:46,333 613 or 614 laws in the first 5 books of the Old Testament, 362 00:14:46,417 --> 00:14:49,667 and then he boils it down to 10 in the Ten Commandments, 363 00:14:49,708 --> 00:14:51,833 and he places this one, number 3, 364 00:14:51,917 --> 00:14:54,000 in order, it's a big deal. 365 00:14:54,042 --> 00:14:57,000 And if he warns us that if we disobey it there are 366 00:14:57,042 --> 00:15:01,125 consequences for us, we are to be people who then ponder, 367 00:15:01,167 --> 00:15:04,792 consider, prayerfully, carefully look at our life and our words 368 00:15:04,833 --> 00:15:07,583 and ask, "Am I violating the third commandment?" 369 00:15:07,667 --> 00:15:10,458 So, I want to show you four practical ways that we 370 00:15:10,500 --> 00:15:14,792 commonly do this, taking the Lord's name in vain. 371 00:15:14,833 --> 00:15:17,167 Number one, through false promises. 372 00:15:17,208 --> 00:15:20,083 Jesus says this in Matthew 5:33-35-- 373 00:15:20,167 --> 00:15:22,833 so we're going to look at the Lord Jesus, the teacher, 374 00:15:22,917 --> 00:15:26,375 the rabbi, and him articulating for us the third commandment 375 00:15:26,458 --> 00:15:28,000 in fuller understanding. 376 00:15:28,042 --> 00:15:29,375 Here's what he says: 377 00:15:29,458 --> 00:15:32,375 "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 378 00:15:32,458 --> 00:15:33,792 'You shall not swear falsely.'" 379 00:15:33,833 --> 00:15:35,792 So, he's picking up the big idea here 380 00:15:35,833 --> 00:15:37,167 of the third commandment. 381 00:15:37,250 --> 00:15:39,667 "'But shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' 382 00:15:39,750 --> 00:15:42,667 "But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, 383 00:15:42,750 --> 00:15:44,083 "either by heaven, 384 00:15:44,167 --> 00:15:46,792 "for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, 385 00:15:46,833 --> 00:15:49,292 "for it is his footstool of God, or by Jerusalem, 386 00:15:49,333 --> 00:15:51,500 for it is the city of the great King." 387 00:15:51,542 --> 00:15:53,667 So, what happened is when someone wanted to make 388 00:15:53,750 --> 00:15:55,375 an oath--and think of it this way, 389 00:15:55,458 --> 00:15:58,167 an oath includes a vow or a promise. 390 00:15:58,208 --> 00:16:00,708 So, if you're a believer and you give your word, 391 00:16:00,792 --> 00:16:03,292 it's a form of an oath. 392 00:16:03,333 --> 00:16:04,667 I promise. 393 00:16:04,750 --> 00:16:08,083 Or a vow is, for example, when, let's say a husband and a wife 394 00:16:08,167 --> 00:16:10,750 stand, you know, in a church in the presence of God 395 00:16:10,833 --> 00:16:12,750 and witnesses, and when they read their vows, 396 00:16:12,833 --> 00:16:15,375 these are not just like, "I hope if all goes well, 397 00:16:15,458 --> 00:16:18,083 best case scenario, here's what I might do," all right? 398 00:16:18,167 --> 00:16:19,500 It's a promise. 399 00:16:19,542 --> 00:16:20,875 It's an oath. 400 00:16:20,958 --> 00:16:22,583 It's a vow. 401 00:16:22,667 --> 00:16:26,375 It's a vow, and we're not to enter into those things lightly 402 00:16:26,458 --> 00:16:28,250 or haphazardly. 403 00:16:28,333 --> 00:16:31,250 And when we do, we are guilty of disobeying the third commandment 404 00:16:31,333 --> 00:16:34,500 and entering in to a false promise, 405 00:16:34,542 --> 00:16:37,000 giving our word for something that we have no intention 406 00:16:37,042 --> 00:16:40,458 of executing on or following through with. 407 00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:43,667 But what we want is we want people to think that 408 00:16:43,708 --> 00:16:45,833 we are serious, to think that we are committed, 409 00:16:45,917 --> 00:16:49,167 so we will include spiritual language and God talk to make it 410 00:16:49,250 --> 00:16:53,042 all seem very dependable. 411 00:16:53,125 --> 00:16:57,167 So, they were fearful in that day, in Jesus' day, of saying, 412 00:16:57,208 --> 00:17:01,833 "I promise, I oath, I vow," 413 00:17:01,917 --> 00:17:03,792 and they would raise their hand, 414 00:17:03,833 --> 00:17:05,792 "in the presence of God Almighty. 415 00:17:05,833 --> 00:17:08,292 "I don't know if I want to go that far. 416 00:17:08,333 --> 00:17:10,792 "I'm not sure I'm going to follow through with this. 417 00:17:10,833 --> 00:17:12,167 "I might not. 418 00:17:12,250 --> 00:17:14,875 I might, I might not," or "I'm certainly not going to," 419 00:17:14,958 --> 00:17:16,375 or "I'm not really into this," 420 00:17:16,458 --> 00:17:18,083 or "I'm not all committed to it," 421 00:17:18,167 --> 00:17:20,083 or "I wanted to keep my options open 422 00:17:20,167 --> 00:17:21,500 and change my mind later." 423 00:17:21,542 --> 00:17:23,500 So instead of vowing, promising, oathing to God, 424 00:17:23,542 --> 00:17:25,583 they would pick something spiritual, 425 00:17:25,667 --> 00:17:28,542 sort of take it down a notch. 426 00:17:28,625 --> 00:17:31,667 So they would say, "Well, I promise by heaven," 427 00:17:31,750 --> 00:17:35,042 or "the throne of God," or "the earth that he made," 428 00:17:35,125 --> 00:17:37,583 or "the great city of Jerusalem. 429 00:17:37,667 --> 00:17:40,292 I promise on these spiritual things." 430 00:17:40,333 --> 00:17:43,958 Now, we do this same thing. 431 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:45,333 We do it. 432 00:17:45,417 --> 00:17:47,667 For example, oftentimes you go into court. 433 00:17:47,750 --> 00:17:50,083 Sometimes they'll make you put your hand on the Bible. 434 00:17:50,167 --> 00:17:52,292 Let's say you're an elected official, you win, 435 00:17:52,333 --> 00:17:54,292 you get installed, what do you do? 436 00:17:54,333 --> 00:17:56,292 You put your hand on the Bible. 437 00:17:56,333 --> 00:18:00,958 "I swear to uphold and do the right thing." 438 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,000 Do you? 439 00:18:03,042 --> 00:18:05,667 I mean, do you honestly think that every politician who puts 440 00:18:05,750 --> 00:18:07,875 their hand on the Bible is saying, "Oh yeah, 441 00:18:07,958 --> 00:18:10,875 "and I'm going to read the book every day and make sure 442 00:18:10,958 --> 00:18:12,292 I do what it says." 443 00:18:12,333 --> 00:18:13,667 You all chuckle. 444 00:18:13,750 --> 00:18:15,333 Thanks for paying attention. 445 00:18:15,417 --> 00:18:17,833 I mean, really, it's like, we don't even think that. 446 00:18:17,917 --> 00:18:19,583 We think, "Well, that's just religious pageantry. 447 00:18:19,667 --> 00:18:21,292 That's kind of like a fake thing." 448 00:18:21,333 --> 00:18:24,292 You know, because you can't walk up to a politician and go, 449 00:18:24,333 --> 00:18:25,667 "Hey, hey, hey. 450 00:18:25,750 --> 00:18:28,375 "I was reading the Bible and the policy does not fit. 451 00:18:28,458 --> 00:18:29,792 "It doesn't fit. 452 00:18:29,833 --> 00:18:31,500 Have you not read Galatians? Come on!" 453 00:18:31,542 --> 00:18:33,500 They're like, "Come on, we weren't taking it 454 00:18:33,542 --> 00:18:34,875 "that seriously. 455 00:18:34,958 --> 00:18:36,667 "It was like a lucky rabbit's foot. 456 00:18:36,708 --> 00:18:38,667 "This was a little religious thing we did, 457 00:18:38,708 --> 00:18:40,042 "kind of little ceremony. 458 00:18:40,125 --> 00:18:42,250 "We littered a little God in there so everybody 459 00:18:42,333 --> 00:18:43,667 "would sleep better at night. 460 00:18:43,708 --> 00:18:46,292 We didn't really intend for this to be taken that seriously." 461 00:18:46,333 --> 00:18:48,667 Other ways that we do it, we say things. 462 00:18:48,750 --> 00:18:50,667 You ready, you ready? 463 00:18:50,708 --> 00:18:53,000 OK, both of you are fired up, awesome. 464 00:18:53,042 --> 00:18:55,583 OK, finish the sentence. 465 00:18:55,667 --> 00:18:57,792 Here's what we do when we make false promises. 466 00:18:57,833 --> 00:19:03,750 "I swear to--" fill in the blank. 467 00:19:03,833 --> 00:19:06,167 "I swear to God." 468 00:19:06,208 --> 00:19:08,000 OK, you've heard that one. 469 00:19:08,042 --> 00:19:10,667 Are you going to do that? "Oh, I swear to God." 470 00:19:10,750 --> 00:19:12,875 Did you do that? "I did not do it." 471 00:19:12,958 --> 00:19:15,083 I think you did it. "I didn't do it. 472 00:19:15,167 --> 00:19:18,042 I swear to God I didn't do it." 473 00:19:18,125 --> 00:19:19,458 How about this one? 474 00:19:19,500 --> 00:19:21,375 Ready, ready? 475 00:19:21,458 --> 00:19:24,250 "As God as my witness." 476 00:19:24,333 --> 00:19:26,958 Oh, so you've heard that one. 477 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:31,083 "As God as my witness, I'm going to do this." 478 00:19:31,167 --> 00:19:32,542 How about this one? 479 00:19:32,625 --> 00:19:36,292 "I swear on a stack of--" Oh, you've heard that one. 480 00:19:36,333 --> 00:19:40,000 "I swear on a stack of--not a Bible, bring me a big stack, 481 00:19:40,042 --> 00:19:42,667 "big stack of Bibles all the way up to here. 482 00:19:42,750 --> 00:19:45,083 "I'll swear on all of them. 483 00:19:45,167 --> 00:19:47,250 "Bring all the translations. 484 00:19:47,333 --> 00:19:49,833 I'll swear on them all." 485 00:19:49,917 --> 00:19:52,667 Sometimes you know that that person's lying, 486 00:19:52,750 --> 00:19:55,375 but they're saying religious, spiritual things 487 00:19:55,458 --> 00:19:59,333 hoping to get you to believe them. 488 00:19:59,417 --> 00:20:01,417 So, here's the little kid version. 489 00:20:01,500 --> 00:20:06,125 "Cross my heart," so Jesus cross right here over my heart. 490 00:20:06,167 --> 00:20:07,833 "Cross my heart, hope to die." 491 00:20:07,875 --> 00:20:10,833 I would never tell my kids to throw that last part in. 492 00:20:10,875 --> 00:20:12,333 That's a real-- Right? 493 00:20:12,375 --> 00:20:14,333 Hope to die, really? 494 00:20:14,375 --> 00:20:15,708 You're sure, you serious? 495 00:20:15,792 --> 00:20:17,875 "I don't really mean it." 496 00:20:17,958 --> 00:20:20,625 But it's our way of saying the same kinds of things 497 00:20:20,667 --> 00:20:22,792 that Jesus is rebuking in Matthew 5. 498 00:20:22,833 --> 00:20:24,583 He says, "Don't do that." 499 00:20:24,667 --> 00:20:26,417 Here's how James says it, Jesus' brother. 500 00:20:26,500 --> 00:20:28,125 "Let your yes be yes. 501 00:20:28,167 --> 00:20:29,833 Let your no be no." 502 00:20:29,875 --> 00:20:32,000 And don't start throwing all kinds of religious language 503 00:20:32,083 --> 00:20:34,792 like, "Bring me a stack of Bibles and some holy water, 504 00:20:34,833 --> 00:20:37,000 "and watch me make a sign of the cross. 505 00:20:37,042 --> 00:20:39,500 "And I'm going to cross my fingers behind my back 506 00:20:39,542 --> 00:20:40,875 because then it's not true." 507 00:20:40,958 --> 00:20:42,625 I mean, just, done with all that. 508 00:20:42,667 --> 00:20:44,625 How many of you did that as kids? 509 00:20:44,667 --> 00:20:46,000 "I promise." 510 00:20:46,083 --> 00:20:48,000 Do you pinky promise? "I double pinky promise. 511 00:20:48,083 --> 00:20:51,208 Whatever, OK, yes or no?" 512 00:20:51,292 --> 00:20:53,125 And if you say yes, do it, 513 00:20:53,167 --> 00:20:58,167 and if you don't intend to do it, say no. 514 00:20:58,250 --> 00:20:59,833 I'll give you an example. 515 00:20:59,875 --> 00:21:02,208 I'll give you some painful examples for every one. 516 00:21:02,292 --> 00:21:05,208 So, some years ago, I had a buddy, friend, guy I knew, 517 00:21:05,292 --> 00:21:07,208 nice family, nice guy. 518 00:21:07,292 --> 00:21:08,917 Found a house that he really liked, 519 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,125 kind of one of those Seattle cool Craftsman homes 520 00:21:11,167 --> 00:21:12,833 that's sort of sweet, needs some work, 521 00:21:12,875 --> 00:21:15,500 but if you really work on it, could be pretty great. 522 00:21:15,583 --> 00:21:18,208 So, he decided, "I'm going to move my family in there 523 00:21:18,292 --> 00:21:19,625 "and renovate this home, 524 00:21:19,667 --> 00:21:21,625 and we're going to make it our house." 525 00:21:21,667 --> 00:21:23,000 Good idea. 526 00:21:23,083 --> 00:21:25,000 So, I'm talking to him. "How's it going?" 527 00:21:25,083 --> 00:21:26,417 House is torn up. 528 00:21:26,500 --> 00:21:29,833 I mean, it's hard to know how a family can live in the thing-- 529 00:21:29,875 --> 00:21:31,208 it's a construction zone. 530 00:21:31,292 --> 00:21:32,625 "It's going good." 531 00:21:32,667 --> 00:21:34,833 I said, "Well, how are you paying for this? 532 00:21:34,875 --> 00:21:36,333 "Did you get a construction loan? 533 00:21:36,375 --> 00:21:38,000 "Did you roll it into the purchase? 534 00:21:38,083 --> 00:21:39,417 Like, what are you doing?" 535 00:21:39,500 --> 00:21:42,625 He said, "Oh, I'm paying for it out of pocket because, you know, 536 00:21:42,667 --> 00:21:44,125 I don't own the home yet." 537 00:21:44,167 --> 00:21:45,500 You're like, "What? 538 00:21:45,583 --> 00:21:47,500 OK, you're renovating a home you don't own?" 539 00:21:47,583 --> 00:21:50,208 How many of you already sense trouble on the horizon? 540 00:21:50,292 --> 00:21:53,833 He's dumping a lot of time, energy, 541 00:21:53,875 --> 00:21:56,125 and money into the renovation of the home. 542 00:21:56,167 --> 00:21:58,625 I said, "What do you mean you don't own it?" 543 00:21:58,667 --> 00:22:02,083 He said, "Well, I'm going to buy it once I get it all done. 544 00:22:02,167 --> 00:22:04,292 "Right now the guy's not ready to sell it, 545 00:22:04,333 --> 00:22:07,292 but he promised me he'd sell it to me for a price." 546 00:22:07,333 --> 00:22:08,667 "Did you get a contract?" 547 00:22:08,750 --> 00:22:11,167 He said, "No, because we're brothers." 548 00:22:11,250 --> 00:22:13,167 He's talking about brothers in the Lord. 549 00:22:13,250 --> 00:22:15,500 "We don't need a contract, Pastor Mark. We're brothers." 550 00:22:15,542 --> 00:22:17,667 Really, really? Because the first brother killed 551 00:22:17,750 --> 00:22:23,958 the other one and then--like, you keep reading the book-- 552 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,167 they do nefarious things to one another, these brothers. 553 00:22:27,208 --> 00:22:29,167 Jacob and Esau, not so good. 554 00:22:29,208 --> 00:22:31,333 Keep going, Joseph and his brothers, not so good. 555 00:22:31,417 --> 00:22:34,083 I mean, just start at the left, go to the right. 556 00:22:34,167 --> 00:22:36,292 Good luck finding two brothers that are, you know, 557 00:22:36,333 --> 00:22:38,000 riding a tandem bike, wearing matching sweatshirts, 558 00:22:38,042 --> 00:22:39,375 and singing praise songs. 559 00:22:39,458 --> 00:22:41,583 Good luck finding those two brothers in the book. 560 00:22:41,667 --> 00:22:43,000 I can't find them, right? 561 00:22:43,042 --> 00:22:44,375 You need a contract. 562 00:22:44,458 --> 00:22:45,792 "Oh, we don't, Pastor Mark. 563 00:22:45,833 --> 00:22:48,458 "We're brothers in the Lord, and he gave me his word. 564 00:22:48,500 --> 00:22:50,458 We shook on it." 565 00:22:50,500 --> 00:22:52,500 Well, tell that to the real estate judge. 566 00:22:52,542 --> 00:22:54,083 "Hey, we pinky promised." 567 00:22:54,167 --> 00:22:57,667 Oh, well, if you pinky promised. 568 00:22:57,750 --> 00:23:00,250 True or false, Christians need a contract? 569 00:23:00,333 --> 00:23:04,292 True, true. 570 00:23:04,333 --> 00:23:06,667 Didn't have a contract. 571 00:23:06,750 --> 00:23:08,583 I was like, "Are you sure?" 572 00:23:08,667 --> 00:23:10,167 "It's fine." 573 00:23:10,208 --> 00:23:11,792 "OK." 574 00:23:11,833 --> 00:23:16,583 Waited until the home was well underway, lots of work done, 575 00:23:16,667 --> 00:23:19,875 equity value up, market bounced back, 576 00:23:19,958 --> 00:23:23,667 kicked the family out of the house, sold the home, 577 00:23:23,750 --> 00:23:27,542 pocketed all the money. 578 00:23:27,625 --> 00:23:30,750 "Brother." 579 00:23:30,833 --> 00:23:33,458 That's a violation of the third commandment. 580 00:23:33,500 --> 00:23:36,958 It's taking God's name in vain. 581 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:38,667 It's a false promise. 582 00:23:38,750 --> 00:23:43,667 It's pretending that we don't need to abide by laws 583 00:23:43,708 --> 00:23:47,333 or formalities because we're brothers, and it's Jesus, 584 00:23:47,417 --> 00:23:50,292 and "I love you, bro," and it's going to be great. 585 00:23:50,333 --> 00:23:52,583 Come to find, the guy's just a con man, 586 00:23:52,667 --> 00:23:55,583 and this is kind of what he does. 587 00:23:55,667 --> 00:23:58,667 See, sometimes it's a lot more difficult than, 588 00:23:58,750 --> 00:24:01,875 "Well, did he ever use a bad word?" 589 00:24:01,958 --> 00:24:07,667 He is a bad word, OK, right? 590 00:24:07,750 --> 00:24:09,667 False promise. 591 00:24:09,750 --> 00:24:13,250 Number two, false prophecies, Jeremiah 14:14-- 592 00:24:13,333 --> 00:24:15,792 second way that we violate the third commandment-- 593 00:24:15,833 --> 00:24:18,875 "And the Lord said to me"-- so God's going to speak here-- 594 00:24:18,958 --> 00:24:21,083 "The prophets are prophesying lies,"-- 595 00:24:21,167 --> 00:24:24,292 and here's the big problem-- "in my name." 596 00:24:24,333 --> 00:24:26,292 So, they're invoking the name of the Lord. 597 00:24:26,333 --> 00:24:28,583 See, in the Old Testament, the prophets would say, 598 00:24:28,667 --> 00:24:31,750 "Thus saith the Lord," or "In the name of the Lord." 599 00:24:31,833 --> 00:24:33,875 Gerhard von Rad, he's an Old Testament scholar, 600 00:24:33,958 --> 00:24:36,000 he says that according to his estimation, 601 00:24:36,042 --> 00:24:38,167 more than 200 times the Old Testament prophets say, 602 00:24:38,250 --> 00:24:40,958 "Thus saith the Lord," or "In the name of the Lord," 603 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:43,958 and what they're saying is, "My words are God's words," 604 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,167 and they come without authority. 605 00:24:46,250 --> 00:24:48,833 And God says, "Actually, there's a bunch of guys running around 606 00:24:48,917 --> 00:24:50,833 "writing books, and speaking at conferences, 607 00:24:50,917 --> 00:24:53,292 "and filling up churches, and selling products, 608 00:24:53,333 --> 00:24:57,083 "and they're saying stuff I never told them to say. 609 00:24:57,167 --> 00:25:00,167 They're making stuff up." 610 00:25:00,208 --> 00:25:02,167 Does this still happen? 611 00:25:02,250 --> 00:25:03,875 All the time, OK? 612 00:25:03,958 --> 00:25:05,875 So, test everything by the word of God-- 613 00:25:05,958 --> 00:25:07,292 including what I say. 614 00:25:07,333 --> 00:25:08,667 You know what? 615 00:25:08,750 --> 00:25:10,375 We want to be a Bible-based church. 616 00:25:10,458 --> 00:25:13,792 We don't want to hear--we want to hear the word of God, 617 00:25:13,833 --> 00:25:16,500 not just the opinions of men and women. 618 00:25:16,542 --> 00:25:19,042 "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name." 619 00:25:19,125 --> 00:25:20,667 That's the problem. 620 00:25:20,750 --> 00:25:22,333 It confuses people. 621 00:25:22,417 --> 00:25:26,000 "I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them." 622 00:25:26,042 --> 00:25:28,542 These guys are rogue; they're on their own. 623 00:25:28,625 --> 00:25:31,375 "They are prophesying to you a lying vision." 624 00:25:31,458 --> 00:25:33,792 Why? Because it's often profitable. 625 00:25:33,833 --> 00:25:37,833 "Worthless divination"--super spiritual, ooh, dreams, visions, 626 00:25:37,917 --> 00:25:39,667 new spirituality, got a new book, 627 00:25:39,750 --> 00:25:41,667 figured out how to put some religions together 628 00:25:41,750 --> 00:25:45,375 and get a new experience, all that kind of garbage-- 629 00:25:45,458 --> 00:25:49,667 "and the deceit of their own minds." 630 00:25:49,708 --> 00:25:51,667 God's not real big on religious pluralism. 631 00:25:51,750 --> 00:25:54,583 Did that sort of strike you as I read that? 632 00:25:54,667 --> 00:25:58,000 It's like some things are wrong. 633 00:25:58,042 --> 00:26:00,750 That's why 1 John tells us, "Don't believe every spirit, 634 00:26:00,833 --> 00:26:02,958 "but test the spirits because Satan sends out demons, 635 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,167 "and they can give people lots of spiritual power, 636 00:26:05,208 --> 00:26:06,542 "great spiritual experiences, 637 00:26:06,625 --> 00:26:08,833 and it all is to lead people astray." 638 00:26:08,917 --> 00:26:11,083 So friends, this can include false teaching 639 00:26:11,167 --> 00:26:12,583 and false doctrine. 640 00:26:12,667 --> 00:26:14,583 What Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 11, 641 00:26:14,667 --> 00:26:17,583 he says to the Corinthians who are kind of a young, naive, 642 00:26:17,667 --> 00:26:19,375 urban, hipster church, he says, "I'm afraid, 643 00:26:19,458 --> 00:26:20,875 "just as Satan deceived Eve, 644 00:26:20,958 --> 00:26:23,375 "I'm afraid as well that you're being deceived 645 00:26:23,458 --> 00:26:26,667 and following a different Jesus." 646 00:26:26,750 --> 00:26:29,500 See, the Mormons have a Jesus, but he's not eternally God, 647 00:26:29,542 --> 00:26:31,167 the second member of the Trinity. 648 00:26:31,250 --> 00:26:34,083 He's a created being, he's a man who became God. 649 00:26:34,167 --> 00:26:36,167 See, the Jehovah's Witnesses, they'll talk about Jesus, 650 00:26:36,250 --> 00:26:38,083 but he's the archangel Michael, 651 00:26:38,167 --> 00:26:41,000 not the Creator God, sovereign Ruler of all. 652 00:26:41,042 --> 00:26:42,667 The Muslims will talk about Jesus, 653 00:26:42,750 --> 00:26:45,167 but they don't think he's God, or rose from death, 654 00:26:45,208 --> 00:26:47,792 or died on the cross in our place for our sins. 655 00:26:47,833 --> 00:26:50,542 They think he's a prophet, but not even the best prophet 656 00:26:50,625 --> 00:26:52,542 because he's not even as good a prophet 657 00:26:52,625 --> 00:26:55,167 as their alleged prophet, Muhammad. 658 00:26:55,250 --> 00:26:57,000 Lots of religions, lots of philosophies, 659 00:26:57,042 --> 00:26:59,875 lots of ideologies are going to grab the name of Jesus 660 00:26:59,958 --> 00:27:04,667 and then pour into that name someone who's not him. 661 00:27:04,708 --> 00:27:08,292 All of that would fit under the rubric of false prophecy. 662 00:27:08,333 --> 00:27:10,792 This includes false predictive prophecy 663 00:27:10,833 --> 00:27:12,667 anticipating the future. 664 00:27:12,750 --> 00:27:14,833 How many of you have heard somebody predict 665 00:27:14,917 --> 00:27:16,292 the end of the world? 666 00:27:16,333 --> 00:27:17,833 You heard this? 667 00:27:17,917 --> 00:27:21,167 This drives me nuts. 668 00:27:21,250 --> 00:27:24,292 Jesus says, "No one knows the hour or the day of my coming," 669 00:27:24,333 --> 00:27:27,292 and there's always a guy like, "I do, I do, I do. 670 00:27:27,333 --> 00:27:32,000 "I got a book I wrote based upon a mathematical formula 671 00:27:32,042 --> 00:27:34,500 "that came to me after I fell off my bike 672 00:27:34,542 --> 00:27:37,167 not wearing a helmet, and I've got it all figured out." 673 00:27:37,208 --> 00:27:38,542 No, you don't. 674 00:27:38,625 --> 00:27:40,250 If Jesus doesn't know, you don't know. 675 00:27:40,333 --> 00:27:42,583 Remember a couple years ago a crazy guy bought 676 00:27:42,667 --> 00:27:44,750 all the billboards declaring the end of the world 677 00:27:44,833 --> 00:27:46,167 on a certain day? 678 00:27:46,208 --> 00:27:47,542 Remember that? 679 00:27:47,625 --> 00:27:51,375 True or false, he was wrong, right? 680 00:27:51,458 --> 00:27:53,083 Yeah, wrong. 681 00:27:53,167 --> 00:27:55,750 And then he adjusts, like, "Oh, I got the math wrong," 682 00:27:55,833 --> 00:27:57,500 and he moved it a little bit. 683 00:27:57,542 --> 00:27:59,167 And then he's like, "I was wrong." 684 00:27:59,250 --> 00:28:00,750 You think? You think? 685 00:28:00,833 --> 00:28:02,292 You really think you're wrong? 686 00:28:02,333 --> 00:28:03,792 Yeah, we all think you're wrong. 687 00:28:03,833 --> 00:28:06,958 You know why? We're here. 688 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:09,375 That's how we know you're wrong. 689 00:28:09,458 --> 00:28:14,250 All right, I mean, be careful, because see, when we say, 690 00:28:14,333 --> 00:28:17,667 "Thus saith the Lord," what we're doing is we're trying 691 00:28:17,750 --> 00:28:20,875 to increase our credibility, and in so doing, 692 00:28:20,958 --> 00:28:24,167 we're decreasing his credibility. 693 00:28:24,250 --> 00:28:27,292 Because if it doesn't come true or it's not the right thing, 694 00:28:27,333 --> 00:28:29,042 then other people say, "I don't know. 695 00:28:29,125 --> 00:28:30,792 "I mean, he says God told him, 696 00:28:30,833 --> 00:28:32,292 "and apparently God's bad at math, 697 00:28:32,333 --> 00:28:34,042 "and God doesn't know what he's doing, 698 00:28:34,125 --> 00:28:36,042 "and God doesn't know what he's talking about." 699 00:28:36,125 --> 00:28:37,458 Those Christians are all fools. 700 00:28:37,500 --> 00:28:38,958 And it may increase our authority 701 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,583 and it diminishes his authority. 702 00:28:41,667 --> 00:28:43,333 We're making a withdrawal from God's account 703 00:28:43,417 --> 00:28:45,667 that we have no right to. 704 00:28:45,750 --> 00:28:47,542 So, sometimes it works like this. 705 00:28:47,625 --> 00:28:49,500 I'll give you the more street version. 706 00:28:49,542 --> 00:28:53,333 "The Lord told me." 707 00:28:53,417 --> 00:28:57,292 It seems like you guys are bothered by that. 708 00:28:57,333 --> 00:28:59,000 How many of you've done that one? 709 00:28:59,042 --> 00:29:01,167 You're like, "The Lord told me." 710 00:29:01,208 --> 00:29:04,292 Well, if it's a verse, we'll talk, but if it's, 711 00:29:04,333 --> 00:29:06,875 "The Lord told me," what sometimes that is is like, 712 00:29:06,958 --> 00:29:08,375 "I know what the Bible says. 713 00:29:08,458 --> 00:29:10,375 "I don't really like what the Bible says. 714 00:29:10,458 --> 00:29:13,375 "I want to do something that the Bible says not to do, 715 00:29:13,458 --> 00:29:15,083 "so here's what I'm going to do. 716 00:29:15,167 --> 00:29:17,083 "I'm going to say the Lord told me, 717 00:29:17,167 --> 00:29:20,083 "and then I'm over the Bible and you can't tell me no 718 00:29:20,167 --> 00:29:22,292 because who are you to disagree with the Lord?" 719 00:29:22,333 --> 00:29:23,667 It's tricky, sneaky, right? 720 00:29:23,750 --> 00:29:26,167 Like, a gal I talked to recently, "Pastor Mark, 721 00:29:26,208 --> 00:29:28,458 "my boyfriend and I moved in together, 722 00:29:28,500 --> 00:29:30,958 "but we really prayed about it first, 723 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,667 and the Lord told us it was OK." 724 00:29:33,750 --> 00:29:35,083 Really? 725 00:29:35,167 --> 00:29:36,542 Who'd you pray to? Hugh Hefner? 726 00:29:36,625 --> 00:29:39,083 You dialed the wrong number. 727 00:29:39,167 --> 00:29:40,583 You dialed the wrong number. 728 00:29:40,667 --> 00:29:43,042 If the answer you got was, "Live with your boyfriend," 729 00:29:43,125 --> 00:29:44,500 "The Lord told me." 730 00:29:44,542 --> 00:29:45,875 Well, guess what? 731 00:29:45,958 --> 00:29:50,875 The Lord wrote a book and he says, "No." 732 00:29:50,958 --> 00:29:55,333 That's just a bunch of peanut butter. 733 00:29:55,417 --> 00:29:57,000 How about this one? 734 00:29:57,042 --> 00:29:59,167 "The Lord told me to tell you." 735 00:29:59,250 --> 00:30:01,500 I love that one. 736 00:30:01,583 --> 00:30:03,125 Really? He didn't call me. 737 00:30:03,167 --> 00:30:05,333 I don't know, was I on the other line? 738 00:30:05,375 --> 00:30:07,500 I missed that one. Why can't he call me? 739 00:30:07,583 --> 00:30:09,292 "The Lord told me to tell you." 740 00:30:09,333 --> 00:30:10,667 Really? 741 00:30:10,750 --> 00:30:13,167 Well, the Lord told me to tell you to stuff 742 00:30:13,250 --> 00:30:14,917 what you were going to tell me. 743 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:16,625 I don't know what we do now. 744 00:30:16,667 --> 00:30:18,500 We've got a real conundrum here, right? 745 00:30:18,542 --> 00:30:19,875 But it sounds very-- 746 00:30:19,958 --> 00:30:22,000 "Oh, well, the Lord told you to tell me." 747 00:30:22,083 --> 00:30:23,500 And some people are tender-conscienced; 748 00:30:23,583 --> 00:30:24,917 they mean well. 749 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:27,917 They're like, "OK, well if the Lord has a word for me, 750 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:29,917 well, give me the word from the Lord." 751 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:31,417 "Single ladies, all the single ladies," 752 00:30:31,500 --> 00:30:33,167 to quote that great theologian Beyoncé, OK? 753 00:30:33,250 --> 00:30:35,167 All the single ladies, hear me on this. 754 00:30:35,250 --> 00:30:36,583 Watch out for this guy. 755 00:30:36,667 --> 00:30:38,000 Watch out for this guy: 756 00:30:38,042 --> 00:30:39,667 "The Lord told me to tell you 757 00:30:39,750 --> 00:30:42,208 that you're supposed to be my wife." 758 00:30:42,292 --> 00:30:44,333 Any of you ladies ever met that guy? 759 00:30:44,375 --> 00:30:49,125 Tell him this: "Pastor Mark says you're a false prophet. 760 00:30:49,167 --> 00:30:50,833 "And how do I know? 761 00:30:50,875 --> 00:30:56,333 Because I'm not going to date you, let alone marry you." 762 00:30:56,375 --> 00:30:57,708 Right? 763 00:30:57,792 --> 00:30:59,208 But see, this is spiritual abuse. 764 00:30:59,292 --> 00:31:01,500 This is, "The Lord told me to tell you." 765 00:31:01,542 --> 00:31:03,667 The Bible also says, "Honor your mother and father, 766 00:31:03,750 --> 00:31:06,167 "listen to the leaders in the church, seek good wisdom, 767 00:31:06,250 --> 00:31:07,583 test everything by Scripture." 768 00:31:07,667 --> 00:31:10,792 You don't get just to, you know, walk around and pull out the 769 00:31:10,833 --> 00:31:12,500 "Hey, God told me," wave the flag, 770 00:31:12,583 --> 00:31:15,500 "So you've got to do what I say because God told me." 771 00:31:15,583 --> 00:31:16,917 No. 772 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:18,625 I'll give you a troubling, painful example. 773 00:31:18,667 --> 00:31:21,292 I was in Australia some years ago talking to a pastor 774 00:31:21,333 --> 00:31:22,792 who had all these questions about, 775 00:31:22,833 --> 00:31:25,000 "How do you know if something's from the Lord 776 00:31:25,042 --> 00:31:26,375 "or not from the Lord? 777 00:31:26,458 --> 00:31:27,875 "And how do you discern it? 778 00:31:27,958 --> 00:31:29,292 How do you unpack it?" 779 00:31:29,333 --> 00:31:32,417 It was like, man, this guy had a lot of very specific questions, 780 00:31:32,500 --> 00:31:34,917 which usually indicates there's some life issue that was painful 781 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:36,417 that his questions are orbiting around. 782 00:31:36,500 --> 00:31:38,167 So I asked him, "OK, what happened?" 783 00:31:38,250 --> 00:31:39,667 He said, "Well, here's the deal. 784 00:31:39,750 --> 00:31:41,417 When I was about 10 years old"-- 785 00:31:41,500 --> 00:31:42,833 I'm working off memory now-- 786 00:31:42,875 --> 00:31:44,500 he said, "I was part of Pentecostal, 787 00:31:44,583 --> 00:31:46,500 "kind of tent revival, visiting evangelists, prophets, teachers, 788 00:31:46,583 --> 00:31:51,167 "preachers, and a guy prophesied over me that I would die 789 00:31:51,250 --> 00:31:55,667 before I was 13." 790 00:31:55,750 --> 00:31:59,000 Can you imagine what the next 3 years looked like 791 00:31:59,042 --> 00:32:00,875 for that boy? 792 00:32:00,958 --> 00:32:03,292 I mean, I've got kids-- I can't even fathom. 793 00:32:03,333 --> 00:32:04,833 That's horrifying. 794 00:32:04,917 --> 00:32:07,333 This kid was terrified. 795 00:32:07,417 --> 00:32:10,833 He sort of gave up any hope of, "I'm going to get married. 796 00:32:10,917 --> 00:32:13,333 I'm going to have kids. I'm going to grow up." 797 00:32:13,417 --> 00:32:15,333 Just let all that-- "I'm going to die. 798 00:32:15,417 --> 00:32:19,667 Like, there's a cliff at 13 and I just walk off it." 799 00:32:22,958 --> 00:32:26,375 His 13th birthday was not a good day. 800 00:32:26,458 --> 00:32:28,958 Well, now he's an older man. 801 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,083 It was a false prophecy: it didn't come true. 802 00:32:32,167 --> 00:32:36,000 It's exactly what Jeremiah's talking about. 803 00:32:36,042 --> 00:32:39,667 But it gripped him with fear, it controlled his life, 804 00:32:39,750 --> 00:32:43,292 it robbed his--I would say, it was child abuse. 805 00:32:43,333 --> 00:32:47,875 And that's what false prophecies do. 806 00:32:47,958 --> 00:32:52,458 They impose on people things that God didn't say, 807 00:32:52,500 --> 00:32:55,500 and those things harm people that God loves. 808 00:32:55,542 --> 00:32:58,875 How many of you get really frustrated when you never said 809 00:32:58,958 --> 00:33:03,667 something, and someone goes out and says, "They said blank," 810 00:33:03,708 --> 00:33:05,583 and you're like, "I never said that." 811 00:33:05,667 --> 00:33:07,875 Or, you said something, and then they twist it, 812 00:33:07,958 --> 00:33:11,167 and it sounds exactly like the opposite of what you said, 813 00:33:11,250 --> 00:33:14,667 and you're like, "That is not what I said." 814 00:33:14,750 --> 00:33:17,875 Do you get frustrated when people do that to you? 815 00:33:17,958 --> 00:33:20,875 So does God. 816 00:33:20,958 --> 00:33:24,083 God says, "Don't go to my kids and tell them to do things 817 00:33:24,167 --> 00:33:26,583 "because you got a word from me. 818 00:33:26,667 --> 00:33:29,792 I am not saying that." 819 00:33:29,833 --> 00:33:32,292 It's false prophecies. 820 00:33:32,333 --> 00:33:34,167 The third way is false pretenses. 821 00:33:34,208 --> 00:33:36,792 Jesus says it this way, Matthew 7:21-23: 822 00:33:36,833 --> 00:33:38,875 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord.'" 823 00:33:38,958 --> 00:33:40,292 So, hear this. 824 00:33:40,333 --> 00:33:42,292 OK, we're still working off the third commandment, 825 00:33:42,333 --> 00:33:45,167 "Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." 826 00:33:45,250 --> 00:33:47,958 Here they are invoking the name of the Lord, so saying, 827 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:49,333 "Lord, Lord." 828 00:33:49,417 --> 00:33:51,167 They're invoking the name of the Lord. 829 00:33:51,250 --> 00:33:52,667 "Will enter the kingdom of heaven, 830 00:33:52,750 --> 00:33:56,083 "but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 831 00:33:56,167 --> 00:33:57,792 On that day"-- the Day of Judgment, 832 00:33:57,833 --> 00:34:00,333 the most important day, the last day, the final day-- 833 00:34:00,417 --> 00:34:02,167 "many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord.'" 834 00:34:02,250 --> 00:34:04,000 They're invoking the name of the Lord. 835 00:34:04,042 --> 00:34:06,000 "Did we not prophesy in your name? 836 00:34:06,042 --> 00:34:08,583 "We went out and said, 'Thus saith the Lord,' 837 00:34:08,667 --> 00:34:10,833 "and 'The Bible says,' and 'God declares.' 838 00:34:10,917 --> 00:34:12,583 And cast out demons." 839 00:34:12,667 --> 00:34:14,583 We had a little bit of supernatural power. 840 00:34:14,667 --> 00:34:17,250 We did some pretty amazing things. 841 00:34:17,333 --> 00:34:21,875 "In your name"--we invoked your name. 842 00:34:21,958 --> 00:34:26,167 "And do many mighty works in your name." 843 00:34:26,208 --> 00:34:28,167 These people are standing up and they're saying, 844 00:34:28,208 --> 00:34:29,875 "Our whole life was in your name. 845 00:34:29,958 --> 00:34:31,875 "Everything we did was in your name. 846 00:34:31,958 --> 00:34:33,583 "All our ministry, everything we accomplished-- 847 00:34:33,667 --> 00:34:40,500 it was all in your name." But it wasn't for his name. 848 00:34:44,208 --> 00:34:48,958 It was in his name, but it was not for his name. 849 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:53,167 They were using God's name for their own benefit. 850 00:34:53,250 --> 00:34:56,750 "And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; 851 00:34:56,833 --> 00:35:01,833 depart from me, go to hell, you workers of lawlessness.'" 852 00:35:01,917 --> 00:35:07,583 So, it's your words, "Lord, Lord," and your works, 853 00:35:07,667 --> 00:35:10,083 and false pretenses are when your words 854 00:35:10,167 --> 00:35:12,375 and your works are incongruent. 855 00:35:12,458 --> 00:35:15,292 I'm not talking about just a believer struggling to live 856 00:35:15,333 --> 00:35:17,542 a consistent life by God's grace. 857 00:35:17,625 --> 00:35:20,667 What we're talking about is someone who, "Lord, Lord, Lord," 858 00:35:20,750 --> 00:35:27,667 all their words are betrayed by all of their works. 859 00:35:27,708 --> 00:35:30,542 All of their words are betrayed by all of their works. 860 00:35:30,625 --> 00:35:32,458 It's false pretenses. 861 00:35:32,500 --> 00:35:38,667 False pretenses are occasions on which we are pretending. 862 00:35:38,708 --> 00:35:43,250 We are pretending to be one of God's people when we are not 863 00:35:43,333 --> 00:35:47,458 one of God's people because it benefits us. 864 00:35:47,500 --> 00:35:49,583 It's associating with God and his people 865 00:35:49,667 --> 00:35:51,875 to get benefits that we have no right to, 866 00:35:51,958 --> 00:35:54,250 because what we want is all of the benefits 867 00:35:54,333 --> 00:35:56,083 and none of the commitments. 868 00:35:56,167 --> 00:35:58,000 Some examples, case studies. 869 00:35:58,042 --> 00:36:01,792 How many of you are leaders or owners in a company 870 00:36:01,833 --> 00:36:03,875 or a business? 871 00:36:03,958 --> 00:36:07,750 Is it OK to let others know that you are a Christian? 872 00:36:07,833 --> 00:36:09,292 Yes or no? 873 00:36:09,333 --> 00:36:11,833 Yes, it's totally fine. 874 00:36:11,917 --> 00:36:13,792 I mean, many Christians, in fact, 875 00:36:13,833 --> 00:36:16,375 are looking for a Christian. 876 00:36:16,458 --> 00:36:18,875 Like, if I could find a mechanic who loves Jesus, 877 00:36:18,958 --> 00:36:21,875 I'd like to give them my money to help feed their family 878 00:36:21,958 --> 00:36:24,167 because Galatians says to do good for all people, 879 00:36:24,250 --> 00:36:26,583 but especially those of the household of faith. 880 00:36:26,667 --> 00:36:29,583 You know, I like giving my money to people who love Jesus 881 00:36:29,667 --> 00:36:32,333 because I want to help them and their families. 882 00:36:32,417 --> 00:36:34,167 So, there are well-intended Christian people 883 00:36:34,250 --> 00:36:35,958 who are looking for Christians to hire. 884 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:38,458 So, if you put a fish on your business card, 885 00:36:38,500 --> 00:36:40,167 or put a fish on your website, 886 00:36:40,250 --> 00:36:41,875 or put a fish on your advertisement, 887 00:36:41,958 --> 00:36:43,875 or put a fish on your company vehicle, 888 00:36:43,958 --> 00:36:47,000 they think, "OK, that's one of Jesus' people." 889 00:36:47,042 --> 00:36:49,667 But if you're going to present yourself as one of Jesus' 890 00:36:49,750 --> 00:36:52,042 people, you need to conduct business in a way 891 00:36:52,125 --> 00:36:54,292 that honors Jesus. 892 00:36:54,333 --> 00:36:56,292 You can't steal from people, rip them off. 893 00:36:56,333 --> 00:36:57,667 You can't over bill. 894 00:36:57,750 --> 00:37:00,125 You can't take advantage of people and under deliver. 895 00:37:00,167 --> 00:37:02,583 And then, you certainly can't go to Corinthians and say, 896 00:37:02,667 --> 00:37:04,583 "Hey, brother, you know what the Bible says. 897 00:37:04,667 --> 00:37:09,833 We can't sue each other." 898 00:37:09,917 --> 00:37:15,333 And this happens, "In the name of the Lord," 899 00:37:15,417 --> 00:37:18,583 but it's not for the name of the Lord. 900 00:37:18,667 --> 00:37:20,667 Somebody who's getting the benefits 901 00:37:20,750 --> 00:37:24,083 of waving the Jesus flag without any of the obligations 902 00:37:24,167 --> 00:37:26,583 that are to ensue. 903 00:37:26,667 --> 00:37:28,167 I'll give you a couple examples. 904 00:37:28,208 --> 00:37:29,542 I'll make them political. 905 00:37:29,625 --> 00:37:31,750 I tend not to get into politics a lot, 906 00:37:31,833 --> 00:37:33,250 but I think this is illustrative. 907 00:37:33,333 --> 00:37:34,750 Every time somebody runs for office, 908 00:37:34,833 --> 00:37:36,167 they start talking about God. 909 00:37:36,208 --> 00:37:39,833 "And God bless America." 910 00:37:39,917 --> 00:37:41,958 Really? 911 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:43,875 Which God? 912 00:37:43,958 --> 00:37:45,458 And who are you? 913 00:37:45,500 --> 00:37:47,958 And since we're talking about God, do you know him? 914 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:49,500 Will you obey him? 915 00:37:49,542 --> 00:37:52,375 You put your hand on the Bible, do you intend to actually 916 00:37:52,458 --> 00:37:55,375 pay any attention to it? 917 00:37:55,458 --> 00:37:57,375 I'll give you a couple examples. 918 00:37:57,458 --> 00:37:59,167 I've not been in trouble in a while, 919 00:37:59,208 --> 00:38:00,833 so I want to resolve that. 920 00:38:00,917 --> 00:38:03,875 Number one, there was recently a prayer meeting in Iowa 921 00:38:03,958 --> 00:38:07,792 for abortion where they called it a blessing. 922 00:38:07,833 --> 00:38:14,250 My guess is the children would disagree. 923 00:38:14,333 --> 00:38:17,792 And a gubernatorial candidate got up and prayed this publicly, 924 00:38:17,833 --> 00:38:19,458 I'll read it to you. 925 00:38:19,500 --> 00:38:22,000 "We gave thanks, oh Lord, for the doctors, 926 00:38:22,042 --> 00:38:26,333 both current and future, who provide quality abortion care." 927 00:38:26,417 --> 00:38:29,875 What? 928 00:38:29,958 --> 00:38:35,875 Don't sprinkle a little God talk 929 00:38:35,958 --> 00:38:40,458 amongst a genocide. 930 00:38:40,500 --> 00:38:42,500 Nazis did that. 931 00:38:42,542 --> 00:38:45,375 I know what I'm saying is very strong and offensive-- 932 00:38:45,458 --> 00:38:49,792 no accident. 933 00:38:49,833 --> 00:38:53,667 Don't sprinkle a little God talk around murder 934 00:38:53,750 --> 00:38:58,292 so it seems like a blessing. 935 00:38:58,333 --> 00:39:00,333 "We thank you, Lord. 936 00:39:00,417 --> 00:39:02,542 "We thank you, Lord, for the ability to kill 937 00:39:02,625 --> 00:39:04,667 unborn children." 938 00:39:04,750 --> 00:39:09,375 You think God's in heaven going, "You're welcome, amen. 939 00:39:09,458 --> 00:39:12,667 "Less children, that's what I'm about. 940 00:39:12,708 --> 00:39:15,667 "That's why I came as a baby to a single, poor, 941 00:39:15,750 --> 00:39:20,667 "rural mother who was a teenager probably, 942 00:39:20,708 --> 00:39:24,958 "because I just hate kids. 943 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:27,000 "That's why when the kids came to me, 944 00:39:27,042 --> 00:39:33,667 I just wanted nothing to do with them because I hate kids"? 945 00:39:33,750 --> 00:39:36,292 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. 946 00:39:36,333 --> 00:39:38,167 Some of you say, "Is this political?" 947 00:39:38,250 --> 00:39:39,833 No, it's actually biblical. 948 00:39:39,917 --> 00:39:42,042 We're going to get into "Thou shalt not murder," 949 00:39:42,125 --> 00:39:43,542 coming up in a couple weeks. 950 00:39:43,625 --> 00:39:45,792 We'll pick this back up. 951 00:39:45,833 --> 00:39:47,792 I'll give you another one. 952 00:39:47,833 --> 00:39:49,583 I know some of you are offended. 953 00:39:49,667 --> 00:39:52,792 We're going to offend everyone, we've got a little time left. 954 00:39:52,833 --> 00:39:54,167 President Barack Obama 955 00:39:54,250 --> 00:39:56,000 recently gave an address to Planned Parenthood, 956 00:39:56,042 --> 00:39:57,375 the largest abortion provider 957 00:39:57,458 --> 00:39:58,875 in the United States of America. 958 00:39:58,958 --> 00:40:00,958 Finished his address by saying, quote, 959 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:02,625 "Thank you, Planned Parenthood. 960 00:40:02,667 --> 00:40:06,292 God bless you." 961 00:40:09,792 --> 00:40:13,917 God, please bless them 962 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:19,500 so they can take the life of more children. 963 00:40:21,500 --> 00:40:24,500 I was pro-choice, pro-abortion before I got saved. 964 00:40:24,583 --> 00:40:27,000 I understand why people hold this position. 965 00:40:27,083 --> 00:40:29,000 I had a change of heart and mind. 966 00:40:29,083 --> 00:40:30,500 I'm a father of five kids. 967 00:40:30,583 --> 00:40:32,500 I cannot fathom how I used to think. 968 00:40:32,583 --> 00:40:33,917 Some of you've had abortions. 969 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:38,625 Jesus died, he forgives you, it doesn't have to be the end. 970 00:40:38,667 --> 00:40:43,292 But to stand up, "Thank you, God bless you, 971 00:40:43,333 --> 00:40:46,917 may he pour out grace so you could take more lives"-- 972 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:50,000 that's a violation of the third commandment. 973 00:40:50,083 --> 00:40:52,667 That's taking the name of the Lord in vain. 974 00:40:52,750 --> 00:40:54,667 That's not serving the name of the Lord; 975 00:40:54,750 --> 00:40:56,417 that's using the name of the Lord. 976 00:40:56,500 --> 00:40:58,417 That's not honoring the name of the Lord; 977 00:40:58,500 --> 00:41:00,167 that's dishonoring the name of the Lord. 978 00:41:00,250 --> 00:41:02,500 I'll give you another occasion. 979 00:41:02,583 --> 00:41:05,292 I was driving in to church today, I saw another one. 980 00:41:05,333 --> 00:41:08,083 Ready? Want to see it? 981 00:41:08,167 --> 00:41:11,125 Want to see what I saw? Here we go. 982 00:41:11,167 --> 00:41:14,125 Church sign out on the road: 983 00:41:14,167 --> 00:41:18,667 "Jesus had two dads, and he turned out OK." 984 00:41:18,750 --> 00:41:23,333 I drove by it. 985 00:41:23,375 --> 00:41:28,125 See, I get that Christians and non-Christians disagree. 986 00:41:28,167 --> 00:41:30,500 I get that there's a big cultural debate and issue. 987 00:41:30,583 --> 00:41:33,917 I get that once in a while, we just got to lean over the plate 988 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:35,417 and take one for our team. 989 00:41:35,500 --> 00:41:37,417 I get that we should love our neighbors. 990 00:41:37,500 --> 00:41:40,167 I get that we shouldn't expect non-Christians to think, or act, 991 00:41:40,250 --> 00:41:42,375 or agree with the Christians and obey the Bible. 992 00:41:42,458 --> 00:41:44,125 I agree that we shouldn't impose morality-- 993 00:41:44,167 --> 00:41:46,625 we should evangelize people and get them a new heart 994 00:41:46,667 --> 00:41:48,625 and a new desires through the Holy Spirit. 995 00:41:48,667 --> 00:41:51,625 I agree that we shouldn't pick out a particular group of people 996 00:41:51,667 --> 00:41:53,417 and be particularly mean toward them. 997 00:41:53,500 --> 00:41:56,625 But when a church says, "Well, a lot of people are driving by. 998 00:41:56,667 --> 00:41:59,500 "What's the one thing we could put on the reader board? 999 00:41:59,542 --> 00:42:02,625 God is gay." 1000 00:42:06,167 --> 00:42:08,792 The third commandment. 1001 00:42:08,833 --> 00:42:12,583 Don't just use God's name. 1002 00:42:12,667 --> 00:42:16,833 Don't just sprinkle God talk among godless things 1003 00:42:16,917 --> 00:42:23,167 and expecting the naive to not see the difference. 1004 00:42:23,250 --> 00:42:24,667 It's pretty prevalent today, right? 1005 00:42:24,750 --> 00:42:26,167 I mean, let's just be honest. 1006 00:42:26,208 --> 00:42:27,875 Jesus isn't spoken very well of. 1007 00:42:27,958 --> 00:42:30,167 You start talking about the God of the Bible, 1008 00:42:30,250 --> 00:42:32,042 he's really taking a beating right now. 1009 00:42:32,125 --> 00:42:34,375 Late night talk show hosts, the really hardcore, 1010 00:42:34,458 --> 00:42:37,833 sort of militant atheists, the Dawkins and the Mahers 1011 00:42:37,917 --> 00:42:41,167 in our day, man, they really get a good crack at it. 1012 00:42:41,250 --> 00:42:43,875 Muslim sells a best-selling book reimagining Jesus 1013 00:42:43,958 --> 00:42:46,000 as a political figure and not a Savior. 1014 00:42:46,042 --> 00:42:52,500 I mean--but when a church joins the fools' parade, 1015 00:42:52,542 --> 00:42:55,167 it's concerning. 1016 00:42:55,250 --> 00:42:58,250 See, I expect people to say horrible things about me, 1017 00:42:58,333 --> 00:43:01,792 but if it's my own kids, we've got a real problem in my family 1018 00:43:01,833 --> 00:43:03,583 because I love them. 1019 00:43:03,667 --> 00:43:06,500 And if my kids are the ones who are saying horrific things 1020 00:43:06,542 --> 00:43:08,375 about me and misrepresenting me, 1021 00:43:08,458 --> 00:43:10,167 well, then they've really dishonored their father. 1022 00:43:10,208 --> 00:43:11,875 One old theologian said it this way: 1023 00:43:11,958 --> 00:43:14,083 "It's kind of like sitting on your dad's lap 1024 00:43:14,167 --> 00:43:18,667 and slapping him in the face." 1025 00:43:18,708 --> 00:43:23,167 Fourth way we take the Lord's name in vain, false platitudes. 1026 00:43:23,250 --> 00:43:25,042 Leviticus 19:12, 1027 00:43:25,125 --> 00:43:27,833 "You shall not swear by my name falsely, 1028 00:43:27,917 --> 00:43:30,833 and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord." 1029 00:43:30,917 --> 00:43:32,333 So, get the echoes and intonations 1030 00:43:32,417 --> 00:43:33,750 of the third commandment. 1031 00:43:33,833 --> 00:43:35,750 "I am the Lord. Watch what you say. 1032 00:43:35,833 --> 00:43:37,958 Don't make oaths unless you intend to obey them." 1033 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:40,750 And here's the big idea I want to unpack--one word: 1034 00:43:40,833 --> 00:43:43,500 profane, profane. 1035 00:43:43,542 --> 00:43:45,042 What does that mean? 1036 00:43:45,125 --> 00:43:47,250 And again, some people say, "List of good words, 1037 00:43:47,333 --> 00:43:49,000 list of bad words," profane, not profane, 1038 00:43:49,042 --> 00:43:51,375 good words for good things, bad words for bad things. 1039 00:43:51,458 --> 00:43:54,042 I'm not advocating potty talk, but I am saying 1040 00:43:54,125 --> 00:43:56,042 that we need to understand what this means. 1041 00:43:56,125 --> 00:43:58,667 And what it means is this: the God of the Bible 1042 00:43:58,750 --> 00:44:00,167 is a God of glory. 1043 00:44:00,208 --> 00:44:01,583 He's a God who's glorious. 1044 00:44:01,667 --> 00:44:04,292 What that means is that he is weighty, he is heavy, 1045 00:44:04,333 --> 00:44:06,833 he's preeminent, he's significant. 1046 00:44:06,917 --> 00:44:12,583 And profanity is when we treat him lightly, 1047 00:44:12,667 --> 00:44:17,250 and inconsequentially, and just dismiss him, 1048 00:44:17,333 --> 00:44:21,875 and make sport of him, and light of him, and fun of him. 1049 00:44:21,958 --> 00:44:23,792 We make the heavy God light. 1050 00:44:23,833 --> 00:44:30,292 We make the glorious God inglorious. 1051 00:44:30,333 --> 00:44:34,500 Back to my original definition, it's using God's name 1052 00:44:34,542 --> 00:44:38,042 and therefore projecting and presenting God in a fashion 1053 00:44:38,125 --> 00:44:41,167 of emptiness, or falsehood, or triviality, or lightness, 1054 00:44:41,250 --> 00:44:46,292 or inconsequential presentation of God. 1055 00:44:46,333 --> 00:44:48,500 He doesn't even matter. 1056 00:44:48,542 --> 00:44:51,000 He's not big; he's just small. 1057 00:44:51,042 --> 00:44:53,458 He's not heavy; he's light. 1058 00:44:53,500 --> 00:44:55,833 He's not amazing; he's ordinary. 1059 00:44:55,917 --> 00:44:58,000 He's not holy and different than us; 1060 00:44:58,042 --> 00:45:01,250 he's common and much like us. 1061 00:45:01,333 --> 00:45:05,000 That's what it means to cause God to be profane and to use 1062 00:45:05,042 --> 00:45:07,375 his name in a way that is profane. 1063 00:45:07,458 --> 00:45:09,875 And sometimes church people do this by 1064 00:45:09,958 --> 00:45:13,583 lots of religious vernacular, and talk, and colloquialisms, 1065 00:45:13,667 --> 00:45:17,458 just sprinkling God talk in everything. 1066 00:45:17,500 --> 00:45:18,875 I'll give you some examples. 1067 00:45:18,958 --> 00:45:20,500 You ready? 1068 00:45:20,542 --> 00:45:23,583 "Praise the-- Praise the Lord! 1069 00:45:23,667 --> 00:45:25,792 Praise the Lord!" 1070 00:45:25,833 --> 00:45:27,167 No. 1071 00:45:27,250 --> 00:45:29,833 The Bible does say to praise the name of the Lord, 1072 00:45:29,917 --> 00:45:31,833 but some people do it all the time. 1073 00:45:31,917 --> 00:45:33,250 They need to back off. 1074 00:45:33,333 --> 00:45:34,750 They've robbed it of its majesty. 1075 00:45:34,833 --> 00:45:36,167 "It's Tuesday, praise the Lord! 1076 00:45:36,208 --> 00:45:38,542 "We're going to do meatloaf tonight, praise the Lord! 1077 00:45:38,625 --> 00:45:41,958 "If I get hit by a car, well, at least it wasn't a truck, 1078 00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:43,333 praise the Lord!" 1079 00:45:43,417 --> 00:45:45,167 Hey, back off, all right? 1080 00:45:45,250 --> 00:45:47,375 If you're using God's name all the time, 1081 00:45:47,458 --> 00:45:51,083 it's losing its weightiness. 1082 00:45:51,167 --> 00:45:52,500 How about this one? 1083 00:45:52,542 --> 00:45:54,500 "Lord have--" 1084 00:45:54,542 --> 00:45:56,333 You said it, not me. 1085 00:45:56,417 --> 00:45:59,167 OK, "Lord have mercy!" 1086 00:45:59,208 --> 00:46:00,833 Somebody comes up, "I got cancer." 1087 00:46:00,917 --> 00:46:03,083 "Oh, Lord have mercy. Let me pray for you." 1088 00:46:03,167 --> 00:46:04,792 That's OK. But just all the time. 1089 00:46:04,833 --> 00:46:09,375 "Oh, they dropped the 3rd in 4, Lord have mercy. 1090 00:46:09,458 --> 00:46:12,167 Oh, gas went up, Lord have mercy." 1091 00:46:12,208 --> 00:46:14,667 Like, what does this have to do with the Lord? 1092 00:46:14,708 --> 00:46:16,583 I mean, that guy can't catch a ball. 1093 00:46:16,667 --> 00:46:18,042 That car gets bad gas mileage. 1094 00:46:18,125 --> 00:46:21,375 I don't know if we need to invoke the Lord for all of this. 1095 00:46:21,458 --> 00:46:24,375 I don't know if everything needs to end with "Praise the Lord, 1096 00:46:24,458 --> 00:46:28,542 Hallelujah, thank you Jesus, Lord have mercy." 1097 00:46:28,625 --> 00:46:31,667 And some people are like, "Well, it sounds very spiritual." 1098 00:46:31,708 --> 00:46:36,375 It also can make God trivial. 1099 00:46:36,458 --> 00:46:38,500 OK, we'll just do this. 1100 00:46:38,542 --> 00:46:41,958 You ready? 1101 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:45,167 Social media, texting, 1102 00:46:45,250 --> 00:46:49,125 "OMG." 1103 00:46:50,542 --> 00:46:52,500 Some of you are like--now, some of you, 1104 00:46:52,542 --> 00:46:54,667 there's a little attorney that lives in your heart 1105 00:46:54,750 --> 00:46:56,375 that wants to argue with every point. 1106 00:46:56,458 --> 00:46:58,167 So, some of you, at this point, 1107 00:46:58,208 --> 00:46:59,792 your little attorney's marched out. 1108 00:46:59,833 --> 00:47:01,500 "You know what, you can't judge. 1109 00:47:01,542 --> 00:47:03,500 "The Bible says, 'Thou shalt not judge,' 1110 00:47:03,542 --> 00:47:07,167 and OMG might mean 'Oh my goodness.'" 1111 00:47:07,250 --> 00:47:09,667 We all know that's a bunch of peanut butter, right? 1112 00:47:09,750 --> 00:47:11,667 We all know that. 1113 00:47:11,750 --> 00:47:13,167 What do you think? 1114 00:47:13,250 --> 00:47:15,833 Should we be throwing out OMG in all of our texts, 1115 00:47:15,917 --> 00:47:17,833 and our social media, and our posts? 1116 00:47:17,917 --> 00:47:19,500 Just "OMG, OMG," yes or no? 1117 00:47:19,542 --> 00:47:21,292 How many say yes? 1118 00:47:21,333 --> 00:47:23,750 OK, OK, OK, I'm going to unfriend you. 1119 00:47:23,833 --> 00:47:26,667 OK, who else says no? 1120 00:47:26,750 --> 00:47:28,083 Probably not a good idea. 1121 00:47:28,167 --> 00:47:30,875 Probably not the best way to speak God's name 1122 00:47:30,958 --> 00:47:33,375 in a public fashion. 1123 00:47:33,458 --> 00:47:34,875 How about this one? 1124 00:47:34,958 --> 00:47:36,875 You say something wrong, you do something wrong, 1125 00:47:36,958 --> 00:47:38,667 you hit your thumb with a hammer. 1126 00:47:38,708 --> 00:47:40,500 OK, here it is, here it is. 1127 00:47:40,542 --> 00:47:44,875 You're a bad shot, "Jesus Christ!" 1128 00:47:44,958 --> 00:47:48,250 Any of you ever done that? 1129 00:47:48,333 --> 00:47:51,000 OK, it's amazing isn't it? 1130 00:47:51,042 --> 00:47:53,750 We don't say the name of another God. 1131 00:47:53,833 --> 00:47:57,667 I've never heard on the job site, "Chubby Buddha!" 1132 00:47:57,750 --> 00:48:01,208 Never heard that, never heard that. 1133 00:48:01,292 --> 00:48:03,833 "Hare Krishna!" 1134 00:48:03,875 --> 00:48:05,250 Never heard that. 1135 00:48:05,333 --> 00:48:06,667 You know why? 1136 00:48:06,708 --> 00:48:09,042 There's not as much power in those names. 1137 00:48:09,125 --> 00:48:12,583 We go for the big name-- Jesus' name. 1138 00:48:12,667 --> 00:48:16,417 Christian, true or false, we probably shouldn't do that? 1139 00:48:16,500 --> 00:48:17,917 Probably shouldn't. 1140 00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:22,917 We should say Jesus' name but not as a curse word. 1141 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:24,333 How about "G.D."? 1142 00:48:24,375 --> 00:48:27,875 I'm not going to say it; you know what I'm talking about. 1143 00:48:27,958 --> 00:48:29,833 Should we drop that? 1144 00:48:29,875 --> 00:48:32,625 Should we drop the "G.D." bomb? 1145 00:48:32,667 --> 00:48:37,208 I don't think so. 1146 00:48:37,292 --> 00:48:39,500 And sometimes, even well-meaning Christians will violate 1147 00:48:39,542 --> 00:48:42,167 the third commandment with false platitudes, kind of religious, 1148 00:48:42,250 --> 00:48:43,667 spiritual, littering the landscape 1149 00:48:43,750 --> 00:48:45,167 with all kinds of God talk. 1150 00:48:45,250 --> 00:48:48,167 It just sort of comes out; they don't even think about it. 1151 00:48:48,250 --> 00:48:50,375 And it comes out sometimes even with well-meaning Christians 1152 00:48:50,458 --> 00:48:53,125 who are thinking, "Well, we can find something in the culture 1153 00:48:53,167 --> 00:48:55,833 "and make it relevant to the unbelievers so that we have 1154 00:48:55,917 --> 00:48:57,833 a bridge to talk to them about Jesus," 1155 00:48:57,917 --> 00:49:00,125 and we end up with something called Christian t-shirts, 1156 00:49:00,167 --> 00:49:05,125 so I'll share a few with you: 1157 00:49:05,167 --> 00:49:10,708 OK, if profanity is treating God in sort of a disrespectful, 1158 00:49:10,792 --> 00:49:16,167 light, irrelevant way, do you think "Jesus saves," 1159 00:49:16,250 --> 00:49:21,708 Jesus the soccer goalie, do you think that maybe 1160 00:49:21,792 --> 00:49:25,125 is dancing on the line, if not crossing over it? 1161 00:49:25,167 --> 00:49:27,375 Now, I like soccer, I mean, you know, 1162 00:49:27,458 --> 00:49:30,625 all things considered. 1163 00:49:30,667 --> 00:49:32,208 I like Jesus. 1164 00:49:32,292 --> 00:49:33,917 I like his beard. 1165 00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:35,917 There's a lot here to commend, OK? 1166 00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:40,000 But God becoming a man and dying on a cross to atone for the sins 1167 00:49:40,083 --> 00:49:43,333 of the world so that we may be saved from Satan, sin, death, 1168 00:49:43,375 --> 00:49:46,583 hell, and the wrath of God is not best illustrated 1169 00:49:46,667 --> 00:49:50,167 by knocking a ball out of a net. 1170 00:49:50,250 --> 00:49:51,708 OK, let me do another one. 1171 00:49:51,792 --> 00:49:54,458 All the soccer players are now offended, OK. 1172 00:49:54,500 --> 00:49:58,667 Here's another t-shirt-- I'm not making these up, OK? 1173 00:49:58,708 --> 00:50:00,250 This is what's amazing. 1174 00:50:00,333 --> 00:50:02,125 Reality's so ridiculous, 1175 00:50:02,167 --> 00:50:04,125 you don't even need to make stuff up. 1176 00:50:04,167 --> 00:50:07,167 So, here's one, "Bloodwiser." 1177 00:50:07,208 --> 00:50:10,250 How many cans do you need to drink before you come up 1178 00:50:10,333 --> 00:50:11,667 with this idea? 1179 00:50:11,708 --> 00:50:13,833 That's my question. 1180 00:50:13,917 --> 00:50:16,458 Bloodwiser, he's the "King of kings." 1181 00:50:16,500 --> 00:50:18,750 So, remember the "King of Beers," Budwiser? 1182 00:50:18,833 --> 00:50:20,250 This is Bloodwiser. 1183 00:50:20,333 --> 00:50:25,167 "The wise men knew his blood's for you." 1184 00:50:25,208 --> 00:50:28,542 How many of you are like, "This just feels wrong. 1185 00:50:28,625 --> 00:50:30,250 "This just feels nasty. 1186 00:50:30,333 --> 00:50:33,250 "Like, I think if Jesus comes back and I'm wearing this shirt, 1187 00:50:33,333 --> 00:50:34,667 "I'm taking it off. 1188 00:50:34,708 --> 00:50:38,958 You know, I'm just going to take it off." 1189 00:50:39,000 --> 00:50:44,333 "Hey Tom, how come you've got no shirt on?" 1190 00:50:44,417 --> 00:50:48,833 "Don't worry about it." 1191 00:50:48,917 --> 00:50:51,708 Oh, but there is a verse down here. 1192 00:50:51,792 --> 00:50:53,500 It's Isaiah, I think, 1:11. 1193 00:50:53,542 --> 00:50:56,000 Us old guys are having a hard time seeing it. 1194 00:50:56,042 --> 00:51:01,042 "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow." 1195 00:51:01,125 --> 00:51:05,333 Well, there's a verse on it so it must be OK. 1196 00:51:05,417 --> 00:51:08,000 You can always tell an evangelical with a bad idea 1197 00:51:08,083 --> 00:51:10,125 because there's a verse nearby. 1198 00:51:10,167 --> 00:51:12,833 Anyways, OK, next one, all right, here we go. 1199 00:51:12,917 --> 00:51:18,000 "A blood donor saved my life." 1200 00:51:18,083 --> 00:51:23,750 Not exactly what happened on the cross, amen? 1201 00:51:23,833 --> 00:51:26,208 How many of you have given blood and thought, "Yeah, 1202 00:51:26,292 --> 00:51:31,042 I don't think that's going to save billions from hell"? 1203 00:51:31,125 --> 00:51:33,167 OK, let's do one more. 1204 00:51:33,208 --> 00:51:37,000 This is a hypocrite from a few years ago. 1205 00:51:37,083 --> 00:51:42,500 This is me when I was young and hopeful, OK? 1206 00:51:42,583 --> 00:51:44,125 That's in the rearview mirror. 1207 00:51:44,167 --> 00:51:46,500 I am neither: I am old and jaded. 1208 00:51:46,583 --> 00:51:49,917 But when I was young, and it wasn't that long ago, 1209 00:51:50,000 --> 00:51:53,833 sadly--I probably had these boots at the same time, 1210 00:51:53,917 --> 00:51:56,042 but the boots have lasted longer than me. 1211 00:51:56,125 --> 00:51:58,542 So, I did a series called "Vintage Jesus," 1212 00:51:58,625 --> 00:52:00,833 and I was trying to show how the culture 1213 00:52:00,875 --> 00:52:02,208 talks a lot about Jesus, 1214 00:52:02,292 --> 00:52:05,000 and we can go to the Bible and answer their questions 1215 00:52:05,042 --> 00:52:06,500 and try to build a bridge. 1216 00:52:06,542 --> 00:52:08,000 So, I wore some Jesus t-shirts, 1217 00:52:08,042 --> 00:52:09,708 and I probably wouldn't do that today. 1218 00:52:09,792 --> 00:52:11,708 I don't think it was a good idea. 1219 00:52:11,792 --> 00:52:14,375 So, I wouldn't wear that shirt today because it doesn't fit-- 1220 00:52:14,458 --> 00:52:19,000 and I think it violates the third commandment. 1221 00:52:19,083 --> 00:52:21,875 How many of you, you're like me? 1222 00:52:21,958 --> 00:52:24,500 You say, "Yeah, looking back on my life and really giving 1223 00:52:24,583 --> 00:52:26,375 "some consideration to the third commandment, 1224 00:52:26,458 --> 00:52:28,167 "there's some stuff I would say differently, 1225 00:52:28,250 --> 00:52:33,500 there's some stuff I would do differently," yeah? 1226 00:52:33,542 --> 00:52:36,500 See, when God saves us, he doesn't just want our heart, 1227 00:52:36,542 --> 00:52:38,125 he also wants our mind. 1228 00:52:38,167 --> 00:52:39,833 He wants us to start thinking differently. 1229 00:52:39,875 --> 00:52:42,500 So, some of you say, "Does that make you a hypocrite?" 1230 00:52:42,583 --> 00:52:46,625 OK, a repentant hypocrite who's trying to learn, 1231 00:52:46,667 --> 00:52:48,125 by the grace of God. 1232 00:52:48,167 --> 00:52:51,125 And maybe you, like me, have got some things in your past 1233 00:52:51,167 --> 00:52:53,750 where you go, "That wasn't a good idea." 1234 00:52:53,833 --> 00:52:55,458 Yeah, let's all grow in grace 1235 00:52:55,500 --> 00:52:58,958 and do better by the grace of God. 1236 00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:02,333 So, then it comes down to this. 1237 00:53:02,375 --> 00:53:05,333 God gives us his name, says not to use it in vain. 1238 00:53:05,375 --> 00:53:07,500 So, we don't want to use it in vain. 1239 00:53:07,583 --> 00:53:10,000 Some become so fearful they don't use it at all. 1240 00:53:10,083 --> 00:53:14,000 Well, we're not to avoid God's name or abuse God's name. 1241 00:53:14,083 --> 00:53:17,500 We're to use God's name in a way that honors God. 1242 00:53:17,542 --> 00:53:19,500 So, who is this God? 1243 00:53:19,583 --> 00:53:21,125 This is really important. 1244 00:53:21,167 --> 00:53:23,125 Who is this one God, first commandment, 1245 00:53:23,167 --> 00:53:25,917 that alone is to be worshiped, second commandment, 1246 00:53:26,000 --> 00:53:27,417 and that is to be worshiped 1247 00:53:27,500 --> 00:53:29,792 by how we speak of him and to him, 1248 00:53:29,833 --> 00:53:32,125 third commandment? 1249 00:53:32,167 --> 00:53:36,000 We're in Exodus 20. 1250 00:53:36,083 --> 00:53:39,333 Go back to Exodus 3. There's a guy named Moses who's 1251 00:53:39,375 --> 00:53:41,833 actually going to be delivering the Ten Commandments, 1252 00:53:41,875 --> 00:53:43,625 and he has an encounter. 1253 00:53:43,667 --> 00:53:45,208 Do you remember the story? 1254 00:53:45,292 --> 00:53:47,708 OK, this God in Exodus 20 meets with Moses 1255 00:53:47,792 --> 00:53:50,167 earlier in the book in Exodus 3. 1256 00:53:50,250 --> 00:53:52,708 There's a bush that's on fire but not being consumed. 1257 00:53:52,792 --> 00:53:55,708 Moses is out in the wilderness, sees a bush that's on fire, 1258 00:53:55,792 --> 00:53:57,167 not being consumed, I'm summarizing, 1259 00:53:57,208 --> 00:54:00,667 walks up to the bush, and the bush talks to him. 1260 00:54:00,750 --> 00:54:04,167 And the bush has kind of a big ask: my paraphrase, 1261 00:54:04,250 --> 00:54:07,125 "Go into the most powerful man in the history of the world, 1262 00:54:07,167 --> 00:54:09,333 "who rules the biggest empire that has ever existed 1263 00:54:09,375 --> 00:54:11,208 "and thinks that he alone is god, 1264 00:54:11,292 --> 00:54:13,208 "and tell him to let my people go, 1265 00:54:13,292 --> 00:54:15,375 "a few million of them, destroy their entire economy. 1266 00:54:15,458 --> 00:54:17,833 "Let my people go to be free to worship me. 1267 00:54:17,875 --> 00:54:20,500 "Otherwise, the real God is going to crush the false god. 1268 00:54:20,542 --> 00:54:22,208 "It's going to go bad. Hustle up. 1269 00:54:22,292 --> 00:54:25,708 Tell him that the bush is pretty fired up," OK? 1270 00:54:25,792 --> 00:54:30,917 Moses has a question, and he's trying to respectfully ask it. 1271 00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:32,417 It's kind of funny. 1272 00:54:32,500 --> 00:54:34,417 "Well, who should I say has sent me?" 1273 00:54:34,500 --> 00:54:36,625 And you can kind of read between the lines. 1274 00:54:36,667 --> 00:54:39,125 "Like, hypothetically, I walk up to the most powerful man 1275 00:54:39,167 --> 00:54:44,583 on the earth and say, 'The bush is very unhappy.' 1276 00:54:44,667 --> 00:54:50,000 May not get the results we're hoping for, OK?" 1277 00:54:50,042 --> 00:54:53,667 So, what happens in Exodus 3:14, 1278 00:54:53,708 --> 00:54:56,667 God said to Moses, gives his name. 1279 00:54:56,708 --> 00:54:59,042 "'I Am Who I Am'"--Yahweh. 1280 00:54:59,125 --> 00:55:01,708 "And he said, 'Say to this people of Israel, 1281 00:55:01,792 --> 00:55:03,292 "I Am has sent you."'" 1282 00:55:03,333 --> 00:55:06,417 So, God's name is what? "I Am." 1283 00:55:06,500 --> 00:55:10,333 Moses goes in, says everything, God judges, everything happens, 1284 00:55:10,375 --> 00:55:11,833 they get liberated. 1285 00:55:11,875 --> 00:55:16,833 Here, we meet him at the base of Mount Sinai. 1286 00:55:16,875 --> 00:55:21,125 Thousands of years later, Jesus Christ, 1287 00:55:21,167 --> 00:55:24,167 walking the earth, John 8:58. 1288 00:55:24,250 --> 00:55:27,500 "People want to know who are you? 1289 00:55:27,542 --> 00:55:29,208 Who are you, Jesus?" 1290 00:55:29,292 --> 00:55:30,625 Here's what he says: 1291 00:55:30,667 --> 00:55:33,125 "Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, 1292 00:55:33,167 --> 00:55:35,375 before Abraham was, I am.'" 1293 00:55:35,458 --> 00:55:38,208 Like, he's in his 30s. 1294 00:55:38,292 --> 00:55:40,083 He's in his 30s. 1295 00:55:40,167 --> 00:55:41,500 "How old are you, Jesus?" 1296 00:55:41,583 --> 00:55:43,000 "I'm older than Abraham." 1297 00:55:43,042 --> 00:55:45,000 Abraham's been dead for thousands of years. 1298 00:55:45,083 --> 00:55:46,917 Sort of peculiar. 1299 00:55:47,000 --> 00:55:49,792 You're like, "That's a lot of candles on your birthday cake. 1300 00:55:49,833 --> 00:55:52,250 "You're older than Abraham? 1301 00:55:52,333 --> 00:55:53,917 "Because a few thousand years ago, 1302 00:55:54,000 --> 00:55:56,125 "there was Moses who gave us the Ten Commandments, 1303 00:55:56,167 --> 00:55:57,958 "and before that there was Abraham, 1304 00:55:58,000 --> 00:55:59,333 "and you're older than Abraham? 1305 00:55:59,417 --> 00:56:00,833 "You're way back 1306 00:56:00,875 --> 00:56:02,333 at the beginning of the story?" 1307 00:56:02,375 --> 00:56:04,000 Yeah, because he's God. He's eternal God. 1308 00:56:04,083 --> 00:56:05,417 He's preexistent. 1309 00:56:05,500 --> 00:56:06,833 He's eternally existent. 1310 00:56:06,875 --> 00:56:08,917 And then he says something mind-blowing. 1311 00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:10,583 You ready? 1312 00:56:10,667 --> 00:56:13,792 "Before Abraham was"--what's he say? 1313 00:56:13,833 --> 00:56:16,917 "I am." 1314 00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:21,500 What did God tell him in Exodus 3:14? 1315 00:56:21,583 --> 00:56:23,333 What did God tell Moses? 1316 00:56:23,375 --> 00:56:26,583 "Tell them, 'I Am' has sent you." 1317 00:56:26,667 --> 00:56:29,708 Jesus comes along and says, "I'm older than Abraham. 1318 00:56:29,792 --> 00:56:33,625 My name is I Am. May have heard of me." 1319 00:56:33,667 --> 00:56:38,708 He's claiming to be God, the God who spoke to Moses, 1320 00:56:38,792 --> 00:56:41,417 the God who was before Abraham, 1321 00:56:41,500 --> 00:56:43,708 the God who created the heavens and the earth. 1322 00:56:43,792 --> 00:56:45,917 And they know that he's claiming to be God, 1323 00:56:46,000 --> 00:56:47,917 so they picked up stones to stone him. 1324 00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:49,417 That's for blasphemy. 1325 00:56:49,500 --> 00:56:50,917 He's claiming to be God. 1326 00:56:51,000 --> 00:56:52,958 Don't let anybody tell you, "Jesus isn't God. 1327 00:56:53,000 --> 00:56:55,958 Jesus didn't think he was God. Jesus didn't say he was God." 1328 00:56:56,000 --> 00:56:58,958 The whole reason that they kept trying to kill him and they 1329 00:56:59,000 --> 00:57:01,500 eventually did is because he kept saying he was God, 1330 00:57:01,583 --> 00:57:02,917 because he's God. 1331 00:57:03,000 --> 00:57:05,625 Three days later, he rose and said, "I told you so." 1332 00:57:05,667 --> 00:57:08,292 All right, so Jesus isn't dead; he's alive. 1333 00:57:08,333 --> 00:57:11,625 And he didn't violate the first commandment: he is the only God. 1334 00:57:11,667 --> 00:57:13,792 He didn't violate the second commandment: 1335 00:57:13,833 --> 00:57:15,167 he lived without sin. 1336 00:57:15,250 --> 00:57:16,667 He didn't violate the third commandment: 1337 00:57:16,750 --> 00:57:19,000 he didn't say anything that's not truthful about himself. 1338 00:57:19,042 --> 00:57:22,417 So he says, "Truly, truly, I say to you." 1339 00:57:22,500 --> 00:57:26,708 So, what should we do? 1340 00:57:26,792 --> 00:57:29,333 The answer to the third commandment 1341 00:57:29,375 --> 00:57:33,625 is to honor the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1342 00:57:33,667 --> 00:57:36,625 We sit in this privileged place of human history where we know 1343 00:57:36,667 --> 00:57:38,000 who this Lord is. 1344 00:57:38,083 --> 00:57:39,667 It's Jesus Christ. 1345 00:57:39,750 --> 00:57:42,625 And I want you to hear about who Jesus is 1346 00:57:42,667 --> 00:57:45,667 and how we're to respond to him from Philippians 2:5-11. 1347 00:57:45,750 --> 00:57:47,083 Here's my close: 1348 00:57:47,167 --> 00:57:48,500 "Having this mind among yourselves, 1349 00:57:48,542 --> 00:57:51,208 which is yours in Christ Jesus"--all right, 1350 00:57:51,292 --> 00:57:53,750 God wants us to think biblically-- 1351 00:57:53,833 --> 00:57:56,250 "who, though he was in the form of God"-- 1352 00:57:56,333 --> 00:57:58,208 Jesus is eternally God-- 1353 00:57:58,292 --> 00:58:01,000 "did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped." 1354 00:58:01,083 --> 00:58:03,000 He didn't stay up in heaven and say, 1355 00:58:03,083 --> 00:58:04,500 "I deserve glory, not humility. 1356 00:58:04,583 --> 00:58:06,000 "I deserve wealth, not poverty. 1357 00:58:06,083 --> 00:58:08,167 "I deserve to hear the angels sing, 1358 00:58:08,250 --> 00:58:10,292 "'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.' 1359 00:58:10,333 --> 00:58:12,500 "I don't deserve to go down there and hear, 1360 00:58:12,542 --> 00:58:15,625 'Crucify him, crucify him, crucify him.'" 1361 00:58:15,667 --> 00:58:19,500 He let go of his rights. 1362 00:58:19,542 --> 00:58:23,375 "But emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant"-- 1363 00:58:23,458 --> 00:58:26,792 like a slave--"being born in the likeness of men." 1364 00:58:26,833 --> 00:58:28,500 God became a man. 1365 00:58:28,583 --> 00:58:32,375 "And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming 1366 00:58:32,458 --> 00:58:35,500 obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." 1367 00:58:35,542 --> 00:58:38,500 When we make much of the name of Jesus, 1368 00:58:38,542 --> 00:58:43,917 we are honoring a humble God, we are honoring a loving God, 1369 00:58:44,000 --> 00:58:46,000 we are honoring a serving God, 1370 00:58:46,083 --> 00:58:49,125 we are loving and serving a forgiving God. 1371 00:58:49,167 --> 00:58:50,917 Here's what's amazing: 1372 00:58:51,000 --> 00:58:53,417 When we take the name of the Lord in vain, 1373 00:58:53,500 --> 00:58:57,667 and we all have, we deserve punishment. 1374 00:58:57,708 --> 00:58:59,833 That's what the third commandment says. 1375 00:58:59,875 --> 00:59:06,417 Jesus comes as the Lord that we have taken the name in vain of, 1376 00:59:06,500 --> 00:59:09,500 and he goes to the cross, and he substitutes himself, 1377 00:59:09,583 --> 00:59:12,500 and he suffers and dies in our place for our sins, 1378 00:59:12,583 --> 00:59:14,625 so that people like you and me, 1379 00:59:14,667 --> 00:59:16,625 we violated the first commandment, 1380 00:59:16,667 --> 00:59:19,375 we have false gods, we violated the second commandment, 1381 00:59:19,458 --> 00:59:21,292 we worship things other than god, 1382 00:59:21,333 --> 00:59:23,292 we violated the third commandment, 1383 00:59:23,333 --> 00:59:26,417 we take the Lord's name in vain with our words and our works, 1384 00:59:26,500 --> 00:59:28,917 and he goes to the cross, and he humbles himself, 1385 00:59:29,000 --> 00:59:32,625 and he who is without sin dies in our place for our sins, 1386 00:59:32,667 --> 00:59:35,208 and says, "Father, forgive them." 1387 00:59:35,292 --> 00:59:37,125 That's our Jesus. 1388 00:59:37,167 --> 00:59:40,000 That's why we like to talk about him and sing about him, 1389 00:59:40,083 --> 00:59:41,708 because there's no god like him. 1390 00:59:41,792 --> 00:59:43,375 There's no god alongside of him. 1391 00:59:43,458 --> 00:59:45,167 There's no god that's equal to him. 1392 00:59:45,250 --> 00:59:46,917 There's no god that loves like him. 1393 00:59:47,000 --> 00:59:48,708 There's no god that's humble like him. 1394 00:59:48,792 --> 00:59:50,583 There's no god that serves like him. 1395 00:59:50,667 --> 00:59:52,417 There's no god who forgives like him. 1396 00:59:52,500 --> 00:59:55,542 And Jesus goes to the cross, and we don't need to be punished 1397 00:59:55,625 --> 00:59:57,750 because Jesus took our punishment even though he was 1398 00:59:57,833 --> 01:00:02,042 the one we sinned against and he had every right to punish us. 1399 01:00:02,125 --> 01:00:05,333 So, as we understand who Jesus is--and what Paul is seeking to 1400 01:00:05,417 --> 01:00:09,333 do for us here is get Jesus up, to get him big, to get him high, 1401 01:00:09,417 --> 01:00:11,333 to get him back in glory. 1402 01:00:11,417 --> 01:00:14,667 As we magnificently behold the name, and the glory, 1403 01:00:14,708 --> 01:00:20,500 and the goodness of Jesus, we become smaller and happier. 1404 01:00:20,583 --> 01:00:22,417 That's why people hike mountains, 1405 01:00:22,500 --> 01:00:24,750 they want to feel small. 1406 01:00:24,833 --> 01:00:27,417 That's why people go outside in the middle of the night 1407 01:00:27,500 --> 01:00:30,125 in the middle of nowhere to gaze upon the stars, 1408 01:00:30,167 --> 01:00:32,458 because they feel like nothing. 1409 01:00:32,500 --> 01:00:35,167 That's why people drive to the edge of the Grand Canyon 1410 01:00:35,208 --> 01:00:38,167 to peer over the cliff, because it reminds them that they're not 1411 01:00:38,208 --> 01:00:42,167 the center and it's not all about their name. 1412 01:00:42,208 --> 01:00:45,708 And when we feel small and we're in the presence of something 1413 01:00:45,792 --> 01:00:50,042 greater, we feel liberated and freed because we now see 1414 01:00:50,125 --> 01:00:55,083 ourselves in the place that we truly are, not that big, 1415 01:00:55,167 --> 01:00:57,667 not that important, not that significant, 1416 01:00:57,750 --> 01:01:00,250 and it's liberating and freeing. 1417 01:01:00,333 --> 01:01:03,917 As we hear of this great God-man Savior Jesus, 1418 01:01:04,000 --> 01:01:06,667 then we have to respond. 1419 01:01:06,708 --> 01:01:08,958 "Therefore God has exalted him"-- 1420 01:01:09,000 --> 01:01:11,000 so Jesus is in heaven right now, 1421 01:01:11,083 --> 01:01:14,042 he's ruling and reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords. 1422 01:01:14,125 --> 01:01:17,042 He's no longer in humility; he's in glory. 1423 01:01:17,125 --> 01:01:19,167 "And bestowed on him"--the what? 1424 01:01:19,208 --> 01:01:25,500 Here we go-- "The name." "The name." 1425 01:01:26,375 --> 01:01:29,708 Third commandment, don't take God's name in vain. 1426 01:01:29,792 --> 01:01:33,333 Jesus' name is the name, 1427 01:01:33,417 --> 01:01:36,833 "the name that is above every name." 1428 01:01:36,875 --> 01:01:38,958 So when you meet someone, "Hi, my name is-- 1429 01:01:39,000 --> 01:01:41,542 "Remember my name. Don't forget my name. 1430 01:01:41,625 --> 01:01:45,750 "When you see me again, I want you to remember my name. 1431 01:01:45,833 --> 01:01:47,750 "Follow me on social media. 1432 01:01:47,833 --> 01:01:50,417 "Look at the places I go, and the things I eat, 1433 01:01:50,500 --> 01:01:53,042 "and the people I know, and the bands I listen to, 1434 01:01:53,125 --> 01:01:55,500 "and the books I read, and the thoughts I have, 1435 01:01:55,583 --> 01:01:58,000 "and then become my friend and know more about me. 1436 01:01:58,083 --> 01:02:00,708 "Know my name, know who I am, know what I've done, 1437 01:02:00,792 --> 01:02:03,708 "know who I am, know how I feel, know where I've been. 1438 01:02:03,792 --> 01:02:08,125 Pay attention to me, my hurts, my wants, my needs, my dreams." 1439 01:02:08,167 --> 01:02:12,333 Not about your name; your name is not the most important name. 1440 01:02:12,375 --> 01:02:17,500 His name is the name that is above every name. 1441 01:02:17,583 --> 01:02:21,667 It's a world filled with addiction to the self, 1442 01:02:21,750 --> 01:02:25,167 self-worship, self-actualization, self-glory, 1443 01:02:25,250 --> 01:02:29,833 self-help, all idolatry, all--maybe even saying, 1444 01:02:29,875 --> 01:02:33,500 "God's going to help me be all I can be and God's going to help 1445 01:02:33,583 --> 01:02:36,667 me do all I can do," it's taking the Lord's name in vain. 1446 01:02:36,750 --> 01:02:41,792 It's using God for your glory, not serving God for his glory. 1447 01:02:41,833 --> 01:02:46,708 His name is the name that is above every name, 1448 01:02:46,792 --> 01:02:50,208 and if the Holy Spirit is in you, that just feels right. 1449 01:02:50,292 --> 01:02:51,958 It feels good. 1450 01:02:52,000 --> 01:02:55,250 It makes sense because it's all true. 1451 01:02:55,333 --> 01:02:58,833 And he goes on to say, "That at the name of Jesus 1452 01:02:58,917 --> 01:03:00,917 every knee should bow." 1453 01:03:01,000 --> 01:03:02,625 Do you know what this looks like? 1454 01:03:02,667 --> 01:03:04,792 Surrender, submission. 1455 01:03:04,833 --> 01:03:07,000 A guilty criminal takes this position. 1456 01:03:07,083 --> 01:03:09,417 A surrendered soldier takes this position. 1457 01:03:09,500 --> 01:03:12,000 A humble servant takes this position. 1458 01:03:12,083 --> 01:03:14,708 A deferential citizen in the presence of a great king 1459 01:03:14,792 --> 01:03:16,583 takes this position. 1460 01:03:16,667 --> 01:03:18,875 Bend the knee--it's submission, it's service, 1461 01:03:18,958 --> 01:03:21,708 it's being teachable, and humble, and repentant, 1462 01:03:21,792 --> 01:03:25,708 and accountable, knowing that it's not about your name, 1463 01:03:25,792 --> 01:03:27,208 it's about his. 1464 01:03:27,292 --> 01:03:29,417 And when he allows us to be called Christians, 1465 01:03:29,500 --> 01:03:33,667 he's imparting to us, sharing with us, his name. 1466 01:03:33,750 --> 01:03:38,333 "That at the name of Jesus"-- how many knees should bow? 1467 01:03:38,375 --> 01:03:41,667 Every one. 1468 01:03:41,750 --> 01:03:44,625 "In heaven"--the departed saints right now, 1469 01:03:44,667 --> 01:03:47,167 they're gathered around the throne of Jesus. 1470 01:03:47,250 --> 01:03:49,500 Today they're not singing a song to Tom 1471 01:03:49,542 --> 01:03:51,792 and tomorrow they're not singing a song to Sue. 1472 01:03:51,833 --> 01:03:54,500 Everybody's singing every day to Jesus. 1473 01:03:54,583 --> 01:03:56,833 It's about his name. 1474 01:03:56,875 --> 01:03:59,708 And right now, God's people are in the presence 1475 01:03:59,792 --> 01:04:03,917 of the resurrected Lord Jesus and they're singing his name, 1476 01:04:04,000 --> 01:04:09,500 they're celebrating his name, they're rejoicing in his name. 1477 01:04:09,583 --> 01:04:12,833 "And on earth"--I would invite you to be one of those people 1478 01:04:12,875 --> 01:04:15,875 today who bends your knee to Jesus and receives him 1479 01:04:15,958 --> 01:04:18,333 as Lord, God, Savior, King, and Christ. 1480 01:04:18,375 --> 01:04:21,833 And if you don't, it mentions those under the earth. 1481 01:04:21,875 --> 01:04:23,333 Nobody goes to hell 1482 01:04:23,375 --> 01:04:25,333 until they've bowed their knee to Jesus. 1483 01:04:25,375 --> 01:04:27,583 Nobody goes to hell until they've bowed their head 1484 01:04:27,667 --> 01:04:29,375 to Jesus. 1485 01:04:29,458 --> 01:04:32,875 Here's the question that you need to ponder. 1486 01:04:32,958 --> 01:04:36,417 Will you bend your knee to Jesus today for salvation 1487 01:04:36,500 --> 01:04:38,625 or on the last day for damnation? 1488 01:04:38,667 --> 01:04:41,000 The question is not, will you bow your knee? 1489 01:04:41,042 --> 01:04:44,000 The question is, will you bow it now or bow it then? 1490 01:04:44,083 --> 01:04:45,708 Will you bow it now for salvation? 1491 01:04:45,792 --> 01:04:48,500 Will you bow it now for eternal life? 1492 01:04:48,583 --> 01:04:50,583 Will you bow it then for damnation? 1493 01:04:50,667 --> 01:04:52,958 Will you bow it then for eternal condemnation? 1494 01:04:53,000 --> 01:04:58,042 Everyone will bend their knee because he is worthy 1495 01:04:58,125 --> 01:05:00,917 and he's given us a great opportunity to do so today 1496 01:05:01,000 --> 01:05:06,500 for life and not death, for joy and not destruction. 1497 01:05:06,583 --> 01:05:11,875 "And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is"--what? 1498 01:05:11,958 --> 01:05:16,375 "He's the Lord, to the glory of God the Father"-- 1499 01:05:16,458 --> 01:05:18,833 for the weightiness of the fame and the name 1500 01:05:18,875 --> 01:05:20,833 of the God who saves. 1501 01:05:20,875 --> 01:05:25,208 If you're not a Christian, you're in grave trouble. 1502 01:05:25,292 --> 01:05:27,917 You need to turn from sin and trust in Jesus. 1503 01:05:28,000 --> 01:05:30,917 If you are a Christian, this is where you examine your heart 1504 01:05:31,000 --> 01:05:33,917 and you ask, "Lord Jesus, how have I misspoken about you 1505 01:05:34,000 --> 01:05:38,125 or I've cowardly failed to speak up for you?" 1506 01:05:38,167 --> 01:05:42,125 And then we're going to respond, and the way we overcome 1507 01:05:42,167 --> 01:05:45,833 the third commandment is by singing about Jesus, 1508 01:05:45,875 --> 01:05:50,917 and talking about Jesus, and praying to Jesus, amen? 1509 01:05:51,000 --> 01:05:53,333 So, we're going to collect our tithes and offerings. 1510 01:05:53,417 --> 01:05:55,250 We're now going to respond. 1511 01:05:55,333 --> 01:05:57,958 Our money says, "In God we trust." 1512 01:05:58,000 --> 01:05:59,958 We know who that God is. 1513 01:06:00,083 --> 01:06:02,792 Then, we're going to take Communion, 1514 01:06:02,833 --> 01:06:05,083 remembering Jesus' broken body, shed blood. 1515 01:06:05,167 --> 01:06:06,833 We celebrate Jesus. 1516 01:06:06,875 --> 01:06:10,833 We celebrate the humble servant who died for his enemies 1517 01:06:10,875 --> 01:06:12,625 to make them his people. 1518 01:06:12,667 --> 01:06:14,708 That's good news, right? 1519 01:06:14,792 --> 01:06:18,375 And as you partake of Communion, you get to celebrate 1520 01:06:18,458 --> 01:06:20,583 Jesus' broken body, shed blood, saying, "You know what? 1521 01:06:20,667 --> 01:06:22,500 "I'm a violator of the third commandment. 1522 01:06:22,583 --> 01:06:24,167 "God should punish me. 1523 01:06:24,250 --> 01:06:27,000 "Praise God, Jesus took my place, was punished for me. 1524 01:06:27,042 --> 01:06:30,000 "God does not punish me because Jesus lovingly, 1525 01:06:30,083 --> 01:06:32,417 humbly took my place and was punished for me." 1526 01:06:32,500 --> 01:06:34,667 And then, we're going to sing. 1527 01:06:34,750 --> 01:06:38,917 We're going to sing the name of Jesus. 1528 01:06:39,000 --> 01:06:40,917 The way that we overcome the third commandment 1529 01:06:41,000 --> 01:06:43,625 and not take the Lord's name in vain is to celebrate, 1530 01:06:43,667 --> 01:06:45,917 to sing the name of Jesus. 1531 01:06:46,000 --> 01:06:48,625 And as we're preparing to do that and as you're preparing 1532 01:06:48,667 --> 01:06:53,958 your heart, I need you together, to get passionate because 1533 01:06:54,000 --> 01:06:56,833 of the name, and the fame, and the reputation, 1534 01:06:56,875 --> 01:06:59,542 and the good news of the glory of Jesus Christ, 1535 01:06:59,625 --> 01:07:01,667 and to sing together. 1536 01:07:01,750 --> 01:07:04,000 There are lots of places that there are conversations 1537 01:07:04,042 --> 01:07:06,833 about Jesus today, but many of them are not honorable-- 1538 01:07:06,875 --> 01:07:08,208 they're dishonorable. 1539 01:07:08,292 --> 01:07:10,208 They're not worshipful; they're horrible. 1540 01:07:10,292 --> 01:07:12,417 When we come together, we're Jesus' people 1541 01:07:12,500 --> 01:07:15,417 and we want to lift up Jesus' name, amen? 1542 01:07:15,500 --> 01:07:17,125 And as you're preparing to do that, 1543 01:07:17,167 --> 01:07:19,792 I want to share with you a little good news report 1544 01:07:19,833 --> 01:07:23,500 of what's going on with some of God's extended family. 1545 01:07:28,625 --> 01:07:32,500 When we go and proclaim the Good News to the people, 1546 01:07:32,583 --> 01:07:37,167 they will listen. 1547 01:07:41,542 --> 01:07:43,625 During our last visit to Ethiopia, 1548 01:07:43,667 --> 01:07:45,875 we found out from Werku Golle, 1549 01:07:45,958 --> 01:07:48,125 the head of the Dilla Bible College, 1550 01:07:48,167 --> 01:07:50,958 that having a pastors' conference and bringing pastors 1551 01:07:51,000 --> 01:07:54,333 back together became a big importance. 1552 01:07:54,417 --> 01:07:58,417 For the last 3 years, there was no funding. 1553 01:07:58,500 --> 01:08:01,125 There was no way to gather the pastors back together 1554 01:08:01,167 --> 01:08:04,083 from 1600 kilometers 1555 01:08:04,167 --> 01:08:06,708 all the way down to Dilla, Ethiopia. 1556 01:08:06,792 --> 01:08:09,917 There was just no way of funding that, and I really felt like, 1557 01:08:10,000 --> 01:08:13,333 at that point in time, that it was the opportunity that 1558 01:08:13,375 --> 01:08:17,625 Mars Hill Church had to fund this pastors' conference. 1559 01:08:17,667 --> 01:08:19,792 It was amazing that the additional funding 1560 01:08:19,833 --> 01:08:23,583 that we had, they needed. 1561 01:08:37,083 --> 01:08:43,125 It was so encouraging to see the flood of pastors 1562 01:08:43,167 --> 01:08:46,583 and their wives showing up, all walking by foot, 1563 01:08:46,667 --> 01:08:49,292 many of them taking over a week 1564 01:08:49,333 --> 01:08:51,750 to get to Dilla, Ethiopia, 1565 01:08:51,833 --> 01:08:56,708 but they were so excited to be there. 1566 01:09:01,292 --> 01:09:04,125 During the preparing for the pastors' conference 1567 01:09:04,167 --> 01:09:07,417 and my message there, I really felt like, 1568 01:09:07,500 --> 01:09:12,500 instead of me having a word from them, I felt like that Paul, 1569 01:09:12,542 --> 01:09:18,833 the Apostle Paul, had a word for them. 1570 01:09:18,875 --> 01:09:24,708 Paul says to Timothy, "Preach the word, 1571 01:09:24,792 --> 01:09:28,667 "be ready in every season and out of season. 1572 01:09:32,292 --> 01:09:36,000 "Reprove, rebuke, and exhort 1573 01:09:38,875 --> 01:09:43,792 with complete patience and teaching." 1574 01:09:47,667 --> 01:09:52,083 We have received salvation from Christ Jesus. 1575 01:09:54,208 --> 01:09:58,000 We received it by his grace. 1576 01:10:02,375 --> 01:10:05,583 This is nothing that we earn, 1577 01:10:07,417 --> 01:10:10,625 but it's everything that he paid for. 1578 01:10:12,125 --> 01:10:17,625 This pastors' conference affected literally 400 churches. 1579 01:10:17,667 --> 01:10:19,708 In their Bible College education, 1580 01:10:19,792 --> 01:10:22,167 they had never received discipleship training, 1581 01:10:22,208 --> 01:10:26,458 so this equipping allowed them to go back to their young, 1582 01:10:26,500 --> 01:10:30,167 young churches and their new believers and then transfer 1583 01:10:30,208 --> 01:10:33,250 that training to their churches. 1584 01:10:33,333 --> 01:10:37,125 And so, Mars Hill Church, you gave to provide the funding 1585 01:10:37,167 --> 01:10:40,833 for them to have this pastors' conference. 1586 01:10:40,917 --> 01:10:44,458 Without the Lord sending funds through us, 1587 01:10:44,500 --> 01:10:48,833 this event would never have happened. 1588 01:10:51,750 --> 01:10:54,333 We love you, 1589 01:10:54,833 --> 01:10:56,625 we pray for you, 1590 01:10:57,417 --> 01:10:59,917 and we give to support you. 1591 01:11:04,417 --> 01:11:07,000 And it's all about Jesus Christ. 1592 01:11:21,417 --> 01:11:24,333 Each year, over 10 million Mars Hill church sermons 1593 01:11:24,417 --> 01:11:27,458 are downloaded worldwide for free. 1594 01:11:27,500 --> 01:11:30,042 This ministry is generously supported 1595 01:11:30,125 --> 01:11:32,667 by Mars Hill church members and listeners like you. 1596 01:11:32,750 --> 01:11:36,250 If you'd like to support our efforts to preach Jesus to the world, 1597 01:11:36,333 --> 01:11:39,250 Please consider making a tax-deductible donation 1598 01:11:39,333 --> 01:11:42,167 by visiting marshill.com/give.