不可妄称神的名 Do Not Take God’s Name in Vain
出埃及记 Exo 20:7
Remember these points
I put these points at the top of my sermon-prep template to remind myself every week:
- Show that main point of passage relates to Jesus and his saving work
- (1 Cor 1:18) A truly gospel-centred message will not be acceptable in a synagogue or mosque
- Did I proclaim the gospel as the headline news of the sermon, rather than as a “by the way…”?
- Unbelievers are called to repent, believe, and be saved
- Believers are encouraged to abandon their old self, renew their minds, put on the new self in Christ
- Preach simple sermons, so that God’s people can see Christ more clearly and love him more dearly
News
Review
Hook
What do you think these two people might be saying?
Most likely one of these very common expressions (at least in English) like:
- A swear to – – –!
- J… C…!
- OMG!
- …!
Many more that can’t be listed here!
All of these would be considered taking the name of God in vain.
Do you use these expressions?
Chinese probably have different expressions not related to YHWH.
So does that mean it’s OK to use such expressions in Chinese?
Consider these three spheres or areas: Thoughts, Words, Deeds
Thoughts:
- Having to do with what’s in our heads and minds
- Knowledge, thinking
- Beliefs, likes, dislikes, prejudices, etc.
Words:
- The words that come out of our mouths, what people hear.
- Often according to what’s in our minds!
Deeds:
- Our actions
- What we do with our hands
- Our behaviour
We can roughly classify the 10 Commandments using these three spheres.
What do we get?
There’s a sort of structure, appearing in the two groups (4 and 6).
Thoughts, Words, Deeds: In relation to God
Thoughts, Words, Deeds: In relation to others
Next, consider five general categories of our lives or culture:
How does our culture prioritise these categories, especially western societies?
Most would agree that sex, possessions are near the top
Family would be lower down
Maybe even life would be at the top (like abortion, MAID, etc.)
God would probably be at the very bottom!
Look at what the Bible teaches through the Ten Commandments, showing what’s important to God:
The categories are not really exact (especially #9, no false testimony), but we can see the general trend.
The biblical priority is: God, Family, Life, Sex, Posessions
Passage
Section 1
The punishment isn’t specified, and this makes it even more scary!
We just don’t know what God will do!
How do you understand “using the name of God in vain?”
The Westminster Larger Catechism has a good definition:
We need to give glory to God, and benefits to ourselves and others.
Even if our speech doesn’t directly affect God, we still should control what we say.
Our speech shows others what’s in our minds, and can indirectly affect how they view Christians
and how they view God.
Does the NT mention things like this? Most definitely YES!
These are all from the NT, from the apostles. What about Lord Jesus himself?
There’s another mention where Jesus mentioned that we need to give glory to God.
与我有什么关系? So What?
