I like the name Adam, I always have. My parents chose well. I like my last name, Powers. It’s a strong name, literally, though at times it has brought me the occasional Austin Powers joke. My middle name is another story, I have not always liked it. Perhaps some of you don’t even know it. My full name is Adam Whitney Powers. I have known a handful of Whitney’s in my life, and yes most of them were female and you can imagine why I disliked Whitney when I was young because, clearly, I am not female. But in time I came to love my middle name because it isn’t a name you hear everyday, it’s unique, it’s rare, and has grown special to me.
Here's the thing about names: we instinctively protect our own, because our names belong to us. If someone misquotes you, misrepresents you, drags your name through the mud…you feel it, AND, you correct it because you care about it.
Every business, every inventor, every songwriter gets this too. That’s why copyright exists. We can’t just take someone else’s name, work, or identity, and use it however we please. There are laws against that. All rights reserved.
Apply this to God and His name and we could easily say, His name has a divine copyright.[1] Thus, we cannot do with it what we please.
That’s what the third commandment is all about. If the first commandment teaches us to worship God exclusively, and the second commandment teaches us to worship God correctly, this third commandment teaches us to worship God reverently.[2]
Hear it from the text. Exodus 20:7 says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
The simple takeaway today is this: God’s name really matters, because His name is who He is. You see in Scripture, a name is more than just a name. Back in Exodus 3, when Moses asks God at the burning bush, “Who shall I say sent me?” God doesn’t merely give Moses a label or a title. He says, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.” God gives Moses a name to tell Israel. And God’s name, I AM, reveals who He is. I AM means God is God, the self-existent eternal God of aseity who has no needs, but has come in grace to rescue His enslaved people. Every time this name occurs in the Bible we’re brought back to these glorious truths about who God is.
The third commandment isn’t protecting God's feelings. It’s protecting His reputation, His very character. Because of this, many throughout history have seen broad applications in the third commandment. Be reminded of what we just read aloud together from the Heidelberg Catechism Q99: “What is God’s will for us the third commandment? That we neither blaspheme nor misuse the name of God by cursing, perjury, or unnecessary oaths, nor share in such horrible sins by being silent bystanders. In a word, it requires that we use the holy name of God only with reverence and awe, so that we may properly confess Him, pray to Him, and praise Him in everything we do and say.”
So the third commandment cuts both ways. God is concerned how we misuse His name, and God is concerned how we use His name. Negatively speaking, God commands us to not use or defraud His name. When we do this it’s called blasphemy. Positively speaking, God commands us to speak and live in such a way that brings glory and honor to His name. When we do this we glorify God.
Let’s dive in. Two headings today, see first…
The Misuse of God’s Name
Throughout the Bible you can categorize the instances of misusing God’s name into categories:
1) Sorcery
This refers to one who invokes the name of God to summon God’s power for personal use through an some manner of incantation. In Ancient Near Eastern culture (the world of Exodus 20), every nation other than Israel practiced these things, using incantations for the purpose of removing sickness, defeating enemies, foretelling the future, and seeking to exercise control over others through the use secret magical powers. Deuteronomy 18:10-14 says, “There shall not be found among you…anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this.”
God didn’t allow sorcery for Israel because He had given them something better and more sure, His very Word through His prophets. This is one of the reasons King Saul was rejected as being king over Israel, because in 1 Sam. 28, rather than seeking the Lord and His guidance, Saul went to the witch in the city of Endor for guidance. Saul rejected the clear counsel of God and preferring the wisdom of a witch.
In Acts 19 we also see this. There seven iterant Jewish exorcists saw Paul driving out demons and healing in the name of Jesus, and they had the idea of doing this themselves. Not for the sake of spreading the gospel, or healing the sick, no, their idea was using Jesus’ name to do similar miracles and become famous. But when they tried this they not only failed, they were beaten up by the demons, and were thrown naked out of the house of the demon possessed man. The contrast between these seven wannabe wizards and the Apostles became so clear that fear fell on all the people and the name of Jesus was magnified among them.
Lesson? God’s people aren’t to be marked by sorcery. Were not to go to psychic’s, palm readers, tarot card readers, crystal ball gazers, or Ouija boards. It was blasphemous back then. It’s blasphemous now.
2) False prophecy
Whereas sorcery invokes the name of God wrongly, false prophecy declares a false word from God and therefore misuses the name of God. False prophets did this throughout the OT and false prophets do so now around the world by saying, “Thus says the Lord…” and follow it by saying something God never said.
This violates the third commandment because everything God says is tied to the reputation of God’s name. We dot his too. We associate someone’s word with their whole person, saying ‘Bob’s word doesn’t mean anything, you can’t trust him.’ What someone says is tied to who they are. So naturally, when someone says God said something He never said, God’s name and reputation are blemished and the Word of God is belittled.
In every age God’s people have faced and struggled with false prophets…and the Church is still dealing with these charlatans today. Lesson? We must test everything we hear. If someone says “Thus says the Lord” and then says something God has said, all good. But if someone says “Thus says the Lord” and then says something God never said, we ought to reject such teaching as false. This means we maintain a correct position in regard to God’s Word. Rather than standing over it in judgment as if we know better than God, we must sit under His Word in submission. Generally, when someone says, “Thus says the Lord” or “God told me” and that’s not followed by Scripture, we have every reason to doubt that statement. False teachers not only hurt people, they blaspheme the name of God by attributing to God things He never said.
3) False oaths
What made the instance with King Saul going to the witch in Endor so evil was not only that Saul went and sought out the guidance of the local fortune teller, but that he used a false oath to secure her services. She was skeptical when he came visiting, he was the King of Israel after all. So she probably thought his coming to her was a trick or rouse or something, but Saul reassured with the following words, “As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” This is an outright lie. Leviticus 19:12, “You shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God, I am the Lord.” Lesson? Don’t blatantly lie to people and use God to justify your sin. To do so is to blaspheme God’s name.
4) Cursing
Cursing abounds today. From TV, social media, movies, and everyday conversations, cursing is the language of dishonor. It’s easy to call out common curse words in our culture but what’s really in view here is when someone curses and includes the name ‘Jesus’, or ‘Jesus Christ’, or ‘God’ to add shock or force to a sentence with zero thought of God. This is breaking the third commandment. To do this is treat the very name of God as if it didn’t matter at all and only exists as a tool to add emphasis to our vulgarity.
It’s impossible to justify this kind of language as acceptable. Sure at times you may need to add force to your words, but can you not do so with tone or other choice adjectives instead of God’s holy name? Do you do this? What comes out of your mouth in a traffic jam? What comes out of your mouth when you stub your toe? Whatever comes out reveals what’s taken root inside. Jesus said this in Matthew 12:34, “For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
5) Hypocrisy
Here’s the one we’re most likely to miss, because it isn’t about our mouths at all. It’s about our lives. In his commentary Matthew Henry lists the ways we take God’s name in vain AND topping his list is something that might surprise us…hypocrisy. Hypocrisy, is claiming the name of Christ while living in a way that denies His name. Jesus said in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say?” Matthew 15:8-9, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me…” Titus 1:16, “They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works...” Church, to pray and not practice, to profess and not obey, to preach one sermon with your mouth and live another sermon with your life…this is taking His name in vain in the deepest sense.
Think about what it means that you’re called a Christian. In a very real sense, we are, every moment, carrying His name with us in all of life. When your life doesn’t match or lineup with the name you’re bearing, you’re not just failing morally…you’re profaning God’s name by misrepresenting God to everyone watching.
This should sober us because none of us gets a pass here. Every Christian in this room has, at some point, let their life say something about God that isn’t true. That should break us, and bend our knees in repentance.
Bottom line: sorcery, false teaching, false oaths, cursing, and hyprocrisy breaks the third commandment and blasphemes God’s very name. For us, those who bear God’s name, we should do everything possible to avoid dishonoring the name of Christ in all of life. This is the first implication to see in the third commandment, do not misuse God’s name. Those who do, God says, will not be held guiltless.
The Proper Use of God’s Name
Here's the turn. The opposite of everything above isn’t just silence, it’s the active use of our mouths in service to God. It’s worship flowing up from a full heart and coming out of a mouth that glorifies God.
The NT doesn’t just tell us to avoid misusing the name, it builds out an entire worldview on the name!
-Jesus’s name reveals His mission: “you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).
-We're taught to pray for God’s glory through His name: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matt. 6:9).
-Missionary endeavor is fueled by His name: “In His name the nations shall put their hope” (Matt. 12:21).
-In His name we welcome children (Matt. 18:5).
-When the Church gathers in His name, there He is among them (Matt. 18:20).
-In His name we’re baptized, (Matt. 28:19)
-Believing in His name we makes us children of God, (John 1:12).
-Praying in His name brings His ear to us as well as an answer to our prayers, (John 14:13-14)
-The Father sends the Holy Spirit to be our Helper in Christ’s name, (John 14:26).
-For His name the apostles suffered “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name” (Acts 5:41).
-In His name is salvation itself for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21).
Those are just a fraction of verses we could mention. Fifty-seven more references about the name of Christ exist in the rest of the NT. So hear it Church, the name of Christ isn’t precious because it's fragile. It’s precious because everything we have is in it.
Question: what does the proper use of God’s name actually look like? Consider these four ways:
First, we honor the name of the Lord by coming to Christ. This commandment begins with believing in Him and belonging to Him.
Second, we honor the name of the Lord by speaking well of it whenever we can. This is not just avoiding using His name in vain, but actively using His name rightly and everywhere! Praising His name. Praying His name. Spreading His name.
Third, we honor the name of the Lord by living a life that matches our profession. Not perfectly but sincerely and honestly. There ought to be no gap between what we say on Sunday and what we do on Tuesday. When our living for Christ matches our talking of Christ the Lord’s name is honored.
Fourth, a far too neglected way to honor His name is to study His name. Why say this? Because, as I said earlier “God’s name matters, because His name is who He is.” So we study the character of God, the works of God, the ways of God, and the wonder of who God is, because in all true doctrine of God the name of God is wondrously put forth for us to see and savor.
All of the proper use of God’s name can be found in the opposite of what we just worked through in the misuse of God’s name.
See it.
Instead of giving ourselves to sorcery, mediums, and witchcraft…we give ourselves to how God has revealed Himself, His Word. When we do this we honor God’s name.
Instead of embracing false teaching or remaining silent when we hear false teaching…we give ourselves to true teaching and to the spreading of right doctrine. When we do this we honor God’s name.
Instead of making false oaths or using God’s name to justify our sin…we give ourselves to guarding God’s name from abuse in our lives. When we do this we honor God’s name.
Instead of cursing, taking the Lord’s name in vain, or using God’s name to add emphasis to our already vulgar vocabulary…we give ourselves to speech that is pure, upright, and holy. When we do this we honor God’s name.
And instead of living a false life that doesn’t line up with what we claim to be as Christians, instead of hypocrisy…we give ourselves honestly and sincerely to God, living all of life as it is, in Him, through Him, before Him, and to Him. When we do this we honor God’s name.
Conclusion
Let me end with something most of us know. If you’ve seen the movie Gladiator, you know a there is a lot in a name. There is a moment the main character Maximus, robbed of his family, stripped of his rank, and reduced to slavery…there is a moment when he finally stands before all of Rome and the emperor…and speaks his name aloud. When this occurs, it changes everything.
That’s a true picture, however small, of what’s coming. Church, we live in a fallen world that dishonors the name of Jesus all over the place. His name is abused, mocked, profaned, and blasphemed. This should grieve us, and bend our knees in repentance. But it should also cause us to look forward to the coming day when the King will return.
On that day, all will hear the name that is above all names. On that day every knee, willing and unwilling, will bow. And on that day every tongue will confess the name of Jesus, that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Church, that day is coming, it is nearing. If you wait for that day to start honoring His name, it’ll be too late. Come to Him now. Speak well of Him now. Live what you profess now. Study who He is now.
The name of God truly has a divine copyright, may we not just use it as we see fit, honor it as God commands.
[1] H.B. Charles Jr., Be Careful with God’s Name, 2/19/25.
[2] Charles, ibid.
