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Plainly Speaking
with Karl J. Forehand
What’s in a Name?
By Karl J. Forehand
You shall not take the name of the LORD
your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His
name in vain. (Ex. 20:7)
When we repeat a name of someone
we know, it doesn’t make us thing about their name. We are not thinking, “Hmmm..Tom – a name that comes from such
and such origin, etc.” When someone
is near you and their name is mentioned, you think about their essence and
their character. Ponder these names
for a new minutes:
Abraham Lincoln
Martin Luther King Jr.
JFK
Adolf Hitler
When you thought of those names,
didn’t you think about their nature and their character? You thought about what they stood for and what they believed in. You remembered things they had done and
maybe the impact they made on you life.
God’s names are not just
names. They are tags that
progressively reveal Him. For today,
I want you to just mediate on a few of God’s names.
God
Elohim – plurality in unity, creator
El – The Strong one
Elah, Eloah – The adorable one El Elyon
– God most high
El Roy – The Lord that seeth
El Olam – The God of eternity
El Shaddai – The almighty, all
sufficient God
Jehovah – Lord
Jehovah Jireh – The Lord will provide
Jehovah Rophi – The Lord, the physician
Jehovah Nissi – The Lord our Banner
Jehovah Shaloam – The Lord our Peace
Jehovah Rohi, - The Lord my shepherd
Jesus
Christos – anointed one
Messiah – the appointed one
Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And
the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal
Father, Prince of Peace.
Holy
Spirit
Comforter, counselor, teacher,
paraklete,
You probably have some resources
where you could look up more of God’s names.
As we begin to talk about using God’s name correctly, spend some time
focusing on His names.
What are some things that are revealed in God’s name?
1. His nature –
preexistent. “Then Moses said to God,
"Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, 'The
God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His
name?' What shall I say to them?" 14 And God said to Moses, 1a"I AM WHO 1I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons
of Israel, 1'I AM has sent me to
you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14). God told Moses that His name was “I AM.” We don’t have time to explore the depths
of that statement. But, in one name,
we see that God is everything.
2. His nearness – power. “The
LORD also will be a astronghold for
the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble, 10 And 1those who aknow Thy name will put their trust in Thee; For Thou, O LORD,
hast not bforsaken those who seek
Thee.” (Psalms 9:9-10). Those who
know his name and put their trust in it, will find power and a
closeness. All revealed in His name.
3.
His reputation – pride. “I will atell of Thy name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly
I will praise Thee. 23 aYou who
fear the LORD, praise Him; All you 1descendants
of Jacob, bglorify Him, And cstand in awe of Him, all you 1descendants of Israel. 24 For He has anot despised nor abhorred the affliction
of the afflicted; Neither has He bhidden
His face from him; But cwhen he
cried to Him for help, He heard. 25 From Thee comes amy praise in the great assembly; I shall bpay my vows before those who fear Him.” (Psalms 22:22-25). God’s names carries a perfect tradition of
something we can take pride in (we “glory” in His name).
4.
His relationship – personal. “The God who made the world and all things
in it, since He is bLord of heaven
and earth, does not cdwell in
temples made with hands; 25 neither is He served by human hands, aas though He needed anything, since He
Himself gives to all life and breath and all things…or ain Him we live and move and 1exist, as even some of your own poets
have said, 'For we also are His offspring.'
(Acts 17:24-25, 28). God uses
His power to relate to us personally.
Why are we studying all this.
Isn’t the third commandment about cursing and vows. Actually, it primarily about reverencing
God’s name. To reverence it, we have
to understand it. See ya tomorrow.
The third commandment is not just about cussing. “In vain” means empty,
insincere or foolish. It has been
said that the civility of a society is largely dependent upon it’s
language. The book of James tells us
that our mouth is like a small rudder on a big ship. It’s looks insignificant, but it has large
impact. If our language is careless;
then it is as if we have a drunkard at the helm of our ship.
Ways we misuse God’s name
Cursing / Swearing
Calvin said, “people can’t hardly trade for a quart of wine without
cursing.” Cursing shows a lack of
emotional control. The size of a man
is determined by the size of the things that make him upset. Last week, it was my computer that set me
off. Cursing involves a certain
carelessness. I remember in
Toastmasters (a group dedicated to improving public speaking) that they had a
person that counted “filler” words while we were delivering our speeches. They counted “ahs” “ums” and other words
that weren’t necessary for conversation.
You would believe how many of those you use when you are nervous. Cursing is taking something as sacred as
God’s name and using it as a filler word.
Two things are revealed in cursing:
a weak mind and a wicked heart.
A famous preacher said, “What is down in the well comes up in the
bucket.
Excuses
We often attribute things to God that He may not be responsible for. We say things like “I don’t feel God lead
me to…” when often we may just be scared.
That is using God’s name in vain.
We say “God told me..” or “God revealed to me..” May I caution you to be very careful with
statements like that. Maybe I should
say, “Be very sure God told you that before you announce it. Prophet basically have the job of saying
“Thus saith the Lord.” In the Old
Testament, when a prophet said, “Thus saith the Lord” and is wasn’t from the
Lord, they were stoned. The worst
form of excuse is blaming God for things we are responsible for.
Intimidation
Many people use God’s name to back up their weak argument. After all, who is going to argue with
God? They may say, “God spoke to me
plain as day…” Many times God name is
inserted as a type of spiritual forgery and to validate false testimony. The televangelist that blackmails his
listeners to send $1,000,000 uses God’s name in vain.
I had an encounter with a professional hustler the other day. If I had some money I would have given it
to him; but he wanted much more than I had and he kept saying, “Hey, you are
a Christian, you are pastor, you ought to know that I am telling the
truth.” Then he proceeded to try to
make me fell guilty, by telling me that I’m just like “all the others.” He was using God’s name in vain.
Showing off
Sometimes we say “praise the Lord” to praise ourselves. The speaker taught his audience that
“Maranatha” means “The Lord Cometh.”
So he told them to greet each other with the New Testament phrase
“maranatha.” Later, he noticed to
elderly ladies exclaiming “Marijuana, brother, marijuana!”
Careless use of God’s name or selfish
use of it is as bad as cursing. God’s
name is precious, hallowed and to be feared – not to be used in vain.
Handling God’s Name Correctly
We’ve been talking about misusing God’s name. It’s not just curing – we can misuse God’s name when we are careless. One of my favorite passages is Matthew
5:37. Listen with me:
But
let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; and anything beyond these is
of evil (Matt. 5:37)
Allow me to quote from a reliable source* “The Lord was saying one’s life
should be sufficient to back up one’s words.
A yes always ought to mean yes, and a no should
mean no.” Our life and our
word should be enough – we don’t have to throw God’s name around to make us
sound better.
When our yes is yes and our no is no:
1. We don’t have to swear. We will have confidence because of the way we live our
life and we won’t have to curse.
2. We don’t have to make excuses.
If we
tell the truth, we won’t have to remember what we say. We don’t have to pad our speech with
filler words. We don’t have to insert
God’s name frivolously is we are living God’s way.
3. We don’t have to intimidate. We must spend more time
studying and in prayer – we need to develop solid devotional lives. A person that knows what they believe
doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone.
They won’t have to use God’s name in vain to intimidate others.
4. We don’t have to show off.
Are you handling God’s name correctly?
Is you life as straightforward as the statement above, “Let you yes be
yes ….”
God’s name is not to be used as a filler word. It is not to be used as an excuse for our behavior. It is not for cursing or for validating
our hypocrisy. God’s name is special.
God’s name is for praising. The writer of Psalms says, “Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; Sing praises
to His name” (135:3). One of primary
jobs is to praise the name of our Lord.
God’s name is for proclaiming. Peter says, “..sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready
to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope
that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15) We
are to preach (proclaim) the name of our Lord.
God’s name is for professing (and
believing). John said, “As many as
received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God, even to
those who believe in His name. (John
1:12). To profess, you must believe;
and to believe is to put our trust in His name (Romans 10:9,10).
God name is
special. It reveals what He is. What He is must be reverenced, not used
carelessly.
Karl J. Forehand
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