Remove Not the Ancient Landmark

Berean Baptist on November 26, 2018

Proverbs 22:28

There is scarcely a Christian in a fundamental church that has not heard a sermon on Proverbs 22:28. There is no debate over the original meaning of the verse. Landmarks were used to set the boundaries of a person’s property. These were set to designate the ownership of land in recognition of a person’s legal right to a specific part of the land. Often, large stones placed at corners of the property made it obvious to others where the property lines extended. We still use the same basic principles today in less obvious ways. Surveyors set property pins. It is impossible to move the property lines by theft since modern surveying techniques do not depend on physical markers. GPS coordinates take their place. But, in Bible times, to move a marker to increase one’s part of the land and to decrease another’s, was very dishonest and destructive to property owners.

The question about this text is whether it is right to make a spiritual application. I have never heard of a fundamental preacher who said we should not. It is a favorite text for teaching the danger of moving away from the great doctrines of the Bible. These doctrines are the markers of our faith and practice. We cannot go beyond or fall short of them. To do so is to destroy the faith as it was once delivered by the Holy Spirit through New Testament authorship (Jude 1:3). In Jude’s terms, contending for the faith is the defense of these landmarks.

As Bereans, we examine every doctrine to be sure it corresponds to the written word. If it does not, we reject it as an attempt to move the landmark. In two thousand years of church history, many splinter groups have been busy moving landmarks all over the map. They put new ones down while adjusting others or completely removing them. These bogus landmarks should be soundly rejected. If they are not scriptural, they do not come from God. This shows the main positioning pin is vital. This pin is the belief the Bible is the infallible, unchanging word of God.

When others describe our church as a traditional church, some may think this refers to our worship style, such as the types of songs we sing and the way we present them. This is a tradition in one sense, but not the tradition we care to be most descriptive. Rather, we want to be known as a traditional Bible church. We want to be known as those who have no other standards than those found in God’s word. We want no other doctrines than those we can defend with an open Bible. We want no other text of scripture than translations that are faithful to the author’s original intent. We want no flirtation with non-biblical methods of increasing attendance. The church belongs to Christ and He will build it as He sees fit.

Don’t move the landmarks! Every doctrine must fit as God delivered it in His word. We preach nothing more as if to add is to help the word, and we preach nothing less as if to subtract is to correct the word. The word as given is sufficient to furnish us to all good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

Puny Preachers and Politics

Berean Baptist on November 19, 2018

“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” (Proverbs 21:1)

 

This scripture is both appropriate and comforting in these days of political turmoil. Everyday there is a news story of mostly complaints about the activities of the president. In my lifetime, I have never seen the amount of sour scrutiny of every action in negative reporting of everything he does. It is as if the right action is always the opposite action of what he does no matter the subject. Those who clamored most that we should accept the results of the election in 2016 are the loudest in their protests we should not. Those who live to defend free speech die when the speech does not agree with them. Such is the hypocrisy of American politics.

This political unrest engages many pastors, and I do not want to ride on that bandwagon. As one author said, “I am concerned when I see pastors throw their weight behind causes good Christians might disagree on. There are many reasons one might be cheered by Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, but there is nothing in the Bible that says Christians must be originalists when it comes to the Constitution.” I certainly have my viewpoint on how the Supreme Court should be constructed, but I agree with this author. The pastor’s position is not to be an interpreter of the Constitution. Our calling is to interpret the Word of God. I do not need to inject controversies that have no bearing on the eternal destiny of the soul, nor if they do not speak of the virtues of the Saviour.

I will speak from the pulpit on moral issues that face us because those are addressed in the scriptures. We have an obligation to the people to engage them because they bear on righteousness. Other matters I do not care to address. Last year, I steadfastly refused to fight a battle over the Internal Revenue 501(c) 3 issue. It will neither help nor hinder me from preaching the truth from the Berean pulpit.

There is something that seriously irks me about political commentary. It is the strange concern over Hollywood’s opinions of governmental policies. I tend to believe much less attention is paid to their opinions than they think. Mostly they are ignorant people supported by other ignorant Hollywood people just like them. I care nothing at all what George Clooney or Leonardo DiCaprio say. How they get to congressional hearings is beyond my capacity to understand. I have never voted for or considered for three seconds whether Robert De Niro supports a candidate. I believe he probably still wants to punch Donald Trump in the face. I wish he would, then we would never hear of Robert De Niro again. These people have no policy expertise that compels any reasonable person to listen to their advice.

Ah, but here is the rub. Neither do preachers have any policy expertise. What makes a preacher any more a reliable guide than a Hollywood star? When he strays away from the field he knows, he is dumber than De Niro. At least, he ought to know better. Quite hypocritical, me thinks! Another quote strikes me: “I am concerned when I see pastors making extravagant, unqualified statements on issues that require some level of nuance and expertise.” Seems running the United States government might have a small requirement for that, doesn’t it?

I am content to leave the king’s heart in the hand of the Lord. Nothing he does or does not do will affect the church. The preacher who says it will needs to sit down and shut up. For most of Christian history, the government never favored the true church. It did not stop us then and it will not stop us now. We need to stick to the Lord’s business. On the individual level, go at it with all the vigor and vim you please. This pulpit will stay out of it. Do not expect to be ratified by the Word of God when God does not speak.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

Photobombing Jesus

Berean Baptist on November 12, 2018

Last year, I read an interesting article with the title, Photobombing Jesus. The article began with a definition of photobomb. It means, “to spoil a photograph by appearing in the camera’s field of view as a picture is taken.” If you still don’t understand the meaning, ask any teenager with a cell phone. They will be happy to demonstrate for your education.

The article was about a pastor who lamented the beginning of his ministry. He attempted to outshine Jesus. It started with his testimony. God saved him out of a life of drugs, parties, gambling, and women. Everyone knows this testimony is much more interesting than one like mine. I was a preacher’s kid who grew up in church and saved at an early age. No wild parties for me. A testimony like this man’s will help catapult a person to the top 40 on the evangelistic circuit. In his words, the author was ushered on the stage of churches and campus ministries to tell what Jesus had done for him.

With this experience, he thought a good place for God to use him was in a large campus ministry, and soon he was involved in one. To his dismay, he wasn’t put up front. Instead, his job was to raise and lower the curtain for people who were on stage. He was upset at the turn of events because he thought his ministry was more valuable to God than being a backstage hand. It was then the Lord convicted him. He recognized this as his attempt to photobomb Jesus.

From this point, he ended the article with “six glory-stealing confessions.” The first one caught my eye relating to this evening’s sermon. He confessed, “I want Jesus to be glorified, but I want glory too.” Nothing better describes a photobombing pastor. He seeks applause as a way of getting into the picture with Jesus. It is fine if Jesus is in the picture too, but he must be sure he isn’t left out and gets the recognition he needs. His bio will read about how the church has grown since he became the pastor. The numbers in attendance are noted, the value of the buildings is announced, and don’t forget how many books he’s authored. He is a jack of all trades but master of none. He expects the congregation to applaud as he enters the sanctuary with his entourage in tow.

In a similar way, there are preachers such as I who pastor smaller less prominent ministries. We do not expect applause for good reason. If you have heard our attempts, they are too weak to be anything but embarrassing. We seek recognition in other ways. Ours is to photobomb Jesus by seeking compliments. We love to hear someone at the door tell us how great the sermon was that day. We need at least one of these to remind us who is the most important around here. If we get two, there is no doubt Spurgeon was in the building. If there are no compliments, we are grossly under appreciated.

Do we need this affirmation to be successful preaching God’s word? If it bothers us, we need to step back and remember who should receive glory. This author said, “A servant who seeks affirmation steals something that does not belong to them…A preacher who preaches to gain glory for himself is flirting with Christ’s bride for whom he died to have for His own.” This quote works for either the morning or evening message. Let Christ be the only one framed in the picture. This is His church not mine.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

 

A Complicated Commandment

Berean Baptist on November 5, 2018

Exodus 20:12

The fifth commandment may be the least understood of God’s Ten Commandments. It seems direct without much room for interpretation—simply do this—respect your father and mother. However, the commandment is much deeper than appears on the surface. A careful study of its placement as the hinge-pin connecting the first and second divisions of the law reveals the mystery of its complexity.

God is the father of all life which provides the strongest argument for the insistence of obedience to all the commandments, especially the first four which are revelations of His transcendence. Respect is due Him as He is God alone and worshipping Him because of His divine favor in granting us life flows from this. Providential wisdom juxtaposed these thoughts to the commandment to honor our parents who are secondarily responsible for giving us life. These two spheres are linked in the fifth commandment which produces a perpetual duty to respect the highest authorities in both spheres of influence.

Secondly, the commandment stands at the head of all human relationships. The next four commandments proceed with directions for the treatment of our fellow man. Thus, as Ezekiel Hopkins describes, we have the basis for handling all spheres of influence, that is the relationship to those in authority, the relationship of those in authority to their inferiors, and the lateral relationships of those who are our equals. The fifth commandment reflects the first sphere, namely, how do we respond to those in authority?

The command is more complex than imagined because it encompasses all authorities, not just the authority of parents. The scope is broad starting with God who gave the commandment, down to every relationship of every kind in which others are placed over us in the societal order. The command is difficult because of our natural resistance to authority. This begins with the resistance of man against God, as men do not like to retain God in their knowledge (Rom. 1:28). The rejection of God filters down into reluctant submission to all authorities. For this reason, children must be trained to respect their parents. If we fail here in the second greatest level of authority, there is no hope for the final commandments to be obeyed.

The fifth commandment produces an explosion of theological implications making the exposition of it a journey into some of the most important doctrinal concepts in scripture. This short list of statements caused Jesus to preach His most important sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, which relates the law of the Kingdom to the hope of eternal life.

We need to take time with this commandment as its concepts are woven throughout many Bible passages. Thomas Watson wrote, “By the first table, we walk religiously toward God; by the second, we walk religiously toward man. He cannot be good in the first table that is bad in the second.” This tells us there is no way to rest secure because we are through with the severity of judgment for our disobedience to the first table. The way becomes harder because of 1 John 4:20: “…he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” Perhaps you thought you could escape extreme scrutiny because God is invisible leading us to subconsciously believe no one really knows if our heart is right towards Him. Oh, no—the image of God is in the person you curse and treat badly. The recesses of your heart are cracked open and made visible each day in regards to your treatment of every human being. Learn these complications or miss obedience to all the commandments.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Thank God for Our Church

Berean Baptist on October 29, 2018

(This article was written two years ago before the presidential election. I believe it is as timely today with upcoming elections as it was then.)

At times, it seems we hope against hope for our survival as each year presents new challenges to our faith. The gruesome presidential election is over, which for the first time presented us with no good options, or at least none we felt we could make without violating every decency of a sanctified conscience. Never have Christian Americans had to vote for such unqualified evil. We were torn between our patriotic duty of voting, and a feeling if we did vote we might in fact conflict with our duty as citizens of the heavenly country. How do you vote when evil wins either way? You can decide how you feel about the outcome. I am thankful that Bereans can sit together in church today, and that despite different political opinions, we rejoice as one in the word of God.

How are we able to do this? It is because our political divisions pale in comparison to our spiritual agreements. We are not divided about the gospel. We have firm unchanging conviction in the saving power of Jesus Christ. No campaign for a different salvation will shake us from our belief in justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

We are not divided on the Bible. We believe it is the inerrant, inspired word of God that is our constitution of faith and practice. We are not divided on its proper translation. We believe the King James Version is the best translation for English speaking people.

We are not divided on Christ. There is no other way to the Father but through Him. He is the way, the truth, and the life. We believe salvation is exclusively in Him as the author and finisher of our faith. We are not divided on His cross, believing it is the only place for our sins to be forgiven. We are not divided on His death as the atonement for our sins and that Christ died as a penal substitute to redeem us from all iniquity.

We are not divided about our standing in Christ. We are held safely and securely in the Father’s hand and no power of hell can separate us from the His love. Our perseverance in the faith is assured because He is the defender of His people.

We are not divided on the work of the Holy Spirit. He regenerated us when we were dead in trespasses and sin and brought us to life to hear and believe the gospel. His work precedes our repentance and faith in a secret operation upon the soul. We realize it only by the fruits it produces. We are not divided on His sanctification of believers which is sealed to us upon our belief. We receive Him in His fullness as an abiding presence when we place our faith in Christ.

We are not divided concerning the Father’s work of choosing us in Christ before the foundation of the world. All benefits of salvation flow out of this sovereign choice founded only in the good pleasure of His will. No blessings are secured to us based on any act of foreseen faith.

And lastly, we are not divided about the body of Christ, the church of the living God. We are a visible body complete in Him—vessels of mercy made to glorify Him through the preaching of the gospel. Our duty is to bring more of His chosen ones to the throne of His grace.

We are thankful that human government rules temporally for the good of our society. We have no trust in it beyond God’s stated purpose to be His instrument to restrain evil. Though it often disappoints and causes temporary dissent, it will not dampen our enthusiasm or ruin our faith that God always does all things well. Rejoice with us in our Thanksgiving holiday. God’s kingdom and His church are great no matter who our elected representatives may be.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

The Sunday Sabbath

Berean Baptist on October 22, 2018

In these past weeks, I have enjoyed the opportunity to study the fourth commandment which teaches us to remember to keep the Lord’s Day holy. There are many who believe this Old Testament law was done away with in the fulfillment of Christ’s death which is the antitype of many Old Testament practices. However, this law was given immediately upon the completion of the creation which tells us God intended it as a perpetual law that is given to all nations to remind us of His power and sovereignty.

Recently, I listed to a sermon by someone who holds a different opinion. He claimed the idea of a Christian sabbath is not very old but is mostly of English Puritan descent and was not believed by Christians other than the Puritans. One of his arguments said that Baptists are wrong, and we ought to reject the historic confessions of faith that teach Sunday is a sabbath that replaced the Old Testament seventh day sabbath. The argument goes that our most popular confessions do not use the term “Christian Sabbath.” It is true the New Hampshire Confession of 1833 to which we closely adhere in our own statement of faith does not use the term “Christian Sabbath” in the 15th article entitled The Observance of the First Day of the Week. However, the language is very clear this is meant by the exclusions and duties that are put upon the day. In addition, the last phrase says the day is to be used for “preparation for that rest that remains to the people of God.” This reference is to Hebrews 4:3-11 in which the author says in verse 9: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” Rest in this verse is the Greek word sabbatismos which is derived from the word that means sabbath. The Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 in its article on the Sabbath begins, “The light of nature shows that there is a God…” This confession begins by connecting the sabbath to laws that are written on the human heart. It ends by using the word sabbath: “The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord.”

The man who preached this message is a Southern Baptist who referred to the Southern Baptist Abstract of Principles which is their confession of faith. He noted the Abstract of Principles does not use the word sabbath. And yet the language in the Abstract uses the same concepts as are found in others that do. James Petigru Boyce, one of the founders of the Southern Baptist Convention asked in his catechism: “Why do Christians keep Sunday as the sabbath?” Answer: “Because it was on that day of the week that Christ rose from the dead.” Further: “What name is given to it on this account?” Answer: “The Lord’s Day.” Likewise, Spurgeon’s catechism emphasis the same point even more extensively in positively declaring the first day of the week is the Christian sabbath.

It is interesting to note that the Reformers did not regard a Sunday sabbath. Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, Beza, and others argued against it. However, their opinions were fashioned against the background of the abuses of Roman Catholicism in making Sundays festival days, and of course to their sacramentarian views of salvation regarding it. Their opinions prevailed over their churches for less than a century when the practice overwhelmingly returned to a Sunday sabbath. Calvin’s arguments notwithstanding that the change to a Sunday sabbath happened about A.D. 60 instead of upon Christ’s resurrection, proves to be only an argument, whereas the law written on the human heart continues to prevail.

It is therefore disingenuous to assert the Sunday sabbath is a recent invention. It appears the Sunday sabbath did not prevail as practice among Bible believing Christians for only a short interval in the late 16th century. It only seems to hold sway today among those who are bent on returning to the enlightenment of the Reformation, which in most cases is good except when it is not.

 

                                                                        Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

 

Sunday Is the Lord’s Day Wherever You Are

Berean Baptist on September 10, 2018

During the year, many of our church members are traveling on Sundays. This thought comes to mind that Sunday is the Lord’s Day no matter where you are. All days should be used to honor the Lord, but Sunday is especially set aside for God’s people to honor Christ in corporate worship.

Many times, you have heard me tell stories of the scores of Baptist churches located in my hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. This should make it very easy to find a good one to worship in while I visit there. It is true that in my hometown there are several that I have full confidence in to visit and enjoy worshiping on Sunday. However, I am not usually in Lexington on Sunday. I go to Lexington to see my mother who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, and then for several days I travel to other parts of the country. These are places with churches that I am not familiar with. I am still in the South with many, many Baptist churches, but finding a good one is an unbelievably hard adventure.

I remember last year looking on the internet for one in southwest Virginia. There were many to choose from, but I found none that weren’t seriously bothersome to me. Since I am well versed in what to look for and can decipher a lot of adverse language in doctrinal statements, I know what to expect if I choose the wrong one. Sometimes the clues are on the surface where they blast BAD EXPERIENCE. For example, I look at the pictures of leaders on the web pages. Do I see the choir director’s name? Is it he or she? Is there a picture of a deaconess? This tells me what the church believes about leadership.

Several years ago, when I came to California, I attended a Baptist church in Petaluma. I have always used this church as an example of how going to church can be a nightmarishly bad experience. It is very difficult to worship when your stomach is turning like an agitator in a washing machine. I think Paul may have described it as his bowels were yearning (that is if he spoke King James English as some believe!).

The scriptures say we must worship God in spirit and in truth. Very simply, if we do not, we do not worship. While I believe corporate worship is best on Sundays, I know there are times it is not profitable to join yourself to a congregation that pretends with their lips, but their hearts are far away from God and His truth. It is best not to listen to a sermon from a preacher who is a mockery of the God ordained profession. It is certainly awful to hear sermons from preachers that do not preach salvation in Jesus Christ alone. If these are your choices, stay away. There are some fundamentals that cannot be compromised, and worship is not possible without them.

One of the things I love about Berean is our location. We have a prominent easy location in the city which makes our church attractive to visitors from other areas. Almost every Sunday we have visitors from other cities, states, or countries. They witness a good confession by their desire to worship on the Lord’s Day even though they are away from home. I am especially gratified when we have repeat visitors. They are back in our area again and because their first experience was good they desire to return and hear the word of God faithfully preached once more.

When you travel, look for opportunities for corporate worship if possible. Some bring back bulletins as proof to show the pastor they tried. Thanks! I am always happy to hear there are others that still preach the truth of God’s word. Remember, you can worship God no matter where you are. If there is no good church, Sunday is still the Lord’s Day!

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

Violating the Fourth Commandment

Berean Baptist on September 3, 2018

Exodus 20:8-11

The fourth commandment may well be one of the most neglected and least convicting of all the commandments in the Decalogue. This is not because of lack of seriousness in what God demands, but because the modern Christian has become so complacent about reserving time for God. I also believe the modern pulpit holds much culpability for this unhappy phenomenon. The interpretation that the fourth commandment is not a part of the moral law written on the heart is the major contributor to the problem. Many preachers who are otherwise stellar in their interpretation of scripture tell us this command is not binding on Christians today. They teach there is no such thing as a Christian sabbath which seems from my research of historical positions not to be the consistent teaching of Baptists or others.

To be fair, these preachers do not teach you are not obligated to give time to God, but rather they say there is no special day to for it. Sunday is more of a convenience based on Christian agreement that it is a good easy time for us to get together. It is by mutual consent rather than a commanded time. I fear that when the observance is taught this way it is much easier for the individual to say Sunday is not convenient for them, and since there is no command there is no need to concern themselves. We see the convenience card played too much as churches offer Friday night services for those whose weekend plans are too much encumbered to accommodate what they don’t much like doing anyway. It is not exaggeration that many Christians treat church as if they need only a light dose to assuage their conscience. After all, they do claim to be Christians, don’t they? They go to church for the minimum time to put in their appearance and while they are there it is not worship they think of. Boating, fishing, football, shopping or a hundred other plans run through their minds. In all fairness, most of the time the Friday night churches are not giving anything worth thinking about anyway.

If we have a hard time keeping Christians on track when we have a command, what happens when there is none? Evidently church attendance has been a problem from the beginning. Hebrews warned early Christians not to forsake the assembly. No doubt some of this was advice for Christians who were fearful of persecution and thus would not come, but surely there must be at least a modicum of instruction for Christians who were lax and lazy about attending. Some of them did what many of us do—seek other venues to spend our Sunday time.

We are determined to get the exposition right, and so we will follow the historical interpretation that God has not changed the principle of the sabbath. The New Testament did nothing other than change the day. If we argue there must have been some change because we don’t follow the rigid requirements of the Jews and that Jesus chastised the Pharisees for their abuses, we only need concede their practices were wrong. This does not mean there isn’t a sabbath and a right way to keep it.

The important point to realize is its status as a command. Arguably because it comes at the end of the first table of the law, it stands in a special place of importance. There should be more conviction over its violation. We will not tolerate repeat offending adulterers nor repeat thieves and certainly not mass murderers. Where is the censure of Christians over repeat violations of this command? I hope there is conviction after this little miniseries on the fourth commandment. Baptists surely need more contrition because of it.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Intentions

Berean Baptist on August 27, 2018

Exodus 20:7

In this morning’s message, we take up the final exposition of the third commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.” In the previous messages, I have shown you there is more to taking the Lord’s name in vain than using it as a swear word. Today, we examine some of these other ways. Since there are several of them, I do not have a lot of time to spend on each one. I have already shortened the list to make the point in the briefest time possible.

I would like, however, to expand on the common usage of God’s name as “filler speech.” For want of some other expression, God’s name is inserted as an exclamation of surprise, of disgust, or some other emotion. The expression “Oh my God” is so common it is spoken without thought. Since most people do not actually talk to one another any longer, the expression shows up in texts, tweets, and emails as “OMG.” I would think to type this out surely requires a little bit of thought—more so than in spoken language because many are indeed so foolish as to speak without thinking.

The problem of determining whether this is sinful relates to intent. Is this intentionally disrespecting God’s name? Does intent rule, or is it overridden by the clearness of the command? In other words, if you do not intend to act wrongly are your wrong actions sinful? If you speak God’s name without intentionally disgracing Him, is it still sin? We only need to compare it with other things we do without intent. Go back to the second commandment. If we hang a picture of Jesus on the wall without the intent of worshiping it, is it still wrong? If you listened to those sermons, you hardly need to ask. If you offend someone unintentionally, is it still wrong? Ask Hilary if you use a private email server for national security conversations, is it wrong if you had no intent to put this country in harm’s way? Wait, don’t answer that—apparently it is okay. Usually, however, the government is not concerned with your intent. The law has been broken and consequences must be faced. Most people have no intent to run over people on the sidewalk, but it could happen if you text while driving.

Likewise, with this command. We do not expect the world to get this, but Christians are definitely under obligation to get it. We are supposed to think about what we say. We are supposed to be deliberate in our speech. Jesus said, “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). We can very well take this as His exposition of the third commandment: “The LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” There is no argument left to excuse the careless speech of those who say, “Oh my God,” “Oh, Jesus Christ,” “geez” and so on. They are clearly in violation of the command. The Christian should work overtime completely expunging these expressions from his vocabulary. Every word we speak has meaning whether said with intent. Our conscious thought should be as Paul advised: “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:17).

Pay attention to this today and the other ways the Lord’s name is used wrongly. God allows no excuses. This is not the preacher’s opinion; it is the word of God. As the end of the message encourages, go to the Lord in repentance and contrition. He will forgive this sin as He does all others. The key is to recognize that you have offended the precious Saviour with or without intent, and to come with a promise to change your ways. I promise He will give great thought to intentional forgiveness.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

 

The Perfect Name of God

Berean Baptist on August 20, 2018

Exodus 20:7

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Exodus 20:7 is the text of the third commandment which speaks of the glory and majesty of God’s name. The commandment says we are not to take the Lord’s name in vain. Many times, I have commented on the spelling of LORD in all caps which in this part of the scriptures represents the Hebrew name of God transliterated into the letters YHWH known as the tetragrammaton. The true pronunciation of this name is not known, although in English we say Jehovah or Yahweh. This is the name by which God was known to Moses revealed in the supernatural appearance of the burning bush.

The Jews held the name of God in such reverence that what they wrote in the transcription of His word they would not speak when it was read aloud. Since they would not speak the name, this leads to the confusion over how the ancients would have pronounced it. Instead as they read, they would substitute another of the many names used throughout scripture. Most commonly, this would be the name Adonai. This seriousness over speaking the name aloud may have gone beyond the pale of reasonableness, but it nevertheless strongly insisted that God’s name should never be used in light-hearted frivolous ways and certainly never with profanity.

I am reminded of the many ways this command can be broken. Thomas Watson identified twelve ways it can be broken and in most of those ways he posited many sub-points. Ezekiel Hopkins gave five ways but those five were equally as verbose as Watson. This tells us most Christians do not know how many times they have broken the command without realizing it.

One of the most intriguing ways to me is the misinterpretation and misapplication of scripture. Whenever we interpret that God said something He did not say, we attach the authority of His name to a falsehood. I believe many preachers would do this without intent, but I believe many others are malicious or otherwise very careless in their study. They shake the foundations of truth and utterly blaspheme God. The worst offenders are the priests of Roman Catholicism and the preachers of the charismatic movement. These are opposite extremes although the gap between them is rapidly closing. In the gap between these two, are many Christians who know enough to be saved but are taught multiple false doctrines.

The danger of breaking the commandment in this way lays great responsibility on preachers to be very diligent in their studies. Every text must be approached carefully. The word of God is the expression of God Himself. Jesus is the living word as John 1 shows, which means any misinterpretation of it is a misunderstanding of Christ. We do not often consider these misunderstandings seriously, and as I said they are often unintentional.

Thankfully, the Lord knows our human frailties. He knows this commandment will not be kept perfectly until we reach the glorification of heaven. Then, we will know God face to face in all His perfections. Our service to Him will be perfect and all misunderstandings will fade away in the face of Christ. I cannot wait until that day comes. Until then, we will do our best to depend on the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith