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So you're there in Romans chapter 2, and really, I'm going to be getting back to this, but I'm continuing our series on the Ten Commandments. So we're on the third commandment, and we are on the commandment of thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. And so go to, you keep your finger there in Romans 2, but go to Exodus chapter 20, just so you can see that commandment there. So Exodus chapter 20 and verse 7 there. This is the third commandment. We already did the thou shalt have no other gods before me and thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image to bow down and or thou shalt not bow down thyself to it or worship it. And so we did the graven it. We did the no God, no other gods besides God, no graven images, no idols. And then now we're into the third commandment. Verse 7 there, it says 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. And the same thing is written in Deuteronomy 5 11, recapping this, 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. So first of all, most people, when you think of this commandment, you think of basically using God's name as an expletive, right, as far as people do this all the time. And I definitely believe this definitely is associated with that. Just looking up the definition of vain, the definition of vain, obviously you have like excessively proud, and it talks about conceited. But then there's proceeding from or showing pride or concern about one's appearance. This is like vain type things like that. But it's really, you know, you think about it this way, ineffectual or unsuccessful, futile, vain hopes, a vain effort, a vain war, without real significance, okay, without real significance, value or importance. Okay, so basically when someone uses God's name as an expletive, or if they just say it kind of in modern vernacular, and they're not really calling on name or talking about God, what you're doing is you're taking his name and basically lowering it to something of no significance or value, right, you're devaluing his name, okay. And so that's why, you know, when people use God's name in vain like that, meaning that they're not actually talking to him, about him, or they're basically calling on God in vain, if you will, right, if they're not actually asking for God's help, but they're like saying his name or, you know, whatever, then you're basically, this is that commandment, you know, and the fact that you're not to just use his name like that is supposed to be used in reverence. Now, even the etymology of the word vain, devoid of real value, idle, unprofitable, worthless, void, invalid, feeble. And so the idea of taking his name, his name is valuable, and we need to use it in that manner, meaning that we need to reverence his name, okay. And so when you think about this, I definitely believe that applies, but you don't see that in scripture where it's just like people are using it as a curse word, right. And I tell you what, I cringe every time someone does that. And when they say, you know, you know, oh God, but they're not like talking about God, they're not, you know, like calling out to God, it's just like an expression, right. And so when people do that type of stuff, it just makes me cringe. And, you know, if I'm around somebody enough to where they just keep doing it, I tell them, be like, listen, can you stop saying, you know, God or Jesus, you know, unless you're talking about him, unless it's serious, right. And that's what it comes down to is they're just flippantly using that word, okay. Atheists use, say that all the time. Jews will say it, like, and this really shows you though, okay. And not that this is all out proof, but when it comes down to who the true God is, you never hear somebody like stub their toe, oh, Mohammed, you know. Or, you know, they'll just like, oh, you know, Krishna or something like that or Apollo or Zeus, you know. Now some people may do it to be funny, I don't know, but let's just be honest. Whether they're an atheist or whether they're, you know, of another religion, don't even claim to be Christian, they use Jesus, right. And on TV, they have no problem of having people cursing God or using his name in vain, but they'll bleep out hell, they'll bleep out other things that are not curse words that are just true places and all that. And so, or they'll have other expletives in there. And listen, you know, this may not be popular, but listen, I don't care if you say whatever expletive, okay. Now around my children, you start talking crude language and we're going to have words. But around me, you know what, you know, I'm not going to necessarily like talking to somebody that has to use crude language to express themselves, right. But if I'm on a job site and people are just dropping all kinds of curse words, I don't really give a rip. But if they start blaspheming my Savior's name and they start just using his name as an expletive and they just start just saying it in every other word, I don't like that. It literally just pains me to think that they're just using my Savior's name as just like an adjective on everything, right. And I don't like it and God doesn't like it. And notice that it says that the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. So, you know, we talk about, especially when we go out soloing, we're like, well, you at least told a lie before, right. I'd say everybody we talk to is guilty of this one right here, right. If you really wanted to pin them down and be like, oh, well, I don't know. Have you ever used the Lord's name in vain? And I almost guarantee everybody has unless you're like a child that doesn't even know what that means and all that stuff. But people do that, okay. Now I'll go back to Romans chapter 2 because you have the other aspect that when it's talking about taking his name in vain, you got to understand what it means. Obviously you have the application of his name in general, right, the name Jesus or the name God Almighty or, you know, the name Jehovah or whatever. You know, he has a lot of different names, right. And obviously the name above all names is Jesus. That definitely applies, but then you have the idea of like going in someone's name, right. Like Jesus came in the name of the Father, right. And we are going out soloing in the name of Jesus Christ, right. It's on the authority of, we're basically ambassadors for Christ, okay. So when you think about it that way, if you're ambassadors for Christ or God and you're not representing him well, you're basically taking his name in vain, right. If you're not actually doing what he tells you to do. And that's where I believe you're dealing with here in Romans chapter 2, the last portion of the chapter there. Notice in verse 17 who you're dealing with here, okay. Verse 17, Behold thou art called a Jew and resteth in the law and makest thy boast of God. Notice that they're called a Jew. It doesn't say you are a Jew, okay. Behold thou art called a Jew and resteth in the law and makest thy boast of God. So then it goes through this whole dissertation and knowest his will and approvest the things that are more excellent being instructed out of the law and are confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind and a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor to the foolish, a teacher of babes which has the form of knowledge and the truth and the law. Thou therefore which teases another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preaches the man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest the man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law through breaking the law dishonors thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you as it is written, okay. So it's basically stating that you had the law, it was given to you, God talked to you, he gave you the oracles of God, but yet you don't even realize that you are breaking the law, okay. And this is a setup to Romans chapter 3 basically saying that we have concluded all understanding whether Jew or Gentile, right. And the idea here is he's basically saying whether you're a Jew or a Gentile it doesn't matter if you broke the law, he broke the law, right. And if the Gentile keeps the law, guess what? Their uncircumcision accounts for circumcision as it says later on there because it's not about keeping the law that's getting you to heaven. And what it's saying here is that you're calling yourself a Jew, okay. Now insert New Testament terminology, you're calling yourself a Christian and you say you rest in the law but you don't keep the law. And listen, being a Christian is that of the heart, right, meaning that being a Jew is that of the heart. Dealing with this, there's tons of Christians, you hate millions of people that call themselves Christians that take the name of Jesus but they're taking it in vain, right. Because they're not actually believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, they're trusting in the law for their salvation, right. They're stumbling at the same stumbling stone that the Jews stumbled at which is the fact that it's by faith and not by works. And so what is it saying? You're blaspheming the name of God among the Gentiles. You know, it says that the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, meaning that you're not representing what God actually believes. And how many churches are out there that are preaching a false gospel that are blaspheming the name of God, that's taking his name in vain, right. Because they're basically saying we have Jesus, we're Christians, we have the gospel but they really don't, okay. And I believe that's what it's talking about here in Romans chapter 2 so that's why we read Romans 2. That, and I don't want to just keep reading Exodus chapter 20 every single time. So, you know, I want to have some variety in our, but I think it's a good passage to understand that, hey, the Jews blaspheme God's name, why? Because they say that they're going to go to heaven by the law, but yet they don't keep the law. And that's what they're saying is that you preach, don't steal, but don't you steal, right. And then that way we go out somewhere and we're like, you know, if you think you're getting there by works, right, don't you commit these sins? Don't you actually break some of these commandments? Then you're not going to get there that way. And he's making a point saying, listen, it's not about whether you were born a Jew or not because if someone that's not born a Jew keeps the law, then they're justified. And it doesn't matter whether they're circumcised or not. And so that's what it's teaching there, but I just thought that it's interesting that it talks about the name of God being blasphemy. Why? Because the Jews represented God, right. They were supposed to be God's people, okay. So you can see, think on this level of salvation, right. People that claim to be Christian claim to be God's people, right, but they don't actually believe the gospel, right. They believe it's by works. They don't believe, you know, that it's by Christ alone in his blood, which is what Romans 3 gets into. And by the way, Romans 4 tells you that it's always been that way. So Romans 4 is Abraham believed that, David believed that, everybody believes that, and it's always going to be that way. It's the everlasting gospel. But that being said is that if someone claims to be a Christian but they're not saved, then they're taking his name in vain. This is where you get into 1 Corinthians chapter 15, which you don't have to turn there, but talks about, you know, the gospel which was delivered unto them. It says, if you keep this in remembrance, Lestia believed in vain, right. Meaning that if you don't remember what I'm telling you right now, then you didn't believe, it wasn't a true faith, right. It was a vain faith, right. You believed in vain, okay. And so there's tons of people out there getting millions of people that would say, Lord, Lord, have you not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works in thy name, right. But it says, then while I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from ye that work iniquity, okay. And so that's something to keep in mind as far as what it means to take God's name in vain. Obviously, using it as a cuss word, using it in a way that's not reverent, that is taking his name in vain. But also on the representation of being a saved person, if you're not saved and you're saying you're a Christian, then you're going around in vain in the name of Christ, okay. Go to Psalm 139, Psalm 139. Those that hate God take his name in vain all the time. And like I said, you get these God-hating atheists out there, and they use his name as an expletive all the time. They're constantly tearing down the name of God. And in Psalm 139, notice what it says in verse 19. It says, surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God, depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I agreed with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. So notice in verse 20 there, it says, for they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. So I believe that what it means to take his name in vain in this context is to speak wickedly of God, okay. Basically, to call God, you know, a liar, to call God foolish, to speak wicked things about God, right, then that's taking his name in vain. Okay, that's, I believe it's equating that. Basically, they speak against him be wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. I believe those are coupled together there as far as that goes. But also, swearing to God. Okay, go to Matthew chapter 5, Matthew chapter 5. And this is where a lot of the places, I think where you get into the fact that God will not hold them guiltless to take his name in vain. Because basically, they're invoking God's name when it comes to swearing, right. When someone swears to God, right, this is why, listen children, you should never say that. You should never say, I swear to God, I will do this, or I'll swear, you know, like, no, never use that, never use that terminology, okay. Not unless you're getting married, okay. If you're getting married, then obviously your wedding vows, you know, unless you don't want marriage, then that's the one case where I say, yes, you got a vow to do that because that's the only way that it works, right. Till death do us part, that has to be the vow. But besides that, you should not be vowing vows or swearing to God, and especially not just flippantly, okay. Because it needs to be taken seriously because what the Bible is going to teach here is that God does not hold them guiltless that do this, okay. So Matthew chapter 5 and verse 33, you notice what it says in verse 33, it says, Again ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself, but thou shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, neither by the earth, for it is his footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king, neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black, but let your communication be yay, yay, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil, okay. So what does this mean? It's basically saying if someone says something to you, they want affirmation, they want an oath, right. And what he's saying is like, let your yay be yay, I said I would do it, I'll do it, right. Be a man of your word, you don't need to swear to the Lord about something that you're going to do, right. If someone says, are you going to be there, be like, yes, that's letting your yay be yay. You don't need any more than that, anything more than that become of evil, it says. Because if you say, I swear to the Lord I'm going to be there, you don't know what shall be in the market, you don't know if something's going to come up to where you can't go, now you bound your soul by an oath to this person, to God, that you're going to be there. And if you don't do it, you're taking his name in vain. Does that make sense, meaning that you made a false oath, you made a false, you swore falsely in the name of God, right. So you're invoking God as far as on God, you know, as basically, you know, as God is my witness, right. And this happens a lot in the Bible. I don't have the cases, I didn't put this down in my notes. But you see this, you know, God do so and all so to me if such and such doesn't happen. What are they doing? They're invoking God and saying, listen, God do to me if this doesn't happen tomorrow. You think of Jezebel doing that, you think of the men that basically made a vow on themselves that they wouldn't eat or anything until they killed Paul. And, you know, all these things, and even good men in the Bible made this type of statement. Okay, God do so to me and even also, and it's just kind of a way of saying like, you know, I swear, you know, they're swearing to God saying I'm going to do this. And if I don't, you know, God take this out on me. And that is very dangerous and should not be done. And Jesus is saying don't swear at all, unless you're yay, be yay, and you're nay, nay. Meaning this is that if you say no, if I say no, that means no. If I say yes, that means yes. So if you want to know any more than that, if you're saying, well, yes isn't good enough, well, that's all you're getting, okay. This is why, this is another reason, too, that if I were to go up into a courtroom and I have to be a witness and they say you need to swear on the Bible, I'd say no, I would quote that verse. I said, well, I would say swear not at all, but let your yay be yay and your nay, nay. And you know what I say? Yes, I will tell the truth, you know. I'm not going to swear on the Bible, I'm not going to swear on God, okay. And that's the Bible that's backing that up, okay. You're literally holding the Bible and be like let me open it up to you where it tells me not to do that, okay. So, but this is stuff you need to know because I'm not going to do that because I'm not going to invoke God because I could end up messing up, right. I could be like, yes, to the best of my knowledge, I'm going to tell you the truth, everything that, you know, I can know, right. But what if you, you invoke God, all you're doing is bringing condemnation. Go to James chapter 5, it repeats the same thing really. So one, you should know, don't just use God's name as an expletive, that should be given, right, that you don't just throw out His name all over the place, okay. So if you're excited about something, don't just say God, don't just say, you know, Jesus' name, you know, say whatever else, right. But don't invoke Him, just say, you know, like this is, one of those things where the phrases that you use sometimes, you know, you'll hear me say goodnight. Well, what does that mean? Well, a lot of times you'll say goodnight in the morning, right. What that means, right, if you said the whole phrase, goodnight in the morning is something that's like kind of out of place, right. It's something that's just out of place, right, to say goodnight when it's morning, right. So it's just phrase and terminology, use anything like that, you know, any type of, you know, phrase that you will, that you want to say, but don't be putting God's name in there. And I don't even like euphemisms, okay, like gosh or, I don't like, I'm just going to pet Pete, O-M-G, do not write O-M-G, okay. Because I don't care if you meant gosh in there, gosh is not a word, it's just something that's made up to take the place of God. But O-M-G, you know what I read, I read oh my God every time someone writes that because it's just what it means. When I see O-M-G, that's what I see and I don't like that and I just feel like someone's saying God's name in vain every time they put O-M-G, okay. So don't put O-M-G, don't put that type of stuff, you know, stay away from anything that would insinuate that you are saying that, okay. See that's silly, it's just an acronym, it's just three letters, you know, but I don't want to hear it in my own mind, right. I'm reading this and that's what I'm hearing in my mind and it annoys me. So if anybody texts me, do not put O-M-G, I don't like it. So but in James 5 verse 12 it says, but above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath, but let your yay be yay and your nay nay, lest ye fall into condemnation. So same thing that Jesus said, it's just James is reiterating it. Instead of saying it cometh evil, it says whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil, it says lest ye fall into condemnation. So it's pretty much the same thing, it's just basically saying don't go any further than that. Now God, you know, when it comes to salvation in Hebrew chapter 6, which I don't have this in my notes, but it basically talks about the fact that, you know, he could swear by no greater, so he swore by himself, right. So God is basically saying, I swear by myself, right, because he's, you know, everybody's looking, let's just go to that, just so that I'm not messing that up. We're not doing the nay nay up here, so if anybody is, I feel like people are laughing about that, because I'm thinking about this stupid song that people do, but I keep saying that, and like I feel like that's what's coming out of my mouth there. Hebrews chapter 6, and yeah, so verse 13, it says, for when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying surely I will bless thee and multiply, or in multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, actually, it says, and so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise, for men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an endable strike. And that's what we're talking about here, is that basically what people want you to do is say, I need something more than just your word. I need something more than just what, you're just, you're saying you're going to do it, but I need you, I need something more than that. I need you to make an oath on something greater, and that's why he's saying, don't, you know, God couldn't go any greater, right, there's nothing greater than him, right. So he's basically saying, I'm swearing by myself, right, because God, you know, you say, by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we have a strong consolation, you say, well, what's the two, right, it just talks about him swearing by an oath, because he said it the first time. That's your first immutable proof, why, because God can't lie, right, that's why that's immutable. But then he confirmed it by an oath, which is another immutable thing, right, and he swore by himself, and so, but men, they want that extra, right, they want something higher, and you know what Jesus is coming in and saying, he said, basically, don't even swear by heaven itself, don't swear by the earth, right. You know, heaven is my witness, you know, the earth is my witness, no, don't do any of that. Just say, I said I would do it, that's what I'm going to do, Lord willing, and that's what James 4 says, right, if the Lord will, we shall do this, we shall live and do this or that. And that's why a lot of times I'm just like, Lord willing, and why am I saying that, because I don't know if something's going to happen, I don't want to lie to you, right, I'm definitely not going to swear to you, but even when I say I'm going to do something, be like, Lord willing, we'll be over there at that time, you know, because you never know what can happen in between that time, okay. So we don't want to take his name in vain by swearing, you know, go to Ecclesiastes chapter 5, because what does the Bible say about taking God's name in vain? He will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. He will not at all acquit the wicked, meaning that you will be punished, okay. So in Ecclesiastes chapter 5, Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verse 3, notice what it says, it says, For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. When thou vallest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it, for he hath no pleasure in fools. Pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, neither say thou before the angel that it was in error. Wherefore, should God be angry at thy voice and destroy the work of thine hands, for in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also diverse vanities, but fear thou of God. And meaning this is just watch your mouth, watch what you're saying, right. Watch what's coming out of your mouth about God, right. You don't just vow vows flippantly or even in general at all, right. And it's basically saying if you're going to vow a vow, you better pay that vow. That's what it's saying, okay. And go to Numbers chapter 30, Numbers chapter 30. Now think about that, couple that with how people just use God's name in vain all the time, right. When they just say, you know, I swear to God or I'm invoking God. And they're basically saying, you know, on God, you know, like Kanye West, you know, he just says on God, that's on God. You know, like basically invoking God that basically saying he's for it. And all that stuff is wicked. And in Numbers chapter 30 and verse 2, it says, if a man vow a vow unto the Lord or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. So it's very clear, hey, you need to keep your vow. If you swear something, you need to do it. Verse 3, it says, if a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house and her youth, and her father hear her vow and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul and her father shall hold his peace at her, then all her vows shall stand and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand. But if her father disallow her in the day that he hear it, not any of her vows or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand. And the Lord shall forgive her because her father disallowed her. Man, this doesn't go well with 2020, does it? You know what it just said there? It says that if you're a woman in your father's house and you vow a vow and your father says, no, she doesn't, guess what? No, she didn't. Okay? Disallowed. Meaning that, and she's not held to that bond. Okay? You want to get a little further? You want to get down this rabbit trail on 2020 and just getting people really, I mean, the blue-haired feminist right now would be losing their mind. Okay? Let's keep going there. Verse 6, and if she had at all an husband when she vowed or uttered aught out of her lips wherewith she bound her soul and her husband heard it and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it, then her vow shall stand and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband disallowed her, oh, man, trigger, trigger, I could just see the flames coming out of her mouth. Her husband disallowed her. If her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it, then he shall make her vow which she vowed and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul of none effect and the Lord shall forgive her. That's Bible. Meaning that if your wife vows a vow and you say, no, no, she doesn't, then she's not bound to that vow. Same thing if you have a daughter and your daughter's within your house. Notice that it uses that language, right? It's not just like your daughter that's married off, you know, or somewhere else. No, if your daughter's in your house and you hear the vow, and it's saying that, listen, fathers, if you hold your peace on that, then it stands. Husbands, if you hold your peace, then it stands. If you heard it and you didn't say anything about it, then it stands. But if you say, nope, I'm disallowing that, then it's disallowed. And so that's what the Bible teaches about vows, but here's the thing, vow not at all. Swear not at all. That's what Jesus said. He's basically just saying, you know, there's no, don't do it. All you're doing is just creating a case where you're going to be in condemnation. OK, you're binding your soul to it is what is going on there. OK, now there are men in the Bible took this very seriously. OK, because taking God's name in vain is a very serious thing. Right. It's a very serious commandment. I mean, if you think about it, it already puts the curse on there. It says he will not hold them guiltless that take his name in vain. And when you're calling on God and saying, I swear to God that this is going, I'm going to do this and vow that vow to God, then you are putting a bond on your soul that you're going to perform that. Go to First Samuel chapter 14. This is dealing with Saul and Jonathan. And I don't have this one in my notes, but you think even Herod. Right. Herod was a wicked king. But remember, he made a vow or he made an oath to Herodias, his daughter, that to the half of his kingdom, whatever she asked for when she danced for him, that he would give it to her. And then she she asked for the head of John the Baptist. And he said, for his oath's sake and for those that heard it, he would he wouldn't, you know, he had to do it. He basically wouldn't disallow what she wanted. And he didn't want to do it. But because of the oath that he made, he was bound to do it. And he did it anyway, even though he didn't want to do it. He feared the people because he counted John as a prophet. And in here in First Samuel, chapter 14, verse 24, it says, And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had adjured the people, saying, And the curse be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies, so none of the people tasted any food. So he basically made this he made put this curse on the people saying, and they were fighting battles. Right. This is really stupid. It's really foolish for Saul to do this. But not everybody heard that. Not everybody heard the vow that he made, including his son, Jonathan. And you probably know the story here. This is where him and his armor bearer climb up this this hill like animals. Right. And go up there and just slay a people within an acre. Right. They're just taking people out. And Jonathan has this great victory. But Jonathan didn't know he made this vow. And then when he's coming back, verse 43 says, Then Saul, he basically took a bit of honey. Right. He had a bit of honey on the end of his spear and he ate the honey. And then everybody's just like, What do you do? And obviously the story goes on here. And basically Jonathan is shown to be the one that ate something. OK. Verse 43 says, Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me, what hast thou done? And Jonathan told him and said, I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand. And lo, I must die. And Saul and Saul answered, God do so. And more also notice this. He thought he's just already valid again. Right. That's the terminology I was talking about there. God do so and more also for thou shalt surely die Jonathan. Now, the people save him from this. They say, No, no way. Jonathan just saved us all today. You're not going to kill Jonathan. And you know what that means? That Saul broke his vow. OK. But that's a case where he made a vow and then he's just going to go murder Saul, Jonathan, who never even heard the vow. And look at Jephthah here. This is the greatest tragedy when it comes, in my opinion, on making a vow. Go to Judges chapter 11. Judges chapter 11. This is why you don't make vows. This isn't the only reason, but this is a big reason why you do not make vows like this type of stuff. And just flippantly. If you're going to make a vow, why would you make a vow not to eat anything when you're at battle? You need food. You need sustenance. You need energy. And then you're going to say, No one eat. Why are you making this vow? Did God tell you to make this vow? No. They're just making these flippant vows that end up causing a whole bunch of harm. And in Judges chapter 11, verse 30, it says, In Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be that whosoever, or I'm sorry, whatsoever cometh forth out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. Notice what he said. He says, When I come back, whatever, the first thing that I see coming out of my house, that's going to be given as a burnt offering. And he vowed a vow to the Lord. Notice in verse 34. In Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house, and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances, and she was his only child. Beside her he had neither son nor daughter, and it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes and said, Alas, my daughter, thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me, for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back. Now this is strong. And listen, say what you will, but I believe Jephthah should have just broken his vow and taken that punishment on himself, and not killed his daughter. See, this is where you're in a rock between a hard place, and there is no way out but to sin. Murdering his daughter, that was not justified. I don't care if you made a vow about it, you don't murder your daughter, right? Your daughter didn't know about your stupid vow. Neither did Jonathan know about that stupid vow that Saul made. And so, but he does have that reverence to the vow, though, that he's like, you know, I've opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back. That's the attitude you should have with a vow, but that's why you shouldn't be making these stupid flippant vows. And people do this all day long, every day, just swearing to God, making these open vows and swearing and oaths, and you know what? You're not going to be held guiltless. You'll be like, well, I didn't mean it. You mean you were doing it in vain? Is that what you're telling me? You're invoking God's name in vain? What does the Bible say? Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for he that taketh his name in vain shall not be guiltless. So it's very clear that, hey, this is a big commandment here. This isn't just like, oh, that's just Old Testament. No, this is still today. And actually, that's where I believe it's mainly brought up in the New Testament with not bowing, right? Like your yay be yay and your nay nay. And don't just just draw God's name like that. Don't use it as an expletive, and don't just invoke him in oaths and vows and all that, okay? Like I said, the only time that you should be bowing is at the wedding altar, okay? Because that's the only way that you can get married is to make that vow, okay? Go to Philippians 2. I want you to get to this. The Hebrew roots movement, they take the name of the Lord in vain all the time. If I had a group of people that take the name of Jesus in vain, it is them, meaning that they are speaking wickedly of his name all the time. They literally say, you know, that his name shouldn't be Jesus, and that we've been saying that's not his name and all that. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 9. I know I did a whole sermon on this, but I got to stab this, because if I think about someone taking his name in vain, it's them. If I think about someone blaspheming the name of God, it's the Hebrew roots sacred name movement. And verse 9 there says, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. Who are we talking about here? We're talking about Jesus, right? He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Listen, all these Hebrew roots morons out there, listen, they're not saved. These people are not saved. They believe you can lose your salvation. They believe in work salvation, and they don't believe in the name of our Savior, and they are going to burn in hell, and they're all going to be bowing down to the name of Jesus. And just ridiculous stuff they say. They say things like this. Well, Jesus, that's really, that means hail Zeus. These people, I mean, there's no evidence for that at all. Actually, if you looked, if you said the name Zeus in Greek, it would be Zephth. Zephth, that's how you pronounce it. But just because Jesus sounds like Zeus, that's where they get it from. And they're like, well, hey Zeus, you know, like Spanish people say, it sounds like hail Zeus, you know. Like all right, so it just sounds the same, right? You know how many homophones, homographs there are in every language? We could play that game all day long, you know, when it comes to like all the different forms of bear. Right, there's the animal that's a bear, there's bear arms, you know, there's bearing arms, you know, like guns. There's, you know, just bearing something on my back. It all sounds the same. It must be the same, right? So the animal is the same as me, you know, holding something in my arm, right? And so that's the stupidity that's coming from them. But like I said, you know, I'm reading through an ancient Greek story, and Zeus is in there, right? And it's funny because I'm like, oh, it zaps. It doesn't even sound like it, right? But when you take that word, Z-E-U-S, the U in Greek is pronounced like an F when you have an E before it. But when you put it into English, then suppose, I guess it's Zeus at that point because you got a U in there and you got an E in there. But it's still kind of strange, right? It's like Zeus or something like that if you were to really like hit every single vowel in there. But just because it sounds the same doesn't mean it's the same. And I've already dealt with that as far as the etymology of Jesus and how it goes back to Joshua, Jeshua, and all that stuff. But Jesus, listen, if you want to know how they said it, you know, or how it was spelled, or, you know, how they said it back then, I mean, the Greek would be ezus. That's how they said it. But you know what? It's not bound to that. It's not bound, you know, in English, it's Jesus. In Spanish, it's Jesus. And whatever language you want to transliterate that into, that's the way it is. But it's not hail Zeus. That's a made up, you know, blasphemous doctrine to say that the name of our savior is hail Zeus. And that it's some conspiracy with Rome and that the Bible actually was written in Hebrew in the New Testament, which there's zero proof for that, and there's stupid doctrine they put out there. Acts chapter 4 and verse 10 says this, it says, Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And it's the name of Jesus. And people are constantly making that name vain, right? What are they making? They're making it worthless, that are of no value. How much more could you make the name of our savior of no value when you say it's like hail to some pagan god? So the Hebrew Roots movement are very guilty of taking the name of the Lord our God in vain. And what are they doing? They're desecrating the name of Jesus. And so I will fight that false doctrine until the day I die, that they are constantly trying to shove that down your throat, this Judaizing Hebrew Roots garbage that's out there to say that the name of Jesus is hail Zeus. You even try to look up how they come up with that, and it's like this mental acrobat game to try to figure it out. But it really comes down to that the last part of it in Greek sounds like Zeus. It's not spelled anywhere close to it, but it sounds like it. Like I said, how many words in English alone could you think of that sound the same but had completely different meanings, okay? And by the way, do you remember how many words were in the Greek language? Five million. You don't think some of those sound the same or even look exactly the same? Because there are. So, and by the way, these don't even look the same, and they don't sound the same, right? Zeus and Esus, so Zephth and Esus, does that sound the same to you? No. But just because you're going from one language to another and you're saying, well, it sounds the same, these people are so ignorant of any type of knowledge when it comes to linguistics, and I'm not an expert on it, but listen, I can figure this out, that this is just complete baloney. How about, but as many as received it, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. These things have never written unto you, that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. This is an important issue. When people are saying that it's not Jesus, then they're taking God's name in vain. They're saying that the name of Jesus is worthless, and guess what? That name Jesus is above every name. You say, well, I'm going to say Jehovah, but I don't regard Jesus. Jesus is above the name Jehovah, period. It's above it. I'm not discounting Jehovah as being a name, but God Almighty is a name. Jaw is a name. You know, God has many names, but he made it a point and says that Jesus is above every name, and they are desecrating that. They're blaspheming that name constantly. Is it any marvel to you that they are constantly trying to tear down that name? Shouldn't be a marvel, right? But you know what? Atheists even know that that's the name of God because that's why they use it in vain all the time. That's why they use it as an expletive. That's why they always constantly speak evil of that name. They hate that name because they know it's the true name of God. So go to Proverbs chapter 30, Proverbs chapter 30, and the last point I want to make here is that, like I was talking about with the thou art called a Jew and restless in the law, basically you're stating you're a Jew. You're kind of taking that name on you as if you're a follower of God. I want to get to that point. You know, obviously people that say they're a Christian, but they're not even saved. But how about someone that's saved that's taking the name of Jesus in their life, but they live wickedly, okay? They're walking in the flesh. They're not representing Christ, and that's a big deal. You know, basically taking his name in vain. If you think of the song, take the name of Jesus with you, right? The idea is that you are going through life in the name of Jesus. You're an ambassador for Christ. You're in Christ's stead, and by the way, just another verse to go with that or another concept is your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and you don't want to profane the temple of the Holy Ghost by committing fornication, by becoming a drunkard, or just different things that you could be doing here. In Proverbs chapter 30 and verse 7 here, notice what it says. It says, Two things have I required of thee. Deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and lies. So that's one thing, right? Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee and say, Who is the Lord? Or, notice this, lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain. So the idea, I believe, you're dealing with here is that you're a Christian, and you're stealing, which obviously is breaking God's commandments, and you're basically, you're supposed to be in God's stead. You're supposed to be an ambassador, right? The idea of what's Christian means, meaning that you're walking as Christ, right? You're Christ's life, and you're taking that name in vain. Yeah, I mean, just think about your work. I thought you were supposed to be a Christian. Whatever you're doing, you're making that name of being a Christian or being a follower of Jesus, or a believer in Jesus, and it's basically being brought down. It's basically being brought down to be not profitable or of value, right? And that's what many Christians do today, that they're literally making Christianity vain for a lot of people, okay? And go to 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2, and say, Pastor, what do I need to do to not take the name of the Lord in vain? Don't use His name as an expletive, meaning a cuss word, right? Don't just blurt out God's name unless you're literally calling on Him, okay? There's nothing wrong with saying, oh my God, if you have a legitimate reason you're crying out to God. Because guess what? The Bible has that recorded. Where men in the Bible are saying, oh my God, right? But they weren't just saying that just because they got excited, you know? Like they saw a bird out there and they just like said that, okay? No, they were in like deep depression, distress, right? And they're like, oh my God, I'm ashamed, right? That's legitimate. There's nothing wrong with saying that. But you don't just flippantly say His name. You don't swear by Him, okay? And you say, well, is there a time? What does the Bible say? Swear not at all. So don't be swearing by God or even by heaven or the earth, right? Or anything, right? He's like, oh, I swear by this piano over here. It sounds silly, right? But it's basically saying don't be swearing by anything, right? Don't just be making these O's over things, okay? I swear on my dead grandmother or something like that. It's like, you know people do that type of stuff. It's like, I don't even know what that means, right? But I believe that's why He's basically saying, you know, or nothing at all, right? Just swear not at all, right? He's basically just don't swear by anything, okay? But in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 19 it says, Nevertheless, the foundation of God's stand is sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His, and let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Okay? So notice that. Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Why? Because you're taking His name with you. When you get saved and you are a Christian, you are taking that name with you whether you like it or not, okay? You're in the temple of the Holy Ghost whether you like it or not. Now obviously you should like it because that means you're saved, you have eternal life, you're going to heaven, right? But with that becomes the responsibility of the fact that you represent Christ now. You're an ambassador for Christ. You are in Christ's stead. And if you do iniquity and wickedness, guess what? That is making God look bad, okay? Notice what it says, But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold or of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and of some to honor and some dishonor. He's basically saying, listen, there's going to be people that are dishonored that are God's people, but then there's some that are gold and silver. If a man therefore purges himself from these, what? Iniquity. He shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts. Okay, so basically depart from iniquity, flee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. So it's basically saying, hey, if you name the name of Christ, you need to depart from iniquity, you need to flee youthful lusts and you need to do righteousness, you need to be pure, you need to do all this because God will not hold you guiltless as his child. You're in his name instead, okay? And you need to take that seriously. You need to not take that as being just flippant, okay? Because that's what vain means, right? It's something that's not of value. And you need to look at the fact that, hey, you are an ambassador for Christ, you're the temple of the Holy Ghost, and you need to take that seriously. And that commandment is basically saying, hey, I'm not going to hold you guiltless. Why? Because the Lord loveth whom he chasteneth and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. There is a sin unto death, I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin and there is a sin not unto death. Meaning this is that, you know, there can be a point where God's like, no, you represent me and you are just taking it too far. You're tainting his name is basically what you're doing, okay? And, you know, Paul is a great example of this, right? Paul said in Acts chapter 26 and verse 9, he says, I barely thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus Christ. You know, before Paul got saved, his whole modus operandi was to kick against the bricks, if you will, right? He was going against Jesus. He was going contrary to the name of Jesus and it says in 1 Timothy 1, it says, who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, right? So he was basically trying to just destroy the name of Jesus and then he got saved, okay? But you don't want to be destroying it as a Christian, okay? Did you know that you could destroy, did you know that you could be the enemy of God as a Christian? Not a hater of God, not a reprobate, an enemy of God, okay? No you not, adulterers and adulterers, no you not that the friendship of this world is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. That's not just the unbelievers. You know what you should be? You should be like Abraham. Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God. Why? Because his faith wrought through his works and by his works was his faith made perfect. And he was the friend of God. So when you're a Christian, listen, that's salvation by grace through faith. You have a choice. Are you going to honor his name? Are you going to take his name and purity and righteousness and walk in the spirit and live for him? Or are you going to take his name in vain? You're going to labor in vain and blaspheme his name, be injurious to his name, and be an enemy of God by being a friend of the world, okay? And that's what we need to be thinking about, right? Because obviously those first two, right, not swearing by God and not using his name as an expletive, you just need to stop doing that, right? Meaning that that is something – and I'm not saying you're doing it, but what I'm saying is that we've probably all been guilty of it and you know that out in the workforce people do it all the time and I can't stand it. And people in my office don't do it, but there's been times where I've been around people – and listen, if I'm out with someone and I just meet them for the first time and they start doing it, I'm not like this person to be like, listen, you, stop using my Savior's name vain. But if I'm around that person a lot, then I have to speak up. I can't fake it. I'm just going to get angry and I'm going to be angry at this person. He's not going to know why I'm angry. So I just have to be like, listen, I'm a Christian. I just appreciate it if you don't use God's name like that. You can use whatever other language you want to use around me. I don't care, but just don't use Jesus' name, God's name like that. Just really appreciate it. Just be nice about it. Ultimately, if they're just like, heck with you, I'm going to do it anyway, then I'll read them the riot act and be like, get out of my face with your filthy language on my Savior. But at first I'm going to be very nice about it. Or I'm just going to get out of there and just be like, well, let me know when you're ready to talk like a civilized human being. But luckily I don't have to deal with that as much. I'm not on the construction site all the time. I'm dealing with people that don't usually do that as much. But in the end, that is a pet peeve of mine. But also as Christians, we need to be thinking about this. We need to be thinking about the fact that we need to be walking in the Spirit, departing from iniquity, because we are in Christ's dead. We are in the name of Christ, and we need to take that seriously. We need to take the fact that our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost very seriously. And just know that there's punishments for that. We need to have the fear of God that, listen, your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and it says to flee fornication. And just remember this, that God destroyed 23,000 people in one day because of fornication. Twenty-three thousand. So you say, well, there's no death penalty. Yeah, but those people died anyway. So you need to be thinking about it, and it's not just fornication. There's other things that can destroy your body and sins that you can commit. Father, we thank you today, and thank you for your word, and just pray that you'd help us with that third commandment on not taking your name in vain, whether it's using it as a curse word, whether it's swearing by your name, or whether it's just taking your name in vain by not living for you and not walking in that new man that you created in us. And, Lord, just pray that you'd help us with that. We just love you, and just pray that you'd get all the glory that we do in our lives. I pray that you'd be with those that got saved today, and just thank you for the souls that were saved, and just pray for more opportunities. And, Lord, we love you. For us, in Jesus Christ's name, amen.