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Saturday, August 15 2009
The Third Commandment:
"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 KJV)
The original Hebrew word of the Third Commandment, most-often translated into English as vain is (pronounced) shawv. It has two literal meanings; one means evil, the other means to lie, as a matter of vanity. Both literal meanings are manifested in how the Third Commandment is disregarded.
The first, vain meaning evil, is very commonly seen, or rather heard, when people use God's Name, or the Son of God's Name, as a form of vulgar expression, or profanity - which are forms of blasphemy. People who do this may think that only themselves, or the people who they are talking to, know that they're doing it, but God can hear them every time they blaspheme Him or His Son (see also Glass Houses).
When God's Name is blasphemed:
"52:5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed." (Isaiah 52:5 KJV)
When the name of Jesus Christ is blasphemed:
"2:7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?" (James 2:7 KJV)
And how should God's people speak?
"2:15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2:16 But shun profane and vain babbling: for they will increase unto more ungodliness." (2 Timothy 2:15-16 KJV)
The other category, those who violate the Third Commandment by vanity, are very often highly-offended when they hear the Name of God or Jesus Christ used as a profanity as described above, and yet they are just as guilty of using God's, or the Son of God's, Name in vain. How can this be? Because they use the Name of God to seem righteous, in their own eyes or someone else's, or they use the Name of the Son of God to claim to be Christian, all without truly obeying God according to God's Own Word. Taking the Name of the Son of God, claiming to be Christian, is vain in God's sight if it's nothing more than a self-serving, self-indulgent "I'll do it my way" religious experience.
Ignoring the actual Word of God while claiming to be Christian is taking the Son of God's Name in vain:
"7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do." (Mark 7:6-8 KJV)
Merely claiming the Name of God's Son for one's self does not make one a true Christian:
"7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." (Matthew 7:21-27 KJV)
Fact Finder: How can we make sure that we are not living in the Name of Christ, as Christians, in vain?
See Believers
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This Day In History, August 15
1057: Macbeth, King of Scotland, was killed.
1096: The armies of the First Crusade set out from Europe to deliver Jerusalem from the occupying forces of Islamic Turks. Championed by Peter the Hermit in 1093, Pope Urban II had sanctioned the crusade at the Council of Clermont in 1095.
1261: Constantinople fell to Michael VIII of Nicea.
1519: Panama City was founded.
1534: French explorer Jacques Cartier began his return trip to France after his first voyage to Canada.
1537: Spanish conquistador Juan de Salazar y Espinoza founded Fort of Our Lady of Asuncion, later Asuncion, Paraguay's capital.
1620: The Mayflower set sail from Southampton, England, with 102 Pilgrims.
1658: The League of the Rhine was established under French protection after France's King Louis XIV failed to be elected Holy Roman Emperor; Sweden's King Charles X began a second war with Denmark and besieged Copenhagen.
1744: The second Silesian War began with an invasion of Saxony by Prussia's King Frederick II.
1914: The Panama Canal was officially opened.
1935: American comedian and "cowboy philosopher" Will Rogers was killed in an airplane accident near Point Barrow, Alaska, along with American aviation pioneer Wiley Post.
1940: The German Luftwaffe suffered its greatest losses for a single day during the Battle of Britain - 75 Nazi aircraft were shot down by the Royal Air Force.
1945: Korea was liberated from 35 years of colonial rule after Japan's defeat in World War II. The peninsula was divided into the Communist North and capitalist South.
1947: The independence of India was proclaimed, partitioning India, with Pandit Nehru as Premier of India and L. Ali Khan as Premier of Pakistan.
1969: The 3-day "Woodstock Music and Art Fair" opened at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in New York State.
