A New Beginning presents something for the New Year from Pastor Greg Laurie. We want to help you get stronger in your faith and discover what it really means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. To help you do that, we're offering a book called Discipleship, The Road Less Taken. I explore what the Bible says about discipleship and how we can grow in this area.
And we'll send this book to you for your gift of any size. Get your copy of Discipleship, The Road Less Taken at Harvest.org. Don't use the Lord's name in an empty, insincere, or frivolous way. The Bible calls it taking the Lord's name in vain. Coming up today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie underscores the third of the Ten Commandments. Some people just OMG, OMG, OMG, I just had the most amazing burger, OMG.
You know, wait, wait. Do you really mean to invoke the name of the Most High God for your burger? This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. How can you give when the angels are singing?
This is the day, the day when life begins. God Almighty is worthy of all glory and honor. We're mere men and women under the umbrella of His divine authority. So how inappropriate is it to express some kind of disrespect or dishonor to God on high?
It's almost a question that doesn't need to be asked. Yet so many dishonor the Lord by using His name inappropriately. Does it bother God? Well, today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out that transgression is mentioned in God's top ten list of commandments.
This is the day, the day when life begins. So I was in the gym the other day. That might come as a surprise to some of you working out. And it was a rare moment because there were two other guys in the gym with me and we all happened to be named Greg.
This is a rare occurrence. There's not a lot of Gregs out there. And so we had a Gregapalousa. That's what it was. Or if you're from the 60s it was Gregstock.
But we laughed for a moment. Hey we're all named Greg and nobody is named Greg. And it may be because of what the name Gregory means. It means rotting potato.
No it doesn't. It actually means watchman. But there's a lot of the other names, more popular names. People will think so long and hard about what to name their children. I read the other day that the top names for girls right now are Emma, Olivia, Ava, Isabella, and Sophia. The top names for boys are Liam, Noah, William, James, and Oliver. Do any of you have kids with those names? Yeah. So these are popular names.
Here's the funny thing. A new name that's popular right now is Kylo because of the popularity of Star Wars. Kylo Ren. Wouldn't you want to pick a good guy instead of the bad guy?
I guess he's somewhere in the middle isn't he? And now a new thing is people like to give their children geographical names like Austin, Dakota, Zaire, Dallas, Sky Ridge, Brooklyn. Very popular names. I'm wondering has anyone named their kid Riverside yet? Here's our son Riverside. And here's his sister Pedley. Maybe it's not the most feminine name. We call her Pedley.
And here's our newborn San Bernardino. But his nickname is Burdu. Burdu. Burdu.
Come on here. And then there are these demented parents that decide they want to torment their children with weird names that they have to live with. These are real names.
There's the Turner family. So what do they name their daughter? Paige. Hi I'm Paige Turner. Why would you do that to a kid?
It's real. They did that to their kid. And then there's the Case family. So what else are you going to name your son but Justin so he has to introduce himself as Justin Case.
How about this? The Arm family named their boy Carl. So he says, hi my name is Carl Arm. Carl Arm.
Right? Crazy. And then the Bacon family. That's already a pretty unusual name. Bacon. So they named their son Chris. Middle initial B. Hi I'm Chris B. Bacon. Right?
Crazy. The Dover family named their daughter Eileen. Eileen Dover. Really people?
Really? A lot of people use biblical names to their children. We named our son Jonathan.
Christopher as well. That's not a biblical name but Jonathan is. And you might name your son David or Abraham or Moses or Peter or Paul or name a daughter Mary or Sarah. Those are great names. It's great to have a Bible name. But there are some names you probably shouldn't use for your children. If you have a daughter don't name her Jezebel. But it's in the Bible. Yeah but Jezebel is evil ok. And don't name your son Judas.
There's a little boy here. Judas. Judas. Middle name is Scariot.
Yeah no not a good idea. Never name your boy Lucifer ever. Here's little Lou. Siffer. Now that's a name for the devil.
Don't use that for your child. Names matter. Names define us. And God cares about His name a lot. So I want to look at now the third commandment. You shall not take the Lord's name in vain. I think this is one of the most misunderstood of the commandments. And it's probably one of the most easily broken commandments because it's so misunderstood.
One of the obvious ways is profanity. By the way dam is not God's last name. But a lot of people will use the Lord's name that way to punctuate sentences. Ironically some people who claim to be atheists will use that phrase and even use the name of Jesus Christ a lot. And I am curious like if you are an atheist and you don't believe in God why would you use the name Jesus Christ to make a statement. You will hear people say Jesus Christ. And if I hear someone say that I will react to it. I think more than any profanity that is the one. It offends me.
I know it offends God. I will say something like carefully might answer you sometime. Or oh you know Him too. He is my best friend.
So glad to hear you say His name. But I think in a weird way when a person uses the name Jesus Christ they are acknowledging there is power in that name by using it even if they don't believe. Remember this about an atheist.
As C.S. Lewis said even atheists have moments of doubt. Right. So I think when they use that name they are acknowledging there is something powerful something special in that name. In other words if they hit their thumb with a hammer they don't say Hare Krishna. Why not. Because there is no power in Hare Krishna. Or if they stub their toe they don't say Buddha. Buddha. No.
No. No Buddha. There is no power in the name of Buddha. But there is power in the name of Jesus Christ because it is a name above all names. Philippians 2.9 says, God has exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name.
That at the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So Exodus 20 verse 7 says, You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain for the Lord will not hold Him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Power in that name. Salvation in that name. Because the Bible tells us in Romans 10 13 anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
And listen to this. There is healing in that name. In the book of Acts we read the story of Peter and another who are walking into the city of Jerusalem by a gate called Beautiful. There sits a man who is not able to walk. He is begging for money. Peter looks at him and says, Listen buddy. Loose paraphrase. I don't have any money.
But I will tell you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk. And Peter reached down and took that man by the hand and pulled him to his feet. And the man not only walked but he was leaping in the air and praising God. Now you hear a story like that and say, Well that is great for back then but I don't know that God still heals people today.
Actually He does. Because over in James 5 14 it says, Are any among you sick? Well then they should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. Jesus said in John 14 13, You can ask for anything in My name and I will do it because the work of the Son brings glory to the Father. If you ask anything in My name I will do it. Now of course that is not carte blanche meaning whatever I pray for in the name of Jesus will happen because God is so loving. He won't answer all my prayers in the affirmative. Have you ever prayed for something you realized was a really stupid thing to pray for? And then later said, Lord thanks for not answering that prayer.
The Lord will overrule when He needs to but we are commanded and encouraged in Scripture to pray for these things in the name of the Lord. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hey everybody I want to tell you about a major new ministry initiative that we have here at Harvest called the Harvest Discipleship Platform. So it's a major leap forward in our national ministry and we adapt teachings from the New Believers Bible.
Do you know about that? That's a Bible project I worked on years ago and they're all around the world where we have excerpts from the New Believers Bible and also we have an online community of believers who are looking for what's next in their spiritual walk. So at Harvest Discipleship you can find trusted Bible teaching and a community that cares for you and positive encouragement in your spiritual life.
That sounds pretty good right? So become a part of the Harvest Discipleship Platform and you can do that by just going to harvest.org. Well we're considering the Ten Commandments today and specifically Commandment 3. Don't take the name of the Lord in vain.
Pastor Greg continues now. Why should I not take the Lord's name in vain? Well the answer is given in verse 7. The Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
This is no idle threat. It's simply a statement of fact. God is laying down an unchanging truth like the law of gravity.
If I step off a 30 story building I will fall to my death because of the law of gravity. And if I take the Lord's name in vain I will not be held guiltless. But some people go out of their way to take his name in vain. They go out of their way to mock God. They go out of their way to insult Christians.
Maybe you're one of those people and you think it's all a big joke. Careful now. The Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. It reminds me of the story of that boy king Belshazzar.
Silly boy. Ascends to the throne. Assumes all that power. And the first thing he does. He gives a command to bring in all the goblets and the dishes and the cups that were used in the worship of God by the Jewish priests. And he says, bring those to me now. And so they are set before the king and he fills them with wine and he gets all of his lords together and says, let's toast our false gods of Babylon. He was going out of his way to mock God. And the Bible says while they were doing this there was a hand seen writing on the wall. Just a hand. And it wrote the words, many, many, Tekel Epharsin. Which means you have been weighed in the balances and you have been found lacking. Loose paraphrase. Party is over.
Your number is up. And that night Belshazzar died. Why? Because the Bible says, don't be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows that will he also reap. So we don't want to take the Lord's name in vain.
But how do we do this? One way we do it and we may not even realize it is when we always feel we have to swear to God about everything. You say, men, come on. Believe me. I am telling you the truth. I swear to God it is true.
Right? Or you say, I swear on the Bible. Or even more, I swear on a stack of Bibles. See if it is a stack you will have to believe me. Why would you have to ever say, I swear to God it is true. Probably because you are not known to be a truthful person.
Right? So Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 537 said, you have heard that the law of Moses says don't break your vows and carry out your vows. You may eat to the Lord.
But listen to this. He says, I say to you don't make any vows. Just offer a simple yes I will or no I won't.
That should be enough. If you need to strengthen your statement with a vow or your promise with a vow that shows something is wrong. If you say you are going to do it, do it.
Let your yes be yes and your no be no. So let me illustrate. If someone calls you up, you want to go to dinner? This is not one of your favorite people.
But they did offer a treat. So you said, eh ok sure. You pick a place and then ten minutes before it is time to meet them your best friend texts you, hey you want to get dinner?
Yes. So you go back to that other person, sorry bro dot dot dot smile emoji. I am not going to make it because something came up. And you send it. Then you go down to the restaurant to meet your friend and that person you stood up is there.
And then you have that awkward moment. You said you would do it. You should do it.
Let your yes be yes and your no be no. When you commit to do a job, whatever business you are in, you commit to do a job, do it well. Christians should be the hardest workers. They should have the most integrity.
They should be the most honest people. First there. Last off the job. Putting in the extra work. Going the extra mile.
I bring this up because I have seen Christians use their faith as an excuse for laziness. Hey why aren't you doing your job? Aren't you supposed to be sweeping that floor? Well the Lord just like directed me to pray. Ok. Well the Lord might be directing me to say goodbye to you and hire somebody else in your place.
I don't know. If you are going to do it, do it well. How about marriage? We commit ourselves to that man or that woman. That is a commitment for a lifetime. And if you are not willing to make that commitment for a lifetime do us all a favor and stay single. But I see even Christians are people that claim to be followers of Jesus bailing out of a marriage when it starts to get hard.
Listen. Every marriage is going to get hard. Every marriage is going to have its challenges. Yeah but you don't understand Greg. We have irreconcilable differences.
Every couple has irreconcilable differences. But the Lord can help you sort through these things. You have made a commitment. Honor your commitment. And single people don't rush into marriage. Just don't. As Benjamin Franklin said, keep your eyes wide open before marriage and half shut afterwards. But far too often it is the opposite. My eyes are half shut.
Or you say he is my project. I am going to fix her. Don't go into a marriage to fix somebody. Hate to break this to you.
They are probably going to get worse. If you can't love them as they are and you want to make them into something else you are going to be sorely disappointed. Look for a spiritual person. Look for a godly man. Look for a godly girl. That is even more important than how attractive they are.
I get attractiveness and I know that we are drawn to each other in that way. But that spiritual commitment to Christ is so important. And take your time when making that choice. And then once you make it keep that commitment.
Another way we take the Lord's name in vain is by not mentioning it at all. You know maybe someone will come up to us and say, man I see that you are just such a loving husband or wife. I see you with your kids. I see how hard you work. How honest you are. How compassionate you are toward people in need.
I admire you so much. What is your secret? And you say, well I tell you what. I drink a glass of milk every morning. Seriously.
Well I do drink milk Greg. Yeah but that is not why you are that way. Give God the glory. So thank you for saying that. The Lord has done this in my life.
Right. I wasn't always this way. But Jesus Christ came into my life and changed me. I am not perfect but if you see something like that in my life that you admire that is the Lord. You can take the Lord's name in vain by not bringing His name up at all.
The phrase in vain means it is empty, idle, insincere, or frivolous. Don't use the Lord's name in an empty, idle, insincere, or frivolous way. Some people will say the Lord's name over and over without any awareness that they are saying it.
Like they will say, hey how are you doing? I was just walking down the street. Praise the Lord. And then I got a burger. Praise the Lord.
And then I was just thinking about you. Praise the Lord. And I would praise the Lord. Stop. Stop.
Stop saying that so much. Well what do you mean praise the Lord? I don't know what praise the Lord.
Ok. I am glad you are praising the Lord. But are you? Are you really praising Him? Are you thinking of the Lord God when you are saying that or is that just like an empty cliche or you are doing it in an idle, insincere manner. Another way we can take the Lord's name in vain by just saying oh my God all the time.
It is a default expression. Oh my God. Oh my God. Right. Or you would text OMG. OMG.
OMG I just had the most amazing burger. OMG. You know wait. Wait. Do we have to drag God into this? I mean do you really mean to invoke the name of the most high God for your burger. Right.
So that is an empty way. That is sort of a frivolous way. Don't use the Lord's name in a frivolous way. Now if something happens you hear bad news or something else and you say oh my God that is different. You are calling out to God.
But some people just punctuate sentences with oh my God or OMG. Another way that we do this is by using God's name for personal gain. You know people start businesses and they want people to know they are Christians. This is my gardening service.
It is called God's gardening service. Ok. Ok. Are you any good? Well it is God's.
Yeah. But are you good? Do you do good work? Or do you just use the name of the Lord to get business?
I mean if you are going to use His name I hope you back it up. Christian carpet cleaner. Yeah well I don't want my carpet cleaned by nonbelievers ever.
Only a Christian should do it. I mean great. Do good work.
Be honest. And sometimes people will use the name of the Lord to get a sale. A number of years ago I was looking at some truck somewhere and the car salesman was cussing up a blue streak.
I mean lots of profanity. And then he says to me so tell me what do you do for a living Greg? He said I am a pastor. He went oh. And then he literally said praise the Lord. I am like oh please just stop. I liked you better the old way.
At least you are just being what you were and now you are being fake. Hallelujah. You know the Lord spoke to me through my devotions today.
I make a sale to. Just stop. Don't use God's name.
Don't use it in an insincere or a frivolous way. Pastor Greg Laurie is showing us the practical application of the third commandment today here on A New Beginning. We are in a series of the most requested messages of the past year.
And there is a lot more yet to come. Now it is important we know what God wants from us, expects from us. And obviously God's desire is that we have a relationship with him through his son Jesus Christ. Pastor Greg what would you say to the person listening who just doesn't know if they have that kind of relationship? They can't think of a time when they made a deliberate decision for the Lord. It is just not a good idea to assume everything is just going to work out okay, is it?
No, this is one area of your life you want to be sure about. Where you are going to spend eternity. The Bible says these things we write to you that you may believe on the son of God and that you may know that you have eternal life. Listen, I know I have eternal life. I know I will go to heaven one day.
And I hope that doesn't sound boastful. And if it does, I am boasting on what God has done for me. Not on what I have done for God.
The reason I know these things is because I have turned from my sin and I have put my faith in Christ you see. And if you do the same you can have the same hope. You just need to call out to the Lord an adventurous sinner and ask Jesus Christ to forgive you and come into your life. The Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Will you call upon him right now? I am going to pray a simple prayer. And I am going to ask you to pray this prayer after me if you would. So if you want to know that you will go to heaven when you die, if you want to know for certain that Christ is living in your life, then pray this prayer with me. Just pray these words. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, but I know you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin.
I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and my Lord, as my God and my friend. Thank you for hearing this prayer. Thank you for answering this prayer. And I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and you have meant those words sincerely, the Lord has forgiven your sin and you are now a Christian. And we want to help you get started living this new life of faith. Let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible. It is in an easy to understand translation and there are scores of features to help a new believer build a solid foundation. So get in touch and ask for the New Believer's Bible. We will send it free of charge.
Just call 1-800-821-3300. You can call any time 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. And then let us take a moment to thank you for praying for this ministry and for supporting it through your generous donation.
It is an investment in kingdom business. Isn't that right Pastor Greg? Yeah, it is really true Dave and I believe it is so important because you know the Gospel saves lives. It saves eternal lives because when a person believes in Jesus according to scripture they pass from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God. And then of course that changes the course of their future.
That impacts their children and their children's children. The Gospel changes everything and thousands and thousands of people respond every single year. Thanks to the Lord. Also thanks to you for your investment in this ministry enabling us to reach people wherever they are. So if this is something you care about, I encourage you to make a financial investment in A New Beginning and Harvest Ministries. Yeah, that's right and we really do appreciate your support. Thanks for partnering with us today.
It can make a real difference not just for today or this week but for eternity. So get in touch with your support today by calling 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number 1-800-821-3300.
Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or go online to Harvest.org. Hey everybody, I want to encourage you to join us for something we call Harvest at Home. It happens every Sunday at Harvest.org and on our brand new app Harvest Plus which is available on your mobile TV devices. Download it now and you can watch Harvest at Home with Christians from around the world as we worship together and study God's Word. So again, join us for Harvest at Home at Harvest.org or on Harvest Plus. Well next time, more about the practical insight we can glean from the Ten Commandments. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Lauren.
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