[Mr. Richard Kennebeck] You know, what's in a name? What's in a name? Throughout our life, we're known by different names. You know, we often have nicknames when we're young. We have this special friend and that's their name, "Hey, mom, this is my special friend here. This is my best friend." And then we start dating maybe and we've got a sweetheart. And we get married and you have those little pet names, you know, honey, sweetheart, other names. Then we have children and we graduate to "mom" and "dad." And then we maybe become aunt and uncle. And we're also known maybe as "boss" at work or "coach" at school. All these names...

And then, many of us, as we get older, we start having that other name of "grandpa" and "grandma" or "meemaw" and "pawpaw" or "nana and papa" or other names that people...these endearing names that you have between grandparents and their grandchildren. You know, everybody or every one of these names defines an important relationship. It defines a relationship between two or more people.

And one of the most difficult tasks we seem to have, as new parents, is picking out a child's name. You know, I know my wife and I, every now and then I'd see her in the middle of church, she'd be over there writing names before we had children. All these different names and how they looked and how they sounded. And she should've been listening probably to the service...but I'm sure she still was. But, you know, that's one of the things parents do.

But it's a very difficult thing, to name a child. You know, is that name going to fit them? Is that name going to be one they're going to be happy with? Is it going to help them or is it going to be a hindrance as he or she grows up?

So, we sit down, we make a list of names when we're starting out, when we realize that we're going to have a young child. One of the nice things now is you only have to figure out one name, typically. You know, we didn't know whether it was going to be a boy or girl, so, we always had to determine two names or figure out two names. And, you know, one is hard enough but two names is very difficult. And sometimes you go through a real battle when trying to figure out those names.

You know, when my wife and I decided on our youngest daughter's name, we disagreed on how to spell it. My wife, growing up, she absolutely loved the name Elisha. She loved it from a teenager. So, we were going to name our youngest daughter Elisha. It's not an unusual name, it's somewhat common, but it's normally spelled E-L-I-S-H-A. And I'm a man, okay, if I look at that, I'm right away going to say, "Elisha." Elisha. As my wife and I went back and forth on this, I said, "Ah, all the guys are going to say Elisha, she's going to forever be going through life with this problem." And, of course, she, being a woman, said, "No, they'll understand. They know what it is."

So, anyway, we had all of our births at home. So, it was our responsibility, my responsibility, to take our children to their first doctor's appointment. So, I walked into our pediatrician and I wrote down on the clipboard E-L-I-S-H-A Kennebeck, sat down with my new little bundle. The doctor comes out in just a few minutes, holds the clipboard and immediately says, "Elisha. Elisha." She had that spelling for about one day of her life. We quickly changed it to E-L-E-S-H-A, and that's why her name is spelled that way. It's because of us, men.

So, you know, naming children, as I said, is a stressful thing in our life. You know, but it's an important part of life. I remember looking down at my first newborn baby, just minutes and hours-old, and repeating her name to her, telling her her name over and over, and that I was her daddy and I was going to take care of her and I was going to always be there for her. Because telling her her name was bringing her into this world and giving her an identity, an identity within the world and identity within our family, who she was. And that was an important part of bringing her into life, was naming it.

We often name children after a beloved friend or a beloved family member, somebody we've known very well. I'm named after my grandfather, my middle name is Otto. When I was a kid, I took a lot of ribbing for that. It didn't bother me, I was named after my grandfather. I took that as a very proud thing to live up to. So, it never bothered me when they'd make fun of it. I was happy with it.

You know, and then, when we had our children, we wanted to name them things that they would become, we hoped they would become. My oldest daughter's name means "precious, brave, ruler." That's what she's going to be in the Kingdom, we named her that. Because that's what we want her to be. My youngest daughter's name, "my God is salvation." "My God is salvation," a reminder for her to always look towards God for salvation and not to depend on our own selves.

And last names have meanings also. You know, Bakers, Smiths, various things like that, Shepherds, Tailors, the name goes on and on, Potters, from maybe what they were at one time way back when they decided on names. You know, my mom's last name meant "a noble dweller near a brook," it's German, and that's what its meaning was. Now, my name, my last name means most likely "a potter who lived by a brook." So, they were noble, I was a potter.

But names are really important because they not only identify each of us but names also carry with it a connotation of who we are, of the kind of nature we are, the character we are. Good names open doors, bad names can close doors. I mean, how often have you heard, "I don't want to do work with that family because I know the family and, you know, there's a problem there.” Or, "Well, I'm going to hire that kid. I know the family. That kid's going to do well." So, names mean so much more than just how we're called.

You know, companies will spend billions of dollars sometimes promoting their name. Companies will actually buy other companies just for the name, throw everything away but keep the name because of the reputation that it has. A name is a very important thing. So, let's turn to Exodus 20 and see why we're talking about names. Because today we're going to focus a little bit on one of God's commandments. Exodus 20. I'd like to look at this one commandment of God that's based on a name, on the importance of name, refresh our memory on what this commandment discusses.

Exodus 20:1-6 "and God spoke all these words saying, 'I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me." The first commandment. "You shall not make yourself a carved image of any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous god, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." That's the second commandment.

Now we go to the third commandment that we'll discuss today, verse 7.

Exodus 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."

I'd like to read that in a couple of different versions of the bible and paraphrases to get a little bit better understanding of what it means. The NIV says, "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." The Message Bible says, "No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter. God won't put up with the irreverent use of his name." The amplified version says, "You shall not use or repeat the name of the Lord your God in vain, that is, lightly or frivolously, in false affirmations or profanely, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."

So, to use God's name in profanity or in a trivial manner, flippant ways where it doesn't really have meaning is just so common today. We see that all over the place. And it's interesting, this society isn't really that interested in God yet they constantly use it in a flippant or irreverent way. And I don't think many people even realize that they're doing that, even realize what they're doing and that they're breaking this commandment. But they're wrong, as we'll see. It is important that we don't break this commandment.

So, let's take a look at the meaning of this verse in a little bit more detail and some of the important words that we find within this commandment. You know, this third commandment, to not take God's name in vain, fits very well with the first four commandments in the list, one and two, and four. We have no other gods, we don't make idols, and we keep the Sabbath. So, it fits within the worshipping of God in a manner that God wants us to worship Him. They all show honor and praise to God in a manner that God wants it to be.

Let's take a look at a few of the words within this commandment. The Hebrew word for take in "you shall not take" is "nasa," which means to lift, to carry, to take up, to bear, to rise. Which should show us that this isn't only discussing speech. If you carry something, it's not just speaking, it's talking about a way of life. It's everything we do in speech and thoughts and in actions. The Hebrew word for name is “shem”, or pronounced "shame." And it includes most of the meanings that we know about in the English language when we talk about a name. It's not just what somebody is called but also their reputation, who they are, their character. And the word vain, the Hebrew word “shav”, some of its meanings are wrongful use, misuse, deceit, emptiness, empty, lies, vain, worthless, pointless, useless, or frivolous.

If you look up the word "vein" in an English dictionary, it's typically defined as something like "without effect or avail," "to no purpose," "in an inappropriate or irreverent manner." We're not to carry or represent the name of God in a frivolous or empty manner. We're not to do that.

Is the third commandment an important commandment? I mean, to me, in a lot of ways, that third commandment is one of those that people really don't think is, "really that bad if I break it." But, you know, God doesn't want us to just kind of wink at when somebody uses His name in vain. How does God look at it? Well, when God has that commandment or wrote that commandment, the last part of it says, "For the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." This is the only commandment where it actually states this, where God will not hold him guiltless. So, it must be incredibly important to God.

You know, in Leviticus 24:11-16, we won't turn there, Leviticus 24:11-16, but we see the punishment that Israel and God gave to those who blasphemed His name. If you remember, there was this man who blasphemed God's name. And they brought him before Moses and said, "Well, what should we do?" God's response was, "To publicly put him to death." Publicly do it. That's how important it was to Him. And this is not just an old-testament command, the New Testament talks about it too, indicates that we're responsible for what we say and what we do. Let's turn to Matthew 12. Matthew 12:25-37, because we can see what Christ says to the Pharisees about words that we speak, Matthew 12, beginning in verse 35.

Matthew 12:35-37 says, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that, for every idol word men may speak they will give account of it in the day of judgment," verse 37, "for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned."

We'll be condemned or justified by our words. And one of those is how we treat God's name, how we treat who God is. Do we glorify God or do we blaspheme God? Do we praise God, are we uplifting, or do we just use it frivolously? James also talked about this, James 2, verses 8 through 11. He's talking about the royal law and not showing partiality.

James 2:8-11 He says, "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors," verse 10, "for whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of it all," verse 11, "for he who said 'do not commit adultery’ also said ‘do not murder"

Now, if you do not commit adultery but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. If we break one of the commandments, we have, in essence, broken them all. There are commandments that seem to or that do have less physical consequences than other but the penalty is still there.

So, let's take a look at some ways that we can break this third commandment, of taking God's name in vain. One way is that we break this commandment when we use God's name carelessly or frivolously, when we use God's name carelessly or frivolously. When we use His name in a frivolous manner it lessens His glory and its worth. God's name should only be used for a specific purpose. It shouldn't be used as a filler or insincerely. If it is, it's a sin.

You know, many of us know the song "Sweet Home Alabama," it was really big back in the 70s, one of the big rock hits of that era. And I really loved that song as a teenager back in the 1970s. And it's been remade and been made parts of various songs through the years but, you know, whenever it played on the radio, we didn't have the internet yet and our playlists, whenever it played on the radio, I would sing along with it because I loved the song. But there's a chorus in it that says, "Sweet home Alabama where the skies are so blue, sweet home Alabama, Lord, I'm coming home to You." And I was real careful that I wouldn't use that word, "Lord," because that was using God's name in vain. I would always skip over it. I would always just say, "I'm coming home to You," because I did not want to use God's name as a filler, just as something to say. It was that important.

We need to be careful that, when we're using God's name, that we use it for a purpose. We need to be careful that we don't allow, in our conversations, things like, you know, "OMG," you all know what that means. It doesn't make it any better if we abbreviate it. Or, "Oh my God," or, "God almighty," or even things like "praise the Lord." Praise the Lord, that's a good thing to do. We see so many examples in the Bible where they praised the Lord, they shouted for joy and praised the Lord. But if we use it in a manner that just makes it a saying and we really don't think about it, we're not really praising the Lord when we say it, it's just something we say and it's probably being used for a purpose that's not its right purpose.

You know, Christ talked about vain and frivolous use of words in Matthew 6, let's go ahead and turn there. Matthew 6, "The Sermon on the Mount." It talks about prayer, the so-called. Or it talks about prayer and about repetitions, Matthew 6:7, and how we should pray.

Matthew 6:7 says, "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words."

God doesn't want empty words, He wants words with meaning. He wants us to glorify His name and glorify Him because we really mean it, not just to say something. It needs to come from our heart. So, concerning the use of God's name, don't speak it unless you mean it. Don't speak it unless you mean it. When we talk about His name, when we use His name, we need to be addressing it in a manner that is respectful. So, don't use God's name carelessly or frivolously.

So, a second way you can break this commandment is by using euphemisms for God. By using euphemisms for God. A euphemism, according to the Miriam Webster Dictionary website is "the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant." They continue, "Euphemisms can take different forms but they all involve substituting a word or phrase considered to be less offensive than another." The substituted word might be, for example, be viewed as a less coarse choice, maybe you say "dang" instead of the other versions that it might be. Or you might replace a word viewed as insulting to a religious figure, such as various euphemisms for God.

And euphemisms aren't necessarily bad. You know, if somebody dies, we say they passed away. That's a euphemism. If somebody's unemployed, they're between jobs. That's a euphemism. If someone's broke, well, they've got a negative cash flow. A euphemism. These are all acceptable euphemisms. They don't take God's name in vain, they don't use God's name in a irreverent way.

You know, even in the Bible, there's euphemisms. First Samuel 24:3, it says, "King Saul went to a cave to cover his feet," that's a euphemism for "he went to the bathroom." So, even the Bible has euphemisms in it. But if we use euphemisms for God's name or character, then it's probably breaking the third commandment. We often, in those cases, use a less honorable name made up for God, instead of their God's true name.

So, some of those would be things like "golly," "my golly," "o golly," "gadzooks," "gosh," "good God," "good gracious," "good Lord," "goodness," "goodness gracious," "oh my goodness," even "jeepers creepers," "for Christ's sake," "for Pete's sake." These are some of the euphemisms that we might find ourselves using that we should be careful about. And make sure that they're not euphemisms for God. We need to remember to respect His name and that His name is holy and we should be respectful, as we use it, and use it in a holy way. David tells us, in psalm 111:9, about God's name. It's interesting reading through the psalms, you so often see God's name and how David praised it. Psalms 111, verse 9.

Psalms 111:9 says, "He, God, has sent redemption to his people. He has commanded His covenant forever, holy and awesome is His name."

Holy and awesome is His name. So, when we talk about God, let's make sure we're using His name and let's keep it holy and let's keep it awesome. So, as we become aware of maybe names that we're using that might be euphemisms, you know, we need to learn to stop, we need to stop using those. A third way we can break the commandment is by swearing by God's name or making vows or pledges that we don't keep. By swearing by God's name or making vowels or pledges that we don't keep. Leviticus, 19, let's take a look there. Leviticus 19, verses 11 and 12. In these two verses, God repeats two of His 10 commandments and then really has the third one in there too.

Leviticus 19:11-12 It says, "You shall not steal," a commandment, "nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another," another commandment. Verse 12, "and you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your Lord God, I am the Lord."

So, we're not to swear falsely by God's name or profane the name of God. The Good News translation for this verse says, "Do not make a promise in My name if you do not intend to keep it, that brings disgrace to My name. I am the Lord, your God." We can break the third commandment by promising something in God's name that we do not carry out. By making pledges that we do not carry out.

We can take a look at one of the examples of when this was done in the old testament. 1 Samuel, 19, in verse 6, an example of where there's an oath made to God and it's not carried out. 1 Samuel, 19, starts out with King Saul, King of Israel, telling his servants to kill David. And then Jonathan has this wonderful relationship with David. So, Jonathan tells David, "Hey, stay out of sight for a little while, let me go ahead and talk to my dad." And eventually, Jonathan convinces Saul that he shouldn't kill David. Now in verse 6 of 1 Samuel 19, we see Saul's oath.

1 Samuel 19:6 "So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan and Saul swore, 'As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.'"

So, Saul is saying here, "As the Lord lives," that was a popular way of doing a swear to God saying that, "As the Lord lives, I will do this or I will do that." "David will not die" is what he's saying. As the Lord lives, David will not die. But Saul didn't keep that oath. He went back on it, if you look down in verse 10, we see that he tries to kill David. So, he didn't keep his oath, not at all.

You know, there's an example of somebody who did swear like that but did keep the oath. That was the oath of Boaz. The oath of Boaz, he said that, if the next kinsmen would not marry Ruth, that, as the Lord lives, he would. And we know the story, he married her, he kept his oath.

But let's take a look at how Israel had gotten, by the time of Jeremiah. Jeremiah 5. Jeremiah 5, verses 1 and 2. We see God's frustration at Judah in Jerusalem. God was so frustrated because nobody took oath seriously. People would promise all kinds of things and then wouldn't do those.

Jeremiah 5:1-2 it says, "Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, see now and know and seek in her open places if you can find a man, if there is anyone who executes judgment, who seeks the truth, and I will pardon her." Verse 2, "though they say, as the Lord lives, surely they swear falsely."

That's how it had become by the time of Jeremiah. His people, in Judah, could not depend upon others to do what they said they do. They just weren't doing it anymore. They would lie, they would promise things and wouldn't come through it. You know, that made a mockery of God, especially when they said, "As the Lord lives," a total mockery of God.

You know, and that brings us to the question today, do we swear today? Should we swear today? If we go before a judge or if we're in some sort of case where they ask you to swear, you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, should we do that? Well, you know, Christ actually answered this for us. Matthew 5. Matthew 5, beginning in verse 33. As we can see, Сhrist answered to this.

Matthew 5:33-37 "Again, you have heard that it was said of those of old, you shall not swear falsely but shall perform your oaths to the Lord." So, that was something that was done commonly in the Old Testament. Verse 34, "But I say to you, 'Do not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne,'" verse 35, "'nor by the earth, for it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.'" verse 36, "'nor shall you swear by your head because you cannot make one hair white or black,'" verse 37, "'but let your yes be yes and your no be no, for whatever is more than these is from the evil one.'"

So, we're not supposed to swear by anything in heaven, anything on earth, by your chinny chin, the hair of your chinny-chin-chin, anything like that. And we see what Christ says, what Jesus says about this, is, if we do that sort of thing, it's actually coming from Satan, from the evil one. James also talks about this, in James 5:12, something similar to this.

James 5:12 He says, "But above all my brethren, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath but let your yes be yes and your no be no, lest ye fall into judgment."

You know, it was a long time ago when you could make a deal on a handshake. You know, that's really what Christ is saying, what James is saying. When we say yes, we're going to do something, we should do it. We shouldn't have to have a 20-page legal document with all the ways how we can't break the contract. A handshake should be enough. If we do end up being in a case where they want us to swear for something, like in a court case or whatever, we can affirm. We can affirm, it's a legal right, and, in doing that, we're just saying our yes is yes and our no is no. So, don't swear or make oaths.

A fourth way we can break this commandment is not living a life that properly that represents God. We break the third commandment by not living a life that properly represents God. Remember, early on, I said that "take" could mean carry, it's more than just words in our mouth, it's how we live our life. You know, we've taken on the mantle, the name of Christians. We've taken on the name of the father. We bear their name, we're their children. And we need to represent their way in their lifestyle, here on the earth. Those around us, as they look at their life, they build a reputation of what God is or they can. If we say we're Christian and then they see us doing wrong things, stealing, lying, various things like that, they build a reputation of what a Christian is and what Christ represents. So, we need to make sure our lifestyle represents God's way of life. If it doesn't, we're breaking that third commandment.

And that's exactly what Paul said in Romans 2. In Romans 2, verses 17 through 24.

Romans 2:17-20 "Indeed you are called a jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God and know His will and approve the things that are excellent being instructed out of the law," verse 19, "and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness," verse 20, "an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law."

Paul's saying to these Roman...or these Christians who were Jews and teaching others about the way of God. He was saying they knew the law so well, they should've known it, they should've been a guide. And it was well known to them, that way of life was well known to them, and that they were even boasting, these Jews were boasting about what they knew and about the law and how much they knew about it. And they were teaching the law to others and helping them learn the truth. But in verse 21, we see what Paul says about that lifestyle they were living.

Romans 2:21 "You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?" verse 22, "you who say do not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?" verse 23, "you who make your boast in the law, do you honor God through breaking the law?" These Jewish Christians who knew the truth, who knew how to live, were living a life contrary, in many cases, to what they were even teaching. In verse 24, Paul says, "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written.”

So, how these Jewish Christians were living was actually causing God's name to be blasphemed because they were not living a lifestyle that matched with what they were teaching. They were disgracing God's name.

And it's important that we do live a life that matches our name, as a Christian. You know, it's a story I read a while back, and I don't know if it's true or not, but it does bring out an important point that represents living up to your Master, living up to the name that you're called. You know, the story is about a young soldier in the army of Alexander the Great. This young soldier deserted his post during battle. When the young man was brought before Alexander the Great, Alexander asked the young soldier what his name was. The young soldier shuttered in fear and responded, "Alexander, my lord." Suddenly, Alexander's expression changed. Looking at the young man, he asked again, "What is your name?" The soldier replied, "Alexander, sir." The general asked again, "What did you say your name was?" And again, that young soldier, who had deserted, replied, "Alexander, sir." Alexander the Great rose to his feet and said, "You have two choices. Either change your behavior or change your name." Either change your behavior or change your name.

Alexander the Great didn't want somebody with his name being a deserter. You know, Jesus Christ doesn't want somebody who's a Christian living a lifestyle that is opposite of what they should and yet calling themselves a Christian. Unlike this soldier, we don't have two choices. We only have one choice. That is to change our behavior. And Paul tells us, in Colossians 3, verse 17.

Colossians 3:17 “That whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, the Father, through Him."

So, we see here that we're supposed to do everything through His name. Everything we should do should uphold the name of Jesus Christ and God, the Father. We should be an example of who They are. We should be an example of Their true reputation, of Their true character. We should bring glory to Their name by the way we live. So, make sure that we're living a life consistent to being a Christian.

So, what are some ways we can honor God's name? We've seen some things that we shouldn't be doing and out of those, hopefully, learned lessons. But we really should honor God's name by praising it, praising God's name. You know, I think so often we almost cringe when we hear the word "Praise the Lord" because of all of its baggage. But, at the appropriate time, we really should be praising the Lord. And we should be willing to say it. We should be willing to say it, you know, we shouldn't be hearing praise of the Lord all the time in church or anything like that but, you know, if something happens and you see God's hand in it, praise the Lord.

Psalms 113:1-3 says, "Praise the Lord, praise all servants of God or of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord for this time forth and forevermore, from the rising of the sun to the going down, the Lord's name is to be praised."

So, we should praise. In prayer, as we go through our life, be thankful and praise the name of God. You know, another thing is study the names of God. We can learn more about God's character, who He is, what His nature is, as we study the various names of God. And there are whole sermons and books written on the various names of God. As we read through those and see the multifaceted being that God is and what His name is, it's hard to not praise it.

Another thing is is we can read the book of Psalms and take attention to how David talks about God and God's name. God is praised so often within the Psalms.

Psalm 96:2 Says, "Sing to the Lord," when we sing, we often are praising God, "sing to the Lord, bless His name, proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day."

Psalms 145:3 and Psalms 145:21 Say, "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and His greatness is unsearchable. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and ever."

As we read through psalms, we can so often see how David praised God and we can see the beautiful nature of their relationship. Which brings me to my fourth point and how we can honor God's name is actually build a relationship with God. Build a relationship with God, the Father, and Jesus Christ. Get to know them, study your Bible. As I said, read the psalms, read about Their glory, understand who They are. Learn about Their marvelous plan for mankind. You know, without building this relationship, we may go through life having the wrong idea of what God is and who God is.

You know, about 25 years ago, we were going to "The Feast of Tabernacles" in Lexington, Kentucky. And my wife, as we were getting into our hotel, slipped and broke her ankle. It was a horrendous break. She spent the first several days in the hospital and the whole feast in our room. There was an announcement made by the festival coordinator several times during the feast, giving an update on her, saying, "Oh, Emma is feeling," you know, "this she's got this happening," and the like. And we'd have people come over to the hotel room. They'd knock on the door and I'd open the door and they'd say, "Well, I've got..." for some reason, they gave a lot of M&M's. "I've got some M&M's for Emma." I think it's because it was for Emma. Anyway, they'd walk in the door, they'd see her laying in the bed, and they'd go, "Oh, I thought you were an old lady." She was only about in her 30s at the time. See, back then, if your name was Emma, you were an old person, not a 30-year-old. That's changed a lot now.

So, it was only after they got to know Emma that they understood who she was. And we need to do the same thing with God. Do we still have ideas about God that aren't His true nature? We need to get to know Him, to know who He is, to know His character, to know what His name represents. Same with God, we've got to get to know Him. God's not an angry god, God's not an unforgiving god, we need to learn more about His nature. And knowing God's name is just one of the first steps in that relationship, as we learn about His different names.

You know, as the model prayer says, "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, hallowed be Thy name" circles us right back to that commandment. My last scripture, Ezekiel 39, verse 7. I'll actually read this in the God's Word Translation. Ezekiel 39, verse 7. In these verses, in Ezekiel, we learn that there will come a time when God will reveal His name and Himself and Jesus Christ to everyone. For everyone who's ever lived, there won't be confusion as to God's name or how to honor it. God's name will no longer be a curse word, no longer just something that we put on all of our messages as we text each other on Facebook, but they'll know the true name of God and what it stands for.

Ezekiel 39:7 Says, "I will make My holy name known among My people, Israel, and I will never let them dishonor My holy name again. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel."

There's coming a time where everyone will know the true God. There's coming a time when God will reveal Himself to everyone and we'll know and praise and honor His name. And the whole world will, honor it, as we should. You know, the third commandment really is all about love, respect, reverence to God's name and who God is. We need to grasp that concept and that idea. And it can make a big difference in how we relate to God.

That third commandment is all about how do you carry God's name in your life. Is every part of your life based on reverence towards God's name and who God is? So, what's in a name? We've seen a lot today that there is a lot in a name and what that name represents. And we need to make sure we don't take God's name, who God is, in a light manner. You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.