TAKING HIS NAME

TAKING HIS NAME

                “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.” Ex. 20:7

                What does it mean to take the name of the Lord in vain? Well, cursing and swearing come to mind first of all. And the word “Vain” is related to vanity and so if we reverence our God then we will not be slinging His name around in an irreverent manor. So using God’s name in vain for cursing and swearing, or maybe even throwing a whole lot of OMGs on the computer could certainly involve taking His name in vain.

                But let us consider for a moment a greater meaning of this commandment against taking His name in vain. Especially in these last days the subject of a Bride preparing to meet her Husband, or being adorned for Her Husband is certainly a key issue as it has to do with being ready to meet the Lord.

                One might even say that our entire Christian life is all about a marriage and our readiness for it. After all, the final outcome is called “The marriage supper of the Lamb” and we know instinctively that we don’t want to miss that event. We don’t want to be among the foolish virgins.

                If you are a Christian it means that you have been betrothed to the Lord, and as we know from the ancient Jewish wedding, after which our salvation is patterned, started with a betrothal, after which the Groom went away to prepare a house for his bride. He would return for her when his father said that the house, including the physical dwelling as well as the groom’s maturity and ability to provide for His wife had been established.

                It was usually in the middle of the night when with great fanfare and shofar blast the bridegroom would arrive to take his bride home with him… and this is a story not only of the groom’s readiness for the marriage, but of the bride’s as well. She, like Esther, would faithfully await his return having bathed in the fragrances, the oils and the spices that made up her adornment and her purity and readiness for his coming.

                She didn’t know when he would come so she had to live in readiness and to be sure, as one betrothed, she was as good as married. She didn’t date around, or flirt with passersby.  She took care of her body, for it now belonged to the Bridegroom and she wanted to be pleasing to Him. She took care of her mind, learning everything she could about her Bridegroom and the joys and responsibilities of marriage. She would learn how to cook good meals, how to raise children worthy of their father. She would learn all of the graces of being a respectable woman whom her coming husband would be glad to show off to the community.

                In her preparation for marriage she would not leave out any detail. Her preparation for His coming was on three levels… physical, mental and spiritual. We know this because in 1 Thess. 5:23 it says:

                “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

                How many of us today even consider the fact that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, that we have been given stewardship over this body that God has given us and that we will be judged according to the deeds we have done in this body? How many of us know that the care of our physical bodies is a part of the sanctifying process in which we are learning to be Spirit controlled rather than flesh controlled? Romans 8:13. Or that temperance or self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit? Gal. 5:22.

                How many of us consider that in the preparing of our minds, we are to study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needs not be ashamed. 2 Tim 2:15 How many of us actually study God’s Word with the idea that we are preparing for a marriage to the King of kings? How many of us engage with the Holy Spirit in understanding the Bible as Jesus would have us understand it? After all, the Pharisees understood the Bible technically very well and yet they were the polar opposite of Jesus, even plotting His death.

                Obviously then one of the things that Jesus was pointing out to us is that a legalistic approach to truth does not please Him. He is looking for hearts and minds that are preparing for marriage… a people that have eyes only for Him. And as such we can only become one with Him if we are filled with His Spirit, for as it continues on in 1 Thess. 5:24, our being preserved complete in spirit, soul and body is actually made possible by the Bridegroom Himself, for it says: “Faithful is He who calls you and He also will bring it to pass. So our readiness for the marriage is made possible by our spiritual union with Him now.

                When Jesus went to prepare a place for us, He sent us His very Spirit to prepare us as a bride adorned for her Husband. If we spurn His Holy Spirit, refuse to engage with Him, tell Him what we will do and what we won’t do and generally leave Him out of our worship services, treating Him like a distant option, how then are we to share His Spirit with Him when He comes?

                If we have treated our bodies as if throw away McDonalds cups and our souls as something to be fed with anything we want to feed them with besides the Word of God and if we keep His Spirit at a safe distance, not allowing Him to affect us or use us, or control us in any way… then how can it be said that we are preparing as a Bride adorned for her husband?

                God is interested in preserving us complete, spirit and soul and body at His coming and yet we have developed traditions in which none of these even matters. Like the old Gospel song called “This Old House.” We sing about how it is falling apart and we don’t have time to fix the roof and we don’t have time to fix the floor, but it doesn’t matter because we are going to meet the Lord. But doesn’t that song suddenly seem wrong somehow when we think in terms of being a Bride being adorned for her Husband, dressed in the robes of His righteousness having a gown that is without spot or wrinkle?

                There are many ways in which to take the name of the Lord in vain. We say “I Do” and then we go out and live as if we are not betrothed, or that we are preparing for the wedding. Many Christians do not take care of their bodies, they do not feed their minds and they do not engage with His Spirit.

                Many thousands of Christians these days are falling away from the faith, by engaging with other spirits that are not of Christ, by denying the doctrines, twisting the meaning of grace so that they no longer need to prepare as a bride at all. They can now do their own thing and believe what they want… and because they have not studied the Word or respected the prophecies by which the Lord is sharing His agenda and making us ready, they have embraced a different spirit that is not from God and they are therefore joining with the global religion of the Beast. They have become betrothed to another and they don’t even know it.

                Oh they love miracles and spotlights and fog machines, but when they stand before their Creator saying Lord, Lord, did we not do all of these things, He will have to say to them: “Depart from Me you who practice lawlessness.”  Mt. 7:21-23. They called Him Lord, but they never entered into the disciplines of the Lord. They didn’t really live out His Word. They treated it as a theory or a philosophy, but it never transformed them into His image. They never took every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Cor. 10:3-5. They never really shared His love for others, but lived only for themselves. They never denied themselves, or lived a crucified life. Everything in their lives was about “Me” and not about Him.

                As we draw near to the coming of the Lord, we must certainly begin to think in terms of our marriage to Him. We must bring every aspect of our lives into His discipline, after all, the word “Disciple” refers to one who has entered into the disciplines of the Lord… not as a matter of legalism, which cannot please God, but in living by the Spirit and not by the flesh. This is why Romans chapter 8 is so important to us at this time in earth’s history. There is victory in no other way than in living by His Spirit, being filled with His Spirit and baptized with His Spirit, for the baptism of the Holy Spirit empowers us for the harvest.

                The Gospel of the kingdom is, according to Jesus, the final message to go to the world (Mt. 24:14 and it is a Gospel that is demonstrated with signs and wonders… not the parlor tricks of the false church, but the genuine works of Christ as He promised. In fact Jesus spoke so emphatically saying:

                “Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” John 14:12-17.

                You should read all of John chapter 14. It is full of wonderful promises, but it also contains things that many Christians ignore. John 14:26 tells us saying: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

                The Holy Spirit is our Lord’s Agent by which His truth and His very person are imparted to us.

                We get all focused on the one statement where Jesus says, “If you love me you will keep my Commandments” and since we don’t steal or lie or commit murder, we, like the rich young ruler, think we are on track with the Lord. But in John chapter 13:34,35 Jesus said: A new commandment I give to you that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for on another.”

                Keeping the Ten Commandments does not require faith. In fact Paul informs us that the Law is not of faith. Gal 3:12 But loving one another even as Christ loved us, now that is a different story. We can’t do it without His indwelling Holy Spirit. If we are to love as He loves, then we must certainly have His Spirit. And if we love one another even as He loves us then that love fulfills the Law.

                You see, if we are to rightly divide the Word of God then we have to take all that it has to say and not just the parts that support our particular doctrines. As the Bride of Christ we must know that Jesus is not looking for Pharisees… He is looking for a Bride that shares His Spirit and His love, both for God and for each other and it is this love that fulfills the Law.

                We are preparing as a Bride adorned for her Husband and as such, we are not going to sweep any of His words under the carpet, but we will fully engage in His Holy Spirit and His Word so that we will be preserved spirit and soul and body at the coming of our Lord.

                “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy and that is what you are.” 1 Cor. 3:16

                “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

                Sanctification is a threefold work in which the Holy Spirit is involved in preserving us, spirit and soul and body until the coming of the Lord.

                Let us think about these things as we prepare mentally, spiritually and physically for Resurrection Day (Easter) this year. Maybe we should actually observe the 40 day fast that prepares us for that day. Many prophetic people believe that 2019 will be a momentous year as we enter deeper into end time events. We know that Jesus is looking for a Bride without spot or wrinkle. Should we not therefore prepare ourselves for what lies ahead? Should we not engage more fully in God’s Word and in His Holy Spirit? It was Jesus who said that God is Spirit and those that worship must worship Him in spirit and in truth. He said:

                “But an hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshippers. God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23, 24.

                Jesus said this in juxtaposition to both the religion of the Jews and of the Samaritans for He had said in verse 21: “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem shall you worship the Father.”

                In these last days we need to pray to understand these things and to walk in them as a bride preparing to meet her Husband. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit will carry us beyond our blind spots and to move us into the full Gospel of the Kingdom as it will be displayed with power.

                “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup; for he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick and a number sleep.” 1 Cor. 11:27-30.

                Every denomination has blind spots. They may champion one cause or another, while completely ignoring something else. We need to pray now that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth as promised for we may well be the generation mentioned in Romans 8:19 as “The sons of God for whom all creation waits… and Hebrews 11:40, the generation for whom God has provided something better so that apart from us they (The cloud of witnesses listed in Hebrews 11) should not be made perfect.

                Let us then join Paul in running the race set before us. We are preparing to meet our Lord as a bride adorned for her husband. We have taken His name. Let us not have taken it in vain.