Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000027
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00:00 ♪ (Theme Song) ♪ ♪ Jesus is worthy ♪
00:09 ♪ oh yes, he's worthy ♪ ♪ worthy of all... ♪ 00:18 ♪ (Music) ♪ PB: You have your Bibles. 00:23 Let me hear you say Amen. 00:25 Hold your Bible up. 00:26 Good. 00:29 Make sure you're telling the truth in God's church. 00:31 Let's all stand. 00:32 Let's read our scripture for tonight and we're going to 00:34 love letter number three, Exodus 20:7. 00:41 "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, 00:45 for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who taketh his name 00:51 in vain." Love letter number three. 00:54 In other words, when God says thou shalt not take my name in 00:57 vain, God, in essence, is saying don't misuse my name. 01:03 In this life you learn a lot about a person, a lot about 01:07 generations of a person by the issuing of names. 01:12 In fact, you can learn so much about a person by their name, 01:17 even when their names are hard to understand. 01:22 My first name is Carlton. 01:25 And my name means settlement of free men. 01:30 Now, I don't know if that is clearly who I am or I don't 01:35 know if that's clearly understood in what I'm trying 01:38 to be, but that's my name. 01:41 Settlement of free men. 01:43 And I do know that my name means something. 01:47 Do I have a witness in this place? 01:49 Our names speak about being not merely our title or royal 01:52 role that has been appropriated to us, but our 01:56 names speak of our history. 01:58 Our names speak of our heritage. 02:00 I did a little research on my wife's name, Danielle. 02:03 Danielle's name means God is my judge. 02:06 God is my judge. 02:08 Now, I met my wife when we were in college 02:11 together in Alabama. 02:13 As I talked to her, the only thing I knew about my wife 02:17 when I first met her was her name. 02:19 As I talked to her more, I learned more than just her 02:24 name, I learned about her family. 02:26 I was invited to her home. 02:27 I learned something about her heritage, her parentage, her 02:31 grandparents, her friends who surrounded her. 02:34 The more I got to know her, the more a holy 02:39 intimacy developed. 02:40 Do I have a witness in this place? 02:43 She had mercy on me and she married me, Amen. 02:47 Now, when I met her she was just Danielle, 02:52 a young woman in college. 02:54 Her name is still Danielle, but her name takes on 02:59 many different variations now. 03:01 Danielle is my wife, that's one of her names. 03:06 But she's now also our daughter's mother, 03:09 that's another name. 03:11 She's my friend, that's another name. 03:14 She's my confidante, that's another name. 03:18 My companion, another name. 03:19 And if you were here the other night you heard that love 03:22 letter, she's my lover, another name. 03:26 Names open the windows of a soul to see the being of 03:32 a person, and I'm here tonight to let you know that names 03:36 ought not be handled lightly. 03:38 Now, names also speak of generations, of decades, 03:43 historical events. 03:44 Names do change as well, don't they? 03:48 You start off early in the morning as Abram, but by the 03:51 time you reach a new city you've got a new name, 03:54 Abraham. 03:55 Sarai becomes Sarah, and you learn much about people by 03:58 knowing their name. 03:59 In fact, most of you after a while, you want people to call 04:04 you by your name. 04:05 Why? 04:06 Names mean something. 04:09 In Exodus 27 there's a prohibition to the 04:14 misrepresentation of a name. 04:16 Not to ptend, not to be fake, not to be careless, not 04:21 to be funny, but God said don't misrepresent my name. 04:29 If you love me, call me by my right name. 04:32 So what I did was, I sat down and I looked through each word 04:37 in Exodus 20:7 to transliterate these words into 04:42 my own words. 04:43 Then if you read these words in its original text and then 04:46 you took on your own translation, this is now how 04:49 the scripture would read: You are absolutely prohibited in 04:55 taking the name of God upon your lips in empty speech or 05:00 in contemptible behavior and the God who keeps his covenant 05:05 with his people will not keep his commitment with you if you 05:09 misrepresent his name. 05:13 Let me give you a piece of history that may really help 05:15 you appreciate the name of God. 05:17 In Genesis 17 and in Exodus 3, God made himself known to 05:21 Abraham when he said, I am the Lord God Almighty. 05:27 Which is really kind of a definition of who he is, his 05:30 name as being a person. 05:32 In Exodus 3 we're also given a name, and interestingly 05:35 enough, God is not as concerned about pronouns 05:38 as he is with verbs. 05:40 God says, I am that I am. 05:43 So when God gives the name Yahweh, this is the 05:47 translation of I am that I am. 05:50 But you know like I know that Yahweh is really another name 05:55 for the name of God, for when God first gave his name, God 06:00 only gave consonants to his name. Y-H-W-H. 06:05 And his name was off limits to be pronounced. 06:09 The only people who were given license to pronounce God's 06:13 name were the high priests. 06:15 None of the Hebrews or the Israelites, back in the day, 06:20 would ever announce God's name because God's name was holy, 06:23 and he viewed this sacred in such lofty terms that no mere 06:27 human being would be allowed to utter the name of God 06:31 from his human lips. 06:34 The high priests would speak God's name 06:37 only on two occasions. 06:38 The high priests only spoke God's name on the Day of 06:41 Atonement and the Day of Tabernacle. 06:44 But not just anywhere on that day. 06:47 It had to be announced in the temple, for understand that a 06:51 holy name to a holy God is designated to a holy place. 06:56 Before the priest would even begin to utter the name, the 07:01 priest would go through a ceremonial ritual, 07:03 a ritual of purification. 07:05 So when they got to the name they would have purified 07:09 themselves to announce the name. 07:12 The secretaries in the Bible, known as the scribes, who 07:15 wrote the law, all they had to do as copyist was to write on 07:20 a piece of paper with a pen what they had seen in the law. 07:25 But they didn't do that. 07:27 First, they make sure that they got the skin 07:31 of a kosher animal. 07:32 Secondly, they made sure they had special ink formula. 07:37 Thirdly, they purified themselves through the 07:40 washing of their bodies and the reciting of prayers before 07:43 they even began to write the law. 07:46 And so when they got to the name of God, they stopped, 07:49 washed their hands, purified their bodies, and prayed a 07:53 prayer before they even wrote the name of God. 07:57 The name of God is holy. 07:59 The name of God is high. 08:02 The name of God is lofty. 08:05 The name of God is not to be mismanaged by anybody. 08:10 Nobody is to misrepresent the name that has been given to us 08:15 and somebody tonight knows something about the 08:19 misrepresentation of a good name. 08:22 What am I saying? 08:23 Hey, brother, would you, since we've been knowing each other 08:27 for a long time, we home boys and all, would you cosign with 08:31 me to get this car for me because you my homie? 08:34 Friendship instigates agreement and so you enter 08:41 into a contract that is to be cosigned because your credit 08:45 is less than favorable. 08:47 You get the car not because of your signature, but because of 08:52 the cosigned name who has good credit 08:57 and everything goes well. 08:59 So the car is purchased. 09:01 The first months of the car note are paid, but then you 09:05 become delinquent. 09:07 Two calls are made, one to the man who has the car and the 09:12 keys and the one who has cosigned. 09:15 Repossession comes up months later because the contract has 09:19 not been satisfied. 09:21 Guess whose credit gets messed up? 09:26 The one who cosigned, because now his name 09:30 has been misrepresented. 09:32 God says to us, if you love me like you say you love me, you 09:37 are not to misrepresent my name. 09:41 God says, do not misuse my name. 09:45 Years ago I saw the young, stellar, talented golfer who's 09:51 on decline, eclipsing all records. 09:54 Take his driver out, he stands on the tee box and he 09:59 makes a full swing. 10:01 Perfect shot, right down the middle of the fairway, 10:05 down the slope. 10:06 He goes now to his second shot. 10:08 Same approach, hits it on the green. 10:11 The stands, the people, they go berserk. 10:13 He has a makable birdie. 10:14 Mr. Tiger Woods takes now his putter out, stands over the 10:20 ball, he looks, he squats, he focuses, he stands, he checks 10:27 the grain, strokes the ball. 10:29 It's headed right to the cup. 10:32 The stands, you can see people about to burst with elation, 10:36 and then the ball, ever so slightly, breaks to the left, 10:39 then to the right, down it falls, drifts off, 10:42 misses by a hair. 10:45 Tiger Woods yells the name of Jesus Christ. 10:48 He says, "Jesus Christ!" 10:52 I get mad. 10:55 I get upset. 10:58 I would have rather him saying something else. 11:01 I would have rather him use any other word. 11:06 Why? 11:07 Because he devalued the name of the most high God. 11:12 He dishonored the name of the most high God. 11:15 He desecrated the name of the most high God. 11:20 Somebody might be saying, Pastor Byrd, you're taking 11:22 this too seriously. 11:24 It's just a name. 11:25 It's not that deep. 11:26 But you don't want anybody misrepresenting your name. 11:29 Do I have a witness in this place? 11:32 So then the question is, how do we use God's name to make 11:36 sure that we are not in violation of love letter 11:39 number three? 11:40 You see, the misuse of his name, God, Jesus or the Holy 11:45 Ghost, is not to be trivialized because the same 11:50 name, Jesus Christ, that you yell out at missing a putt is 11:56 the same Jesus Christ who can save you from your sins. 12:02 If we reduce God's name to no more than a filler for a 12:08 missed shot, no more than when we slam our finger in the car 12:12 door, no more than when somebody makes us mad, if we 12:15 reduce God's name to this, then we devaluate, we dishonor 12:20 and we desecrate the name of God and God's name 12:24 is not to be misused. 12:26 How dare you misuse the name of God. 12:31 So how do we misuse it? 12:33 Maybe we misuse it in one or two ways. 12:37 Maybe three ways. 12:38 The main way we misuse God's name is through the 12:42 devaluing of his name. 12:43 That we take the name of God and we empty it of its 12:48 substance because of our frequent use of it in a 12:51 devaluated way. 12:52 And we ought not devaluate the name of God this way. 12:55 In the book, "Ten Commandments and Human Rights," the author 12:59 speaks a stern word of warning particularly to those of us 13:06 who preach and teach God's word, those of us who preach 13:09 and teach the word of God. 13:11 The author said, we devaluate the name of God as preachers 13:17 when we show off our intellect of scripture and speak of God 13:22 in terms that the only person who knows the truth about God 13:26 is the one that's standing in the pulpit. 13:29 And in our turn we use scripture and our knowledge 13:36 to sell books, tapes, CDs, sermons and we keep the cash 13:43 flowing in to fill up our coffers. 13:47 In return, we turn God into no more than some deity whose 13:52 role is to give me more stuff in life. 13:57 The continuing danger is this, those who are taught from this 14:02 perspective of God use his name in misrepresenting terms 14:06 are now turning his name into something that is 14:11 magical or winsome. 14:14 Now that we name something in his name and 14:17 proposing that if I predate it or preclude it 14:21 with the name of Jesus, then all these things shall be 14:25 added unto me. 14:28 This is a misrepresentation of God's name. 14:33 God's name is not to be looked upon as some spiritual lucky 14:38 charm to get me stuff. 14:40 God's name is not to be used as some magic wand for me to 14:47 get what I want. 14:49 God is God and his name should not be used as a marketing 14:56 ploy to get what I want. 14:59 Another way we misuse God's name and dishonor his name is 15:03 we carelessly and casually throw God's name out all 15:08 over the place. 15:10 What do I mean? 15:11 Pastor Byrd, the Lord told me to tell you. 15:17 People always coming up to me, the Lord told me to tell you. 15:23 No he didn't, because if he did he would have told me. 15:26 Do I have a witness in this place? 15:29 You see, when the prophets said, back in the day, Old 15:34 Testament, the Lord said it, it always happened that the 15:40 Lord had already said it to them and they had 15:43 repeated what God had already told them. 15:46 And all of you Lord sayers out here, you need to make sure 15:51 that when you say, the Lord said it, that the 15:55 Lord truly said it. 15:59 Better tread softly on that phrase, the Lord said. 16:02 It may make you sound spiritual, it may make you 16:06 sound holy, and the spiritually ignorant may be 16:10 very impressed with that. 16:11 But one of the ways to know that the Lord said it is to 16:16 always make sure that when somebody tells you, well, the 16:20 Lord told me to tell you, make sure you tell them, well, show 16:25 it to me in the word of God, because God still speaks 16:29 through his word. 16:30 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 16:33 God said to the laws and to the testimony, if they speak 16:36 not according to this word, it is because they have 16:41 no light in them. 16:42 If God "has a revelation for you," let me speak 16:48 of myself first. 16:50 As people will often say, Pastor, the Lord told 16:53 me to tell you. 16:55 I quickly tell them these words, I have no offense at 16:59 what you're saying, but if that's all God 17:01 had to say, God could have told me that this morning 17:05 when I spent an hour on my knees. 17:09 I don't need you to tell me that the Lord said I've got 17:12 struggles, because you know what? 17:16 Everybody has struggles. 17:17 You hear folk all the time, the Lord told me you're 17:19 going through it. 17:21 Guess what? 17:21 All of us are going through it. 17:24 The Lord told me you're facing an issue. 17:26 All of us have issues. 17:28 Don't misuse God's name and if it's something you need to say 17:33 to somebody, don't hide behind the holy name of God, 17:37 just say it. 17:41 The Lord said it and we just cower and cringe up. 17:45 Oh, my goodness, the Lord told him that. 17:47 The Lord ain't told him nothing. 17:50 Don't dishonor God's name like that. 17:53 We devalue it. 17:55 We dishonor it, and we desecrate it. 17:58 And this is where that cursing comes from. 18:01 Getting quiet now. 18:06 Desecration. 18:06 Dishonor curses. 18:08 Somebody said that when we curse, well, let me not say, 18:13 when WE curse. 18:15 Somebody said, when you curse, it's because your mind 18:18 misfired, but we desecrate the name of God. 18:24 We dishonor the name of God. 18:27 We devalue the name of God. 18:30 So, Pastor, how do we then honor the name of God? 18:37 I'm glad you asked. 18:39 It might be the first place that we start. 18:42 We need to learn how to reverence his name. 18:45 To understand what his name is, and what his 18:50 name represents. 18:52 For God in his name discloses himself to us that we might 18:58 know him through his name. 19:01 Through his name God protects us. 19:04 Through his name God provides for us. 19:07 Through his name God is the one who grants us peace. 19:11 Through his name God gives us salvation. 19:15 Understand, demons lose their power at the name of Jesus. 19:22 Every tongue must confess at the name of Jesus. 19:25 Every knee must bow at the name of Jesus. 19:27 Angels fall prostrate at the name of Jesus. 19:31 Death loses its sting at the name of Jesus. 19:35 Graves give up victory at the name of Jesus. 19:40 Satan has no say so at the name of Jesus. 19:45 So be careful how you use God's name. 19:48 Don't just throw it around. 19:50 Honor it by reestablishing it to its rightful place. 19:54 Another way tonight we can honor the name of God is not 19:58 just to be conscientious of it in speech, but remember this 20:02 word in Exodus 20:7, it's not just about conversation, but 20:06 it's also about conduct. 20:09 That we can also profane the name of God through our 20:13 erroneous conduct, our bad actions and our bad attitude. 20:16 For if you have a name as a Christian, you're last name 20:22 may be Smith, it may be Johnson, it may be Williams, 20:25 it may be Wilson, it may be Byrd, but remember, all of us 20:28 had our names changed when we came to know who Christ was 20:34 and who he is to each and every one of us. 20:36 I'm so glad that God changed my name. 20:40 Our names have been changed, which means we're no longer 20:44 Byrd, we're no longer Wilson, we're no longer Williams, 20:47 Smith or Jones. 20:48 Our name is Christian. 20:50 We have been bought with a price. 20:53 That means we are Christlike in our conduct, our 20:56 conversations and our character. 20:59 There are three places where you can remember the name and 21:03 reestablish its holiness. 21:04 What are those three places, Pastor? 21:06 The first place is in marriage. 21:07 Everybody say marriage. 21:09 For when we commit to one another in marriage, we make 21:13 the marital covenant before God and, unfortunately, more 21:16 people seem to be more interested in the people that 21:20 are there at their wedding than the God that is there. 21:22 When we commit to one another in marriage it becomes 21:25 a covenant. 21:26 And guess whose name binds the covenant together? 21:30 I now pronounce you husband and wife. 21:33 And what God has joined together let no man, or woman, 21:40 put asunder. 21:42 We can honor God's name in the covenant of marriage. 21:46 Somebody says, Pastor Byrd, that excludes me because I'm 21:49 not married and, guess what? 21:50 I ain't through either. 21:51 Come on, say Amen. 21:53 A second place you can honor his name that binds you is 21:57 right there in the baptistry, at baptism. 22:01 I'm amazed at the people who don't really understand what 22:03 takes place at baptism. 22:05 What goes on in baptism? 22:07 There's an outward symbol of inward cleansing. 22:10 When you go down under the water you are to go into that 22:14 water trying to get as deep in that water as you can. 22:17 God, bury me in this water. 22:18 God, let me get under this water, because Jesus died for 22:24 you and Jesus was buried for you. 22:27 And then when you get up, you ought to fling your head back. 22:32 You know, we know how to do that. 22:35 Fling it about and say, because he got up out of the 22:38 grave for me, now I can get up and walk in the 22:44 newness of life. 22:45 But I'm not through. 22:46 The preacher then lifts his hands up and says, brother and 22:52 sister, in obedience to God's command, I baptize you in the 22:56 name of the Father, in the name of the Son, in the name 23:00 of the Holy Ghost, and at that moment God the Father, God the 23:05 Son, God the Holy Ghost fill you up, bind you up and make 23:10 you whole and complete. 23:12 And you ought to live up to the baptism and choose to live 23:17 your life in such a way that the people in the community 23:23 know that you haven't just been baptized, but you've been 23:25 filled by the presence of the name that is above 23:29 all other names. 23:30 Pastor Byrd, I ain't married, I've been baptized, but 23:36 I ain't through yet. 23:38 The Lord's supper. 23:42 I'm amazed at Christians who don't understand what 23:46 communion, the Lord's supper, is all about. 23:49 Somebody is saying, Pastor, well, preach us. 23:51 Okay, I'm trying to. 23:52 The Lord's supper is more than us just coming in and getting 23:55 a wafer and some grape juice. 23:57 Understand that when the table is spread, the bread and the 24:02 juice are just symbols that represent the presence of 24:07 Jesus, his broken body, his shed blood, in our 24:12 acts of worship. 24:14 And Jesus is present, because if we are believers Christ is 24:19 with us in the present tense of the Holy Ghost. 24:23 When we come to that table and we take that bread and we take 24:29 that cup and we say, this is his body that was broken for 24:34 us, and we take it and we eat it, we are not just eating a 24:39 wafer, but we are symbolically consuming the will of Jesus 24:43 Christ in our lives. 24:46 And when we drink the cup, we are symbolically drinking the 24:50 blood that has cleansed us from our sins. 24:52 What can wash away my sins? 24:55 Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 24:58 What can make me whole again? 25:00 Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 25:02 And then when we're through, the word says, do this in 25:08 remembrance of me. 25:11 And me is always a name. 25:15 And brothers and sisters, when you come to the Lord's house 25:19 and you come to the Lord's table, you're not just 25:22 conducting a ritual of ceremony, but you are 25:25 realizing the healing power of Jesus to walk in your life. 25:30 Talk about a healing service? 25:33 When you sit at the table, the Lord begins to heal. 25:36 That's why some of us know we should have been cut off a 25:40 long time ago. 25:42 Some of us should be dead, buried in our grave, and the 25:45 only reason why we're able to function is because there is 25:50 healing at the table. 25:51 There's deliverance at the table. 25:54 There's salvation at the table. 25:57 But then, there's another table prepared for us. 26:00 There's another table prepared for us in God's great heaven. 26:04 Because the Bible says that eyes hasn't seen, neither ears 26:08 heard the things that God has prepared for them 26:11 that love him. 26:13 And I'm going to sit at the welcome table. 26:15 I'm going to feast on milk and honey. 26:18 I'm going to sing and never get tired one of these days. 26:23 But there's another reason we ought to hold to his name and 26:26 that is tonight because his name is our passport to enter 26:32 into the kingdom of God. 26:34 Acts 4:12, I don't have time to read it but take my word 26:38 for it, it says that there is no other name under heaven 26:43 whereby we can be saved, saved by the name of Jesus. 26:49 Satan shrinks at his name. 26:55 You've go to understand, his name is holy. 26:59 You can't just be calling his name to call his name. 27:02 You've got to call his name for a holy purpose. 27:06 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in, what, 27:10 everybody? 27:11 In vain. 27:12 His name is holy. 27:16 PB: Thank you very much for your continued support to 27:20 Breath of Life. 27:21 The reality is we simply couldn't do it without you. 27:24 We need your continued prayers and support through your 27:28 financial gifts to this ministry. 27:30 Remember, give and it shall be given to you. 27:34 Pressed down, shaken together, running over. 27:37 May God bless you. 27:45 God's Law has stirred controversy in recent years, 27:48 so are the Ten Commandments out of date? 27:51 Offensive? Find out. 27:53 "The Ten Commandments Under Attack" is yours for a gift of 27:55 $5 or more. 27:57 Just call our toll free number 877-BOL-OFFER. 28:02 Or you may write us to request this copy. 28:04 Just send your check to Breath of Life, P.O. Box 340, 28:08 Newbury Park, CA 91319. 28:11 Get your copy of "The Ten Commandments Under Attack" 28:14 today. 28:16 PB: Don't dishonor God's name like that. 28:21 How dare you misuse the name of God. 28:25 And if any man be in Christ he's a new creature. |
Revised 2015-02-06