Q60. What is required in the third commandment?
A60. The third commandment requires holy and reverent use of God’s names, titles, attributes, ordinances, words, and works.
Psalm 29:2. “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in holy array.”
Deuteronomy 32:1-4. “Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth. “Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As the droplets on the fresh grass And as the showers on the herb. “For I proclaim the name of the Lord; Ascribe greatness to our God” “The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.
Deuteronomy 28:58-59. “If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the Lord your God, then the Lord will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses.
Psalm 111:9. He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name.
Matthew 6:9. “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.”
Ecclesiastes 5:1. “Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil.”
Psalm 138:2. “I will bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.”
Job 36:24. “Remember that you should exalt His work, of which men have sung.”
Revelation 15:3-4. “And they *sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For all the nations will come and worship before You, For Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
Revelation 4:8. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”
Help from Benjamin Beddome
Should we make profession of God’s name? Yes. O Lord, we are called by thy name, Jer. xiv. 9.” And be sincere in our profession? Yes. They shall ask the way to Sion with their faces thitherward, Jer. 1. 5. And be careful to credit and maintain it? Yes. Thou hast kept my word and hast not denied my name, Rev. iii. 8.
Should we use the name of God in prayer? Yes. I will call on the name of the Lord, Ps. cxvi. 17. And in praise? Yes. Let them praise thy great name, P. xcix. 3. And in Christian conversation? Yes. I will declare thy name unto my brethren, Ps. xxii. 22. But should we do it with the profoundest humility? Yes. Behold I have taken upon me to speak unto God, who am but dust and ashes, Gen. xviii, 27. And when great seriousness and deliberation? Yes. Be not rash with thy mouth, Eccles. v. 2.
Should we give glory to God in his word ? Yes. For he hath magnified his word above all his name, Ps. cxxxviii. 2 And in his works? Yes. Let them declare his works with rejoicing, Ps. cvii. 22. And in his worship? Yes. For God is greatly to be feared in the assemblies of his saints, and to be had in reverence by all them that are about him, Ps. Ixxxix. 7.
Is it lawful to swear? Yes. An oath for confirmation is the end of all strife, Heb. vi. 19. But should we be cautious in swearing? Yes. We should fear an oath, Eccles. ix. 2. And conscientious? Yes. Thou shalt swear in truth, injudg merit, and in righteousness, Jer. iv. 2. Doth an oath bind the soul? Yes. If a man swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, Num. xxx. 2. Should we therefore look upon ourselves as bound by it? Yes. David spared Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, because of the oath of the Lord, 2 Sam. xxi. 7. And that though it is to our detriment? Yes. The goodman sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not, Ps. xv. 4.
Help from Thomas Vincent
Q1. What are we to understand by the name of God, which we are forbidden in this commandment to take in vain? A1. The name of God, which we are forbidden in this commandment to take in vain, is to he taken generally and comprehensively for anything whereby God makes himself known. Q2. By what is it that God doth make himself known? Q3. What doth the third commandment require, in reference unto those things whereby God doth make himself known? 1. The use of them. 2. The holy and reverent use of them; that we should use them with holy ends, designing the glory of God, and in a reverent manner, as is suitable unto the majesty of God, who maketh himself known by them. “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name. — Ps. 96:8. “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Who shall not fear thee, and glorify thy name?”— Rev. 15:3, 4. Q4. How should our holiness and reverence show itself towards these things? 1. In reference unto God’s names, titles, and attributes; in our holy and reverent thoughts, and meditating on them, so as to admire, fear, love, desire, and delight in God; and in our holy and reverent mention of them with our tongues. 2. In reference unto God’s ordinances; in our holy and reverent making use of them, waiting upon, and seeking after God in them. 3. In reference unto God’s Word; in our holy and reverent minding the majesty and authority of God therein, so as to yield ready obedience thereunto. 4. In reference unto God’s works of creation; in our holy and reverent contemplation of God’s infinite power, and wisdom, and greatness, therein manifested: and in reference unto God’s works of providence; in our holy and reverent eyeing, following, and complying with God’s designs in all his providential dispensations, blessing and praising him for all his mercies, submitting unto, and patiently bearing his corrections, and any sort of afflictions. Q5. When should we especially, holily, and reverently make use of those things whereby God maketh himself known? Q6. What is the difference between the worship of God required in this third commandment, and that which is required in the first and second commandments? |
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