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In one terrible day, Job was stripped of every outward manifestation of God’s goodness. As we meet Job in the Bible, God calls him “the greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:3). He was a man of upright character. He feared the Lord. He avoided evil. He regularly prayed and offered sacrifices. In spite of this consistent, God-honoring character, God had a purpose in the testing of Job. He allowed Satan to tempt Job and to take from the man all that he held dear. In one heartrending parade of messengers bringing bad news, Job was informed that his donkeys and oxen had been stolen by the Sabeans, his sheep had been burned with fire, his camels had been stolen by a band of Chaldeans, and his servants had been slain. Worst of all, his sons and his daughters had been killed when the house in which they were feasting collapsed upon them, leaving Job with no living posterity. Job’s response is a remarkable testimony to his character. As he grieved over the loss of his precious children, we are told that he “rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and […]

Over the course of this month, we have been examining the third commandment and the importance of not taking the Lord’s name in vain. In the Law, we studied what is specifically forbidden by this commandment. In the Prophets, we examined practical ways that we can exalt the name of the Lord in daily life. In the Gospels, we looked at the Lord’s Prayer and the example of Jesus in honoring the name of His Heavenly Father. In the New Testament epistles, we traced the value of the name of Jesus Christ—the name which is above every name. We have derived from all these passages this statement of application that every Christian man can live by:  I am to revere God’s name and character in my words, actions, and attitudes, living in holiness because His name is holy. In this final week of March, we are going to look at the opening exhortation of the psalmist in Psalm 103: “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name” (verse 1). Just as the third commandment warns of the danger of taking the name of the Lord in vain, this psalm encourages us to […]

Our goal as Christians should not be to become “better people,” but to become something entirely new—to let Christ live His life inside us!

Last week we looked at the way the Lord Jesus honored the name of His Father. In this article, we will expand on the concluding paragraph of last week’s article on the importance of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The “name above every name” has vital practical importance for us as believers who carry His name wherever we go. The Apostle Paul applies the importance of our identity with the name of the Lord Jesus in Philippians 2:5–11: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus […]

Are you born again? This is one of life’s most important questions. Jesus Christ said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

The first petition of “The Lord’s Prayer” shows us the high regard in which our Lord Jesus held the name of His Father. When the disciples came to Jesus asking Him to teach them to pray, He answered them, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9). The word hallowed used here is the same word that is usually rendered “sanctified.” The beautiful parallel construction in Greek is easily lost in any English translation. The first three petitions of this prayer, all directed toward our Father in Heaven, are given to us in a distinctive word order. The word order has the verb first for emphasis so that it literally translates: “Let it be sanctified: the name of Thee. Let it be established: the kingdom of Thee. Let it be performed: the will of Thee.” Let’s take a closer look at these statements of affirmation that Christ instructed us to use when we approach our Heavenly Father in prayer.  Let it be Sanctified: The Name of Thee The chief goal of the Lord Jesus Christ was to sanctify the name of His Heavenly Father on earth. When Jesus was born, the angels […]

There are some Christians who by their upbringing are led into the fear of the Lord, even before they come to faith. This is a very great blessing: parents can give a child no greater blessing than to bring him up in the fear of the Lord. When those who are thus brought up are brought to faith, they have a great advantage: they are, as it were, prepared to walk in the joy of the Lord.

On a cold, miserable day, a French warship steadily made its way along the Scottish coastline. The warship was powered by human labor — the steady pull of many chained galley slaves. Aboard the ship, performing backbreaking work at the oars, was a feeble man who was very near the point of death. It had been many months since the Scotsman had seen his native land.

This week, we will turn to the positive application of this commandment. Elijah introduced himself to King Ahab with these words, “As the LORD God of Israel liveth” (I Kings 17:1). Speaking the name of the Lord in this manner was certainly not taking it in vain. In fact, the Hebrew form clearly indicates that Elijah was actually swearing “by the life of Jehovah.”

Moses asked the Lord a significant question in Exodus 3:13: “Behold, when I... shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?” Moses was asking for the source of his authority. The answer Moses received was simple yet profound: “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14).

Have you ever wondered why many of the Ten Commandments sound so negative? Of the ten commands given, eight of them begin with the words “Thou shalt not.” This supposed negativity of the Law is actually a mark of profound gracious liberty. When we are commanded “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain,” there is a gracious liberty granted to use God’s name in every other lawful way.

Alfred had become king at a desperate time. Parts of the country, such as East Anglia & Kent, had fallen to the Vikings. London was in the hands of the same cruel invaders. Another Viking army was marching from Reading. It seemed that the two invading forces advancing on both sides of Alfred would squeeze Wessex into submission and place the entire kingdom under tribute.

Obedience is freedom to be creative under the protection of divinely appointed authorities. All legitimate authority comes from God. He is the One Who sets up rulers and takes them down.

Under an oak tree in Shechem, Jacob had called his family to surrender their idols. At this very same spot, Joshua the commander had brought Jacob’s descendants, the nation of Israel, to the twin mountains, Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. Here at Shechem — at the very same spot where Jacob called upon his family to surrender idols, Joshua calls the sons of Israel, several million strong, to give up their idols again.

Throughout Israel’s history, Jehovah warned the Israelites against trying to repurpose pagan images and holy places. When Moses destroyed the golden calf, he did not melt it down to repurpose the gold for the altar of incense, the golden menorah, or the golden mercy seat that God had commanded him to make.

Because the centurion was under the authority of the emperor, he had the emperor’s authority over those under him. The centurion realized that God’s Kingdom was also structured with a chain of command—the man realized that because Jesus was under God’s authority, He had God’s authority over the spiritual realm.

From the moment he entered the world, Jacob was a man of intense ambition. Jacob had obtained outward prosperity but at tremendous cost. Broken relationships, strained marriages, immorality, and divided affections resulted due to the path that Jacob had chosen: divided loyalty between the Lord God and his own choices.

On the surface, the second commandment seems old and antiquated. But it addresses far more than carved statues of wood and stone. The second commandment stands guard over the first commandment and flows naturally from it. Like a carefully constructed bridge, each one of the Ten Commandments strengthens and supports the entire structure.

The Apostle begs us in the strongest terms to lay aside all competing interests and give the Lord Jesus Christ first place in our hearts. Christ tolerates no rivals. He will not accept second place. John concludes his epistle with this plea: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen” (I John 5:21).

A bold prophet from the village of Tishbi had not bowed the knee to the modern ideologies of the age. Elijah’s name means “My God is Jehovah.” One day, as the prophet of Jehovah, Elijah had emerged from his homeland of Gilead. He walked into the palace of Ahab and Jezebel with the startling declaration: “As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word” (I Kings 17:1). With that ominous weather forecast, Elijah walked out of the palace and vanished into the wilderness. For three and a half long years, King Ahab scoured the country to find him but failed in every attempt.