The Lord will not hold him guiltless who bears his name falsely

Exodus 20:7 · Sermon by Thomas Garvin · Life & Truth Missions · Sunday 18 October 2026

Key Scriptures: Exodus 20:2, 7 · Exodus 28:12 · Jeremiah 2:30 · Numbers 6:27 · Deuteronomy 28:9–10 · Ezekiel 36:20 · Jeremiah 7:9–10 · Isaiah 4:1; 54:5 · Ezekiel 16:14–15 · Romans 11:18 · 2 Corinthians 11:2 · Romans 2:24 · Matthew 7:21–23; 25:12, 41–45 · James 1:26–27 · Ephesians 2:8–10 · Revelation 22:4

Before You Listen

"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" (Exodus 20:7).

Most of us were taught that the third commandment means "don't use God's name as a swear word." That isn't wrong. Using His name carelessly is taking it in vain. But I don't believe it covers the whole meaning, and once you look at the words themselves, the commandment gets a lot bigger.

I'll be honest: I wrestled with this message all week, because the subject is heavy. If I deliver it badly, you walk away with a sense of doom and panic. That isn't what I'm after. Think of it as a warning and a call to action. If an army comes over the hill, there are two ways to hear the news. One is "We're all going to die." The other is "Pick up your sword." I'm aiming for the second.

Here's the word study. Strong's Concordance is keyed to the King James Version, so I switch to the KJV for this part. The word translated "take" is the Hebrew nasa' (H5375). It means to lift, carry or bear, and it's used over 600 times in the Old Testament. It's the word used when the priests carried the ark. Translate it as "take" there and it sounds like they were stealing it! In Exodus 28:12 (KJV), "Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial." The high priest went into God's presence carrying the names of God's people. It's the same word.

"In vain" is lashav' (H7723). It means for nothing, to no result, and it can also mean false. "In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction" (Jeremiah 2:30, KJV). The discipline produced nothing.

So here is the commandment as I believe Israel heard it: you shall not carry His name for nothing, nor falsely. The name can be on you, but the carrying of it can be empty and purposeless.

As you listen, keep this in mind: empty isn't the same as idle. You can be very busy and still be carrying His name for nothing.

After You've Listened — Recap & Application

1. Israel was chosen to bear the Name

God's order matters. "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exodus 20:2). He saved them first, and then He gave them His name to carry. "So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them" (Numbers 6:27).

To carry someone's name is to represent them. Think of a school uniform. If you get into trouble on the street wearing that jumper, the school gets involved, and "but I wasn't in school" won't get you far. You were wearing their name. God told Israel that if they walked in His ways, "all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD" (Deuteronomy 28:9–10).

They didn't. "Wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, 'These are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to go out of his land'" (Ezekiel 36:20). The nations looked at the exiles and judged their God by them. Jeremiah describes people who would steal, murder, commit adultery and swear falsely, "and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are delivered!'" (Jeremiah 7:9–10). That has a modern echo in a hyper-grace message that says "sin all you like, it doesn't matter." It matters. We carry His name.

2. The Bride bears her Husband's name

A bride takes her husband's name, and Scripture uses exactly that picture. "Seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, 'We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach'" (Isaiah 4:1). "For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name" (Isaiah 54:5).

Israel was His bride, and running through the Old Testament is the story of an unfaithful wife. "Your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty … But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown" (Ezekiel 16:14–15). She traded on His name.

We're familiar with the idea of the Church as the Bride of Christ, but we need to be careful here: we are grafted in. "…it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you" (Romans 11:18). Replacement theology, the idea that Israel is no longer God's chosen people, is false. We are grafted into them, not in place of them. And the same calling now rests on us: "…I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:2). Like Israel, the Church can bring His name into disrepute. "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you" (Romans 2:24).

3. Name-bearers He never knew

This is where it gets serious. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness'" (Matthew 7:21–23).

Look at their defence. In the Greek, "in your name" comes first in each line: in your name did we not prophesy, in your name cast out demons. It's all they have. And "Lord" is the word the Greek Old Testament used in place of God's own name, so they knew exactly who they were addressing.

Notice too that these aren't lazy people. They list everything they did. They were busy, but it was empty. And the word "knew" is the same word Matthew uses of Joseph, who "knew her not until she had given birth to a son" (Matthew 1:25). It's the language of marriage. They wore the Bridegroom's name, but He never knew them.

James puts it plainly: "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world" (James 1:26–27). Jesus says the same in Matthew 25: "I was hungry and you gave me no food … naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me" (Matthew 25:42–43). These aren't a checklist. The point is to see a need and meet it.

My conclusion is that the Christianity of the people in Matthew 7 lived inside the church service. Everything they listed happened in the building. We see a lot of that today: congregations hooked on the promise that if they serve enough and give enough they'll get the thing they want, with loud prayers on Sunday and nothing on Monday. What we do together on a Sunday is meant to lift up His name and equip us to go out. Our Christianity runs from Monday to Sunday. It shows up in how I treat my children and my neighbour, whether I see a need and walk past it, whether I'm contentious at work, and whether I have the mouth of a sailor.

Not condemnation, but a call to action

I'm not saying "you're not saved." Salvation is "…by grace … through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works" (Ephesians 2:8–9). But the next verse says we were "created in Christ Jesus for good works" (Ephesians 2:10). Fruit is the evidence that we belong to Him, not the price of belonging. If this message stirs your conscience, that's a good sign. A conscience that still speaks is a conscience that's alive.

Reflection Questions

1. If someone watched my week, not my Sunday, what would they conclude about my God?
2. Is my faith mostly something I do in the building, or something I carry out of it?
3. Is there a need in front of me right now that I've been walking past?
4. Am I busy in His name, or known by Him?
5. Where does my speech or my temper bring His name into disrepute?

Bottom Line

We bear His name. Israel was chosen to carry it, and we have been grafted in as the Bride who carries it too. The question isn't whether His name is on us. It's whether we carry it for something or for nothing. The Bible ends with a promise: "They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads" (Revelation 22:4). One day we will carry His name for ever. Until then, don't carry it emptily, and don't carry it falsely. Pick up your sword.