[Decrees]
The unbelieving mind cannot bear to hear of the sovereignty and predestination of God without instantly being upset and without audaciously attempting to call God to an account for His eternal decrees, or without accusing God with injustice, having sought to measure Him by the yard stick of their own observation, experience and reason. (361)

It is certainly permissible to bring any questions we have about the Bible’s teaching on the decrees of God to the Bible to have it answer and explain them, but they must be questions that arise in a humble, believing, submissive and teachable mind. Questions regarding God’s sovereignty that are hostile or quarrelsome are transgressions of the Third Commandment. (362-363)

[Providence]
Murmuring against, quarreling at or discontentment with God’s providential dealings with us is also a taking of God’s name in vain. (363)

We will always murmur against and quarrel with God’s providence, whenever we judge God by the standard of our experience and when we think that God is answerable to us to explain the why’s and wherefore’s of His providential ways with us. It is the other way around, we are accountable to Him. Furthermore, there is never any basis for our murmuring, for God never, never acts out of character, He never treats His creation unkindly or unjustly—“Far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to do wrong” (Job 34:10). (363-364)

God makes this point in Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.” God commands us to do three things in this verse. First, we are forbidden to allow our curiosity to lead us to pry into the secret
counsels of God concerning what He has decreed to do, but which things He has not revealed, so that we can have “inside information” so as to know and control the future apart from the Word of God. Second, we are directed diligently to make full inquiry into what God has revealed to us in His Word, because all that is revealed
there is for our benefit and guidance....Third, we are also to acquaint fully our children with the things God has revealed in His Word that they, with us, might observe His Law and believe His promises with all our heart. (364-365)

In Romans 3:1–8, Paul is vindicating the character and decrees of God from the complaints and accusations of unbelieving man, who deliberately tries to misapply God’s decrees and providence so as to make God look foolish to justify his own unbelief and to evade the true implications of that character and those decrees. Here we can see the difference between the believer and the unbeliever: a believer always justifies God and accuses self, but an unbeliever always accuses God and justifies self. (365-366)

Any misapplication and misinterpretation of God’s decrees that would make those who live in sin immune from divine punishment is a taking of God’s name in vain. God is faithful to His promises, but He never promised to forgive those who refuse to repent and believe in Jesus. (367)

Furthermore, any doctrine of men that excuses sin, removes its odiousness, alleviates its guilt, compromises the need for repentance of it, and condemns the need for continuing conviction and confession of it is of Satan and is to be despised. (367)

Interpreting the Bible is exhilarating and humbling at the same time. It is also dangerous. Interpreting the Bible in any way, ignorantly or deliberately, that denies the true meaning of God’s Name—i.e., of the Biblical revelation of the character, will and ways of God—is a transgression of the Third Commandment. It is for this reason that the Bible warns: “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment” (James 3:1) and exhorts us to: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15; emphasis added). “The man who handles the word of the truth properly does not
change, pervert, mutilate, or distort it, neither does he use it with a wrong purpose in mind. On the contrary, he prayerfully interprets Scripture in the light of Scripture.”162
All believers are privileged, commanded and enabled by the Spirit to study and interpret the Bible for themselves (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2, 3)...
However, believers do not have the right to interpret the Bible any way they see fit, and any ignorance of Biblical principles of interpreting the Bible, which ignorance leads to misinterpretations of the Bible, is of no excuse before God for distorting His Word.
162. William Hendriksen, Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, [1955] 1979), 263. (369)

The only infallible interpreter of the Bible is the Bible.
Each text of the Bible has one true meaning and not a variety of possible meanings.
The less clear texts of the Bible are to be interpreted by the more clear and not vice versa. (372)

Not only is misinterpreting the Bible a taking of God’s name in vain, so is misapplying the Word or any part of it. Correct interpretation leads to practical application; believing the truth leads to doing the truth. Therefore, misinterpretation leads to misapplication; but, furthermore, a misapplication is sometimes drawn from a correct interpretation. (372)

What is wisdom? It is insight into the true nature of God, life and the world that comes from diligent study of the Word of God, plus the practical skill in applying those insights to everyday situations and decisions. (373)

It should be obvious that deliberately perverting the Word or any part of it, twisting and distorting it to suit our purposes or to represent our viewpoint is a great evil. If anything takes the Lord’s name in vain it is this. (378)

"[W]e must not read the Bible just to conform our own ideas and support our own theories…this is what Peter has in mind, and this is what Paul has in mind when he corrects this tendency—the danger of coming to the Scriptures with your own ideas and theories.…That is one way of wresting the Scriptures to your own destruction. " 171. D. M. Lloyd-Jones, Expository Sermons on 2 Peter (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1983), 215–16. (379)

Immorality, impurity and greed, along with everything that leads to these sins, are to be avoided by God’s “beloved children” (5:1–2), and not only avoided, but not even made the topic of conversation, for it is inconsistent with the character of “saints,” i.e., people called out of the world and consecrated to God. “Filthiness” is obscenity and whatever excites moral disgust, the opposite of what is good, beautiful and wholesome, whatever is disgusting in word and conduct....“Silly talk” is the frivolous and senseless talk of fools or drunkards who despise wisdom (Prov. 1:7). “Coarse jesting” (profane jesting) is difficult to translate. It means literally “that which turns easily” and in its early usage means “urbanity” and “politeness.”...Paul is warning us of talk that moves easily and comfortably into the mire of unbecoming expressions. This can happen in people who have a “garbage mind,” that turn every topic of conversation into some off-color, coarse joke or story. Thus, the word came to mean in Paul “coarse jesting,” wittiness in telling coarse jokes and stories. (381-382)

“Foolish talking and jesting are not the ways in which Christian cheerfulness should express itself, but rather giving of thanks. [The Christian] [r]eligion is the source of joy and gladness, but its joy is expressed in a [Christian] way, in thanksgiving and praise.”180 This is the reason that such “coarse jesting” is a transgression of the
Third Commandment, a taking of God’s name in vain. If we move easily, continually and naturally into coarse and profane talk, we are not able or desirous to give praise, honor and thanksgiving to that Name which is above every name. 180. Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d.), 284. (383)

What exactly were these individual who yearned to be known as expert teachers of the Bible doing?
(1) They were “teaching strange doctrines, different” than the Spirit-inspired apostolic teaching. These “different doctrines” were a “different gospel,” which is not really another gospel, but a distortion of the one gospel (Gal. 1:6). Such teaching of different doctrines, then, comes under the strong anathema of Paul in Galatians 1:8–9.
(2) They were preoccupied with “myths and endless genealogies,” i.e., man-made supplements to the Law of God, such as rabbinical traditions, myths, fables (2 Tim. 4:4; 1 Tim. 4:7), and old wives’ tales that were Jewish (legalistic and racist) in
character (Titus 1:14).   ....
(3) They were “turn[ing] aside to fruitless discussion,” because they had “stray[ed] from” apostolic doctrine (1:6). They had deviated not only from apostolic doctrine but from the goals of that doctrine—love, a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith (1:7).
(388-389)

Having encouraged Titus to preach with confidence the Spirit produced, apostolic gospel of Christ so that those who have believed God may be careful to engage in good deeds (Titus 3:8), Paul warns him to “avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless” (3:9). Irrelevant investigations into genealogical lore—Jewish legends
and rabbinical traditions, unedifying skirmishes about the Law, unnecessary scholastic arguments and wrangling are all to be avoided simply because they are all of no value whatever. It should be noted that all these things Paul warns Titus to shun are doctrines, teachings, viewpoints, principles, regulations and insights that originate with human reason, experience and observation rather than with the Word of God. (390)

The maintaining or advocating of false doctrines, i.e., teaching that “does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ,” that is not faithful to the divinely-revealed truths of the Bible, is much more than false, it is taking God’s name in vain, it leads away from Christ and godliness, and it is destructive to a person’s spiritual state and to the state of human society. ....
First, the doctrine is “different,” not that it is a different but equally true way of understanding God, but because it is a distortion of the one and only way of understanding God as revealed in the Bible’s gospel (Gal. 1:6f).
Second, this doctrine does not “agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Sound, unimpaired, uninfected and healthy words that promote life, knowledge and godliness are found only in the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, who speaks His words directly and inerrantly through His prophets and apostles in the Bible, and through His ministers of the gospel who
faithfully preach that written Word (Rom. 10:14). .....
Third, this doctrine is not in agreement “with the doctrine conforming to godliness.”   .....
Fourth, the person who maintains or advocates these false doctrines “is conceited and understands nothing.” Morally and spiritually he is blinded by conceit, his vision is clouded, he walks and thinks in darkness, and he is “full of smoke.” His false presuppositions and doctrines prevent him from knowing anything true about
God and life.   .....
Fifth, the advocator of false doctrines “has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words.”...They waste their time and energy seeking to satisfy their curiosity in answering questions the Bible leaves unanswered, or in answering questions from the perspective of human reason and observation unaided by revelation or in replacing the answers of the Word of God with those of human, man-made tradition.    ....
Sixth, from such morbid interests “arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction.” The phrase, “abusive language,” refers to defiant irreverence toward God in our language and behavior, insults directed to God and man.
Seventh, such behavior and attitudes on the part of these who maintain false doctrine reveal that they are “men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth.” A depraved mind hates the truth, opposing and suppressing it.
(391-393)

He charges Timothy to “remind” them of the apostolic doctrine (Acts 2:42), and to “solemnly charge them in the presence of God” to do four things in the carrying out of the functions of their ministerial office, and to do these things himself as an ordained minister.
First, he is to “remind them of these things.” Ministers must never grow weary of preaching time and again all that God has revealed through His prophets and apostles and only what God has revealed in His Word, for these things need to be continually presented and in fact they cannot be too frequently repeated. Ministers are to take great pains to impress the apostolic gospel upon the hearts of their hearers by frequent repetition. ....
Second, he is to charge them before God “not to wrangle about words, which is useless, and leads to the ruin of the hearers,” for such preaching does not treat the revealed name of the Lord with the respect and reverence it deserves. .....
Third, “be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” When a commandment forbids one sin, it implicitly requires the opposite duty; so that, rather than maintaining useless and false doctrines, ministers are to be faithful and diligent workmen of God, who need not be ashamed of what they preach, because they are “handling accurately the word of truth,” without perverting it, distorting it, adding to it, subtracting from it or using it for wrong purposes.   ....
Fourth, “but avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene.” Ministers must guard the treasure of sound doctrine that has been entrusted to them to defend, teach and bear witness to by being diligent to impart solid food in their preaching, detesting ostentation, resisting ambitious desires to impress his hearers with his abililties and scholarship, being cautious not to talk without spiritual purpose, in plain and forthright language and not with a high-sounding, verbose and bombastic style of preaching.
(394-396)

     Racheal

God threatens to curse all those who do not honor His name as it deserves and who do not take His name, and all it means, to heart. God will curse their persons and
their blessings. This is particularly true of Christian leaders, like the priests to whom these words were originally addressed (vs. 1). They must show the people the right way to live and worship, and correct any impiety and false worship in the people whenever they see the people growing cold in God’s worship. (306)

[1: Ignorance]
Abusing or misusing God’s name in ignorance is still a breaking of the Third Commandment, for our ignorance of God, i.e., the willful suppression of the truth in unrighteousness, is guilty, inexcusable ignorance: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). (307)

“The unbeliever is fully responsible for his mental state, and this is a state of culpable ignorance. That explains why Paul issued a call for repentance to the
Athenians (v. 30); their ignorant mindset was immoral.” 79. ​Bahnsen, Always Ready, 256 (308)

[2: In Vanity]
The reason for these petitions [Prov. 30:7-9] is that he does not want to dishonor his God by sinning against Him either by unbelief or pride....Either way he considers his sin as an abuse of God’s name in vain. (308)

[3. Irreverent Profanity]
By their treatment of the altar and the table of the Temple, the people and priests were, in God’s opinion, guilty of contemptuous behavior in corrupting His worship, because they had regarded the worship of God as of such little sacred value, that it was nothing to them to adulterate that worship. Irreverence for the means by which God reveals Himself is irreverence for the God who is “majestic in holiness” and who is “a consuming fire.” (310)

[4. Superstition]
For example, in the incident described in 1 Samuel 4, Israel had a misplaced and superstitious trust in the ark of God, rather than the God of the ark: “Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the Lord that IT may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies” (vs. 3). Such superstitious attitude
and use of the ark of the Lord is a heinous sin against the Lord of the ark. Faith puts its trust in the trustworthiness of divinely instituted symbols, sacraments and ordinances as pledges of God’s presence and blessing to His faithful people. But these divine symbols, sacraments and ordinances do not derive their power from the trust that is properly placed in them, that is, in God through them. (311)

[5. Wicked Mentioning of God's Name]
    A] Titles and Attributes:
Those wicked people who speak against God wickedly, taking His holy name in vain, using His glorious titles or mentioning His perfections in a wicked and irreverent manner are counted by God as His enemies and as haters of God....God takes a person’s wicked use of His name far more seriously than we ordinarily think. God hates it, is insulted by it and will punish it. (320)
   
    B] Ordinances:
To mention or use God’s divinely instituted ordinances revealed in His Word in a wicked manner is also taking the Lord’s Name in vain. In Psalm 50, “the Mighty One, the Lord…God, your God” (vs. 1, 7) counts “the wicked” as everyone who speaks His statutes and ordinances favorably and who confess His covenant, making their public vows, but who hate His discipline of them and audaciously
disregard His revealed Word. (321)

Correct forms of worship and correct words in worship without faith, heart and repentance are forms and words used wickedly before God. Such empty formalism, being superstitious and without heart, is detestable to God. (321)

    C] Works:
Any wicked mentioning or using of God’s creative, providential or redemptive works amounts to taking His name in vain. Isaiah 5:8–30 is a catalogue of the specific sins of Israel and their appropriate judgment. In verses 11–12, Israel is condemned for being a debauched people. Their lifestyle, music and knowledge are debased and immoral. They give themselves to drunkenness and dissipation making them unfit to glorify God in six days of meaningful work for God’s glory and one day of rest and worship. (324)

This last passage (Lev. 24:11–16) shows us how God views blaspheming His name: it is such a heinous sin and crime in His sight that it must be punished by the civil magistrate, and it is of such an extremely heinous nature, because it is against God’s infinitely valuable Name, that its only just punishment is death. Blasphemy, then, remains a capital crime as long as God’s name is infinitely holy. (326-327)

Basic to a godly social order is the sanctity of the name of the God who defends such an order. (The source of law for a society is the God of that society.) The blasphemer verbally assaults the name of God: His titles, perfections, works, ordinances, representatives, etc. He publicly challenges God and His representatives to do something about his renunciation of his covenant oath to God and his faith in God by uttering a curse against God. Such verbal assault is rebellion and treason. It is an attack upon the foundation of a godly social order, which social order is to be defended and maintained by the civil magistrate. (327)

Perjury is a serious offense according to Biblical Law. It is regarded as a destruction of the processes of justice (Lev. 19:12; Deut. 17:6, 7; 19:16–21; Prov. 19:5, 9; 25:18; Matt. 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20). Biblical Law equates perjury with blasphemy, since it is God’s justice that is offended (Lev. 19:12). (329)

[1: Cursing]
"You need not go far in this life to meet a Shimei. His personal characteristics are all too common.… Here is an unbridled tongue, fulminating in the foulest language and pointing to an untamed heart (James 3:5–6). Here, also is the capacity to combine a monolithic sense of being in the right with a readiness to indulge a sinful, judgmental attitude to another person (James 3:9). Allied to this is a lack of interest in solving whatever problem exists, or of extending the slightest hint of a willingness to forgive a perceived wrong, and a vicious enthusiasm to see the wrath of God poured out on that person. The Shimeis of this world are driven by a burning desire for revenge. They don’t want any repentance, reconciliation, or restitution. They want to see the other fellow “get his deserts,” as the saying goes. Bitterness consumes those who, far from not letting the sun go down on their anger
and so leaving everything in the hands of a just Father- God, wallow in unholy anger, self-pity or vengefulness. 114. Keddie, Triumph of the King, 155–56. (335)

[2: Oaths]
    A] Flippant Oaths made in Everyday Conversation:
Both Jesus and James (5:12), forbade flippant oaths in everyday conversion, lightly taken with reference to trivial matters. They did not forbid oath-taking, but the taking of such oaths in every day conversation. (335)

Therefore, when Christ said, “make no oath at all,” He was not absolutely forbidding all oaths on necessary and solemn occasions, but, rather, was forbidding the taking of oaths in everyday conversation and oaths in the name of creatures, rather than in the name of God. (336)

    B] Made in the Name of Someone or Something other than God:
Oaths are to be taken only in the name of the God of the Bible, the one, true and living God....Swearing in the name of God implies faith in and confession of the God of the Bible and of His glorious perfections, especially His omniscience, omnipotence, justice and sovereignty. It follows, therefore, that to swear in the name of anyone or anything else besides Him is utterly unlawful and is nothing less than idolatry, which God hates. (337)

    C] Swearing to Something that One is not Fully Persuaded is the Truth:
In taking an oath we should swear to nothing but what we are fully persuaded to be the truth: “And you shall swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’ In truth, in justice and in righteousness” (Jer. 4:2). (338)

    D] Swearing to What is not Good and Just:
To swear to that which is good and just is to swear to that which is Scriptural because the Bible, as a written revelation of the character and will of God, is the standard for goodness and justice. (338)

    E] Swearing to Something that One is not Able and Resolved to Perform:
We should swear to do nothing but what we are able to do with the Lord’s help and what we are resolved and prepared to do. (341)

    F] Oaths Obligating Sinning:
​No oath is obligatory which binds a man to do what is unlawful or impossible. The sin lies in taking such an oath, not in breaking it. The reason of this rule is, that no man can bring himself under the obligation to commit a sin. (343)

[3. Vows]
    A] To do Something Forbidden:
We may never do what God’s Law forbids us to do; hence, it is wicked to vow to do what God forbids (Acts 23:12, 14; Mark 6:26). (343)

    B] To do Something which would Hinder our Performing any Duty Commanded by God:
Because we are to obey whatever God commands of us in His Word, we may take no vows that would keep us from doing what God commands. (343)

    C] To do Something which is Not in Our Power to Perform:
The Bible explicitly forbids us from vowing to do things that we are totally incompetent to carry out: “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the Lord your God will surely require it of you.… You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips” (Deut. 23:21, 23). Therefore, vows which are not in our power to perform are forbidden, as well as vows which we do not have the authority to make. (344)

    D] To do Something which we have No Promise From God for the Ability to do:
Where there is no divine bidding, there is no divine enabling....Therefore, since we cannot faithfully keep a vow without the assistance of Christ and His Spirit, we cannot make any vows other than those which obligate us to do what He has commanded, since the only promise of ability which He gives us is in reference to being enabled to do what His Word commands. Hence, Roman Catholic vows of
perpetual chastity, poverty and silence, or Fundamentalist vows of total abstinence of alcoholic beverages are forbidden us since God has not promised to give us the ability to keep such vows because He has not commanded such things of us in His Word. (345)

[4. Lots]
In the light of what we explained about lots, as revelatory of God’s will until the completion of the Biblical canon, any use of lots to determine God’s will is sinful. It is to seek to know God’s will apart from the all-sufficient Word of God which thoroughly equips us for every good work (2 Tim. 3:17). (353)

[1. Violation of Lawful Oaths and Vows]
The word treason, means literally “to give up” or “to betray” a trust, an oath or a vow. (353)

It is…a sin to refuse an oath touching any thing that is good and just, being imposed by lawful authority (WCF, XXII, iii). (354)

This incident [Zedekiah and Nebuchadnezzar] also teaches us that we are to keep lawful oaths even when they are made to heretics and infidels. The obligation of a lawful oath does not depend upon the character of the person imposing the oath. (356)

[2. Occasions when Oaths and Vows May Be Broken]
    A] When they would Commit Us to Sinning:
Because oaths are made in the name of God to a God-ordained agency, and because vows are made directly to God, neither church nor state can regard either as in any way binding men to them, rather than to God’s law. No disobedient and faithless church can regard its clergy and laity as bound to loyalty to the institution, and no lawless state can bind the conscience of man apart from the Word of God. (357)

B] When made by a Family Member without the Consent or Knowledge of the Head of the Family

C] When Imposed on Us for Evil Purposes:
Therefore, “where the truth is being extracted from us for evil purposes, for the commission of a crime, we are under no obligation to tell the truth. To tell the truth and help an evildoer in the commission of a crime is to become an accessory to it.” 153. ​Rushdoony, Law and Society, 118. (361)

      Racheal

I've been watching these maples through this window in the mornings for days now--each day, the flowers have gotten more pronounced.

      Racheal

[1: The Titles and Attributes of God]
Why does God give Himself so many names and titles in the Bible? To give us true knowledge of Himself, His perfections and His will. Some of those titles are: Jehovah, God, Lord, Holy One of Israel, Rock, the Creator of the ends of the earth, the Preserver of men, King of nations, Lord of hosts, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Father of mercies, the Hearer of Prayer, the God of salvation, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. His names—Jehovah, El Shaddai, Elohim—reveal who God is in Himself, and His titles—Creator of the ends of the earth, the God of Abraham, the Father of mercies—reveal who God is with reference to His creation and His people. (274)

Therefore, we are to speak and use God’s names holily and reverently. (278)

God is what He reveals Himself to be. He is His perfections. God’s Being is God’s Perfections. His Being is the fullness of His perfections, which are “real distinctions and differentiations that are to be found in the [inexhaustible] fullness of God’s Being.”48....Although God’s perfections can be distinguished, nevertheless every perfection is “identical with God’s being. 
48. Smith, Systematic Theology, 1:127. (278)

Because all of God’s perfections are “majestic in holiness,” they are all to be spoken of holily and reverently. (279)

[2: The Ordinances of God]
The ordinances of God are those rules by which God is to be worshipped, which are established by Him and commanded of us in His Word. They are those actions and rituals that He has commanded us to observe in His worship. Those divinely-appointed ordinances include the reading, preaching and hearing of the Word of
God, the administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, prayer, the singing of praise, offerings, confessions of faith, benedictions, fasting, times of thanksgiving, oaths and vows.
All of these ordinances are outward and ordinary means of saving grace whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of His mediation…all which are made effectual to the elect for their salvation (WLC, Q. 153–154). Therefore they are to be used with diligence, because the only way we may escape the wrath and curse of God due to us by reason of the transgression of the Law is what God has required
of us—repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and the diligent use of the outward means of grace (WLC, Q. 153). (281)

Therefore, we use God’s ordinances holily and reverently only when we: (1) Believe that by them Christ communicates to us the benefits of His mediation, and by faith we draw strength from them to increase our faith and holiness of life; and (2) Believe that God is present in and through them, so that we use them with “a single eye to His glory.” (282)

[3: The Word of God]
Most especially must the Word of God—the reading, preaching and hearing of it—be approached with humility, holiness and reverence. Because of all the divine ordinances, it is especially the Word, sacraments and prayer that are the means by which Christ communicates to His church the benefits of His mediation. (283)

When the Word is faithfully preached, the exalted Christ Himself from the right hand of God preaches to His people in the preaching of His ministers: “How then will they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent?” (Rom. 10:14–15a). (283)

[4: The Sacraments of God]
The sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, being instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ are divinely-commanded ordinances that are, along with the Word of God, especially… effectual to the elect for their salvation, as “the visible words” of God. The Bible is God’s sermon to the heart, through the ears. The sacraments are God’s sermon to the heart through the eyes, mouth, nose, and hands....Because in the Lord’s Supper, for instance, we commune in the benefits of the breaking of Christ’s precious body and the spilling of His precious blood (1 Cor. 10:16), and because of the close sacramental union between Christ’s blood and body and the visible elements of bread and wine (1 Cor. 11:24–25), communion is an especially holy and joyful meal, not to be taken lightly or flippantly. (284-285)

[5: Prayers to God]
Prayers said mindlessly, flippantly, impatiently, or disrespectfully are transgressions of the Third Commandment. Because of the holiness and supremacy of the God to whom we pray and because of the solemn nature of prayer as coming before the throne of God, we are always to pray with an awful apprehension of the majesty of God, and deep sense of our own unworthiness, necessities and sins; with penitent, thankful and enlarged hearts; with understanding, faith, sincerity, fervency, love and perseverance, waiting upon Him, with humble submission to His will, directed by the Word of God and offered in the name and merits of Jesus Christ (WLC, Q. 185). (286-287)

[6: Oaths and Vows to God]
Oaths and vows are to be made holily and reverently, not only because of the solemn nature of them and because so much depends upon their truthfulness, but also because as ordinances of God, they are means of grace, and in faithfulness to Biblical oaths and vows God “reveals His name to us,” i.e., sanctifies us and brings us into closer fellowship with Himself. (287)

God blesses us through properly taken oaths and vows in at least two specific ways. First, they confirm and reaffirm the truth in us and in the congregation, thereby binding us more strictly to believing and doing the truth. Second, they are means by which we declare ourselves to be the Lord’s people, totally dedicated to His
worship and service. (287-288)

Because God takes all oaths and vows seriously, punishing those who are unfaithful to them and blessing those who are faithful to them, we must do the same and use them with all holy fear and reverence. We must be careful to avoid all unnecessary and unbiblical oaths; and we must be careful to fulfill all lawful oaths we have made, even to our own hurt if necessary: “O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue… who honors those who fear the Lord; he who swears to his own hurt and does not change” (Ps. 15:1–4). (289)

This law of the Lord seeks to do two things: (1) To discourage the rash making of vows; and (2) to encourage the practice of truthfulness and faithfulness in all our relations with the Lord and with each other. (290)

[7: The Casting of Lots]
The casting of lots (similar to throwing dice or drawing straws) was an ordinance of God by which God, in an extraordinary manner, revealed His will to His people: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Prov. 16:33). (293)

We know very little about the nature of “casting lots,” but it was apparently a divine ordinance by which God revealed His will to His people. (293)

Since it was a sacred divine ordinance, it was not to be used to satisfy curiosity, discover a secret (choice of a mate, a profession, a location), or in neglect of the use of the infallible rule of the Word of God. (293)

With the cessation of divine verbal revelation in the completion of the sixty-six books of the canon of the Bible, the “many ways” that God formerly “spoke” to the people of God, revealing His will, have ceased. Now He speaks to us “in His Son” by the Spirit in and through the Bible, which not only is “God-breathed,” and therefore inerrant, but which also is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for
training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17; [)]...The point is: casting lots was a temporary ordinance of God—as were the miraculous spiritual gifts—that is no longer to be used as a means of ascertaining the will of God because we have the complete canon of the Bible. (294)

[8: The Works of God]
What are the works of God? They are His mighty works of creation, providence and redemption. What is it to speak and think of God’s works holily and reverently? It is to be grateful for them, to admire God’s handiwork in them, to glorify His sovereignty, grace, power and wisdom in them, to meditate on the revelation of His
glory in them, and allow ourselves to be moved to deeper love for Him and more faithful obedience to Him so as to walk humbly and thankfully before Him. (295)

[1: In Writing]
We must make sure that if we ever write anything about God’s Self-revelation that we do so with great care and with much fear and trembling, lest what we write be displeasing to Him because it is an incorrect interpretation or application of His Word, because it is written in such a way as to mislead, because it is carelessly written, because it is written not to glorify God and that others might revere Him, but for the purpose of bringing attention and praise to self. (296)

[2: By an Holy Profession]
We are to use the Lord’s Name in public professions of faith. We are to confess the Lord is the one true and living God, besides whom there is no other (Deut. 6:4, 13). We are to profess before God and man that “we are loyal to Him, honor and fear Him, put our trust in Him, and that we are loyal to His truth, cause, and children. We must furthermore confess that we are not ashamed of this, but deem it to be the greatest honor to be known for this.” 67. Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, 3:128. (296)

[3: By an Answerable Conversation]
1 Peter 3:13–16 is emphatic: any confession of our faith or defense of our hope must be backed by a consistently Christian way of life. Our behavior must be answerable to our profession: “we must walk the talk!” (301)

[4: To the Glory of God]
What is our highest motive for obeying the Third Commandment and for using God’s name holily and reverently in thought, word and deed? Answer: to the glory of God, because the chief and highest end of man is to glorify God and fully to enjoy Him forever (WLC, Q. 1). In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul could not have said it more comprehensively: “whether, then, you eat or drink or WHATEVER YOU DO, do ALL to the glory of God” (emphasis added). (303)

[5: For the Good of Ourselves]
Although our ultimate purpose for obeying the Third Commandment is the glory of God, because of God’s promise to bless graciously those who obey it, we are also motivated by the good of ourselves which such obedience brings. (303)

[6: For the Good of Others]
The Christian obeys also because he knows his obedience will benefit others, it will be for the good…of others. God has enabled him to love other people from his heart and to be genuinely concerned for their physical, spiritual and eternal welfare. (304)

​      Racheal