Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
To "take the name of the Lord" means to "bear the name of the Lord". In our culture, when a woman enters into a covenant of marriage with a man, she takes his name. If after marrying that man, the woman becomes an unfaithful wife, she has taken her husband's name in vain. This is what the Lord meant when He warned Israel in Exodus 20:7, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain." He was commanding Israel not to enter into covenant with Him and take His holy name upon them, and then live in such a way that the name of God is disgraced.
It seems obvious, but it needs to be said that no one can take the Lord's name in vain except those who have taken it in the first place. In other words, the only ones who can bring disgrace on the name of Jesus are those who have entered into a covenant with him and are now called by his name. And who are they? Spirit-baptized people, of course. The congregation of the Lord. Strange as it may sound, the only people on earth who can take God's name in vain are His own children, the ones who bear His name upon them and are called by His name.
There are many ways that children of God may bear God's name in vain. The wise man said that we have taken His name in vain if we steal. He prayed earnestly for God not to plague him with poverty, "lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain" (Prov. 30:9).
Is it not true, then, that the saints may enter into covenant with God and then, take His name in vain by being divided? Jesus said that if we were unified, the world would believe that God sent him as the Savior (Jn. 17:21). Then, what do the divisions that separate God's people say to the world? A righteous heart feels shame when he views the divisions in the body of Christ. If a united family of God on earth would convince the world that Jesus is Lord, what can discourage the world more from believing in Christ Jesus than a divided family of God?
May God help His precious, divided children everywhere to escape Satan's pretty snare, the white-washed religion of Christianity, and at long last be united by the power and truth of God. Christianity IS division, and it divides God's children by its many different doctrines and rituals. Jesus prayed earnestly the night before he died, he prayed earnestly that his followers would be made one, as he and the Father were one (Jn. 17). If his prayer is ever answered and the children of God are at long last united in the faith, then we shall be able to proclaim to this sin-ravaged world, "Jesus is Lord", and our words will have a weight to them that they cannot now have.