 THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

     All right, now today is Father's Day, and I'm sure every preacher in
America has a Father's Day message except me. And I haven't got a Father's Day
message for you this morning. But I've got a message for a men here this
morning. I'm going to preach a message this morning on "Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain."

     If you have a Bible, let's turn to Exodus chapter 20. The Third
Commandment. Exodus chapter 20, beginning at verse 1. I say, a man's message.
You know, women have taken to cussing these days. You hear them down there in
the office and stuff saying words you wouldn't believe, man.

     Exodus 20, verse 1: "And God spake all these words, saying,  I [am] the
LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage.  Thou shalt have no other gods before me." We preached about
that. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any
thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that
[is] in the water under the earth:" We preached about that last week. "Thou
shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God
[am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me." You say,
"Ruckman, I've gone through this so many times!" It's good for you to go
through it many times. "By the law is the knowledge of sin. The law is our
schoolmaster that leads us to Christ." It's good for a man to remind himself
that God has laws that he has broken.

     Verse 6, "And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep
my commandments." The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New
Testament. The liberal says, "Well, the God of the Old Testament is the God of
wrath and terror, and a vengeful God. But Jesus reveals to us through the New
Testament this kind, living God of mercy." That isn't true. The Old Testament
said, "Showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me." The God of the Old
Testament is the God of the New Testament.

     The same God who told Saul to go out and kill the Amalekites and slay
utterly man, woman, suckling, sheep, child, infant, and ass, all that kind of
business--that same God, David said of that God, "The Lord is my shepherd, I
shall not want. My cup runneth over." Same God. Same God.

     "And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my
commandments." Now the third command, verse 7: "Thou shalt not take the name
of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that
taketh his name in vain."

     Now, Lord, you've told us that when we take your name in vain, we're
guilty. And you said you won't hold us guiltless. You said you'll hold a man
guilty who takes your name in vain. Help us to understand what's involved in
this. And show us what it is so we can avoid it. And show us what it is so we
can mark it, and note when it happens, and avoid those that profane your name.
And, Lord, if there's somebody here that's doing this regularly, or once in a
while, we pray you might give 'em fair warning through your word today, and
may they cease their sin, and get rid of their sin, and repent of it. We pray
it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.

     Now, America is a nation of cussers. And there isn't any foreign people
who don't know that. We're the most foul-mouthed people on the face of this
earth. If you read battle accounts written by Americans, and battle accounts
written by Germans or Russians or Frenchmen or British, the Americans have the
cuss words ten to one. Foul-mouthed people.

     There have been certain things in America that have improved the art of
cussing. I believe golf is one of them. I believe golf encourages people to
curse. I believe if a man won't curse anywhere, he'll curse on a golf course.
Man, if you miss one, you've got to blame something, so you fly right off. I
think telephones have increased cursing in America. I've been mad at many a
telephone. I haven't said the words, but they sure have come to my mind, when
that telephone's ringing.

     I think typewriters are a factor in cursing. I don't know how much time
you spend at a typewriter, or changing a typewriter ribbon, but that's a
cursing machine, man. And, it's the hectic wear and tear of everyday life that
gets people cursing. Besides, people are just bitter and mad.

     Do you ever stop and think what the Lord hears in traffic in America
between 4 and 6 in the afternoon? When I get in downtown traffic around 5
o'clock, I've developed a habit of saying, "Bless him, Lord. Bless her. Bless
him, Lord. Bless them." And I've got to say that, or I'd say something else! I
mean, those old familiar words just come to one's mind too regularly.

     You take, one little boy said one time, he said, "My daddy used the same
words the preacher uses, but he just uses them different."

     That's true. Most cuss words are out of the Bible. Jesus. Jesus Christ.
God. Lord. Damn. Hell. Those are Bible words.

     Some of you thin-skinned Christians can't stand to hear me say those
words, because you tolerate the folks who use them out in the world, but you
won't tolerate the preacher using them from their original source.

     Why, you take "Damn" is a perfectly good word. So is "Hell," brother. If
you're not going to Heaven, you're going to Hell, and you're damned. That's
it. That's Bible preaching.

     It's strange. All these folks say "Damn", and how out in the world, they
go to churches, where the preacher never mentions it. Isn't that the strangest
thing you ever saw?

     Now, listen, if you're not saved, you got a fortaste of Hell, and that's
why you say "Hell." Your friends out there, you fellows who worked out in the
factories and mills, you know what goes on out there. You're not gonna kid me.
I ain't gonna kid you, and I'm not gonna try to kid you, either. I worked out
there as an apprentice electrician in a steamship building corporation. I know
what goes. I was in the infantry four years. You reckon you hear some cuss
words in the infantry in four years? You hear 'em. That bunch out damning
this, and damning that, they damn everything they get their hands on.

     Why, sometimes God answers the prayer. I think God damns the stuff, to be
right frank with you.

     Do you know why a guy says, "Hell" this, and "Hell" that, and "Hell" the
other thing? Because he's going there!

     Did you ever see a person in this building who has a little foretaste of
Heaven in their bosom before they get home? I've had it. I've had it. I've had
just a touch of glory before I ever got there, many times.

     I heard Jack Wood preaching the other day. He was talking about walking
around his house at night, and seeing a bunch of bodies, all relatives and
kinfolk lying on the floor, all sleeping and all of them in good health, and
all of them sleeping well, and he gets to shouting and praising God. I've been
to that scene many a time, boy! Many a time.

     I've walked through my house and seeing Priscilla lying over here, and
Mike lying over here, and Katie lying over here, and Gus lying over here, and
Matthew lying over here, and Rachel lying over here, and Laura lying over
here, and some little girl from down the street--I called her "Dum Dum," but
that wasn't her name--"Dunn Dunn" or something like that--lying around there
in that house, and stepped over those bodies in that house. I thought to
myself, "Ain't this great?" A whole house full of kids, and all of them in
good health! None of them with broken backs, none of them with broken legs, no
broken arms, no blind eyes, no cleft palates! Ain't that great! Yeah, that
great!

     Whooooo hoooo!

     I'll shout over that, brother! I'll shout over that, man, when I don't
even shout over New Jerusalem! That's great! You know what that is? That's a
little touch before you get there!

     Now, you take you unsaved people, if you say "Damn" once in a while, I
understand it. You're damned. How's that? You say "Hell" once in a while? I
understand it. You're going there. The Bible says, "Out of the abundance of a
man's heart, his mouth speaks." You take a man with a filthy mouth, you know
what his problem is? He's got a filthy heart. That's what his problem is.

     You take this country. Damn the motorman, he damns the fireman, he damns
the brakeman, he damns the engineer, the pilot is damning the stewardess,
she's damning the weather, the passenger is damning the plane, and the pilot
is damning the air control tower, and the control tower is damning the union.
Why, if a plane crashes once in a while, that ain't a miracle, that would be
the natural consequence! When I get on a plane the first thing I do is ask God
to take the "damns"  off it. That's the first thing. I get in the plane and
say, "Take the damn off this seat, and take the damn off the wing, take the
damn off the motor. And take the damn off the weather, and take the damn off
the pilot, and get me where I'm going." If anyone's damned my bags, I don't
want them damned either!

     I don't want to ride on a "damned" plane! I want to ride on a blessed
plane!

     Back there in 1978, some plane came sailing out of Chicago, went all over
the place, man, just bodies and pieces of stuff here and there. And they
picked up the wreckage of that thing, and they found the tape of the control
tower. The last thing that pilot said where that thing hit, the last thing he
said was, "God damn it."

     Well, who knows what the Lord didn't say, "OK, bud, you want me to? I
will!" BAM!

     I don't know how many plane wrecks and train wrecks are there because
somebody asked God to damn something. I know one thing. It's just not a wise
prayer to pray, unless you mean it!

     All right, now, let me talk awhile about this thing here! This passage
says not to take the name of the Lord God in vain. The words "damn" and "hell"-
-technically, that's not taking God's name in vain. Southerners are peculiar
about that. Southerners think if you say an occasional "damn" or "hell" once
in a while, it's all right, because you're not taking the Lord's name in vain.
I once heard a boy say, "I didn't say Christ, I didn't say God, I didn't say
Lord, I didn't say Jesus. I just said 'damn,' just said 'hell.' I didn't think
there was anything wrong with that." There is something wrong with that.

     That Bible says, "Let no filthy communication proceed out of your mouth."
That Bible is very clear about perverting the words of truth. You take the
word "damn" and "hell"--those aren't words just to be thrown around, man! You
don't throw them things around. That Bible says, "He that believeth not shall
be damned."

     But you take the name--the name. In the Old Testament, the Bible said,
"The name of the Lord is exalted, and his name is exalted above all blessing
and praise." Nehemiah 9. You gonna take a name like that and take that thing
in vain? You're fooling with something you've got no business fooling with.
The name of Jehovah in the Old Testament, the name of Jesus in the New
Testament, are not names to be dragged down and brought in the mud, and
degraded and brought down, with names like Buddha and Mohammed and Einstein
and Osiris--or even Moses and Elijah.

     One time there, when Jesus was on the mount of Transfiguration, Peter
says, "Let us build three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and
one for Elijah." And the Bible said, "He wist not what he said." He was
speaking out of turn. He was trying to make them all the same--trying to make
Moses and Elijah and Jesus three of a kind. They're not three of a kind.

     When people get mad and curse, they never curse in the name of Moses.
They never curse in the name of Elijah. They take the name of Jesus Christ for
a cuss word.

     You know why nobody says, "Get the Buddha out of here?" "I'll knock the
Confucius out of you?" I mean, you know why nobody swears in those names?
Because they don't have any power! When a fellow wants to curse, he says,
"Lord," or he says, "God," or he says "Christ!"

     And we have a certain bunch of people in this country--of course, I
couldn't give you their names, because you don't have freedom of speech--but
we have a certain church there in this country, their favorite cuss word is
"Jesus." And they'll say "Jesus" and "Jesus Christ!" when they curse. And
anybody who's been north of the Mason-Dixon line knows who I'm talking about.
How many of you know? Let me see your hands. See, I'm not just giving you all
the hot air. You know.

     Take that name above every name, the Bible said at the name of Jesus
every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the
glory of God the Father. You take men, they use the name of Jesus to put power
behind what they say.

     Now, listen! If you're a man of your word, you don't have to say, "By
God!" this, or "By God!" that! If you're a man of your word, when you say
"Yes," you mean "Yes," and when you say "No," you mean "No," and when you say
"Maybe," you mean "Maybe." If I tell you I'll do something, and don't do it,
there are one of two things wrong. I either forgot what the thing was, or
something came up that I couldn't get the thing done.

     If I tell you I'll pay the bill, I will pay the bill! Till hell freezes
over. I'll be absolutely knocked cold out from paying the thing, interfere
with paying it, or forget--something like that. But if I tell you I'm going to
pay it, it'll be paid!

     Now, let me tell you something. If you're a man of your word, and your
"Yea" means "Yea," and your "Nay" means "Nay," you don't have to say, "By
God!" this, or "By God!" that. The word's your bond, boy!

     That's why they get out there on the job where you work, and "Jesus
this," and "Christ this," and "Christ that," and "Christ the other," they're
trying to put power behind what they say. And there ain't no power in it,
because there's no power in the guy that says it! You can't count on it.

     Now, taking an oath in court, that's something else. The Bible nowhere
forbids taking an oath in court. When the Bible says, "Swear not," it's not
talking about taking an oath in court. When Jesus is being tried, they say, "I
adjure you by the living God." And He takes the oath and gives them the
answer. There's nothing wrong with making a fellow put his hand on the Bible,
and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so
help you God, that's serious. That isn't like out there on the job--"Christ"
this and "Christ" that and "Christ" the other thing.

     Back in the old days, in courts--they don't do it any more--now they have
the whole courtroom stand and raise the hand. Back in the old days, the fellow
would come up on the witness stand, they'd put him down there, they put a
Bible in front of him, and it was a King James 1611 Authorized Version--it was
not Living Letters--and the guy put his hand on that Bible and raised his
right hand, and he said, "I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth!" You see what I mean, jellybean?

     Now, what good would that do today? If you took Afman and Martin and
Porter and Robinson and Faulker from Tennessee Temple, and put them in a
court, and said, "Put your hand on there," you might as well put it on Genesis
or Playboy. They don't believe that Book is the whole truth and nothing but
the truth. If you're Panosian and Wisdom and Custer and Neal from Bob Jones,
had to put their hand there, you might as well put your hand on a telephone
book--it would do just as much good. Amen! Amen! Amen!

     I mean, as far as I'm concerned, that Book is the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth. If I took an oath on that, man, I'd have to watch
my step. But Hindson and Dobson and Falwell wouldn't have to watch their step!
They don't believe it.

     You're welcome! We're just getting started! And I have a nugget for you
from Confucius: "If you don't like it, lump it!" That's one of those profound
truths, you know!

     Did you ever read about the wise man who called on one of his wisest man,
and told him to gather all the world's wise sayings together, and bring back
him a condensed statement of the greatest truth ever found? And he went out
there and came back, and ten of them came back and they had written a book
that big, each one of them--ten books.

     He said, "No, I wanted it smaller than that."

     And they went out again. And five years later, they came back, each one
of them had a book that big. And he said, "That's too many."

     And they went out there, and finally each one came back with one sheet of
paper. He said, "That's too much."

     And they went out about ten more years, and they came back, about eighty
years, they came back there, and they had one sheet of paper with one sentence
on it. You know what it said? It said, "There are no free school lunches!"

     Now, you know, some of you folks think that's levity. Now think about
that awhile! Think about that awhile. There's only one free thing on this
earth! It's salvation, brother! And you pay for the rest of it. It wasn't
quite as thin as you thought it was.

     All right now, what does it mean to take the name of the Lord in vain?
Three things. The Bible said, "The Lord will not hold him guiltless who taketh
his name in vain." What does it mean to take the name of the Lord in vain?

     Three things. First of all, it means to take it to no purpose as all.
Secondly, it means to take it to your purpose--a fleshy purpose. And thirdly,
it means to take it to the Devil's purpose. Now, you can use it there three
ways.

     First of all, what does it mean to take the name of the Lord in vain? You
use it for personal gain, personal influence, personal blessing. And I don't
mean seriously. It's like this. Here's Saul, coming back from the Amalekites.
Samuel comes up and says, "What have you done?" And Saul says, "Blessed be the
name of the Lord! I have done the commandment of the Lord!" See him
appropriate that name for his own use? He had not done what God told him to
do. He hadn't done it at all. He just appropriated that thing, and got ahold
of that thing, and used it in vain.

     Did you ever see that thing with Jacob coming in with the goat's hair on,
before his daddy? And his daddy said, "How come you got the deer so quick,
son?" And he says, "The Lord brought it to me." See that personal application?

     Brethren, you know, we have to watch that kind of business. We get to the
place where we're saying, "The Lord bless you," and "The Lord bless you," and
"The Lord bless you," and "The Lord bless you," and "God bless you," and "The
Lord bless," and "God bless"--where it don't mean anything. That's taking the
name of the Lord in vain. When you say, "The Lord bless you," mean, "I want
God to make you happy!" That's what it means! When you say, "The Lord bless
you," I mean, "I want God to make you happy!"

     You ought to think about those things before you say them. You just can't
appropriate it for yourself.

     Oh, we have a bunch of pious folks. "The Lord has been so good to me."
"Oh, the Lord has been so good to us!" "Oh, God has blessed..." Well, now, if
you mean it, OK! But all that pious, smooth, slick stuff? Some of that is
using the name of the Lord in vain.

     All right, you use it for no purpose. That's just like in cussing. Here's
a good one: "Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy
Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven, Give us this
day...blab...blab...blab...blab...blab..." Flip the beads!

     You know what Christ said? Christ said, "Use not vain repetition, as the
heathen!" That's taking the name of the Lord in vain! "Our Father which art in
Heaven, hallowed by Thy Name," flip, flip, flip, flip, flap... all that
business. That's vanity.

     And this cussin'. Christians have a kind of a polite kind of cussing, you
know. "Land sakes!" "My lands!" "Land o'Goshen!" Swear not by the earth.
"Heavenly days!" "My heavens!" "For heaven's sake." Swear not by the heavens!
"Goodness gracious!" "My goodness!" What is your goodness? It's Jesus Christ.
"My gracious!" What is your grace? It's Jesus Christ!

     Little ol' kids: "Gee." "Gee whiz." "Gee willikers." "Gee mini." "Jimini
Cricket." "Gee." What you tryin' to say, kid? "Gosh." "Golly." You're trying
to say "God," is what you're trying to say. All that stuff is kind of
Christian cussin'.

     You folks who watch television, haven't you heard those "Oh"s that are
just an oath, you know, "Sacre bleu," you folks who watch those medieval
knight pictures. Haven't you heard that in your living room? "Sacre bleu."
What does that mean? "Sacred blood." You ever hear that ol' boy in Arthur's
court, "Obs bobkins." "Obs bloot." "God's body." "God's blood." See that
stuff?

     It's getting mighty quiet in here!

     That is, little ol' things, folks are cussing, and they don't even know
they're cussing.

     All right, thirdly, when you take it for the Devil's purpose, and you use
it in vain. You take ol' Paul, Paul used to torture Christians, the Bible
said, till he made them blaspheme. Now, many of you Christians sitting here
are too nice to curse. And that's the only reason you don't curse, some of
you, because you're just too nice. Some of the brethren are just so nice, so
cultured, so polished, they would never talk like big, bad, Peter S. Ruckman.
Now, I'll tell you something about those white-washed sepulchres. I can
usually kick 'em till the plaster begins to crack. And if I kick 'em long
enough, you'd be surprised some of the words they pull out of their
vocabularies, that they thought they had forgotten. You take that stuff, and
you're just using that stuff just to use it and impress somebody--that's
letting the Devil use your mouth.

     Now, He said "The Lord will not hold him guiltless, who taketh his name
in vain." Why is a man guilty? Why is a fellow guilty when he says "Lord,"
when he says "God," when he says "Christ" to no purpose, or for his own
purpose, or if the Devil is speaking through him? Why is that?

     Well, first of all, when you use that name in vain, you bring it down in
the dirt, and down in the dust, and that name, brethren, is a mighty name. If
I want to give you some mighty names, I'd say, "Beethoven." You know what
that's a big name in? That's a big name in music. It always has been. It
always will be. Suppose I said, "Einstein." That's a big name in science.
Suppose I said, "Rockefeller." That's a big name in money. See? Always has
been, always will be.

     Suppose I said, "Michelangelo." That's a big name in art. Suppose I said
"Pope John Paul II." It would be a big name in politics. Yeah, man! I mean,
those names, those names have certain connotations connected with them, see?

     Now, when I said the name of Jesus, I said the greatest name there is to
name! Why, did you know the Bible has 480 names for one man? Do you know
anybody in history anybody gave 480 names to? 480 names for one man! I won't
read you all of them, I'll read you some of them. These are right out of the
Book. This one man is called these things:

     The first begotten of the dead, the firstborn from the dead, the friend
of sinners, the gift of God, the glory of Israel, God blessed forever, God
manifest in the flesh, the great Shepherd of the sheep, the Governor, the Head
of the church, the Head of the corner, the High Priest, the Holy Child, the
Holy One, the Holy One of God, the Holy One of Israel, the Great "I Am," the
image of God, Emmanuel, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, the King of glory,
the King of Israel, the King of kings, the King of the Jews, the Life, the
Way, the Truth, the Light of the world, the Light to the Gentiles, the Living
Bread, the Living Stone, the Lord, the Lord God, the Lord and Saviour, the
Lord from Heaven, the Lord Jesus, the Lord of all, the Lord of glory, the Lord
of hosts, the Lord our righteousness, the Mediator, the Mediator of the New
Covenant, the Priest, the Prince, the Prince of life, the Prince of peace, the
Prince of the kings of the earth, our Redeemer, our Redemption, our
Sanctification, the Resurrection, the Righteous Judge, the Rock of Offense,
the Root of David, the Root of Jesse, the Rose of Sharon, our Sanctification,
our Savior, the Almighty, our Advocate, the Alpha and Omega, the Amen, the
Angel of the Lord, the Anointed, the Apostle of our high calling and the
Author of our faith, the Blessed and only Potentate, the Beloved Son, the
Branch of righteousness, the Bread from Heaven, the Bread of God, the Bread of
life, the Bright and Morning Star, the Chief Cornerstone, the Chiefs of Ten
Thousand, our Lord, Christ the Lord, the Son of God, the Deliverer of Zion--
what a way to talk about one man!

     Imagine taking a man with a Name like that and putting it down there, and
rubbing it in the dirt with Buddha and Mohammed and Confucius.

     You say, "You're speaking against other folks' religion." Shut your
mouth! They're in the dirt! You don't believe in the dirt? Go ask them where
they are!

     You got a good Buddhist friend? Ask him where Buddha is. He's in the
dirt. You got a good Mohammedan friend? He died. They buried him. You got a
good Confucionist friend? He hit the dirt, boy!

     When you get to talking like this, folks get so self-righteous--so upset.
It's the company you keep. You're hanging out with a bunch of international,
socialistic, Soviet, Catholic bunk on that TV, and you get to talking this
way, and you get to where you can't think. They're in the dirt! There's only
one that isn't in the dirt--and that's the One I'm talking about. The Seed of
David, the Seed of the woman, the Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls, the Good
Shepherd, the Shepherd of Israel, Shiloh, the Son of David, the Son of God,
the Son of man, the Son of the blessed, the Son of the Living God, the Son of
the Most High, the Stone of stumbling, the Sure Foundation, the Only Wise God
our Saviour, the Tried Stone, the True God, the True Vine, the Way, the Truth,
Wonderful, the Word, the Word of God, my Saviour, my God, my Friend. My
friend.

     I was up in Carolina one time and walked into a gas station, about two
o'clock in the morning. I never will forget. I had a guy with me, and he was
so green, if you'd stuck him in the ground, he'd a rooted. Now, I don't guess
that guy had drunk anything stronger than buttermilk, since he was born. One
of these guys, saved, you know, since he was about six years old. Christian
grade school, Christian high school, you know, that kind of business. I mean,
just, completely opposite from me. But moral courage, you know. Some of these
guys'll fool you, you know. Some of these guys look all thin, washed out--but
they got the courage of a lion, man!

     And we walked to this gas station about 2:00 in the morning. A bunch of
old goats sitting around there, playing checkers and drinking beer and cussin'-
-about fifteen of them in there. And this kid walks in, bursts through the
door, and he steps through the door and says, "You know my Friend?"

     And, boy, that place got as quiet as Yankee Stadium at 2:00 in the
morning. A couple of them said, "Your friend? I don't know who he is. Who are
you? I ain't your friend!"

     And this kid says, "My Friend Jesus!" He said, "I heard His name
mentioned here. You fellows know Him?"

     I mean there was nobody left there but the cash register operator and the
gas station man--gone, man! He just cleaned that place out!

     That kid came in there--had skin like a girl, you know. He came in there,
and, man, he was like a roaring lion, coming into a room full of sheep. You
know what he did? He said, "Did I hear the name of my Friend mentioned here?"
It's the Name above every name.

     All right, you won't be guiltless if you take that Name in vain, first of
all, because it's taking a mighty name and bringing it down. Secondly, that
name is holy. That name is holy. That name is not just for everyday use.

     People say they use it as a cuss word because it's an easy name to say.
It's a holy name. It's a beautiful name. It's an easy name.

     I've been in homes of many a parent, and I don't know how many times I've
seen this thing, and happened to turn to the little girl and say, show Dr.
Ruckman where Jesus is. About a little year-and-a-half old girl. Or, their
mother and daddy will say, "Who's that picture on the wall?" And the little
girl will say, "Jesus. Jesus." It's an easy name. It's a holy name.

     A little boy is dying, eight or nine years old. "Where you going, son?"
"Where you going, son?" "I'm going to be with Jesus."

     An old man 90 years old, hobbling around on crutches, comes in and sits
down, out of breath, in a chair, about to have a fainting spell. One of the
grandchildren says, "Where you going, Grandpa?" "Going to be with Jesus,
honey. Going to be with Jesus."

     It's a great name. It's a beautiful name. You don't want to throw that
name around. You might need that name some day. "Jesus Christ" this, and
"Jesus Christ" that. Yeah. "My God" this, and "My God" that.

     Had a fellow named George Burns out in Hollywood, an old cigar-smoking,
lying-headed fellow, made a movie called "Oh God," or something like that. I
thought to myself, "Boy, what a fool that fellow is!" Boy, you'll get in a
scrape some day when you'll need that, boy, real bad! "Oh God!"

     Falling down in an airplane, an airplane coming down there, boy, 600
miles an hour, like Roloff and his girls came down, no motor and a wing gone
here and a wing gone there--I'd like to hear you then, boy! In there: "Oh God!
Oh God! Oh my God!"

     "Yes?" God says, "Yes? What do you want?"

     "Help! Help!"

     "There's nothing wrong. I've heard you say that many times before. Help
yourself!"

     AAAAEEEERRRWWW! Blam!

     Now, listen, I can tell you, when that choo-choo hit me down there, man,
I needed that name in a hurry. I said, "Lord, if you want to help somebody
out, here's a good time!"

     I guess I get that from hanging around nigger preachers! But that's what
I thought! That's what I thought. They got a funny way of saying things, you
know. Brother Woods asked one the other day; he came over to a church there,
and a colored fellow was playing a banjo up on the platform, and the
congregation just getting ready to get together, and Brother Woods came up to
him and said, "Are you the preacher?"

     And he said, "You hang around here about 15 minutes, and you'll find out
who de preacher is!"

     Now, I remember thinking to myself at that time, "Lord, if you ever want
to help somebody, you've got a chance right now. I'm the man! I'm the man!"

     You're gonna need that name some time. You better hadn't take it in vain.

     That name is the key to prayer. If you ask anything, what--in my name.
Now, you take that name, why, if I knew I could take that name and countersign
the back of a check and get anything I wanted down at that bank, I'd have a
lot of respect for that name--if I was you. You take your checks of God and
want to have them cashed, God demands a countersignature on that thing, and
it's the signature of His Son. "If any of you ask anything in my Name, I'll
grant it." You're gonna need that thing some day. Better hadn't use it as a
cuss word when you hit your thumbnail with a hammer. I mean, some of you
professional roofers, you hit the regular nail every time. Us laymen hit our
thumbs. I couldn't count the number of times I bashed my finger open with a
hammer, hitting something. And, isn't it strange how those old familiar words
come to one's mind about the time that thing comes done?

     Let me ask you this: Did cussin' make it feel any better? Didn't it?
Well, then, why do it? I mean, do something else! Yell, "Hallelujah!" Instead
of going, AHHH BLANKETY-BLANKETY-BLANK BLANK! you know. Hit that thing and
say, "Well, glory to God! Hallelujah! Whoooo! Praise God!"

     I mean, it'll help the feeling just as much as the other way. I got a
book back there about an old mule skinner, had those twenty-mule teams. And he
got saved, and, boy, after he got saved, his old drunken buddies came up to
where the mules were hitched up there at the post, and checked him out. And
they said, "Sam, you through cussing?"

     And he said, "Yeah, I'm through cussing."

     And they said, "We'll see about this. About the time those mules won't
move, we'll see what this guy does."

     And he got up there with that ol' whip, and CRACK! and those mules didn't
move. And, YECCHH! didn't move. And, OOOMMPH, didn't move. He got red in the
face, and his buddies just stood there and watched him. He didn't know what to
do. I mean, he had been cussin' them out for years.

     And the Lord just gave him an inspiration, and finally, he slapped that
whip, and he said, "ALLELUIA!" And they went! They got up and went! I mean,
that donkey didn't know whether that was cussin' or not; didn't make no
difference to him.

     All right, finally, a man is guilty when he takes the name of the Lord in
vain because that name is connected with the greatest transaction on this
earth. You say, "Where's that?" You know where that is. "Whosoever shall call
upon the..." what? NAME OF THE LORD! That's it. "...shall be saved."

     Now, can you imagine taking a name like that and dragging that thing in
the dirt, and bringing that down to your level? That name is connected with
the greatest transaction on this earth.

     Knock knock knock knock knock knock. You go to the door. "Who is it?"

     They say, "Open, in the name of the law."

     Chances are ten to one you'll open up.

     But that's no knock. How about this one? Knock knock knock knock knock.
"Who's there?"

     "Open in the name of the Lord. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If
any man hear my voice, and open the door, I'll come..." Do you see the
difference? I mean, if you'd open for the law, why wouldn't you open for
grace, open for Jesus Christ?

     I mean, I'm for the law. Sometimes they get the wrong house number, and
get the wrong arrest, and get the wrong people. Our boys have been arrested
for preaching on the street. I don't appreciate that. But I don't blame the
police. I'm for the fuzz. I'm with the police. I'm for 'em. It's somebody
foldin' them up, you know, and puttin' something on 'em.

     Of course, they're not always right. I know they get bribes, and all that
kind of thing. I still think they're the most underpaid people in the world,
for their profession, and have the most dangerous profession there is. I would
enjoy a police state, if it's just policeman. A police state is not policeman,
a police state is when these little bureaucrats have their finger in all your
business. That's what a police state is. Just policemen, they're good.

     I mean, double the force, man. Give them all German shepherds and loaded
pistols. Amen. Tell 'em warn once, you shoot twice. That's what they do.

     You say, "They make mistakes." We all mistakes. That old colored boy up
in jail, I had him up there, and the judge said, "What are you in here for?"

     And he said, "Well, I don't know." He said, "Two deputies come down my
house and hauled me off."

     And the judge said, "Didn't it have something to do with liquor?"

     And he said, "Yeah, they was drunk, both of 'em."

     Sometimes it might be like that, but not always like that.

     You take that name that is above every name. Do you know what Carl
Woodbury told me? He said he went to Crozier Theological Seminary, that's a
Baptist theological seminary, at least he says it is. Baptist theological
seminary. You know what he said? He said, "In that seminary, one of those
professors told us, 'You can't bring up the name of Jesus Christ in this
classroom. We don't want His name mentioned in that classroom.' And right down
the hall the professor was using the name of Jesus Christ as a cuss word in
the same building. In the classroom." A professor can take the name of Jesus
Christ in vain in the classroom, and a kid in the classroom couldn't mention
it in a serious discussion. That was a Baptist seminary. This teacher said
he'll fail any student who mentions Jesus Christ in the classroom.

     Carl Woodbury said at Crozier Theological Seminary, he said the whole
curriculum was geared to attack God and attack the Bible. And he left that
place. You know what he did? He went to the dean of the place and sat down and
said, "I'm leaving."

     And the dean said, "Why?"

     He said, "Because you can't teach me anything any more."

     And the dean said, "Why not?"

     He said, "Because I'm smarter than anybody you've got on the faculty."

     And the dean said, "How do you figure that?"

     And Carl said, "Because I know I'm saved, and know where I'm going when I
die."

     And the dean said, "Well, I guess if you know that, I guess you are." And
they shipped him.

     Isn't that something? The name of Jesus Christ dragged through the mud
like that?

     I've got a quotation here by a Baptist minister who said this: "Of course
I do not believe in the virgin birth, or old-fashioned doctrine of the
substitutionary atonement. I don't know of an intelligent person who does."
Quotation of a Baptist teacher at Crozier. "I cannot see anything acceptable
or understandable in the theory that my guilt or my penalty was placed on
Christ." Quotation, Baptist teacher, Crozier. Quote: "Of all the slanders that
men have perpetrated against the Most High, this doctrine of substitutionary
atonement is the impudent and the most insulting."

     I believe in the substitutionary atonement! I believe I'm a sinner, that
Christ died for me, that He bore the penalty of my sins, my sins were placed
on Him, and He died in my place. It may be impudent and insulting, but, bless
God, that's all that's going to get me to Heaven.

     Another professor at Crozier: Quote: "The blood of Jesus is of no more
value in the salvation of a soul than the water in which Pilate washed his
hands."

     Brother, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain! God
won't hold him guiltless who taketh his name in vain." The blood of Jesus--
THAT'S HIS NAME! Don't you take His name in vain. And, to say that the blood
of Jesus can't get a fellow to Heaven any more than water that some Roman
governor washed his hands in, the Lord will not hold him guiltless who taketh
his name in vain.

     One time Job's wife said to him, when he was going through some terrible
time, she said, "Curse God, and die." "Curse God, and die." And he didn't.
Thank God, he didn't. But there's been many a man that cursed God and died. I
mean, I know combat and the sword devours one as well as another, and there
has been an awful lot of cussing going on among those young men. Maybe the
Lord has to clean an awful lot of them out. "The Lord will not hold him
guiltless, who taketh his name in vain."

     You know what God did in the Old Testament, when a fellow took His name
in vain? That fellow from Dipre in the tribe of Dan, they stoned him. They
killed him.

     You take that name. You have a song in your book that says, "I know a
name, a wonderful name, and that beautiful name." And I know a song that says,
"There have been names that I have loved to hear, Yet never has there been a
name so dear," and talking about Jesus Christ.

     Somebody has all these names. I don't even have to think about Him as one
name. He's got hundreds of names. I'll be up in Heaven some day. I hope the
Lord comes back before I die. I don't look forward to a funeral, and all that
mess. I hope the Lord comes back. But whether He comes back or not, some day
I'm going to be up there with Him. And some day my troubles are going to be
over, and some day I'm going to have a perfect, sinless body. And I'm not
talking as a preacher; I'm talking as Peter S. Ruckman. ME! I'm going to be up
there with Him. ME! And I'll walk around there, and look at that bower of
eternal youth, and that summer garden of chrysanthemums and roses and azaleas
and camilleas up there that never bloom and never fade. And I'll go by the
throne, and I'll say, "Good morning, my Lord, the rose of Sharon." And I'll go
over there and get me a cool refreshing drink out of the water of life, that
flows down between those trees of life, with that crystal splash, sparkles,
and falls, and diamonds, and spray over those rocks. I'll get me a good drink,
and I'll go over the throne next day, and I'll say, "Good morning, Thou Water
of Life."

     I'll look at the new galaxies, and the new heaven, and the new earth, and
all that stuff up there that God created a thousand times prettier than it is
right now, and I'll say, "My Lord, thou art the bright and morning star."

     Maybe out there, after about 150 billion years, give or take a few
million, don't make any difference, I'll get out there in about 150 billion
years, and I'll begin to think about this earth down here, and all the wolves
that could have eaten me up, and all the lions that could've slain me, and how
many times God got me through, and I'll go by the throne room, and say, "Good
morning, Good shepherd," and go on by!

     He's got a thousand names, and everyone's a beautiful name. Everyone's
real. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Imagine
taking in vain the name of somebody who loved you enough to die for you, and
is your only hope for getting out of the mess you're in. Taking His name in
vain. Like Job's wife said, "Curse God, and die."

     Talmadge said in New Brunswick, New Jersey, when he was a theological
student there, a fellow got to filling his oats and bragging about being
through, and they told him to curse God, and he said he wasn't afraid. Went
out there, and stood on the railroad tracks, and cursed God. The next day,
coming across the railroad tracks, he got killed by a train. And they said the
strangest thing about fellow was, though that train had killed him, and killed
him dead, there wasn't a whole lot of bruises on his body, and no bones broke.
They said his tongue was gone. You know what that fellow did? He cursed God
and died.

     You say, "I've done that, and got away with it." I bet you never did it
in the graveyard at night. You know what fellows do? They curse, when there's
somebody around to hear 'em. I'll tell you what you do, sonny. Here's a good
test of your manhood. Get you a graveyard out here. Get a nice, stormy night,
when the rain's coming down. And walk right out in the middle of it. And stand
on a grave. And shake your fist up there, and curse God. Try that. I mean, if
you think you're really something. Most people don't try that.

     They had a club in Scotland back in the 1800's where they said, "We're
going to have an infidel's club, and we'll make the man president who can
swear the most horrible oath there is to swear." And they got up and swore,
and finally one guy gave one there that just horrified everybody. And they
made him president. And a week later his tongue began to swell, and two weeks
later it came out of his mouth, and he couldn't get it back in. And he went to
the doctors, and half the doctors in Edinburgh looked at him and said, "We
never saw anything like it before, we don't know what it is, we don't have any
cure for it." And in about four or five weeks he was dead.

     Somebody said, "I don't know what happened to that fellow!" I know what
happened to that fellow. He cursed God and died. That's what happened to him.
He cursed God and died.

     And, listen, maybe in combat, the good fall with the bad. And the just
with the wicked. But, I'm telling you, any outfit that I've ever been in, it
was "Blankety-blank blank, blankety-blank blank blank blank, blankety-blank
blank blank," from mornin' to night. They BURIED 'em! They're buried all over
the world.

     All right. Father, bless the message this morning. Help us to guard our
tongues. Help us to guard our minds. Help us to be clean inside, so we won't
be tempted to say these things. Forgive us, heavenly Father, where these
things well up in us in a sudden bit of temper, Father, or anger. God, help us
to remember that anger rests in the bosom of fools. You told us not to be
hasty in our Spirit to be angry. The wrath of man worketh not the
righteousness of God. Lord, give us some substitute words. Help us to praise
thee when we're hard pressed, and give you the glory. Lord, if there's
somebody here this morning, that just knows about these things, but doesn't
know the Good Shepherd, doesn't know the Rock of Ages, we pray this morning
that they will trust Him as their Saviour, and come and know Him, and know
that beautiful Name. May that name be precious to them from this day on. We
ask it in His matchless Name, Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen.

     All right, before we leave here this morning, I'd like to have us take
number 32 in the hymnal, if we would. Stand, and sing this hymn. I'm not going
to give an invitation this morning. I'd like for us to sing this hymn before
we leave here this morning. Hymn 32. "Blessed Be the Name." "Blessed Be the
Name."

     You fellows out there on the jobs, work out with fellows, and they give
you a hard time, witness to him, and stick your neck out once or twice. After
that, withdraw your neck and pray for them. God doesn't expect you to be a
fanatic and lose your job, and do something wild and foolish and stupid. But
God expects you to give the wicked warning. Give 'em warning, and after that,
pray for 'em. I know if you're saved, like I'm saved, and you hear the name of
Jesus Christ taken as a cuss word, it makes you burn around the ears. I mean,
a "damn" or "hell" you can put up with sometimes, but not the rest. Not the
rest.

     I tried one time. I haven't done it yet, but I'm still working on it. You
know that red-headed fellow, Robinson, over here doing that graduation? I'm
going to try to get him to the conference. He said this one time. He said, "If
at the name of Jesus every knee is to bow," he said, "When you hear the name
of Jesus Christ as a cuss word, why don't you kneel in prayer right in front
of the person, and pray?"

     And I missed a golden opportunity to do that one time at the spa, when a
guy was in that steam room. And I was thinking about something else; my mind
was on something else. It slipped me, and I've been praying ever since then
for the Lord to let that thing happen again. Can you imagine praying for a guy
to cuss to give you an opportunity? And I'll tell you, God be my helper, the
next time that fellow pulls that, I'm going to go down right on my knees in
that shower in front of those birds, and they can just wonder and flip their
lid.

     All right, "Blessed Be the Name." "Blessed Be the Name."

     How many of you fellows ever used His name as a cuss word before you were
saved? Let me see your hands. Hold 'em up high. Isn't that something? Three
hundred blasphemers in here. Aren't you thankful for that verse there in
Timothy where Paul said, "Who before was a persecutor and a blasphemer, but I
obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief." Isn't that a
beautiful thing?

     I remember coming in drunk at night, with a bunch of officers in the
shower, and singing, "The Old Rugged Cross." You know what that is? That's
taking the name of the Lord in vain. Thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ,
that cleanseth us from all sin." Let's sing the last stanza.

     Father, bless your name, bless your children. Lord, guide and lead us in
a perfect way throughout this day. Give us a great service to thee tonight.
May your name be precious to us, and magnified among us, and may we exalt it
and magnify it in the presence of others, and never be ashamed of it. And we
ask this in the name you've given us to ask all things in, as our
countersignature on the check. We know our own signature is no good without
His. And we're thankful for His blessed Name. Amen. Amen."



