Tuesday 13 November 2018

Do Not Swear Falsely

Scripture:  Exodus 20 v 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."

Zechariah 5 v 3 - 4: "Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. 
 4  I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof."

When Jesus was arrested and taken for questioning, Peter followed to see where He was being held.  There was a crowd in the courtyard who accused Peter of being one of His disciples.  Peter denied it but they said, Your speech betrays you!  Peter immediately began swearing and cursing to hide who he was.

The name of Jesus Christ has become a universal curse word.  No Christian who knows Jesus and what He has done for us could ever speak His name with anything but love and reverence.  But out in the world its on movies, in books and in public places, the abuse of His beautiful name.

The Lord's word is true and fair.  If we swear falsely by His name we will get a reciprocal curse in exchange.  It will destroy our houses.  By fire, flood, mudslide, storm, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, tsunami, bombs, war, sinkhole or woodworm.  It can destroy our transport in wrecks or breakdowns.  We can be destroyed emotionally through drugs, alcohol, sexual sin, blackmail, heartbreak etc.

Think of how blasphemy is also disguised to trap the unwary.  During the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple the Roman soldiers had a chant, a mantra, that was Hip, Hip, Hooray!  Nearly every rendition of Happy Birthday is followed by that evil mantra.  Does it bring a blessing from God with it?  He repays evil for evil and blessing for blessing.  'But we were ignorant' does not work with God, we must know what we say is true and right.

The words "Jeepers Creepers"  are a corruption of Jesus Christ.  The words "Nailed it!"  for any kind of great achievement refer to Jesus being nailed to the Cross.  There is a Satanic heavy metal band called "Nine Inch Nails" because that was what crucified Jesus.  None of these sayings bring glory to our great King and we should cancel them on Earth and in Heaven by the power in the Blood of Jesus immediately, and promise to think before we utter such evil things.

The enemy has laid many traps for the unwary because he wants God to reject us.  He is hunting scalps and if God rejects us he will collect the empties.  Our God says He will not reject us if we walk in His ways and believe His Word.  If we disobey and rebel we will be taking some serious gambles with our eternal destination.

These are just a few samples of things that could get us into difficulties and may answer why some have lost everything when God should have spared them.   It's a very narrow way that leads to life, so if we want that abundant life we need to offload all the bad baggage and learn the secrets of holiness.  We need to remove from our lives every form of blasphemy and swearing falsely in His name.

No other gods have their names used as a curse word.  Buddha, Krishna, Confucius, Allah, etc are never heard in common speech as blasphemies.  Satan, Dragon, Serpent are not used as curses either, and they should be!  

The reason why Jesus Christ is used as a curse is because His is the only name by which mankind can be saved.  There is power in His name.  Philippians 2 v 9 - 11: "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
 10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
 11  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

His name is above every other name!  Satan hates that and will go to terrible extremes to reverse that power and take it for himself.

The Word says, Swear not but let your words be Yea and Amen.

Prayer: Heavenly Father how it grieves Your loving heart when people use Your Son's name as a curse word to their own hurt and destruction.  Let us put aside all evil speaking and change our ways to conform to Your high standards.  Forgive us Father, forgive us Jesus for our thoughtless words.  Blot them out with Your Blood, Lord, and take control of our tongues that James rightly says are full of fiery evil.
We choose to be of those disciples whose clean speech betrays us as true followers of Jesus Christ.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.