In part two of the sermon on the Third Commandment, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain," I want to pick up where we left off this morning — that is, with the name of Jesus Christ. We may not really "get" the significance — the theological impact — of how the New Testament refers to "the name" of Jesus. This morning, we read from Philippians 2:5-11, that passage known as the Christ hymn, or The Philippian Creed, because it was most likely an early Christian hymn or creed. In this passage, the Scripture says "God exalted (Jesus) to the highest place, and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

But, what does the Scripture mean by "the name that is above every name"? What is that name which is above every name? How does the passage continue? The passage says that, "at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow ...and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." Now, stay with me. We are very accustomed to referring to Jesus as "Lord," or as "the Lord." But, if we were first century Jews, that title for Jesus, that word, "Lord," would carry far greater significance. It means much more than, "Master."

Let’s go back to the time of the Old Testament, to Exodus 3:14. When God revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush, you remember that God revealed His name to Moses: His special, holy name, "I AM WHO I AM." In Hebrew, this was the name "Yahweh," which the Jews would not even whisper, for fear of profaning and taking in vain this sacred name. And when the Jews would come to a passage of Scripture in which this sacred name of God was used, they would not even read it out of their own Hebrew Scriptures. Instead, they automatically substituted another title, the title ADONAI, which means, "Lord." This is the case in Exodus 20, when God spoke the Ten Commandments, saying, "I AM the LORD — I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

Now, this tradition of reverence for the special name of God is continued in most modern English translations of the Bible. Whenever that special name of God appears in the Hebrew text, the English translators do not print "Yahweh"; instead, in keeping with the Jewish tradition, they substitute the title "LORD," and print it in all capital letters. So, whenever you see the word "LORD," printed in all capitals in the Old Testament, you know that that stands for that special name of God, "Yahweh," which is actually written in the Hebrew. And when you begin to notice it you will see that the title "LORD" in all capitals occurs many, many times in the Old Testament. So, remember, that for the Jews, the title of LORD for God was the substitute for that most holy, unutterable, sacred name of God which He revealed to Moses, which translated into English means, "I AM WHO I AM."

Now, then, when we get to the New Testament, particularly after the resurrection, what is the title that is given to Jesus Christ? On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter proclaimed the gospel of Jesus to those Jews in Jerusalem, and he declared to them, "Let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). Peter is declaring what otherwise would be considered blasphemy by Jews: that Jesus, crucified and risen, is now in the highest place of holiness and authority as "Lord" — that is, that is as right and appropriate to call Jesus "LORD," as it is to call God of Moses "LORD."

Now, let’s look again at that passage from Philippians. "God exalted (Jesus) to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow ... and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." What that passage is saying is: that Jesus Christ is the God who revealed His name to Moses at the burning bush. It is appropriate and right to say that that name, "I AM WHO I AM," has been conferred upon Jesus Himself, crucified and risen and exalted to the highest place.

Now, there are hints of this in the ministry of Jesus. Do you remember the occasion when the disciples were out on the lake at night, and Jesus came out to them, walking on the water. When they saw Him, they thought He was a ghost and cried out in terror. And He called back to them, and said, "Take courage! It is I." That’s how most English translations phrase it: "It is I." But, in fact, the Greek literally reads: "I AM." In other words, if you were a Jew reading the Greek New Testament, you would get the theological punch-line. Jesus was identifying Himself as the great and only "I AM" who created the lake on which He was walking. Or, for example, when the soldiers, led by Judas, came to arrest and apprehend Jesus, Jesus boldly asked them, "Who is it that you want?" They replied, "Jesus of Nazareth." And Jesus told them, "I AM." Now, the English translations smooth it out by saying, "I am he." But, again, the Greek literally says, "I AM." And, when Jesus said, "I AM," when He identified Himself by way of the sacred, holy name of the covenant God of Israel, "I AM," the soldiers fell to the ground. They fell to the ground in the very presence of Him who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush.

And when the apostles, after Pentecost, began to preach the gospel, they proclaimed the name of Jesus, and they performed their works of ministry and miracles in the name of Jesus. Just as the Old Testament Israelites would have carried on their service and their worship in the name of "the LORD," so now the followers of Jesus went forth in "the name" of Jesus Christ, which they knew to be the name of the Lord. When Peter and John were imprisoned for preaching the gospel, and then brought before high priest, they were asked: "By what power or what name did you do this?" They were asking by what authority, by whose command, were they preaching the gospel. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them:

If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and everyone else in Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you completely healed. ... Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." "There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Why because "salvation is of the LORD" (Jonah 2:9), and "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb" (Rev. 7:10).

There can be salvation in no other name, because there is no other true and living God. There can be salvation in no other name, because there is no other God who can save sinners than the God who has revealed Himself to us in Jesus Christ. There can be salvation in no other name, because there is no other Man who has been exalted to the highest place and given the name that is above every name, the name of equal power, authority, and glory, the name revealing His infinite and eternal divine nature.

Now, this is what the world hates. And there are even those within the Christian community who would deny that Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and man. There are those, even within the Christian community, who would deny that salvation is found in no one else. But in so doing, they are taking the name of the LORD in vain; for they are taking the name of Jesus and trying to strip it of its power and authority. But in the book of THE REVELATION, we have the vision of the risen Christ, leading the battle against His enemies, riding upon a white horse. "And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And that phrase "Lord of lords" is a title given to God, the LORD (Yahweh) in Deuteronomy 10:17. The New Testament boldly declares that the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, the great "I AM WHO I AM," is the God who has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ. He is "THE LORD" and there is no other.

Jesus Christ is not a "Superstar." Michael Jordan is a "superstar," and Kurt Warner is a "superstar" and I guess you could say that Elvis was a "superstar." But Jesus is "King of kings and Lord of lords" and He is in a category all His own, exalted to the highest place, and to be compared with none other; and salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

And because He is King of kings and Lord of lords, salvation is found in no one else. And that is the reason that we must continue to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ to a dying world, that is the reason that we must declare His glory among the nations, that is the reason that evangelism — the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ — must continue to be a priority of our ministry. For not to do so — not to proclaim salvation in the name of Jesus, would be to take His name in vain, because we honor His name when we proclaim Him to be King of kings and Lord of lords. And so may the name of Jesus Christ be glorified in us, and proclaimed by us in word and deed, that all the world may know and believe that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.