Blasphemy

2 Kings 19:20-36

The Reformer's Fire
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Exposition by Max A Forsythe

Question 55:
What is forbidden in the third commandment?
Answer 55:
The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh himself known.

In our study of the first two commandments, when we came to taking a multiple approach to what is forbidden, the ordering of our confessional studies generally went from bad to worse in the short sermon series. In the case of this third commandment, we start with the worst offense and move to the more common malfeasance and misunderstanding, as our next two studies will be called.

Certainly we are learning of the impossibility of our satisfying the law of God, and in that knowledge we must come to the only logical conclusion of needing Jesus Christ to fulfill the law and then by His atonement make us acceptable to the God of heaven. Yet even as we learn the difficult lesson that we cannot entirely fulfill the law, at least there is a hint of degrees in the sinfulness that plagues all of mankind.

A few weeks ago when I introduced the phrase "spiritual pornography" in the context of the second commandment, there was a significant drop of interest in the other, internet church which listens to our weekly study. In fact, we received one very heated observation on the topic along with a cancellation of their connection to our cyberchurch! I think that that observer proves the point that the commandments are meant to challenge our deepest affiliation with the law of God.

However, just as in this world it is difficult to avoid the media eye candy in every kind of advertisement, so too are there degrees in allowing ourselves exposure to the advertisement methodology that has become all too common. In the context of the whole sexual revolution, if there is anyone with a little common sense and a limited vocabulary that includes the word "NO" - that person can avoid every single social disease that is available. In a similar manner, any responsible person who is concerned with imitating the greater righteousness of our Lord and our Christ - that person can avoid the extremes of sin exposed in our continuing study of the law of God.

In our working title today for the first part of the Larger Catechism which explains the simplicity of the Shorter Catechism, we find that the word "blasphemy" exposes the worst offenses to this third commandment. Let us get our understanding of this terminology correct by turning to Mark 3: 22 and 28-30: "And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, 'He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.' ... 'I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.' He said this because they were saying, 'He has an evil spirit.'"

Blasphemy is quite simply saying that the things of God are wicked and that the things of the devil are good. Indeed our whole culture is moving at the speed of life in this direction. The fact that the worldly crowd has emptied out of their closets the sodomites and carefully pushed evangelical Christians into those former hell holes, indicates where the public heart of mankind is going. Think of it this way, those former closeted hell holes are now heavenly scented by the persecution of the faithful who will not hug a sodomite to please the world. And ABC as a corporation is quickly earning a public reputation as being "[Disnal] and Degenerate." There as elsewhere, the righteous activity of mirroring the wisdom of God is publicly deplored and detested, while the grossest wickedness known to mankind is being trumpeted and trotted out for a wider imitation.

In our passage from Mark, the leaders of Israel blasphemed by arguing that Christ was from Satan and they were from God. Yet to all of those who have the mind of Christ, it is evident from the revelation record that quite the opposite is true.

There is another point to the worldly blasphemy which we find illustrated in our Old Testament text today. Look carefully at the correspondence of Isaiah. Do you see the imagery in the title "Daughter of Zion"? Is this not the people of God, the resident followers of the Lord God Almighty who have turned a barren land into prosperity twice or more in history? Is this not the Old Covenant Church? Is it not those who worship at the altar on Zion's holy hill?

And is not the desire of the Asyrrian King in having those people, their property and their prosperity for his very own? Is this not the greatest threat to the Church in all ages, the worldly under the satanic influence of the Devil would have what is right and good so that they can corrupt it to their own foul use.

Ever and anew, the Spirit of our God must cleanse and renew the bride of Christ from the corruption of the world. And the jealous cause of this worldly desire is jealousy for the imputed righteousness of Christ and spiritual wealth of those who humble themselves before the Lord. Of course, the worldly little understand the true nature of our dependent relationship upon our God and King. And they would always redefine the relationship to give greater credit to the brilliant minds of men who would redefine the holy relationship between redeemed sinners and our great Christ. And this is just the sins which are forbidden by the third commandment. The Larger Catechism compiles a sordid list of forbidden actions, which include: "the not using of God's name as is required; and the abuse of it in an ignorant, vain, irreverent, profane, superstitious, or wicked mentioning or otherwise using the titles, attributes, ordinances, or works; by blasphemy" and "perjury". Perjury we well understand from the courtroom vocabulary as giving false witness. And as we have understood blasphemy as turning theology upside down, we can easily see that there is a real unholy attitude on the part of those who would ignore the basics of the third commandment.

At the very minimum level of apostacy and blasphemy, let us understand that it is not for the ignorant to use the Name of our Lord to bless their mindless musings and emotional highs and lows. A long time ago, I gave up on making any importance of personal feelings. Too often was I lead astray to follow the desires of my heart instead of the things of the Spirit. Silly me, if I were to be successful today, I would be certain to entertain the illusion that feelings and emotions are just an alternative means of intelligence, just like the pop leaders in educational theory are beginning to fadishly instruct!

At a higher level of apostacy and blasphemy, let us understand that the irreverent, profane and superstitious would give their own twisted meanings to every spiritual nuance of Scriptural interpretation. One does not have to look far for irregular tendencies in this regard. One only has to read William Barclay's commentaries to catch the irreverent spirit. Or Hal Lindsey's millennialist printings to catch the superstitious ravings of an ignorant researcher. For the profane at heart there is always the blasphemous rock concert Jesus Christ Superstar where "poor old Judas" is seen as the real hero of the better understood twisting of the godspelling record!

For our final point this morning, let us consider the humanist agenda which more and more is using the methodology of Christ's Church to redefine relationships and to take lawful authority into their own hands. With each passing societal, political and educational fads, I am more and more amazed at the downright plagiarism of biblical means for wicked purposes. To themselves, more and more corporations and agencies are taking the attributes, ordinances and works of Christ and His own Church. One does not have to look far for these messianic complexes whereby government agencies would reduce free hard working citizens to selfish minions interested in only what is good for the moment. More and more people are satisfied with just enough money to party hearty for the weekend and only return to work for enough substance to continue life in the passing out lane!

The once proud universities, that rewarded hard work and savings by keeping the costs of an education low enough for any working person to afford, are now punishing those who have acquired the means to pursue an education. The rewards go instead to the most depraved and deprived portion of the population who cannot and will not be improved by any course of instruction. And the more the courses are dumbed down, the less likely that we will have nuclear physicists, electrical engineers and computer programmers. Already, there is a growing shortage of people trained to imagine, create and repair the next generation of the electronic revolution.

We are indeed a society that is looking not only for love in all the wrong places, but a society that is raising itself to feel godlike in every nuance of the soul, body and spirit. May the God of heaven protect us from such blasphemy and unholiness. May we here collected raise our sights beyond our selves and contemplate the real holiness of our awesome Creator. Then may we go on to imitate His holiness as we are enabled by His Holy Spirit.

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Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America)
Westminster Shorter Catechism Series