men, while others were not. But our Lord refers to them as “ blind guides,” therefore their teaching was of no ac count. Let us always be sure that the teachers under whom we sit teach in harmony with God’s Word. Let us be like the noble Bereans who after they had listened to the teaching of God’s Word went home to search the Scrip tures to see if the things they had heard were true. Memory Verse: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” (Ex. 20:7). Has anyone ever called you a name that made you very unhappy? We show what we think of others by the way in which we speak to them and about them to others. God’s Word says, “ Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” Perhaps you would never think of “ swearing,” but there are other ways than this to take God’s name “ in vain.” Boys and girls who use the words, “ darn,” “gosh,” etc., are really taking God’s name in vain. When others hear them use such words they think, Helps For The Children Thinking and Speaking of God Mark 7:5-8; Luke 6:46; 11:1-4
Pointers on the Lesson H omer A. K ent , T h .D.
Helps for the Children A llison A rrowood
Lesson material is based v/pon out lines of the International Sunday School Lessons copyrighted by the International Council of Religious Education; used by permission.
May 4, 1952 WARNING AGAINST PROFANE LIVING Ex. 20:7; Matt. 5:33-37; 23:16-22
Pointers On The Lesson The commandment against taking the name of the Lord in vain is the basis for this week’s lesson. Taking the name of the Lord in vain refers to far more than profanity. It refers also to profane and careless living, to all forms of insincere and hypocritical professions of faith. The Scripture passages selected for today’s study will challenge us all to cultivate a more devout spirit of reverence for God as an antidote for profane living. Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain Ex. 20:7 It is good to keep in mind that one of the purposes of the law is to reveal the sinfulness of sin. Paul said, “ Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet” (Rom. 7:7). The law is a spiritual looking glass into which man needs to gaze to see what is his need for cleansing. No looking glass can cleanse from sin, but, rightly considered, God’s Looking Glass will send the needy soul to the fountain opened for cleansing at Calvary. The portion of the law before us to day (third commandment) reminds man of his duty to hold God in reverence. His name must not be taken in vain by word of mouth or act of life. The root idea in the word “vain” is that of empti ness, frivolity, unreality. No man has any right to think of God in an empty, frivolous or unreal sense. In no way ought God’s name to be desecrated. There are five ways in which God’s name mgy be taken in vain: (1) by hypocrisy, (2) by covenant breaking, (3) by rash profanity, (4)- by false swearing, and (5) by using the name of God lightly. How do you check up on these matters?
Taking Solemn Oaths Matt. 5:33-37
The writer believes that the command in. this passage has to do with oath-tak ing, not profanity. The command is similarly repeated in James 5:12. The Christian ought not to swear by any oath such as those in usage in wordly organizations. The laws of our land recognize the teaching of the Word of God in this regard and allow the be liever to “ affirm” instead of swear. Dr. C. F. Yoder, in his book, God’s Means of Grace, has presented the follow ing five reasons why Christians should not take oaths: (1) They are an insult to Christian honor. When a Christian says “ Yea, yea,” or “Nay, nay,” that should be the end of it, but the oath in fers that his word may be unreliable. His honor is insufiicient. Something else is necessary to re-enforce it, namely, the oath. (2) The oath is an appeal to superstition. It conjures with the sacred names in the oath to cause fear. (3) The oath is a direct violation of the explicit and emphatic command of Christ. The passage we are studying today is defi nitely in point here. (4) Some oaths have penalties attached to them which no Christian could help in enforcing. (5) Finally, there are some oaths which obligate the taker to keep secret some things of which he is still in ignorance, and as to which he is there fore guilty (Lev. 5:4, 5). Warning from Blind Guides Matt. 23:16-22 We have here the fourth in a series of woes pronounced upon God’s enemies. It was directed against the scribes and Pharisees in the matter of oaths. They drew subtle distinctions between one kind of oath and another. They taught that some oaths were binding upon
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