THE DECALOGUE by J. W. Watt

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 17, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 46.

THE DECALOGUE.

By J. W. Watt

The Second Commandment, Concluded.

The Meaning of His Name.

What does God’s name signify to us? Is it simply a title by which our minds grasp the idea of a Supreme Being, or does it mean more than this to us, His children? Evidently God designed that His name should bring to our minds His true character. The name of many things in this world indicates the character of the thing named. Thus the name of a man who is a good Christian becomes synonymous with uprightness, integrity, honesty. The same is true of bad men. So God would have us ever remember His character when we hear His name. Jehovah has proclaimed His name in His Word, so that we may make no mistake in this matter:—

“And the Lord [Jehovah] descended in the cloud, . . . and proclaimed the name of the Jehovah. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, Jehovah, a God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.” Ex. 34 : 5-7.

Mercy.

The first thing the Lord speaks of in declaring His name is mercy. He is merciful, that is, He is full of mercy. What is mercy?—It is a

disposition to treat an offender better than he deserves. Has God treated us better than we deserve to be treated?—O, yes; for we have all sinned against Him many times; yet He is always willing, yes, anxious, to receive us back again into His favor just as soon as we turn to Him by repentance! We deserve death, because “the wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6 : 23. But God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should turn unto Him and live.

God says we “shall not take His name in vain.” As children of God we take upon ourselves His name. It is natural that the son should be like the father. Consider the likeness of Christ to His Father. He was like His Father both in personal appearance and in character. What Jesus was and is, God designs all His children to be, and by grace, through the Gospel, they all will become. “We shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3 : 2. Let us not bear His name in vain. But if my heavenly Father is merciful, and I am unmerciful, I have taken upon me His name in vain; for it would be a vain thing for me to hope to live eternally with a merciful God when I myself was the opposite in character. The child of God must bear the character of God. I, having offended God, have been treated better than I deserve to be treated; therefore, He would now have me treat my fellow-men as He has treated me, thus representing to them the character of my Father in heaven.

Grace.

What is the difference between mercy and grace?—Mercy is a disposition to treat an offender better than he deserves, while grace is the actual bestowal of gifts and blessings upon those not worthy to receive them. Has God bestowed upon us gifts and blessings that we are unworthy to receive?—Yes; He has bestowed upon a guilty world the best Gift of heaven, His own dear Son. No one in this world is worthy to receive such a gift; yet God has willingly and freely bestowed it upon us, together with many other gifts which we enjoy from His hand. Now, so far as we are able to do so, God would have us bestow favors upon our fellow-men, that we may thus correctly represent the character of our Heavenly Father. If we fail to do this, we have taken His name in vain.

Long-suffering.

There must be suffering before there can be long-suffering. Has God been suffering?—Yes, since sin first appeared in Lucifer before he was cast out of heaven. Why does God suffer?—Because of sin. Why does sin cause God to suffer?—Because sin is so contrary to His nature—His character—that He can not harmonize with it in any of its forms; therefore, He suffers because compelled for a time to come in contact with it. Does it cause any suffering to a kind-hearted Christian father to see one of His children going in the way of death?—Certainly it does, and only a father who has passed through such an experience knows what suffering it will cause. How much suffering, then, has reached the heart of our heavenly Father as He has seen so many of His creatures departing from Him, and going in the way of death! Yes, dear reader, every sin that we have committed has reached the heart of God, and has caused pain. But now that we have become His children, what does He expect of us on this point?—Ah, that we gain such an experience in His love that when we come in contact with sin in any form, it will cause us to suffer. That which grieves our Father will grieve us; our love for Him will be so great that whatsoever hurts Him, will hurt us. If we have not yet had such an experience, then grace must do more for us than it has ever done yet, or we shall find that we are bearing His name in vain. Yet, suffering long, His mercy endures.

Goodness.

Whatever good there is in this universe, flows from God; for He is the source of all goodness. Jesus “went about doing good;” for “God was with Him.” Acts 10 : 38. When the young man said, “Good Master,” Jesus said, “There is none good but one, that is, God.” Matt. 19 : 16, 17. But we must have such a union with God that His goodness will flow into us by His Spirit, and from us to the world. Then, like Jesus, we shall go about doing good; for God will be with us, as He was with Jesus. Let us not be satisfied with anything short of this. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

Truth.

Truth is the opposite of falsehood; anything is false that will in any way deceive. Truth may be said to be a statement of unchangeable facts; such are the life and character of God. His life is to all the universe a living representation of facts. There is no deception about Him; so that when He speaks, we know the thing is just that way. He would have His children like Him in all their words and actions; then the world would see living representations of truth, and everything Christians did would be as open as the day.

Forgiveness.

We are certainly glad to know that God is filled with a spirit to forgive those who have wronged Him. Many are the lessons on this point recorded in the Bible, and we rejoice to know that every sin is forgiven when we turn to God with all the heart; this is a part of the name of God, a part of His character. But let us remember that as God forgives us, so we must forgive all who in any way wrong us; and if we do not, we do not correctly represent God to the world, and are bearing or taking His name in vain.

Jesus an Example.

“I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world.” “I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17 : 6, 26. Christ’s life was a living representation of what it means to keep the third commandment, and all the law. He not only lived the Father’s name, but all His teaching made known that name to the world He came to save.

“The Keeping Power in His Name.”

Jesus prayed: “Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name.” John 17 : 11, 12. How important the name of the Lord, when Jesus used it to keep His followers from the power of Satan while He was with them; then, as He is about to leave them, listen to that earnest prayer which ascends from His lips to the Father, that His disciples may still be kept through that name, the character of God. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” Prov. 18 : 10. As the name of the Lord signifies His character, there are not devils enough in the whole universe to destroy the man who abides in the name—character—of the Lord. The 144,000 who will finally stand on the sea of glass have “His Father’s name written in their foreheads.” Rev. 14 : 1.

Well might David say, “Thy commandment is exceeding broad.” How little of the real depth of meaning in the commandments of God we have grasped! May the Lord open our eyes, that we may see wondrous things out of His law. J. W. WATT.