Stop Looking. Listen: God is Enough | JP Masakayan | June 7, 2026

0:00 Hi CCF family. I think you will agree with me that all of us without exception are people who desire things, who want things. The problem is if we start desiring something that belongs to somebody or something that God has not allowed for us to to have. And so the question is, is it sinful? Well, that is the whole message on this commandment, the 10th and final commandment on thou shalt not coveret. Is it sinful? And what are God's antidotes for it? So, join us and listen to today's message. God bless you.

0:46 Good afternoon, CCF. Have you been enjoying this series on the ten commandments? >> But more than enjoying the question is have you been learning from this series of the ten commandments? You know because the ten commandments is something that we all have been familiar of since we were in grade school. No, but it is something that we may never have thought through or meditated on the way the speakers these past few weeks have done. I appreciated how pastor Peter began the series by pointing to the structure that uh there is a division. The first four has to do with

1:33 our relationship with God and the last six has to do with our relationship with each other. Last week, Pastor Marty described it this way. The first four speaks of our vertical relationship with God and the last seeks um speaks of our horizontal relationship with God. And in that you see the cross. But if I may add, for me I have always appreciated commandment number five because it is in that middle which denotes the transition from our relationship with God to our relationship with others by the appointed authority that God has placed in our lives which is that of our

2:19 parents. So as we close this series on the tenth commandment using the tenth commandment let me just um start off with this I guess introduction. Um in 1981 there was a commercial a TV commercial in the US for the Mazda and it starts off this way. An image of a couple or video of a couple going to a car and saying this. We looked at a BMW and an Accord because we wanted a refined road car. Then we looked at and drove this new Mazda 626. That's all it took. And then the music comes on a a familiar music um in the airwaves back then, which is just one look. That's all it took. And as the

3:07 music was playing, the the voice over described the features of the car. And after it ended, it it had this slide 1981 Mazda 626, the more you look, the more you like. It reminds me of this expression, what you see is what you get. That denotes authenticity. But if what you see is what you want to get, that denotes covetousness. What is covetousness in Taglish? covetousness. Yeah. And so, you know, when we say covet or covet, it's okay. It's how we

3:53 we pronounce it. And so, when if accidentally I say covet, it's just me being bilingual the way you all are as well, right? So, um you know, with with that, um two weeks ago when our brother Peter Jr. spoke of thou shalt not steal. Um he used two examples. The first one was the example of Achen. Achan um I won't read it because we read it last time but over here what I highlighted he saw he coited and took and the consequences of that covetousness in him affected the rest of the Israelites. The other example that he used was that of Eve. She saw it was a delight to the

4:42 eyes desirable. So she took and ate and gave. And Adam ate as well. And the consequences of that covetousness in her was not only to her or to Adam, but to the rest of mankind ever since then. You see, just one look, that's all it took. So, I submit to you, stop looking and listen instead. Especially when you come to points of decision making. And that is the title of our message for this afternoon. Stop looking, listen. Because as we sang

5:27 earlier, Christ God is enough. Christ is enough. Let me open by praying once more and you can stay seated but let me pray. Our dear heavenly father, Lord, your word is good. It is honey to our lips and may this food for this afternoon just so enrich our hearts. Lord fill it with your truth, fill it with your convict conviction trouble us that we might change. And so hearken our ears, open our minds, and uplift our spirits and see your face and your glory. In your name, Jesus we pray. Amen. Amen. John Piper says this, covetousness is desiring something so much that you lose your

6:13 contentment in God. So that we start to replace God with something else. Once we start replacing God with something else, in effect, what we're saying is God isn't enough, right? And that's why the the commandments start off with, "I am the Lord your God. You shall not have no other gods before me." Now although we have been tackling this series using the ten commandments as um expressed in Exodus chapter 20 I would rather use its version in Deuteronomy. Why? Because that old generation that came out of Egypt had passed away and now comes a new generation that was about to take to enter the promised

7:01 land. And because of their rebellious nature, the Israelites in the desert, there was something that Moses did which so displeased and dishonored God that he said to him, "You shall not enter the promised land." And so here was Moses now having to do an oral history, no, a summary of their journey from Egypt up to that point before the promised land. that was found in chap Deuteronomy chapters 1-4. And at near the tail end of chapter 4, it reads, "Know therefore today and take it to your heart that the Lord he is God in heaven above and on earth below. There is no other." The focus of this passage is this. Know that

7:50 he is God alone. That is what we all sang earlier. There is none like him. He is on the throne. And so something like this, the second point is you should take it seriously. Take it to your heart. For what purpose? It says so you shall keep his statutes and his commandments. For you to know God and take it seriously. The expectation of God is for you now to obey his commandments. For what purpose? that it may go well with you and with your children after you and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time. So what God is saying I am making myself known to you. I want to be known so that you will

8:38 learn something about me and take it to heart for what purpose in order for you to obey because the commandments are meant to bless us to keep it to keep us from harm. And so as we enter chapter five, Moses now repeats the ten commandments. No. And and he he basically starts off with the same um statement. I am the Lord your God who took you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then he gives his commandments. We discussed the last nine commandments. And now in Deuteronomy chapter 5, the 10th commandment is expressed this way. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field or his male servant or

9:24 his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor. The only difference between the Exodus 20 and the Deuteronomy chapter 5 is the order. In the Exodus 20, the house came before the wife and over here the wife comes before the house and everything else remains the same. So the question now is this um well the reason also that I like Deuteronomy is because it reminds me of the golden rule. What is the golden rule? Do unto others what you would have others do unto you. And so here is a daddy joke. I play around with words so that I will remember. It's easy to

10:11 remember Deuteronomy what you would have me do to run. You get it? All right. So it's easy to remember that way. But the question is what does covet mean? Well, in its context, it means to strongly desire something, especially something belonging to another and this often with envy. You know, it is something that somebody else has and you want it for yourself or it is something that God has not given you for his own good sovereign reason. You see the tenth commandment focuses on the internal I guess attitudes and motives that we have and from this internal sin you know the

10:58 other external sins follow. For example, pastor Marty last week when he spoke on the ninth commandment regarding lying the covetous part of that is I want my version of the truth. When our brother Peter Jr. spoke on the eighth commandment regarding stealing, covetousness says, "I want what you have." When pastor Ricky spoke on the seventh commandment regarding adultery, covetousness is I want who you have. And when pastor Paul dea spoke on the sixth commandment regard regarding murder covetousness is I want what you value

11:43 the most your life and when pastor Paul Tanchi spoke on the fifth commandment regarding honoring your parents covetousness simply states I want to be the authority in of my life. See everything from the internal it translates to external sin and that's why it is a proper book end this covetousness from where it starts I am the Lord your God who took you out of Egypt out of the land of slavery you shall have no other gods before me because covetousness is all about being envious being lustful being greedy and being selfish

12:29 But externally or in a broader sense kitus means it implies an inordinate or wrongful longing for possessions, power or accolades. It is an infinite hunger and unquenchable thirst for the things of this world which replace a desire for spiritual fulfillment and eternal gain. Paul in his letter to the Colossians calls covetousness and associates it with idolatry. And another episode he he says that um the things of this world the desire for the things of this world make you enemies of the cross. Why is that? Because the whole purpose of

13:15 why Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross is to save us from the natural consequence of our sin. And if we are to desire that which Jesus Christ is trying to save us from, then you become enemies of his purpose for dying on the cross instead and you reap the consequence of eternal ruin. So stop looking. Jesus Christ warns us and this is a familiar passage. It says the eye is the lamp of the body. In context, if your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within

14:00 you is darkness, how great is that darkness? So stop looking, stop, I guess, window shopping and stop windows shopping as well because when you look at your phone and you start doomcrolling through Lazada, through Shopee, okay, and also uh what's Amazon? No, it it stirs this desire. You go to social media and you go, "Oh, how can they go to that place? I I you know I'm so in get I'm this and that and you start longing and so the apostle John warns us again with this very familiar passage do not love the world nor anything in the world if anyone loves

14:47 the world love for the father is not in them. What it is saying is a phrase in another passage is um you cannot serve two masters you will love one and hate the other. So let me show you a video testimony. Can we have that please? You know why I'm showing that? Because this is the testimony. All of us are guilty of covetousness. I am. You are. So this whole family of God, this message is for you and me. Amen. Now, first John continues this way. For everything in the world, does it say

15:33 some things? No, it says everything in the world. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life comes not from the father, but from the world. Let me give you a funny example of the pride of life. What are belts for? It is to hold trousers up for the men, for the women. It is an embellishment around the waist, right? But there are some people and I'll show you something that I saw from a colleague of mine. Um, and it's this. What is that? An Hermes belt. Now, the pride of life there is that this belt starts at around $800 and upwards of more than $1,000.

16:21 It's a belt, right? And and so what at this time when people are belt tightening, they are into belts. Kaching. You know what's kaching? Wow, it looks so expensive and it's something that I can afford. So kaching kaching kaching, right? And so my my my and so I had to tease my friend and I said I looked at her and I said, "Which superhero are you?" you know, and she laughs and she laughs and she plays along and she goes, "He-Man no." And so we had a good laugh about that. But there are other things from Pastor Jim's generation. No, Pastor Jim's generation is more That's the pride of life. No, because back then just like

17:08 this. Ooh. No. They still have this. Ah, that's a status symbol. The young kids don't know what it is. No, they think it's a small Walkman. No, it's not. It's called a pager. And back then to have that. No. Um, you're going wow. Status. Status. But honestly, do people still use this here? So, the desire for it. You know, people don't admire if you have it. They think you're weird and archaic. But these things fade away. And that's what John is saying. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. Notice the contrast.

17:54 The world and its desires versus those who do the will of God. One passes away, the other one lives forever. The contrast is so very clear. And so the choice is yours. And so listen, I would like to present to you three antidotes to covetousness. The first one is simply be content. Hey, no strange thing. That is intuitive. Of course, if you want, but you are content. Those are opposite sides. And so that is intuitive. But the second one is be generous. This is counterintuitive because our whole desire is to acquire.

18:39 what scripture counsels us to give away. And the third one is be in awe. And this is deductive. And I will explain that later on. But let's start with the first point. Scripture says if we have food and covering with these we shall be content. So if we have food, if we if we have clothes, if we have a house, you should be content already. What is the context in first Timothy? Paul goes, "But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment." So what pleases God is right living, righteous living with contentment with what he has allowed or given into your

19:26 life. And verse 7 goes, for we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. What that reminds me of is the story of Job. Here was a rich man whose wealth was taken away, material things taken away, the lives of his children taken away, and now his health taken away. But his response was this. Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return. Um, God has given and God has taken away and then comes may his mighty name be praised. You see, it's not the presence of things or the absence of things, but the attitude of your heart. The attitude of your heart which is precious to God. Therefore, think about

20:13 this when you sang Christ is enough for me. Did you really truly mean it? And if you meant it, is it really truly evident in your life? Because to be content means to be grateful with whatever it is that God chooses for you in your life. Paul warns us, "But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare, and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil." Many people misquote this and

20:59 misinterpret it that money is the root of all evil. No, money is a root of all sorts of evil. What do I mean by that? Pastor Peter when he started the series spoke about um the sin of heavy of worshiping graven images. Then in the second week, the following week, he expounded on on what this type of idolatry is by speaking about idols of the heart. What are idols of the heart? When your career, when your business, when your pleasure, when your relationships and pursuit of material things take the rightful place of God as being foremost in your life, that

21:45 becomes an idol of the heart. And as I was listening to him, I was going for people who have idols on the heart, maybe the right expression to you would be, "Oh my gods, because you have many gods in your life, right?" And and and so it there's also another warning here, which is and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. You know that happened to me twice. I've gone bankrupt out of pursuit of material gain, out of pursuit of more than what I already had. And this also reminds me of the story of the rich young ruler or the rich young man. This young man approached Jesus Christ

22:32 and said, "Rabbi or teacher, how do I enter the kingdom of heaven?" And Jesus Christ basically rattles off a few of the ten commandments. And he goes, "All of these things I have done. What else must I do to enter heaven? And I like the way um Jesus answers him in the version in Mark. He goes, Jesus looked at him and loved him. What does that mean? Because God is able to look into our hearts and see that which is really getting in the way of you entering heaven. And in his case he says this one thing you lack. He said go sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.

23:17 Then come follow me. And the rich young man turned around sad. And the description was because he was very wealthy. Now he asked how to get into the kingdom of heaven. Proverbs the writer asked for a different thing. He goes, "I ask you God to let me have two things before I die. Keep me from lying and let me be neither rich nor poor. So give me only so much food as I need. If I have more, I might say that I do not need you. But if I am poor, I might steal and bring disgrace on my God." Now, this is the NIV.

24:03 Let me give you the JPV. What's a JPV? It's JP's version. So, okay, it's my version, which is let me have two things before I die. Lord, help me obey the ninth commandment and help me obey the 10th commandment. That's all it is. Lord, I want to be content. Now less you mis misunderstand wealth is not sin. In much the same way that temptation is not sin but giving into temptation makes it sinful. Being wealthy does not make you sinful. It is our attitude toward wealth which makes it sinful. And let me give you the

24:50 examples in Ecclesiastes chapter 5. In the same chapter, you have two examples of wealth without God and wealth with God. In the first, it says, "Whoever loves money never has enough. Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless." So, I like what the Roman philosopher Senica says. It is that the man who has too little, who is poor, but the man who craves for more. Nice. It is that the man who has too little that is poor, but the man who is never ever satisfied and always keeps

25:36 craving for more. On the other hand, what is a man with wealth but with God? It reads, "Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy with their toil, this is a gift of God, to accept your position in life, and to accept the job or the work that God has placed on your shoulders." Now, I was speaking with a very wealthy member of our church. We were just seated and chatting. And so I asked him, you know, you're so wealthy already. You have all the money that you could possibly ever want or need. Why do you continue doing what you're doing? He

26:22 says, you know, because I like being creative and I like the creativity that goes into my job, right? Or his business. See, what he's saying is it's not about the money. It is about the joy of doing what God had entrusted to him and gifted him to do. Now a larger than life example is this guy Warren Buffett. He is known as the Oracle of Omaha. He is a hedge fund manager and and um it's called Birkshshire Hathaway. And um this man is the ninth um richest man in the world with a net worth estimated at more than 150 billion

27:10 US. Times 62 nowadays you get the peso equivalent. So it's a lot of money. Warren though has been living in the same house he bought in 1958. If you Google the house it is a very modest house. Nothing extravagant. no high gated walls or anything of that sort. More than that, he drives a secondhand 2014 Cadillac to replace his 2006 Cadillac. And although he can afford to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and every Miranda in between in a five-star hotel, he avoids high-end restaurants. He eats breakfast at McDonald's every morning for under $4.

27:56 And then he also has done this. He has pledged to donate 99% of his wealth to philanthropic causes. And his philosophy is to leave his children enough so that they can do anything but not so much that they can do nothing. What a nice thought. But I must admit, you know, if you give me 1% of $150 billion dollars, I'll be very, very content. Wouldn't you? But that's not the point. The point is simply this. This man very wealthy can do anything is so content and so generous as well. You know he says that because after decades of observing wealthy families he believes that excessive wealth can erode

28:44 ambition, stifle personal growth and even create family discord. So he is generous and that is exactly what our second point is. If the first one is intuitive, this one is counterintuitive because we want to hoard. God says to share and that's why Jesus counsels it is better to give than to receive. Now listen why do you want to be generous? One line from scripture because wealth is worthless in the day of wrath. When your life ends, when all is said and done, whatever you have acquired,

29:32 however small or big it is, you take not a single scent with you. That's it. And so now you will be judged in accordance with your stewardship of these things. In Proverbs it says this, "There is one who scatters and yet increases all the more. And there is one who withholds what is justly due and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous and the w and he who waters will himself be watered." Let me give you two testimonies within our church. The first one would be this couple. Pastor Jim, I don't know if you know them, right? But a wonderful

30:18 couple. Um, his name is Shiran Gera, married to Marge, and they are wonderful, especially since they they are with one of the churches in Canada. And they volunteered to drive my wife and I uh to the airport two hours away. And um they along the ways they were we were we were asking them questions about their life. And um it turns out that both of them are engineers working in I I think Toronto, right? And um his brother is an IT. So both brothers are professionals and and the brother works for a Singaporean company here in the Philippines. And so by all intents and purposes, by

31:05 what you see and what you know, they are living a good life. But it was not always that way. They were telling me or he was telling me that his father was a street vendor. So growing up, this is how we described it. No sale, no eat. Is that your situation now? Is there a reason not to be content if you are not like that? And they know that they had the father had a bad day when he comes home forlorn head bowed shoulders is stooped and they knew there was no sale

31:54 you know but God knows and he has changed their life. Their parents now live on SSS, not social security, but sari store. No, they used to be ambulant vendors. Now they are stationary vendors. But even that is a blessing from God. If that was your career, would you be satisfied? Probably not. But see where is the generosity in this as well? Well, the children support the parents now. They augment the income. Why do they do that? Out of a sense of gratitude, right, for for who their parents are to

32:42 them and for what the parents have done. And then I was blessed by the the I guess the reaction of my wife when she said, "Now I understand why you do not haggle with these vendors. Why you are generous to them? Because for us we save a few pesos, but for them, yeah, it means the world. No sale, no eat." So again, another daddy joke. know those in need. It's a good way for you to remember know what these guys did or do. Now, another testimony would be our church project.

33:28 We have been blessed with 2.3 hectares of property with two buildings, a field and a and a swimming pool for the school. But many of you do not know the background story over here because this church was built only um you know supported by the gen generosity of our members. We do not have any debt. We do not have any mortgage. We we were not leveraged whatsoever. And you know praise God. Yeah. Honestly, God deserves that. Um, back then I had this file. This is a record of all of the donors. And you know, reading through it, if you had the opportunity to read through it, you

34:13 would be blessed by how people gave lavishly, willingly, joyfully in order to make these building projects come true. But you know what made it even more special would be the last few pages. Let me show you the last two. The second to the last, the top says 16 pesos and it had a name. The bottom of the page shows 5 pesos and had a name. The last page showed 77 cents as the last entry and it had anonymous. But throughout those pages there were

34:59 many anonymous givers you know and here we have examples of big givers and little givers. But as far as God is concerned those who gave at the tail end. You know he he he is so honored that way. In in scripture he says the others gave from their excess but these but this this lady this widow gave from her poverty and the same thing with these you know heroes as far as I'm concerned you know it what they did was they gave so much because of who to them God was what he has done and what he continues to do.

35:47 You see that is an act of worship. Giving is an act of worship and it's not the amount but it is the proper response and attitude because of who he is, what he has done and what he continues to do. And that is what our third point is all about. Be in awe. You know what the Hebrew word for awe is? It is yra. Yira means holy fear. It is a profound reverence or deep respect and being overwhelmed by how mighty God is. Yerra

36:34 and the way to remember ya is this year of awe. May this be a year of awe for you. Jira, you look at him in a way that he and only he deserves because he is God alone. He is seated on the throne in good times and in bad. He is God alone. He is in charge. He is he is almighty. The question is is he sovereign in your life? And so listen listen to you know God's heart after he had given the ten commandments. It continues on that day they had such a heart in them that they would fear me. He says one of

37:20 these days I hope that they would have this holy fear in me of me for what purpose? That so that they would keep all of my commandments and not just at times one time two times but all times always. Why? that it might be well with them and their sons forever. And here in this passage, it summarizes also the essence of the ten commandments. He makes himself known so that we would have this holy fear and awe of him. For what purpose? So that if we take it to heart, we will obey his commandments. For what reason? Because he desires nothing more than to bless his children, to bless his people.

38:07 You know this word obedience reminds me of the story of this man JFK Jr. Do you know him? If we have our FPJ, they have their JFK. No. And JFK is the son of the former president of the US, John F. Kennedy. And this guy, take a look at how he looks. He is really guapo. No. And not only guapo, he was voted as the sexiest man alive in 1988. And not only that, it was such a fairy tale type of life that he married such a beautiful woman, Jacqueline bet. Uh bet. Yeah. Caroline bet rather. No. But you

38:53 know this guy, he was touted and expected to follow in his father's footsteps and become the next a president one of these days. No, if for those of you of that era, you remember him as this little toddler who was saluting his father's casket as it was paraded on the way to burial. And here he was following in the footsteps of his father, the father and the mother. The way it was described, it was a time of Camelot in the US. And he was basically reprising that thing. But this charmed life ended in a tragic death. Because in 1999 his small plane crashed together with him, his wife and the sister of the wife

39:42 Lauren. And what was the reason for that? The technical term for that is spatial disorientation because he was flying over the Atlantic Ocean at night and there was no visible horizon. So there was he lost his orientation and in that situation where it's pitch black, you don't see anything to go by, you forget which is up and which is down. And the official report says that and so they crash. But since a lot of planes fly at night, um you know they are taught to rely on their instruments because it will orient them properly.

40:30 The the tragedy is this. He was a novice pilot and um totally inexperienced I guess in that sense. And this story reminds me of people when it comes to script scripture. There are many who are inexperienced in their in their faith in God in trust in God simply because they do not read their Bibles. And the Bible is God's instrument for us to navigate through this thing called life. In scripture, God makes himself known and his instructions known as well. That's why when those who do not know the Bible come to a point of life decisions,

41:16 they suffer spiritual disorientation. They don't know which is from up, which is from down, which is right, which is wrong, what is evil, and what is holy. And just like the Israelites in our main passage in Exodus, it reads, "All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But let not God speak to us or we will die." You know, it reminds me of people who come to church and they are okay to listen to the message. They are okay to

42:01 listen to the preaching. They are okay to listen to the preacher, but they do not go and listen to God directly by reading his word. They do not know him. And this is now the consequence of that. It continues. Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." You see, the whole purpose of God's commandments is to result in holiness in a personal knowledge of him. And it says the people remained at a distance. So this Israelites were fearful, but that kind of fear kept them away from God. And so they worshiped him from a distance. There was no personal relationship.

42:48 That's what religion does. It makes you worship an impersonal God, an unknown God, a distant God. But if as a child of God, what God wants to happen is for you to be like Moses, to be such a friend of his that Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. And the way scripture pictures this is just like the relationship of an earthly father with his son or his daughter where you are such in awe of your father that it is a pleasure to approach him. There is no threat of being harmed. Um and and and although you you are in awe

43:36 of your father and are friendly with him, you never ever forget that he is still father. So it's not a bro bro thing. That is reverence. That is a holy awe of God. As we close, let me tell you a personal story. On my birthdays, on my birthdays, I go on a personal private retreat. I've done that over a couple of years already and but this time it was different because I had points in a program that would expire and say if I don't use it so what I did was I converted it to hotel stays no and um the hotel stays unfortunately there was so much points it was not only for

44:21 one room but it was a suite and not only a suite but a two-bedroom suite complete with breakfast No, for four people. So, what do what do I do with all of that space and all of that food? Do I invite Pastor Jim? Of course not. So, what I did was I invited my wife Ruchi. And the reason simply is this, so that she could see what it is that I do when I go on a personal retreat. So, three nights, four days. And what I did was simply read and pray and worship. And when I went there, I I came with this mindset. I want or I coet to worship more and I coet to grow in

45:11 wisdom. To grow in worship and to grow in wisdom. So I knew therefore that in the area of worship I should read through the 150 chapters of Psalms. And to grow in wisdom, I must read through the 31 chapters of Proverbs. And then I asked God, my prayer was for four things. Lord, give me your heart. Lord, give me your lens. Lord, give me your mind. And Lord, give me your orders. Why? To give. Praise God. No. To give me your heart. Why? What I was saying is, Lord, give me your heart that I might worship you. Give me your lens that I may see the things that I no longer see and to

45:57 see new things. And Lord, give me your mind so that I may understand the old things and even the new things in a new perspective as well. And then, Lord, give me your orders that I might obey. And so as I read through the Psalms, I got I got stilled by one line in Psalm 93, which describes God this way. Holiness adorns your house. Something I've read before, but something was different this time. And I read it and I said, "Wow." We've heard God described in many ways, but this line was special at that time. And if the whole journey and purpose of

46:44 life is to become more Christlike, then I I wrote, Lord, I want to be that way as well. So may holiness adorn our house. And I wrote it down, you know. And so as I went through Psalms and it was a wonderful time of worship and as I finished Proverbs the last chapter then his orders his order came and it says heed proverbs and holiness will adorn your house. Now just to be clear we are not holy by the things that we do. We are holy because God in his sovereign will and knowledge and design

47:29 set us apart. And holiness is simply the evidence of that set apartness. So it's not us saying we are holy. It's God saying you are holy. And God is saying I want to see the fruit. I want to see the evidence of that set aartness in your life. You see we are not only to read proverbs. We are not only to learn proverbs but we are to put proverbs into practice for holiness to adorn our houses. And you know I also discovered something in proverbs. It's a overarching theme of Proverbs which is found in 9:10 and it mirrors the same passage almost

48:15 the same passage in the book of Psalms which is in 11110 and it is all about the fear of the Lord and the fear of the Lord is yra to be in such profound reverential view of him. It is the beginning of wisdom. And what is wisdom? It is seeing things, understanding things from God's perspective. And it doesn't stop with that. It's also about obeying those things that God has revealed to you. This one is from the NASB. This one is from the NIV. Let me give you again from the JPV.

49:03 No again let me stress that there is no such Bible it exists only in my mind it's JP's version right so if the fear of the Lord is a beginning of wisdom then the fear of the Lord should end in obedience simple it should result in in obedience so that the obedience will be the evidence that you obey and what do you obey that you are set apart and what do you obey his precepts. All of his precepts. What are precepts? These are guidelines. These are instructions. These are principles when it comes to guiding you in terms of behavior, your attitude, your thoughts and your action. And again, Proverbs says that the

49:50 knowledge of the holy one allows you now gives you understanding. When you say understanding, why he says what he says, why he commands what he commands, why he expects what he what he expects. So it gives us an understanding of his ways and his thoughts and because we have an understanding of him now we will follow his precedence his his precepts rather in order to evidence that we understand the Lord God who we say we worship. Now, another fantastic, you know, thing that jumped out for me was not only are they in back-to-back books, um, verses 10 in both of them, but this one was

50:36 written by David. This one was written by Solomon. Wisdom passed down from father to son. Wow. Wisdom passed down from father to son. That is why parents they are God's appointed authority over us. They are not perfect but they are God's intended authority over us. Now this son when he was old wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes was basically Solomon's memoirs of his accomplishments, his regrets and his observations of life.

51:22 And in chapter 12, the last one, he says, "Now all has been heard. Here is the conclusion of the matter." So he goes, "After observing all that, after doing all that, after regretting all that, here is now my conclusion." And that's why I say it is deductive because after all that here now is the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep his commandments. Know God. Be in awe of God and then what he says put it into practice. Why? Because it's all about knowledge and obedience. And this is what God

52:08 expects of us. This is our duty. He saved us for a reason. That was his purpose for us. In order to become his holy people, his holy adopted children. Why does he say this? Because he will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. So here is my conclusion of this message. Listen on that day there will be two types of Christians. Let me refine it even more. Bring it home. Let me customize and personalize it for our church. On that day there

52:57 will be two types of CCFers. One, those who will be in shock. The second, those who have been in awe. Two types, the shock and the awe. Right? Those in shock were those would be those who come here and who think that they have this wonderful relationship with with Christ, but only to hear that day instead of well done, good and faithful servant. Away from me, you evildoer. I never knew you. And you will argue, Lord, Lord, don't I attend CCF? Lord, don't I attend Bible studies? Lord, don't I volunteer for the ministries? But you never really took the time to

53:43 get to know him, to be in awe of him in order to be obedient to him. In short, they do not obey. And in Revelation it says, "I will spit you out of my mouth because you were only lukewarm, half here and half in the world, tepid in your Christianity." The second one would be those who have been in awe. Those who in this journey knowing him took the opportunity to get to know him more. In 1 Corinthians 13 it says um we will we will know fully at that time even as we are fully known which is get to know him

54:29 the way he knows us intimately as well. And and and so they they they do that they they they get to know him. They seek him out so that they can please him more in this lifetime. Psalm 8:17 puts it this way. I love those who love me and those who seek me find me. God is near. Are you reaching out? Are you reaching out for your Bible in order to get to know him so that you may be in awe of him? And that's what the whole ten commandments is all about. It's all about the knowledge of him and

55:15 the obedience to him. You get to know him. You fall in love with him. You are in awe of him. And so therefore, I want to please him. That is what he expects of his children. And that's why the ten commandments is all about that. He makes himself known. He shows you his heart. And we are expected to obey. so that he can bless us. And that's why for me the root word of knowledge is knowledge because this type of all this type of understanding of him leads to obedience.

56:02 You cannot have one without the other. The question is, is he sovereign in your life? We know that he is almighty. He can do anything. He's anywhere and everywhere at any time. We know that he is loving. He is attentive. He is gracious. He is faithful. He is just. And and we know that. But the question is, are you is he sovereign in your life? Which means he is not only savior but he is lord. He is the boss of your life. No. And covetousness is simply this. You want to know God's will but you have your will and observe.

56:48 When people say what is God's will? It is more often than not opposite yours. You want to go right but God says it's this direction that I want for you. And so if you don't want to worship a distant and impersonal God, if your desire is to know him as you do your father, as as you do um I I guess as you want to to be guided by his wisdom, by his perspective, by his heart, by his mind. If this is what you want, then just simply close your eyes and let us close in a word of prayer. Our heavenly father, your word is true.

57:36 Your word is honey to our soul souls. Lord, we just thank you for the truth of your word. Lord, for the inspiration of your word and for troubling us with your word. May the CCF family here be shaken to think through their lives, to think through their attitudes in the heart. And if it translates to gratitude or an I guess a listlessness because they want to fill a void which only you and you alone can fill. Lord, may the songs that we sang earlier, you are better than life. You are God and God alone. and um Christ is enough. May all of these things really be truth speaking forth

58:23 from the from the overflow of our hearts because of what you have poured into us. We thank you for this afternoon. We thank you for your word and may you and you alone be glorified by our lives. In your name, Jesus, we pray. And God's family said, "Amen." Praise God. Good day CCF family. Welcome to Sunday FastTrack where you ask real life questions and we give you biblical truths. I'm Charlene Serento from Elevate Youth Ministry and we're here today with Pastor JP Masakayan to answer some of your questions. Good day, Pastor JP. >> Hi, Charine. >> Hello. Thank you for your message on the 10th and last commandment of our series,

59:09 which is thou shalt not covet. Are you ready to answer our questions? I'll try. >> Okay. So, in a culture driven by comparison, whether through social media, career success, relationships, or lifestyle, how can we recognize when admiration has crossed into cavetusness? >> Well, maybe a good example would be our traffic situation here in Manila. It's chaotic. Why? Because people want to get ahead of somebody else. >> So, my advice is simply to stay in your own lane. Be disciplined. be content with that lane, you will get there. And the issue is that when you want somebody else's lane, you actually interrupt the flow of traffic. So the same thing with

59:56 our lives. When when we covet somebody else's lane, that is the equivalent of I'm listless in my lane. I want to get ahead of somebody else. No. And then that's what causes a lot of the problems. Now when it comes to admiration maybe an example in my life I was at a workplace I was just a graphic artist and then I was looking at how to do better in life. >> So I looked at the people in my office and I said who are the people here who seem to be doing better in life and I identified that the marketing people were and so I started talking with them what did you study in school? what kind of books do you read? And I read those

1:00:42 books and I enrolled myself in business school. So admiration, that kind of covetousness is healthy, but to envy is an altogether different thing because you want to get ahead of somebody else. >> All right. Thank you, Pastor JP. For our second question, many Christians know in their minds that God is enough but struggle to feel that way. How do we move from knowing this truth to actually living it? >> Well, you just need to be grateful. You are to be content with whatever it is that God has allowed into your life because the things that he does not allow, you must, you know, give God the benefit of the doubt that he knows better and he knows that if he were to give it to us, if not now ever, it is

1:01:29 simply it's not good for us because not all things are good for everybody. The second thing is it's natural to desire things for your life. So you pray but you stay neutral. So if God gives, praise him. If he withholds, praise him just the same. >> Praise God. And for our third question, a lot of people today are searching for fulfillment through success, relationships experiences or possessions. Why do you think those things often leave us wanting more? This is the classic example or explanation that in all of us is a god-shaped vacuum. And we try to fill that with possessions, with positions, with relationships, with all sorts of things. But even if you are to acquire

1:02:16 them, after a while, they never really truly permanently satisfy. So if you come to a point where what excited you before no longer excites you and you want something, then what you're saying is God is not enough. >> Yeah. >> Because there is that void and you have not allowed him to fill it in your life. >> Yeah. >> So thank you, Pastor JP, for answering all of our questions. And that's it for CCF Sunday Fastrack. God bless. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.