Worship The True God | Peter Tan-Chi | April 19, 2026

0:00 Today we are going to discuss something unique and something that most people have never heard. It's about the ten commandments but it is not the usual ten commandments presentation. It is ten commandments revealing to us who god is his character and how he wants to be worshiped. In short, it's foundational. Commandment number one is the foundational truth that every Christian should practice, which is worship the true God. Watch this video for I will guarantee you it will impact your life.

0:46 I was raised by my parents and grew up with four brothers in a home where faith was taken seriously. Through my parents' hard work and sacrifice, I was privileged to study in one of the top Jesuit schools in our country from preparatory level all the way to college. From a young age, I didn't just inherit this faith. I deeply embraced it. I was formed not only to believe but to faithfully observe. I was taught majest to always give my best and offer everything for God's greater glory. I learned to be a man for others to do good to serve and to live a life shaped by devotion and discipline.

1:32 Carefully observed traditions. Attended services regularly. said my prayers and did what I believed was expected of a devoted and faithful follower. My faith was something I valued deeply and held firmly. To show my gratitude to my parents and taking majest to heart, I pursued excellence, receiving honors and distinctions, becoming a student leader and eventually even being elected president of the university student council. The phrase to whom much is given much is also expected resonated well with me. Over time these achievements and recognitions built my confidence in my

2:20 own capabilities and fueled my drive to become more successful and to be better. This meant landing a good paying job, moving up the corporate ladder, marrying the woman of my dreams, and raising a beautiful family. All while giving thanks to the Lord by going to mass, saying my prayers, and doing good to others. I found nothing wrong in my priorities in life. I loved my family and extended support, had good relationships, attended church on Sundays, said my prayers, and observed a number of other religious practices. I thought I was living my life pleasing

3:07 to the Lord. When my wife Marge, who came to know Jesus personally ahead of me, asked if we could attend a marriage retreat organized by CCF. I immediately said no. I was strongly against it. First, while my marriage was not perfect, I did not see the urgent need to attend. Second, I learned that it was organized by a Christian church and that made me uncomfortable. After much prayer from Marge, I eventually agreed to go, but on one condition. If there was any attempt to make us convert or be baptized, we would

3:52 immediately pack up and leave. I arrived guarded and cautious. At the start of the retreat, I was tense and constantly on the lookout for any hint of conversion, ready to walk away at the first sign of anything that would challenge what I had always believed. Then during one of the breaks, I was introduced to Pastor Peter. In that brief conversation, he asked me a question that struck me deeply. If we were to face Jesus one day, would he ask what religious organization I belonged to? or if I truly knew him and had a personal relationship with him. I could

4:40 not answer and just nodded. The question bothered me because deep inside I knew I only knew of Jesus in my head, but I did not really know him in my heart. As I returned to our table, the Lord did something to me. He made me reflect and examine my life. He lovingly showed me how full of pride I was hiding behind my religious upbringing and practices which made me feel good and secure. I was too worried about being converted when all he wanted was for me to get to know him through his son Jesus. That moment exposed something in my heart. I realized that what I had was

5:25 just a religion and not a relationship. I was open to God, but only on my terms, and that my self-righteous pride was in the way. By God's grace, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior that weekend in October of 2022. Praise God. It was truly a transformative experience for me and my wife. We understood God's design for our marriage and our family, and we started to put him at the center of our lives. However, even after that, there was still a part of me that struggled to fully let go of my old practices, especially since I did not want to disappoint others or be seen differently.

6:12 So, while I was growing and enjoying my relationship with Jesus, reading the Bible, and attending CCF on Sundays, I continued going to my previous church on Saturdays. And this went on for more than a year. In fact, as we were preparing to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, my plan was to hold the renewal of vows in two churches just so I would not offend anyone. Looking back now, I realized that I was trying to hold on to both. I was trying to worship God, but still keep something else alongside him. As I continued to grow in my relationship with Jesus, the Lord began to change my heart. As I

6:58 spent time in his word, I came to know him more deeply and understand how he desires to be worshiped. I realized that following him was not about maintaining practices but about but about knowing him and worshiping him according to his truth. It gave me the courage to no longer keep my faith private, but to stand on it. That same season, as my wife and I were finalizing our 10th wedding anniversary plans, we made a clear decision. Our vow renewal would be a Christian service, and we invited our family and close friends. Praise God. Today, by God's grace, we have been regularly worshiping in one church,

7:45 attending prayer and fasting, joining events like IDC, volunteering in marriage retreats, and inviting family, friends, and even workmates to attend worship services. Marge and I spend time in the word every morning and on weekends with our daughter, Elise. I am part of a coup's and men's Dgroup and we are now leading our own Dgroup with nine couples and recently I also started a men's group and during the steps of all trip by God's grace I took another step of obedience from my initial hesitation to be baptized back in 2022 to this time electing to outwardly demonstrate the inward commitment I have

8:31 made to Jesus through water baptism. Praise God. And doing it together with my family. Galatians 2:20 reads, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." Looking back, I realize this. True worship is not about practices or tradition. It is about who God is and how he has revealed himself in scripture. It is not about carrying anything in my pocket but putting Jesus in my heart. I thank God for using my wife, my family, the CCF community,

9:20 Pastor Peter, and many others to lead me to him. To God be the glory. >> Today we will begin a new series. Our series is going to be based on the Ten Commandments. Now, what enters your mind when you think of the Ten Commandments? Be honest. Whisper something to your neighbor. Now, before I give you the answer, what should enter your mind? Let me just first say hi to all of those who are watching us in the satellites, in the internet, all over the world. Everybody say hi to them. Amazing day that we can worship God all

10:07 over the world as one body, as one church in Christ. Is that something we need to give God the glory? Praise God. Now I suggest when you look at the ten commandments, do not look at it just like a set of duties, dos and don'ts. The Ten Commandments is given for amazing reasons, but it is unique because it is given by none other than God himself. It is very relevant to this day. The Ten Commandments, even though given to us over 3,000 years ago, is never obsolete. These are moral imperatives

10:52 expressing who God is. You got to connect the ten commandments with the very character and nature of the goodness of God. Why was the ten commandment given? Not just because it's going to bless the entire world. You may not realize this. The Philippine law is patterned after the US law. The US law is patterned after the British law. The British law is patterned after the Judeo-Christian ethics, the 10 commandments. So the foundation of western civilization, if you look at all the laws based on modernized country, it's based

11:39 on the Bible. This is what makes women you have dignity. It is what makes life precious because of the word of God. So the ten commandments are given number one to guide and protect us. That's the purpose of the ten commandments. The next it is given to reveal our sinfulness. Because when you look at the ten commandments you realize how short how much we have failed in not able to obey the ten commandments. So it is like a mirror to show you what's wrong with us. But it is also to point us to Jesus. The Bible tells us that the commandments of God does not save us, but it points you to a savior.

12:25 And number four, it reveals to us God's character and desire. If you want to know the character of God, that's what we will be studying for the next few weeks, the Ten Commandments. You will be amazed at the goodness of God. But lastly, it teaches us how we are to worship and please God. Very few people have looked at the ten commandments on the basis of how am I going to worship God's way? Well, today you are going to learn. But have a quick review. How many of you have memorized the ten commandments? All right, quick review. For the next few weeks, we will discuss the following. Commandment number one,

13:10 everybody read with me, you shall have no other gods before me. Number two, you shall not make for yourself an idol. Number three, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Number four, remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy. The first four commandments deals with your relationship with who God is. The next six deals with the byproduct of knowing who God is. How should you treat one another? This is pattern after the amazing teachings of Jesus. The greatest commandment, love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Next, love one

13:57 another. That's the summary. Look at the ten commandments. The next group, honor your father and your mother. Amazing command. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. The sanctity of marriage. You shall not steal. Respect for private property. You shall not bear false witness. The importance of integrity of honesty. And lastly, you shall not covet. It deals with the sin of the heart. No other commandments comes equal to the simplicity of the ten commandments. What's the topic today? In

14:43 the next few weeks, everybody, worship the true God. Can you turn to your neighbor, tell your neighbor, worship the true God. Why is this important? Because you and I are worshippers. Whether you like it or not, you worship. In fact, when you came this morning, whether you like it or not, you are worshiping. The only question is who do you worship? What do you worship? And how do you worship? But by nature, we worship. This is all over the world. Every culture, including atheists, they worship. If they don't worship God, they worship themselves. Something that is so foundational yet neglected. When it comes to worship, you

15:31 need to learn how to worship because it will impact your entire future and your children. Look at what the Bible tells us why worship is important. Everybody, please read. Everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made. You and I were made to worship. You and I were created by God for God to worship him. If you don't worship God, you will worship something else. That's our human nature created for worship. If you don't worship God,

16:17 you'll worship something else. As Tim Keller said, if you don't worship God, you worship something. And whatever you worship will shape your life. So, let's look at commandment number one. Everybody, the foundation of the Christian life. Let's read together. God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me." Notice number one, it's from God. God spoke all these words. So God is alive. God is

17:04 real. God is not a a figment of imagination. We serve a real God. But next, before he tells you what to do, he gives you the preamble. He gives you the background of who he is. Notice the ten commandments. How was it given? Let's read. I am the Lord your God. Everybody read. who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. What this verse is telling me is this. God did not give the ten commandments in order to save the people. He saved the people first before he gave them the ten

17:50 commandments. God is not giving us the ten commandments in order for us to attain salvation. No, you are redeemed in order to obey. You and I can never obey the ten commandments apart from first experiencing the salvation of God which is by faith by grace alone. God is telling his people, you better know who I am. I am Yahweh the Lord. I am the Lord your God. What kind of God do you have? A God who loves you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Egypt was the most

18:37 powerful nation of that time. There is absolutely no way for the people of Israel to be set free from the Egyptians. They were slaves. They don't have weapons. They cannot have any revolution. Impossible for the Israelites to be set free. Just like you, just like me. Slave to Satan, a slave to sin. No way you can get out of that. But God did something. God's power was greater than the power of Pharaoh, the power of the entire army of Egypt. God did miracles after miracles to show

19:24 them that God is mighty, that God is sovereign, that God can control the weather, God can control the water, God can control life, because the God we serve is living and powerful and real. Praise God. Our God is not weak, but he loves you. So God says, "I want you to know I save you from slavery." You see, you cannot worship God if you don't know him. You will not be excited to worship God if you have not experienced his goodness. So think about it. Worship is a thermometer.

20:10 It's a measurement of your intimacy with who God is. If you don't know God in fairness to you, you won't know how to worship him. If you don't love God, is it possible? Because you do not know how much he loves you. So what is worship? based on this verse. Before I tell you what it is, notice God tells them, "If you want to worship me, number one, everyone read, you shall have no other gods before me." But first, who is this God? So, what is

20:56 worship? If you have been with CCF, you already know our copyright definition. Okay, this is copyrighted but you can copy everybody. What is worship everybody? Our proper response to who God is, what he has done and what he continues to do. Notice proper response. What is proper response? You will know it for the next few weeks. We will teach you how to worship God. Proper response to who God is. So question, if you don't

21:42 know God, how can you respond properly? Am I fair? Responding to who God is next to what he has done. What does that mean? If you have not experienced the reality of God's goodness in your life, my friend, your worship will be anemic. If you have not experienced God's power and salvation in your life, all you have is religion. And religion does not lead to real worship. In fact, it can be a drudgery. It can be a duty. It can be rituals. And God does

22:29 not like rituals. He wants it personal. So what is true worship? Response to who God is, what he has done, and what he continues to do. You see, you have confidence in God's future action because of who he is and his past faithfulness. You see, you can worship God even when you have problems, even when you have trials because you know God loves you and you know God has promised to take care of you. But you will not be able to worship God if you are in the midst of problem and you don't trust

23:16 what he will do for you in the future. So my friend, the secret of true worship is knowing who God is as revealed in the Bible, not your own imagination. What he did, it is historical. It is actual. The best understanding of what he did that is very very objective is what he did for you and for me on the cross 2,000 years ago. God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for your sins and my sins. And he rose again from the dead to prove to us he is the son of God. My friend, that's why you put

24:04 everything together, you begin to understand, you begin to understand the entire Bible. So what and how do you worship God? Number one, worship the true God. Worship God exclusively. Can you turn to your neighbor? Tell your neighbor, worship the true God. And how? Worship God exclusively. Not God plus something else. That is the problem of people today. We believe in God. We worship God plus something else. What is that something else? I'm going to share with you from

24:50 the Bible why you should worship God and God alone. Because only God is worthy. The Bible says in the book of Revelation, "Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory, honor, power, for you created all things, and because of your will, they existed and were created." The word worship comes from the root word worthy. Only God is worthy. I am not worthy. No one is worthy of your worship. Only God, the creator. So my question to you is this. Do you know the God of the scripture? Your God who

25:38 created you, who saved you, who is almighty, who loves you. If you have a proper view of God's goodness, you'll be able to worship him from the heart. What is worship? You give God the glory. You give him the honor. You ascribe to him why you created all things and because of your will they existed and were created. You know the Bible tells us everybody read this. To whom will you liken God? What likeness will you compare with him? You see there's no equal. And then God wants you to understand as for idol a craftsman cast it a goldsmith

26:27 place it with gold and a silver smith fashions chains of silver. So whatever amulet whatever you are having it can never represent God. So let's look at the Bible one more time. Everybody read together. God spoke all of these words saying, "I am the Lord your God." It's not being personal. Who is God? Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery? God wants you to know I am your savior. I'm almighty. I love you. Commandment number one, everybody read. You shall have no other gods before me.

27:15 Why is that important? You are becoming what you worship. If you don't worship God, you're going to worship something else. And you become what you worship. If you don't worship God properly, you are being shaped by who you worship. You know, one of the best example I discovered is this guy Ollie London. Ollie London is from England. He idolizes this guy Park Pac Jim. Now, how many of you have heard of Pak Jim? The famous Korean, all of this tel nolla, all of this uh K-pop, all of these guys. Okay, I'm sorry. I'm ignorant of this. This guy wanted

28:01 to be like Park Jim. He idolizes him. Some of you, you idolize. example, a years ago, I I know of somebody who idolizes Elvis Presley. In fact, he's now a grown-up man. He's married. But when he was young, and he knows I'm talking about him, he loves Elvis Presley. He can sing and you know, you know, like Elvis, plays the guitar, dressed like Elvis Presley, and he can sing like Elvis Presley because he idolizes Elvis Presley. Some of you, you idolize LeBron James or Steve Kerry, whatever you do, okay? You idolize somebody. Now I do not know who you idolize but this guy he idolized Park Jim. So he went through 32 surgeries to make his face like a Korean cost about

28:48 $200,000 US. You know that's almost 12 million pesos to spend for surgery again and again and again. You are all shocked. This is a true story. You know what happened to his face? Because he really idolized Park. Well, almost like him, but still not like him. But you know the truth is this. What you worship ultimately receives your time, your energy, your sacrifice, and your obedience. What do you worship? What takes the most of your time, energy, sacrifice? That's what you worship.

29:37 If you are willing to sacrifice your family for something, you better check what is that thing. If you always say you have no time, you better find out what is most important for you. The Bible tells us the Jewish, the Israelites is guilty of this sin. is God plus something. They feared the Lord and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations. You see, all of us have traditions. All of you have custom. The Israelites feared God, but they serve other gods.

30:24 While these nations feared the Lord, whatever these nations conquered by the Israelites, whatever it is, they also serve their idols. Is it possible that you in your heart, you believe in God, you worship God, but it is God plus something else. Notice it impacts your children. their children likewise and their grandchildren as their fathers did so they do to this day. You see worship is foundational. It affects your entire future. The Bible says no other gods before me.

31:10 What is syncretatism? Syncratism is you worship God plus something or someone else. And we are guilty many times of synratism. You believe in God. You love God. But you have something else that competes with God. Today you are going to learn something. True worship is exclusive. Worship God and God alone. Give him the highest priority. Give him your greatest love. It cannot be God plus. And that something may not exactly be bad. It can be something good. That's why Jesus gave us the solution.

31:56 Jesus tells us, everybody read, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind." This is the great and foremost commandment. Question. Do you love God with all your heart, soul, and mind? That is the secret of true worship. Because you know God loves you. You know how much he sacrificed for you. God is now saying, "I gave you my all. Do you love me?" Christianity is all about a love relationship. It is not religion. If you love God with all your heart, the

32:43 rest will follow. The rest of the ten commandments will not be a problem. But if you don't worship God, you don't love God. Obedience is a problem. Everything is going to be a problem in terms of relationship with God if you don't put him first. Jesus tells us no one can serve two masters. Notice no one. He did not say it is hard to serve two masters. He says it is impossible to serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. Everybody read you cannot serve God and money. So for many of us

33:30 the competition of God is either money, your love life or yourself. I don't know about your life but today I'm praying that you know what God expects you to do. God is saying worship him alone. What is the message today? Worship the true God alone. Exclusive. Tell your neighbor exclusive. Friends, you may take this lightly, but it's very serious. I always use this example. Those of you who are married, I praise God. I've been married to my wife 53 years now. Imagine how my wife

34:19 will feel or how I would feel if she tell me, "Honey, I love you." Plus other men. Honey, I love you, but I also love somebody else. You think my wife will be happy? So, let's give you a test. If God is first, he'll be first in your finance. Is he first in your finance? He'll be first in your interest. What captures your attention? He'll be first in your relationships. I don't know if you have any

35:05 relationships today that is not pleasing to God. Boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever it is. You must put God first. If you put God first, all of this will follow your schedule. I don't know your schedule, but some of you are always struggling. You know, you're always struggling with your schedule. Can I tell you something? Because God is not first. Once you settle that in your heart, the rest will follow. What about trouble? When you are in trouble, where do you run to? See, if you put God first, you run to him. How do you worship God? Worship the true God. Worship God exclusively. Everybody read worship God rightly. How do you worship God rightly?

35:53 Can I teach you? Learn this principle. Let's read this. I am the Lord. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another nor my praise to graven images. God is saying I am the Lord. I will not give my glory to another nor share my praise. You know I learned this principle years ago in ministry in my service never steal an ounce of glory. In other words, if people we give praise to CCF, you and I should never steal an ounce of glory from God. Everything must be God's

36:40 glory. Amen. So, whatever you do in your life, you better make sure God gets all the glory. This is commandment number two. You must what? Let's read this together. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water on the earth. Notice, do not make for yourself an idol. What is an idol? Well, based on this, any likeness of your imagination, heaven or on earth or under the word or under the earth, don't imagine God in your imagination and then make an idol out of it. You shall not worship them or

37:26 serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers, on the children, on the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. Why is this important? Because this is one sin that God is describing that will impact future generations. You shall not worship or serve them. To worship something other than God is eventually to serve them. The Lord said, "I'm a jealous God." The word jealous God. The word jealousy is not bad when it is used to describe God's relationship with us. Jealousy is not

38:11 bad when it is used to describe a husband and wife relationship because it is a protective kind of love. You love somebody so much that you want to protect the person. God's jealousy is for our good, for our protection. Because God knows the moment you worship another god, you are destroying yourself. Because idols, counterfeit gods will rob you eventually of your very life. It gives false promises. Idols promises many things in your imagination. You think that's what they can do but in reality it will destroy you. So God is saying this is serious. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers

38:58 children third and fourth generation. The Bible is not saying I will punish your son because of your sin. No no the Bible is saying the sin of idolatry is so serious that it will impact the children. They begin to copy you to the third and fourth generation. What do I mean? Look at the religions of the world. If you are born in the Middle East, in all likelihood, what is your religion? In the Middle East, probably Islam. If you were born in part of Asia, what religion will you be?

39:44 Maybe you will be a Buddhist. If you are born in India, in all probability, what will be your religion? Hinduism. Today, if you are born in Europe years ago, it'll be Christian, but now maybe atheist. Atheism. What's my point? Your religion, how you worship impacts your children, their children's children, and their children's children. The power of worship, generational wrong worship, wrong gods, and the life

40:32 is going to be different. study the connection between life and religion, prosperity and religion. But there's a but. But everybody read but showing loving kindness to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments. You see God is saying commandment number two worship God the right way. Huh? no image. You worship him properly, what's going to happen? You will be blessed. Showing loving kindness to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments. You see, idolatry, ladies

41:18 and gentlemen, is not only worshiping a false god. It is attempting to worship the true God in the wrong way. You can worship the true God in the wrong way. By the way, what's the message today everybody? Worship the true God. Turn to your neighbor. Worship the true God. Now, how do you worship the true God? Worship must be exclusive. Worship must be what? The right way. Right? What's the right way? It is important. What is the right way? Let's read this together. An hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers, notice true worshippers.

42:05 Meaning there are false worshippers. But true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and in truth. For such people the father seeks to be his worshippers. So God is looking for true worshippers. Who are true worshippers? God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. What does this mean? God is spirit. You don't see him. So don't try to imagine God and put him in a shape because whatever you imagine will be less than who God is. God is spirit. What does

42:54 that mean? is all over. You don't see him with your eyes, but he's real. You must worship God in spirit and truth. So, there is such a thing as wrong worship and our human sinful nature. We want to shape God into our imagination. We want a God we can see, we can control, and we can manipulate. And God is saying that is not the way to worship me. Let me give you example from the Bible. Jesus tells us rightly did Isaiah prophesy of your of you hypocrites. He calls the religious Pharisees hypocrites. They are religious. They are

43:41 very sincere. They worship the true God. However, Jesus says, "You are hypocrite. Why these people honors me with their lips? You say you believe me, you worship me. However, your heart is far away from me. How can that be? Can you come to CCF and you sing to the Lord, but your heart is far away? Yes. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. When you make tradition, when you make religion more important than the word of God, that's what he's saying. Look at the next verse. Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men. When you

44:28 worship tradition, your religion more than God's revelation, that's called hypocrisy. This thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down and you do many such things. Ladies and gentlemen, that is why you need to study the Bible. If you don't study the Bible, you will not know whatever you are practicing is with God's approval or without God's approval. Our sharer Eric shared with us when he began to study the Bible, he began to notice something that is not right with the way he was worshiping God before. Your allegiance must be to God, not to

45:14 religion, not to tradition. Now many of us have passed tradition. My family, my father came from China. We have our own set of beliefs. However, the day will come when you and I must make our personal decision based on God's revelation to you today. And that's why this topic is crucial. What's the topic today everybody? Worship the true God. Worship is foundational. Is the very essence of your life. Made for worship. Whether you like it or not, you were created for worship. Either you worship the right thing or you worship

46:00 the wrong thing. Once you worship the wrong thing, everything follows. You will have problems. When the people saw that Moses was in the mountain for a long time, you know, they got so impatient. They say, "Make us a God. We want a God that we can see." They were very sincere. But we want a God we can see. So, you know what? All right. Give me your earrings. Give me your God rings. Give me everything you have. Aaron said, "I and I will make a god for you." So he took from their hand a fashion it with a with a graving tool and made it into a molten cuff. And then this is what Aaron did. This is your God, oh Israel, who brought

46:48 you up from the land of Egypt. Do you notice something? They are worshiping the real God in their mind who saved them except they are misrepresenting God. Now their God is like a molten what? C like a cow. The Lord spoke to Moses. Was God happy with their sincerity or was God angry? God was angry. My goodness. When you worship the wrong God, God is not only indifferent. God is angry. The Bible tells us, God described

47:33 them as what? They have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside from the way I commanded them. Don't make any graven images to represent me. They have made for themselves a molten calf and have worshiped and have sanctified it and said, "This is your God who brought you up from the land of Egypt." My friend, they imagine God to be like a cuff. You may not be guilty of imagining God like a cuff, but you make your own imagination about God. Example, many people they think their God

48:20 is one who will never confront sin. A God that will never judge people. Perhaps you have a God who will never become angry at sin. Or a God who is only love but not righteous. We make up our own God. A God always affirming, always forgiving, a God who serves human desires. His purpose is to make us happy. Do you know who is this God? Santa Claus. But he is not the real God of the Bible. My wife and I were counseling this lady and she was sincere. I want to divorce

49:06 my husband. My wife said, "Why?" We were shocked at the answer. He does not make me happy anymore. Imagine that. In her mind, if you're not happy with your marriage, you divorce without realizing marriage is a covenant. That God gives us each other to transform our character to have a commitment because marriage is for life. But this girl wanted to change the Bible. So in her mind, God will understand. That's her exact words. God will understand. God wants me to be

49:53 happy. My friend, my concern is you are going to be like that person. You imagine God to be what you want him to be. And that's our problem today. Do you now understand why many people don't want to read the Bible? Because you do not want to know who God is based on his own revelation. You want God based on your terms. And my friend that is not you how you worship God. Okay. What's the message today? Worship the true God. Exclusive but God's way. It must be the right way. You know God tells us, let's read this together. I hate I reject your festivals. Nor do I delight in your

50:40 assemblies. Even though you offer up to me burnt offerings, grain offerings, I will not accept them. I will not even look at the peace offerings of your offerings. Take away from me the noise of your songs. I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. God is saying I am disgusted with your worship. Let justice roll down like waters. righteousness, an everflowing stream did you present to me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for 40 years, oh Israel, did you worship me alone? Uh-uh.

51:26 It's worship. Plus, you also carried along Sitku, your king, Quinu, your images, the star of your gods, which you made for yourself. Who is Siku? Who is Kenyu? Siku is an Assyrian Mesopotamian god associated with a star. And Kenyon refers to the planet Saturn. What God is saying, you worship me, but you also worship something else. So my friend, when you worship God, it has to be exclusive. It has to be God's way. Let's read this together. I am the

52:13 Lord, that is my name. I will not give my glory to another nor my praise to graven images. And that's why I tell people who do you pray to? I don't pray to any other being except to Jesus. You know the root sin of humanity is idolatry. Let's read this together. They exchange the truth of God for a lie. Worship and serve the creature rather than the creator. This is the foundational sin of humanity. Idolatry. You exchange the truth for a

53:01 god for God for a lie. Worship serve the creature rather than the creator. Any person you worship including the best saint in the world that's idolatry because you are serving the creature not the creator only one creator and because of this sin the rest of sinfulness follows. Example in Romans chapter one this is the root sin and all the other sin is a byproduct. example because we don't honor God. We don't worship him. What happened? God gave them over. The scariest word in the

53:47 Bible, God gave them over in Tagalog. You want to worship idols? You don't want to worship me. They gave them over to the lust of their hearts. Gave them over to degrading passions. Women exchange their natural function for that which is unnatural. Men abandon the natural function of the woman, burnt their desire toward another. God gave them over to a depraved mind. The foundational sin of humanity is not recognizing and worshiping the true God. And once you put yourself on the throne, the rest will follow. And that is why this sin and commandment is very serious. Son of man have put up idols in their heart.

54:35 You see idols are not only objects that you see it's in the heart. And the truth is you all have idols. Let me repeat all of us have idols. The only thing is do you recognize them? That's why the Bible says repent and turn away from your idols. The idols of the heart. What is the idol of the heart? Listen to me everybody. A an idol is anything more important to you than God. Anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God. Anything that you seek to have or to want that only God can give.

55:23 So what is the test of idols? Everybody please listen. We all have idols. The only question is do you know which one? We all have idols. What's the test? Test number one. Happiness. I will be happy if only. So ladies, gentlemen, what is the answer? I'll be happy only if what boyfriend girlfriend money position that becomes your God. I will the the test of loss if taken away life becomes meaningless.

56:11 You know, I didn't realize I had certain idols in my life years ago when bad men came to my house. You all know what they did. I saw all the police cars. In my mind, I thought my children have died. All the police cars. I cried. And then in my mind, what will I do? And then God spoke to me. Will you still love me if one or two of your children have died? You know, I really cried. I said, "Lord, I will still love you. I will still serve you because I know you love me."

57:00 But that was painful. I got tested. You have idols. You have to find out what it is and then you surrender it. The Christian life is the process of demolishing one idol at a time. For some people the test is anger. What makes you very very angry? Perhaps not your idol. So I don't know if you have idol or not. So in closing I want my two volunteers to come up here. The test of the chair. What is the test of the chair? Well you will find out. All right my two volunteers go ahead

57:46 sit. Okay. All right. Okay. That's enough. That's enough. All right. What is the point in your life? There is only one throne and only one person can sit. It cannot be two. In your life, there's only one throne. Either God is on the throne or you are on the throne. It can never be God plus me. And that is our problem. Who is sitting on your throne today? Is it you, somebody else, or God? And

58:34 that, my friend, is the meaning of true worship. You put God on the throne. The Bible tells us one day at the name of Jesus every knee will bow those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Ladies and gentlemen, someday the entire world will only worship one at the name of Jesus. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Today I want you to ask yourself, who is in the throne of your heart?

59:21 Let's bow our heads and pray. If God has spoken to you, remember a worshipper is someone who is controlled by God, consumed with God and not self. What and who is on the throne of your life? Can you ask yourself, ask God to reveal to you who is controlling your life? Who is the center of your life? Who is seated on the throne? You must confess that idol to God and

1:00:07 say, "Lord, I surrender this idol to you." If there is any idol in your life and you want to surrender that idol, will you raise your hand? I'll pray for you. Praise God. There's an idol in your heart that is not God. It is something else. You want to surrender that? Raise your hand. For some of you, it can be your religion. For some of you, it can be money. For some of you, it can be a loved ones. For some of you, it's a career. Whatever it is, raise your hands high. I want to pray for you. Lord Jesus, I pray for the men and women who are humbling themselves to surrender their idol to you. Lord Jesus,

1:00:55 I pray for myself. I pray for my brethren. As we recognize our idols, we surrender them to you. Lord Jesus, will you now take over the throne of my life? All of you, everybody, can you pray this prayer with me? Lord Jesus, take control of my life. Sit on the throne of my life. I give you my all. I give you my life. I give you my loyalty, Jesus. To you and to you alone. In your name we all pray. Amen. And amen. God bless you.

1:01:45 Good day CCF family. Welcome to Sunday FastTrack where you ask real life questions and we give you biblical truths. I'm Chad Sarmento from Elevate Youth Ministry and we're here today with Dr. Peter Tanchi to answer some of your questions. Good day, Pastor Peter. >> Good day. >> Yes. So, thank you for your message opening on our new series about the Ten Commandments. Are you ready to answer our questions? >> I'm ready. >> All right. So for our first question, if God is loving, why does he command exclusive worship? Doesn't that seem restrictive or even controlling? >> That is a very good question. The very nature of God is love. Am I correct? >> Yes. >> And God is all wise. Therefore, if God gives us a commandment, you can be assured it's

1:02:31 always for our good. And the reason why God demands exclusive because he is God. No one else can do that. And because he's God and you don't give him the whole heart, it will be to our destruction. >> That's just like how we are designed because of God's wisdom, because of his love. He wants to protect us. And the way to protect us is to protect our worship. It's the key to living a fruitful life. Put God first. Thank you, Pastor Peter. So, for our next question, in a culture that promotes self-reliance, self-love, self-promotion, can these become forms

1:03:17 of idolatry? And how do we recognize when we've started putting ourselves in the place of God? >> If you ask me, self is the biggest idol. >> Yes, >> in fact, all of us worship ourself. Remember the temptation of Adam and Eve where Satan says, "You will be like God." >> All of us without saying it loud, we like to be the God of our lives. And that is a real problem. And that's the root definition of sin. Self-will against God's will. How do you spell sin? S I N Self. I I see. So yourself is your worst idol but it is real. So how

1:04:04 do you recognize it? Ask yourself daily making a decision. Is this what God wants or is this what I want? Once you learn that habit and once God transform your life, you'll be so afraid to make decisions based on what you want. But it takes time to learn to trust God. See, I've come to a point in my life where I'm afraid to make my own decision. >> Did you notice what I said? I'm afraid >> of my own decision because I've made so many mistakes and I say, Lord, I don't want my will. I only want your will. Why do I want his will? >> Because it's what's best for me. >> Yes. So, not our will, but God's will indeed. For our third question, the

1:04:51 second commandment warns against idols made by human hands when people use statues or images in worship. Does this cross into idolatry? And how should Christians understand and respond to this? >> Exactly. When you have a statue >> or idols and you bow down to it or you give it special importance, >> that is dangerous because that is not what God wants. And many of them are demonic. I didn't have time to share many stories of people having statues >> and they're antiquics, especially the rice gods and they have caused a lot of sickness in the family because the Bible tells us in first Corinthians they are demons

1:05:38 in the statue. So yes, don't do any statue for uh worship. Now people ask what about for art? Well, if it's for art, that's another story. If you have nice painting just for painting art, that's okay. But if you have to bow down, if you have to pray, if you attribute any power, that is the danger. >> Thank you Dr. Peter for answering our questions. And that's it for CCF Sunday Fastrack. God bless. >> God bless. Heat.