EYE WITNESS 2: More Lessons from People Who Saw Jesus Suffer | Ricky Sarthou | March 29, 2026

0:00 Hi everyone. Today I realize is Palm Sunday. This is the day that people welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. But not long after Palm Sunday, people changed their tone from hosana to crucify him. Why did that happen? Today we're going to look at more eyewitnesses of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. And again, the reason why we do that is not just to go through the narrative for its own sake, but so that you and I can come to a conclusion as to who Jesus is. And not just a conclusion, a conviction. Is he the Christ, the son of the living God? So let's watch this

0:46 video, this message, and you make the conclusion for yourself. I pray you make the right one. God bless you. We are now on the second and final installment of our two-part series called Eyewitness. Hence the number two. And like just like we did last Sunday, this is all about more lessons from people who saw Jesus suffer. Now again, this is based on the narrative mostly from Luke chapter 23. But this is not just about uh going through a familiar narrative in a fresh way. That is part of what we want to achieve. But at the end of the day, what we do want to achieve is for us to come to a point to conclusively declare who

1:36 Jesus really is to us. And we will look at that um that very important crucial question as we again go through the message. So, uh, we we started off last Sunday by looking at these eyewitnesses, the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, the scribes, very powerful, wealthy, influential people. You wouldn't want to be on their bad side. You would not want to be uh presenting your doctorate dissertation to these people. And then aside from these uh folks here in the Sanhedrin, we also saw the other eyewitnesses. And this is what uh AI can amazingly do. Pilate, Herod, Barabas, Simon ofSirene, uh the women of the daughters of Jerusalem and the two thieves. Amazing. Are you impressed? I

2:23 didn't make this. Okay, but the funny thing is when I looked at them, they all look the same. Maybe they all had the same mother or something. I'm just joking. Anyway, so these were the eyewitnesses we looked at last Sunday. But before we get into our text and into the the meat of the matter for this afternoon, it's time to take a test. Are you ready for a test? >> Okay. I think three of you are ready for a test. The rest you have no choice. Anyway, the reason why we need to take a test, I'm just joking. It's not because we want to remember what we talked about last week. Although I remember Pastor Jim said last Sunday's message, the only thing people remember is the movie Vantage Point. Okay, no problem.

3:10 Whatever. Right. That's why we need a sequel. Okay, so the test for today is called What am I? What am I? Okay, so we will have four questions or riddles, if you will, and you and I need to answer what am I? For example, here's the first one. You go at red but stop at green. What am I? Okay. How many of you say stop light? Stop light. Traffic light. You are really from the Philippines. Look at that. Go at red and stop at green. My goodness. You We really belong to the Philippines. No wonder we're in trouble. Okay. You go at red but stop at green. Oh, I know.

3:55 What am I? That's your answer. >> Oh, okay. Next. I help you from your head to toe. The more I work, the smaller I grow. >> Soap. >> I hope you experienced that before you came to CCF. You took a bath. >> Okay, here's another one. I can fly but have no wings. I can cry but have no eyes. What am I? >> Oh, leakage.

4:42 Clouds is the correct answer. Yeah. And here finally, I'm where yesterday comes after today and tomorrow is always in the middle. What am I? The answer is >> a dictionary. >> Okay, let's close in prayer. Now again, what is the objective of today's message? Same as last Sunday. We go back to the question Jesus asked. Now when Jesus came into the district of Cesaria Philippi, he was asking his disciples, who do people say that the son of man is? They said, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others

5:27 Jeremiah, one of the prophets." And then the bombshell question. He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" And we said last week that this is so important because our answer to Jesus question, "Who do you say I am?" is a decision that will determine our destiny both on earth and in eternity. Folks, we said this last week. Nobody can be neutral about Jesus. Even if somebody says, "I do not care about Jesus." That is already a decision that will impact that person's life on earth and in eternity. Nobody is neutral whether they think it or like it or not. Now,

6:16 fortunately for you and me, Simon Peter gave us what you might call the right answer. So, in a way, melage. This is what he said. Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God." And if we took if we take this apart, it simp it means you are the Christ. You are the appointed anointed one, the sole source of salvation and forgiveness. You are the only savior of the world. And then when he said the son of the living God, that means he declared that Jesus was much more than a great teacher, much

7:01 more than a good man. He was God himself. In simple translation, he said, "Jesus, you are savior and you are lord." That is those are the terms that we use more commonly today. And in response to Simon Peter, Jesus said, "Blessed are you." He said, "You know what, Peter? You are so blessed, tremendously, infinitely blessed because of your conviction." And he said, "Because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who is in heaven." In other words, he was telling Peter, Peter, you made more than just an intellectual decision. Yes, you used

7:47 your mind, which we should because that's part of God's gift to us. But in the end, this is a revelation of grace that God, my father, opened your eyes to who I really am. And I pray that today for those of us whose eyes have not yet been our spiritual eyes have not yet been open to who Jesus is. I pray this will be the day when you will experience what so many people in this room watching online and all over the world have experienced like I had 40 years ago when I thought I was a good person. I was a religious person. And yet on that night, my first or second Bible study, the Lord opened my spiritual eyes. And I

8:32 saw myself for who I really was, a sinner, hopeless and helpless to save himself, but in desperate need of Jesus to be my Lord and my Savior. That is our objective today as it will always be when we talk about the word of God. Okay, just before we get into our continuing text, how many of you have heard of the Nuremberg trials? So, this is um a you might say a high point, a very crucial point in the history of World War II. Of course, this was uh very soon after the war ended, the Allied forces put together a tribunal to bring to the stand and bring

9:19 to justice those who were uh at the very least accompllices, if not actual perpetrators of the most gruesome murders ever committed in the 20th century. So in the Nuremberg trials that took place between 1945 and 1949, a total of 177 defendants were called to the stand. All of them of course were eyewitnesses. They saw it happen, but many of them also made it happen. And you know what? among the 177. You would think all of these would be officers of the SS, but they were not all from there. Yes, military officers, but there were also doctors judges industrialists

10:08 police commanders, civil servants, and even diplomats who were tried because of the Holocaust. Not all of them were found guilty, but majority of them were. Again, either accompllices or actual perpetrators. Folks, as we look at our eyewitnesses today, we will realize, yes, they all saw what happened to Jesus, but many of them were more than just witnesses. Some of them were actually perpetrators. But you know what? to a great extent. You and I may not have been there, but we are among not only eyewitnesses, but among the perpetrators because it is your sin and mine that put Jesus on the

10:54 cross. And so today, we go back not to the most gruesome murders of the 20th century, but the most gruesome murder that ever took place in human history 20 centuries ago. And we will begin where we left off with the two criminals that were crucified with Jesus. So let's go back. Two others also who were criminals. Notice what they were. They were both what? Criminals. Not one. Both of them were being led away to be put to death with him. When they came to the place called the skull, they there they crucified him. And the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. So again

11:40 observation uh if ever we see a a work of art or a a visual depiction of Jesus being crucified in between two criminals that is actually bibl biblically accurate as we can see described right here. Now I don't know about you but when I was growing up I realized I had on the benefit of hindsight I I realized I had a misconception. I thought for many years, even decades, I thought that there was a good thief and a bad thief. I thought that there was maybe a thief that who was not really a thief. Maybe he was just framed. And the other guy was the real deal, the real bad guy. But you know what? That's not true. First of all, we read both of them were

12:27 >> criminals. Both of them. But wait, there's more. Look in Matthew 27. The robbers, the same ones who had been crucified with him were also insulting him with the same words. So the people, the bystanders were hurling abuse at Jesus. The soldiers, the priests, the rulers were all hurling abuse at Jesus. And they were saying almost the same thing. If you are the Christ, if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself, come down from the cross, etc. And guess who was chiming in? These two guys, both of them were also insulting him with the same words. So folks, forget about the idea

13:13 of the good thief and the bad thief. They were both thieves. They were both criminals and they were both heaping insults on Jesus. But something happened. Something happened later on. Remember they were hanging on those crosses for a long time. One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at him. Now it's only one. Oo, are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other one answered and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

14:00 and we indeed are suffering justly for we are receiving what we deserve from his own lips. He said I'm a criminal just like you. I deserve what I'm getting. And then he says uh but this man has done nothing wrong. And he was saying Jesus remember me when you come in your kingdom. And he Jesus said to him truly I say to you today you shall be with me in paradise. What can we learn? Well, first of all, these two criminals walked with Jesus on the via deolar roa. They watched him carry his cross as they were carrying their own burdens. They they saw how he interacted with the daughters of Jerusalem. They saw how he stumbled. They saw how he was abused by

14:46 the Roman soldiers. They saw him nailed to his cross. And they heard him say, "Father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing." And all of the other words that Jesus uttered. And you know what this tells me? We have a choice as to how we will respond to Jesus. We do. At first, they were both insulting him. For me, years ago, I didn't need Jesus. My religion was good enough for me. And in that sense, I was insulting him as well until the Lord opened my eyes. And I

15:32 began to say what the second criminal was saying. And so these guys saw the same thing. They heard the same thing. And yet the response was different. We have a choice. what is yours? And in that second criminal, we see a perfect picture of the gospel. Look, we are receiving what we deserve. What does that mean to us today? We are guilty of sin and deserve death, eternal separation from God. He also said, "This man has done nothing wrong." What does that mean to us? Jesus is holy, the spotless sacrificial lamb. Only his death, only his blood was the acceptable currency for the full payment of all of all of our sin. Not our good works, not our religiosity, not our moralism,

16:18 nothing. Only Jesus, only his death and his sacrifice. Okay? Just remember me. Jesus, remember me. What does that mean to us today? Only Jesus can save us. Your kingdom, what does that mean to us today? Jesus is God and King. And then the words of Jesus, truly today, eternal life starts the moment we put our faith in Jesus. Ladies and gentlemen, if you put your faith in Jesus Christ today as your Lord and Savior, your eternal life will not begin after you die, your eternal life begins today. Isn't that amazing? >> That is how amazing Jesus is. So from the penitent thief, let's call him that. We are saved by grace alone

17:04 through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Hallelujah. Glory to his name. Now next. And they cast lots dividing up his garments among themselves. Who is this they? The soldiers. Now here is a bonus. I didn't put it on the slides but you can read up on this for yourself. this uh depiction description they cast dividing up. You can read this and other amazing descriptions of Jesus suffering in Psalm 22 in the Old Testament. You're saying I can read about the suffering of Jesus in the Old Testament? Absolutely. We did that last Sunday from Isaiah 53.

17:52 Now you can also look at it in Psalm 22. No wonder many commentators refer to Psalm 22 as the song of the cross. You read it and you discover for yourself. In the meantime, our next eyewitness, the soldiers. So divided up among themselves, the soldiers also mocked him, coming up to him, offering him sour wine and saying, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." Now, there was also an inscription above him. This is the king of the Jews. Okay. So, who were these soldiers? Well, first of all, these were highly trained uh battleh hardened soldiers of the Roman military. They were not Jewish. Now they saw the sign above Jesus. This is the king of the Jews. And these Roman

18:39 soldiers since they were very uh they were very skilled in military intelligence. Obviously they knew that the Jews were waiting for their messiah who would liberate them. Again in the mind of many Jews at that time, liberate them from their oppressors from Rome. And now this Messiah had supposedly come and they saw the sign this is the king of the Jews. And then so the Roman soldiers were saying talaga really the king of the Jews. Okay, if you are then save yourself because if you cannot save yourself, how do you expect to save all of these people? makes sense. But they were not making sense. They

19:25 were making fun. They were mocking Jesus. So, what can we learn from the Roman soldiers? Well, to help answer that question, let me bring you back to another soldier in the 20th century who was one of the people called to the stand during the Nuremberg trials. His name was Rudolph Hus. Rudolph Hus was the longest serving commandant of the Alchitz concentration camp. So he was a key witness but he was not just a witness. You see when he was called to the stand he was

20:11 very relaxed. He was very calm, very cool. And he began to narrate all of the details of what he did. the gas chambers, the ovens where they burned the corpses, and how he was personally overseeing the systematic extermination of over 1 million people in Avitz. No remorse, no regret. They asked him, "Why did you do it?" His answer, "I was just following orders. He was executed on a gallows. He was hanged from a gallows built especially

20:58 for him. The gallows were just there in the sight of the Alchevitz camp next to the crematorium and near his former family home. What can we learn? The Apostle Paul wrote this to the Galatians. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sws this he will also reap. God cannot be mocked. Jesus will not be mocked. People may think that they can get away with it but what they sow they will reap. Question is

21:46 how do people mock Jesus today? Let's look at a few examples. Use social media to create viral, insulting content. Trivialize his name as a joke or a punchline. Reject his commands in order to avoid lifestyle changes. Distort his teachings to fit modern ideologies. Use his name for personal gain and disregard his commands but claim that he is Lord. You can add to the list. But there are many ways even today to mock Jesus. But the lesson from the soldiers is this. God will not be mocked. Sin has

22:35 its consequences. How is our journey so far? Okay. >> Are we learning something? >> Yes. >> Thumbs up if we're learning. >> Okay. Remember, the objective is not to take away a nice story. The objective is to come to a personal conviction about who Jesus really is to you and to me. And so we call to the stand the next eyewitnesses. And the people stood by looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at him, saying, "He saved others, let him save himself. If this is the Christ of God, his chosen one." So again, we see more mocking, more mocking from the people in

23:23 general, and more mocking from the rulers. But remember what they were saying. If this is the Christ, the one sent from God. And you know when many times in this world when people look at Jesus, when people even read the Bible, read the gospel accounts, they wonder, they wonder if this is the Christ, if this is really the Savior and the Lord. Well, yes, God will not be mocked, but we also cannot deny the fact that from the people and the rulers, we are reminded that people need to know that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior.

24:09 It is precisely because God will not be mocked that we need to tell people about Jesus because once upon a time our lives made a mockery of Jesus and yet when he opened our eyes and he embraced us and he became we became part of his family. Now the tables are turned and we have the privilege of telling other people about Jesus. It was March 7 in the afternoon. We were gathered in one of the rooms downstairs and we we trained a bunch of people how to share your personal testimony in about one minute and also how to uh have a gospel conversation, tell people about Jesus uh hopefully by using our best

24:56 decision booklet. Okay? And so we gathered together, we had a bit of a role play and so on and then we released them. We released them to share the gospel around this area within a 1 kilometer radius from CCF center. And so they went out, young people, not so young men, women, and they shared the gospel with all kinds of people. March 7 in the afternoon. By the way, from the pictures, you might say, "Oh, okay. Nice small group of people. By the grace of God, we trained and we deployed 493 people around this area,

25:41 more than 400 people were prayed for and or heard the gospel about of Jesus Christ. They were so blessed. And can I tell you something? This is our secret. Okay, as if I can keep a secret. Anyway, when we first called the 490 plus people, we did not we told them we will train you in evangelism, but we didn't tell them we will send you out. So, we we had roleplay and all that and then we said, "Okay, now we're going to send you out." And we had places assigned to them. And so the guy who was orienting them

26:28 about the deployment, he asked them, "Are you excited?" >> And the answer was >> yes. But you know what? They went out, they shared, and when they got back to the multi-purpose hall, you could not stop them from sharing their stories of the amazing experiences they had. when they got in touch with people, people they never knew, you know, grab drivers, people in the pet store, people in the restaurant, etc., people just on the street, and they just opened up the conversation. The Holy Spirit did his work, and they prayed for people, and they told people about Jesus, and they couldn't stop talking about it when they got back. I pray all of you will have

27:14 the same opportunity. Now people mock Jesus, people need Jesus. So let's carry that thought further along. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying certainly this man was innocent. You know, you and I you we need to dig a little bit so we appreciate what this is saying. First of all, who is a centurion? Earlier we talked about this battleh hardardened, highly disciplined, deadly force of the Roman Empire's military. The centurion is one of the bosses. He is the leader of 80 to 100 soldiers. So this guy is like, you know,

27:59 top of his class. And again, he's not Jewish. He worships many gods. That's according to their own religion. And yet now this centurion who was one of the guys actually executing Jesus, he began what's this? >> Praising. >> Praising God. A centurion. Praising God. Something's wrong with this picture. What happened? Well, he had a conviction, not only a conclusion. He said, "Certainly this man was innocent." We now move to another gospel and see what led him to that. The centurion and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus when they saw the earthquake and the things that were

28:45 happening became very frightened and said truly this was the son of God. Okay. So the conclusion of the centurion was not only this man was innocent his conclusion was also this man was the son of God. What brought him to that? Okay, look earthquake and the things that were happening. Now, there are many things that happened. The temple, the the veil in the temple was torn, but I guess he didn't see that cuz he wasn't there. So, what happened that the centurion and his soldiers could have witnessed? Earthquake. It's already said, we know that during that last portion of Jesus uh crucifixion, it all went dark. Now let tell me if we if we had a total power failure in this auditorium and

29:32 things were pitch black and then there was an earthquake in the midst of the darkness. Will you be afraid? >> Of course. >> Will you be afraid? >> Of course. Of course you'll be afraid. And no wonder the centurion in darkness and in the midst of an earthquake. They were all frightened. But not just frightened for fright's sake. It brought about a conclusion, a conviction in his heart. This man was truly the son of God. What can we learn from the centurion? Well, we can learn that no one is beyond the reach of the grace of God.

30:21 You are not beyond the reach of the grace of God. You may be listening. You may be here today and in your heart you're beginning to realize you have mocked Jesus. You have ignored Jesus. You have not recognized Jesus for who he is, in spite of his love for you, in spite of his blessings in your life. But I want to let you know or maybe you've done some terrible things and you're thinking I I'm beyond hope. Not true. No one is beyond the reach of the grace of God. Yesterday uh I took my 16-year-old grandson for some ministry exposure, you know, disciplehip, mentoring, and I brought

31:07 him to a facility that is uh under the umbrella. you might say, of CCF. I mean, there's a connection between that facility and CCF. And there were several men in that facility, all men. And many of them are there to be ministered to, to be discipled, to be taught the Bible in the hope that the Lord will touch and transform their lives forever. And so I volunteered to do a devotion. We read part of the Bible. We had interaction. What do you think? What can we learn? And so forth. But for me, the most amazing part was when they started to share each of

31:53 their stories. Why they were there? What? How did they mess up their lives? And boy, I tell you, you talk about messing up their lives. This is this is like they had the PhD of messing up their lives. If only you knew their stories. Maybe some of them someday will tell their story from here. But the the greatest part was hearing how the Lord opened their eyes and how they gave their lives to Jesus. For example, there was one guy he made so much money, you know, before he came before he gave his life to Jesus. He was making what's the expression? oodles and oodles of money. This guy was making up to 1 million pesos a day.

32:40 >> Wow. >> How many of you would like to make 1 million pesos a day? Okay. 1 million pesos a day. And of course that led to so many things. Greed, of course, insatiable. You know, you want more. uh broke up his marriage, got into kinds of addictions and stuff and he was he was brought up in a Christian family. So his parents were so devastated that in spite of you know bringing him up that way he really went off the opposite direction. But you know what? One day God took everything up to the last peso and he hit rock bottom. He gave his life to Jesus. God

33:28 restored his marriage and now his life is off on a different trajectory. His heart's desire is to serve Jesus and tell other people about Jesus because nobody go ahead because nobody is out of reach of the grace of God. And then you know so I I listen to all of their stories. So when I heard this guy it's like oh this has to be the blockbuster of them all. But I didn't realize next to him was another super five-star blockbuster. He, you know, this this guy was into gunning and big- time drug pushing. This guy was a serving, you might say, like a mafia boss. Okay? And he was the the the the star of this

34:14 mafia boss's operation, right? So, he was big bringing in so much money. He was earning so much money. But you know what he said? He said the reason why I did what I did, I joined that group even if I know it's immoral and illegal. He said I just wanted to belong. I just wanted the love of a family. That was his reason. And so he ended up in that, you know, among those men learning the Bible. And he said, you know, about eight months ago or so, he says, I gave my life to Jesus. And he has and he said, little did I know

35:00 that the the questions I had about life, I had no clue I would find the answers in the word of God. But he's so glad he found those answers. But the most important answer he found was Jesus. And as far as his desire to belong to a family, he is now part of the family of God. What better family, greater family to belong to than the family of God. Nobody is out of reach of the grace of God. Okay. Amazing. All right. Here we go again. Can I hear the ladies, the women in the house today?

35:52 Ladies in the house, can we hear you? >> Again, I remind the gentlemen, you hear the voice of power. Let's talk about the women in this narrative. The women who accompanied him from Galilee were standing at a distance seeing these things. You know again simple statement women who accompanied him from Galilee. What is the significance of that statement? I'll tell you let me ask you where were the disciples? >> Where did they accompany him? >> No. They were gone. They were hiding under

36:38 the bed. Some followed but like Do you know this man? No, I have have nothing to do with him. Are you sure? Yeah, I have nothing to do with him. I'll give you one last chance. Do you know this man? I tell you, I have nothing to do with him. Okay, congratulations. The women accompanied him. And then it says, "Now the women who had come with him out of Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and and prepared spices, perfumes. on the Sabbath they rested accord. You know these are amazing women so brave so selfless to be associated with Jesus especially at that moment was like suicide

37:27 and then to be even involved in the preparation of the spices for his you know burial and all that that's even greater risk not only to have been associated with Jesus by you know rumor but But to actually be seen that you're the one preparing him for burial. Folks, you have to realize people who were crucified back then, many of them, they were just abandoned. They were like in a pile of corpses. >> They're just hanged up there. >> But these women attended to Jesus even after he died. What can you and I learn from these amazing women? Well, for me, it is one word, faithfulness. Would you agree?

38:13 Faithfulness. They followed Jesus through thick and thin and even unto his death. And Jesus once said in this story, the master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things. I'll put you in charge of many things. Entered into the joy of your master." Folks, if you're a follower of Jesus, if we are followers of Jesus, how can we be sure that we will that we will enter joyfully into his presence? We need to be faithful. Our faithfulness will not buy our salvation. Our faithfulness is the

39:00 fruit, the result, the expression of our gratitude for our salvation. And so the question is when we come face to face with our master capital M will he say the same thing? You have been faithful. I pray the answer is yes. So from the women we learn real Christians are faithful to Jesus and follow him always. every situation, no break, no vacation, faithful to Jesus every day, every moment until we see our master face to face. Okay,

39:46 we're down to our last two eyewitnesses from the gospel narrative. And the first one is this. A man named Joseph who was a member of the council the Sanhedrin. A good and righteous man. He had not consented to their plan and action. A man from Aria a city of the Jews who was waiting for the kingdom of God. Okay. So who is this next eyewitness? His name was Joseph. And what was he? Oh, he was no ordinary person. He was a member of the council. Amazingly last Sunday we started with the Sanhedrin, didn't we? That's where we started. And we were saying these people who were so schooled and religious and wealthy and

40:32 influential, the majority of them were viciously against Jesus. They didn't just want to, you know, uh, have him in prison. They wanted him dead. But obviously there were exceptions. Again, just like the two thieves, it reminds us we have a choice as to how we will respond to Jesus. So it says he had not consented to their plan. And then it says a city of the okay this man Joseph of Arya went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Do you realize how risky that was? Not only in the eyes of the Roman

41:19 rulers, but in the eyes of the council, the eyes of the Jews. This guy could be prosecuted. This guy would be excommunicated. We don't know. Maybe even put to death himself. At great peril to his own life, he asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. and he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him in a tomb cut into the rock where no one had ever lain. But you know what? Joseph of Arya was not alone. Oh, we know that the ladies came eventually and helped out. But there was another man >> from the gospel of John,

42:06 >> Nicodemus, who had first come to him by night. Remember this guy? >> Why did he come by night? You know, I don't want anybody to see me. Also came bringing a mixture of myrr and allows about 100 pounds of weight. So they took the body of Jesus, bound it in linen wrappings with the spices as is the burial custom of the Jews. I cannot claim you know what really happened in the heart of Nicodemus and all that or even but I think it is reasonable to assume that if these two men were going to do something so risky that could mean not only their reputation but

42:54 their lives. I would like to believe God did something inside of them. Just like the centurion, just like the penitent thief, perhaps their conclusion, their conviction was this is the son of God. And so what we can learn from this dynamic duo, so to speak, at the site of Jesus burial is this. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things passed away, behold, new things have come. I would like to believe that the lives of Joseph of Arimea and Nicodemus were never the same again. But only time will really

43:42 tell. But from their example, we learn this. Only Jesus, Jesus Christ can transform us into new persons, new thinking, new conviction, new direction in life, new purpose, and of course, a new destiny in heaven. So, we have exhausted all of our eyewitnesses at least from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 23. But, as we did last week, I want to bring a live witness. Hazel Sagun, will you come forward and share your life with us? Let's welcome our dear young sister Hazel. Yet another eyewitness of the amazing power of God.

44:28 >> I knew about Jesus ever since I was a child, but I never really knew him. I grew up in a religious family, but I learned to view God only as my magic genie. He was the provider of my needs, the giver of blessings like good grades and gifts. But he was certainly not my personal Lord and Savior. When I was only 14 years old, my father took his life. And that was when my mother and I went through the most tragic test of faith and of our mental stability. As a child, I did not know how to grieve appropriately and I turned to the world by focusing on the only thing I knew, academics. All this time I was experiencing depression, panic attacks, and suicidal thoughts. Despite being at

45:15 the top of my classes and always receiving academic awards, my heart still yearned for the Lord, and I found myself moving from one Christian church to another to fill the void. In 2019, I attended the Elevate Youth Gathering in one of CCF's satellite churches. I went alone with no one inviting me and that was the first time I surrendered myself to Jesus and I began attending my first Dgroup and volunteering during Sunday services. After one year, I was able to bring my mother to CCF who began experiencing her own personal transformation and spiritual journey. However, during these teenage years, I was actually living a double life. Even

46:02 while serving in ministry and being part of the Dgroup, I entered two consecutive romantic relationships and committed sexual immorality. I was exposed to vices and sexual sin and was constantly lying to my mother. This went on for roughly four years. And looking back now, I can testify that the Holy Spirit never stopped convicting me of my sin. And by the time of my last relationship at 18 years old, God allowed me to be genuinely and fully broken before him. During prayer and fasting of 2024, the Holy Spirit moved me to cry out to Jesus and guided me to finally admit my faults to my mother. I grieved over betraying

46:49 the trust of my mother and the shame I felt whenever I prayed to Jesus because I was my mother's only child and we were partners in pretty much everything we did. Yet I betrayed her for many years. And over the next many months, the Lord helped me to prioritize living as a daughter of the King of Kings, being a good daughter to my mother, and being a good student. In 2025, I joined my second Dgroup and I was baptized on April 27 and attended the Move Youth Conference in June. It was there that God rekindled the fire in my heart to glorify his name and be a living witness of his gracious works. From that time

47:35 until today and all by God's grace, I have been continuously living a life of purity and the pursuit of godly wisdom. God also fully restored my relationship with my mother. And now my biggest advocacy as a 21-year-old is to help guide a youth make God centered decisions and live in obedience amidst this extremely broken world. The Lord has given me the privilege to lead a dgroup for young ladies as well as to actively serve and elevate in the campus in live production and the creatives ministry. But the most important ministry given me is to represent Jesus to my friends and family. The Lord also compels me to be used in the expansion

48:22 of his kingdom through sharing Jesus with others. The Holy Spirit has been moving me to share the good news in various opportunities to motor taxi drivers as well as during oral exams in my theology and philosophy classes at our university. God also used me to share the gospel with my older cousin, a college classmate, and Dgroup members through our real talk booklet. Earlier this year, together with the Dgroup I belong to, we finished our vision casting, and I shared how excited I am to share Jesus Christ with others. May it be through random evangelism, leading real talk sessions with high school students, or raising a D-group member to

49:07 become a D-group leader. I am simply overjoyed at how God will continue to move in my life for his glory. Jesus Christ has been and will always be the greatest gift that I have ever received. Now there is no turning back, trusting that my Lord and Savior has many more plans for my life. There simply is no reason for me to stop telling people about Jesus, especially since I am an eyewitness to his love, grace, and power that transforms lives. I am Hazel Sagun and I give back all the honor and glory to Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you so much, Hazel. And I just want to we just want to praise God for his work in your life. Please allow us to pray for you.

49:53 But folks, remember earlier when we appreciated our brother Uklid, I said just inquire. Go to the elevate table downstairs and ask, "How can I help win more youth for Jesus? Time, energy, resources, whatever it is, as the Lord lays on your heart. But in the meantime, shall we pray for Hazel? Are you blessed by God's story in her life?" Amen. Let's pray. Let's pray for her. Father God, we want to thank you for yet another wonderful story that is not over. It's far from over, Lord, because we know that you have a wonderful plan for Hazel. And we pray that uh she will do her part to stick to that plan. That she will live only one life. She may have

50:38 lived a double life before, but I pray that from now up to the day she sees you, she will live only one life for one purpose and to please only one person, and that is you, Lord Jesus. and through her service, through her availability, through her fearless willingness to make you known, Jesus, I pray that you will use her to bring many people, especially young people, to know who you are, have a relationship with you, and live for you, and teach others to do the same for the rest of their lives. So God, we release her now into your loving care. Protect her, protect her money, body, mind, and spirit for your glory and pleasure. we pray in Jesus name. Amen. And amen. Thank you, Asa.

51:28 And so in summary, we go back to this answer of the apostle Peter. You, he said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. So what is your conclusion? More importantly, your conviction. If we say that indeed Jesus is the Christ, he is my savior, he is the son of the living God, he is my Lord. If that is our heartfelt, legitimate, genuine conviction, then this is the conclusion from all of the things we talked about today. The penitent thief, salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus alone. If Jesus is my Lord and Savior, I

52:14 will humbly admit my need for Jesus to be my Lord and my Savior. If I haven't done that yet, do that today. The soldiers, God is not mocked. Sin will have its consequences. I will hate sin and love God all my life because Jesus is Lord and Savior. The people and the rulers, people need to know that Jesus alone is the Savior. I will make it my lifestyle to tell people about Jesus. Everybody say lifestyle. That is what it's supposed to be. Not just a once-in- ah kind of thing, but a lifestyle to tell people about Jesus. The centurion, no one is beyond the reach of the grace of God. I will believe that Jesus loves me and died for me. That I'm not out of reach of his grace and other people are not out of reach. The women, true followers of

53:00 Jesus, are faithful to him for life. I will be faithful and obey Jesus every day, every moment, no questions asked. The and then finally Joseph of a I had to shorten it. Joseph of Ariata and Nicodemus. Only Jesus can transform us and make us new persons. I will let Jesus have his transforming work in my life from today until the end. That is the conclusion ladies and gentlemen. However, because you and I are not only eyewitnesses in a sense, vicariously speaking, we are eyewitnesses to his life, death, and resurrection, but we

53:45 also are eyewitnesses to his transforming power in our own lives and the lives of other people. So, what are we to do? We are to continue to be eyewitnesses. But the spelling, like we said last Sunday, is different. It's letter I witness. I am a witness. I will witness. It is my nature and it will be my lifestyle. I will tell people about Jesus. So folks, are you familiar with this? We gave this out last week, right? You're familiar with the best decision obviously because many of you, most of you have made the best decision in your life. Now I understand that as you go out there will be places and people who

54:32 will be giving you one each honesty system. Okay people of God one each. If you need more you go to the GLC booth and get yourself a fresh supply. But you know more than buying or what it it's not really about that. I want to challenge this group today. Will you commit before the end, before this day is over, you will tell somebody about Jesus? Somebody who doesn't know him yet. Anybody? >> Will you take up that challenge today? Before the day is over, you will tell somebody about Jesus. >> Are you willing to take that challenge?

55:19 Amen. >> Okay. If we say yes, I know God sees our heart. But as a way of also encouraging one another, if you are willing to take that challenge to tell somebody about Jesus today before the day ends, will you raise your hand and raise it high and tell Jesus, I want to do this. I will do this for you because you allowed me to make the best decision of my life. Okay. No, please. Thank you so much. Praise God for you. As we end, you may be here today or you may be watching and you have not yet surrendered your life to Jesus. So I'd like to end this way. If you have been watching the news, the

56:05 international news, especially about the Middle East war, I am sure you will recognize this part of planet Earth. Can anybody tell me where this place is? >> Do you know? This is the straight of Hormuz. This is where so much of the oil supply of the world passes through. This is what's being fought over. Now, this is like the the the height of the Middle East conflict, the most highly contested geographical area on planet Earth, the Strait of Ormus. But let me tell you, this will only be for a season.

56:52 But let me tell you what has actually been and always will be the most highly contested place on earth. It is not the straight of Hormuz. It is your soul. From the beginning of human history, the most highly contested place on earth has always been the human soul. There is a war going on for your soul if you have not yet given your life to Jesus. But I want to tell you that battle has already been won by Jesus on the cross when he died and when he left a tomb empty. And that's why eternal

57:37 life is a gift to be received. A gift of infinite decimal value cannot be calculated paid by the precious blood of Jesus. But when you receive that gift, you will experience his victory in your life. I pray, you will make that decision today. The best decision you will ever make and will never regret. Shall we bow in prayer? Lord Jesus, I pray you will speak to those who do not yet know you and open their spiritual eyes. And whoever you may be watching or here in person, if that is you, you know, you know it is you. You know the Lord is

58:23 speaking to your heart. Do not do not resist. Open up your mind. Open up your heart. Open up your soul to him and tell him, "Lord Jesus, I need you. I am nothing without you. I am hopeless and helpless. And now that I understand how much you love me and what you did to prove it, Lord Jesus, my conviction is you are the Christ, the son of the living God. You are not just that in general, you are now my savior and my lord. I declare that with all of my heart, Lord Jesus.

59:10 Will you inhabit me that in my heart you may find your throne and that you may reign as the king and master of my life from this day forward until the day I see you face to face. And I know that because of what you did on the cross, I can be sure I will spend eternity with you. I know Lord Jesus, it has nothing to do with me, what I have done or what I have uh decided not to do. It is all about you. And so Jesus, today I belong to you. From this day forward, I am yours. All of me, Jesus. Thank you for loving me. And God, we thank you again for the amazing narrative of the suffering of your son.

59:59 And we know, Lord, that the story isn't over. The best is yet to come. Next Sunday we will again refresh ourselves with the truth that your son did not stay dead but rose again on the third day. What a victorious savior we love and serve. And Lord we pray that you will allow us to be your witnesses faithful to the end in our actions and in our words. We give you back honor, glory and praise in Jesus name. And everyone said amen. Let's stand and worship together. Good day CCF family. Welcome to Sunday FastTrack where you ask real life questions and we give you biblical

1:00:45 truths. I'm Gio Pentinoho from Big Singles Ministry and we are here today with Pastor Ricky to answer some of your questions. Good day, Pastor Ricky. >> Hey, how are you doing, Gio? >> I'm good. Thank you for your message about being an eyewitness for Jesus. Are you ready to answer our questions? >> As ready as I'll ever be, I guess. >> All right, let's get into it. First question. In today's reality, confession of sin has been taboo because of fear of being judged, shame, or condemned. We saw in the story how the thief confessed to Jesus and was received to heaven. How does Jesus respond to our confession of sin? Will he automatically forgive everything like that of the thief? I I think the the key word to answer the

1:01:33 two-part question is really humility >> or sincerity, which requires humility anyway. So, let me take the second part first. >> For as long as we humbly confess our sin, Jesus will forgive. >> He promised that in his word. So, we we can have that assurance. If the question is how will he receive our confession if it's sincere from the heart he will receive it >> wholeheartedly >> and and forgive us um and uh and and be continue to be patient with us but he will also transform us so that we can resist temptation and sin in the future. Now the first part talks about taboo being judged and so forth. That also requires humility. Yeah. And that's why in in CCF and I would like to think many

1:02:19 churches across the world, we encourage people to be part of a small group >> so that we can confess our sins to one another, which the Bible also says we should do without fear of being judged but also accepting whatever people will tell us in terms of correction, reproof, advice, and so on. So by all means confess sincerely and humbly. Now there's one more thing going back to the thief on the cross. >> His example also shows us that sin will have consequences. Even when we confess it's very possible that the consequ consequences will not be uh escaped. >> Yeah. >> He he died on the cross but he went to heaven. In the same way as we live and even if we confess we have to face the reality that many times we will have to reap the consequences of what we've

1:03:05 done. Amen to that, Pastor Ricky. Thank you so much for our second question. Is questioning God's power always considered as mockery of his name? Or is it okay to question God's power if one has yet to experience it? >> Okay. I guess u it depends on what we mean by questioning. >> If we do so in an irreverent way, u meaning to say the the the motive behind the question is already unbelief. Yeah, >> we already have come to the conclusion I don't believe in his power. That's why I question it. That's a problem. And to me that's mockery. >> But should we have doubts about his power? Is that normal? >> I would say it is. Especially the question said, especially if we have not

1:03:50 experienced it. >> Yeah. >> And that's why we have people give testimonies about God's power because only God's power can transform people's lives. Now if we have any doubts, we're a difficult situation and we said, "Lord, can you really help me here?" You know, David, the writer of most of the Psalms, he had many doubts in his heart. He had many uh uh way things that weighed him down and he was completely honest with God. H but eventually at in at the end of most of those psalms where he just poured out his heart to God, God somehow turned his heart around >> and gave him a conclusion of faith that God will do what only God can do. >> So if we have doubts, bring them to God. Don't just toss them around in your head. Bring them to God. Lay it down on

1:04:36 his feet and let God deal with those doubts. All right, for our last question, is it ever too late for a person to begin following Jesus? Given that many in the story encountered him at different stages of their lives, even at the very end, pastor, what advice would you offer to those who believe they should enjoy life first or they think they are too young to begin following Jesus? >> Okay, the short answer to uh is it ever too late? Uh it is never too late. Mhm. >> As long as you're breathing >> like the thief on the cross, it is never too late. >> And even the thief on the cross followed Jesus. >> Yeah. >> Not with his life, but he followed him to heaven, right? But you see the question especially it says those who feel they are too young to follow Jesus

1:05:21 or they want to enjoy life first. I think that's what we really need to address. First of all, nobody's too young to follow Jesus. >> Yes. >> So we we've seen even lives of children transformed. But the more important one is I want to enjoy life first before I follow Jesus. You know what? You are trading the good for the best. >> Yeah, >> you may have a good life living on your own. But you are sacrificing the best life. So to me, don't even entertain that thought about enjoying your life first, enjoying your life and then I'll follow Jesus. Then you'll realize when you finally follow Jesus, I should have done it earlier. >> Yeah. So I think the question is it's not it's never too late but more importantly it's never too early. >> So let's choose early rather than late. And the reason why I said choose early

1:06:08 rather than late is I mean look at what's happening in the world. >> Uh people don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. And it's not just about gas prices, right? It's about what's going to happen >> really. I mean it it reminds us of how how how this world will not last forever and how our lives will not last forever. So, are we ready to face Jesus? So, the sooner we follow him, the better. >> Amen. Amen. Truly, the best place is at the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you, Pastor Ricky, for answering our questions. And that's it for CCF Sunday Fastrack. God bless everyone.