NoBody, Easter Sunday

Hello, hello, listen, I know you want to check out this message, but before you do, I want to invite you to come check us out in person. Here at Freelife Chapel, we're all about family and would love to connect with you face-to-face. So if you're ever in the Central Florida area, come check us out. Here at FLC, we want to help you discover and live the free life in Christ. To learn more about who we are, what we do, and how you can be a part, check us out at freelifechapel.org. Until then, check out this message. I want to encourage your faith today. I want to talk to you about the power of an empty tomb, the power of an empty tomb. In 1992, I went to Israel for my first time, the 1900s. How many of you were alive in the 1900s? Where are the 1900s? My favorite people, all right. That's right. 1992, I went to Israel for the first time and I was excited as any first-time traveler would go to experience the land and open my Bible and have these places come alive. And it did just that all through the land from the Galilee region up north all the way down to Jerusalem. All of it just comes alive in such special ways. But throughout the trip, there were certain places that just kind of hit like a sledgehammer in the chest that was really impactful for me. And one of those places was when we got to what's called the Garden Tomb. The Garden Tomb is a, is a place that they have located in Israel just outside the gates of Jerusalem, outside the walls of Jerusalem that actually mirrors exactly what the Bible says giving location, description, what it was to look like where Jesus would have been buried. Had to be in a rich man's tomb. It had to be in a garden. It had to be just outside of the walls.

There's so many pieces that line up with that including there's a, there's like a little wall like a two-foot wall in front of the tomb where you see the door that's open where a big stone would have been rolled in that trough to hold it to seal that tomb up. And what's exciting is when you go on this trip, when you go with us, we're going to not just have you sit and look on the outside. We get to take you inside the tomb. You get to like step inside of this tomb and look around. But here's my favorite part. On the wall, when you get in there, it's got this little plaque on there. It's got this little piece of wood and it says this, he is not here. He is risen. Anybody glad Jesus got up? Anybody glad that, that the tomb could not hold him? You see, this is why it's so special because that tomb, Jesus' tomb, honestly is a place where the world was changed forever. The world was changed forever and I want to deal with that today. You know, this Easter story, we're looking at it through 2,000 years of stained glass and church and life and we don't — it's hard for us to really comprehend and fully connect with what the power, the emotion, the impact of those three days were. Think about this. Jesus raised as a little Jewish boy up until the age of 30, being trained, taught by rabbis, being taught in his family, attending synagogue. That's what he did until the age of 30. At the age of 30, that was the legal age that you could not become a priest or a Levite. And so Jesus began his ministry at the age of 30 and he died at 33. We dealt with that last Friday night in Good Friday. He only ministered for three years, so every Bible story you read about Jesus ministering, teaching, doing miracles, it all happened in a three-year period. And he's with his disciples, his boys are with him all during that time. They're laughing, they're cutting up, they're traveling, spending late nights together.

They're hearing Jesus teach the miracles taking place. I love the movies that are out now. I love The Chosen that is giving us a picture as to what this looks like and House of David, you know, I'm loving that series, what's going on now. There's a lot of exciting pictures that we have to connect us to the story, but if you and I could put ourselves in the shoes and the sandals, if you would, of the disciples and of Jesus' family, can you imagine watching the guy that you ate with, laughed with, saw miracles take place, heard him teach and express his love and his compassion for people everywhere? You see the life being beaten out of him. You're watching them whip his back off of his body. The man that you loved, that's my guy, that's my friend, that's my Savior, but we've laughed together, we've got one-on-one conversations, he and I, there's something special we have and they're killing him right now. Can you imagine his mother? Of course you can't, but his mom's standing there watching this happen to her son. And knowing that he's the son of God, listen y'all, listen, I'm just telling you, here's how I know that I'm not God, here's how I know it. Because the guys that are beating Jesus, the man who got the whip and was beating his back off of his body, Jesus was the one who gave him the breath and the strength that morning to do it. He wasn't just 100% man, he was 100% God. The man who drove spikes through his wrist and through his feet, Jesus that day gave him the strength, the power, the ability to wake up and do that to him. In other words, there's a lot of things, anybody ever been triggered by somebody? Don't lie, it's Easter and you're in church, everyone say yes. It takes the least thing to trigger us. You come to church, someone's sitting in my seat, no baby, that ain't your seat, you got here late. It's just kind of like, nobody parked in your spot. That's not how this rolls.

It takes — anybody ever just driven down Florida Avenue? Oh, you've been triggered a time or two, I promise you right there, I guarantee it. These guys are mocking Jesus to his face. Pilate looked at Jesus and says, don't you realize I could release you or have you crucified? And Jesus looks back at him and says, the only authority you have is the authority I've given you. That's pretty boss. He wasn't triggered. In fact, Jesus had to be so careful, the thoughts that he had in his God nature, if he thought wrong or against any situation going on, even while on the cross, thousands of angels would have descended and decimated the entire place. He had to guard his thoughts that he didn't destroy the ones that were — he gave the power to destroy him. This is what's going on for three days, and now he dies, he's buried, and now the anticipation is growing. The anticipation of what? He told us in three days he would raise himself back from the dead. He said, knock me down, and three days later, I will get back up. This claim was unprecedented. Nobody had talked about raising themselves from the dead, and this is why in Matthew 27, we see the rabbis, the temple elite, this religious sect of people that doesn't even relate with the common Jewish people in that time. They were this elite that were trying to control everything. They said, I'll tell you, we'll handle that. We're the one that put the charges against him to have him killed. They went to Pilate and said, Pilate, would you please give us some of your Roman guards to go guard the tomb? Because Jesus said three days, he's coming back. Just guard the tomb for three days so that the disciples don't go steal his body and start these stories that now we lose control of the people, we've got to keep them where

they are. And the Bible tells us that Pilate said yes, and historical record tells us that Petronius was the head guard, the man that was over that group that went out to the grave. There were eight men total that were at the grave. And in order to really make it solidified, what Pilate did is he said, not only will we send eight men, but on the tomb, when they rolled the stone, a 4,000 pound stone in front of this tomb, it will take multiple men. What we'll do in addition to that is I'm going to put a, a wax seal on it and we will put the insignia of Rome's ring there. The insignia of Rome will be in the wax so that if anybody shows up and they defeat our guards number one, then they've got to decide to break the seal and if they break the seal, they have challenged Rome itself. They were doing all they can to seal this deal and lock it down. They thought that it was working well until an angel showed up. The Bible says that an angel showed up, all eight men hit the ground, cry, wet their pants, all that is going on, the angel rolls the stone out of the way and sits on the stone. That's what the Bible says. And then the women who were coming to actually anoint the body of Jesus, they run into this angel. He's sitting on the stone and look what the Bible says in Matthew chapter 28 verses five and six. Then the angel spoke to the women, don't be afraid he said, I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. Read this with me with your Easter Sunday morning voice, ready, go. He isn't here. He is risen from the dead just as he said. Come and see where his body was lying. They walked into an open tomb and looked and he was gone. Can I just, can I just tell you something about this? Jesus did not need the stone moved in order to resurrect.

No, because we we find out later that when Jesus leaves and he goes to visit his disciples The Bible says he walked through a wall. He didn't come through the door How many that's pretty boss right there like that? That's that's pretty good stuff. I just walked right through that That's what your Bible says. So if he could walk through a wall, then he could walk through a stone There was no issue that was blocking Jesus. So then why would the angel need to remove the stone? What why did the angel do all that? Why did the angel need to roll it away? Well, let me just help you with something. God didn't open the tomb to let Jesus out God opened the tomb to let us in He opened the tomb so that you and I could step in and realize he ain't here no more God I want you to know God has removed every obstacle from you and I reaching to who Jesus is to experience the power the fullness the promise of Everything that he has for you and I and maybe today you're here and you feel a little bit like the disciples if we're just gonna Be honest between Jesus being buried and Jesus getting up That was a long time for people who loved Jesus Because they saw him go down and they went through some pain and maybe you say there's some situations in my life that have died Scott there's things in my home. There's things going on in my finances. There's things in my body. I got a report There's things in some relationships that I'm dealing with and I feel like it has been buried. It's dead. It's in the tomb I'm just here to tell you right now the same Jesus that got himself up three days later has the power to Resurrect you as well. Whatever it is. You're facing whatever broke your heart. Whatever's causing questions I'm not talking to you about a mythological figure I'm talking to you about the Son of the Living God who's able to do the absolute impossible and turn situations around Maybe you've not been dealing with it for three days. Maybe you've been three months Maybe it's been a three-year period and you've almost given up hope I'm challenging you to keep believing like the disciples did and Expect Jesus to walk in the room any day now and turn the situation around Would you turn to somebody and tell him he can change it all he can change it all Jesus said Three days and I'll be back What what's the three days all about? Why did it need three days? Well, you have to understand in the Jewish culture Jesus was putting to bed every excuse people could make about his getting up

Because in the culture whenever somebody died their spirit left it would hover around the grave for up to three days, but then it would leave and So for Jesus to be in the grave for three days, that means it wasn't that he was just asleep He didn't just pass out. He wasn't just in a coma and then come out of it. No, no He was gone. It was over and that's why he had a three-day period there but here's what's interesting when he Resurrects from the dead you can read this through several gospels as you put all of Matthew Mark Luke and John you begin to look at Their story of this the Bible says that Jesus then told the women go tell the disciples I'm up. I'm back. Just like I said now y'all if you want everybody to know something just You know, I just want to thank the Lord right now for stopping me before I said something that Jesus said he used a woman now. Yeah, here's what's here's what's interesting a Woman's witness For her to speak for example in a court of law her her her voice her witness will be downgraded It would not be regarded in Jesus's day in Jesus's culture So if you were going to fabricate a story you would never write in that a woman was the first one to share the good news of Jesus If you were making a story up in order to convince people You would always bring a man in or a group of men because when they testified Oh, it must be true. But you have to understand when you're just telling a story just like it happened There's no reason to fabricate anything You just write it down the way it took place and that's what we have here And here's what happened God broke Jesus broke the cultural bias against women Yep hang with me and he turned nobodies into Somebody's who told everybody that they found no body in the tomb and that anybody could come see for themselves Amen, right. There you go. Nobody And That's what you and I are today. We're just gonna be honest We're just a bunch of nobodies telling everybody about somebody who can change anybody because if he changed me

He can sure enough change you he can change anybody's situation the truth is some y'all in here We would not want to hang with you before you knew Jesus. I'm just telling you right now Some of y'all kind of scared Yeah, like because we've been through anybody you were somebody different before you met Jesus Anyway, can anybody just admit to that right here? Look we all know it. Anyway, just admit it. Raise your hand. Yeah We've all been there But here's the deal after the resurrection The guards who were like these little girls laying dead and they went running back to the religious Elite in the temple and said, um, yeah, we we got to tell you something Yeah, what the other okay early in the morning, you know, okay, here's what's happened an angel showed up and We fell down knocked us out and rolled the stone away and I don't know how to tell you this, but he's gone The religious elite went nuts. Are you serious they heard the story? And so here's what they concocted This is in your Bible. This is not my opinion. This is in the Bible the religious elite told the guards So here's your story. You tell everybody that the disciples showed up while you were asleep and stole his body and then they paid the guards in order to secure their testimony Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you how ridiculous this is Whenever the guards try to carry this story ain't nobody believe in that story Because everybody knows if you're a Roman guard and you're guarding a tomb on behalf of one of the Roman guards Everybody knows if you're a Roman guard and you're guarding a tomb on behalf of Rome and Pilate If you admitted that you were asleep on the job And you lost a body that you were supposed to be watching over you are dead You die because you made Rome look bad Ain't nobody believe in this mess But this is what they're trying to fabricate in order to get the word out and to kill this idea that Jesus was actually alive I just want you to know right now that the soldiers in their head They were trying to keep people out of the tomb when their real problem was trying to keep Jesus in the tomb They didn't realize that Jesus was the one coming out I didn't have to move anything because Jesus knows how to get to where we are also There's been people trying to put Jesus in a box for a long time Hand him in, control him, he can't do this

You have to worship this way, you have to dress this way to come to church You have to praise at this time, you have to be inside of a building You have to be Episcopal, you have to be Lutheran, you have to be Methodist, you have to be Baptist You have to be... We even let Pentecostals even come in this place You can be like full-blown heathen right out of the streets of Polk County We got all these ideas You gotta worship with no hat on No, you can wear a hat, you can wear shorts and Tevas No, you gotta wear a suit I just want you to know right now, Jesus will take anybody just as they are, right where they are All of those boxes mean nothing when it comes to experiencing the love of Jesus, man If he'll take me, he'll take you Like we're all screwed in some area of our life Don't believe me? Just look at your neighbor Don't say a word, just look at them, they'll understand We are all a mess in some area of our life None of us have it all going on But Jesus has been breaking out of these boxes for a long time Reaching people that no one ever expected Do you know that the latest statistics out right now is Gen Z Or is leading the nation in coming after Jesus? Gen Z, this younger generation They're saying, our parents are whack Our grandparents are whack Culture's a mess Leaders have lost their mind And they're tired of listening to the cultural lies And the spew that keeps failing them It keeps bottoming out

There is this Jesus love Bible sales are up 25% right now There is a hunger for truth that Gen Z is coming after Hollywood right now Actors and actresses are coming out They're coming out of the closet Telling about how they love Jesus University campuses, they're holding spontaneous church services Baptism services outside of the stadiums And some of the ball team, the ball players and coaches Are the ones that are baptizing in the back of their pickup trucks There is worship and praise breaking out everywhere Ladies and gentlemen, when you got a guy named Jelly Roll Singing hard fought hallelujah You know something good is going on in America right now You can't lock Jesus in There's five main beliefs in a nutshell If you want to know what Christianity is about Let me give it to you in a nutshell Number one, we believe this Jesus died on a cross Number two, Jesus was buried Number three, Jesus resurrected from the dead on the third day Number four, Jesus appeared to 500 plus people after the resurrection Number five, Jesus is alive right now Somebody shout right now Oh yeah, I felt a little Pentecost there Right there, right there But watch this, watch this Out of those five

If all of that hinges on number three, the resurrection, if he didn't get up, it's all a lie. It all caves. It all folds. It's over. If he didn't get up, this is why Jesus was on public display. He said publicly, not quite, publicly, put me in the ground three days, I'm coming back. He announced it to everybody. That's pretty boss. Publicly, he was beaten. He was crucified. He died and was buried. Publicly, after the resurrection, he appeared to more than 500 people over a 40-day period. There's more than 10 accounts of this happening in your Bible. Showing up and people being able to talk to him, people being able to touch him, handle it. Touch him, he wasn't a ghost. No, baby, no, baby, let me help you with something. When Jesus rose from the dead, his glorified body came back. His body came back, just like your body and my body are going to come back. I'm looking forward to my glorified body. It's going to be about 15 pounds lighter. Yes, it is. I'm already putting in my little order as to what my glorified body looks like. But Jesus' body came back. He walked and talked with people.

And there's people that have tried to knock this down. Well, you have to understand, that guy said he talked to Jesus because he was a disciple, a Jesus follower, and that's why he did that. Yeah, but it was that guy also that he said, when you're going to kill me for my faith because of what I believe, crucify me upside down. In other words, you don't die for a lie. You only die for what you know to be truth. And if it was a one-off, it was 500 individuals, then maybe it would be sketchy. But what do you do when all 75 are saying, no, we saw him. We talked to him. What do you do when it's witnessed all through Jerusalem that he is the one? This is why he went public, to completely quash the idea that it's a fabricated lie. That's why Paul wrote in Acts 26, this thing was not done in a corner. It was done publicly. You're going to have to deal with it. You can deny it, but you can't stop it, because it's a move that we're still in 2,000 years later, and 30% of this globe claims Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This is our reality. But what if Jesus had not resurrected from the dead? Let's just go here. Does it really matter?

Well, yes, and I will repeat this again. We would all be, I'm going to use King James language, screwed. We'd be a train wreck. Look, even people that don't believe in Jesus, the atheists, the agnostic, the skeptic that laughs and turns their head and walks away on a day like this, that's just a story. Ladies and gentlemen, even their lives have been impacted by Jesus, even though they haven't yet believed in him. Because this Bible, this Bible has impacted culture from the time of Jesus all the way through. Our penal system is connected to this. Customs and order, how we treat people, how we revere life, how we take care of humanity, how we help the poor, the widow, the outcast, how we reach for people and we do things for them that they can't do back. These are principles that are espoused in the word of God. And let me help you. If Jesus would have died, the principles would have died with him. It would have been another self-help book, but it would not have revolutionized the world. So even people who don't confess Jesus are living off the blessing of the resurrection, even though they haven't yet put their faith in him. Listen to what Paul said, 1 Corinthians 15, 17. If you're looking for a new tat, this is not one, all right? So here's what it says.

If Christ hasn't come back to life, your faith is worthless and your sin, and sin still has you in its power. If Christ didn't come back from the dead, you're jacked up, you're a mess, and there's no hope. In fact, let me put it this way. If he didn't come back, then that means God is not sovereign. He does not have power over death. Jesus is dead. He's not worthy of worship. The Bible is a lie and all of his promises are dead. The church is only a social service club. This is an absolute waste of time. Preaching, that's a joke. That's hilarious. That's a waste. Oh, but Scott, wait, wait. The messages are just so encouraging. They help me. Well, I'm glad to hear that, but let me help you with something. I don't preach the message of Jesus because it's helpful. I preach it because it's true Something helpful is only full of hype and hype is not helpful The only thing that you can build your life on is truth something that is solid. That's not man-made I didn't come up with this. This is not my idea one greater than I Declared his promises to us and when you hear it and you get a hold of it It will carry you through things in life. You never thought you would come through You'll be living better than you ever thought you could live dreams. Hope joy you get your laugh back He'll restore a home whenever you do it his way Everything changes. I'm so glad he got up

But if he did not hope would be dead that means fear and sorrow will be your masters for the rest of your life there's no ultimate justice or Reward that means only the strong in life will win and the weak will always lose That means there's no life after death. There's no promise of seeing loved ones again. There's no purpose to life That means death is the end of it all we are Unforgiven we are enslaved to the shame and the guilt of every sin We've ever committed and shame and guilt and your reputation Will be the lid on your life for the rest of your life. You will live under that heaviness It will own you it will cripple you it will bend you over it will snuff out dreams Hopes joy your laugh you will survive you would not live if Jesus had not resurrected But thank God 2,000 years ago on a Sunday morning ha ha Well something took place There was a rumble in the jungle you all understand something happened right there and the Bible says that he changed the world forever When he came back he broke history into two parts he split history down the middle you see before Jesus got here that there was one timeline after Jesus got here. They had to start a new calendar. What do you mean Scott? I'm telling you that when Jesus got here his life and death and resurrection Created a BC and an AD. That's how we tell our calendar in our time right now It's all centered on Jesus. He is the apex of time and history itself That's why history is simply his story. That's all it is And so there is a BC in your life also, and there's an AD in your life as well BC is before you knew Christ and AD is after you were delivered from yourself And now we got two different worlds operating in our life Is anybody glad that Jesus split your time in two and gave you a brand new start in life? Let me help you let me help you I'm I I'm trying to finish here if you worship the Baha'i religion You're a precious person. You've got a great heart, but let me just help you You can today go to a Cree Israel and you can visit the remains of Baha'u'llah Who was the prophet and the teacher of Baha'i? That's where his remains are if you are if you if you are into Confucianism and then and Confucianism you study in that

Well, let me just help you you can go to Janine, China And you can visit the tomb where the body of Confucius has been laid his bones are in that grave If you if you worship Buddha if you're if you're into that worship Well, well, then you have to understand in India You can visit his ashes where they tell you he has been laid to rest You can visit that place if you're into Islam precious heart But you can still today go to Medina Saudi Arabia and go to the Green Dome tomb and Muhammad his ashes are laid there the one who was the prophet to Islam. I need you to understand something These were prophets. These were men But all they could do is teach and they died the death that regular men do but if you go to Jerusalem Israel and you visit the tomb of Jesus. I've got good news for you. Ain't nobody there There's no bones there. There's no remains. It's over All he did was air B&B that gray for three days. I'm here and I'm out don't need a mortgage I'm gone Why is that He wasn't just a teacher. He wasn't just a rabbi He was the son of the Living God who had authority over death hell in the grave And when they put him in the ground, he came back with all authority and all grace and mercy has now been extended to us Jesus's resurrection proves something he is who he said he was The Bible is truth its teachings and its promises you can bank on it and build your life on it The penalty of our sin has been paid It's over the resurrection after death you and I will be resurrected That means Living forever y'all it's gonna get I know you're enjoying this but the best is yet to come I'm just telling you the but because he got up we have to promise that Jesus will return for us We now have hope in Jesus. That is real We have a purpose in life the comforter is living inside of us now Jesus is praying for you at the right hand of the Father and he is pursuing you every day Because He got up

The resurrection matters on so many levels in fact John chapter 11 verse 25 Read this with me everybody. I Am the resurrection and the life He who believes in me will still live Even if he dies, would you stand to your feet, please? Ladies and gentlemen When you've been touched and impacted by the reality of Jesus Christ it changes everything You hear all this and you wonder Why I'm excited to be a Christ follower and why I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ You wonder why I can lift my hands and worship and praise Because I know I know the potential of Scott Thomas without Jesus but Jesus changed everything and He can do the same for you We go through stuff in life We get hit We go through when things are buried and it's hard to believe that there's a Sunday on the way That something could be resurrected and sometimes it was our dreams that died our hope that died maybe maybe your faith died I Didn't expect life to go this way and I'm broken I'm hurting and if I was going to be real honest I'm dressed nice and I'm laughing out loud, but I am dying inside right now The disciples felt the same way But Jesus is here And he doesn't disappoint And he's coming to where you are In order to touch you reach you love you heal you and bring you back to life again We're going to pray today and I want to give you the opportunity to get it right with Jesus

Maybe you've never prayed this prayer before Maybe this is the first time you're praying. It's gonna be amazing. He's about to split your history into BC and AD It's gonna be amazing But I also know I'm talking to a group of people in here if we're gonna be real we're keeping a hundred percent That you love Jesus but your relationship and your walk with him has gotten cold and You're not where you know, you need to be all of us know better than how we're living. We all do But maybe you say you know what? I need to refresh my relationship with Jesus today I want to lean in and I want to pray this prayer again, and I'm just coming after him Can I tell you he doesn't mind it being the second prayer? He doesn't mind it being the fifth prayer He doesn't mind it being the hundredth prayer He just wants you to keep coming after him that's a beautiful thing You've got no standards. You have to live up to in the sense of pleasing or impressing people. We're all we all have issues We're all struggling. None of us have it all together, but we are pursuing him and that's all this is I'm gonna pursue him the best I know how so I want us to pray this together I want you to bow your heads in the room. If you're here and you see Scott, that's me I want to pray this prayer either your group number one for the first time group number two I just want to refresh my walk my life my relationship with him. I want to get it right on the count of three I just want you to throw your hand in the air. Just that's you just pointing towards heaven saying it's me I'm coming after you Jesus one two three right now. Where are you put this in? Oh, man. Yeah, my kind of people You can put your hand down. You can put your hand down hands all over this place Balcony floor, I believe even some of you watching online right now probably raise your hand. I love that Here's what I want to say You in the lobby You that are in the lobby right now. This is for you. This is for you. This prayer is going to span and reach everybody So I want you today. I want to pray this prayer. I say Jesus Come into my life Forgive me. I believe You died for me. I

believe You rose from the dead and I believe you're for me So change me Forgive me take all that I am and all that I'm not and I'm taking you as My Lord and my Savior in Jesus name Amen Can you put your hands together on an Easter Sunday and give Jesus some praise? Come on somebody, come on, come on, come on! Now let me pray over everybody because I know there's things we go through in life and Jesus is here for that too. Father, thank you for sending your Son and Jesus, thank you for not stopping part way. You finished what you started. So today I pray that that peace and that strength and the reality, the hope that only you can give will come alive inside of your people, in this room, online, in the lobby. Those who are watching this podcast later, our guys at Polk CI, our family everywhere, God bring hope alive and remind us that you're good, that you're God. And if you got up 2,000 years ago, you can resurrect anything in our life as well. We look to you, we trust you, we declare your promises and we live with the hope that only you can give. Take our lives and use them, strengthen them for your glory. We're coming after you with the best that we've got. Thank you for your grace and your mercy that covers us and embraces us where we are. We worship you and we honor you in Jesus' name, amen, amen. One more time, just celebrate that resurrection, just celebrate the fact that he got up. We hope you enjoyed this message. To hear more impactful messages just like this one, check us out at freelifechapel.org. We hope you have an amazing week.