Mary Magdalene: First Witness to the Resurrection

Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.

Mark 16:9

Why Mary Magdalene? Jesus could have chosen anyone to be the first witness to the resurrection. He could have chosen Peter, James, John, or His own mother... but He chose Mary Magdalene. Why? I think part of the reason is because Mary Magdalene was the perfect first witness to the resurrection for God’s purposes. 

Mary Magdalene had been possessed by seven demons. In biblical times, the number seven was often seen as symbolic of perfection or completeness. So, a person who was possessed by seven demons was perfectly, fully and completely under the control of the Evil One. Mary was under Satan’s hold. He had possessed her completely... and Jesus set her free.

Mary Magdalene is the message of Easter! Her life proves that it doesn’t matter how strong a hold Satan has on you... Jesus can set you free. It doesn’t matter how low you are or how bad your life is right now... Jesus can redeem you and give you new life.

You want proof that Jesus beat the power of sin and the Devil? Look at Mary Magdalene! You want proof that Jesus offers you new life, not only in eternity but even now? Look at Mary Magdalene! By choosing Mary to be the first witness to the resurrection, Jesus shows us that anyone can be saved. Anyone can be changed, made new, redeemed. No one is too far gone.

No matter how strong a hold the Enemy has over you… Jesus can break it.

No matter how sinful you are… Jesus offers you forgiveness.

No matter how lost you are… Jesus can save you.

No matter how bad your life is… Jesus offers you new life and a fresh start.

If there was hope for Mary Magdalene… then there’s hope for you.

Empty Tombs

He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

Mark 16:6b

The angel at the tomb didn’t expect the women to take him at his word that Jesus had been raised from the dead. He offered them proof. He invited them to see the place where Jesus had lain so that they might see that He wasn’t dead anymore.

Sadly, we don’t know for sure where the empty tomb is today. We can’t invite our lost friends and family members to see where Jesus laid to prove to them that Jesus was raised. But I believe there are empty graves we should show them and those are the places in our own lives where sin once utterly defeated us and held us in bondage. Every sin that you have been set free from is an empty tomb you can point to as proof that Jesus really was raised from the dead and that He really has breathed new life into you as well.

Are there empty graves in your life? There should be. The tomb of adultery that ruined your marriage ought to now lay empty. Many of us were once laid up in the tombs of drunkenness, of pornography, of addiction, of love for money, and of living for the approval of others. But when we came to Christ, we were set free from those sins and now they are empty tombs in our lives that show Jesus’ glory and power. They are proof that although at one time we were dead in our sins and we have now come alive in Christ Jesus.

This is why Christians shouldn’t hide from our past. We don’t glory in our past sins, but we do glory in the God who saves sinners like us. And one of the ways we declare His glory to the world is by being honest and open about the tombs He saved us from.

So, tell your testimony. Be honest. Be vulnerable about how bad off you were before you met Jesus. Invite people to come see the place where you lay dead before Jesus gave you new life.

Doubting the End of the Story

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

John 11:25

The great Christian hope isn't just eternal life, or even forgiveness of our sins, it is experiencing a physical resurrection from the dead and being a completely new and glorified body. If you really pause to think about that, it tells us a lot about our God.

Notice, for example that He doesn’t spare us the pain of death or the hardship of life and simply take us up to Heaven to be with Him now. No! He chooses to give us life on the other side of death and hardship. This means that God doesn’t always allow us to avoid suffering, sometimes He wants us to pass through it, just like Jesus did. So, we shouldn’t be surprised when we suffer hardship or even death. It doesn’t mean that God has abandoned us. In fact, it may be when God is working in us and through us the most! You see, the hope of resurrection should change how we respond to difficulty and death. It should give us the hope we need to persevere through hardship and suffering without losing faith. 

Think about it. With Jesus, no matter how bad your life gets, you can’t lose. You already know how your story ends. In that way, it's kind of like one of those sports underdog movies. You know who is going to win before you even start the movie, but they often do a really good job making you think that maybe, just maybe, you’re wrong and the underdog is going to lose. The more they can make you doubt the ending, the more entertaining the movie is. So, they have become very skilled at making you doubt how the story is going to end. This gives the movie a sense of unpredictability even though we know that it is entirely predictable. 

The same is true of your life. We have an Adversary who is very, very good at getting us to doubt how it’s all going to end. But if you’re a believer then your story has never been in doubt. No matter how bad things get, no matter how low your life sinks or how difficult it becomes, in the end you will win. So, don’t lose faith! “Press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:14) Press on, because you can’t lose! Your victory has been secured. It’s in the bag! What you are living for now is just to show God thanks, to point others down the right path and to lay up rewards for yourself in heaven.

Hope from Lazarus

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone... and [Jesus] cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

John 11:39-41 & 43-44

I don't know what you struggle with. It may be a bad habit or an addiction. It may simply be lack of self-control in general. But no matter how long your particular area of struggle has had power over you, the story of Lazarus is good news for you. By raising Lazarus from the dead it is as though Jesus wrote in large letters across the page of Scripture, "YOU ARE NOT TOO FAR GONE FOR ME TO SAVE!"

Lazarus had been in the grave for four days! That is enough time for visible decomposition to have started. His body would have been bloated and it would have already started to smell. Consider that four days is merely how long Lazarus had been in the grave. We don't know how many days it was before they buried him. All of that to say... Lazarus was dead-dead. I know that isn't the medical term for it. But this isn't someone whose heart restarted after 20 minutes. This isn't someone who woke up from a coma. He was D-E-A-D. When they obeyed Jesus' command and opened the tomb, everyone standing around would have known this for sure, because they would have smelled the decomposition, the smell of death.

But then, a miracle happened. Jesus spoke! And the same voice that called life into being at creation, commanded Lazarus to come out of that tomb. In the face of the indisputable fact of death, Jesus spoke in faith. And the voice of the Creator reached into the grave, into death itself and set Lazarus free from its icy grip. You can imagine the decomposition reversed itself rapidly under the grave clothes. The synapses in Lazarus' brain began to fire slowly at first and then more quickly. His heart began to beat again. His lungs drew in that first precious gasp of air. In that moment Lazarus himself must have smelled the death all over him, and yet there he was alive again. He walked out of that tomb bound by the trappings of death, but what did Jesus say next? "Unbind him, and let him go."

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that what binds you is too strong for Jesus. Don't believe the lie that the enemy whispers in your ear, that you will never be free of your alcoholism, or nicotine addiction, or overeating, or pornography, or masturbation, or whatever sin entangles you. Jesus is powerful enough. You aren't too far gone. He can save you. You can be set free. Indeed, those of you who believe in Jesus have already been set free; you just haven't learned to walk in your freedom. Romans 6:18 says, "You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." 2 Corinthians 5:17 "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Galatians 5:1, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."  

Death of a Loved One (W.o.W. Rewind)

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants. 

Psalm 116:15

(This was originally posted on 10/12/11. The suicide of a young teen in my community this week brought it back to my mind and I felt led to rerun it.)

JD Yopp (pictured above) passed away on Monday night around 9:30pm. That may not mean much to you, but JD was my grandfather. We called him Pop. With only an eighth grade education, he taught me more about life than almost anyone else. He taught me about hard work, family, how to drive a tractor (and a stick shift), how to split wood, and how to die gracefully. This brings me to the topic for today's post: death. How do we deal with the death of a loved one?

Scripture has quite a lot to say about death, yet the most basic truth that it conveys about the topic is also one of the least known. If we are to come to terms with death we must understand first that death is the result of sin. Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." And Romans 5:12 says, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned." We are often told that death is a "natural" part of life. After all, every part of nature experiences death in some way or another. It's true that death is "natural" to the fallen nature we all experience, but that does not mean that it was "natural" before the Fall. Scripture teaches quite clearly that death came to humanity only after the Fall.* (A footnote for those who want to go deeper.)

But why does this matter? What difference does it make that death is the result of sin? Well, first of all, it helps us understand why the death of a loved one can be so hard for us to accept. We were not built to cope with death. We were not intended for death. Thus, we can expect death to be hard for us whether we are dying ourselves or mourning the loss of someone we loved. However there is good news. When God chose to do something about man's sin problem, He determined that He would undo not only the stain of sin but the effects of sin as well. This is why Jesus rose from the dead. Since death is the result of sin, by conquering death Jesus conquered the power of sin and the power of death in our lives (Hebrews 2:14-15 & I Corinthians 15:54-56). More than that, the Bible calls Jesus the firstfruits of the resurrection (I Corinthians 15:20-23). He was the first one to be resurrected to eternal life but He will not be the last. He opened a door that those who believe in Him will also walk through. That is why Scripture says that we should not mourn as those who have no hope (I Thessalonians 4:13). For Christians, death is leaving this world and going home. Christians are called to live as foreigners and exiles in this world (I Peter 2:11-12). We are supposed to be looking forward to the home that Jesus has been preparing for us ever since He rose from the dead (John 14:1-4).

That does not mean, however, that we do not mourn. Sometimes, Christians lose sight of that. We still mourn, but we do not mourn for the believer who has gone on to be with His Lord, we mourn for ourselves. We mourn the loss that we experience because that person is no longer around. But we mourn in hope. Hope that our believing loved ones are in a better place, hope that they will receive their full resurrection bodies like Jesus at His second coming, and hope that we will one day be reunited with them. And those believers who die, die in hope. Our great hope is to go be with Christ now (II Corinthians 5:8) and then to be resurrected physically like Him at His return (I Corinthians 15 especially verse 19). It is much harder to cope with the death of a loved one who rejected Christ. Then we truly mourn without hope. For Scripture teaches that it is appointed to man once to die and then to face the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Those who die apart from Christ are also resurrected but not to eternal life (Revelation 20:13-15). They are resurrected to eternal judgment. It is a truly awful thing to consider their fate. The one hope in that situation is not for the deceased but for the living. We can only pray that their passing will serve as a warning to those who have yet to bow the knee to their Savior.

For further reading...

• Romans 6:1-14- Dead to sin but alive to God in Christ.
• I Corinthians 15- The resurrection chapter.
• I Thessalonians 4:13-18- The return of Jesus.
• I Samuel 2:6-7, Psalm 68:20, Psalm 118:18- God controls death.

*You might be thinking though, "How could we have life without death?" Well, this weekend my uncle, who is a pastor, commented to me that he thinks Enoch gives us a glimpse of what God's original plan for mankind may have been (Genesis 5:23-24). We wouldn't have died, we would have simply been taken to be with the Lord. I cannot be certain that is true, but I must say that it sounds good to me.

Don't Quit

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

I Corinthians 15:58

Do you ever feel like quitting on God? Maybe you'll keep going to church, but you're ready to throw in the towel on everything else. You're tired of sharing the gospel with that family member or friend over and over again only to be rejected. You're tired of prepping Bible study lessons for hours on end only to teach it to people who don't get it and couldn't seem to care any less. You're tired of serving behind the scenes only to have someone else take the credit. You've reached the end of yourself and you're done, ready to give up.

It isn't just church staff members and missionaries who feel this way. I work with many believers who give hours to volunteer ministry every week. They don't get paid to minister but they do it on top of their responsibilities at work, at home, and within their extended families. They get discouraged just like me. I bet that sometimes you do too.

When we are tempted to give up we should consider Paul's encouragement in today's verse. We should strive to "be steadfast and immovable" in our service to the Lord. In the original language the word 'steadfast' could mean that a person was immovable, firm, or even sitting (Blue Letter Bible). In other words, we should persevere in doing good so resolutely that we are absolutely unchanged by the challenges and discouragements that come our way.

God acknowledges that ministry is hard. The verse says that we can know our "toil" is not in vain. That word 'toil' in the original language can mean "intense labor united with trouble and toil" (Blue Letter Bible). I have to admit that some days quote captures exactly how my ministry feels, but we shouldn't give up. Why? Because we know our toil is not in vain. It isn't fruitless. How do we know this?    

Our hope in the resurrection gives us the strength to endure and even press on. You see, Paul puts this verse at the end of a long section on our hope in the resurrection. This verse is the conclusion or application that he draws from the precious truth that all believers will one day be raised in victory. 

We may feel as though we are losing every battle now, but one day we will leave all of this toil behind. One day the seemingly endless struggle will give way to truly endless victory. Then we will receive the reward for all our labor. On that day even death will be swallowed up in victory. 

We dare not give in to discouragement now for fear of missing out on any of the reward later. So if you are discouraged, if you are thinking about quitting, or have already done so; take heart. Remind yourself of the coming victory and press on in faith knowing that your toil is not in vain. One day you will reap your reward. There may be no sign of the harvest now, but it is coming. In this world or the next your reward will come.

Father, help us to press on in faithful service. Give us the strength to walk in the good works You have prepared in advance for us to do. And sanctify our efforts to your glory, to advance your kingdom. Be pleased with us. May we be a blessing to You and Your children. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

For further reading...

• I Corinthians 15- Read the passage in context.

God Subverts Pain

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

2 Corinthians 5:1-5

Since it is God's expressed purpose for His children to one day trade in their mortal bodies for immortal, heavenly ones, it makes perfect sense that He would subvert the pain of death and growing old (which is brought on by our sin) to His own purposes such that even this pain would cause us to groan more longingly for heaven. The aches and pains of growing old can little-by-little help tear us away from our attachment to this earth and to these earthly bodies. The frustration and discomfort we feel can actually serve as fuel to cause us to long all the more intensely for heaven and for our resurrection bodies.

The simple truth is that we cannot receive our heavenly bodies until we have first been stripped of these earthly bodies. Some believers lose their life and vitality in a moment. Others endure long drawn out battles with pain, sickness, and death. The slow tearing away of a person's health and vitality, as terrible as it is, can be used for the Christian's good if he will trust God. It can be that the crippled man's daily hardship serves as a reminder that no one will be crippled in heaven. His disability can actually be a spiritual asset. Paul the apostle struggled with a "thorn in the flesh." Paul found peace after God revealed to him that God's strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Your physical disability, your physical suffering, can be the weakness that God uses to work His strength in your life to focus your spirit all the more intently on heaven.

So the next time you want to curse that bad knee or bad back or even that reoccurring cancer, don't. Accept it as from the Lord. Let God work it to your good. Instead of groaning, "Why, Lord!?" Groan, "When, Lord? Oh, when will I be free of these troublesome pains in heaven with you?" Let His strength be made perfect in your weakness. 

For further reading...

• 2 Corinthians 12:1-10- Read about the Apostle Paul's thorn and God's strength in our weakness.
• Romans 8:18-39- Read about how God works our suffering for our good.

The Resurrected Life

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:1-3

Christianity is not a life change. It is a resurrection. The Bible teaches that all humans are dead in their sins. Those who respond to Christ's death and resurrection in faith are made alive through that faith to live for God. Since believers were dead and have now been made alive, it is fitting for us to set out minds on things above (where Christ is and where we are going) as opposed to setting our minds on earthly things. 

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Colossians 3:5-11

When the Holy Spirit first breathes life into the Christian's soul and calls him to salvation, that new believer's mind is dead set on the things of this world and his heart is black with love for sin. As he responds in faith, the Christian gets his first taste of the amazing goodness of God. Having tasted God's goodness, he rightly desires more of it, but the old inclinations toward the earthly remain. The believer must actively choose to put off this old mindset and this old way of living life.

Notice how much of this old life has to do with relationships. This is why it can be hard for new believers to continue all of their old friendships. If these relationships drag the believer back into lust, lying, anger, sexual immorality, evil desires, slander, and filthy language then he must choose between living a resurrected life and his friends. He will do well to recall what Jesus had to say about the man who puts his hand to the plow and turns back (Luke 9:61-62). Of course becoming a Christian does not mean you have to leave your lost friends (Mark 2:13-17 & Luke 15), but it does mean a commitment to cutting these old behaviors out of your life, putting off the old self and some friendships simply will not survive that level of life change.

But the Christian life is not only about putting off the old self, it is also a concerted effort to set your mind on the things above. We are not merely called to put off worldly behavior but to put on Christian behavior. Christianity isn't something that happens on the periphery of your life. It affects everything! It changes your identity, your behavior, and your hope. Today I challenge you to put on the new self by living out Colossians 3:12-17 below.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

With the help of the Spirit, seek out and put to death sin in your life, and continually seek to add more of the virtues of heaven to your manner of living.


For further reading...

• Mark 2:13-17 & Luke 15- There is little doubt that Christians must cut sin out of their lives. Sometimes avoiding temptation and sin comes at the cost of losing relationships. Yet, the Bible has a lot to say about Jesus' relationships with sinners. How do these passages balance out the idea that the Christian must cut sin out of her life, but need not necessarily cut sinners out as well? (Any right understanding of this issue must admit a new believer relates to her lost friends differently after her conversion than she did before.)
• Luke 9:61-62- What does this passage have to teach those of us who accept Jesus and then turn back to our life sin and live an essentially unresurrected life?

Circumcise Your Life

In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Colossians 2:11-12

Though circumcision is a graphic analogy, it's one with which the Colossian believers would have been familiar. It is the cutting away of flesh. And in Jewish terms, it is the cutting away of uncleanness. This passage tells us that Christians have undergone a circumcision of our own. Though it is not physical, it is just as real. It is a cutting away of the sinful flesh, the unclean way of life by which we used to live. 

The Bible describes this circumcision in terms of Christian baptism which is a picture of the salvation God works in the heart of every believer. In baptism we are fully submerged beneath the water, symbolic of our participation in the death of Christ. He died on the cross; we die to our old, sinful way of living. Then we are raised out of the water, symbolic of our participation in the resurrection of Christ. Just as He was raised from the dead to live a new kind of life, we are also raised to live a new life. 

God gives us all we need to live this new life out. He has broken the power that sin once had over us by His death and resurrection. We are no longer powerless before our sins and addictions! And He has placed His own powerful Spirit within us to guide and strengthen us. But, it is left up to us to apply this spiritual circumcision to our everyday lives by cutting the old, fleshly ways of living out of our lives. By reading His Word and applying the wisdom and power of His Spirit within us, we determine what is sinful and therefore what needs to be cut out of our lives. And day-by-day as we remove ourselves from sin, we are conformed more and more into the image of Christ. 

What sinful ways of living do you need to cut out of your life? What about your language? Is it pure, focusing only on what is good? How about your media consumption? Would Jesus bother watching the TV shows and movies you watch? What about the music you listen to? You may kid yourself into thinking these things don't matter. But they are like the air you breathe. When you surround yourself with polluted, sinful media, you corrupt your own soul little by little. What about that toxic friend who drags you into sin and ensnares you over and over again? If you aren't strong enough yet to resist the temptation he brings with him, then you need to cut him out of our life. 

Christ paid a high price to remove your sin from you. What are you willing to do to live that circumcision out day by day?

For further reading...

• I Corinthians 7:18-20, Galatians 6:11-18 & Colossians 3:9-12- Physical circumcision no longer means anything. New creation (or spiritual cicrcumcision) is all that counts.
• Romans 2:25-29- Outward circumcision doesn't matter. Circumcision of the heart is all that matters.
• Deuteronomy 10:15-17, 30:5-6, & Jeremiah 9:25-26- Even in the Old Testament circumcision was an outward sign of the inward reality God was calling His people too.

Let 'em Laugh

He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.

Mark 5:39-40a

We've all been laughed at. Getting a good laugh when you are going for one can lift your spirit and cause your confidence to soar. The same laughter - when directed at you as the butt of the joke - can crush your spirit and lay your confidence in the dust. Yet notice Jesus' response in this passage. He simply shuts their laughter out (v. 40). 

By this time Jesus was a known miracle worker. So much so that the girl's father believed Jesus could save his daughter's life if he could only get Him there in time. Yet, even Jesus the great healer, when He suggests that death isn't the ultimate reality for this girl, is laughed to scorn. How much more will the world laugh at you and I if we dare to take seriously the Bible's teaching on the resurrection! In a culture dominated by scientific logic, what could be more final than death? There are no observable phenomena after death, therefore death is the end. Praise God that it isn't so! 

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. (I Thessalonians 4:16-17) 

This is THE great hope of the Christian faith. Though this world is hopelessly marred by sin so that even young children get sick and die, it is not our final destination. No! Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. In the resurrection we will experience the world as God always meant it to be. As Paul says, "if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied" (I Corinthians 15:19).

If you take Jesus' teaching on this subject seriously and order your life around it, then there is little doubt that you will be ridiculed. And yet, what difference does that make? Their laughter did not prevent the little girl from rising when Jesus said “Talitha koum” (v. 41). Neither will their laughter prevent you from rising on that day. On that day, dear believer, you will be vindicated for believing in the resurrection and you will enjoy the rewards you have laid up before yourself in the kingdom (Matthew 6:20). So, let them laugh, but continue to work all the more diligently knowing the time is short. Let them laugh, but proclaim the truth. Let them laugh, but serve God faithfully. Let them laugh, but pray for their souls. Let them laugh, but continue to believe in the great hope of the resurrection of all the saints in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let them laugh, but fix your eyes on the joy set before you and never, ever, ever change your course. 

For further reading...

• I Corinthians 15- Where o death is your sting?
• I Thessalonians 4:13-18- When the trumpet sounds.
• Revelation 20:11-22:5- The New Heavens and the New Earth.