He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
11. the second death ] See Rev 20:6; Rev 20:14, &c.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He that hath an ear … – See the notes on Rev 2:7.
He that overcometh – See the notes on Rev 2:7. The particular promise here is made to him that should overcome; that is, that would gain the victory in the persecutions which were to come upon them. The reference is to him who would show the sustaining power of religion in times of persecution; who would not yield his principles when opposed and persecuted; who would be triumphant when so many efforts were made to induce him to apostatize and abandon the cause.
Shall not be hurt of the second death – By a second death. That is, he will have nothing to fear in the future world. The punishment of hell is often called death, not in the sense that the soul will cease to exist, but:
(a)Because death is the most fearful thing of which we have any knowledge, and
(b)Because there is a striking similarity, in many respects, between death and future punishment.
Death cuts off from life – and so the second death cuts off from eternal life; death puts an end to all our hopes here, and the second death to all our hopes forever; death is attended with terrors and alarms – the faint and feeble emblem of the terrors and alarms in the world of woe. The phrase, the second death, is three times used elsewhere by John in this book Rev 20:6, Rev 20:14; Rev 21:8, but does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. The words death and to die, however, are not infrequently used to denote the future punishment of the wicked.
The promise here made would be all that was necessary to sustain them in their trials. Nothing more is requisite to make the burdens of life tolerable than an assurance that, when we reach the end of our earthly journey, we have arrived at the close of suffering, and that beyond the grave there is no power that can harm us. Religion, indeed, does not promise to its friends exemption from death in one form. To none of the race has such a promise ever been made, and to but two has the favor been granted to pass to heaven without tasting death. It could have been granted to all the redeemed, but there were good reasons why it should not be; that is, why it would be better that even they who are to dwell in heaven should return to the dust, and sleep in the tomb, than that they should be removed by perpetual miracle, translating them to heaven. Religion, therefore, does not come to us with any promise that we shall not die. But it comes with the assurance that we shall be sustained in the dying hour; that the Redeemer will accompany us through the dark valley; that death to us will be a calm and quiet slumber, in the hope of awakening in the morning of the resurrection; that we shall be raised up again with bodies incorruptible and undecaying; and that beyond the grave we shall never fear death in any form. What more is needful to enable us to bear with patience the trials of this life, and to look upon death when it does come, disarmed as it is of its sting 1Co 15:55-57, with calmness and peace?
The Epistle to the Church at Pergamos
The contents of the epistle Rev 2:12-17 are as follows:
- A reference, as is usual in these epistles, to some attribute of Him who addressed them, suited to inspire respect, and adapted to a state of things existing in the church, Rev 2:12. That to which the Saviour here directs their attention is, that he has the sharp sword with two edges – implying Rev 2:16 that he had the power of punishing.
(2)A statement, in the usual form, that he was thoroughly acquainted with the state of the church; that he saw all their difficulties; all that there was to commend, and all that there was to reprove, Rev 2:13.
(3)A commendation to the church for its fidelity, especially in a time of severe persecution, when one of her faithful friends was slain, Rev 2:13.
- A reproof of the church for tolerating some who held false and pernicious doctrines – doctrines such as were taught by Balaam, and the doctrines of the Nicolaitanes, Rev 2:14-15.
(5)A solemn threat that, unless they repented, he would come against them, and inflict summary punishment on them, Rev 2:16.
(6)The usual call upon all to hear what the Spirit says to the churches, and a promise to those who should overcome, Rev 2:17.
Pergamos was a city in the southern part of Mysia, the capital of a kingdom of that name, and afterward of the Roman province of Asia Propria. It was on the bank of the river Caicus, which is formed by the union of two branches meeting thirty or forty miles above its mouth, and watering a valley not exceeded in beauty and fertility by any in the world. The city of Pergamos stood about twenty miles from the sea. It was on the northern bank of the river, at the base and on the declivity of two high and steep mountains. About two centuries before the Christian era, Pergamos became the residence of the celebrated kings of the family of Attals, and a seat of literature and the arts. King Eumenes, the second of the name, greatly beautified the town, and so increased the number of volumes in the library that they amounted to 200,000. This library remained at Pergamos after the kingdom of the Artali had lost its independence, until Antony removed it to Egypt, and presented it to Queen Cleopatra (Pliny, Hist. Nat. 3:2). It is an old tradition, that, as the papyrus plant had not begun to be exported from Egypt (Kitto), or as Ptolemy refused to sell it to Eumenes (Prof. Stuart), sheep and goat skins, prepared for the purpose, were used for manuscripts; and as the art of preparing them was brought to perfection at Pergamos, they, from that circumstance, obtained the name of pergamena ( pergamene) or parchment.
The last king of Pergamos bequeathed his treasures to the Romans, who took possession of the kingdom also, and created it into a province by the name of Asia Propria. Under the Romans, it retained that authority over the cities of Asia which it had acquired under the successors of Attalus. The present name of the place is Bergamos, and it is of considerable importance, containing a population of about 14,000, of whom about 3000 are Greeks, 300 Armenians, and the rest Turks. Macfarlane describes the approach to the town as very beautiful: The approach to this ancient and decayed city was as impressive as well might be. After crossing the Caicus, I saw, looking over three vast tumuli, or sepulchral barrows, similar to those on the plains of Troy, the Turkish city of Pergamos, with its tall minarets, and its taller cypresses, situated on the lower declivities and at the foot of the Acropolis, whose bold gray brow was crowned by the rugged walls of a barbarous castle, the usurper of the site of a magnificent Greek temple. The town consists, for the most part, of small and mean wooden houses, among which appear the remains of early Christian churches. None of these churches have any scriptural or apocalyptic interest connected with them, having been erected several centuries after the ministry of the apostles, and when Christianity was not an humble and despised creed, but the adopted religion of a vast empire.
The pagan temples have fared worse than these Christian churches. The fanes of Jupiter and Diana, of Aesculapius and Venus, are prostrate in the dust; and where they have not been carried away by the Turks, to be cut up into tombstones or to pound into mortar, the Corinthian and Ionic columns, the splendid capitals, the cornices and the pediments, all in the highest ornament, are thrown into unsightly heaps (Visit to the Seven Apocalyptic Churches, 1832. Compare Missionary Herald for 1839, pp. 228-230). The engraving represents the ruins of one of the ancient churches in Pergamos.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. He that overcometh] The conqueror who has stood firm in every trial, and vanquished all his adversaries.
Shall not be hurt of the second death.] That is, an eternal separation from God and the glory of his power; as what we commonly mean by final perdition. This is another rabbinical mode of speech in very frequent use, and by it they understand the punishment of hell in a future life.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh: for the opening of these passages: See Poole on “Rev 2:7“.
Shall not be hurt of the second death; we read of the second death, Rev 20:6,14; the meaning is, that he shall escape the eternal damnation of soul and body in the day of judgment.
Those that make these epistles prophetical say, that the church of Smyrna was a type of all the churches of Christ to the year 325, (when Constantine overcame Lycinius, and gave rest and peace to the churches of Christ), which was all a time of severe persecution under the Roman emperors, who to that time were all heathens. It is very observable, that Christ blameth nothing in this church; the church of God keeps always its purity best in the fire; but doubtless there were in this time many apostacies, and other errors, but God allows much to his peoples temptations; hence, though Job showed much impatience, yet we are called to behold him as a pattern of patience.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. shall not be hurtGreek,“shall not by any means (or possibly) be hurt.”
the second death“thelake of fire.” “The death in life of the lost, ascontrasted with the life in death of the saved” [TRENCH].The phrase “the second death” is peculiar to theApocalypse. What matter about the first death, which sooner or latermust pass over us, if we escape the second death? “Itseems that they who die that death shall be hurt by it;whereas, if it were annihilation, and so a conclusion of theirtorments, it would be no way hurtful, but highly beneficial to them.But the living torments are the second death” [BISHOPPEARSON]. “The lifeof the damned is death” [AUGUSTINE].Smyrna (meaning myrrh) yielded its sweet perfume in beingbruised even to death. Myrrh was used in embalming dead bodies (Joh19:39); was an ingredient in the holy anointing oil (Ex30:23); a perfume of the heavenly Bridegroom (Ps45:8), and of the bride (So3:6). “Affliction, like it, is bitter for the timebeing, but salutary; preserving the elect from corruption,and seasoning them for immortality, and gives scope for theexercise of the fragrantly breathing Christian virtues”[VITRINGA]. POLYCARP’Snoble words to his heathen judges who wished him to recant, are wellknown: “Fourscore and six years have I served the Lord, and Henever wronged me, how then can I blaspheme my King and Saviour?”Smyrna’s faithfulness is rewarded by its candlestick not having beenremoved out of its place (Re 2:5);Christianity has never wholly left it; whence the Turks call it,”Infidel Smyrna.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He that hath an ear, let him hear,….
[See comments on Re 2:7];
he that overcometh; and is not intimidated by poverty, confiscation of goods, tribulation, persecution, and death itself, but through Christ is a conqueror, and more than a conqueror over all these things:
shall not be hurt of the second death; by which is meant eternal death, in distinction from a corporeal and temporal one; and lies in a destruction of both body and soul in hell, and in an everlasting separation from God, and a continual sense of divine wrath; but of this the saints shall never be hurt, they are ordained to eternal life; this is secured for them in Christ, and he has it in his hands for them, and will give it to them. The phrase is Jewish, and is opposed to the first death, or the death of the body; which is the effect of sin, and is appointed of God, and which the people of God die as well as others; but the second death is peculiar to wicked men. So the Jerusalem Targum on De 33:6; paraphrases those words, “let Reuben live, and not die”, thus;
“let Reuben live in this world, and not die , “by the second death”, with which the wicked die in the world to come.”
Of which sense of the text and phrase Epiphanius makes mention q. See the same phrase in the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, in
Isa 22:14; and in Jer 51:39; and in Philo the Jew r.
q Contr. Haeres. Haeres. 9. r De Praemiis & Poenis, p. 921.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shall not be hurt ( ). Strong double negative with first aorist passive subjunctive of , old verb, to act unjustly (from ), here to do harm or wrong to one, old usage as in Rev 6:6; Rev 7:2; Rev 9:4; Rev 9:10; Rev 11:5.
Of the second death ( ). here used for the agent or instrument as often (Rev 3:18; Rev 9:2; Rev 18:1). See Rev 20:6; Rev 20:14; Rev 21:8 where “the second death” is explained as “the lake of fire.” The idea is present in Dan 12:3; John 5:29 and is current in Jewish circles as in the Jerusalem Targum on De 33:6 and in Philo. It is not annihilation. The Christians put to death in the persecution will at least escape this second death (eternal punishment).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Be hurt [] . Strictly, wronged.
Second death. An expression peculiar to the Revelation. See Rev 20:6, 14; Rev 21:8. In those two passages it is defined as the lake of fire. The death awaiting the wicked after judgment.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “He that hath an ear, let him hear,” (ho echon ous akousato) “The one (anyone) having an ear, let him hear, hearken, or give heed,” to or toward what is about to be declared; Rom 10:17, “Faith comes by hearing,” without which no man can please God, Heb 11:6.
2) “What the Spirit saith unto the churches,” (ti to pneuma legei tais ekklesiais) “What the Spirit says to the churches,” the congregations. Let it be simply and clearly understood that the Book of Revelation is addressed to all churches of the Lord in this age, Rev 22:16; and through the book and the church the spirit still speaks, Heb 3:7-8; Rev 22:17.
3) “He that overcometh,” (ho nikon) “The. one conquering,” the individual in the church who conquers or overcomes,” which is done thru the blood of the Lamb, the word of His testimony, and surrendered service, 1Jn 5:4; Rev 12:11.
4) “Shall not be hurt of the second death,” (ou me adikethe ek tou thanatou tou deuterou) “Will by no means be hurt by the second death,” the spiritual death-judgment; But are of the first resurrection over which the second death” has no power, Rev 20:6; Rev 20:15.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(11) He that overcometh (or conquereth) shall not be hurt.The words used are precise, and give certainty to the promise.
The second death.This phrase is a new one in Bible language. It is said that Jews were familiar with it through its use in the Chaldee Paraphrase. It clearly points to a death which is other than that of the body; it stands in contrast with the crown of life. The expressions of Rev. 20:14; Rev. 21:8, exclude the idea that a cessation of conscious existence is intended. The life of the spirit is the knowledge of God (Joh. 17:3); the death of the spirit, or the second death, is the decay or paralysis of the powers by which such a knowledge was possible, and the experience of the awfulness of a life which is without God.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Not be hurt of second death However he may suffer the death of martyrdom, his crown of life exalted him far above the second death. The promise corresponds, also, with the self announcement in Rev 2:8. The second death, in Rev 20:15, is defined as the being cast into the “lake of fire.” Neither term second death nor lake of fire is used in any scripture outside the Apocalypse. Gehenna, a figure drawn from the valley of Hinnom at Jerusalem, used by our Lord, and used in the New Testament twelve times, comes most nearly to the same conception. Both Gehenna and second death are terms introduced into Jewish biblicism by the Targumists, the Hebrew paraphrastic translators of the Old Testament.
How the term second death was understood at Smyrna may be inferred from certain passages from the above quoted letter from the Smyrnean Church. Thus, when the proconsul threatened Polycarp with death by fire, the latter replied, “Thou threatenest me with the fire that burns for an hour and in a little time is extinguished; for thou knowest not the fire of the future judgment, and of the eternal punishment that is reserved for the ungodly.” Of the other martyrs the Church says, “Even the fire of their persecutors seemed cold unto them, for they had before their eyes the prospect of escaping that which is eternal and unquenchable.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt of the Second Death.’
The second death was a concept of Judaism, the death of the soul. No doubt their Jewish persecutors taunted them with the fact that after their martyrdoms their souls also would be destroyed. Jesus promises them that, on the contrary, the second death cannot touch them (compare Rev 20:6; Rev 20:14; Rev 21:8). Rather will they receive the crown of eternal life.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 2:11. Shall not be hurt of the second death. This is in pursuance of the title, Rev 2:8. For Christ having power over death and hell, and having raised himself, he has of course power to raise the martyrs: and then it is plain that the second death shall have no power over them. Memorable to this purpose is the saying of an ancient emir, in the times of the last crusade, who, asking of certain captive Christians, by his interpreters, whether they believed in Jesus Christ? and the captives replying that they did so believe, “Then,” said the emir, “take comfort; for since he died for you, and was able to rise again, he is also well able to save you.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 2:11 . The promise, which, in addition to the general command to hear, [1092] is contained in the concluding verse, is framed in accordance with what precedes. [1093] The victory recalls the struggle with the afflictions of persecution, [1094] through which there has been a victorious battle in their fidelity unto death. [1095] The victorious warrior reaches peace before the throne of God and the Lamb, [1096] or, as here said in reference to Rev 2:10 , [1097] “He shall not be hurt of the second death.” On , cf. Winer, p. 471.
as Rev 6:6 , Rev 7:2-3 , and often Luk 10:19 . , causal, as Rev 8:11 . [1098]
The second death designates eternal damnation in hell, [1099] eternal after temporal death. The expression is derived from Jewish theology, [1100] but is pervaded with a meaning specifically Christian, since they incur the second death, who have no part in the marriage of the Lamb, and therefore are outside of Christ. [1101] [See Note XXXI., p. 156.]
[1092] Cf. Rev 2:7 .
[1093] Cf. Rev 2:10 ; Rev 2:8 .
[1094] Cf. Joh 16:33 .
[1095] 2Ti 4:7 .
[1096] Rev 7:9 sqq.
[1097] . Cf. Mat 10:28 .
[1098] Winer, p. 344.
[1099] Rev 20:6 ; Rev 20:14 , Rev 21:8 .
[1100] Targ . on Psa 49:11 : “The wicked who die the second death, and are consigned to Gehenna.” Targum of Jerusalem , on Deu 33:6 . Cf. Wetst.
[1101] Chs. 20, 21.
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
XXXI. Rev 2:11 .
Cremer: that “to which they are appointed whose names are not written in the book of life, and which follows the general resurrection (Rev 20:12-15 ), must be a judgment which comes as a second and final sentence, and which is something still future before the first resurrection, for the partakers of that resurrection are not affected by it (Rev 20:6 ). Their perfect freedom from all the consequences of sin, and the full realization of their salvation, is also expressed in Rev 2:11 .” Gebhardt: “The second death, the intensified death, is the coming of sins to the eternal death, from which there is no resurrection; or to perdition (comp. Rev 17:8 ; Rev 17:11 ), which consists, not in the ‘destruction of the wicked,’ but in the definite loss of happiness, in eternally restless pangs, and perpetual consciousness of consummated death.” Trench quotes the gloss of Augustine: “Vita damnatorum est mors,” and notes, “The of this book is the of Mat 5:29 ; Mar 9:43-49 ; Luk 12:5 .”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 2486
EPISTLE TO SMYRNA
Rev 2:11. He that hath an. ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
THIS passage, as an appendix to the epistle to the Church of Smyrna, appears at first sight to be an extraordinary anti-climax: for, in the very words preceding the text, it is said, Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Now, by a crown of life is meant all the glory and blessedness of heaven: it is a small thing, therefore, to a person who has obtained this promise, to tell him that he shall never be cast into hell. But the Scriptures often speak in a way of meiosis, as it is called; that is, under terms which, whilst they express little, convey the most stupendous truths. A remarkable instance of this kind I will mention. Jehovah, speaking to his ancient people, says, Turn ye now every one from his evil way, and I will do you no hurt [Note: Jer 25:5-6.]. What! is this all the encouragement that God gives to his people to turn unto him? May we not, at least, hope that he will do us some good? But far more was implied in this promise than met either the eye or the ear: and so it is in the promise which our Lord and Saviour gives in the words before us. In truth, if considered in their connexion with the foregoing context, and according to the true import of the words themselves, they will be found to be replete with the richest instruction, and with the most consoling encouragement.
Let us, then, consider,
I.
The promise here given to the victorious saint
In order to see the promise in its true light, we must view it,
1.
In connexion with the trials that awaited them
[They had been told, that Satan would cast some of them into prison; and that they should have tribulation ten days, some of them suffering even unto death. Now these were painful tidings to flesh and blood: yet, when it was considered that they would be exempt from the second death, to which they might have been justly doomed, the prospect was greatly cheered: for the sufferings from which they were freed were penal, intolerable, everlasting; whereas those to which they were to be subjected were light and momentary, and as beneficial to themselves as they were honourable to God. To a soul contemplating its just desert, these thoughts must have been inconceivably precious. The very contrast between what man would inflict on earth, and what, but for his sovereign love and mercy, God would have inflicted on them in hell, must have made the deliverance appear so much the more wonderful, and the mercy vouchsafed to them so much the more endearing.]
2.
In connexion with the sufferings that await the whole world besides
[It is to the victor only that this promise is made. Who he is, we have before described: and all other persons, of what age or character soever they may be, must be condemned in the day of judgment, and take their portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone. Not only notorious sinners, who have rushed into all manner of iniquity, but the more decent moralists also, who have glided down the stream of this corrupt world, must perish. It is he only who stems the torrent of corruption which carries the whole world before it, and who urges with incessant labour his course heavenward; it is he alone, I say, that shall escape the wrath to come. Now, then, consider the great mass of mankind, with comparatively few exceptions, cast into hell, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched; consider them, I say, left to weep and wail, and gnash their teeth, in that place of torment, and the smoke of their torment ascending up for ever and ever; and then say, whether an exemption from this lot be a small matter. What would a soul that had been only a few hundred years in that place of torment think of such a deliverance, if it were possible for him now to be rescued from his misery? Methinks his transports would be such as a mere mortal nature would be unable to sustain. Doubtless, then, the assurance here given to the Christian who overcomes his spiritual enemies must be an occasion of unutterable joy. And, inasmuch as this promise is given by the Holy Spirit to every soldier of Christ, and all who have ears to hear are especially invited to attend to it, we cannot but commend it to the most attentive consideration of all who are here present.]
Let me now set before you
II.
The pledge given us for the performance of it
There is somewhat very remarkable in the term which is translated hurt. It does not import what we commonly mean by the word hurt, which we should use in reference to any accidental injury we had sustained: it expresses an injury inflicted by a voluntary agent, who might well have forborne to inflict it [Note: .]. The sense of the passage then is, that the victorious saint shall not be injured by the second death; since the subjecting of him to it would be an injustice done to him. In fact,
1.
It would be an injury done to the person suffering
[Every saint of God has fled to Christ for refuge, in a full dependence on that promise, There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. And in the strength of Christ he has fought the good fight, and finished his course, and kept the faith, in an assured expectation that there is laid up for him, according to Gods blessed word, a crown of righteousness, that fadeth not away. Now, suppose one such person subjected to the second death; would he not say, I am injured? Doubtless if I am to be dealt with according to my deserts, my mouth must be shut, whatever I may suffer: but I laid hold on the Gospel, and, according to the grace given to me, complied with the terms there prescribed: I relied solely on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation; and yet endeavoured, according to my ability, to fulfil his will: and I certainly do think that I have a claim to mercy; not indeed as deserving it at Gods hands, but as washed in the blood of Christ, and clothed in his righteousness, and interested in all that he has done and suffered for me. Yes, brethren, God himself authorizes this very idea. In the Scriptures it is said, God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister [Note: Heb 6:10.]. Now, if God would account himself unjust if he neglected to recompense the good works of his people, how much more would he subject himself to that imputation if he were to cast one believing and obedient soul into hell! Then this is a pledge to the victorious Christian, that he shall never be hurt of the second death. If a man who had fled to a city of refuge could not, consistently with the Tights of justice and equity, be delivered up into the hands of the pursuer of blood; so neither can a believing and obedient soul be ever given up to the wrath of an avenging God.]
2.
It would be an injury done to the Lord Jesus Christ himself
[God the Father, when he entered into covenant with his Son, engaged, that if he would make his soul an offering for sin, he should see a seed who should prolong their days, and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hands [Note: Isa 53:10.]. In dependence on this word, the Son of God became incarnate, and fulfilled the whole work assigned him, till he could say, It is finished: and he expected, of course, that, in the salvation of all who trusted in him, he should see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied. But if he should behold one of his believing and obedient followers cast out, would he not have reason to complain, that the stipulations of the covenant were not fulfilled? When an offer was made to him, that, in the event of his undertaking to die for man, there should be a people given to him from amongst the tribes of Israel, he replied, Then I have laboured in vain, and spent my strength for nought and in vain: and then the promise was enlarged to him, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth [Note: Isa 49:4-6.]. How much more, then, might he complain, I have laboured in vain, and spent my strength for nought, if one of his faithful followers should be cast into hell! If one should be saved by a righteousness not derived from him, he would complain that he had died in vain [Note: Gal 2:21.]: and how much more, if one whom he had washed in his blood, and sanctified by his grace, should perish! Here then is another pledge, that no victorious saint shall ever taste of the second death.]
3.
It would be an injury done to the whole universe
[All are taught to look forward to the day of judgment, as the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God [Note: Rom 2:5.], that is, the day in which his perfect equity will be displayed. All, therefore, will expect that the rule of Gods procedure, as declared in his word, shall be adhered to. Of course, they will expect that those who have believed in Christ, and by the grace of Christ have subdued all their spiritual enemies, shall be saved. But what if they should see one of these consigned over to the second death, and left to take his portion with hypocrites and unbelievers? will they not say, This greatly disappoints our expectations: we certainly hoped to see a difference put between the righteous and the wicked, between those who served God and those who served him not. Methinks, if one such instance were about to occur, one general sentiment would pervade the whole universe; and all the saints would prostrate themselves before Jehovah, as Abraham did in behalf of Sodom: saying, Lord, wilt thou destroy the righteous with the wicked? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right [Note: Gen 18:23-25.]? But we need not fear: there shall never be occasion for a remonstrance like this: and in this we have a further pledge, that no such injury shall ever be done to one believing and obedient soul.]
But, whilst I maintain this blessed truth,
1.
Must I not take up a lamentation over those who are overcome in this warfare?
[I ask not what you have done in times past: I ask only, Have you engaged in warfare with all your spiritual enemies? and are you proceeding daily in a victorious career? If not, nothing awaits you but the second death. If you have not been so wicked as others, you will not have so heavy a condemnation as they; there will be fewer or heavier stripes appointed, according to the degree of your guilt: but hell will be terrible to those who sustain its slightest torments; and the duration of their torments will be for ever and ever. Look, I pray you, through the whole Scriptures, and see whether you can find one single word that promises an exemption from those torments to any soul that has not fought and overcome? In every one of these epistles, you will find the promises limited to them that overcome. Think then, I pray you, what an awful prospect is before you. Think how soon your day of grace may be closed, and your day of retribution commence. O dreadful thought! Perhaps before another day you may be, like the Rich Man in the Gospel, lifting up your eyes in torments, and crying in vain for a drop of water to cool your tongue. Will ye then delay to enlist under the banners of Christ, or refuse to fight manfully under the Captain of your salvation? Will you be deterred from this by the menaces of men? Will you fear them who can only kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do? Will you not rather fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell? O! I say to you, Fear him. If there were a storm of thunder and lightning, you would be filled with awe: and will you not tremble when God says, The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God? and when he tells you, that on the wicked he will rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup [Note: Psa 9:17; Psa 11:6.]? O! what vivid flashes are here! what peals of thunder are here! Will ye tremble at that which can only separate your soul from your body, and not at that which will separate both body and soul from God for ever?May God, in his mercy, awaken you ere it be too late! and may all of you make it henceforth the one object of your lives to flee from the wrath to come, and to lay hold on eternal life!]
2.
But to the victorious saint I must add a word of cordial congratulation
[What may intervene between this and your final victory, I am not anxious to inquire. If you are fighting manfully under the banners of Christ, of this I am assured, that there shall no temptation take you but what is common to men; and that your faithful God will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make for you a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it [Note: 1Co 10:13.]. You need not then be anxious about the future. Your enemies are all in Gods hands, and can do nothing which he will not overrule for your eternal good. And how blessed will be the termination of your warfare! What shouts of victory will you give, and what plaudits will you receive from the Captain of your salvation! You have nothing to fear from the second death: on the contrary, the very stroke that separates your soul from your body shall transmit your soul to the very bosom of your God; who, in due season, will raise your body also from the grave, to partake with your soul in all the glory and felicity of heaven. Yes; it is no fading and corruptible crown that you fight for, but an incorruptible one, which shall be accorded to you in the presence of the whole assembled universe. Go on then, from conquering to conquer, till all enemies be put under your feet: and the recollection of your conflicts shall serve only to enhance your joys to all eternity.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Ver. 11. Shall not be hurt of the second death ] Shall not be killed with death, as Rev 2:23 . Death shall not be to him (as it is to the wicked) a trap door to hell, but ianua vitae, porta caeli, door of life and the gate of heaven, an inlet into life eternal. (Bern.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11 .] Conclusion : see above, Rev 2:7 . He that conquereth shall not be injured ( gives great precision and certainty to the promise: there is no chance ( ) that he should be ( ). See Winer, edn. 6, 56. 3 note) by ( as proceeding out of as the source or origin) the second death (defined to be, in ch. Rev 20:14 , . In this he shall have no part, nor it any power over him).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rev 2:11 . (emphatic): no true Christian, much less one who dies a martyr’s death, need fear anything beyond the pang of the first death. The second death of condemnation in the lake of fire leaves the faithful scatheless, no matter how others may suffer from the terrors ( cf. on Rev 3:12 ) which haunted the ancient outlook (especially the Egyptian) upon the dark interval between death and heaven. Cf. the sketch of Ani, seated on his throne and robed in white, holding sceptre and staff, and crying: “I am not held to be a person of no account, and violence shall not be done me. I am thy son, O Great One, and I have seen the hidden things that belong to thee. I am crowned king of the gods, and shall not die a second time in the underworld” ( E. B. D. 99). If a Christian keep himself loyal till death, the prophet here guarantees that Christ will keep him safe after death. After the promise of Rev 2:10 however, this sounds like an anticlimax. The general tenor of the message indicates that John was rather more cordial and sympathetic to the Smyrniote church than to the Ephesian.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Revelation
II. THE VICTOR’S LIFE-CROWN
Rev 2:11
Two of the seven Churches, viz., Smyrna, to which our text is addressed, and Philadelphia offered nothing, to the pure eyes of Christ, that needed rebuke. The same two and these only, were warned to expect persecution. The higher the tone of Christian life in the Church, the more likely it is to attract dislike and, if circumstances permit, hostility. Hence the whole gist of this letter is to encourage to steadfastness, even if the penalty is death.
That purpose determined at once the aspect of Christ which is presented in the beginning, and the aspect of future blessedness which is held forth at the close. The aspect of Christ is ‘these things saith the First and the Last, which was dead and is alive’; a fitting thought to encourage the men who were to be called upon to die for Him. And, in like manner, the words of our text naturally knit themselves with the previous mention of death as the penalty of the Smyrneans’ faithfulness.
Now this promise is sharply distinguished from those to the other Churches by two peculiarities: one, that it is merely negative, whilst all the rest are radiantly positive; the other, that there is no mention of our Lord in it, whilst in all the others He stands forth with His emphatic and majestic ‘I will give’; ‘I will write upon him My new Name’; ‘I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God.’ The first peculiarity may partially account for the second, because the Giver is naturally more prominent in a promise of positive gifts, than in one of a merely negative exemption. But another reason is to be found for the omission of the mention of our Lord in this promise. If you will refer to the verse immediately preceding my text, you will find the missing positive promise with the missing reference to Jesus Christ: ‘ I will give thee a crown of life.’ So that we are naturally led to link together both these statements when taking account of the hopes that were held forth to animate the Christians of Smyrna in the prospect of persecution even to the death; and we have to consider them both in conjunction now. I think I shall best do so by simply asking you to look at these two things: the Christian motive contained in the victor’s immunity from a great evil, and the Christian motive contained in the victor’s possession of a great good. ‘He shall not be hurt of the second death.’ ‘I will give thee a crown of life.’
I. The Christian motive contained in the victor’s immunity from a great evil.
Now that solemn and thrilling expression ‘the second death’ is peculiar to this book of the Apocalypse. The name is peculiar; the thing is common to all the New Testament writers. Here it comes with especial appropriateness, in contrast with the physical death which was about to be inflicted upon some members of the Smyrnean Church. But beyond that there lies in the phrase a very solemn and universally applicable meaning. I do not feel, dear brethren that such a thing ought to be made matter of pulpit rhetoric. The bare vagueness of it seems to me to shake the heart a great deal more than any weakening expansion of it that we can give.
But yet, let me say one word. Then, behind that grim figure, the shadow feared of man that waits for all at some turn of their road, cloaked and shrouded, there rises a still grimmer and more awful form, ‘ if form it can be called which form hath none.’ There is something, at the back of physical death, which can lay its grip upon the soul that is already separated from the body; something running on the same lines somehow, and worthy to bear that name of terror and disintegration ‘the second death.’ What can it be? Not the cessation of conscious existence; that is never the meaning of death. But let us apply the key which opens so many of the locks of the New Testament sayings about the future that the true and deepest meaning of death is separation from Him who is the fountain of life, and in a very deep sense is the only life of the universe. Separation from God; that is death. What touches the surface of mere bodily life is but a faint shadow and parable, and the second death, like a second tier of mountains, rises behind and above it, sterner and colder than the lower hills of the foreground. What desolation, what unrest, what blank misgivings, what pealing off of capacities, faculties, opportunities, delights, may be involved in that solemn conception, we never can tell here God grant that we may never know! Like some sea-creature, cast high and dry on the beach, and gasping out its pained being, the men that are separated from God die whilst they live, and live a living death. The second is the comparative degree, of which the first is the positive.
Now note again that immunity from this solemn fate is no small part of the victor’s blessedness. At first sight we feel as if the mere negative promise of my text stands on a lower level than what I have called the radiantly positive ones in the other letters; but it is worthy to stand beside these. Gather them together, and think of how manifold and glorious the dim suggestions which they make of felicity and progress are, and then set by the side of them this one of our text as worthy to stand there. To eat of the Tree of Life; to have power over the nations; to rule them with a rod of iron; to blaze with the brightness of the morning star; to eat of the hidden manna; to bear the new name known only to those who receive it; to have that name confessed before the Father and His angels; to be a pillar in the Temple of the Lord; to go no more out; and to sit with Christ on His throne: these are the positive promises, along with which this barely negative one is linked, and is worthy to be linked: ‘He shall not be hurt of the second death.’
If this immunity from that fate is fit to stand in line with these glimpses of an inconceivable glory, how solemn must be the fate, and how real the danger of our falling into it I Brethren, in this day it has become unfashionable to speak of that future, especially of its sterner aspects. The dimness of the brightest revelations in the New Testament, the unwillingness to accept it as the source of certitude with regard to the future, the recoil from the stern severity of Divine retribution, the exaggerated and hideous guise in which that great truth was often presented in the past, the abounding worldliness of this day, many of its best tendencies and many of its worst ones concur in making some of us look with very little interest, and scarcely credence, at the solemn words of which the New Testament is full. But I, for my part, accept them; and I dare not but, in such proportion to the rest of revelation as seems to me to be right, bring them before you. I beseech you, recognize the solemn teaching that lies in this thought that this negative promise of immunity from the second death stands parallel with all these promises of felicity and blessedness.
Further, note that such immunity is regarded here as the direct outcome of the victor’s conduct and character. I have already pointed out the peculiarities marking our text. The omission of any reference to our Lord in it is accounted for, as suggested, by that reference occurring in the immediately preceding context, but it may also be regarded as suggesting when considered in contrast with the other promises, where He stands forward as the giver of heavenly blessedness that that future condition is to be regarded not only as retribution, which implies the notion of a judge, and a punitive or rewarding energy on his part, but also as being the necessary result of the earthly life that is lived; a harvest of which we sow the seeds here.
Transient deeds consolidate into permanent character. Beds of sandstone rock, thousands of feet thick, are the sediment dropped from vanished seas, or borne down by long dried-up rivers. The actions which we often so unthinkingly perform, whatever may be the width and the permanency of their effects external to us, react upon ourselves, and tend to make our permanent bent or twist or character. The chalk cliffs at Dover are the skeletons of millions upon millions of tiny organisms, and our little lives are built up by the recurrence of transient deeds, which leave their permanent marks upon us. They make character, and character determines position yonder. As said the Apostle, with tender sparingness, and yet with profound truth, ‘he went to his own place,’ wherever that was. The surroundings that he was fitted for came about him, and the company that he was fit for associated themselves with him. So in another part of this book where the same solemn expression, ‘the second death,’ is employed, we read, ‘These shall have their part in . . . the second death’: the lot that belongs to them. Character and conduct determine position. However small the lives here, they settle the far greater ones hereafter, just as a tiny wheel in a machine may, by cogs and other mechanical devices, transmit its motion to another wheel at a distance, many times its diameter. You move this end of a lever through an arc of an inch, and the other end will move through an arc of yards. The little life here determines the sweep of the great one that is lived yonder. The victor wears his past conduct and character, if I may so say, as a fireproof garment, and if he entered the very furnace, heated seven times hotter than before, there would be no smell of fire upon him. ‘He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.’
II. Now note, secondly, the Christian motive contained in the victor’s reception of a great good.
‘I will give him a crown of life.’ I need not remind you, I suppose, that this metaphor of ‘the crown’ is found in other instructively various places in the New Testament. Paul, for instance, speaks of his own personal hope of ‘the crown of righteousness.’ James speaks, as does the letter to the Smyrnean Church, of ‘the crown of life.’ Peter speaks ‘of the crown of glory.’ Paul, in another place, speaks of ‘the crown incorruptible.’ And all these express substantially the one idea. There may be a question as to whether the word employed here for the crown is to be taken in its strictly literal acceptation as meaning, not a kingly coronal, but a garland. But seeing that, although that is the strict meaning of the word, it is employed in a subsequent part of the letter to designate what must evidently be kingly crowns viz., in the fourth chapter there seems to be greater probability in the supposition that we are warranted in including under the symbolism here both the aspects of the crown as royal, and also as laid upon the brows of the victors in the games or the conflict. I venture to take it in that meaning. Substantially the promise is the same as that which we were considering in the previous letter, ‘I will give him to eat of the Tree of Life’; the promise of life in all the depth and fullness and sweep of that great encyclopaedical word. But it is life considered from a special point of view that is set forth here.
It is a kingly life. Of course that notion of regality and dominion, as the prerogative of the redeemed and glorified servants of Jesus Christ, is for ever cropping up in this book of the Revelation. And you remember how our Lord has set the example of its use when He said, ‘Have thou authority over ten cities.’ What may lie in that great symbol it is not for us to say. The rule over ourselves, over circumstances, the deliverance from the tyranny of the external, the deliverance from the slavery of the body and its lusts and passions, these are all included. The man that can will rightly, and can do completely as he rightly wills, that man is a king. But there is more than that. There is the participation in wondrous, and for us inconceivable, ways, in the majesty and regality of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Therefore did the crowned elders before the throne sing a new song to the Lamb, who made redeemed men out of every tribe and tongue, to be to God a kingdom, and priests who should reign upon the earth.
But, brethren, remember that this conception of a kingly life is to be interpreted according to Christ’s own teaching of that wherein royalty in His kingdom consists. For heaven, as for earth, the purpose of dominion is service, and the use of power is beneficence. ‘He that is chiefest of all, let him be servant of all,’ is the law for the regalities of heaven as well as for the lowliness of earth.
That life is a triumphant life. The crown was laid on the head of the victor in the games. Think of the victor as he went back, flushed and modest, to his village away up on the slopes of some of the mountain chains of Greece. With what a tumult of acclaim he would be hailed! If we do our work and fight our fight down here as we ought, we shall enter into the great city not unnoticed, not unwelcomed, but with the praise of the King and the paeans of His attendants. ‘I will confess his name before My Father and the holy angels.’
That life is a festal life. The garlands are twined on the heated brows of revelers, and the fumes of the wine and the closeness of the chamber soon make them wilt and droop. This amaranthine crown fadeth never. And the feast expresses for us the felicities, the abiding satisfactions without satiety, the blessed companionship, the repose which belong to the crowned. Royalty, triumph, festal goodness, all fused together, are incomplete, but they are not useless symbols. May we experience their fulfilment!
Brethren, the crown is promised not merely to the man that says, ‘I have faith in Jesus Christ,’ but to him who has worked out his faith into faithfulness, and by conduct and character has made himself capable of the felicities of the heavens. If that immortal crown were laid upon the head of another, it would be a crown of thorns; for the joys of that future require the fitness which comes from the apprenticeship to faith and faithfulness here on earth. We evangelical preachers are often taunted with preaching that future blessedness comes as the result of the simple act of belief. Yes; but only if, and when, the simple act of faith, which is more than belief, is wrought out in the loveliness of faithfulness. ‘We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end.’
Now, dear friends, I dare say that some of you may be disposed to brush aside these fears and hopes as very low motives, unworthy to be appealed to; but I cannot so regard them. I know that the appeal to fear is directed to the lower order of sentiments, but it is a legitimate motive. It is meant to stir us up to gird ourselves against the dangers which we wisely dread. And I, for my part, believe that we preachers are going aside from our Pattern, and are flinging away a very powerful weapon, in the initial stages of religious experience, if we are afraid to bring before men’s hearts and answering consciences the solemn facts of the future which Jesus Christ Himself has revealed to us. We are no more to be blamed for it than the signalman for waving his red flag. And I fancy that there are some of my present hearers who would be nearer the love of God if they took more to heart the fear of the Lord and of His judgment.
Hope is surely a perfectly legitimate motive to appeal to. We are not to be good because we thereby escape hell and secure heaven. We are to be good, because Jesus Christ wills us to be, and has won us to love Him, or has sought to win us to love Him, by His great sacrifice for us. But that being the basis, men can be brought to build upon it by the compulsion of fear and by the attraction of hope. And that being the deepest motive, there is a perfectly legitimate and noble sphere for the operation of these two other lower motives, the consideration of the personal evils that attend the opposite course, and of the personal good that follows from cleaving to Him. Am I to be told that Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, who went to his martyrdom, and was ‘faithful unto death,’ with the words on his lips: ‘Eighty-and-six years have I served Him, and He has done me nothing but good; how shall I deny my King and my Saviour!’ was yielding to a low motive when to him the crown that the Master promised to the Church of which he was afterwards bishop floated above the head that was soon to be shorn off, and on whose blood-stained brows it was then to fall ? Would that we had more of such low motives! Would that we had more of such high lives as fear nothing because they ‘have respect to the recompense of the reward,’ and are ready for service or martyrdom, because they hear and believe the crowned Christ saying to them: ‘Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
hurt See Rev 22:11.
second death. See Rev 20:6, Rev 20:14; Rev 21:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11.] Conclusion: see above, Rev 2:7. He that conquereth shall not be injured ( gives great precision and certainty to the promise: there is no chance () that he should be (). See Winer, edn. 6, 56. 3 note) by ( as proceeding out of as the source or origin) the second death (defined to be, in ch. Rev 20:14, . In this he shall have no part, nor it any power over him).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rev 2:11. ) The Chaldee Paraphrase has this phrase, , Deu 33:6; Isa 22:14. [Comp. Rev 20:6.-V. g.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
that hath: Rev 2:7, Rev 13:9
the second: Rev 20:6, Rev 20:14, Rev 21:8
Reciprocal: Gen 2:17 – surely 2Ch 15:2 – Hear ye me Psa 49:1 – Hear Pro 5:1 – attend Isa 28:23 – General Jer 7:2 – Hear Dan 3:18 – be it Hos 4:1 – Hear Mic 1:2 – hearken Mat 11:15 – General Mat 13:9 – General Mar 4:3 – Hearken Mar 4:23 – General Mar 7:16 – General Luk 6:23 – your Luk 8:8 – He that Luk 14:35 – He Joh 14:26 – he Act 1:2 – through Act 13:16 – give Rom 2:7 – patient Gal 6:9 – if Phi 1:30 – the same 1Ti 4:1 – the Spirit Heb 10:15 – General 1Jo 5:4 – overcometh Rev 2:17 – hath Rev 2:23 – and all Rev 2:26 – he Rev 3:22 – General Rev 12:11 – they overcame Rev 21:7 – overcometh Rev 22:16 – General Rev 22:19 – and from
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 2:11. .He that overcometh means the one who is “faithful unto death.” The second death means the lake of fire (chapter 20:14) which cannot hurt the faithful.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 11
5. “He that overcometh shall not be hurt with the second death”–Rev 2:11.
This passage finds its apocalyptic fulfillment within the vision itself, in Rev 20:6, in the description of the culmination of all of the imagery of these scenes with the victory of the saints in the conflicts that come to end. The first law of the higher mathematics is that “things equal to the same thing are equal to each other.” This law applied to the comparison between these two passages, chapter 2:11 and chapter 20:6, yields the following conclusion: 1. Overcoming the persecutions equaled exemption from the second death; 2. Part in the first resurrection equaled exemption from the second death; 3. These two things being equal to the same thing were equal to each other. Therefore, the result of overcoming the persecutions was pictured as the first resurrection of the apocalypse, and was prerequisite to the living and the reigning with Christ in the triumphant state of victory that is described.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 2:11. For the first clause of this verse, comp. what has been said on Rev 2:7.
He that over-cometh shall in no wise be hurt of the second death. For the second death, comp. chaps. Rev 20:6; Rev 20:14, Rev 21:8, the only other passages where the expression occurs. It is in obvious contrast with the life of Rev 2:8; Rev 2:10. The expression is taken from the Jewish theology, and denotes the death that follows judgment.
The distinguishing feature of the Epistle to Smyrna seems to be the rise of persecution against the followers of Jesus, and their faithfulness in meeting it; while in the next Epistle, that to Pergamos, we shall see persecution in all its fury culminating. If so, we have the very progress once indicated by our Lord Himself in His last discourse to His disciples, Every branch that beareth fruit, He cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit (Joh 15:2). The lessons taught to the church at Symrna may well have been present to the soul of Polycarp, Bishop of that see, in his hour of agony, and may have powerfully contributed to sustain that glorious martyr, who was so eminently faithful unto death.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
THE SEVEN VICTORIES
In this verse we reach the first overcometh in regeneration. In the description of these seven Churches we have the seven overcomeths; i.e., the seven victories which every soul must gain before it gets to heaven. These victories are revealed in the conclusion of the Spirits message to every Church.
11. Number two is establishment in regeneration.
17. Number three is a glorious case of entire sanctification. In the wilderness, they ate the manna nightly falling on the land, which would breed worms and spoil in twenty-four hours. Thus the blessings received in the justified state are so transitory that we need a new one every day. In the sanctified experience, we live in the sanctum-sanctorum, where we have constant access to the manna hidden in the golden pot, which always keeps fresh and sweet. The white stone symbolizes solidity and purity, and the new name is sanctifier. Before we get sanctified, we only know Jesus as our Savior. When we enter the Valley of Blessings, so sweet, the Holy Ghost reveals to us the Omnipotent Sanctifier.
27. This is victory number four for the soul who keeps Gods works to the end. Gods works are regeneration and sanctification. To the soul who keeps these works to the end of the Gentile Age, till the Lord comes to reign, He will give him the morning star i.e., Himself to be his glorious King forever.
3:5. The soul so fortunate as to reach the fifth victory is arrayed in white garments, and shall walk with Jesus in His Millennial glory. Probation passed, he shall never forfeit his royal inheritance.
3:12. Victory number six awaits the heroic soul far out beyond the millennium, fiery sanctification of the earth, its final renovation, and celestialization, when, in the oncoming heavenly state, the new Jerusalem shall come down to abide forever.
3:21. Here is the seventh and last victory, when Jesus shall have completed the mediatorial work, utterly exterminated sin and expurgated every stain from the polluted universe, banished Satan and all of his followers into the outer darkness, beyond the ultima thule, where the combined illumination of one hundred and seventeen millions of glowing suns has never shot one cheering ray. After the din of battle has forever been hushed, and shouts of victory shall ring through one billion and one hundred and seventy millions of glorious celestial worlds, the happy soul that shall have reached this seventh overcometh shall be honored with a seat on the throne, and a participation of the divine administration as the subordinate of the triumphant Christ, to reign with Him amid angels and redeemed spirits forever and ever. Ten thousand times ten thousand incentives inspire the immortal soul to run, strive, and fight for these seven victories. Seven is the perfect number designating Christ Himself. So dont stop with sanctification, for that is only victory number three; but be a loyal candidate for the seven. Oh, glory to God for the seven overcomeths!
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
2:11 {9} He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt {10} of the second death.
(9) The conclusion, as in Rev 2:7 .
(10) See Rev 10:6 .