DISCOURSE: 2486
EPISTLE TO SMYRNA
Revelation 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: Jeremiah 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: ἀδικηθῇ.]. 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 God’s 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 God’s 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: Hebrews 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: Isaiah 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: Isaiah 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: Galatians 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: Romans 2:5.],” that is, the day in which his perfect equity will be displayed. All, therefore, will expect that the rule of God’s 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: Genesis 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: Psalms 9:17; Psalms 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: 1 Corinthians 10:13.].” You need not then be anxious about the future. Your enemies are all in God’s 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.]