In Revelation 2-3, Jesus gives warnings, rebukes and encouraging words to seven congregations of Asia minor.

Each church had their own particular struggle or challenge that needed to be addressed, but to every one, Jesus spoke the same refrain: “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” The phrase means “those that need to hear the message, need to hear the message now, before it’s too late.”

In chapter two, Jesus says this…

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.

Revelation 2:11

What do we need to hear while there’s still time to act? We need to hear that if we are overcoming—and through Christ we can overcome anything the Devil throws at us—then we will “not be hurt of the second death.” Literally the phrase is “the second death will not be able to hurt you.”

What is the second death?

To understand that we need to know what the first death is. The first death is obviously a reference to the end of our mortal lives. Life is the union of body and soul; death is the separation of body and soul (James 2:26). Where does my body goes when it is separated from my soul? It goes to the earth, from whence the first man came. Where does my soul go? It goes (eventually) to be judged. At the resurrection, the soul will inhabit a new body and will be judged. If the judgment is “not guilty” the soul will live forever more with Christ. If the verdict is “guilty” the soul will be separated from God forever: This is the second death.

The first death can happen because we grow old or because we are killed for our faith. Either way we must ensure that, when it happens, we are living a life that is overcoming the Devil with Christ’s help. Faithful Christians will die faithful, Jesus says, but they will not die the second death. Unfaithful Christians may live but time will eventually claim them, and then the second death will too.

A Christian worried about suffering for his faith is near-sighted. We may suffer now, but there’s nothing the Devil throws at us that we can’t overcome, and there’s nothing the Devil throws at us that is worse than living with him for eternity.