I Will Get This Thing Started

Written to the Church of Smyrna
Revelation 2:11b
"the one who overcomes will in no way be hurt by the second death."

A couple of things to take from this verse.
1) "the one who overcomes"- Obviously to be an "overcomer" you must be facing some sort of trial, tribulation, persecution, or struggle. Written to Christians,we see that we are in no way protected from bad things happening to us. We can't be considered an overcomer if we never overcome anything. The struggles that Smyrna Christians faced- persecution to the point of death. Persecutions we face- hurting someone's feelings or getting our feelings hurt. (My take on this- we are a bunch of panzies, though other words would be better used to describe us).

2) The reward for being an overcomer-"in no way will we be hurt by the second death." This death is hell. This is not some sort of annihilation but one of conscious, unending punishment. The greek language used here displays the strongest negative assertion that could possibly be used to portray future events. This means that in no way possible, never, and I mean never could one who overcomes face this second death. Instead, we will recieve the Crown of Life (verse 10). WOW!! What a promise!

Conclusion- Remember the hope of the promise that we have. Let's face our struggles, persecution, and tribulations, strenghten our faith daily and be overcomers. Let's do this recognizing the promise of life when hell is so real.

Youth Pastor in Action!
Jason Palmer