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I. THIS LANGUAGE IMPLIES THAT THERE IS A DEATH PRIOR TO THE SECOND HERE NAMED. The first death is severe, is penal, but is often rendered glorious by the power of the grace of God.

II. THAT THE SECOND DEATH IS MORE DREADFUL THAN THE FIRST. The first death is but the taking away of the man from the scene of this world, from the activities of time; whereas the second death removes the soul eternally from the presence of God, from the joy of heaven, and casts it into the dark regions of the lost.

III. THE SECOND DEATH MAY BE ESCAPED BY CONTINUED AND TRIUMPHANT MORAL GOODNESS. A pure soul will never be banished from the presence of God, His presence is immortality and spiritual delight. Lessons:

1. Let us endeavour so to live that we may escape the second death.

2. Let us remember that physical death is not the end of being; there is yet a death beyond — a death in life.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

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KJV: And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;

WEB: "To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: "The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things: