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A.--Before we bring this study together to a close, I should like a word or two upon the
question of the second death, for I believe that Scripture teaches that those who are
subject to the second death are to be delivered from it at last and numbered among the
redeemed.
B.--We will proceed to consider this question, and then shall have to conclude with a
resume of the chief features that have come before us.
The Second Death.
Universal reconciliation necessitates a resurrection from the second death.
The proof text is here examined.
A.--I want to consider the teaching of the Word concerning the second death before we
leave the subject of universal reconciliation.
B.--May I ask why you consider this subject so important?
A.--Well, to be frank with you, were it not for the faith I have that those who are held by
the second death shall one day be delivered from its power and be numbered with the
redeemed, I confess that your arguments would prove too strong for me.
B.--Will you state clearly what you believe as to this, so that we may not beat the air in
our argument?
I Cor. 15: 26 and the Second Death.
A.--I believe that at the consummation of the ages, beyond the great white throne, those
who have been cast into the lake of fire shall come forth the redeemed of the Lord, that
the second death will, at the consummation, usher into life in Christ.
The word distinctly affirms that "the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death"
(I Cor. 15: 26). Actuated by the exigencies of a theory, some have attempted to limit this
statement to the first death, but the attempt is futile. A comparison of I Cor. 15: 26 with
the statement in Rev. 20: 14 and 21: 8 will show that the lake of fire is to be abolished
at the consummation. It is the last enemy.
Is the Second Death in I Cor. 15:?
B.--I observe that you do not pretend to discover this deliverance from the lake of fire in
the book of the Revelation.
A.--No, I will admit that apart from I Cor. 15: 26 Scripture is silent on the subject.