128. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. That this signifies that he who continues in the genuine affection of truth to the end of his life in the world shall come into the now heaven, is evident from the signification of overcoming, when said of those who desire the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, as being to continue in the genuine affection of truth, even to the end of life in the world. It is said "he that overcometh" because these are they who undergo spiritual temptation, which is from evils and falsities, and fight against them; and to resist evils and falsities and to tame and subdue them as enemies, is to overcome. But no one overcomes, unless be continues in the spiritual affection of truth, even to the end of his life in the world. The work is then finished, for a man remains to eternity such as he then is, that is, such as his life has been up to that time: death is its completion. But no one can overcome except the Lord alone; the man who believes that he overcomes of himself, and not the Lord with him, does not overcome, but falls; for it is spiritual faith which overcomes, and nothing of spiritual faith is from man, but it is entirely from the Lord. (What spiritual faith is may be seen in the small work, The Last Judgment, n. 33-39; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n. 108-120; and what spiritual temptation is, n. 187- 201 in the same.) That "shall not be hurt of the second death," denotes to come into the New Heaven, cannot be understood unless it be known what is meant by the former heaven, and what by the New Heaven, which are treated of in chap. xxi. of the Apocalypse. (What is meant by the former heaven is shown in the small work, The Last Judgment, n. 65-72; and what by the New Heaven, in The New Jerusalem ,and its Doctrine, n. 1- 7.) But what is meant by the first death and by the second death, as also by the first and second -resurrection, is shown in the explanation of chaps. xx. and xxi., where it is said:
"The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ" (xx. 5, 6).
"Their part shall be in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (xxi. 8).
It is therefore evident that the second death is damnation: to be hurt of it, is to be damned, and, on the contrary, not to be hurt of it is to be saved. And because all those who are saved come into the New Heaven, therefore to come into the new heaven is what is signified by not being hurt of the second death. (Concerning which heaven and those of whom it consists, see the small work, The New Jerusalem and its Doctrine, n. 2-6.)
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