He who loves his life shall lose it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it
to eternal life. (John 12.25)
Whoever will save his life shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for My sake
shall find it. (Matthew 16:25, 10.39, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24, 17:33)
If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and
children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own soul also, he cannot be My
disciple. (Luke 14:26)
And they loved not their soul unto death. (Revelation 12:11) This means they did not
love themselves more than the Lord. “Loving their soul” means to love themselves
and the world, for the soul means the person’s own life, which everyone has by
birth, which is to love himself and the world above all things. Therefore “not
loving his soul” means not to love himself and the world more than the Lord and
the things which are the Lord’s. “Unto death,” means to be willing to die instead.
Consequently it is to love the Lord above all things, and the neighbor as one’s self
(Matthew 22:35-39); and to be willing to die rather than recede from those two
loves. (Apocalypse Revealed 556)
Happy are the dead who die in the Lord ... “the dead” mean those who afflicted
their soul, crucified their flesh, and suffered temptations; . . . “and that they may
rest from their labors,” means that those who are tempted will have peace in the
Lord, . . . “Temptations” here mean spiritual temptations, which take place with
those who have faith in the Lord and live according to His commandments, when
they drive away the evil spirits that are with them, who a 7B2