“But when the Comforter comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father,

the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”

If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Jesus speaks about hatred on the part of the world. By the world here is not meant beautiful nature but the thinking that defies the truth and places vanity and the pride of life at the centre. Why? Because the prince of this world, as Jesus calls him, is the spirit of lies and death. With the first sin disharmony entered not only the human heart but also the material world. The Word of God says that the world lies under the sway of the wicked one (1Jn 5:19) and hates God (Jn 15:18). This world is the opposite of everything that comes from the will and wisdom of God (1Cor 1:20-27; 3:19; Jn 14:17; 15:19). The answer to the question of how the form of this world can be compared with the Bible’s account of God creating a good world (Gen 1:31) is given in Romans 5:12, where the Apostle Paul states that through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin. However, it did not happen according to the necessity of fate, but through an act of human will, disobedience and obstinacy.

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love its own.

Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world,

therefore the world hates you.”

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed

you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain,

that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this,

than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you,

you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

This is an extraordinarily great promise! Jesus says: You will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. Of course, this has its limitations, as we cannot ask for things that are bad or harmful. Next, there are also two conditions: we should abide in Christ, and His words should abide in us. If we fulfil these conditions, being truly united to Christ by faith and surrendering to God’s will according to His word, we will surely ask for things which are in accord with God’s will. This is the will of God – our salvation, that is, our ultimate good. It is God’s promise that He will hear our prayer from this perspective. We should know that many times when we ask for something, even a hard trial, i.e. a certain evil, may work out for our eternal good. If we remain faithful to Christ in the face of this suffering, this trial will eventually bring us even more blessing and good than we specifically asked for. Therefore, it is important that when we ask God for a certain thing, we should be in a position of agreement with our ultimate good and the good of those we carry in our heart.

“I am the vine, you are the branches.

He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;

for without Me you can do nothing.”

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Jesus says these words at the Last Supper, while revealing to the apostles the profound mystery of unity between Him and those who have received Him, and between Him and the Heavenly Father. This relationship, which is in fact the new life or God’s life in us, is secured by our connection to Jesus, just as the branches are connected to the vine, which is Christ. We, the branches, are nourished on the same life-giving sap. The Holy Spirit is our life-giving sap.

Jesus indicates in these verses that the condition for us to bear fruit is to abide in Him. We should then allow Him to live in our soul by making little sacrifices, by renouncing our will, so that He may work through us and promote the will of God.

“Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus

and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image,

and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands.”

Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands.

In another vision, the Apostle John saw those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God. The reason why they were killed was that they had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. The Apostle then says that they reigned with Christ. It is also written that over such the second death, that is hell, has no power. Before this vision, the Apostle gives the following description: “And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

“And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire,

and those who have the victory over the beast,

over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name.”

And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name.

The Apostle John was given a vision of the future of the Church. This whole vision, which the Apostle expresses through images of angels and various catastrophes, revealing spiritual battle with the devil and his angels – demons, ultimately ends with the casting of Satan into the lake of fire and the coming of God’s kingdom in glory. In several places of his revelation, he points to a so-called mark which the beast will force on all people. The Apostle warns against this mark of the beast and points out the terrible consequences of the mark. We feel that this testimony applies in an extraordinary way to our present. That is why we need to be very careful and vigilant, because this danger is linked to eternal punishment. On the other hand, he who overcomes shall receive an eternal reward in heaven.

And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.

These words, too, are extremely topical at this time we are going through, and they are a clear warning. They warn people not to receive the mark of the beast’s name or to worship him and his image. It means not to pay divine honours to the beast because divine honours belong to God alone. As for those who take no heed of the warning, laugh at it or make their own interpretation so as to avoid the least sacrifice, the Scripture says to them: “Their torment ascends forever, and they have no rest day or night” already in this life and unquenchable eternal torment awaits them.

The previous verse reads that if anyone receives the mark of the beast, he himself shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels. So it clearly speaks about an extremely great suffering, and also about its length. Then it is emphasized that this suffering will last forever. Why? Because by receiving the mark of the beast a person renounces his own will and is no longer able to make an act of perfect contrition.

“And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever;

and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image,

and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

“So the first angel went and poured out his bowl upon the earth,

and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men

who had the mark of the beast and worshipped his image.”