This past Sunday I had the privilege of attending First Baptist Church of Mehlville,MO to sing special music with my friend Chelsea and I also sang in their choir. It was a fun experience and what was really amazing about that day was what the pastor was talking about.
He was talking about the compromising church (Rev.2:12-17). The message was centered around how the church at Pergamos had several things wrong in their church. Their pagan ways did not please God at all and they either needed to repent or God was going to "come upon them quickly and fight against them with the sword of His mouth (the two-edged sword)." - verse 16.
One particular verse that really got me wondering was verse 17 which says "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except for him who receives it."
What a word?!?!
The manna, the white stone, and the new name are all prospective rewards for faithfulness to God. The manna recalls the food from Heaven that sustained Israel in their wandering in the wilderness. This hidden manna also resembles a special intimacy with Jesus Christ. Those who overcome are promised supernatural sustenance in the resurrected state to enable them to function effectively as co-rulers in Christ's Kingdom.
The white stone signifies acquittal from legal charges, meaning pardon, grace, mercy, a second chance, etc. This was what the white stone signified in John's day.
The new name is the symbol of victory over the enemies of God. This new name that His children will have identifies the obedient believer in the terms of his/her character.
The new name that God will give us will symbolize that special relationship we have with Him. Only He can call us that name; no one else.
Isn't that mind-blowing?? God is gonna have a new name for me....and I can't help but wonder what it would be. That's not the only thing that I wonder about though. The biggest mind-blowing thing about this is that all of His obedient children will receive a new name and not ONE will be the same!! That's a lot of different names!! WOW!
The promise of eternal spiritual sustenance, pardon from God's wrath upon earth, and a new unique name is something that I definitely look forward to!
Anyway, that's all that is on my mind and heart right now :)
I hope you enjoyed my thought of the day!
Have a blessed summer,
-Liz Hitt
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