Jesus gave the white stone...

In the bible we hear about Jesus,he give the white stone..
What did he mean?

A stone of decision
“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. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it” (Rev. 2:17).

In the first century, it was the custom that votes -- of all kinds -- be cast with different colored stones, representing different choices, dropped into a box or other receptacle. Especially in a judicial context, a trial might be concluded by judges, or jurors, dropping either a white or a black pebble into a box. The white stone would stand for acquittal, while the black stone would stand for condemnation.

A similar custom has long been used, in more modern times, by private clubs or secret societies when voting to determine whether to admit a new member -- the white stone or ball representing acceptance, and the black one rejection. In certain situations, even one negative vote will be enough to exclude the applicant. From this has arisen the saying that one has been “black-balled,” or secretly rejected.

The Greek for “stone” here is psephos, a little pebble. The same word occurs only one other time in the New Testament, where Paul speaks of the time when he worked to condemn and execute believers in Christ: “On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote [psephos, or pebble] against them” (Acts 26:10).

There seems, then, to be two Bible references to this custom of voting in a judicial setting: one reference to a “white stone” and one to a “black”!

A final judgment
This picture of redemption is a solemn and austere one; it emphasizes the absolute and final nature of the judgment rendered. There is an “all-or-nothing” quality about this. The judgment seat is real, and it is no laughing matter:

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil (Eccl. 12:13,14).

Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out -- those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned (John 5:28,29).

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad (II Cor. 5:10).

At the same time, it is true that, if we are to be judged solely on our merits, we shall all stand condemned, unequivocally and without remedy:

If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? (Psa. 130:3).

Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you (Psa. 143:2).

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin (Rom. 3:20).

Thus a judgment seat, where we all will be judged on the basis of our works and receive a corresponding reward or punishment, can only be part of the full picture.

The element of grace
The context of the final quotation above suggests the added ingredient, the piece that fills out the picture and offers hope where otherwise there would be none:

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:21-24).

Like an arrow aimed at the target, which, even with the best effort of the archer, falls dismally short, so is man’s best effort to achieve the glory of God’s character. Nevertheless, man may be justified “freely” -- as an absolute gift -- by the grace of God manifested in His Son. God finds no reason, no basis, in the sinner’s performance for declaring him righteous. He must find another basis for saving a person. And so He does:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever

believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

The reason may now be seen for the phrase that follows and modifies “the white stone” in Rev. 2:17: “I will also give him a white stone WITH A NEW NAME WRITTEN ON IT!”

The “new name” must be the name of Christ -- the only name given to men whereby we may be saved (Acts 4:12)!
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Many people "find a white stone" and put in the pocket,and remind this -You are "choicen and free"

The new name
This figure of speech is common in the book of Revelation. Elsewhere we see the vision of the 144,000 redeemed ones standing on Mount Zion, alongside the Lamb. And on their foreheads are inscribed the NAMES of the Lamb and his Father.

The original Passover lamb was slain in Egypt, and its blood used to mark the lintels and door posts of the houses of the believing Israelites. Succeeding generations of Israel would readily recognize such a mark (resembling a doorway) as approximating the Hebrew letter He, which almost by itself spells the name of God: Yod He, or YAH. It is no great stretch of the imagination, therefore, to see that every faithful house in Egypt had the name of the Father marked over its doorway, written in the blood of the Lamb! And the name of the Father, Yah, is included in the name of the Lamb: YAH-shua or Jesus!

In the Book of Revelation, there are marked out, not houses, but individual men and women, each sealed, not upon the door, but in the forehead (the “door” of the mind) with the “mark” of the Lamb. These are the individuals who have opened their minds to the message of God, who have directed their thoughts into the ways of His Laws. These are they who have been touched by the blood of Christ, who have been baptized into his name and the name of his Father. These are they who, wherever they are -- even in the grave itself -- will be protected in the Last Days from the “Angel of Death” and will be delivered from the Egyptian slavery of sin and death.

In the same book, Jesus promises us:

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the NAME of my God and the NAME of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him MY NEW NAME (Rev. 3:11,12).

The pebble of Revelation 2:17 is not a simple “up-or-down,” “yes-or-no” vote on the basis of our works! It is a white pebble inscribed with the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is because we are included in his “name” -- and ONLY because of that -- that we can stand, forgiven and cleansed and innocent and approved, in the day of judgment.

George Booker

Amen! Wonderful post my brother!