RobertStone

Well, first of all, Christmas Day and Easter Day are just arbitrary days chosen by the Catholic church in the 4th century A.D. It's not like these are the actual days of Christ's birth and resurrection. Second, there is no commandment to celebrate or make these events a sacred day. Now in our world today, these are mainly commercialized days for the corporations to make money, so maybe we are better off not celebrating them! Focus on what matters my friend, LOVE.

So you'll believe a story of someone having a vision of heaven, just as long as it happened 2 to 3 thousand years ago.... it just better not happen today or it's unbelievable? My friend, you must believe in a God that has changed if you believe visions and visits to heaven are done away with. Repent of that view and get back to what the scriptures really teach.

No, God created Lucifer for the same reasons he created all of us... to exist and to hopefully someday be as He is. Lucifer rebelled, as do many of us.

The Earth will be cleansed by fire and the New Jerusalem will come down and reside here. Basically, the Earth will become pure and clean and will be our heaven.

These verses talk about a few interesting concepts. One of them is: It tells us where Jesus went after His death. The verse before what you quoted tells us that His death allowed him to go preach to these spirits in prison. Did you ever wonder where Jesus' spirit went for the 3 days he was dead? Some will say paradise, because He tells the thief on the cross that they will be together in paradise, but they assume paradise means the throne of God, or basically heaven. The reference in 1 Corinthians 12:4 is a general term of paradise, meaning better than here. But in that context, Paul is talking about the third heaven (which is a whole other topic), not the throne of God. Anyway, there is a problem with that assuming that paradise means the place where the Father resides because when Christ returns and talks to Mary, he tells her that he had not been to His Father yet. If he had not been to His Father, then He was not in heaven. Paradise must mean something else. Some have offered that it is the place where souls await resurrection and judgment, there is a good side and a bad side. The good side being paradise, the bad side being prison. Peter then tells us in 1 Peter 4:6 that the gospel was preached to those in this prison who are dead, so they could be "judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." In other words, he is saying that they were preached to in the hopes of them converting and to be judged equally with us. Why else would you preach to someone? Just to tell them they are damned forever? No, the reason to preach is to convince them to repent and turn to Jesus and be cleansed. It is the ultimate act of mercy on Jesus' part, to reach out to those who still have a chance before the resurrection and final judgment comes.

You ever seen a platypus?

The Father and Jesus have many names, usually descriptions of an attribute they have. The fact is that the scriptures as we have them today don't have the name of the Father. Maybe it's Dave, or Winthorp... lol... but like I said, it simply doesn't say.

I love this question! The book of Revelation is a fascinating book, is it not? The first couple of chapters have a few spots where it has the same language, "He that overcometh". Here is a list of them in order of the text just for convenience. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." (Rev. 2:7) "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." (Rev. 2:11) "He that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." (Rev. 2:17) "He that overcometh, and keepth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations; And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star." (Rev. 2:25-28) "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." (Rev. 3:5-6) "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God; and I will write up on him my new name." (Rev. 3:12) "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." (Rev. 3:21) There are some pretty cool things here, such as eating of the tree of life (receiving eternal life), not being hurt by the second death, receiving white clothing, being in the book of life, no more leaving the presence of God. But there are some obscure things, like receiving the morning star, receiving a white stone and a new name, ruling over nations, etc.. But to answer the question at hand, what is a white stone with a new name, we kind of get a hint in Revelation 3:12 where the name of God will be written upon the person and the name of the city of God would be written there. This could be the name given, meaning that we belong with those beings that live there. Also, keep in mind that in ancient times prophets would use seer stones, or stones that they could look into to communicate with God, or to see revelations and prophecy. Aaron used stones called Urim and Thummim to see how to judge the people of Israel correctly. Perhaps when we overcome and live with God, these stones are used for the purpose of seeing all things and knowing all things?

I'm confused. Do you mean to say that the book of Revelation talks about not adding to or taking away from the book of Revelation, or do you mean it is saying not to add or take away from the Bible?

The Bible was created by early Christian people taking some of the writings of the ancients and compiling them into one record. Throughout ancient times the people of God kept historical and spiritual records of their lives and their dealings with God. There were many of these records and they were passed down throughout the generations. Some were kept well, others were destroyed or lost. At the time of Christ, his disciples and apostles also recorded what happened with them. It wasn't until the 3rd and 4th century AD that people wanted these all together and so the emperor of Rome's scholars started putting something together. They had to deal with issues such as incomplete texts, copies that didn't agree with each other, writings that they were not sure were authentic, etc.. So they chose texts that could be verified, they chose texts based on their religious beliefs at the time, and they chose some that furthered their political ideology as well. So, some texts were chosen, some were discarded, and we have what we have today. We have a great record that keeps the faith alive, but I do hope someday we will have more. Actually, there is more, it just is not included in the Bible. Do a search for lost books of the Bible and you will see the many that are out there.

Hi everyone, The words Eternal and Everlasting describe attributes of God. When it says Eternal life and Eternal damnation, it is synonymous with God's life and God's damnation. In other words, the kind of life that God lives and shares with us, or the kind of damnation that God gives to those who deserve such a fate. Now, the second death is for those who reject God and therefore cannot have Eternal life - to be with God and enjoy that existence, but must be sent off to another place of existence. This would be Satan and his followers from when they were cast out of heaven, and those of us on earth who willfully rebel against God and reject Him outright. These are the ones who would go to outer darkness and gnash their teeth forever, etc. It seems that all others will go on to enter into the presence of God, the kingdom of God, or the many mansions of God, as the scriptures say. What these mansions are and what it entails is hard to tell, but Paul gives a description of the kinds of resurrected bodies we will receive in 1 Corinthians 15. He tells of bodies being like the glory of the sun, or the moon, or the stars - each one having different glories. These are those that are saved from the second death and go on to live in God's presence.