Revelation 16:15 “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”
Behold means ‘Look! Did I get your attention?’. God comes as a thief.
When He comes down at Armageddon, it’s also known as being a thief.
Why is His coming like a thief? The reason is that He’s going to come down and attack the enemy where they least expect it. Satan is programming them through alien invasion movies etc to get all prepared and to accomplish the demonic purpose.
So they gather up all the United Nations and they train the nations that ‘Despite impossible odds, we shall overcome!’ That’s what they ingrained into the people time and time again.
No matter how much science or logical predictions they use, the technology that they built up and all the meetings of the table that they did to prepare carefully, God’s going to come down where they least expect it. That’s God refuting the wisdom of the mighty.
Joel 2:1 “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;”
‘the day of the LORD’: this is Armageddon.
Joel 2:7 “They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.”
These are all talking about God’s army that joins Him and they’re all coming like a thief, where the people least expect them.
Coming back to the verse, we can see that Armageddon is going to be like a thief, but there’s something else that’s like a thief. It can refer to post-tribulation rapture for tribulation saints.
Whether you believe in rapture in the middle of the tribulation or after the tribulation, Bible-believing Christians teach that whenever this rapture is going to occur, it’s going to occur sometime at the tribulation and it’s going to be like a thief. God’s going to snatch them away when people least expect it, that’s why it’s called a thief. This is referring to the second rapture.
Why would it say to the tribulation saints that you have to watch out and be weary? Because of the previous line, He’s coming like a thief so you better look out and be aware.
There’s a famous movie that wrongly teaches the phrase ‘God comes down as a thief in the night’ to be referring to the Christian church bring raptured. Now, it is true that our rapture can be similar where God’s going to snatch us up like a thief but that phrase at Matthew 24 is referring to the post-tribulation rapture.
Matthew 24:42 “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
Matthew 24:42 matches with Revelation 16 to be watchful cause you don’t know when God’s going to come because He’s going to snatch you away.
Look at the rapture at verse 30.
Matthew 24:30 “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
Matthew 24:31 “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
He’s going to gather them up and rapture them.
Some people mistakenly think that this is just gathering the nation of Israel together for Armageddon but that’s not what it is.
Matthew 24:40-41 “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”
One is taken, and the other left. Not only that, the angels are gathering them from one end of heaven to the other, they’re going up.
So we see right here that God’s going to come down like a thief where they least expect, that’s why they have to be ready.
In Revelation 16:15 the verse says ‘Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.’. Their works are accounted for, if their works are not good then their garment is going to be shorter or it’s going to be naked. That was proven at Revelation 3.
Remember Revelation 2 and 3 have a doctrinal application to the tribulation even though they have a spiritual application to the church. Revelation 3 says that to this group at Laodicea, if you don’t do your works then your garment is going to be shorter and you’re going to be naked, that’s a tribulation application.
God was telling the people at the tribulation to make sure to do their works well or you’re going to be naked in your garment. And if they don’t do their works well where they’re expecting and weary of Christ’s coming, they’re going to miss the rapture.
Matthew 25:6-13 “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”
In verse 6, He’s coming where they least expect it.
In verse 8, they weren’t prepared, they weren’t weary and watchful.
In verse 10, they went up to heaven at the marriage supper of the Lamb with Jesus and the door was shut.
In verse 12, God says “I don’t know you” and that’s what He says to lost people. That’s why during tribulation, your salvation is dependent upon your works. Your rapture is dependent upon your works. That’s why you have to be watchful and weary.
A lot of people in the Church age worry if they’re going to lose their salvation, or if they’re going to miss the rapture.
No, because this is only applying to people in the tribulation. Christians are eternally secured no matter what sin you commit and you’re going to be raptured no matter what.
Here’s a question about Revelation 16:15.
It shows right here that it seems like if their works are dependent upon their garment, then it sounds like you can still be saved because all it is is that you’re just naked. The verse doesn’t talk about a person burning in hell here, it just shows that your works are dependent on your garment and if you don’t do your works well, then you’re going to be naked. That matches with a saved Christian.
Saved Christians don’t burn in hell but a lot of them are going to be butt-naked at the judgment seat of Christ because their works are dependent upon their garments.
So what is the explanation for this passage? This is something for you to research and find out.
When you compared 1 Corinthians 3 with Revelation 3, those 2 verses show that when you’re doing your works, it amounts to the treasure you get and the clothes you get. What if I’m a failed Christian? 1 Corinthians 3 continues showing that even though your works are burned but you’re not burned. You can be naked and without reward but you’re still saved.
What makes that different from the tribulation saints at Revelation 16:15?
If you look at Matthew 25, God doesn’t even know these people, they lost the Holy Ghost and their salvation. They’re considered lost people and when God says “I never knew you”, what else does He say? “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.” So that matches with Matthew 25 where God says “I don’t know you” and the latter part where God says “I never knew you, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting life.” That’s why this is referring to salvation for the tribulation saints.
Why are they naked and they see a shame? Because people who are cast into hell, they’re naked, they don’t even have the garments, the righteousness, on them in hell. All they are is naked, dust and ashes and they’re cast into the lake of fire. That’s why everyone’s going to see their shame.
That seems to be the most rational explanation but the pastor is wondering if some Bible believer might have a deeper explanation for that one.