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madewithonerib · 4 years

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Exposed Shame

Revelation 16:15 | “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake & clothed, so that he will not go naked & let his shame be exposed.”

There is one day when HE will come, & every eye will behold HIM; but HE comes in various ways & forms to bless & to test man. ***

Sloth & pleasure may counsel ease, & tempt the watcher to lay aside their garments & take rest & sleep.*** The earnest watcher desires, like Paul, to be found in CHRIST, clad in true righteousness of faith [Philippians 3:9]

keeps themselves clothed with the robe of righteousness Revelation 19:7-8 | Let us rejoice & be glad & give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, & HIS bride has made herself ready. She was given clothing of fine linen, bright & pure.” For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints.

These will be times of great temptation.

watch that we not be put to shame, as apostates or hypocrites ***

Importance of Armor of GOD [Ephesians 6:10-20]

Matthew 24:43 & Luke 12:39 | But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch & would not have let his house be broken into.

Luke 12:37 | Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve & will have them recline at the table, & he himself will come and wait on them.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 | For you are fully aware that the Day of the LORD will come like a thief in the night.

1 Thessalonians 5:4 | But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief.

2 Peter 3:10 | But the Day of the LORD will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, & the earth and its works will be laid bare.

Revelation 3:3 | Remember, then, what you have received & heard. Keep it & repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, & you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.

Revelation 3:11 | I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

Revelation 3:18 | I counsel you to buy from ME gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed & your shameful nakedness not exposed, & salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Revelation 22:7 | "Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of prophecy in this book."

remains awake, γρηγορῶν (grēgorōn) Strong's Greek 1127: (a) I am awake (in the night), watch, (b) I am watchful, on the alert, vigilant. From egeiro; to keep awake, i.e. Watch.

clothed, ἱμάτια (himatia) Strong's Greek 2440: A long flowing outer garment, tunic. Neuter of a presumed derivative of ennumi; a dress.

shame, ἀσχημοσύνην (aschēmosynēn) Strong's Greek 808: From askemon; an indecency; by implication, the pudenda.

Charles John Ellicott, Christian Theologian [1819–1905] | Revelation 16:15

1.] Behold, I come — It is the oft-repeated Scripture warning [Revelation 3:3; 1 Thess 5:2-3; 2 Peter 3:10; Luke 12:35-40].

Revelation 3:3 | Remember, then, what you have received & heard. Keep it & repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, & you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.

1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 | For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace & security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, & they will not escape.

2 Peter 3:10 | But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear w/ a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, & the earth & its works will be laid bare.

Luke 12:35-40 | Be dressed for service & keep your lamps burning. Then you will be like servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that when he comes & knocks, they can open the door for him at once. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve & will have them recline at the table, & he himself will come & wait on them. Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night & finds them alert, those servants will be blessed! But understand this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.”

It reminds us not only that our LORD may come unexpectedly, but that He may even come & we be unaware. ***

There is one day when HE will come, & every eye will behold Him; but HE comes in various ways & forms to bless & to test man.

Blessed are they who are ready, watching.

But vigilance is not enough: the garments must be kept.

The powers of evil are abroad.

Sloth & pleasure may counsel ease, & tempt the watcher to lay aside their garments & take rest & sleep.*** Amour of GOD? weak to temptation/sin

The earnest watcher desires, like Paul, to be found in CHRIST, clad in the true righteousness of faith [Philippians 3:9].

Philippians 3:9 | and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in CHRIST, the righteousness from GOD on the basis of faith.

Joseph Benson, English Methodist [1749–1821] | Revelation 16:15-16

1.] Behold, I come as a thief — Suddenly & unexpectedly. Observe the beautiful abruptness; I, JESUS CHRIST.

Hear HIM! Thus, when it is foretold these evil agents will use great art & address in support of their bad cause, the SPIRIT of wisdom adds a useful caution, warning the faithful servants of CHRIST to be on their guard against the emissaries of hell, lest they should be deceived to their own destruction.

2.] Blessed is he that watches — That looks continually for him that comes quickly; & keeps his garments on him, which men usually put off when they sleep; that is, keeps themselves clothed with the robe of righteousness, the garment of salvation; lest he walk naked, & they see his shame. ***

Lest he lose the graces which he takes no care to keep, & others see his sin & punishment.

And he gathered them together —

The true construction is, & they gathered them together; that is, the evil spirits & agents, before mentioned, gather all the forces of the Popish princes together; into a place called, in Hebrew tongue, Armageddon — That is, the mountain of destruction.

2a] Mageddon, or Megiddo, is a place frequently mentioned in the OT, well known in ancient times for many memorable occurrences; in particular, the slaughter of the kings of Canaan, [Judges 5:19].

Here the narrative appears to break off, but is resumed again. [Revelation 19:19]

Judges 5:19 | Kings came & fought; then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no plunder of silver.

Revelation 19:19 | Then I saw the beast & the kings of the earth with their armies assembled to wage war against the ONE seated on the horse, & against HIS army.

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Matthew Henry, Nonconformist Minister [1662-1714] | Revelation 16:12-16

Revelation 16:12-16 | And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, & its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East. And I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast, & the false prophet.

These are demonic spirits that perform signs & go out to all the kings of the earth, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God, the Almighty. “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake & clothed, so that he will not go naked & let his shame be exposed.” And they assembled the kings in the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

1.] This probably shows the destruction of the Turkish power, & of idolatry, & that a way will be made for the return of the Jews.

1a] Or, take it for Rome, as mystical Babylon, the name of Babylon being put for Rome, which was meant, but was not then to be directly named.

When Rome is destroyed, her river & merchandise must suffer with her.

1b] And perhaps a way will be opened for eastern nations to come into the Church of CHRIST. The great dragon will collect all his forces, to make one desperate struggle before all be lost.

God warns of this great trial, to engage HIS people to prepare for it. These will be times of great temptation;

Therefore CHRIST, by HIS apostle, calls on HIS professed servants to expect HIS sudden coming, & to watch that they might not be put to shame, as apostates or hypocrites.

However Christians differ, as to their views of the times & seasons of events yet to be brought to pass, on this one point all are agreed, JESUS CHRIST, the LORD of glory, will suddenly come again to judge the world.

To those living near to CHRIST, it is an object of joyful hope & expectation, & delay is not desired by them delay is not desired by them. ***

Albert Barnes, American Theologian [1798-1870] | Revelation 16:15

1.] Behold, I come as a thief - That is, suddenly & unexpectedly. [See notes from Matthew 24:43; 1 Thessalonians 5:2.]

This is designed evidently to admonish people to watch, & be in readiness for His coming, since, whenever it would occur, it would be at a time when people were not expecting Him.

2.] Blessed is s/he that watchs - Compare Matthew 24:42-44. The meaning here is, s/he who watches for these events, who marks the indications of their approach, & who is conscious of a preparation for them, is in a better & happier state of mind than for those startled suddenly.

3.] And keeps their garments - The allusion here seems to be to one who, regardless of danger, or of the approach of an enemy, should lay aside their garments & lie down to sleep.

The thief might come & take away his garments, leaving them naked.

The essential idea, therefore, here, is the duty of vigilance. We are to be awake to duty & to danger; We are not to be found sleeping at our post; We are to be ready for death - ready for the coming of the Son of man.

4.] Lest s/he walk naked - Their raiment being carried away while s/he is asleep.

And they see your shame - Compare the notes on Revelation 3:18.

Revelation 3:18 | I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed & your shameful nakedness not exposed, & salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

The meaning here is, that, as Christians are clothed with the garments of righteousness, they should not lay them aside, so that their spiritual nakedness should be seen. They are to be always clothed with the robes of salvation; always ready for any event, however soon or suddenly it may come upon them.

Cambridge Bible, Anglican Editor John Perowne [1882] | Revelation 16:15

1.] Behold, I come—John apparently hears, & writes down as he hears, the words of CHRIST spoken in the midst of his vision.

as a thief — See Revelation 3:3 & references.

2.] Blessed is he that watches — image is that of Matthew 24:43, though in the phrase there may be a reminiscence of the different image of Luke 12:37.

3.] and keeps their garments — The forewarned householder sits up with his clothes on, & the thief will decamp as soon as he sees him.

If he were not forewarned, he might hear the thief at work, & stark naked out of bed, but would be too late for anything but a fruitless chase in unseemly & ridiculous guise.

It seems quite irrelevant to fancy an allusion to the curious Jewish custom, that if a priest fell asleep on night duty in the Temple, his clothes were set on fire—which of course would have the effect of making him throw them off, & run away naked.

4.] Their shame — Literally uncomeliness, as 1 Corinthians 12:23 [RE: The Body of Christ]

1 Corinthians 12:23 | and the parts we consider less honorable consider less honorable, we treat with greater honor.

And our unpresentable parts are treated with special modesty,

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