Ready or Not? (Revelation 16:15)
GIST: He is coming; so live ready, experience joy, and walk unashamed.
Last week in our study of Revelation, we tackled about 25 verses and looked at the character of God and how that informs His judgment of life-destroying sin. Today… we’re going to cover one verse. It’s actually from the same group of verses we looked at last week, but we just didn’t have time to really unpack it. That being said, let’s just read Revelation 16:15. Then we’ll talk about it a bit together.
“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”
As what really amounts to an aside in the midst of descriptions of Jesus’ glorious defeat of sin, we’re given this beautiful reminder: He is coming back. That’s a certainty. However, since Christians have been talking about this for 2,000 years, it’s easy to allow it to become more rhetoric than actual conviction. It’s something we say, but is it something we actually believe?
I know this sermon is already in danger of seeming almost cliche. The truths here are ones we’ve heard so often, we can almost become numb to them. However, if Jesus paused to remind us of this while describing His final return and judgment, it’s worth our time to take it seriously. I won’t hold you long this morning, but let’s try to look at these truths with fresh eyes and really ask if we’re letting them change our lives and not just roll out of our mouths. Here’s our gist: He is coming; so live ready, experience joy, and walk unashamed.
I. He IS Coming Back
“Behold, I am coming like a thief!”
Certainty. I guess before we go any further, we should at least address the obvious elephant in the room. How can we be sure He’s coming back? We could spend a lot of time on this, but here are two basic principles. The Bible is trustworthy, and The Bible tells us He’s coming back.
1. The Bible Is Trustworthy. We could spend weeks walking through just that point, and we actually have resources where we’ve talked about this in much more detail. However, just as an overview, let me hit some highlights. We believe God inspired the Bible to be written, and this isn’t just based on some kind of blind faith. God also gave us reasons to believe. Here are just a few—>
1. Incredible Unity- 66 Books, 40+ authors, three different continents, and around a 1,500 year span... one cohesive message. In its unity, the Bible centers around Jesus Christ and His salvation from the beginning to the end. This has always been God's plan- to redeem His people through His death and to return to take them to His heaven.
2. Historical Accuracy- Though at times portions were thought to be unsubstantiated by history, modern historical and archeological finds continue to support rather than refute the events of the Bible.
3. Amazingly Preserved- Despite many attempts to stomp it out...the Bible remains a prominent fixture in every society it has touched. This continues to expand. It is the best selling book of all time, though rejected by so many as fable, and it has been preserved like no other ancient text. “Historians evaluate the textual reliability of ancient literature according to two standards: (1) what the time interval is between the original and the earliest copy; and (2) how many manuscripts are available” (McDowell, Beyond Belief, 173).
Greek Manuscripts:
The NT was written in Koine Greek--the common and widespread language of that time period. We have approximately 5,600 Greek manuscripts. The earliest manuscripts date from 130 A.D. (Fragments of The Gospel of John, 50+ years from the original manuscript) to around 325 A.D. (The entire NT, 225 years from the original manuscripts). This is a phenomenal amount of early manuscript evidence. There is literally no ancient text that equals even this. For example, Homer’s Iliad is accepted, but there are less than 700 manuscripts and the earliest date 400-500 years from the original. AND these don’t claim to be eyewitness accounts!
Early Translations:
We also have a vast number of very early translations of the the Greek texts. These were Christian missionary efforts. There are about 20,000 of these manuscripts! (Josh McDowell, Five Tough Questions, 36). We have thousands of copies that within a century of the actual events. No other ancient text can say that. In fact, Julius Caesar’s “Gallic Wars” has only 10 surviving manuscripts and the earliest surviving manuscripts are about 1000 years removed from the original!
On top of this, we could also recreate nearly the entire NT just from quotes in the early church fathers. All from within the generation of when these were written.
4. Blunt Honesty- The Bible is not written in sugar coated fashion...ancient mythological stories are. The people in the Bible are clearly flawed and dependant upon the one, true, and Holy God.
5. Predictive Prophecy-The accuracy of the Biblical prophecies, especially concerning Christ, can simply not be intellectually ignored.
6. Intellectual Integrity- E.M. Blaiklock (quoted in Josh McDowell Answers Five Tough Questions).
"Here are the alternatives. Either four men, only one of them with any education in the liberal sense of the word, invented the Character who altered the whole course of history, or they wrote of One they knew or had heard about from those who knew him, a Person so extraordinary that he could claim deity, sinlessness, all authority, and rouse no revolution among those who long knew him intimately and experimentally. The religious leaders, collaborators with the occupying power, so feared him that they betrayed and murdered him, and in so doing... loosed forces which swept the world."
So, the Bible can be trusted and→
In The Bible, Jesus Was Clear About Coming Back. We could look at lots of passages where Jesus is said to come back, but let’s just look at two from Jesus Himself.
John 14:2-3: “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Matthew 24:44: “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Thief! Now, here, as in several other places in the Bible, Jesus compares His return to a “thief in the night”. This isn’t because Jesus’ return is something sinister, but because it will come unexpectedly. You don’t plan to be robbed; it just happens. In the same way, Jesus will come back, but when He does, it will be sudden.
That’s why I try to emphasize studying Revelation is not about cracking a code. I actually listened to a pastor this week say something like: This is a warning for anyone who doesn’t have access to the prophecies laid out in this book. That doesn’t fit with the context here. Revelation is a picture of what will happen but not an almanac pointing exactly to when. That’s why we’re all called to→
II. Live Ready
“Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on…”
Before we talk about what that means, let me just make this observation: if we’re not living like Jesus could come back any moment, we’re not really taking Him or our sin very seriously.
He’s Not Done Yet. Knowing He’s coming back, means believing He’s not back yet because He’s still saving souls.
You Still Need Him. It’s also a call to examine our hearts. Expecting Jesus should remind us how much we need Him. Don’t get caught up in comparisons or play the “I could never do that” game. Fix your eyes on His perfect example, and consciously live… for Him.
Preparation Is Living For Him. That’s what being ready is about. It isn’t living in a bunker or hiding away on some landing pad staring up at the sky. This is a call to live actively for Jesus, to follow His direction, to love God and love people, to look for opportunities to shine His light and share His truth. If you do that, you’ll also—>
III. Experience Joy
“Blessed is the one who stays awake…”
Blessedly Alert? Notice the passage tells us if we do that, we’ll be “blessed”. That word carries the idea of true and lasting happiness—real joy. Staying alert, being constantly clothed in His righteousness, choosing to put on that full armor of God; isn’t a life of obligation and restriction. It’s a dilebert life, it’s a life deliberately directed toward Jesus. It’s choosing to walk in His love and love like He loves. Living prepared is a blessed life because it’s a Jesus focused life! Don’t waste the time you have. Lock your eyes on Jesus. If He defines you, you’ll be devoting your life to hope!
IV. And Walk Unashamed!
“...that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”
Clothed. And… you won’t walk around naked. Now, as much as this is just solid advice in general, it feels like a Garden of Eden reference. Adam and Eve sinned, were immediately very aware of their nakedness, and hid in shame. However, if we’re walking actively with Jesus, we have nothing to be ashamed of. Not because we’ll be perfect, but because we’ll be perfectly covered by His amazing grace and righteousness.
I talked to the youth about this a bit this weekend at our youth retreat. Your identity, who you are at the core, should be all wrapped up in this truth: you are wonderfully loved by Jesus. Don’t become a slave to shame. Walk boldly in His light!
TAKEAWAYS
Jesus is coming back. Let that truth change you so you can→
Live with expectancy.
Live with joy.
Live unashamed.
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