Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. KJV Revelation 16:15
Previously, we saw what is meant by the coming of Christ as a thief. We noted the following:
- Christ comes as a thief for He comes at the darkest hour of earth’s history.
- Christ comes as a thief to destroy all who have rejected His undying love for them.
- Christ comes as a thief to all who do not watch for His coming.
It is in this context that it is declared in the third beautitude of the Revelation, “Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments.” What does it mean to watch? How does one keep his garments? What blessedness awaits all who watch and keep their garments?
To watch literally means to keep awake. The call to watch is similar to what Paul wrote to the Romans saying, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” KJV Romans 13:11. To watch includes waking out of sleep and staying awake. But what is the slumber from which we are to awake?
The text continues to say, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” verse 12. To awake is to cast off the works of darkness and to put on the armour of light. It is to “awake to righteousness, and sin not.” KJV 1 Corinthians 15:34. Thus they that watch are indeed the children of light and not of darkness. As it written, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” KJV 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6
The garments represent the Righteousness of Christ which is imputed and imparted upon the believing ones. As it is written, “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” KJV Revelation 19:8. All who are not clothed by the righteousness of Christ remain naked and ashamed. God would have us dressed in His righteousness. A similar injunction is given by the True Witness to the Laodicean church:
“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” KJV Revelation 3:18.
To watch and keep one’s garments includes “putting on the breastplate of faith and love (the gold tried in the fire); and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.” KJV 1 Thessalonians 5:8. “For the righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” KJV Romans 3:22. “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” KJV Romans 3:22; 5:5.
The third beatitude declares blessings upon them that are justified by the faith of Jesus. All who stand under the garb of self-righteousness and put on garments of their own devising do miss the blessing and meet with inevitable shame and sudden destruction. The blessedness of watching in readiness for Christ’s coming is that He will keep us from the hour of temptation that will come upon all the world and be sheltered from the effect of the seven last plagues.
In Revelation 16, the seven last plagues are poured upon all who reject the righteousness of Christ as revealed in the everlasting gospel of the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14:6-12. However, all who receive the robe of Christ’s righteousness are sealed with the seal of God in their foreheads and over them, these plagues have no power for this seal is a seal of protection. Revelation 7:1-4; 14:1. Herein lies the blessedness of watching and keeping our garments.
It is not enough to secure the garment; one must keep it. Many receive the garment but do not keep it. Many receive Christ but do not walk with him, they do not grow into Him. They receive the faith of Jesus but do not keep it. How are we to grow in Christ, to walk with Him, to keep the garments?
It is written: “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:” KJV Colossians 2:6. As one receives the garment of the righteousness of Christ, so are they to keep it. How? By faith. But few there be that have a real experiential knowledge of what faith is.
When we speak of faith, there is a distinction that should be borne in mind. There is a kind of belief that is wholly distinct from faith. The existence and power of God, the truth of His word, are facts that even Satan and his hosts cannot at heart deny. The Bible says that “the devils also believe, and tremble;” but this is not faith. James 2:19. Where there is not only a belief in God’s word, but a submission of the will to Him; where the heart is yielded to Him, the affections fixed upon Him, there is faith—faith that works by love and purifies the soul. SC 63.2
By faith you became Christ’s, and by faith you are to grow up in Him—by giving and taking. You are to give all, —your heart, your will, your service, —give yourself to Him to obey all His requirements; and you must take all, —Christ, the fullness of all blessing, to abide in your heart, to be your strength, your righteousness, your everlasting helper, —to give you power to obey. SC 69.2
Jesus teaches the same thing when He says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me…. Without Me ye can do nothing.” John 15:4, 5. You are just as dependent upon Christ, in order to live a holy life, as is the branch upon the parent stock for growth and fruitfulness. Apart from Him you have no life. SC 68.3
We should not make self the center and indulge anxiety and fear as to whether we shall be saved. All this turns the soul away from the Source of our strength. Commit the keeping of your soul to God, and trust in Him. Talk and think of Jesus. Let self be lost in Him. Put away all doubt; dismiss your fears. Say with the apostle Paul, “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. Rest in God. He is able to keep that which you have committed to Him. If you will leave yourself in His hands, He will bring you off more than conqueror through Him that has loved you. SC 71.2
“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” KJV Revelation 16:15 “Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12.
The Third Beatitude in the Revelation