Audio Download

Rev 22:11-15 Without are the Evil, Part 1

[Study Aired August 10, 2025]

Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Introduction

Is it true that we must “read… hear and keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book?” Is it true that “the time is at hand” to do so? If we should “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book” and if “the time is at hand” to do so, then that has been the case for the past 2000 years. If for the past two thousand years God’s elect have been ‘keeping the sayings of the prophecy of this book’, then it follows that there is also a present application for the words of these five verses which are the subject of our study today. In other words, being in that “holy city the New Jerusalem”, being ‘seated with Christ on His Father’s throne’ in the heavens with dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, murders, idolaters, and whosoever loves and makes a lie on the outside of this city, all this has been taking place in the lives of God’s elect for the past 2000 years, and ‘the gates of hell (Greek: Hades, the unseen, the grave) have never prevailed against it.’

Eph 2:6 In our union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to rule with him in the heavenly world. (GNB)

Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter [G4074: ‘petros’, a small stone, a pebble, Peter], and upon this rock [G4073: ‘Petra’, a massive rock, Christ, Eph 2:20] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

It is Christ who is building His church, and He has been doing so all along. God has been gathering and harvesting His elect out of every generation since Christ, and in each of those generations God’s holy city, “the bride, the Lamb’s wife”, has been growing, and those who have entered into that city have done so through its gates, and they have all been abiding by the admonitions we find in our study today.

Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

What are we being told in this verse? Here is why God’s elect let the unjust be unjust, the filthy be filthy and the righteous be righteous and the holy be holy, and this is why God’s elect have no interest in attempting to “save this world for Christ.”

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [Greek: drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

When is “the last day” when Christ raises up those whom His Father drags to Himself? The ‘last day’ is of necessity ‘the end of the world’ [G165: ‘aion’, age]. That ‘last day’ for those who are dying daily in Christ in this present time is the first resurrection at the beginning of the thousand-year reign of “our Lord and His Christ.”

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world [G2889: ‘kosmos’] are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever [aions of the aions].

So what Christ is speaking of here in John 6:44 is the very question the apostles were asking which provoked the prophecy of our Lord which we find in Matthew 24.

Mat 24:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world [G165: ‘aion’, age]?

How is it possible that the elect of God have been living by these words and at the same time living by the commission to preach the gospel in all the world?

Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Did not Paul and Barnabas, and then Paul and Silas, go throughout the Roman Empire preaching the gospel? Yes, Paul and his companions preached the gospel throughout the Roman Empire. The circumstances of the time made it expedient that they do so in person. There was no internet at that time. There were no televisions or radios. There were not even any printing presses, and yet the gospel of Jesus Christ was preached throughout the Roman world before the death of the apostles.

Act 24:5 For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:

The book of Acts tells us how this was accomplished, and from chapter one to chapter 28 there is not one example of any of the apostles attempting to make the unjust just or to make the filthy clean. Whether it was Simon the sorcerer, who attempted to purchase the gift of the holy spirit, or Elymas the sorcerer, the unjust and filthy were left as such.

Act 8:12 But when they [the Samaritan converts] believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Act 8:13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
Act 8:14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
Act 8:15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
Act 8:16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
Act 8:17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Act 8:18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
Act 8:19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
Act 8:20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
Act 8:21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
Act 8:22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
Act 8:23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
Act 8:24 Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.
Act 8:25 And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

It is instructive that we are not told that Peter asked God to remove Simon’s gall of bitterness or his bond of iniquity. Peter simply let the unjust and filthy be unjust and filthy.

Here is another example of living out these words.

Act 13:5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.
Act 13:6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:
Act 13:7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.
Act 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
Act 13:9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,
Act 13:10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
Act 13:11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
Act 13:12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.

Saul’s name was changed to Paul right after this incident. When this all occurred he was still named ‘Saul’, and Saul made no attempt to convert Elymas the sorcerer.

What those within and those outside the New Jerusalem are being told is that ‘No man can come to God except the Father drag him’. So once again, we are not told that Elymas repented or was converted. Paul let the unjust and filthy be unjust and filthy.

Cornelius, on the other hand, exemplifies those who are righteous and are left to be righteous. It was because the holy spirit had been working in the life of Cornelius that Cornelius sent to Joppa for Peter.

Act 10:1 Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
Act 10:2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always.
Act 10:3 He saw in a vision openly, as it were about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in unto him, and saying to him, Cornelius.
Act 10:4 And he, fastening his eyes upon him, and being affrighted, said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up for a memorial before God.
Act 10:5 And now send men to Joppa, and fetch one Simon, who is surnamed Peter:
Act 10:6 he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side.
Act 10:7 And when the angel that spake unto him was departed, he called two of his household- servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually;
Act 10:8 and having rehearsed all things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.

So, too, it was the holy spirit who prepared the heart of the Ethiopian eunuch to be instructed by Philip.

Act 8:26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
Act 8:27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,
Act 8:28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.
Act 8:29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
Act 8:30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
Act 8:31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
Act 8:32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
Act 8:33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
Act 8:34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
Act 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
Act 8:36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
Act 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Act 8:38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

Philip “heard him read the prophet Isaiah.” The holy spirit had already prepared this man to receive the gospel of Jesus.

So all the apostles let the righteous, be righteous still: and he that was holy, was acknowledged as holy.

Except for the necessity of answering their persecutors for standing up for the word, the apostles never preached the gospel to one person who had not come to hear the word of God. Paul always went into synagogues where the holy spirit had already prepared the hearts of the Gentile proselytes to receive the gospel of the kingdom of God. With very few exceptions, the Jews in those synagogues did not accept the testimony of Jesus Christ. The only exception to this is the account of Paul’s witness to the people of Athens on Mars Hill, but even here he was simply taking advantage of any opportunity to witness for Christ and His Father, “the unknown God”, without forcing that witness on anyone. The unjust remained unjust, the filthy remained filthy, the righteous remained righteous, and the holy remained holy. Their example, our Lord, forced Himself and His doctrine upon no one. His life of good works drew people to Him.

Mat 12:14 Then [after healing a man’s withered hand on the sabbath] the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.
Mat 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;
Mat 12:16 And charged them that they should not make him known:
Mat 12:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
Mat 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
Mat 12:19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
Mat 12:20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.
Mat 12:21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

‘Israel’ in scripture is both within us as “the kingdom of God” and it is also those collectively to whom we preach the gospel and with whom the holy spirit is working as His body. That is why we are admonished by our Lord Himself:

Mat 10:23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

“The cities of Israel” which will not have gone over before the appearing of Christ is “the Israel of God” of these verses:

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God.

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Neither Christ nor His disciples were ever found preaching on a street corner, neither did they ever attempt to preach the gospel to any who had not been prepared by the holy spirit to receive the gospel. That is the message to us when we read… ‘let the filthy remain filthy and let the righteous be righteous.’ “The righteous” in “the cities of Israel” will receive our witness, and the filthy will reject us. This is true within each of us when, at our first encounter with this radical Truth we all at first refuse the witness of God’s Word through His elect. It is also true within “His body, which is the church” throughout the generations which have followed Christ and His original apostles. We truly are “the Israel of God”, and we will not have gone over all the ‘cities’, meaning those being called and chosen, within ourselves as individuals and within the body as a whole of “the Israel of God”, until the Son of Man be come:

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of [the] Israel [of God], till the Son of man be come.

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God.

For that reason these words are applicable in every generation:

Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

This is just one more verse which makes the imminency of Christ’s return something we are all experiencing “in our own order” (1Co 15:23). This ‘coming’ has been taking place within the lives of God’s elect in every generation since Christ.

Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look [present tense] for him shall he appear [future tense] the second time without sin [without his “corruptible flesh, (1Co 15:50)] unto salvation.

This “appearing the second time” is future only for those who do not yet know Christ and who are not yet “the heaven itself”, which is being “purified” and cleansed by the “sharp twoedged sword… out of [Christ’s] mouth” and by the presence of the Christ whose “eyes are as a flame of fire” and whose “countenance is as the Sun shines in His strength.” Here is how Christ “appears the second time without sin” to those who are presently “looking for Him.”

Rev 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
Rev 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
Rev 1:14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
Rev 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Here now are the heavens in which Christ presently dwells:

Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves [you and I] with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself [into us], now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Heb 9:25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

If one must first die and then “after this the judgment” is true, then it is necessary that we truly are now, presently, being “crucified with Christ” and are being “risen with Him in newness of life” and being ‘judged now’, in “this present time” (Rom 8:18).

Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

If we “reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin”, then we are of necessity “alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” living His life within us, and the reason we are told “he will come the second time without sin” is because:

Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Is Christ really “the first?” What is “the first?” What do the scriptures say?

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

Is it blasphemous to agree with Christ that He is “the first and the last?” Who is “the first man Adam?” That is you and me. We are all, by our natural birth, in “the first man Adam.”

1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam [“the first man Adam”] all die, even so in Christ [“by man… the last Adam”] shall all be made alive.

What is this “first man Adam?” Is he an essential part of our salvation? What does our Lord answer?

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

What does “born of water” mean?

Mar 1:8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost [Greek: pneuma, spirit].

What was John’s baptism? John’s baptism was “unto repentance”, and yet it was still repentance under the law.

Mat 11:11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Mat 11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.

The law was an unbearable yoke which “neither we nor our fathers could keep.” Those under that law cannot enter into Christ and His rest. Christ “had broken the sabbath” and considered it nothing more than a “carnal commandment” in need of being changed.

Joh 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Heb 7:16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

Rom 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

Christ is “the righteousness of God without the law” of Moses because Christ brought a new covenant based upon better promises than those which were given under the law of Moses which was designed “for the lawless.”

1Ti 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1Ti 1:10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

“Sound doctrine” is “the law of Christ”, and “the law of Christ” is far harder to keep than was the law of Moses. In truth the law of Jesus cannot be kept at all by the natural man. Our Savior was guilty of none of these sins, and yet we are plainly told He was “made of a woman, made under the law.”

Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Both “made of a woman” and “made under the law” tell us that Christ was not perfected while in the flesh, which was “the same” flesh as “the children.”

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good?  there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

We will pause our study at this point, and in our next study of these five verses we will continue to learn more about the revelation of Jesus Christ within all those who are ordained from this present age to become “the bride, the Lamb’s wife… the New Jerusalem.”