4th Seal - Mixing Sin With Righteousness

(Rev 6:7-8 KJV) And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. {8} And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

John heard the voice of the fourth _beast say Come and see. He saw a _pale___ horse whose rider was _death___.

What does Jesus want you to understand as He opens this letter? As we have studied in Revelation chapters 4 & 5 the opening of the seven seals is likened to opening a series of letters one at a time. We have seen that the first seal was a message of how Christ, Our Lord, leads us to victory when we follow Him and take Him as our commander in the fight of faith. We understand that the fight of faith is a war of righteousness against sin. Jesus leads to righteousness and the devil leads to sin. Jesus is our King and the Word of God is our weapon.

As we studied the 2^nd and 3^rd seals we found that our accuser, the devil has a sword, his lies, that he uses to take your peace from you by getting you to commit sin. He will starve your soul by measuring out the Word of God in small and twisted quantities to get you out of balance. Today we will direct our attention to the message under the 4^th seal. Here, your Lord, Jesus, is trying to get you to understand another method the devil uses to convince you that you need to sin. It is a method of Mixing Sin with Righteousness. He wants you to believe his lies that you can be a sinning Christian. He wants you to believe that you can mix light with darkness. He wants you to believe that you can be righteousness and sinful at the same time. Jesus, through the Word of God tells you the truth so that you can be free from the dominion of sin.

The devil has many methods that he uses to pull you away from living a Godly life. The Bible tells us that we need to be aware of his wiles.

(Eph 6:11 KJV) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

The word, wiles, means methods and trickery. The writer is telling you that you need the whole or entire armour of God so that you can defend yourself against your enemy, the devil. As Christians one mistake that we tend to make is that we underestimate our enemy. We don’t like to study about the devil. We would rather study about the Lord. However, when you realize that to live for the Lord, you must fight the good fight of faith, you need to realize that in a war you need to know all you can about your enemy. And so Jesus is spending a lot of time in the Book of Revelation trying to reveal to you the strategies and methods your enemy, the devil, will use in his effort to defeat you.

In fact this is the message of the Bible from the beginning to the end. I know that there are a lot of theologies concerning the Book of Revelation that use the revelation to apply it to literal, physical events and places. There may be some merit to some of those theories but for the most part they detract from the real messages that your Lord wants you to understand. Your enemy, the devil, is out to deceive you and he has many strategies, methods and tricks to get you to believe his lies. Your main line of defense is The Word of God. By that I mean the pure Word of God, not ideas, theories or interpretations of The Word for the devil offers many of those. The devil knows more about the Word of God than most Christians know.

We now turn our attention to the specific message Jesus is revealing to us by opening the 4^th seal. It is a message of the devil deceiving souls by convincing them that they can mix light with darkness, righteousness with sin, holiness with un-holiness and truth with error. To begin we see that it is the voice of the fourth beast from chapter 4 that invites us to come and see or to come and understand.

(Rev 4:7 KJV) And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

I remind you that these four beasts represent the attributes or character of God. This fourth beast is like a flying eagle. What does this mean about the character of God? Let us first look in

(Isa 40:28-31 KJV) Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. {29} He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. {30} Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: {31} But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah informs us that God is patient, He does not give up, He does not grow weary, He gives power to the faint and He increases strength. If you will wait on Him, obey Him and trust Him He will renew your strength. You will rise up above the trials and tribulations of the earth as an eagle soars high above the earth. You will be able to run this Christian race without growing weary or fainting by the way.

One of the fundamentals many that are trying to live a Christian life, fail to understand is that you cannot do it on your own. You must learn to rely on the power and strength of God to win the victory over sin. Many have tried to live holy lives without the power of God and found that they could not do it. And since they failed in their efforts, they have concluded that no one can live a holy life. That is why we have many today that have been deceived by this trickery of the devil. Your Lord wants you to understand the truth and He is telling you that He will give you power and strength if you will wait on Him.

We look then to understand the message that the voice of the flying eagle is inviting us to see. We see a pale horse. We have learned in our Bible study that the horse is a symbol of warfare and the color of the horse is an indicator of the method of warfare. The white horse in the 1^st seal represented the pure fight of faith led by our Lord and Savior. The red horse in the 2^nd seal represented the devil taking peace from us and leaving us guilty of our own blood. The black horse in the 3^rd seal represented the devil starving us of the Word of God getting us out of balance and causing us to go into sin. Now we see a pale horse. It is not white or black but pale. What kind of trickery is the devil using to deceive us? It is the belief that you can mix sin with righteousness. Let us examine the Word of God to see the truth of the matter.

(Zec 14:6-7 KJV) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: {7} But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

This prophecy by Zechariah tells us that there would be a day which is not day nor night or a time when people confuse light with darkness. Such a condition is indeed confusing. We know from observing the rotation of the earth around the sun that morning breaks as the darkness recedes and day ends as darkness falls in the evening. And so it is with righteousness. When Jesus the daystar arises in your heart He brings righteousness and light. The darkness of sin recedes.

(2 Pet 1:19 KJV) We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

What is the day star? _Jesus__________

If you take Jesus as your Lord and Master, then the day star has risen in your heart. You become a child of the day. The day of righteousness has brought you through the dawn of the day into the glorious light of the Gospel. If you reject Jesus as Lord and Master and endeavor to run your life according to your fleshly desires, then you remain in darkness no matter how hard you try to portray yourself as a Christian. You cannot mix righteousness and sin.

(Hosea 7:8-10 KJV) Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned. {9} Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not. {10} And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.

Hosea is informing us that Ephraim _mixed_______ himself among the people and therefore, Ephraim is half baked, a cake not turned. You are either following the Lord or you are following the devil. The Lord leads only in paths of righteousness. All sin is a result of following the devil. Are you with Jesus or against Him?

(Mat 12:22-30 KJV) Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. {23} And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? {24} But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. {25} And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: {26} And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? {27} And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. {28} But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. {29} Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. {30} He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

Here Jesus makes it plain that there are only two _sides to be on. His side or the devil’s side. He lets us know that Satan does not fight _Himself_ and God does not fight Himself. God’s Kingdom is not divided. It is a Kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

(Rom 14:17 KJV) For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Now sin is the opposite of righteousness, strife is the opposite of peace and sadness is the opposite of joy. No sin can bring righteousness, peace or joy to your life. All sin brings strife, grief and suffering to your life. Jesus said that no kingdom is divided against itself for if it does it will crumble. The Kingdom of God does not fight against righteousness for it is a kingdom of righteousness. If you press your way into this kingdom you are with Jesus and if you don’t then you are against Jesus. If you are not righteous then you are a sinner and against Jesus Christ. As Jesus says He that is not with me is against me. There is no fence to sit on and there is no middle ground. Either you are a saint or you are a sinner. There is no such thing as a sinning saint and there is no such thing as a saintly sinner. No matter how hard you try to mix them they will not mix. The children of God are to shine forth as a light to the world. You can’t be a light if your life is half dark and half light. No one in their right mind would pay for a light that is half dark and expect that it will shed enough light on their path to guide them safely.

If you try to mix sin into righteousness, you will end up with all sin and no righteousness. Jesus taught us

(Mark 8:15 KJV) And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

Here we see Jesus warning of allowing false doctrine to infiltrate your mind. It will act as leaven meaning yeast. As leaven spreads through all the dough and has its effect on the entire batch so will false doctrine affect your life. It will eat through you and corrupt your entire being. Fill your mind with the truth of God’s Word and you will be safe from false doctrine. God’s Word will lead you into righteousness. The devil will lead you into darkness.

The rider in our text is named “death”. The wages of sin is death.

(Rom 6:23 KJV) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(Ezek 18:20-24 KJV) The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. {21} But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. {22} All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. {23} Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? {24} But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

If Satan can convince you to allow _sin___ in your life, he has convinced you to _die__ a spiritual death. As surely as Adam and Eve were put out of the garden of Eden and kept from the tree of life, so will you be separated from God and from eternal life.

(Gen 3:22-24 KJV) {22} And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: {23} Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. {24} So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Our lesson says that hell follows with death.

(Rev 6:8 KJV) And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Hell is the punishment that you will receive for rejecting Jesus Christ as your Lord. It begins on this earth and continues throughout eternity. It is strife, torment, grief and suffering without end. It follows with death and sin brings death.

The rider was given power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death and with the beasts of the earth. Thank God he does not have power over all the earth; only the fourth part. There is hope for you and me and when we take Jesus as our Lord the devil has no power over us.

(1 John 5:18 KJV) We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

Thank God you can be secure from the wiles of the enemy. You can be safe in the arms of Jesus Your Lord by being born of His Holy Spirit and letting His power work in you to deliver you from all sin. We have seen under the 2^nd seal that the devil kills with his sword – his lies; under the 3^rd seal we saw that he kills with hunger by starving you out of balance; under the 4^th seal we see that he kills with death by convincing you that you have to sin; As we study on in future lessons we will see how he kills with the beasts of the earth.

Jesus invites you to separate from sin

(2 Cor 6:14-18 KJV) Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? {15} And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? {16} And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. {17} Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, {18} And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Has Satan tricked you into believing that you have to sin? Has he deceived you into allowing sin in your life? If he has, then righteousness, peace and joy has gone out of you. Jesus wants you to separate from sin so that he can dwell in you. Are you fighting the good fight of faith? The Bible teaches you to fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, strive to enter in at the strait gate and press your way into the kingdom of God. You need a battle plan to win this fight. Satan has many wiles to deceive you and to throw you off track. Being a sinning Christian is only one of them.