Those who meddle with astrologers and sorcerers (and like practices) put themselves on a collision course with God's judgment.
The world suggests that the truth puts men in bondage, but a man enlightened by the truth knows nothing could be further from the truth.
Sin demands atonement. Atonement puts God and man at one. When atonement is made man is cleansed and forgiven. In other words, things are made right.
The soul that sins shall bear his iniquity. How does a man bear his iniquity? The answer is quite simple: by suffering the consequences of those sins.
There are many things in this life that are not sinful in and of themselves, but when they are misused they can be deemed as sinful or harmful.
Throughout man’s sordid history, people have mocked, rejected, and forsaken the Lord. They have chosen to look to gods that cannot save or help.
The world is driven by self-preservation and self-promotion. Individually, the natural man is guided by self-serving motives. This should not be true of saints.
The Lord took great pains in ensuring that the details of creation were just as He desired. He left nothing to itself in hopes that it would turn out, but knowingly cared for the smallest details. David understood this truth but declared that this care extended beyond the initial creation. Not only had God created and cared for the initial creation, but David proclaimed that he was also “fearfully and wonderfully made.” In order to add some context to his statement, David acknowledged that he spoke of the time when he was in his mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). If this were not enough, several other passages identify the Lord as the One who formed the child within the womb (Isaiah 44:2, 24; Isaiah 49:5; Jeremiah 1:5).
The Lord permits no rivals. In Isaiah 43:11, He said, “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.” Yet, there is a battle on the horizon that will bring all matters to a head. The Antichrist will sit in the temple of God claiming to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:4). He will torture the people of God (the Jews) and blaspheme the name of God. He will set up his image and demand that the people worship him (Revelation 13:14-15). This peak of idolatry and blasphemy will lead to the culmination of God’s jealousy when He returns to judge the world (Revelation chapter 19).
Every person has done sinful things for which he was ashamed even prior to salvation (Romans 6:21). Some of those things are so wicked that the apostle Paul would not even mention what they were (Ephesians 5:12). The life of a Christian was never intended by God to be that way. According to verse 5 above, the Christian life is to be a life void of shame. This type of fulfilled life is only possible when hope is present for “hope maketh not ashamed.” Yet, every Christian must come to understand that hope is the outcome of a sometimes lengthy spiritual process. Here is the biblical sequence. If one properly endures tribulation, he learns to have patience. Patience, in turn, brings experience, and experience brings hope. All these things work together in the life of the believer to keep him from living a life of shame. There is truly no shame in a life lived with hope!
