1 / 10

The Religion of Samaria

The Religion of Samaria. I. A Religion of Fear. A. Descriptions of their fearful attitude. 1. “So they feared the Lord...” (2 Kings 17:32). 2. “They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods...” (2 Kings 17:33).

stephensandoval
Download Presentation

The Religion of Samaria

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Religion of Samaria I. A Religion of Fear. A. Descriptions of their fearful attitude. 1. “So they feared the Lord...” (2 Kings 17:32). 2. “They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods...” (2 Kings 17:33). 3. “So these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images...” (2 Kings 17:41). 4. But they had the wrong kind of fear—“...they do not fear the Lord...” (2 Kings 17:34). 1 2 3

  2. The Religion of Samaria I. A Religion of Fear. B. There is a proper type of godly fear. 1. The gospel teaches this (Matt. 10:28; Acts 10:34-35; Phil. 2:12). 2. This was taught in the Old Testament (Prov. 1:7; 14:26-27; Ecc. 8:12-13; 12:13-14). 3. This “fear of the Lord” or what the Hebrew writer calls “godly fear” (Heb. 5:7; 11:7; 12:28). 1 2 3

  3. The Religion of Samaria I. A Religion of Fear. C. The people of Samaria had the wrong kind of fear. 1. They wouldn’t have thought of God, had it not been for the lions (2 Kings 17:25-26). 2. When they did think of Him, it was only to seek His help. D. With the proper kind of fear we will draw near to God (1 John 4:16-18). 1 2 3

  4. The Religion of Samaria II. A Religion of Form. A. Their heart was not in their service to the Lord. 1. They continued to serve their “carved images” (2 Kings 17:33-34). 2. Their service possessed form, but not substance. 1 2 3

  5. The Religion of Samaria II. A Religion of Form. B. This is common today. • There is a need for proper form in religion. • But to go through the form without the proper spirit and attitude is hypocritical (Matt. 15:7-8). C. How can Christians be guilty of this (Prov. 15:13)? 1 2 3

  6. The Religion of Samaria II. A Religion of Form. D. Proper worship will follow the example of David. 1. “I will praise You with my whole heart...” (Ps. 138:1). 2. “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being" (Ps. 146:1-2). 3. “Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant and praise is beautiful” (Ps. 147:1). 1 2 3

  7. The Religion of Samaria III. A Religion of Compromise. A. The people of Samaria tried to compromise truth. 1. They wanted to have God and their idols (2 Kings 17:41). 2. They gave God lip service, but they gave the “gods” their true service. 1 2 3

  8. The Religion of Samaria III. A Religion of Compromise. B. Christians can do the same thing. 1. When they seek to serve God, while also serving the world. 2. Jesus says this is impossible (Matt. 6:24). 3. When we try to serve both, the world always wins. 1 2 3

  9. The Religion of Samaria III. A Religion of Compromise. C. God cannot tolerate this type of compromise. 1. He requires total commitment to Him, no matter the price (Deut. 6:5, 14-15; Luke 14:26, 33). 2. To compromise with the world is to commit spiritual adultery (James 4:4). 3. Christians must “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). 1 2 3

  10. The Religion of Samaria • Let Elijah challenge us to reject the religion of compromise (1 Kings 18:21). • Let Paul challenge us to reject simply a form of religion of form without the substance (Rom. 2:28-29). • Let John challenge us to reject a religion characterized by an improper type of fear (1 John 3:18-19).

More Related