The religion of fear is worthless. It produces no holiness, it does nothing for a man, it does not bind him to God. He is none the stronger for it. It paralyses so far as it does anything.
It is spasmodic and intermittent. It is impossible to keep it up, so it comes in fits and starts. When the morning comes men laugh at their terrors. It leads to wild endeavours to forget God—atheism—to insensibility. He who begins by fearing when there was no need, ends by not fearing when he ought.
II. The Religion of Form.
The Samaritans' whole worship was outward worship. They did the things which the Beth-el priest taught them to do, and that was all.
And this again is a type, very common in our day. Religion must have forms. The forms often help to bring us the spirit. But we are always in danger of trusting to them too much.
How many of us have our Christianity only in outward seeming? The only thing that unites men to God is love.
So your external connection with God's worship is of no use at all unless you have that.
Church and chapel-goers are alike exposed to the danger of erecting the forms of worship to a place in which they cannot be put without marring the spirit of worship. Whether our worship be more or less symbolic, whether we have a more or less elaborate ritual, whether we think more or less of sacraments, whether we put hearing a sermon as more or less prominent, or even if we follow the formless forms of the Friends, we are all tempted to substitute our forms for the spirit which alone is worship.
III. The Religion of Compromise or Worldliness.
They had God and they had gods. They liked the latter best. They gave
God formal worship, but they gave the others more active service.