We Worship God As You Do Ezra 4:1-5

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We Worship God As You DoEzra 41-5
2
Adversaries Have Always Existed

• Satan - your adversary the devil (1 Peter 58)
• Opponents and enemies of truth there are many
  adversaries (1 Cor. 169 see also Phil. 128)
• There were adversaries in the days of Ezra (41
  Zech. 31)

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We seek your God as you do

• How can good and religious people like this be a
  hindrance? They just want to help!
• Their religion was in fact one of compromise
  (2 K. 1724-41)
• Any such inter-faith project (ecumenism,
  syncretism) together would have resulted in
  compromise

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We seek your God as you do

• Promise Keepers, etc.
• Inter-denominational (ecumenical) projects
• Inter-denominational worship services including
  churches of Christ (Easter, Christmas, etc.)
• - Great communion on Oct. 4, 2009
• - Abilene churches (Methodist, Baptist, Church of
  Christ) welcome back college students

5
We seek your God as you do

• Was the response of Zerubbabel and Jeshua,
  unnecessarily severe, uncharitable, bigoted, and
  narrow toward the locals? Did it lack a loving,
  ecumenical spirit?
• Compromise with the locals is what started
  Israels downfall (Judges 211ff 2 Kings 177ff)
• The leaders used the locals for business, but not
  for religion (Ezra 37)
• Why had the locals not rebuilt the temple already?

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Compromise is An Adversary

• Truth is hindered (Gal. 25)
• Error is advanced and the faithful are misled
  (2 Tim. 215-18 Rev. 220-24)
• Error is not converted by compromise (2 K.
  1728-29)
• Error continues to develop into a full-blown
  religious system (Jn. 420)

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Compromise is An Adversary

• What we need today is a spirit of
• Discrimination (1 Thess. 521-22 Rev. 39)
• Scrutiny in Gods work (1 Cor. 59-13)
• Firmness in Gods work (Jn. 422-22)
• Endurance in Gods work (1 Cor. 169)
• Refusal (2 Cor. 614ff)

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Compromise is An Adversary

• Zerubbabel and Jeshua understood this You have
  nothing to do with us
• But do we?