Download PDF - Free Methodist Church

52 THE EABNEST CHBISTIAN AND GOLDEN BULE.
Ood, I was as happy as the best ot
them. They could beat me in grammar,
and in weaving nice things into
their prayers, but when it came to
that peace and joy which Jesus gives,
I was a match for any of them." Let
those of us who have but small abilities,
take this lesson and apply it to our
hearts and daUy lives.
WOBLDLT CONFOBMITT.
WE desire to deal plainly with this
monster evil, and offer some reasons
why you should avoidconformity to the
world.
1st. It violates th'e "GeneralRules"
of the Church.
Those rules forbid :—
1. Doing what we know is not for
the glory of God.
2. The putting on of gold, and costly
apparel.
3. The taking such diversions as cannot
be used in the name of the Lord
Jesus.
You have all, either expressly, or impliedly,
promised to be governed by
these rules. Nor can you knowingly
violate them, without moral obliquity.
Your fidelity to truth, to God, and to
the church, is involved. Church membership
means something. Its obligations
are weighty. They should not be
lightly assumed or easily thrown off.
"Better not vow, than vow and not pay."
2nd. It violates your Baptismal'Covenant.
In that covenant made in the most
solemn manner, you engage to " renounce
the devil and all his works, the
•vain pomp and glory of the world, with
all covetous desires for the same, and
the carnal desires of the flesh, so that
you will not follow or be led by them."
With such an engagement resting
upon you, worldly conformity is little
less than moral perjury. It is lightly
esteeming, if not discarding, the very
highest obligations of your Christian
profession. And here permit us to say,
that one of the most alarming indications
ofthe times, is the apparent ease
with which the most weighty obligations
of religion are assumed, and •flie
not less apparent ease with which the
same obligations are thrown off. Onj
day you may see persons approaching
the altar of God, and committing themselves
to his eause, by words and deeds
of the most solemn import. Another
day you may see those same persons
pandering to the lusts of the flesh,bowing
at the shrine of fashion, and identifying
themselves with an ungodly
world. So common, indeed, is this evil,
that every Christian might do well to
awake to the inquiry, " Lord, is it I?"
3rd. It grieves the Spirit:—It cannot
be otherwise. Religion is wounded in
the house of its friends. The cause of
Christ is dishonored, aud the enemy
triumphs. The result is certain; the
divine influence is withdrawn; the fiuit
ofthe Spirit disappears from the heart;
barrenness comes upon the soul; unbelief
regains possession; clouds and darkness
obscure the fiiture; the closet is
neglected; the class-room is forsaken;
profession becomes an empty name,
and little remains but the mere •wreck
of what was once so bright and promising.
Such is the moral portraiture of
thousands, who once were, or now are,
in the church, but who have been lured
away by the song of this worldly Siren,
perhapstotheiretemal undoing. 0 beloved,
beware, lest ye also, being led
away by the bewitchings of this monster,
" fall from your o^wn steadfastness."
The history of the past is full of warn,
ing. The present is fruitful of evil. To
sleep now, is to court danger, and invite
ruin.
4th. It hinders your usefulness .'—No
Christian can be usefiil whose life is not
exemplary; He must be consistent before
the world will yield him the homage
due to his profession. And you
will do wefll to bear in mind that the
ungodly are often eagle-eyed, and sharp
scented in searching -out and detecting
any want of consistency on the part of
professors. This fact should put yon
on your guard, and make you watchiiil
and prayerful, lest you shall put a
stumbling block in the way of others.
Here let us remind you that it is not
sympathizing with the ungodly in their
pleasures and amusements, that is to