CHAPTER XXVII

ADDRESS ON WORLDLINESS

(Prepared by the Bishops and published by order of the General Conference)

859. It has been the custom of the bishops, in watching over the souls of those for whom they must give an account, to warn against the insidious influence of worldliness, which is one of the most subtle and relentless foes of spirituality. It is the spirit of the world in opposition to the spirit of Christ. It is against this that the beloved disciple warned the early Christians when he said: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." The apostle had in mind the same harmful worldliness when instancing the foes of faith he summed them all up in one and declared: "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

Imagine a state of society where all were dominated by the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, and where all the customs of society were determined by such low standards, and it is evident that the conditions are absolutely opposed to a life of faith. Only Christianity could stop the brutal and inhuman ferocity of the gladiatorial shows and other forms of amusement which long dominated and brutalized the Roman populace. The indecencies of the stage can be checked by the same divine influence at work in society as the obscenities and gross improprieties of the printed

page, whether of the drama or the novel or the sensual poem, have been outlawed by the spirit of Christ that cleansed the temple of those who profaned it by unholy customs. Custom cannot make right. Custom is too often the unbridled spirit of worldliness, as in the days before Christianity exercised any restraint whatever. It is the mission of Christianity to change the customs of the world until they conform to the spirit of Christ.

The one law of the Church is to avoid what we know is not for the glory of God. This forbids the taking such diversions as cannot be used in the name of Christ, the singing those songs or reading those books which do not tend to the knowledge or love of God, and those forms of needless self-indulgence that unfit the believer for communion with God or for faithful and effective service for man. The law of expediency has the grip of moral duty when we abstain even from what is doubtful for the sake of others. To go to no place of amusement where we cannot invite our Lord to go with us, and to engage in no recreation on which we cannot invoke his blessing, is a safe rule of conduct toward God and man. This leaves to the Christian the safeguards of a divine presence in all things. Our Lord knew well the value of relaxation from a too strenuous life when he said to his disciples, "Come apart into a desert [or uninhabited] place, and rest awhile"; and he looked with complacency upon the sports of children as he noted their very language when at play in the streets of Jerusalem; but it was "the Lord in the midst" who gave to such recreation the sanction of his presence and blessing.

The family altar, with its sanctities; the right observance of the Sabbath made for man; the avoidance of all that would secularize its sacred hours; the faithful attendance upon all its means of grace; and the cheerful coöperation with all who are aiding in the re

ligious instruction of our children-must make the home the beneficent agency for good in forming and maintaining those lofty ideals of right living for which Christianity has ever stood. Thus the spirit which was in Christ must be in us also, and as many as are led by the spirit of Christ show themselves the sons of their Father. If we would be the children of our Father in heaven, we must adopt the rules of heaven for life on earth. In vain do we pray the model prayer if we do not seek to do his will on earth as it is done in heaven. Thus alone can his kingdom come.

The true mission of Christ is both to save and to leaven to destroy the works of the devil, and to impart the power as well as the spirit of right living. Because the spirit that now rules among the children of disobedience is a spirit of worldliness, making men lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, making self rather than Christ the center of life and thought, bidding men live without God in the world, the avowed aim of Christianity is to enthrone the Lord Jesus Christ in the heart and to make no provision for fulfilling the lusts of the flesh. The expulsive power of a new and holy affection has ever been needed to keep the life of God in the soul of man. If Methodism has often seemed strenuous in insisting on abstaining from every form of evil, she has found her justification in the blessing of her Lord in influencing the lives of men. God forbid that she should ever fall so low as to throw down all barriers about the flock of Christ and, in her lust for numbers, admit to her communion those who have no supreme desire to flee from the wrath to come and to be saved from their sins, and who do not show this desire by the fruits of holy living. A passion for the souls of others, born of this desire, as well as the desire to please Him who has called us to be soldiers, will best prevent becoming entangled in the affairs of this life incon

sistent with the discipline of holy living. With the battle lines drawn against the devil, the world, and the flesh (the sworn and cruel foes of the soul), this is no time to relax our vigilance. "There is no surcease in that war."

Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day; and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Thus was our Lord equipped and armed in his temptations when he was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin; for there is no temptation that overtaketh you but that there is provided a way of escape. Satan ever desires to have us that he may sift us as wheat. Our hope, O Lord, is in thee, who dost ever pray for us that our faith fail not.

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CHAPTER XXVIII

BOUNDARIES

SECTION I

OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCES

¶860. (1) Alabama Conference shall include West Florida (except Apalachicola), and all Alabama lying south of the following boundary line: Beginning at the southwest corner of Pickens County; thence along the south of Pickens and Tuscaloosa Counties, and a direct line on the same parallel of latitude, east of the Coosa River; thence down that river to the southern boundary of Coosa County; thence east by that county line, and through Tallapoosa County to the south of Chambers County, and by that county line to Georgia.

¶861. (2) Arizona Conference shall embrace Arizona and the town of Needles, California.

¶862. (3) Baltimore Conference shall embrace all that part of Maryland which lies north and west of Great Choptank River, and also the part of Caroline County, in that State, lying south and east of the river; Newcastle and Kent Counties, in Delaware; and so much of Virginia and West Virginia as is included in the following lines: Beginning at the mouth of the Potomac River; thence up the river to the county line between Stafford and King George Counties; thence with that line to Rappahannock River, and up the river (but including Fredericksburg Station on its southern bank) to the Blue Ridge Mountains; thence by these mountains to the Holston Conference line, and following that line to