the agents in their salvation! By the grace of God I want to go and see it all and look upon it through the golden day of eternity. Go and see. Those mansions bright that Jesus did prepare And his loving favor share, By seeing and doing what is right. CHAPTER XVI. THE DOWN-HILL OF SELFISHNESS. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning. How art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations. Isa. 14: 12. For men shall be lovers of their own selves. 2 Tim. 3: 2. THE first down hill move that we have an account of was when Lucifer, the son of the morning, fell from heaven. It was a dreadful fall, and one that jarred and weakened the nations. In the text the question is raised, How was it done? What was the cause of the fall? From the evidence at hand it seems that through some mysterious channel a spirit of selfishness got into the mind of Lucifer, and doubtless he wanted to dethrone God and be the king of the universe, and for that reason, in order for heaven to remain heaven, Lucifer had to be sent away, or else he would destroy heaven. His fall was very necessary, and God by his almighty power sent him down, never to return again. Lucifer could not have his way in heaven and was cast down to hell, and there, in that dark abode, he plans his selfish designs to cause the downfall of the human race. Selfishness caused Lucifer to fall, and it has been the cause of all the falls since the world began. When selfishness got control of the mind and heart of Lucifer a fall immediately followed, and along down the line of human history a spirit of selfishness has been the cause of great multitudes going down hill. Selfishness is a spirit of discontent that desires to possess power and control the creatures around it, and of all the principles that ever possessed the human soul it is the most miserable. Selfishness is the greatest monster in the universe. It is the enemy of God and man. It does an extensive business on a large scale among the nations of the earth. From what particular evil do we need to be delivered perhaps more than any other? The evil of selfishness. It is the great stumbling stone over which many stumble into perdition. Selfishness is a principle that craves its own ease and comfort, and delights in the downfall of others. A selfish principle in the human soul seems to realize that it is the center of all things, and that all things must conform to its desires. Selfishness is miserable within itself, and delights to make others miserable. It grumbles and growls because it is not happy, and mad because others are happy. I am indebted to Rev. J. D. of Birmingham, Ala., for the following narrative, which illustrates very strongly what a spirit of selfishness will do for those possessed with it. It is as follows: One hot day a man was working on a scaffold as a carpenter. He looked off near-by and saw a lot of hogs lying in their bed in the shade of a tree, and as he looked at the happy hogs, a spirit of selfishness got hold of him, and he contrasted his condition with that of the hogs. "Here I am having to work hard in this hot sunshine, and those hogs having such a good time." He was so enraged at the idea he called the dogs and set them on the hogs. One of the hogs ran against the foot of the ladder that he was on at the top and caused him to fall and break some of his limbs, and he was laid up several months unable to work. Selfishness caused him to fall from the top of the ladder to the ground, and in some way it never fails to produce disappointment and misery. Selfishness has crippled a great many physically, mentally, morally and spiritually. Whenever it is allowed to exist it produces trouble. Selfishness displays itself in many forms. Very often it creeps into the hearts of men and women unawares. It is always seeking an entrance somewhere. When the spirit of selfishness had driven a man from the state of a sound mind down to the regions of insanity, where he dwelt among the tombs (Mark 5:3), Christ came along and cast the spirit out, and it was not willing to go out into space and be content to dwell there, but went into the swine and caused them to go headlong down hill into the sea, where they were choked. Selfishness is always busy, and always causing trouble somewhere. When it was forced to leave heaven it came to earth and entered into many of earth's inhabitants. It is the great thorn in the flesh that only the grace of God can overcome. Selfishness confines men in a dark and smooty dungeon, and binds them with strong cords, and makes their feet fast in the stocks of sin and despair. Selfishness carries heavy weights that sink men in the deep waters of oblivion and shame. All of its efforts are displayed in selfaggrandizement. The aim and object of life should always be to make those around us happy and useful while traveling the road of time to eternity, and in order to do that we should study to crucify a principle of selfishness. Selfishness does not seek the happiness of others, but its own. In order for man and wife to enjoy the greatest amount of happiness that it is possible for mortals to possess in this mode of existence, each should study to make the other happy by sacrificing any selfish principle that may manifest itself. If they cannot realize before entering into the bonds of holy matrimony that they can sacrifice self for the happiness of their companion, it would be decidedly better to do like the young lady that I heard Rev. J. D. Lewis tell about in another story, which is as follows, as nigh as I can repeat it: A young lady had consented to run away from home during the dark hours of night for the purpose of marrying the man she loved. She descended a ladder from an upper window to the ground, where she was met by her intended groom. They started to make their way to some one qualified to perform the ceremony, and she lovingly looked into his face and said to him, "You are going to be mighty good to me, aren't you? I have left my father and mother to go with you." He replied by saying, "Maybe I will and maybe I won't." They proceeded a few steps farther, and she suddenly remembered she had left her money in her room, and they both thought they must have the money. Selfishness is a dear lover of money. So they went back and he was to remain at the foot of the ladder while she ascended and went into her room. He waited for quite a while and she did not return. Finally he called to her and said. “My dear, are you not coming?" Her answer was, “Maybe I will and maybe I won't.” A wise conclusion on her part that if he was going to be selfish, and not study to be good to her, she would not go with him. Her example is worthy of imitation. Turn back before it is too late, and let the man possessed with a selfish principle wonder in the dark alone. "For men shall be lovers of their own selves." When men love themselves there is no room for them to love God or their fellow men. Man is constituted in a way that he cannot love two objects of opposite natures. If he loves himself supremely he cannot love God supremely. We serve what we love, and we cannot serve God and mammon. Matt. 6:24Which is equivalent to saying, ye cannot serve self and serve God. Self in a certain sense is mammon. The longest down hill pull that has ever been made is when the motive power of the movement is selfishness. It led Lucifer from the palace of heaven down to the very lowest hell, and it has in all ages led men from that which is noble and true down to that which is vile and untrue. Selfishness demands that the objects around it fall down and worship it. Satan in the wilderness, when he tried to tempt Christ (and Satan was nothing more nor less than self), |