ate from the whole, would they
move on with such beautiful harmony? No; every one would seek to be a
sun. They would all rush towards the common centre, and universal
confusion would follow. God is the sun and centre of the moral universe,
and the setting up of private individual interests as supreme objects of
pursuit, if permitted to take their course, would produce the same
general confusion. This it has done, so far as it has prevailed. Its
tendency is to create a universal contention among inferior beings for
the throne of the universe, which belongs to God alone. But, the
interests of God, if I may be allowed the expression, are identified
with the highest good of his intelligent creation. Hence we see the
perfect reasonableness of the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no
other gods before me." There can be no selfishness in this, because the
best interests of the universe require it. But, by pursuing our own
selfish interests as the chief good, we make a god _of self_.

The religion of Jesus Christ strikes at the root of this selfish
principle. The very first act of the new-born soul is a renunciation or
giving up of self--the surrender of the whole soul to God. The entire
dedication which the Christian makes of himself--soul, body and
property--to the Lord, implies that he will no longer live to himself,
but to God. "Present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable unto God." "For none of us liveth to himself." "They which
live, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which
died for them and rose again." "Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or
_whatsoever ye do_, do all _to the glory of God_." Self-denial is, then,
an entire surrender of our own wills to the will of God. It is an
adoption of the revealed will of God as the rule of duty; and a
steadfast, determined, and persevering denial of every selfish
gratification which comes between us and duty. It is a seeking of the
glory of God and the good of our fellow-creatures, as the highest object
of pursuit. In short, it is to "love the Lord our God with all our
heart, soul, might, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves."

By carrying out this principle, in its application to the feelings,
desires, and motives of the heart, and the actions of the life, we learn
the practical duty of self-denial. This is a very important matter; for
the Scriptures most fully and clearly cut off all hope for such as are
destitute of the true