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The Desire of Ages
When Jesus told them that He was to be put to death and to rise
again, He was trying to draw them into conversation in regard to the
great test of their faith. Had they been ready to receive what He desired
to make known to them, they would have been saved bitter anguish
and despair. His words would have brought consolation in the hour
of bereavement and disappointment. But although He had spoken so
plainly of what awaited Him, His mention of the fact that He was
soon to go to Jerusalem again kindled their hope that the kingdom was
about to be set up. This had led to questioning as to who should fill
the highest offices. On Peter’s return from the sea, the disciples told
him of the Saviour’s question, and at last one ventured to ask Jesus,
“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
The Saviour gathered His disciples about Him, and said to them,
“If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant
of all.” There was in these words a solemnity and impressiveness
which the disciples were far from comprehending. That which Christ
discerned they could not see. They did not understand the nature of
Christ’s kingdom, and this ignorance was the apparent cause of their
contention. But the real cause lay deeper. By explaining the nature of
the kingdom, Christ might for the time have quelled their strife; but
this would not have touched the underlying cause. Even after they had
received the fullest knowledge, any question of precedence might have
renewed the trouble. Thus disaster would have been brought to the
church after Christ’s departure. The strife for the highest place was the
outworking of that same spirit which was the beginning of the great
controversy in the worlds above, and which had brought Christ from
heaven to die. There rose up before Him a vision of Lucifer, the “son
of the morning,” in glory surpassing all the angels that surround the
throne, and united in closest ties to the Son of God. Lucifer had said, “I
will be like the Most High” (
Isaiah 14:12, 14
); and the desire for self-
exaltation had brought strife into the heavenly courts, and had banished
a multitude of the hosts of God. Had Lucifer really desired to be like
the Most High, he would never have deserted his appointed place
in heaven; for the spirit of the Most High is manifested in unselfish
ministry. Lucifer desired God’s power, but not His character. He
sought for himself the highest place, and every being who is actuated
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by his spirit will do the same. Thus alienation, discord, and strife
will be inevitable. Dominion becomes the prize of the strongest. The