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Who Is the Greatest?
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Strife for Highest Place
The Saviour said to them, “If any man desire to be first, the
same shall be last of all, and servant of all.” They did not understand
the nature of Christ’s kingdom, and this was the apparent cause of
their contention. But the real cause lay deeper. 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, who had said, “I will be like the Most High.”
Isaiah 14:14
.
The desire for self-exaltation had brought strife into the heavenly
courts. Lucifer desired God’s power, but not His character. He
sought the highest place, and every being actuated by his spirit will
do the same. The kingdom of Satan is a kingdom of force; every
individual regards every other as an obstacle in the way of his own
advancement, or a steppingstone on which to climb to a higher place.
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While Lucifer sought to be equal with God, Christ “made Him-
self of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a
man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross.”
Philippians 2:7, 8
. Now the cross was just
before Him; and His own disciples were so filled with self-seeking
that they could not enter into sympathy with their Lord, or even
understand Him as He spoke of His humiliation for them.
Jesus tried to correct the evil. He showed what is the principle
that bears sway in the kingdom of heaven, and in what true greatness
consists. Those who were actuated by pride and love of distinction
were thinking of themselves, and of the rewards they were to have.
They would have no place in the kingdom of heaven, for they were
identified with the ranks of Satan.
Before honor is humility. To fill a high place before men, Heaven
chooses the worker who takes a lowly place before God. The most
childlike disciple is the most efficient in labor for God. He who feels
his need of divine aid will plead for it. From communion with Christ