Luke 22:24 And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. 25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.
[The Desire of Ages pp 435>436] 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. 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.
Lucifer desired God's power, but not His character. He sought for himself the highest place, and every being who is actuated by his spirit will do the same. Thus, alienation, discord, and strife will be inevitable. Dominion becomes the prize of the strongest. 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 he himself may climb to a higher place.
There is much work to do in our hearts, and there is much conversion to take place in the lives of many. The spirit of unselfish service, the willingness to let ourselves be God’s humble servants, waiting to do His bidding by serving in whatever capacity He may ordain, is the spirit that should be cultivated at such a time as this.
Luke 22:26 But you shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. 27 For whether is greater, he that sits at meat, or he that serves? is not he that sits at meat? but I am among you as he that serves.
May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!