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tion or wrong ambition? Are even
mothers sometimes tempted with a
wrong kind of ambition? The mother
of James and John, two of Christ's
disciples, was filled with this kind of
vanity.
"Then carne to him the mother of
Zebedee's children with her sons,
worshipping him, and desiring a cer–
tain thing of him. And he said unto
her, What wilt thou? She saith unto
him, Grant that these my two sons
may sit, the one on thy right hand,
and the other on the Ieft , in thy king–
dom" (Matt. 20:20-21 ).
Jesus Christ had to reveal to this
woman and a lso to J ames and J ohn
that their selfish request was the way
of self-exaltation. They were asking
something which they never should
have asked. His answer: " But to sit
on my right hand, and on my left, is
not mine to give, but it shall be given
to them for whom it is prepared of
my Father" (verse
23).
Yes, even Christ is not the One
who places the various ones in the
government of the Kingdom of God.
This is the Father's direct responsi–
bility.
The Greatest Serves Most
Christ went on to show that the Gen–
tile rulers lord it over their subjects
(verse
25).
Christ condemns such ar–
rogant, high-handed methods of rul–
ership (1 Pet. 5: 1-4).
And then He added, "But it shall
not be so among you: but whosoever
shall be great among you, Jet him be
your minister; and whosover will be
chief among you, Jet him be your ser–
vant" (Mat. 20:26-27).
Christ repeatedly warned men
about exalting themselves. On one oc–
casion He observed how those bidden
to a feast chose the chief rooms. He
rebuked them in no uncertain terms!
They should, said Christ, always take
the lowest place, unless they were
asked to take a higher position.
He then added, "For whosoever
exalteth himself shall be abased; and
he that humbleth himself shall be ex–
alted" (Luke 14:11).
Secure Your Crown
Yes, you should be careful that no
man takes your crown (Rev. 3:11 ).
Furthermore, we all need to make
38
certain "that we receive a full re–
ward"
(ll
John
8).
We should not be content with j ust
making it into God' s Kingdom. We
should seek to live full, abundant,
productive lives in God' s service (to
produce one hundredfold!) here and
now so we can receive a greater posi–
tion of responsibility and service in
God' s Kingdom.
lt
is quite a ll right, not only to seek
for immortality, but a lso to seek for
glory and honor. We must, however,
always make sure we do not seek to
exalt ourselves. Wrong ambition is a
sin! We must always ensure that we
do not seek honor from men-but
seek "the honor that cometh from
God only" (John 5:44).
What is your goal? Are you con–
tent merely to make it into God's
Kingdom? Or do you want to make it
~~
Seek for glory and honor
from God, but don't
become filled with vain
ambition or with
self-exaltation.
' '
there with flying colors- and have
Jesus Christ reassuringly say, "Well
done, thou good and faithful ser–
vant"?
Certainly, those who have real un–
derstanding of God's Word will not
be content just to make it into God' s
Kingdom. They will seek a position
of honor and glory in God's service–
they will have "respect unto the rec–
ompence of the reward " (Heb.
11:26).
Christ solemnly promised, "Be–
hold,
1
come quickly; and my reward
is with me, to give every man accord–
ing as his work shall be" (Rev.
22:12).
Let us keep this promise foremost
in our minds and serve God to the
very utmost of our abilities!
lf
we do
this, we will not receive thirtyfold, or
sixtyfold-but one hundredfold- in
the Kingdom of God!
o
HIDEHimself?
(Continuedfrom page 31)
by trying it! There is no other way.
· You must personally experience the
enormous benefits of God's Spirit.
And we don ' t mean sorne pseudo–
sanctimonious hodgepodge of self-de–
luded emotion, nicey-nice prayer
meetings and goody-good testimoni–
als. We do mean God's breathtaking
purpose in life-and His specific of–
fice of scintillating authority pre–
pared especially for you.
Let's get down to business. How do
you get God's Holy Spirit? There are
just two requirements: 1) a wholly re–
pentant attitude of mind, and 2) bap–
tism. That's it. " Repent, and be bap–
tized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive tbe gift of the
Holy Spirit" (Acts
2:38).
How do you know if you a re repen–
tant? How do you get baptized?
Where are God's ministers? We can
answer your questions.
The Worldwide Church of God
has sent dedicated men (ordained
ministers) into most communities in
the United States and · tbe British
Commonwealth, and into many other
cities around the world. These sin–
cere individuals have no religious ax
to grind, no quota to meet, no pres–
sure to exert. Their main purpose in
life is to help you gain eternallife. l f
God has granted you the capacity to
catch the vision, if you have questions
which you want answered, write to us
and request a special , prívate ap–
pointment. Give us the pleasure of
serving you. We'd !ove to.
Of al! God' s revelations to man,
the clearest and most dramatic for
you will occur when you personally
sense the r emarkably thrilling
change in your own mind brought
about by God's Holy Spirit- a
steady perfection of your character, a
new power in your understanding, a
sudden zest in your life, and a fantas–
tically happy outlook for your future.
You will never again have to rehearse
the many times, places and ways of
God' s revelations to mankind. When
you want to see God revealing Him–
self, you'll just look at God's power in
your own life!
O
The PLAIN TAUTH March 1979
..