Ambition?

From Spurgeon's sermon, "THE GOD OF PEACE"

AMBITION is an enemy to peace in the church-
"Diotrephes loves to have the pre-eminence,"
and that fellow has spoiled many a happy church.

It is of no use finding fault because some may have a
little pre-eminence. After all, what is the pre-eminence?
It is the pre-eminence of one little animalcule over another.

Look in a drop of water. One of these little fellows is five
times larger than another- I dare say he is very large,
and thinks, "I have the pre-eminence inside my drop."

So we live in this little 'drop of the world', not much
 bigger in God's esteem than a drop of the bucket,
and one of us seems a little larger than the other-
a worm a little above his fellow worms; but, O how big we get!
and we want to get a little bigger, to get a little more prominent-
but what is the use of it? for when we get ever so big
we shall then be so small that an angel would not find us out
if God did not tell him where we were. Whoever heard up in
heaven anything about 'emperors and kings'?

Small tiny insects we are- God can see the animalculae,
therefore he can see us, but if he had not an eye to see
the most minute, he would never discover us.
O may we never get sinful ambition in this church.

The best ambition is- who shall be the servant of all.

The 'strangers' seek to have dominion, but 'children'
seek to let the father have dominion, and the father only.