“PRIDE!” “DOES IT BELONG TO YOU?”

He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings.” (1Timothy 6:4)
PRE-AMBLE by Robert
It is very common for a man to look upon himself as wiser and better than other men, and as fit to dictate to them. Such a one deceives himself; by pretending to what he has not, he puts a cheat upon himself and sooner or later will find the sad effects. This will never gain esteem, either with God or men. In this article, the Holy Spirit is revealing how easy it is to fall into being Prideful. He is going to show us there are two types of teachers both recognizing Yeshua, however, one messenger falls short in delivering the gospel. We will receive a lesson which was delivered by Apostle Paul 2000+ years but still applies to our walk today.

OPENING PRAYER by Robert

Father in heaven, hear our petitions, Lord, to gain your understanding, knowledge, wisdom, and patience. Teach us to discern the power within each gift Father so we may be strengthened to endure as your Apostles did to demonstrate through our conflicts your love, compassion, and forgiveness. Place your words Lord so we may rebuke the work of the enemy sharpen our sword, Father. Bring unto us Lord the spirit of meekness, and humility, remove the spirit of arrogance and superiority, take from us any spirit of Pride. This we pray in your name Yeshua. Amen and Amen.
OPENING STATEMENT by Robert.
In the recent article, ‘THERE CAN BE NO TRUE PEACE WITHOUT GRACE.”

The Holy Spirit revealed, “For our Salvation to have any value in God’s eyes, it must be shared.“ The following is background, we need to consider, as related by Matthew Henry (1662 – 1774) in his introduction to the book of Philippians. He reveals what we will or may encounter when sharing our Salvation and how Paul handled it. “PHILIPPI was a chief city of the western part of Macedonia Acts 16:12. It is most remarkable among Christians for this epistle, which was written when Paul was a prisoner at Rome, AD 62.

Paul seems to have had a very particular kindness for the church at Philippi, which he himself had been instrumental in planting and, though he had the care of all the churches, he had, upon that account, a particular fatherly tender care of this. At Philippi, Paul suffered hard things he was scourged and put into stocks (Acts 16:23,24) yet he had not less kindness for the place for the hard usage he met with there. We must never love our friends the less for the ill-treatment which our enemies give us.
This, information lead me to Philippians 1:15 where Matthew Henry (1662 – 1774) further comments on how Paul dealt with those in the Philippi church: “Paul shows the wisdom and goodness of God in his sufferings. These things made him known, where he would never have otherwise been known; and led some to inquire after the gospel. He suffered from false friends, as well as from enemies. How wretched the temper of those who preached Christ out of envy and contention, and to add affliction to the bonds that oppressed this best of men! The apostle was easy in the midst of all. Since our troubles may tend to the good of many, we ought to rejoice.

Paul reveals to what depth the “Modern Day Disciples” will be required to shift their walk in order to recognize and then demonstrate God’s love and compassion, they will need “fervent discipline, sincere dedication to Yeshua and complete acceptance of His Fathers Laws.” Here is where the importance of God’s earlier call for us to do an edit on our walk and return to His Law’s, comes into play and reveals the importance of how we see, understand and stage our relationship with Yeshua and God the Father. The following link will refresh your memory or for those who have not read it bring forward pertinent information to understand our position today.

https://romboughrobert.wordpress.com/2017/06/14/truth-will-be-evil-lies-will-be-truth/
John Calvin’s (1509 – 1564) commentary on Philippians 1:15 – 17 gives us a better understanding of how we as Modern Day disciples should be staging our walk even though it has been 2000 + years. “Here is another fruit of Paul’s bonds – some by maintaining their position, others by becoming more eager to teach – but even those who wished him evil were on another account stirred up to publish the

gospel. Some, I say, from contention. Paul reveals there are two classes of men that are stirred up by his bonds to preach Yeshua. The one influenced by contention, that is, by depraved affection. The other by pious zeal, as being desirous to maintain along with him the defense of the gospel. The former does not preach Yeshua purely, because it was not a right zeal. Those who truly loved Yeshua reckoned that it would be a disgrace to them if they did not associate themselves with Paul as his companions when maintaining the cause of the gospel. We must act in such a manner, as to give a helping hand, as far as possible, to the servants of Yeshua when in difficulty, for the defense of the Gospel. For since Yeshua confers upon us so great an honor, what excuse shall we have, if we shall be traitors to his cause. Or what may we expect, if we betray it by our SILENCE?

Adam Clarke (1760 -1832) in his commentaries on Philippians 1:15 gives us a glimpse of the foundation of those spoken of in the prior paragraph. “Some preach Yeshua (Christ) even of envy and strife. These must have been the Judaizing teachers, who insisted on the necessity of connecting the Mosaic rites with the Christian institutions; and, probably, denounced Paul to the Jews dwelling at Rome as not only an enemy to the law and the prophets but also as a very imperfect Christian,because he declared strongly against the doctrine of circumcision and no doubt endeavored to prejudice him with the heathen Romans.”
Continuing, Adam Clarke (1760 -1832) goes on to expose them for what they are and how they will appear to be. “The word preach is not to be taken here as implying that the different persons mentioned were what we call preachers of the Gospel. All that we can understand from Paul’s use of the word is, that they proclaimed Yeshua as the promised Messiah, espoused the Christian cause, and contended, whether in public or private, that this Yeshua (Jesus) was the Christ; but nothing of this kind appears to have been intended in reference to the conversation of sinners.”
As “Modern Day Disciples” we must be cautious never to give into what Matthew Henry (1662 -1774) is describing “In the way to eternal happiness, we must expect to be assaulted and sifted by Satan. If he cannot destroy, he will try to disgrace or distress us. Nothing more certainly forebodes a fall, in a professed follower of Christ, than self-confidence, with disregard to warnings, and contempt of danger. Unless we watch and pray always, we may be drawn in the course of the day into those sins which we were in the morning most resolved against.”
Matthew Henry (1662 – 1774) enlightens how our walk should proceed on the narrow path “Kindness is the law of Christ’s kingdom, the lesson of his school, the livery of his family. Several motives to brotherly love are mentioned.

If you expect or experience the benefit of God’s compassion to yourselves, be compassionate one to another. It is the joy of disciples to see people like-minded. Yeshua came to humble us, let there not be among us a spirit of pride. We must be severe upon our own faults, and quick in observing our own defects, but ready to make favorable allowances for others. We must kindly care for others, but not be busy-bodies in other men’s matters. Neither inward nor outward peace can be enjoyed, without lowliness of mind.
CLOSING COMMENTS by Robert
We find that even while in prison Paul had his influence on the churches through the letters he sent forward. It becomes apparent our focus must always be demonstrating Gods Love compassion and Grace. We saw that even through his sufferings to bring Yeshua’s teachings forward, Paul’s demonstrations and examples brought attention to his ability to endure and continue the teachings of Yeshua. This is an example for the Modern Day Disciples to recognize no matter what the world presents in opposition to your efforts in demonstrating Yeshua’s teachings because you go forward your efforts will bear fruit as it did for Paul.
I was presented with a post on Facebook “A question was asked in the Bible, ‘how can one achieve greatness and the answer was; find a way to serve the many because service to many leads to greatness”. I wrote back “The best work for our Lord is to be living examples of the words you speak. Words only entice, examples create desire and a want of what you have demonstrated by those words, freedom, and peace. Experience shows if you live what you speak by putting forward a good example you will draw many to the light you have emitted into the darkness. Example; light a match in the darkness of night, watch what occurs.”
This question and answer is the best example I can offer for the wisdom the Holy Spirit has brought forward of what makes our walk affective. I see why the Holy Spirit calls for our demonstrations to match our walk as Yeshua did. He lived what he spoke, he brought forward the power of His words through obedience to God his Father. The task of being a living example of walking in Yeshua’s footsteps is not without trials and tribulations. Our demonstrations of how we deal with the trials and tribulations will put us before those in the world as living examples of how God deals with us, for those who cannot understand. Like Paul, our sufferings will allow us to be otherwise known. This puts us in the position now to share with those desiring for themselves what we have.
Now, here is the most important part of this article at no time can we believe we are in any stretch of the imagination superior, more intelligent, seen in God’s eyes as extra special, as these thoughts answer the question; “Pride,” Does It Belong To You? Paul offered this answer which we saw earlier but will see it again as a final reminder of what our walk should look like. “Kindness is the law of Christ’s kingdom, the lesson of his school, the livery of his family. Several motives to brotherly love are mentioned. If you expect or experience the benefit of God’s compassion to yourselves, be compassionate one to another.”

CLOSING PRAYER by Robert

Father in heaven thank you for the knowledge and wisdom to recognize our possibility of falling into a prideful nature. Bring us the understanding to subdue this error in our walk fill us with discernment and courage to place it before your throne so we might receive the spirits of meekness gentleness and compassion. We pray Lord you will deepen our knowledge of the sword you have bestowed upon us Father that when we call upon you Father it will have meaning and strength. We thank you, Lord, for the leadership guidance and caring the Holy Spirit has and is placing in our lives. We pray this in your name Yeshua, Amen and Amen.
Please remember these are the words of a humble servant bringing forward the Lords warnings as provided by the Holy Spirit. I sound the Trumpet of a Watchman and pray you will hear and heed what is provided. May Yeshua bless all who hear the “Trumpeter’s Call”
Robert