“Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man.
And immediately the cock crew.” – Matthew 26:75
As human beings,
we are created with the capacity to differentiate, and segregate. Our senses help us in this endeavor; along
with our minds, and feelings (not feeling as in the five senses, more like your
“gut feeling”). We can differentiate
between light and darkness, by using our eyes.
We can tell the difference between a flower and manure by using our
nose; rough and smooth, cold and hot; human beings can differentiate and naturally
segregate the things in this life.
Furthermore, we also have the capacity to differentiate and segregate
ourselves (as well as others). We
understand society and social norms, the characteristics of one group verse the
other; therefore, we can choose to: dress, act, and carry ourselves in a certain
way. This will drive us to be associated
(and thereby not associated) with a certain group or class. We can also form alliances and “clicks” that
will include certain people, and exclude others. We hold the key to segregation and it is our
choices.
In the 26th chapter
of Matthew, Peter the disciple denied Jesus three times (Peter the Apostle
preach boldly and eventually died for him).
Jesus was about to be arrested and crucified, and he told his disciples
that they would all forsake him when that time came. Peter responded that he would not forsake
Christ; he would die with him. I believe
that Peter believed that promise with all his heart; but he didn’t have the
Holy Ghost power to fulfill it. I would
submit to you that there are many Christian out there today in a similar state. They want to follow Jesus, but are doing so
without the Holy Ghost power, and finding only that they can’t keep their
promises. Once Peter said he would die
with Jesus, Jesus, knowing the future, responded that before the cock crows
Peter will deny him three times. Not to
long after, Peter did as was foretold.
He was accused of knowing Jesus and he denied him; in the end, he cursed
and swore. Why did he do that? Why would he curse? Why would he swear that he didn’t know Jesus? To segregate, and differentiate. Peter was full of carnality and without the
strength the stand, when the testing time came he denied Christ. The crowd continued to say “you know the man”,
so he began to use those human instinct’s to differentiate himself from
Jesus. He wanted to make sure that those
people would not associate him with Jesus so he resorted to cursing and
swearing. Simply saying I know not the
man was not enough, or using an oath, but he had to carry himself into the
depths of worldliness and sinfulness; cursing and swearing, proving with all that
he could that he was not like Jesus.
They would have known that Jesus didn’t use language like that, they
would have known that Jesus didn’t act like that. The choice that Peter made, by simply
cussing, made him. It made him like the
world, and not like Christ.
The choices we make
will make us; and in doing so segregate us.
We can be segregated from Christ and associated with the world; or we
can be married to Christ and segregated from the world. Peter eventually fulfilled his promise, but
only after the Holy Spirit came in. If
you want to serve God, you need the Holy Ghost dwelling in your heart; it’s
that simple. Without it, you will crumble
when the testing times come. When you
choose to give it all to Christ and invite the Holy Ghost in your heart, he
then can guide all other choices; he can help you segregate yourself from the
world and bring you further and further into fellowship with Christ. You will then love God and love your
neighbor, which will abolish unholy segregation (i.e. clicks, racism, social status)
and promote proper segregation, good differentiation; from the world, the flesh,
and the devil.
