Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Righteous Segregation



 “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.  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).  Most of us understand society and social norms, the characteristics of one group verse the other; therefore, we can choose to: dress, act, and carry ourselves to “fit in” with such group.  Thereby we associate or not associate with a certain group or class.  We can also form alliances that will include certain people, and exclude others.  We alone hold the key to segregation which 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; furthermore he would die with him.  At the time he said it, 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.  Peter was accused of being a friend of Jesus and he denied it; after two more accusations, Peter curse and swore that he did not know Jesus.  Why did he do that?  Why would he curse?  Why would he swear that he didn’t know Jesus?  I mean to say, why take that measure?  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.  Simply saying I know not the man was not enough, 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.  However, you cannot be both.  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.


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