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God’s SegregationBy: Joseph H. Murray“When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth His sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:31–34). “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:47–50). One may hear the question asked now, what are your opinions of segregation? Such has caused me to go to my Bible for an answer. It is written in the Scripture that there is to be a separation of God’s people and the wicked even now. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing: and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2Cor. 6:14–18). There is to be two separations. It is the requirement of each child of God to withdraw themselves from the sinner. Be in the world but not of it. The second and final separation is to be done by the Lord Himself as we see by our text. The fact that some in the net are as bad or even worse than some in the sea causes confusion unless we understand that the net “gathered of every kind” from the sea, and the bad are to be taken out of the net and cast away when drawn to shore. So it is in the parable of the wheat and the tares. They both grow together “until the harvest”. “He said unto them, an enemy hath done this. The servants said unto Him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But He said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn” (Matt. 13:28–30). So, my brother, don’t cut the net, or pluck up the tares because of some foolish act done by someone in the kingdom. Some good fish may slip through the hole cut to let the bad out, or the wheat might be uprooted by the plucking of the tares, and again consider the fact that your judgment may not be correct as to which they are—good or bad, wheat or tares. Again, it is written, “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). To know and to do His will is a full–time job for each person. So, let’s leave judgment and this final separation to Him who is worthy of the honor. “The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:41–42). God’s blessings are not limited to any one race or one nation as they were at the time of our Lord’s first advent into the world. “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (John 1:10–11). It was the disobedience of Israel and the rejection of Jesus by the Jews that caused God to seek out a people who would believe and trust Him. “Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me. As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me” (Ps. 18:43–44). “Then saith He to His servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage” (Matt. 22:8–9). Jesus came to His own, but they were so set on carrying out their traditions that they could not receive His doctrine. We must come to Jesus with the attitude of the woman who wanted her daughter healed if we want results. “For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of Him, and came and fell at His feet: The woman was a Greek (or Gentile), a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought Him that He would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto Him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs. And He said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed” (Mark 7:25–30). “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him” (Acts 10:34–35). “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: for there is no respect of persons with God” (Rom. 2:1–11). God’s segregation will not be determined by the race or color but by the purity of the heart. His dividing of the righteous from the unrighteous is as sure as life and death. “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). “Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Ps. 1:5–6). “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28–29). It doesn’t matter whether we be yellow, red, black, or white, we are all a judgment–bound people. “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Rev. 20:12). “Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment” (Job 32:9). |
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