Three Things Jesus Did Not Do

Text: Various

I.                   INTRODUCTION

A.      CAN JESUS DO ALL THINGS?

1.            We have assumed that Jesus could do anything, having all power and authority…

a.     This morning, however, I am going to share with you three things that Jesus could not or would not do.

(1)             Therefore, my subject today is, “Three Things Jesus Did Not Do.”

2.            Scripture testifies to the fact that He who possessed all authority was limited in some measure.

3.            Yet, even this is evidence of His power – His power in restraint.

II.                 BODY

A.      HE DID NOT MANY MIGHTY WORKS

1.            In Mark chapter 6, we read where Jesus did not do many mighty works because of unbelief.

a.     “He could there do no mighty work…because of their unbelief” (Mark 6:5-6).

(1)             If the people of that day were astonished at His teaching and works, He, too, was amazed at their refusal to accept the evidence of divine power.

(a)              They recognized His miracles but refused to admit that His power came from God.

1)         They made their judgment blind.

2)         They denied the sequence of the supernatural.

a)     Jesus did not work miracles to create belief, but He worked miracles where there was belief!

2.            Modern unbelief denies the supernatural.

a.     Today, people will accept Christian teaching, but they deny the lordship and deity of Jesus Christ.

(1)             Many are within the atmosphere of His influence and blessing, yet they are insulated from it.

(a)              This insulation comes through prejudice, bigotry, pride, sin, and the closing of the mind to the divine Spirit of God.

1)         So, the mighty works Jesus would do today are thwarted when men will not believe.

3.            John Bunyan, in The Holy War, describes part of the defense of the town of Man-Soul by one, Mr. Prejudice, with fifty deaf men at Ear Gate, opposing Prince Immanuel.

a.     Moral conditions determine the absence of conversions.

(1)             There are saving exceptions when there is faith and belief.

4.            It is believed by some theologians that unbelief is the one indicted sin of Hebrews 12:1…

a.     It is the sin which so easily besets (and upsets).

(1)             Hebrews 12:1 – Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

B.       HE DID NOT TEACH ALL THINGS

1.            The second thing that Jesus did not do was teach all things because of unreadiness.

a.     “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now” (John 16:12).

2.            Jesus’ teaching was conditioned and partial to suit the receptivity of His disciples.

a.     There was finality in Him who was the Truth, yet He considered the limitations of His own followers.

(1)             His reticence is matched by our reluctance.

(a)              He wished to reveal much more to them, but their ears were attuned to other things, and their spirits were dull.

1)         The disordered life frightened away the gentle dove of the Holy Spirit, which found no resting place.

3.            It is true now that capacity determines apprehension of that which is revealed.

a.     The apostles were in the Lord’s school for three years, and yet they did not understand when he told them about the approaching cross and resurrection.

(1)             There is a progression in revelation and the same in understanding.

(a)              Later, according to the promise of Jesus, the Holy Ghost would teach them further and unfold the meaning.

4.            Are we responsive and ready for His teaching?

a.     Are we cramped by tradition, and a mind sealed against the entrance of light and illumination?

(1)             Are we willing to obey the truth as it is revealed to us by the Holy Ghost?

(a)              If so, what is the Spirit saying to you today?

C.       HE DID NOT SAVE A CITY

1.            Finally, the third thing that Jesus did not do was save a city because of unwillingness.

a.     “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, (Jesus cried), how often would I have gathered thy children together…and ye would not” (Matthew 23:37).

2.            The lament of the Lord over the Holy City is the gesture of the love of God.

a.     The emotions of Jesus are significant when thus recorded.

3.            Think of the plaintive, weeping note when life is frustrated.

a.     This affection is spurned and met by coldness.

(1)             “How often…”

(a)              Repeatedly God’s overture is made as He seeks the sinner in infinite patience.

1)         But what if the human agent refuses the invitation of the Lord?

4.            “How often would I…, and ye would not.”

a.     There is the clash of human will with divine will.

(1)             A.D. 70 came eventually with its terrible and swift destruction of the city which knew not the day of divine visitation.

(a)              Even Jesus could not save them when they would not be saved!

1)         The unwillingness of moral beings unmasks the cruel blight of sin that warps human life.

III.              CLOSE

A.      WHAT HE WISHES TO DO

1.            There are many things Jesus wishes to do, but He is hindered by these too-well-known factors.

a.     Yet, unbelief may give way to faith…

(1)             Unreadiness may give way to receptivity; and…

(a)              Unwillingness to action.

2.            At the cross, the One who refused to save Himself saved others.

3.            IT is written, “All power is given unto me…” (Matthew 28:18).

a.     Then why does He not exercise it fully?

(1)             That is the mystery of the event when “He humbled Himself…” (Philippians 2:8).

4.            Thus, while seeking to win men, He may be hindered.

a.     The terms of acceptance are still the same:

(1)             Believe,

(2)             Receive,

(3)             Obey.

B.       ALTAR CALL