Some Things Jesus Did Not Say

~ SOME THINGS JESUS DID NOT SAY ~

Often people talk of what Jesus said. But there are many things people THINK Jesus said that He did not say! Jesus did not say, “Ye shall be sincere in your beliefs and your sincerity shall make you free.” But He did say, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). It is possible for good people to be sincere in their religious convictions and be sincerely wrong.

Jesus did not say, “Upon this rock I will build my churches and men shall worship at the one of their choice.” But He did say, “Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

Jesus did not say, “Whosoever divorces his wife for any cause and marries another woman is free from adultery and can go on his way.” But Jesus did say, “Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery” (Matthew 19:9). The looseness with which marriage vows are taken and broken today is a disgrace too great to be measured.

Jesus did not say, “If you love me, you can do as you please.” But He did say, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Even in Acts 2:27, the people knew they needed to do something. We must carefully and prayerfully read and study His will in order to know what to do to keep His commandments.

Jesus did not say, “A man can worship God according to his natural leanings; according to the way he is best able to express himself.” But Jesus did say, “God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Since the “truth” is God’s Word (John 17:17), our way of worshipping God must be shown in the New Testament, God’s will for man in this age. Can you find New Testament authority for every practice you have in worshipping God?

Jesus did not say, “Be tolerant of religious error; all men have a religious right to be wrong, after all, no harm is done.” But He did say, “Woe unto you, scribe and Pharisees, hypocrites!...Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye excape the damnation of hell?” (Matthew 23:13, 33). “Not everyone that saith unto me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.” (Acts 17:30). To which will you pay attention -- to what Jesus did not say, or what He did say?