Without Christ: A Sunday Sermon

(I have been trying to post this for over an hour now! Terrible problem with pop-ups and computer crashes. I am starting to think that Satan does not want anyone to read this post!)

Nearly every Sunday you will find the Pure Water Hollow clan leaving the homestead for a time of community worship, prayer and fellowship. We currently drive about 15 miles to the church that God has placed us in at this time. We pass many other Bible believing churches on our way, but we are confident that we have found the one where God wants us to serve. In this small country church I am one of three preachers. None of us are seminary trained and we all earn our living in the secular world, although I am not opposed to those who are in the ministry “full time”.

I am usually called on to preach about two to four times a month, most of the time with no advance knowledge. The church believes strongly in the man of God being “instant in season and out of season.” Last Sunday, both our pastor and the other preacher were out of town, so I had a pretty good idea that I would be asked to deliver the message. The Lord gave me a good sermon and I have decided to share the basic sermon I preached last Sunday here on the Pure Water Hollow Homestead blog. It is not a word for word transcription or anything like that. (We do not tape the sermons, even though that is a great idea!) But rather what I am posting here is the basic gist of the message, and perhaps some of the points are ones that I now wish that I had given Sunday, but actually only thought of them while typing this. God knows what we need and when! The basic 5 points are the same I gave Sunday; they are just maybe elaborated a bit differently here.

I enjoyed receiving this message from God and I enjoyed preaching it. I have also thoroughly enjoyed typing it all down for this blog, even though it is taken a vast amount of time! I originally split it up into two posts so that neither one would be so long, but I later went back and combined them like they should be. I hope and pray that it will encourage those of you who need encouraging and convict those of you who need convicting!



What is it like to be without God? What would it be like if Jesus Christ was not a part of my life? In Ephesians 2:12 we read a description of what it is like:

“That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the common wealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”
This is a bleak picture of what life is like for those without Christ. They are aliens to God’s people, strangers to God’s promises, and they have no hope! I’m glad the passage continues in verses 13 and 14:

“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;”
What a difference Jesus Christ makes in a person’s life! Yet many people are without Christ in their lives today. They feel that they cannot do without so many things, yet choose to do without the one most important thing! I’ve heard many people comment that they could not do without their television, or computer, or their morning cup of coffee. What about Christ? Also there are many people who do belong to Christ, yet choose to live their lives so far below what He intends for them, that they are living their lives as if they were without Christ! What a shame!

There are many things we could say about life without Christ, but I would like to compare what it was like for the apostles to be without Christ, literally, after He died and before His resurrection, with what it is like to be without Christ today, in our own lives.

We will look at John 20:19-31 and find that without Christ we are living life without 5 important aspects that we need in order to have a home in heaven and to be able to serve Him properly on earth. Without Christ we are:

I Without Courage

II Without Peace

III Without Joy

IV Without Purpose

V Without Forgiveness
This passage (John 20:19-31) shows us what the disciples were doing 3 days after Jesus had died. They did not understand that He had to die to be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. They did not understand that He was going to be resurrected on the third day. At this moment, at the beginning of the passage, they were confused and had little hope and probably thought that they may be the next to be put to death. But I am glad most of them assembled together. I believe we need fellowship with other believers, especially when we are confused and down heartened. We need one another. (But that is going off into a different sermon.)

I. Without Christ, We Are Without Courage
V19a “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews,…”As far as they knew they were assembled without Christ and since the scripture states that they kept the doors shut because of their fear we can see that without Christ they were without courage. It is true in our lives as well. There is a type of courage that people can have and not necessarily have Christ in their lives. I thank the Lord for men and women who have the courage to run into a burning building to save lives, or the police officer having the courage to make the drug bust to keep the community safe. They do their jobs, even though they are putting their own lives on the line, and they need a type of courage to do it.

But the kind of courage I am talking about is a moral courage. Like the courage to take a stand and do the right thing, even when it is unpopular. Having Christ in our lives gives us the courage to be honest when everyone else is cheating, or to stand up for the lives of the unborn when all around us are pro-abortion, or to stand up for the Biblical definition of marriage as being one man with one woman, even if people accuse us of hate speech, or to take a stand against the sale of alcohol when there is much community pressure to have it legalized. (I am thankful that we still have dry counties in eastern Kentucky. We live in one and our church is in another, but the forces of evil never cease attempting to get liquor in our communities. Every so often there is a concerted push to make alcohol sales legal and if the Christian community ever fails to use the courage that having Christ affords, we will see liquor stores and bars around every curve!)

Another area that comes to mind this time of year where true courage is needed revolves around the celebration of Halloween. My family took the unpopular stand long ago to not join in with the world concerning celebrating Halloween. We have never decorated for the holiday, our children have never gone trick-or-treating, and we do not attend any parties that may contain Halloween “fun”. It is not right for Christians to celebrate the day that practicing witches and Satanist consider their most sacred high day of the year! It is a glorification of the dark and evil world of the occult. I know that the Christian “church” attempted to take the holiday back from the pagans by calling November 1st All Saints Day and the 31st All Hallows (Saints) Eve and that kind of a celebration would be fine. But the idea did not stick. I’ve not heard of anyone dressing up like a ninja turtle and going house to house yelling “trick or treat” in honor of their dearly departed great grandmother who was a Christian! Even trying hard to leave out all the witches and ghosts, most of the time Trick-or-Treating only teaches children to be greedy and demanding and to be upset if someone gives them an apple instead of a Resee Cup! Very little good can come from the celebration of Halloween. If you must participate in Trick-or Treat I would suggest investing in some kid-friendly tracts from your local Christian bookstore and along with the candy, drop a tract about salvation into their bag. There has been other years that I have preached whole sermons about the evils of Halloween but that is not what this sermon is about, and I have chased that rabbit long enough!

We are talking about moral courage to go against the world’s values, and if you take a stand against a popular, fun holiday like Halloween, or you stand up for anything that is contrary to the world’s perverted sense of right and wrong, you will need the courage that comes from having Christ in your life!

We could go on and on with examples of times that we need the moral courage of Christ to take a stand. Those instances are not comfortable and it is easy to be silent, but we do not need to fear if we are with Christ!

“God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and of a sound mind.” 2nd Tim. 1:7And as Moses told Joshua, “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee nor forsake thee.” Deut. 31:6

II Without Christ, We Are Without Peace

V19 “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.”
Peace is something the world is looking for. Peace in the Middle East, yes, but also peace down in our individual hearts. A deep settled peace that causes you to know that all will be ok, no matter what. Peace in knowing that everything is in the master’s hands and that I have a home in heaven! Without Christ it is impossible to have peace with God.

Jesus spoke about peace. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27
Wow! Did you notice that Jesus said that we could have His peace? He exhibited peace even in the midst of being beaten and spat upon. He could have called the angels to take Him off that cross and destroy the world if He wanted to, but he opened not His mouth against them. He had peace in knowing that He was accomplishing the Father’s will. We, too, can have that kind of peace, if we are with Christ! Even when taking unpopular courageous stands, we have peace because it is His peace. “My peace I give unto you.”
Jesus also recognized in that verse that the world has its brand of peace and that His is far superior. His is a lasting, eternal peace, while the peace the world offers is fleeting and worthless. People look for peace in the bottom of a bottle of alcohol or pills and they may feel some type of peace as long as they are in a stupor and forget about their problems. But when the "buzz" is gone, the problems are still there. Some people seek peace through divorce and believe they will have a peaceful life with a new spouse, only to find things much the way they were before. Spending thousands of dollars to satisfy all of one’s material wants does not bring about the desired peace, only more debt.

Homesteading and living close to nature will not bring lasting, eternal peace, either. You can feel so much closer to God when living a simpler life and there may be many peaceful moments. But if you don’t know where you will spend eternity after you die, you will not have the peace you need. Without Christ you are without peace.

“These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
The Bible also points out that this kind of peace is hard to understand in Phillipians 4:7:

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep you hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

We can see in verse 19 that the disciples were without courage and without peace when they were without Christ. We, too are without the moral courage to do what is right and without the eternal peace that passeth all understanding, when we live our lives without Christ. As we continue with verse 20 we see that...


III. Without Christ, We Are Without Joy
V20 “And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.”
Joy is closely related to peace and is also highly sought after by the world. Many people mistake joy with happiness. Happiness is dependent upon outside circumstances while true joy is dependent on that inner peace we were talking about. You cannot have fullness of joy in your life apart from God.

“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Psalm 16:11
Drugs, alcohol, new sex partners, material goods; none of those sorts of things really bring joy either. There can be joyful moments even in those things, but fullness of joy is with God. Jesus discussed full joy:

“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” John 15:11
Both of these verses are true because Jesus and God is one. Notice that in the Old Testament fullness of joy came about by being in the presence of God but in the New Testament full joy comes about by God’s presence being in us!

Before, Jesus had said, “My peace” and now He says “My joy”! What a privilege to have His peace in us and also have His joy in us! When thinking about what the “My joy” Christ was referring to we recall an interesting verse in Hebrews 12:2:

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
There is a lot in this verse but notice that it links Christ’s joy with the cross; “the joy that was set before him”. What joy could there be in the cross for Him? It was an excruciating, humiliating death! The joy was in obeying the will of His father and seeing the salvation of you and me!  He also knew that the "throne of God" was set before Him, which brought Him joy. There is joy in the presence of the angels when one sinner repents! (Luke 15:10) When a person repents of their sins and comes to Christ for salvation is what brings God joy!

So true, full joy is knowing Christ, doing the Father’s will, and seeing people saved, but to grasp the whole depths of what that deep settled joy is all about is difficult to form into words! The apostle Peter worded it this way:

“Whom having not seen, ye love: in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” 1 Peter 1:8

So, without Christ we are without peace and joy. With Christ we have a peace that passeth all understanding and a joy unspeakable and full of glory!


IV. Without Christ, we are without Purpose
V21 “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”
Without Christ and His salvation, it is very hard to sense any real purpose for our existence. One’s life purpose is especially elusive if you listen to some in the world of science who have pushed the theory of evolution into all aspects of society. If there is no Creator and everything in the universe came about by some cosmic “fluke”, then why are we here? If mankind is only a highly evolved animal, why should we live any differently from the animal kingdom?  No purpose in life.

People sometimes try to find their purpose in life through their occupations and their whole identity is surrounded by that job. If they loose that job or when they retire, they tend to loose all sense of purpose for their life! We allow our occupation to define us too much I think. Without Christ, that is probably the best we can do.

Since becoming a Christian, a whole new world of living has been opened up to me! The knowledge that God loves me so much that He sent Jesus on the cross to die for me is exhilarating! The first and foremost purpose for my life involves asking for the forgiveness of my sins and repenting, and accepting the free gift of salvation offered by Christ through the cross! The knowledge that I was created in the likeness and image of God, on purpose and for His purpose, is liberating for me! I know that whatever occupation I may currently hold, the real purpose for me is to serve God by serving mankind, wherever I am! Jesus had a purpose for those early disciples and He has a purpose for my life as well. Without Christ, I was without any real purpose, and I was miserable, not understanding what my role on planet earth was supposed to be. Solomon summed it up this way in the beginning of Ecclesiastes:

"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher , vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?" Ecc. 1:2-3
But by the end of the book, he understood what the proper purpose of man was intended to be:

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecc. 12:13

V. Without Christ, we are without Forgiveness
As we continue in the passage from John 20 we see that Thomas was not with the other disciples when Christ appeared to them. He is still without Christ a week later. Not only is he a doubter at this point, but he is without courage, peace, joy, or purpose!

V24,25 “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Did’-y-mus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
We refer to this disciple often as “Doubting Thomas” but he was really “Unbelieving Thomas” which is far worse. The sin of unbelief is the sin that causes a person to be damned in Hell! We all love John 3:16 because it is so uplifting and encouraging. Read John 3:18, just two verses later in the same passage:

“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
So at this point we could call Thomas “Condemned Thomas” instead of “Doubting Thomas.” I am glad that the verse also said, “He that believeth on him is not condemned.”
You probably know the rest of the story about Thomas from the passage we are looking at in John 20. In it I see forgiveness that can only come from Christ.

V26-29 “And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
Without Christ in our lives, we are without forgiveness. This is very bad because we know from the Bible and through observation that “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”( Romans 3:23) and “The wages of sin is death”(Romans 6:23).
Without forgiveness through Christ we are found guilty in our sins, and in no way worthy enough to enter heaven and be with God! But just like Jesus gave Thomas another chance, He also will give us another chance. The Bible tells us that God “is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2Peter 3:9) Longsuffering means that He is patiently waiting for you to see your need for a Saviour and come to Him. We need the forgiveness that only comes from repenting of our sins and accepting Christ as our Lord and Saviour!

There is one last verse in this text that we need to look at, and it is a fitting conclusion.

V31 “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
With Christ we can have real life! A life of courage, peace, joy, purpose and forgiventss!

Without Christ, we are without courage, peace, joy, purpose, or forgiveness. With Christ in our lives we have His courage, His peace, His joy and we can take part in His purpose! All of this is possible because we have His forgiveness!

So why are so many people set on living life their own way? They have nothing that really matters! You can do without many things, but you should not do without Jesus Christ as your Saviour! Repent of your sin and accept Him today!

And why are so many “Christian” people living their lives as if they do not have Christ on their side (or inside)? They have no courage to stand up for what is right and they live their lives in fear and anxiety. They are stumbling around without God’s purpose in their lives and some even go back to a life of sin as if they had not experienced His forgiveness. This should not be! Even though you call yourself a “Christian”, if you look like the world, act like the world, and live like the world, then you might just be, in fact, without Christ in your life! Repent of your sin and come to Him today!

My wife, Life, sings a song you may have heard before:

Without Him, I could do nothing,
Without Him I’d surely fail;
Without Him I would be drifting
Like a ship without a sail.

Without Him I would be dying,
Without Him I’d be enslaved;
Without Him life would be hopeless,
But with Jesus, thank God, I’m saved.

Jesus, O Jesus!
Do you know Him today?
Do not turn Him away.
Without Him, how lost I would be.