Without Christ

4-9-04

Title: WITHOUT CHRIST

Text: “WITHOUT CHRIST." (Ephesians 2:12)

Introduction:

I want to use two words from Ephesians 2:12 and that will be our text.

The verse says, “That at that time ye were WITHOUT CHRIST, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”

Our text is: WITHOUT CHRIST.

There are two things I want to talk about today--the misery of those who are WITHOUT CHRIST, and the great deliverance from that misery that God has provided through Jesus.

I want to begin with THE MISERY OF OUR PAST CONDITION.

I believe that we all understand that along with the rest of the world, we were once WITHOUT CHRIST.

There’s no way I can describe for you the great misery that lies in those two words.

There is no neediness like it, no want like it, and for those who die WITHOUT CHRIST; there is no devastation like the devastation it will bring.

WITHOUT CHRIST! I wish that those words were enough to shock the average person, to cause them to realize that they are in a desperate condition when they’re WITHOUT CHRIST.

Friends, I think you know the terrible problems contained within these two words?

The man WITHOUT CHRIST lacks all of those spiritual blessings which only Christ can give.

Jesus is the one who gives life to the believer, but the man who is WITHOUT CHRIST is dead in trespasses and sins.

What can we do?

Should we take the word of God and preach to this dead sinner?

We are ordered to do that, and, therefore, we should try to do it; but as long as he is WITHOUT CHRIST nothing will come of it.

As long as that sinner is WITHOUT CHRIST, there’s not much we can do; we can pray for him, and we can try to keep him in church, but everything we do will be useless.

Until the Holy Spirit comes to that man, he will still be dead in trespasses and sins.

Until Jesus is revealed to him, he cannot be born again and there can be no new life.

Something else to think about is that Jesus is the light of the world.

Light is the gift of Jesus.

"In him was light, and the light was the life of men."

Men lived in darkness until Jesus appeared.

Man himself has no power to get light.

WITHOUT CHRIST there is no light of true spiritual knowledge, no light of true spiritual enjoyment, no light in which the truth can be seen, and there’s no warmth of fellowship.

WITHOUT CHRIST there is no peace.

The person WITHOUT CHRIST is like a rabbet that’s chased by dogs.

It may be able to run like the wind, but the dogs are faster.

It tries to find cover in the pleasures of the world, but the dogs get closer and closer.

It tries to climb up the mountain of good works, but its legs are too weak to carry it to safety.

And until Jesus Christ provided refuge and shelter for this poor creature, it had no peace.

WITHOUT CHRIST there is no rest.

Those WITHOUT CHRIST are like a stormy sea, which cannot rest, and only Jesus can say to that sea, "Peace, be still."

WITHOUT CHRIST there is no safety.

The person is like an abandoned ship in a storm that has no one on board; it may crash upon the rocks, since it has no one to steer it.

In any case, it is at the mercy of wind and waves.

There’s no way it can be safe WITHOUT CHRIST.

I want to say it again, WITHOUT CHRIST, there is no hope.

Men and women WITHOUT CHRIST are like a shipwrecked sailor on some deserted island.

He can see far away, but nothing he sees can give him hope.

If, he imagines that there’s a ship on the horizon, it doesn’t take long before he is disappointed.

He feels like his situation is hopeless.

WITHOUT CHRIST, any person is totally lost, and until they receive Him as their Savior, there’s not a single beam of hope anywhere.

Remember friends, those WITHOUT CHRIST, can do all the religious acts you can imagine, however, they’re of no account.

They are like bags of air, containing nothing that God can accept?

WITHOUT CHRIST, our offerings, just like that of Cain's, will just lie on the stones, and there will not be any sweet-smelling smoke rise to be accepted by God.

WITHOUT CHRIST, your church attendance is a form of slavery.

WITHOUT CHRIST, your prayers are only empty words, your repentance is just wasted tears, your giving and your good deeds are just a coating of thin veneer to hide your sins.