Intro: I love word studies, and a word you find in the Bible that may not seem as very significant is the word, (without). But in looking at this word we find there are many valuable verses in scripture that use this word. All of them speak of man’s limitations.
Without
· Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin—Hebrews 9:22—God has put a limitation on man that man has been trying to go around for centuries. Man cannot get his sin cleansed without the shedding of blood. God demanded a sacrifice for sin, and today, that sacrifice is the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.
· Without faith it is impossible to please God—Hebrews 11:6—man cannot operate in the natural realm to please God, but must move into the supernatural realm of faith. Faith is not seeing but still believing. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.
· Without holiness no man shall see the Lord—Hebrews 12:14—this is a seldom used scripture in our society, but God demands us to live Holy for He is holy. This simply means that Christ in our lives brings change, a brand new man, the old man must pass away, behold all things must become new. We must not conform to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of our minds—Romans 12:1-2
· Faith without works is dead being alone—James 2:26—now this isn’t a contradiction of by grace are ye saved through faith. It is just the expression of that faith put into action. James says, show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works. You can’t just live in the spiritual realm, you must live in the practical realm. You have got to minister where people live.
· Without love you are nothing—I Corinthians 13:2—you can give your money away, you can give your body to be burned, you can have faith to move mountains, but if you don’t possess love, you are nothing. Everything we do in life must come out of the motive of pure love. Ministry will become a job if love is not the motive.
· Without me (Jesus Christ) you can do nothing—John 15:5---I love this chapter because it explains that we are all only an extension of Jesus Christ. Nothing we do is for self promotion, nothing we accomplish is for our personal benefit. It is all to the glory of Jesus Christ, He is the vine, we are the branches. I like Paul’s attitude, he states in I Corinthians 3:6-7—that one plants, another waters, but God gives the increase, the next verse is classic—it says, he that plants is nothing, he that waters is nothing, but God who gives the increase. No flesh will glory in his presence.
Close: tonight lets operate in faith, let’s operate in holiness, let’s operate in love, but most of all let’s operate in Christ. All hail the power of Jesus name let angels prostrate fall, bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all, bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
There are some things we just can’t live without---
