Can you see old messages on a SIM card free phone?
Assuming you didn't wipe your phone before removing the SIM card, your messages (and everything else) will still be on the phone. If your phone is still registered in "Find my iPhone" and has network connectivity (either through a new SIM card or through WiFi), you can wipe it from your iCloud account. See iCloud: Find My iPhone overview and iCloud: Erase your device for details about the procedure.