Paul's Two Contrasts Of The Sinner And The Saint

To kill one time is bad enough, but some of the serial killers have killed 30 to 40 people.

Illus: Every time they catch a serial killer they generally give them extensive psychological tests to try to find out what motivated them to do such things.

As Christians, we know that man and animals were created on the same day. We also know, if a person is not gloriously born again, he can be as vicious as any animal that has ever lived. It would be a marvelous thing to turn the television on and hear the network news media state clearly that the reason the serial killers do what they do is because of the depraved, sinful nature they were born with and then close the news broadcast by saying that to keep that from happening in the future, we need to tell sinful men - THEY NEED TO BE BORN AGAIN!

It is the sinful nature of people that motivates them to live as sinners, and when they do not restrain evil tendencies, the resulting actions can be devastating. Sinners sin because they are sinners.

Illus: The reason a duck quacks is because he is a duck.

The reason a dog barks is because he is a dog.

The reason a cat meows is because he is a cat.

And, the reason a sinner sins is because he is a sinner.

We Christians know what motivates an evil man, but let us look at the positive side and ask, "What is it that motivates a godly man to live a godly life?"

For instance, what motivated the apostle Paul to live a godly life.

Illus: I believe the book of 1 Thessalonians tells us one thing that motivated him to be the man of God he was. If you will notice, every chapter in 1 Thessalonians ends with a reference to Christ's return. Paul was convinced that Christ could come any day he lived.

There is nothing that will motivate God's church to serve Him to the fullest like knowing that Christ might come today.

The church of Thessalonica was not motivated with that same zeal. That was why Paul was writing to them.

He knew they were...

-Living recklessly spiritually.

-Abusing the public worship service.

-Needing to increase in LOVE and HARMONY.

Paul knew they had those serious problems and he dealt with those problems by contrasting TWO things that would show them the difference between the life of A SAVED PERSON and the life of A LOST PERSON. First...

I. HE SPOKE OF THE CONTRAST BETWEEN DARKNESS AND LIGHT

He used these because they are direct opposites. There is a big difference between LIGHT and DARKNESS and there is also a big difference between CHRISTIANS and SINNERS.

In verses 1-5 we read, "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness."

Paul told the Thessalonians that there was a sharp contrast between saved people and unsaved people. Notice, he said that...

A. Sinners are children of DARKNESS There are many references to this truth.

In Ephesians 4:18 we see the sinner's DARKNESS is a darkness of IGNORANCE, "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart."

In John 3:19-20 we see the sinner's DARKNESS is a PREFERRED DARKNESS, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved."

In Matthew 8:12 we see the sinner's DARKNESS is an ETERNAL DARKNESS. "But the children of the kingdom (of Israel) shall be cast into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

The Bible refers to sinners as children of darkness because their evil lifestyle reflects they have not seen, or have rejected, the LIGHT of the gospel.

When a man walks in the dark, he can do harm to himself and to others. For example:

Illus: Someone said, "The reason God places toes on our feet is so that when we walk across a dark bedroom, we can use our toes to find the bedposts." We have all probably bumped up against something in the dark, and usually it hurt.