Haters Gonna Hate

We finished last week talking about the guarantee of Scripture that we will face persecution of some kind, at some point as Christians. That thought leads Paul into the section of Scripture we’re looking at tonight.

The Thessalonians are being persecuted while they try to live faithfully for God. They’re probably frustrated and/or disheartened that people doing the wrong thing are getting away with it and they are having difficulty for doing the right thing. Can you relate to that?…

Paul is meeting the Thessalonians in this place to encourage them in verses 5-12.

Read 1:5-12 and PRAY

Jesus will return and those who have persevered will receive their reward and those who persecuted his people will receive theirs.

Encouragement for the Afflicted

We can be encouraged when we endure persecution because that’s evidence of our salvation!

It’s like pimples! What does every kid want? To get bigger, right? To be older. Then when you start getting to the magical life stage called puberty, you start getting pimples! Little red things pop up and they hurt and you feel like you look a little crazy (but honestly they really aren’t as bad as we think). But, the pimples are a sign that what a kid has been wanting, to grow and get bigger, is happening! It’s unpleasant, but there is encouragement to be found in it!

“this” I believe is referring back to verse 4.

Philippians 1:27–30 ESV

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Being steadfast and faithful does not make you worthy of God’s Kingdom, but it demonstrates that you are! And it strengthens your faith.

Kind of like how bench pressing 300 pounds does not make you strong, but it shows that you are already strong and makes you stronger.

When someone laughs at you. When someone tells you you’re wrong. Tells you believing the Bible makes you hateful and prejudiced. If you are ever mistreated for being faithful, continue to be steadfast in your faith. And when you are, remember that this is evidence that God has considered you worthy of his Kingdom!

And trust God when He tells us that we won’t feel like we were short changed in the end!

Relief for His Saints

When Jesus brings in his Kingdom, we will have relief.

There was a Christian music festival at Shelby Farms in Memphis the summer of 2001, so before you were born and I’m old. Me and a bunch of friends were camping at Shelby Farms for the three day festival and as you can imagine, it got hot. One day we decided we were going to go to a guy’s house who was with us who had a pool because we were so hot and miserable. We were so excited about the pool and we had this idea to make it even better, we cranked the heat all the way up in the car on the way there…

We dealt with how awful the heat was because we knew that relief was coming!

God has promised us that relief is coming and we will not feel like justice was not served or that our faithfulness was not worth it!

Verse ten tells us what our reward will be. Jesus will come in his glory and we will marvel at Him!

It will be the most amazing thing you’ve even seen…

The reward is not anything He is bringing (though He is bringing his Kingdom and it will be awesome), the reward is Jesus. His presence with us!

Revelation 21:3–4 ESV

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Just like me and my dumb friends were in that station wagon with the heat cranked all the way up and it was 90º outside but we were focussed on that cold pool, we must live in a world hostile toward God focussed on God’s Kingdom and the relief coming.

God’s justice that is coming, and the other side of that justice is what we’re talking about next.

Punishment for the Strangers

Those who persecuted God’s people, all those who did not know Him, will be punished.

It’s not a pretty picture that we get in these verses.

“everlasting destruction” does not mean they will be destroyed and then be gone for forever, it’s more like they will be being destroyed constantly for forever.

Look in verse 9, just like the reward for his people is being in his presence, the punishment for others is that they will be away from his presence.

We can be comforted that God’s justice will be served, but we should also be heartbroken for the lost!

We have sins that must be paid for as well, but all who put their faith in Jesus had their sins paid for on the cross!

We are called to share the good news with everyone, including those who persecute us, in hopes that they will place their faith in Jesus and repent.

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Be glad that God’s justice will be served and that those who persecute you for being a Christian will be punished, but also pray that their punishment will be taken by Jesus on the cross. Share the Gospel with them and pray for them.

If you do not know God, have not obeyed the Gospel of our Lord Jesus and believed in Him for forgiveness and righteousness, then this is talking about you…

Prayer for the Mean Time

Paul tells us what we need to be doing as we wait for Jesus to come in his righteousness. We continue, powered by the Holy Spirit, living for God’s glory in this world.

Our kids have some friends coming to spend the night this weekend… They keep asking how many days until they come over. They’re just so excited and it’s all they can think about. But they can’t just sit around and wait for three sleeps for their friends to get to our house. They’ve got to go on with life, doing what they are supposed to do until then. That’s what we do.

We seek to do good, to do works of faith. To share the Gospel. To serve others. To serve in the church. To help the poor. Show love to others. We do all these things so that Jesus will be glorified in us today and when He returns.

Pray verses 11-12 over them to close.