Are You an Enemy of God?

In the midst of writing about his rejoicing and joy concerning the type of church the Thessalonians had become, the Apostle Paul turned his thoughts to the enemies of the church in 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16.

#1. They Fight the Power of God (v15)

They killed the Lord Jesus

They killed the prophets

They persecuted the apostles

Stephen spoke to them this way in Acts 7:51-52: "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers:" Six verses later they stoned him to death.

Lost people today are not just fighting the people of God, but they are fighting the very Power of God those people represent! Power that is mighty to save!

Are you fighting God's power? "ye do always resist the Holy Ghost"

#2. They Forbid the Word of God (v16a)

"that they might be saved"

"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." (John 20:31)

Most lost folks today are not forbidding the Word of God from being preached, but they all ARE forbidding the Word of God from taking root in their heart so that they might be saved.

Are you forbidding God's Word to have its effectual work in your life?

#3. They Fill Up Their Sin Against God (v16b)

"to fill up their sins alway"

As Jesus spoke to the Jews, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do..." John 8:44.

In Genesis 15:16 God noted to Abraham that "the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full". But eventually their iniquity (sin) caught up with them.
God is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Are you filling up your sin against God?

#4 They Face the Wrath of God (v16c)

"for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost"

In Ephesians 5 Paul gives a long list of common sins that people try to get away with. Then he writes in verse 6 "Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience."

Are you facing the wrath of God?

You don't have to face God's wrath. You can be saved and forgiven! It all comes down to faith and belief.

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3:36)

None of us should be God's enemy!

Please, do NOT:

Fight the Power of God

Forbid the Word of God

Fill Up Sin Against God

Face the Wrath of God