2 Thessalonians 1:5-7a

v5: Perseverance in suffering is a way that God makes us fit for heaven and is proof that we are citizens of heaven. "If religious faith is worth anything, it is worth everything, and those who cannot find it in their hearts to suffer for it either have no faith at all, have none worth having, or do not know how to value it."

v6: Just as believers show they are heading for eternal life by their faith and perseverance, so those who have "a spirit of persecution and hostility" toward God and His people show they are heading for eternal misery and ruin. "Every person carries with them, and carries out of the world with them, either their heaven or their hell."

v7a: "Although the troubles of the righteous may be many now, God will save them out of them all," and the future rest in heaven will greatly make up for all "that we may lose or suffer for the name of Christ in this world."