1 Peter 4:12-19

In this second series of exhortations to Christian duty as that is affected by the prospect of the end, Peter takes up again the case of persecution which he has touched on more than once already. The present statement, however, is neither a simple reiteration of former statements, nor a mere interlude. It gathers into a focus various things which have been previously said on the subject of suffering, particularly at the hand of the slanderous and persecuting heathen (1 Peter 1:6-7Pe 2:19-21, 1 Peter 3:16-17; 1 Peter 4:1-4). It offers at the same time a still deeper insight into what tribulation endured for Christ's sake means, and gives additional reasons for regarding it neither as a perplexity nor as loss, but as a discipline which is both intelligible and honourable now, and which will yield a priceless return when Christ reappears. The truths, therefore, now brought under the eye of those threatened Christians are such as these that the trials of the righteous come only by God's will, that their object is the probation of faith, that they bring with them the honour of fellowship with the suffering Lord, and that they are the earnest and measure of a glory yet to be revealed. But if they have the promise of such blessedness, it is, as Peter urges again in the most pointed terms, only if indeed they are not induced by our own fault, but borne simply for righteousness' sake.