but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.  (14) If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.  On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.  (15) But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a their, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters.  (16) Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in the matter.

The Apostle Peter wrote this letter to Christians living in the first century A.D. to encourage them to bear up under the suffering Peter is assuming will come to them as believers of the Gospel.  Peter not only encourages them to endure in the face of insults, slander and abuse but for the faithful to rejoice in their distress.

Peter cautions Christians to NOT fear intimidation and not to be troubled.  Christians have as their authority the name of Jesus who called blessed those who endure for His sake, no matter what the circumstance.  Christ does not leave the faithful to bear their suffering alone – He walks within them.  It can be hard to see the divine plan at work – hard to see beyond  pain and grief to discern God’s sovereignty in present suffering but, the faithful should imitate Christ who depended on prayer and the Spirit in times of trial and temptation.  The Spirit of Glory will refresh the man/woman who suffers for the gospel.

This is the work of our salvation – done by the resting of the Spirit on believers.  The Bible tells us that Jesus warned us against anxiety about this life and fears for our earthly possessions.  Jesus said that true rest comes from knowing that the Father cares for us and will provide us with all we need –  the idea of spiritual rest.   We are told that the fact of persecution for the gospel is an indication of a spiritually prosperous life.  The rest of God allows the believer to function as a Child of God.

Peter further tells his audience that they are to be ready to suffer for being rightly related to God and NOT to suffer for being wrongly related to men – as a thief, murderer or evildoer.

The life and conduct of a Christian is the best argument that he/she does not deserve the suffering the believer bears for the name of Christ.  The Apostle Peter gloried in his privilege to suffer for the name of Christ.  Quoting Robert Leighton:  “Consider, it is but a short while, and the wicked and their scoffs shall vanish; they shall not be.  This shame will presently be over, this disgrace is of short date, but the glory, and the Spirit of glory, are eternal.  What though thou shouldst be poor, and defamed and despised, and be the common mark of scorn and all injuries, yet the end of them all is at hand.”