1 Peter 4:12–19
On October 20, 1743, a mob seized John Wesley in Wednesbury, Staffordshire. He had done nothing criminal. He had preached the gospel in the area, local opposition (stirred up in part by the parish clergy) had turned violent, and the mob came for him because of his message, not his conduct.
They dragged him through the dark and rain to two magistrates, and both refused to intervene. Then a second mob from Walsall overtook the first. Wesley spoke quietly to the men around him, and before the night was over some of those who had come to harm him escorted him safely back to Wednesbury.
Wesley later wrote in his journal that he kept the same presence of mind throughout as if he had been sitting in his study. He wasn't surprised by what happened. He had understood from the start what preaching Christ in that particular Babylon would likely cost.
Peter wants his readers to understand the same thing. When a Christian suffers for Christ, he shares in Christ's sufferings. What does that mean for us?
The Fiery Trial Is What You Should Expect
"Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you" (4:12). Peter corrects his readers' surprise before he says anything else, because surprise at suffering is a theological mistake before it's an emotional one.
The word for "fiery trial" (πύρωσις) calls to mind the refiner's fire of Malachi 3:2–3, where fire tests and purifies rather than destroys. Peter has already prepared his readers for this, telling them that their faith, tested by fire, is "much more precious than gold that perishes" (1:7).
So the believer in the fire doesn't only ask, "Why is this happening?" He asks, "What is this producing?" Peter's answer is joy: "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" (4:13). The suffering we share with Christ points ahead to the glory we'll share with Him.
Polycarp, the aged bishop of Smyrna, lived in the very region Peter addressed. When the authorities came for him around AD 155, his disciples urged him to hide, but he told them he must be burned alive. When the proconsul offered him freedom if he would curse Christ, he replied that he had served Christ eighty-six years and received no wrong from Him. How could he blaspheme his King who saved him?
Polycarp wasn't bewildered at the end. He had spent a lifetime thinking clearly about what following Christ might cost, and when the bill came due, he paid it without the added weight of surprise.
So when suffering comes, notice your first instinct. If it's surprise, you may have been treating suffering as an intrusion rather than a normal part of following a crucified Lord.
Peter's command isn't to feel differently but to think differently, and the feelings will follow. This week, name the suffering you're carrying and ask what it is producing in you and what it confirms about your union with Christ.
Why You Suffer Matters
"But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters" (4:15). Peter draws a sharp line. Suffering for wrongdoing carries no promise; it's just the consequence of sin, and Peter doesn't dress it up.
Suffering as a Christian is the opposite: "Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter" (4:16). The word "Christian" appears only three times in the New Testament (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Pet. 4:16), and it seems to have started as an outsiders' label. Peter turns Babylon's insult into a name to wear without shame.
To the one who suffers for that name, Peter makes a remarkable promise: "If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you" (4:14). The language echoes Isaiah 11:2, where the Spirit rests on the Messiah. The suffering believer isn't abandoned; the same Spirit rests on him.
Peter had seen both kinds of suffering up close. In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira died under God's judgment, not for their faith but for lying to the Holy Spirit, and Peter was the one who confronted them. In the same chapter, Peter and the apostles were beaten for preaching Christ, and they left the council "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name" (Acts 5:41).
Peter knew the name "Christian" isn't a shield that turns every consequence into persecution. He isn't being harsh when he raises the question. He's being honest, because the comfort of 4:14 belongs to those whose suffering actually comes from their allegiance to Christ.
So before you claim that comfort, ask honestly why you're suffering. If it's the result of your own sin, stubbornness, or foolish choices, own it; deserved consequences aren't persecution. If it's the result of faithfulness, wear the name without shame, because the Spirit of glory rests on you.
Entrust Your Soul to Your Faithful Creator
"For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God" (4:17). Peter echoes Ezekiel 9:6, where judgment begins at God's sanctuary. The church's present suffering is a form of God's judgment, not to destroy but to purify, and the judgment awaiting "those who do not obey the gospel of God" is of another order entirely.
That's why Peter can close with this command: "Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator" (4:19). The title "Creator" (κτίστης) appears nowhere else in the New Testament. The One who made your soul is the One to whom you give it, and His faithfulness is reason enough to place it in His hands.
Jeremiah Burroughs, one of the Westminster divines, preached the sermons that became The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment in the mid-1640s, while England was torn by civil war. He distinguished contentment that depends on good circumstances from contentment that rests on God's character whatever the circumstances.
For Burroughs, the contented Christian is one whose will has been melted into God's will. That's what Peter commands in 4:19. You don't wait for peace to arrive as a feeling; you place your soul deliberately into the hands of the One who made it.
The verb "commit" (παρατιθέσθωσαν) is an act of the will. It's the word Jesus used from the cross when He prayed, "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit" (Luke 23:46). Your Creator knows you more thoroughly than anyone who threatens you, and His faithfulness doesn't depend on your circumstances improving.
So this week, take the suffering you're carrying and consciously place it in His hands. Then keep doing good, because entrusting your soul to God and continuing to do good aren't two separate acts. In 4:19 they're one.
The One Who Made You Keeps You
The fiery trial isn't a surprise, and for the believer who suffers for Christ, it isn't punishment. It's participation in the sufferings of the One who was raised from the dead and now sits at God's right hand.
So stop asking only why this is happening and start asking what it's producing. Examine honestly why you're suffering, and if it's for Christ, bear His name without shame. Then commit your soul to your faithful Creator, not as a feeling you wait for, but as a decision you make.
The One who made you is the One keeping you.