Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 4:12-19 (day six)
14 If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. 1 Peter 4:14
That’s a strange thought, isn’t it? It’s not new; Peter heard Jesus teach the same thing, AND he experienced it first hand. This blessing, according to Peter, is not only a future reward but is experienced, in part, in the present because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. In other words Christians endure suffering not only by clinging to promises of future glory in Jesus, but through God’s gracious Spirit in the present.
I think the Spirit of God blesses us in suffering by giving us glimpses of the beauty and majesty of Jesus. Steven, the first Christian martyr, by the Holy Spirit saw the throne room of God while being stoned. He was blessed for the glorious Spirit of God rested upon him.
What a wonderful promise, and what marvelous grace! We are not left alone in our suffering, but when we do, we see and savor Jesus more fully though the Holy Spirit.
Concerning Stephen’s addressing the Sanhedrin and his subsequent stoning described in paragraph two above, Acts 7:54–60 records the following excerpt:
54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (NIV)
Note that Stephen’s vision of the throne of God with the standing Jesus occurs before the stoning (Acts 7:57–60).