Peter reiterates and summarizes the main exhortation themes of his epistle in this section. Those who took to heart this epistle would not have been shocked, disillusioned, or broken by persecution sure to come for many in the early church. In fact, early church history bears witness to the opposite, sometimes in the extreme. There were those who sought to be martyred as the pursuit of high Christian virtue even as there were many who denied the faith under intense cultural and physical coercion. Between these two extremes, Peter advocates for a sober resolve and an abiding joy in every circumstance recognizing that the decree of a sovereign God is so ordered as to bring about His glorious purposes even through hardship. Tying his admonitions to the gospel at every point, Peter reminds us of the purposes and plan of God through the suffering and death of His Son at the crucifixion. In this way, he joins the chorus of New Testament instruction like the words we read in Hebrews 12:1-2, where we are encouraged to: “look to Jesus..... who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross”. We share in the sufferings of Christ as believers in every age – not as further means of atonement – that work is finished. Instead, the trials that He has ordained for His church are the means whereby He will glorify Himself in additional ways for example: To purify His bride, to deepen our dependence on Him, to testify of the strength of faith to others, to produce Godly character and growth in holiness, etc.. Today we learn this principle from a man who fell prey to his own flesh and later was restored unto powerful apostolic witness...