This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which you also suffer.
That ye may be counted worthy — Your patient endurance of these sufferings is a proof that ye are rendered meet for that glory on account of which ye suffer and, in a true Gospel sense of the word, worthy of that glory; for he who is a child of God, and a partaker of the Divine nature, is worthy of God's kingdom, not because he has done any thing to merit it, but because he bears the image of God; and the image is that which gives the title.