<p>5:9 <i>Stand firm in your faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brothers- </i>Strength to endure is given by the encouragement of the example of others. This is exactly why we have the concept of church, of life together- because especially in illiterate society, teaching and encouragement would largely be by direct observation of the example of other believers. See on :3. &quot;Stand firm&quot; is &quot;resist&quot; in James 4:7: &quot;Resist the devil and he will flee from you&quot;. The idea is that if the Christians resisted the persecution, then it would be removed from them- presumably by the Lord's return. The fact He didn't return in the first century would suggest that the early Christian community did not resist as expected. But we can take the principle- that our sufferings are not as unique as we may feel. The &quot;same sufferings&quot; will be experienced by others; indeed 2 Cor. 1:4-8 seems to argue that suffering does repeat in form amongst believers, exactly so that the believers may minister encouragement to each other.</p><p><i>Who are in the world- </i>Throughout the rest of the Roman empire. These Jewish converts were to take encouragement and inspiration from their Gentile brethren, whom they might have been tempted to despise.</p>