To Encourage You

1 Peter 3:18-20 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.”

Some years ago, I was discussing with a friend what it must be like to fight in a war. Neither of us had ever served in the armed forces.  We were discussing whether it would be better to be a pilot in the Air Force or an infantryman in the Army.  Facetiously (kind of) we thought about the tradeoffs of fighting the enemy from 30,000 ft above them or being given the command to “fix bayonets.” I think you get the picture.  For some reason it was this discussion that came to mind while meditating on the passage above from 1 Peter. Bear with me.  Up to this point Peter has been writing to persecuted Christians, helping them to see their suffering from a godly perspective.  One of the examples he turns to, and the best he could have possibly used, was the suffering of the One they were following, the Lord Jesus Christ.  We find a good summary statement of Jesus’ life on earth throughout the prophecy of Isaiah, such as in the words found in Isaiah 53:3: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”  The passage above from 1 Peter touches on this same subject but looking in hindsight as it was written on our side of the cross.  Interestingly, it talks about something that Jesus did in that period immediately following his death but prior to the resurrection. It says that His Spirit “went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.”  With these words, Peter is pointing to something that happened over 4,000 years before Christ, i.e., Noah’s flood.

I’ve read varying interpretations by theologians concerning who these “spirits in prison” were that Jesus spoke to.  Some say they were demons that were wreaking havoc on the earth before the flood. Others believe it is speaking of the people who died at that time, which included every person on the face of the earth except for eight people, i.e., Noah and his immediate family.  What occurred to me as I read this was the incredible tradeoff that is being presented to the suffering believers. Peter is telling them to endure their suffering by looking unto Jesus.  He suffered horrifically while He walked on earth, especially in the period leading up to the cross and during the approximately six hours he hung there before He died.  It was terrible, as was the suffering of many of those to whom Peter was writing. However, Peter wanted every believer to realize that there was a limit to their suffering.  That was true then and it is true today. 

Some people suffer from the time of their birth in this world with maladies such as cerebral palsy, cancer, blindness, disfigurement, or who knows how many other terrible maladies. There are Christians right at this moment who are suffering appalling deprivation in prison camps in North Korea, Eritrea, and many other countries that are very hostile to Christianity around the world. It’s been that way since time immemorial, e.g., the believers who were fed to the lions or burned at the stake in the early centuries of the Church.  But all of this suffering has either ended or will soon end for every single believer. It may seem interminable from a human perspective, but compared to eternity it is but a breath.  And that eternity will be glorious. Paul put it this way in Romans 8:18: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” 

But then let’s think about the tradeoff.  For this Peter points to those “spirits in prison” that Jesus proclaimed victory over.  THEIR suffering, whether it be demons, the people who died in the flood, or both (which I tend to believe), is both endless and indescribably painful.  Jesus spoke about the place of the damned as a place of weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.  In the account of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19 ff we are told this: “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.  And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’  But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’”

Remember, this is Jesus speaking, the same Jesus who spoke to those spirits in prison.  Think about the fact that at the time of Jesus’ proclamation, those spirits had already been suffering in that supernatural prison for OVER 4,000 YEARS. And THEY’RE STILL THERE, some 2,000 years LATER!  And you know what, they will never leave – ever – for all eternity.  Such is the suffering of those who reject Christ! 

So do you see the tradeoff?  A lifetime (at a maximum) of suffering on earth to follow Christ, or an eternity of suffering for those who would reject Him.  I don’t know about you, but there’s not much of a choice if you ask me.  But we all have to make that choice, and to not believe that you need to do so is a choice in and of itself.  Yes, the decision to follow Christ involves some major tradeoffs. It can mean rejection by friends and family. It can mean ostracization, torture, and even death. Or it can be the same kind of suffering everyone else in this world faces in the normal course of life.  But for the believer, that suffering, whatever it might be, will soon come to an end.  Yet, what is that to compare with suffering for all eternity? God wants us all to think about this. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had many of the things written that are in the Scriptures.  But more than that, He would have you, if you are now an unbeliever, to turn from certain destruction and repent.  This same God Who has presented this stark tradeoff has also said this: “As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11).  And this God, Who is no respecter of persons, is saying the very same thing to every Gentile as well.