Strengthened for Suffering - Pt 4

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. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Peter 3:18-22 ESV).

Third, we may be encouraged as we remember the days of Noah (vv. 18-20).these verses have been controversial among scholars. I think it refers to the time when people in Noah's day were disobedient, mocking him as a righteous man obeying God, and that Jesus, in the spirit, was sent by God in those days to preach to those people through Noah. Just like in 1:11 the Spirit of Jesus was in the Old Testament prophets predicting his coming, so the Spirit of Jesus was in Noah preaching to the disobedient people of Noah's day. They are NOW in prison (cf. Luke 16:24). I don't take this verse to refer to Jesus' going to the place of the dead and preaching to the spirits there. There were thousands and millions of spirits there who had not lived in the days of Noah. So I take it mean that Jesus went to preach in the days of Noah to people who, because they rejected that preaching, are NOW in prison awaiting final judgment. There are three ways that this strengthens us for suffering. 1. One is that it assures of the greatness of Christ. He is not bound by space and time. He was there preaching thousands of years before and he is here speaking today. He will be with you, as he said, to the end of the age wherever you may suffer, both now and forever. 2. Second, it is better to obey him and suffer than to disobey and be cast into the prison of verse 19. That is what happened to the spirits in Noah's day. They thought it was foolish to heed the call of God like Noah did. So they stayed comfortable and respectable until the rain started. 3. Third, it is no disadvantage to you to be a small rejected minority. That's the point where Peter in the ark "a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water." It must have felt foolish to be such a small minority. If you are a minority with God, you will be saved and the end of it all will be gloriously good. As the suffering comes, don't throw away your confidence.