Five Pieces of Armor for Suffering

I was reading 1 Peter 4 this morning. I was quite distracted by the verse:
"For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit." (1 Peter 4:6)
This verse followed what I read yesterday:
"After being made alive, he (Jesus) went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, ..." (1 Peter 3:19-20)

According to this commentary (see section Barnes' Notes on the Bible), the "imprisoned spirits" is what the Roman Catholic church refers to as the purgatory:
"Unto the spirits in prison - That is, clearly, to the spirits now in prison, for this is the fair meaning of the passage. The obvious sense is, that Peter supposed there were "spirits in prison" at the time when he wrote, and that to those same spirits the Son of God had at some time "preached," or had made some proclamation respecting the will of God. Since this is the only passage in the New Testament upon which the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory is supposed to rest, it is important to ascertain the fair meaning of the language here employed. There are three obvious inquiries in ascertaining its signification. Who are referred to by "spirits?" What is meant by "in prison?" Was the message brought to them while in the prison, or at some previous period?" The commentary went on to explain three other possible meanings - a good read. In any case I don't think there will be a satisfactory understanding of these verses until we ask St. Peter in heaven!

Back to the main passage, especially 1 Peter 4:1-6. No doubt the theme is on suffering. I really like John Piper's message on this. He entitled it "Arming Yourself with the Purpose to Suffer". This title is clearly stated in verse 1: "Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin."
John Piper explained: "There are a good many reasons in the Scriptures to believe that the Great Commission will not be completed without suffering. One of these reasons is that when Jesus said that the gospel will be preached throughout the world as a testimony to all the nations, he also said in the same context, "You will be hated by all the nations" (Matthew 24:9, 14). In other words, wherever you go among the nations, your efforts to bring good news of everlasting life will be met with joy in some and anger in others." He then gave three further reasons based on references in Colossians 1:24, John 20:21, and passages in 2 Timothy 1:8; 2:3; 4:5.

John Piper found Five Pieces of Armor for suffering from this passage (remember also the other Armor in Ephesians 6:11-17?). He prefaced this by saying "Thoughts and purposes arm us. They protect us and help us get victories. The purpose Peter has in mind is the purpose to suffer if God should will it (as 3:17 says) for righteousness' sake. If you choose that purpose, you are armed. One reason is that you will not be so taken off guard when it comes. And another reason is that you will have prepared yourself for what's coming." So these are the five pieces of armor, which I will keep in mind and purpose (with my will) it each and every day for as long as I live:

1. Christ suffered (verse 1) - He chose it (John 10:18). He has called us to take up our cross and follow Him. Our purpose is to suffer with Him.
2. Making a clean break with sin (verses 1b & 2) - choose suffering because if you don't, you will choose sin.
3. Any amount of past sinning is enough (verses 3,4) - Peter is basically telling us: "arm yourself with this thought: the time you've spent sinning is sufficient. Make the break; choose the will of God. And suffer for it if you must."
4. Adversaries will be brought to justice (verse 5) - trust God the righteous judge to call our adversaries into account now and into the future; it is better to suffer for doing right and to leave judgment to God.
5. We will triumph over death (verse 6) - John Piper expanded this difficult verse this way: "For the gospel has for this purpose [namely, referring back to verse 5, to save people from the judgment] been preached even to those who are [now] dead [not that they were dead when they heard the gospel], that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God." The gospel was not preached to our dead Christian friends in vain. They are now alive in the spirit. They are with the Lord. And the sufferings that they experienced here are not worthy to be compared to the glory that has been revealed to them (Romans 8:17-18). The Message has a very nice translation for this verse: "Listen to the Message. It was preached to those believers who are now dead, and yet even though they died (just as all people must), they will still get in on the life that God has given in Jesus."

I know thinking about suffering is not a pleasant thought. What I have been learning is simply this:
praise God for Jesus - He suffered and died for me so that my past and present sins are all forgiven. I have been given the Holy Spirit to help me make healthy choices to stay away from sin and to live for righteousness. I have been called to share this wonderful gospel with those who have never heard. There will be suffering involved - ridiculed or physical harm even. But the work of the Gospel will not be in vain for those who will hear. And God will judge my adversaries. The choice of embracing suffering will arm me for the rest of my life so I won't be caught off guard. The life ahead is far better than the life now. Thank you Lord for the lesson today!