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The crux of this verse is to understand the meaning of "suffering". It is crucial that we understand "suffering" means not the modern and more popular sense of "undergoing pain" or at any rate not just that. It mainly serves as a counterpart concept in Eliot's poetry to "action". If we read it as pain we wouldn't be ...
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In interpreting these lines, it's important to bear in mind exactly what the Fourth Tempter is trying to do. All the Tempters are showing Thomas a false path -- a path that will lead to damnation. Their temptations grow progressively more subtle, until the Fourth Tempter arrives. Remember that when the Fourth Tempter first appears, Thomas is surprised:
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