followHIM - 1 & 2 Peter Part 1 • Dr. Andrew C. Skinner • Nov 20 - Nov 26

Episode Date: November 15, 2023

How do we find joy amidst trials? Dr. Andrew Skinner explores the admonitions Peter shares with the Ancient Saints that apply to modern-day Latter-day Saints to help prepare for lives as disciples of Jesus Christ.Show Notes (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese): https://followhim.co/new-testament-episodes-41-52/YouTube: https://youtu.be/pWRv5P7aC0gFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/15G9TTz8yLp0dQyEcBQ8BYPlease rate and review the podcast!00:00 Part 1–Dr. Andrew Skinner00:39 Introduction to 1 Peter and 2 Peter,03:52 Introduction of Dr. Andrew Skinner06:15 Israel is chosen for responsibility to return to Father07:47 Peter the man15:11 Peter the Apostle18:40 Peter and Jesus lifting our brothers and sisters20:13 Background to 1 Peter26:54 The Lord can’t tolerate contention29:10 A chosen generation31:26 A holy nation34:18 President Nelson’s talk on identity37:21 Rejoicing amidst trials42:03 Meekness and faith44:01 Dr. Skinner shares a personal story about his father’s passing48:00 God’s promises are eternal51:19 Jesus’s visit to the Spirit World53:45 BYU’s Life After Loss Conference57:28 Sacrifice means “to make sacred”1:01: 45  End of Part 1–Dr. Andrew SkinnerThanks to the followHIM team:Shannon Sorensen: Cofounder, Executive Producer, SponsorDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignAnnabelle Sorensen: Creative Project ManagerWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com

Hello, my friends. Welcome to another episode of Follow Him. My name is Hank Smith. I'm your host. I'm here with who I'll describe as my co-host without guile. John, by the way. John, you are without guile, my friend. I can go get it. It's in the car. I just forgot. You can go get the guile that you are without today. John, today we're going to have a flashback of someone we haven't talked about in a while, the apostle prophet Peter. We're looking at first and second Peter today. What are you looking forward to, John? I've been thinking about how different this Peter sounds than 30 years ago, Peter, from the Gospels and how there's a lot of beauty in this text. I've been reading as you have preparing to talk about sublime, the way that he's describing things. So I'm looking forward to seeing how has Peter changed

in the decades since we read about him walking on water and at the Mount of Transfiguration and so forth. Yeah, that's excellent. Excellent, John. I was reading, it seems the people who he is writing to are facing some difficult, difficult circumstances. So I'm interested to see what his advice is. John, we are joined by someone who you and I both love, maybe one of the best scriptorians in the history of the church, incredible research and teaching over decades. His name is Dr. Andrew Skinner. Andy, what are we looking forward to today in 1 and 2 Peter? First of all, let me say thank you for allowing me the privilege of testifying of

things and people that I truly love. Peter is one of the great men of the kingdom of all time. I love to study the life and teachings of Peter. First and second Peter, I have to say in all honesty, if there were ever two books written anciently that are of invaluable service to members of the church and to really all Christians everywhere. In our day, it has to be 1 and 2 Peter. One of the major themes, in fact, the theme, I think, of 1 Peter is Peter's desire to provide some principles, some counsel, some encouragement on how to persevere when we bump up against hard times. Trials and tribulations

come to all of us. Peter is trying to help the ancient saints, but in so doing, help the modern saints see how we can not just endure our trials and tribulations, but spiritually prosper in them. And then ministering to the theme of 2 Peter is the idea of becoming godlike in every sense of the word. And one actually follows the other. We learn about how to persevere in our trials, and all of that is to bring us to the point where we can actually have our calling and election made sure. And that is a major point that Peter talks about in 2 Peter. I think we're all familiar with the statement that was made by the prophet Joseph Smith, where he said that Peter had penned the most sublime language of any of the apostles. That's pretty high praise coming from the prophet of the restoration. Buckle our seatbelts. We're in for some really

exciting things, some spiritually uplifting things. Yes, it was in the first instance written to the ancient saints, but wow, the lessons that we can learn that apply in our lives in modern times are just invaluable. Wonderful. I am looking forward to this today. John, I said that we've got one of the best in the history of the church here. I don't think that's overstating it. Can I just say it is way overstating it?

We don't mind a little modesty on here. John and I could learn from your humility, Andy, John, especially. He has a difficult time. John, the bio here could be our first episode. So we're going to have to probably shrink it down. But tell our listeners about Dr. Andrew Skinner. Andrew C. Skinner, former Dean of Religious Education at Brigham Young University, a former executive director, professor of ancient scripture, member of the international editorial group translating the Dead Sea Scrolls. He's the author of the acclaimed three volume series.

I have it right over there. Gethsemane, Golgotha, and the Garden Tomb. And I love those three G words. He holds master's degrees from the Iliff School of Theology and Harvard University in Hebrew Bible and Theology, and a PhD in history from the University of Denver. He pursued graduate studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, later served on the faculty of the BYU Jerusalem Center. He served as a member of the Correlation Evaluation Committee and the General Sunday School Committee of the Church. He is currently in a branch presidency at the Missionary Training Center.

He's married to Janet Corbridge Skinner. They're the parents of six children, and you'll have to update us on grandchildren. 10 grandchildren. Wonderful. What a wonderful background and what a wonderful scholar to learn from today. Grateful to have you. And you were with us in, was it Exodus in the Old Testament? Yes. I've talked about this a couple of times this year. Follow Him has produced a book called Finding it Exodus in the Old Testament? Yes. I've talked about this a couple of times this year. Follow Him has produced a book called Finding Jesus Christ in the Old Testament.

Excerpts from our Old Testament episodes. Let me share it from Andy last year. We were talking about Exodus and he said, this is our family history. We can't forget we are talking about us here. We are part of this family. We ourselves are part of the Israelite community. This is our story. That actually ties into what Peter is going to say a couple of times today. We are part of the Israelite community.

We are indeed. We come to appreciate by reading 1 and 2 Peter, what the gospel is intended to do is to link us to the family of Israel, whether we're the ancient audience of Peter or the modern audience of Peter, we're all one group of people. And my Jewish friends are right in reminding me that when we talk about the chosen people, it's not a chosenness of privilege or elitism. It's a chosenness of responsibility to help each other and to guide those who may not be so spiritually inclined to back to their Father in Heaven and Heavenly Father's family. I thank you for that laudatory introduction, probably written years ago by my mother and somehow slipped into the dust jacket.

We have a saying in our family that really helps with people's perspective. And the saying is, thanks for all you do and all you think you do. I wonder if it would be helpful to talk a little bit about what we know regarding Peter in the context of coming to his own testimony. I think it helps us to appreciate the magnitude of the man that we're talking about, one of the great people of the kingdom. Absolutely. We see Peter going from fisherman to this seer. It's a pretty incredible story. And that's precisely the point, because in a way, all of us are Peter. Peter was a fisherman.

He sometimes referred to as the big fisherman. He owned a fishing business along with his brother, Andrew, and he had partners, James and John. Luke chapter five helps us to appreciate that while Peter may not have been rich, he wasn't poor either. He was well off by the standards of the day. Keep in mind that this is what he left to follow Jesus. And I don't think there was any question in his mind that when you find the Messiah, you drop everything and you follow him. We know that Peter lived in two different locations.

Bethsaida, which is two Hebrew words put together, meaning house or place of fish or house or place of fishers. And then he lived in Capernaum. We know that Capernaum was a major village that ringed the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the freshwater lake, which by the way, is about the same size as Utah Lake. Another fascinating thing, he was constantly with the Savior all of the time after he became a full-time disciple. The thing that I think about often is the fact that Peter was chastened, rebuked, corrected many times by the Savior, but he did not take offense. Rather, it seems that he learned from what Jesus was teaching him and that ministered to what eventually became the great apostle, the chief apostle. What a fabulous lesson for each of us. Peter's calling or his responsibility as the chief apostle and then later on as president of the church. And a couple

of noteworthy insights from the four gospels, I think, are meaningful in helping us to appreciate how Peter is viewed in the four gospels. He was a bilingual Jew who thereby had some preparation, providential preparation, we might say, for his later missionary preaching, his missionary ministry, because he goes out into the Hellenistic world, the Greek culture of the world. That was his mission field. He's not just some dumb fisherman. He was well acquainted with two or three different cultures. All four Gospels

unite in reporting that Peter became a disciple of Jesus in the very early days of Jesus's ministry. So Peter was living with his teacher. He was living with his master. Of course, the word disciple is different. It has a different meaning than the word apostle. The disciple is a pupil, is a learner. It implies more than just classroom instruction. It's this continual personal association with the Savior that makes up this learning process. Here's Peter learning from the Savior as they walked and talked. I'm glad you brought that up. We're getting this fraction, and maybe that's why we see such a dramatic change

in the sound of Peter from the Gospels. I think we see that growth in how differently Peter is talking here with the sublime language, as Joseph Smith put it. Yeah. My experience has been that some don't appreciate the fact that Peter had unspeakable experiences with the Savior while he was being groomed to fully take up his apostolic responsibilities. But Peter, while he was with Jesus, was in the presence of Elohim on the Mount of Transfiguration, presence of Elijah, the presence of Moses. We have church

leaders who have said that they believe that it was on the Mount of Transfiguration that Peter and the other apostles received the holy endowment, which we treasure in our own experience. We have those experiences in the house of the Lord in the temples today. As we know, various leaders have said, well, the mountaintops were the Lord's first temples. Not only that, but Peter lets us know that they were sealed up to eternal life. They received the guarantee of exaltation while they were on the Mount of Transfiguration or the Holy Mount that's mentioned in 2 Peter 1. I think it's important to remember

that Peter, being with the Savior so much, saw the mighty miracles of the Savior. Over and over again, we know that there are three episodes of Jesus raising the dead back to life, and Peter witnessed all three of those. The widow woman's son at Nain, recorded in Luke chapter 7, and then the raising of Lazarus, which comes towards, I guess, the end of the three-year ministry of the Savior, but also the most tender, and that is the raising of the little girl recorded in Mark chapter five. We not only get a chance to see how Jesus singled out the three

chief apostles, Peter, James, and John, and brings them into the home as he performs this miracle. But we get a chance to see the tenderness of Jesus and actually have preserved for us in Mark's gospel of the actual Aramaic language that Jesus used, talitokumi, I say unto, arise. One of my favorite things to point out is that the King James language, as it's recording the raising of the little girl from death back to life, has Jesus saying, I say unto thee, damsel, arise. But actually, if you look at the Aramaic language, Talita is, I think, a nickname or a diminutive, my little curly one, something like that. It's like a term of endearment. Yeah, absolutely a term of endearment. We learn a lot

just by looking at some of the words, the actual language, the Aramaic phrasing that Jesus used. And Peter was there and he saw that. And you can imagine the effect it must have had on him as he saw that tenderness. Andy, let me quote one of our friends, Brent Topp. Brother Topp says, Peter's faithfulness overcomes his fallen, foolish, impetuous, speaking without thinking nature. He did what he said he would. He did lay down his life for the Savior's cause. Will my faith be greater than my foibles? Will I allow my mortal selfishness to be consumed by charity, service, and sacrifice as Peter did? To me, Brent says, this is a scriptural story of triumph and transformation, more than failures or lack of faith.

The focus should not be on Simon sinking, but on Jesus lifting him, not on Peter's fallibility, but on Christ's divine ability. This is from an article you wrote, Peter, the chief apostle. You can find this on the RSC website, rsc.byu.edu. Right here in the very last paragraph, few men in history had the experiences that Peter had. Fewer still refined their understanding of the things of God and honed their spiritual sensitivity as did Peter. Even fewer served the Savior and the kingdom from start to finish with unflagging courage and selfless dedication. Only a handful of prophets have been commissioned to teach the gospel in more than one dispensation. Peter continues to be our model missionary in giving instruction to the elders of the church.

In this dispensation, the Lord commanded them to do as Peter of old, preach faith, repentance, baptism, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost. But Peter also made it clear that Christlike love is the ultimate measure of spiritual progression. Just in what you wrote there, I can feel your love for Peter in this transformation he goes through, and he allows the Lord to take him from where he is to where the Lord knows he can become. And it does take our willingness, doesn't it? I think that you've said it very, very well. It would be a tragedy if the first thing or even the only thing that we thought of Peter was his denial of the Savior.

That's not really Peter. He gave his life to the Savior. He was willing to have his personality changed from, as you say, this impetuous person that could have gotten the church leadership in trouble with the Romans to one who did what the Savior wanted him to do. And that's not to say that Peter did not continue to be bold, but there's a difference, I think, between impetuosity and boldness. We read in the book of Acts, Acts chapters four and five, Peter is preaching Christ and him crucified. And he's not only preaching Christ crucified, but he's saying, you guys did it to the Jewish leadership. They arrest him. They put him in jail and he gets

released. Miraculous things happen to Peter. He and John are hauled back in before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Senate. We told you not to preach this doctrine, and you're filling the country with these ideas. And Peter's response is, you know what? We cannot but help do this. That's what we're commissioned to do. And that's a central theme of the book of Acts is the apostles serve as eyewitnesses to Jesus's suffering, his crucifixion and his resurrection. You've said it very, very well. Thank you for reminding us of that, because I love that Peter doesn't say we cannot but

speak of the things which we have felt and feeling is part of testimony. But he said the things we have seen and heard. We've seen these miracles. We've seen him resurrect. We have heard his teachings. All of those things help us with our testimony. What have I felt? Yes.

But what have I seen in the lives of others? What have I heard taught that. But what have I seen in the lives of others? What have I heard taught that has got me fired up inside? And all of those parts work together. I love when Peter said things like that. We're telling what we have seen and heard, and nobody can take that from you. It is really fun to read Acts. And one more thing I love when a beggar puts forth his hand and Peter says, silver and gold, have I none? Which is what the guy wanted, which is sometimes what we think we want, but such as I have, which sounds like, oh, sorry, but such as I have, it's just so much better.

And here's us seeking after silver and gold, but what Jesus offers is so much better, but such as I have, give have given today in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk. That Peter is just so fun to read about. And now we get to see what he's going to write. John, I'm glad you brought up that story of an Acts chapter three. I like to make the connection with the savior lifting Peter out of the water. And then here we have in the book of Acts, Peter doing the lifting, reaching down to that lame man at the temple and lifting him up. Look how Peter went from the one being lifted to the one doing the lifting and the transformation. That's a beautiful little symbol of Peter's transformation. One more witness of this

transformation. This is Elder Uchtdorf. A powerful testimony of the living Christ transformed Peter into a witness who literally changed the world. A testimony of the living Christ has the potential and power to do the same for every servant of the Lord. Wonderful, wonderful introduction we've done of Peter here, Andy. With that introduction, Andy, I think we're ready to jump into these epistles of Peter. How do you want to go about this? How do you want to start? We don't know exactly when Peter wrote the first epistle, 1 Peter. We know that he left Jerusalem sometime after the Jerusalem Council, recorded in Acts chapter 15. And that is about 52 AD, where Peter leaves Jerusalem and then he goes to Antioch,

where he labors with Paul. He seems to have worked in North and Central Turkey because he addresses his epistle to the saints in that area. In fact, to quote 1 Peter 1, verse 1, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. So this is this central Turkey area. Peter eventually goes to Italy, where he labors for a few years. He seems to have arrived sometime before the Emperor Nero began his great planned persecution against the Christians, which began in 64 AD. It seems the best date for Peter's arrival in Rome is in the mid-year of 63. That's, I think, our best guess. Two points suggest that 1 Peter was written in Rome.

Number one, Peter writes salutations from the branch in Babylon, according to 1 Peter 5, verse 13, which we know is none other than Rome. John the Apostle identifies Rome with Babylon in Revelation chapter 17. We're on pretty safe ground there. And then the way that his first epistle, Peter's first epistle, orders the greetings suggests that one is sailing from the west, landing in Pontus, and then making a great sweep through much of Turkey in order to return to the starting point. Peter then writes the first epistle before the great outbreak of persecution against the Christians. Peter's letter, this first letter, reveals what sparked his desire to write to the saints, and that is the increasingly unfavorable conditions that were arising, the persecutions that would be unleashed against the Christians, along with the other trials and tribulations. That's a nice way to put it, Andy.

The increasing unfavorable conditions. When I think of that, I think the Diet Coke has run out. These are increasingly unfavorable conditions. But for these people, I think it's a little more serious. Well, I suppose that running out of Coke wouldn't present a threat to your life, but Nero's persecutions against the Christians did exactly that. They were threatened with their very lives. And you can kind of tell the metal of a person, what they're really made of when they're faced with those life and death situations.

Oh, you're quite right. The first letter of Peter does reveal an era of persecutions, of vile slander, charges of disloyalty to the state. And Peter is giving us his inspired guidance toop it down in this modern era. And the principles that Peter presents to us are still important and valid and helpful. One of the things that is interesting, the saints begin to recognize immediately the value of 1 Peter is that 50 years don't go by, but the first epistle of Peter is being quoted as an authoritative source for divine help by two of the early bishops in this region, names that people might not be completely familiar with, but Polycarp of Smyrna and Papias of Heliopolis are early bishops that actually provide some history for us, recorded by Eusebius,

the author of the history of the church in the third, fourth century AD. We know that pretty quickly Peter's first letter makes a powerful impression on people because they are in, some of them at least, are in dire straits. If we start looking at 1 Peter, we can take as maybe our guide Peter's principles for persevering, persecution, but also prospering spiritually. We like alliteration on follow him. I think that that's a helpful model, a helpful pattern to view 1 Peter and to really get at the powerful doctrinal points that Peter is making. I read something by another Latter-day Saint who said 1 Peter doesn't contain very much doctrine. And I thought, what?

We're reading the same letters. My belief and my experience says that 1 Peter is full of powerful and important doctrine. With that in mind, most of these Pauline epistles begin with a salutation. 1 Peter 1, verse 1, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. As we will see a little later on, the concept of being strangers is in the context of being strangers to this worldliness in which we live. It's not strangers in terms of gospel principles. Verse 2, Peter is describing to the saints who they are. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father

through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. I love that salutation because aren't these two things that we all hope for and cherish if an apostle would say to us, grace be unto you. In other words, may the enabling power of Jesus Christ increase in your lives. And of course, live your life in peace. That is to say, the cessation of all contention.

If there's one lesson I have learned in these decades of interaction with the world and with the world of the gospel, I've come to understand that the Savior can tolerate many things. In fact, he says that he's there to help us through these different challenges. But the one thing that he can't tolerate, and that one thing is contention. The doctrine of Christ develops and blossoms in an environment of unity and an environment of love. Who wouldn't want to have the blessings of grace and peace in their lives? That surely must have meant something to the saints there. And then Peter goes on to talk about how we can persevere in times of persecution, but also prosper spiritually when we have trials and tribulations.

So the first of these principles that I like to talk about or point out, the principle of remembering who you are, that will give you strength, that will help you, will give you insight into facing life's challenges. And that is part of his salutation in verse 2 of chapter 1. You are the elect according to the foreknowledge of God. Titus helps us immeasurably to understand that Heavenly Father promised eternal life to all of his children in our premortal life. I love Peter for pointing out to us a truth about the eternity, the continuity of the

atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It's Revelation 13, Moses chapter 7. Jesus is the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. His atonement operated. Our friend and colleague, Brad Wilcox, I love the way he put the world. His atonement operated. Our friend and colleague, Brad Wilcox, I love the way he put it, that the atonement was plan A, not plan B. It wasn't something that God put in place to fix the mess Adam and Eve made of the world. I'm paraphrasing, but it was from the foundation of the world. And that's what we get in verse 20. So I love that you're saying the gospel is here.

The whole plan is here. A lot of it right in chapter one. I'll go out on a limb and I'll say that the gospel of Jesus Christ equals the doctrine of Christ equals the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. A last scripture where Peter is saying, remember who you are. This is in chapter

two, verses nine through 11. And this is a very famous verse. I noticed as I've reviewed who liked to use these particular set of verses, President Hinckley was really keen on second Peter chapter nine. I think whenever he saw a group of young priesthood holders, this verse came to mind. 1 Peter 2, verse 9. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the

people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. This is a perfect summary to our identity. We may not be much before we joined the church or committed our lives to Christ, but we are everything with Christ. We are a chosen generation. We are this royal priesthood. We are a peculiar people. The word peculiar, as you can see, comes from the Latin peculium, actually, and it really means purchased or private property, even. The Hebrew word segula, valued property, unique treasure. Those are ways to translate the Hebrew word segula or

the Latin word peculium. We mean everything to Heavenly Father. We're not everything unless we commit to the Lord Jesus Christ, and then with Him, we are everything. Is this one of those moments, 1 Peter 2, 9, where Peter is trying to connect them to the ancient Israelites? Exodus 19, you will be a peculiar treasure. So, reminding them of their family history. Exactly. And what's really interesting about that passage in Exodus 19 is that the Lord makes no bones about his intentions for the family of Israel. I want to make you a holy nation. I want to make you a kingdom of priests and priestesses, kings and queens, as it says there.

What we come to appreciate is the fact that the Lord isn't talking about Aaronic priests because the Aaronic priesthood hasn't been established yet or hasn't been split off from the Melchizedek priesthood. He's talking about Melchizedek priests, Melchizedek priesthood kings and Melchizedek priesthood queens. That's a temple verse right there. That's temple theology. When Peter mentions that again in 1 Peter 2, verse 9, he is pointing to sacred doctrines that are received in holy places. And this is what Peter is reminding them of.

Remember what the Lord intended for the early members of the family. He wanted to make them a kingdom of kings and queens, priests and priestesses. That's exactly what we're taught in the temple. This is a continuation of that. I'm really fixated on this phrase, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims. In fact, all of the prophets that we know have confessed that they were pilgrims and strangers on this earth. We're eternal beings having a brief mortal experience. We are strangers and pilgrims in this fallen environment. And I'm so grateful that Peter mentions that to us because that's true for our day in modern times.

Remember who you are. And that goes a long way in helping you to persevere persecution, to understand the nature of trials and tribulations with the Lord's help, work through them, and in the process, prosper spiritually. It's these experiences that test us and try us that move us closer to our Father in heaven and to the very reason that we're here on this earth, to learn to serve the Lord at every hazard, to learn to serve the Lord at all costs. And then Peter's going to say in his second letter, this is the reason why I want you to be able to endure trials and tribulations and prosper spiritually because the reward

is nothing less than a guarantee of eternal life. You have the encouragement here in the first letter, and then you have the reward described by Peter in the second letter. I like what you said there. If you remember who you are, you can endure some of these great difficulties. Isn't that something that President Nelson's been focused on lately, identifying who you are? He talked about these three labels, identities that are the most important.

If anything displaces or replaces these, you're in trouble. But that was you're a child of God, a child of the covenant and a disciple of Christ. You talked about being a disciple as a learner, telling us who we are, and then calling us, like it says in verse nine, out of darkness into his marvelous light. And in verse 12, I was noticing this sounds so much like the Sermon on the Mount, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, that they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. I grouped this particular passage under another one of Peter's principles to help endure trials and tribulations, and that is by living righteous lives, you invite others to

change their behavior by your godly word and deeds. And if you flip the page over to chapter 3, verses 15 and 16, this goes along with verse 12 of chapter 2 that you just read, because you really do change other people's lives by your example. Verse 15, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear, having a good conscience that, whereas they born with to well up in them. And for some, they'll realize that you're actually living the way that God wants you to live. So you'll be an instrument by enduring your trials well, in patience,

you're actually going to be an instrument to help others change. And you can see that what we've done here, what we're doing is we're pulling out the verses that speak to the various reasons why Peter wants people to live the gospel, even in trying times, with the end in mind that they'll be blessed for it, blessed eternally for it. Another principle is remember the value of adversity. And I'm going to read chapter 1 of 1 Peter, verses 6 through 9, but I want to read the New International Version, because I think it says it in such an understandable and uplifting way. This is what it says, In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The NIV is still faithful to the original Greek text, but it is put in 21st century English. One of the principles that Peter articulates is remember the value in adversity because you're moving towards that ultimate goal, which is the salvation of your souls, and you're being refined. You're proving that your conversion to Christ is genuine. Andy, I don't want to hear that there's value in adversity. Well, I know. I'm still taken aback when I hear people say that they pray for challenges. Oh, man. Really? Didn't Jesus say every day brings enough trouble on its own?

You don't need to pray for it. Yeah. Peter's right, isn't he? You're purified. You learn things about yourself. And the cool thing is, as we've been saying, is that Peter has personal experience. This is one of my favorite quotes that goes along with his principle of remembering the value of adversity. This is Orson F. Whitney.

Quote, No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God. And it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we came here to acquire, and which will make us more like our father and mother in heaven, unquote.

One of the great didactic or teaching quotations of all time by Orson F. Whitney. And that's basically what Peter is talking about. We have a modern apostle that's sort of encapsulating what an ancient apostle is trying to teach. I've always loved that Orson F. Whitney statement. And sometimes it comes up in class. My students say, why does life have to be so hard? I don't know if the Lord approves of this answer, but I like to say, well, maybe the Lord loves you too much to let your life be easy.

Exactly. That's a great way to phrase that. Since you were just in Hebrews, Hebrews 5, 8 and 9 comes to mind. Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. And he became the author of eternal salvation because he understood perfectly how to remain faithful in the face of adversity. And here I remember, as you do, a talk by President Boyd K. Packer, The Play and the Plan.

I think it's in that talk. It might be way back in 1985 or 86. It was given a while back where he says, the two purposes of earth life are to gain a body, number one, and number two, to be tested. And the testing can usually be grouped under three categories. Those three categories are trials and tribulations, temptations, and tragedies. And to be honest with you, I had never thought of tragedies as being part of the way that we're tested. But I have come to know over the last few years that that is one of the things that tragedies do for us, is that they test us. And in the words of the New International Version,

they help us to show that our faith is genuine. Unfortunately, that's the hard part for me, cultivating that meekness and patience all of the time. When I think about enduring trials and tragedies as part of the test of mortality, I reflect back on my own experiences as a young man, a 14-year-old. I was very, very close to my father. He was a gospel scholar in his own right. One of my fondest memories of him is peeking in his room, the bedroom at night, as I was trundling off to bed and seeing him sitting in a chair in his room reading the scriptures. And that happened every single night that I can remember. Truth be told, that was something of a motivator to me to make the study of the scriptures a profession. When I was 14, he passed away unexpectedly. He had laid down and within just a matter of minutes

had, we assume, a fatal heart attack and was gone. And those were dark days for me and I'm sure for my sister as well. Our mother was a good provider. She had skills that she could go out and go to work, but it affected her deeply. I think she was a changed person from that point on. It just destroyed her life. And I can remember her saying on one occasion shortly after that happened that God took her husband and that she would never have her arms around him again. Being 14, that's pretty heavy stuff to listen to. Over the years, I had some amazing youth leaders. In fact, my scout master, who was one of the first people that came over after he got word that my father had passed away, came over and just gave

me a big hug. And that's all he needed to do to let me know that people cared. But over the years, because they were interested in me, took enough time to mentor me, to correct me when I needed correction, but also to just love me when I needed to be loved. And I'm at times may not have been very lovable. And that scoutmaster went on to become my bishop and my stake president. He was the stake president at the time that I got married. And more than just an interview, he pulled me into his office and we had some wonderful conversations. And now, as I read Peter, I realize that what that did is it mentored me,

it ministered to my education and helped me to understand what the gospel truly could bring to us in times of trial and tragedy. And also, ultimately, what the great reward was for enduring patiently our trials. I know the value of trials and adversity, but I could not have known those without experiencing them. It's like Jesus. Jesus knew how to create worlds without number, and he knew what sin was from, if we may use the term, an academic point of view, but he did not know from his own experience what that was like. When he has that mortal experience, it developed a side of him that completed his perfect qualities.

That's true for all of us. I want to read something from Elder Renlund. This is a general conference just a couple of years ago, April of 21. He said, Some unfairness cannot be explained. Inexplicable unfairness is infuriating. Unfairness comes from living with bodies that are imperfect, injured, or diseased. Mortal life is inherently unfair. Some people are born in affluence, others are not.

Some have loving parents. Others do not. Some live many years, others few and on and on and on. Some individuals make injurious mistakes, even when they're trying to do good. Some choose not to alleviate unfairness when they could. And distressingly, some individuals use their God-given agency to hurt others when they never should. And then he gives this wonderful advice. When faced with unfairness, we can push ourselves away from God or we can be drawn toward him for help and support. Do not let unfairness harden you or corrode your faith in God. Instead, ask God for help. Increase your appreciation for and reliance on the Savior. Rather than becoming

bitter, let him help you become better. Allow him to help you persevere, to let your afflictions be swallowed up in the joy of Christ. It's a tough thing to do, but you're right, Andy. There is value in our trials, tribulations, difficulties. The goal is to reach the point where in any circumstance we can say, Heavenly Father, I don't care what I want. I only care what you want. And that's part of enduring trials and tragedies. At least for me, that connection is in my mind. 1 Peter 1, verse 13, he says, have hope to the end, this enduring hope.

And look at chapter 1, verses 24 and 25, where Peter is teaching the saints that they need to remember that mortality is temporary, but God's promises are eternal. As you were reading that quote from Elder Renlund, I was thinking of people that I know personally. Our daughter, for example, whose husband passed away. She has a very good friend whose husband also passed away about the same time from brain cancer. And now her little boy has a brain tumor. I mean, that hardly seems fair. Life just is not fair. And I think that that's one of the reasons why we have the atonement, because Heavenly Father knew that life wouldn't be fair. And yet this atoning sacrifice would be not just for our sins, but for our sorrows, our sufferings,

for the unfairness of life. And yet the atonement will overturn in our eternal existence. It will overturn the unfairness. That is mercy and love. That doctrine mitigates the pain. It doesn't take the pain away, but it definitely mitigates the pain. It doesn't take the pain away, but it definitely mitigates the pain. It enables you to think celestial. Thank you for that. Ultimately, Peter talks about one of the ways to persevere in persecution, to work, to be spiritually prosperous in the midst of trials is strengthening the family. And in chapter 3, verses 1 through 7, we get Peter's counsel to husbands and wives that they should honor each other and that they should live by gospel standards. It really is such a cool passage.

Quote, likewise ye wives be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without word be won over to the gospel, I would say, by the conversations of the wives. Verse 7, Likewise husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto a weaker vessel. I don't think he means spiritually. I think he's just referring to the physiology of males and females as being heirs together of the grace of life,

that your prayers be not hindered. Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another. Love the brethren. Be pitiful or be tenderhearted as the Greek. Be courteous and so forth. Not rendering evil for evil. I love 1 Peter. It is helpful.

It is uplifting. It's like having an ancient apostle sitting down with you and counseling with you on how to be prosperous in this immortal sphere. There's a great, what do you call those John sermon in a sentence from elder Holland? He said, how could we believe it should be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for him. So Peter invokes the Lord's life. When we go through trials and persecution and difficulty, he's saying you can channel his example and know what to do when the storm hits, which, oh, that's difficult to do. But Peter would know that. He saw him through this.

There's one other passage that we really ought to touch on. It's a unique contribution to our scriptural treasury, and that is 1 Peter 3, verses 18 through 21, and 1 Peter 4, verse 6. These two sections are the springboard to one of the most magnificent sections of our Doctrine and Covenants, which is section 138 and Joseph F. Smith's vision of the Savior's visit to the world of spirits, I'm not sure it is possible

to overstate the greatness and the importance of this unique revelation. I was just reading section 138 the other day, and it covers so many questions, and it springs from Joseph F. Smith's sitting down with these passages and pondering them and thinking about them. Verse 6, for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. The plan of salvation covers every contingency, every aspect of mortality and life beyond mortality. There's a great general conference talk by Elder Christofferson about our work for the dead being an immense measurement of our faith in Jesus Christ

and our love for Heavenly Father's plan. Maybe he didn't say it in those exact words, but that's what I took away from it. To read some of President Smith's reflections on the loss of his son, he says that he was inconsolable, which doesn't sound very much like a prophet because we have these idealized conceptions in our mind. And yet life pounded on him. It hammered him down. It was this revelation, which wasn't yet section 138, but this amazing experience that he had, which I think brought great comfort to him. That whole story about how he received this and what he was experiencing is in a way comforting to me because I know that it is okay to feel such tremendous sorrow, such tremendous sadness,

and that even a prophet of God had to work through that. This idea of moving on was given voice by a conference this last April at BYU. It was the Life After Loss Conference. That was the title of it. And the point that I wanted to make was Janet and I, my wife and I, immediately we walked into the building on that first day before even any of the sessions or presentations had been offered. And you could feel the Spirit of the Lord there. It was palpable. The thoughts that came to my mind was that the Lord dwells among the downtrodden and the sorrowful. His presence is with those that are suffering. Also, the healing that was

taking place as the Spirit of the Lord moved in to fill those places of sorrow with feelings of light and peace and comfort. I think a beautiful part of that is so many others are feeling what you're feeling or have experienced a loss like that. Sometimes the Lord puts us in places where we can help somebody who has a trial because we've had the same one. My sister, Jennifer Johnson, is on the executive team of the Life After Loss Conference. They're going to hold it again in 2024, March of 2024, over at BYU. I want to read to you what he said about those verses that you pointed out to us. Andy, this is what Elder McConkie said. If Peter had never recorded a syllable of scripture except in those verses which tell This is what Elder McConkie said. The chief under shepherd, the one upon whose shoulders the son of God had laid the burden of his kingdom in the dispensation of persecution and martyrdom.

Is it Elder Werthling who talks about the Saturday if Jesus was crucified on a Friday and how that Saturday must have been so difficult and confusing for the apostles? Sunday will come. Of what just happened, and this doesn't make any sense. And where was he on that Saturday? Well, that's kind of fun to think about. He was still doing his redemptive work. We need to keep in mind, as we wonder about our own trials and tribulations, that we may begin to think of them in terms of sacrifice, sacrifice that we have made in mortality for our Savior, for the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father in heaven, because this is what President Smith says in verse 11 through 13. As I pondered over these things which are written, the eyes of my

understanding were opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I saw the hosts of the dead, both small and great. And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality, and who had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer's name. All these had departed mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection through the grace of God the Father and His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. The word sacrifice, two Latin words, sacra and facere, literally means to make sacred.

And there is a wonderful quote by Elder Maxwell, who always has something cool to say, just about everything. He said that because of your sacrifice and enduring through the deaths of your loved ones, spirits that associated with those who have passed on will come to you someday and say, thank you for letting that person go, for letting that person come to the spirit world and to teach and preach and be a steady and leveling influence in the world of spirits. It's one thing to suffer on account of the challenges of mortality, and it's another thing to suffer the same challenges in the name of the Redeemer, to deal with the challenges of life with faith and devotion in Jesus Christ and

His eternal mission. I had a great conversation with a student the other day. She was facing some really difficult circumstances, and she said, I just don't see why the Lord would let this happen. And I said, well, let's look at the scriptures and see what the expectation might be. And she said, I know Abinadi and Nephi and Job. And she said, I know. And then I said, well, what does that tell you?

And she said that, yes, if you live the gospel, things might get hard. And then she said something that just made me laugh. She said, I know it's supposed to be hard, but not this hard. Sometimes we just don't want to accept the whole pill that, yes, it's going to be hard. And yes, it's going to be this hard. Yeah. And there seems to be an expectation among some that if I'm having a trial or a problem, well, somebody is not doing their job out there.

Yeah. Or this plan is not unfolding right. The word trial, I hope we see that. And I think when you read the NIV and you use the word prove, it's a test, a trial. So I like that Peter uses we're tried and we're proved and we're going to see. One of my favorite verses to just give me perspective when I need it is that Abraham 3, is it 23? I will prove them now herewith to see if they will do whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them. And I want to add, even when it doesn't make sense,

let's see what they do when things just don't make sense or when they're not what they expect. And here's Peter saying, oh, don't think it's some strange thing. We all go through this, these kind of fiery trials. Yeah, I think that's right. There's an element of this. It's kind of good news because you know that if you're going through trials, even if you're being persecuted, that God thinks enough of you that you can come off conqueror, that you can endure and be just like the great heroes of scripture. The other side of it is, is that if you're being bombarded with

temptations and it seems like the adversary is working overtime on you, that's also good news because Satan doesn't kick a dead horse. He knows the great contribution that you are to the kingdom and he doesn't want you to be that. He wants you to fail. Who told President Eyring that if you're on the right path, it's almost always uphill? Yeah. I love the perspective so far. I had never put this together in 1 Peter that you've shown us, Andy, is they're going through serious difficulty and persecution. And by talking about the spirit world, he's giving them a new perspective that this life isn't all there is. And he's saying, look, the gospel message continues long after this life.

And when you have that perspective, it does mitigate the pain of trials, knowing that your loved ones have continued and they're continuing their work in the next life and that you will one day join them and continue your work in the next life. So I've never put that together before, but why these two topics would be in the same epistle, but that seems to make sense. Please join us for part two of this podcast.