Provided to members of the Church of Jesus Christ in Huntington Beach.
Shortly after His Resurrection, the Savior made a prophecy that must have been troubling to Peter. He foretold that Peter would be martyred for his faith, being carried “whither [he] wouldest not … , signifying by what death he should glorify God” (John 21:18–19). Years later, when Peter wrote his epistles, he knew that his prophesied martyrdom was near: “Shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me” (2 Peter 1:14).
And yet Peter’s words were not filled with fear or pessimism. Instead, he taught the Saints to “greatly rejoice,” even though they were “in heaviness through manifold temptations.” He counseled them to remember that “the trial of [their] faith” would lead to “praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” and to “the salvation of [their] souls” (1 Peter 1:6–7, 9). Peter’s faith must have been comforting to those early Saints, as it is encouraging to Saints today, who are also “partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, [we] may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:13).