We Thank thee, O God, For a Prophet

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President Ezra Taft Benson The Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet

Fundamental #1 The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything

D&C Section 21 4 Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them… 6"For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you,

Fundamental #2 The living prophet is more vital to us than the standard works

Wilford Woodruff I will refer to a certain meeting I attended in the town of Kirtiand in my early days. At that meeting some remarks were made that have been made here today, with regard to the living oracles and with regard to the written word of God. The same principle was presented, although not as extensively as it has been here, when a leading man in the Church got up and talked upon the subject, and said: "You have got the word of God before you here in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants; you have the written word of God, and you who give revelations should give revelations according to those books, as what is written in those books is the word of God. We should confine ourselves to them." When he concluded, Brother Joseph turned to Brother Brigham Young and said, "Brother Brigham, I want you to take the stand and tell us your views with regard to the living oracles and the written word of God." Brother Brigham took the stand, and he took the Bible, and laid it down; he took the Book of Mormon, and laid it down; and he took the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and laid it down before him, and he said: "There is the written word of God to us, concerning the work of God from the beginning of the world, almost, to our day. And now," said he, "when compared with the living oracles those books are nothing to me; those books do not convey the word of God direct to us now, as do the words of a Prophet or a man bearing the Holy Priesthood in our day and generation. I would rather have the living oracles than all the writing in the books." That was the course he pursued. When he was through, Brother Joseph said to the congregation: "Brother Brigham has told you the word of the Lord, and he has told you the truth." [in Conference Report, October 1897, pp )

Fundamental #3 The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet.

Bro. Robert Millet 2003 Religious Educator Very often what is drawn from Church leaders of the past is…either misquoted, misrepresented, or taken out of context. Further, not everything that was ever spoken or written by a past Church leader is a part of what we teach today… Story of worried lady “I’m aware of that teaching, but that is not the doctrine of the Church; that is not what we teach in the Church today. Have you ever heard the Brethren teach it in the handbooks of the Church? Is it a part of an official declaration or proclamation? I watched as a five-hundred-pound weight seemed to come off her shoulders, as tears came into her eyes, and she simply said, ‘Thank you, Brother Millet’.

Fundamental #4 The prophet will never lead the Church astray.

President Wilford Woodruff I say to Israel, The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as president of the Church to lead you astray. It is not in the program. It is not in the mind of God." (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, selected by G. Homer Durham [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1946], pp )

Fundamental #5 The prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or credentials to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time.

Fundamental #6 The prophet does not have to say "Thus saith the Lord" to give us scripture.

Fundamental #7 The prophet tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know.

Elder Dallin Oaks Last week I was talking with a member of the Quorum of the Twelve about comments we had received on our April conference talks. My friend said someone told him, “I surely enjoyed your talk.” We agreed that this is not the kind of comment we like to receive. As my friend said, “I didn’t give that talk to be enjoyed… You may remember that this April conference I spoke on pornography. No one told me they “enjoyed” that talk—not one! In fact, there was nothing enjoyable in it even for me. I speak of these recent conversations to teach the principle that a message given by a General Authority at a general conference— a message prepared under the influence of the Spirit to further the work of the Lord—is not given to be enjoyed. It is given to inspire, to edify, to challenge, or to correct. It is given to be heard under the influence of the Spirit of the Lord, with the intended result that the listener learns from the talk and from the Spirit what he or she should do about it.

Fundamental #8 The prophet is not limited by men's reasoning. There will be times when you will have to choose between the revelations of God and the reasoning of men--between the prophet and the politician or professor.

Fundamental #8 The prophet can receive revelation on any matter-- temporal or spiritual.

Fundamental #10 The prophet may be involved in civic matters Wait, what about the separation of church and state???

Fundamental #11 The two groups who have the greatest difficulty in following the prophet are the proud who are learned and the proud who are rich.

Fundamental #12 The prophet will not necessarily be popular with the world or the worldly.

Fundamental #13 The prophet and his counselors make up the First Presidency-- the highest quorum in the Church.

Fundamental #14 The prophet and the presidency-- the living prophet and the First Presidency--follow them and be blessed; reject them and suffer.

Thomas B. Marsh Salt Lake City, 1857 I became jealous of the Prophet, and then I saw double… and, as Brother Heber [C. Kimball] says, I got mad, and I wanted everybody else to be mad. I talked with Brother Brigham and Brother Heber, and I wanted them to be mad like myself; and I saw they were not mad, and I got madder still because they were not. Brother Brigham, with a cautious look, said, "Are you the leader of the Church, brother Thomas?" I answered, "No." "Well then," said he, "Why do you not let that alone?" Well, this is about the amount of my hypocrisy-I meddled with that which was not my business. But let me tell you, my brethren and friends, if you do not want to suffer in body and mind, as I have done, if there are any of you that have the seeds of apostacy in you, do not let them make their appearance, but nip that spirit in the bud; for it is misery and affliction in this world, and destruction in the world to come. (In Journal of Discourses 5:206-7.)