"We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important

things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."¹

We declare to the world that the heavens are not closed. God

continues to reveal His will to mankind, as He has in all periods of

time when He has had authorized servants upon the earth. This fact

should be familiar to all of our Father in Heaven's children, for the

scriptures give abundant evidence of this.

Sometimes we define the communication of God's will as revelation.

Sometimes we refer to such communication as inspiration.

Revelation, however, is a much broader term. While inspiration can

properly be considered as revelation, revelation can also include

visions, dreams, the spoken word, or other spiritual manifestations.

Elder Talmage explained:

"Revelation signifies the making known of divine truth by

communication from the heavens. . . . 

"The word inspiration is sometimes invested with a [significance]

almost identical with that of revelation, though by origin and early

usage it possessed a distinctive meaning. To inspire is literally to

animate with the spirit; a man is inspired when under the influence of

a power other than his own. Divine inspiration may be regarded as a

lower or less directly intensive operation of spiritual influence upon

man than is . . . revelation. The difference therefore is

rather one of

degree than of kind."²

There is order in the way the Lord reveals His will to mankind. We all

have the right to petition the Lord and receive inspiration through His

Spirit within the realm of our own stewardship. Parents can receive

revelation for their own family, a bishop for his assigned

congregation, and on up to the First Presidency for the entire Church.

However, we cannot receive revelation for someone else's

stewardship. The Prophet Joseph Smith declared:

"It is contrary to the economy of God for any member of the Church, or any one, to receive instruction for those in authority, higher than

themselves."³

"Revelations of the mind and will of God to the Church, are to come through the [First] Presidency. This is the order of heaven, and the

power and privilege of this Priesthood. It is also the privilege of any

officer in this Church to obtain revelations, so far as relates to his

particular calling and duty in the Church."⁴

The closer we keep our lives in harmony with the direction the Lord

has given us to guide our lives, the more we will be in tune with His

Spirit. A person who petitions the Lord for guidance must be worthy

to receive it. His life must be in harmony and in keeping with the

standards the Lord has prescribed for His children. His life must be in

good standing before God and His people. It must be in harmony with

the teachings of the scriptures, the prophets, and the order of the

Church.

A person could say that he or she had received a revelation to be

dishonest in order to improve his or her financial situation. Or a

person may say that he or she has been instructed that the Church

should go a different direction than it is being led by the prophet. We

would immediately know that such a claim would not be from God.

There is great strength and power in the fact that millions throughout

the world share the same testimony of God, the Savior, and the calling

of the Prophet Joseph Smith. We have never been encouraged to be

blindly obedient; it is an intelligent obedience that characterizes

members of the Church.

Brigham Young is reported to have said that the greatest fear he had

was that members of the Church would take what he said as the mind

and will of God without first praying and obtaining a witness of the

same for themselves.⁵

In establishing His kingdom on earth, the Lord set forth fundamental

principles and laws to govern His children here. Obedience to those

laws and principles yields blessings that He has covenanted to bestow

upon us. Violations are subject to His judgments.

Reviewing man's history reveals examples of obedience yielding

blessings and disobedience yielding sorrow and destruction. The

course we are to follow is revealed through His holy prophets, who

direct us to be obedient to the Lord's instructions.

One example is the Lord's directions to the children of Israel as they

journeyed in the wilderness. In order that they would have a

centerpiece for their worship and activity, the Lord instructed Moses

to build a tabernacle. The tabernacle was a forerunner of the temple,

made portable so they could easily carry it with them.

"For the Lord [said] unto Moses, . . . 

"But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it:

they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they

shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.

"And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it

down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it

up. . . . 

"And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their

hosts.

"But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel:

and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony."⁶

This tabernacle became the center of their camp as they journeyed to

the promised land. Here sacred services could be performed. The day

the tabernacle was complete, a cloud covered it. The cloud was

removed when they were to go forward in their journey. When the

cloud covered the tabernacle, they were not to travel.

The Lord directed them in their journey to camp at the foot of Mount Sinai. Here Moses was instructed to climb the mountain and

communicate with the Lord. Here he received instructions on how the

children of Israel would be governed in the wilderness. Moses was

also given "two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the

finger of God."⁷

Moses was away from the people for an extended period of time. "And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of

the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and

said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for

this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we

wot not what is become of him."⁸

Aaron succumbed to the will of the people and told them to gather all

their gold and silver and precious things and melt them into a form

that made a golden calf, an idol that they could worship and carry

with them as they journeyed. In the meantime, Moses was receiving

the two tablets of testimony containing God's commandments to His

people. With the tablets in hand, Moses descended from the

mountain.

"And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he

cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount."⁹

Because of the disobedience of the children of Israel, "Moses took the

tabernacle [out of their midst], and pitched it without the camp."¹⁰

Now their centerpiece, the tabernacle, was away from them. They

could no longer be guided and protected by its presence. Now only

the faithful were allowed to come to the tabernacle. One thing the

Lord would not tolerate was the worship of other gods. Because of

their many years of captivity in Egypt, this was challenging to the

children of Israel.

After a period of pleading for forgiveness from the Lord, Moses

was instructed to "hew . . . two tables of stone like unto

the first"¹¹

and ascend up the mount. Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights on top

of Mount Sinai, without bread or water, and the Lord instructed him:

"Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have

made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

". . . And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten

commandments."¹²

Thus, the Ten Commandments were given to mankind to follow and

use throughout their lives. Obedience finally brought the law of the

Lord to the children of Israel. Disobedience only delayed the progress

of the children of Israel towards their promised land. They had to be

worthy to receive the law of the Lord.

Note that the Lord delivered His word to Moses, His prophet. The

Lord knows what will bless His children, and to that end He delivers

laws through His prophets to the people. If obeyed, these laws will

lead us back to God. We do not determine for ourselves what those

laws are. They are given from God to man.

The Savior fulfilled the law of Moses,¹³ and similar divine

instructions were revealed in our day through the Prophet Joseph

Smith, as contained in the 59th section of the Doctrine and

Covenants. The Lord commanded:

"Wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, saying thus: Thou

shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might,

mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve

him.

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like

unto it.

"Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.

"Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness,

even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

"And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the

world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy

sacraments upon my holy day;

"For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors,

and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High;

"Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all

days and at all times;

"But remember that on this, the Lord's day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins

unto thy brethren, and before the Lord.

"And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or,

in other words, that thy joy may be full."¹⁴

Note that the channel of communication comes from the Lord to us.

So many times in our history, in our self-justification, we have

attempted to reverse that channel and change God's laws. We find no

record of this ever working.

We do find, however, that whenever God's children act contrary to

His law, divine consistency and order are interrupted with

disobedience and destruction. The Lord's system works. Adherence to

His laws and commandments will always bring about His promised

blessings.

Nephi was commanded by the Lord to obtain the brass plates to carry with them as they journeyed into the wilderness. Laban resisted every

effort they had made to obtain the record. The Lord then delivered

Laban into Nephi's hands. Concerning the slaying of Laban, Nephi

was taught: "It is better that one man should perish than that a nation

should dwindle and perish in unbelief."¹⁵

This revelation helped Nephi recall something the Lord previously

promised him in the wilderness: "Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep my

commandments, they shall prosper in the land of promise."¹⁶

Then Nephi reasoned:

"Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have the

law.

"And I also knew that the law was engraven upon the plates of

brass."¹⁷

Repeatedly the scriptures declare that the Lord gives His

commandments to the children of men through living prophets. No

committee, assembly, or any other authority has the right to dictate to

Him doctrine that is contrary to His law. God's eternal blessings are

contingent upon our obedience and adherence to the word of the Lord

that is revealed to us through His holy prophets.

God grant that we may always have the will and the courage to be

obedient to Him who is our Eternal Father and to His chosen Son, our

Lord and Savior, that we may enjoy Their blessings here and in the

eternities to come. In the name of our Lord and Savior, even Jesus

Christ, amen.

Notes:

1. Articles of Faith 1:9.

2. The Articles of Faith, 12th ed. (1924), 296.

3. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph

Fielding Smith (1976), 21.

4.

Teachings, 111.

5. See Deseret News, 9 Dec. 1857, 317; 12 Feb. 1862, 257.

6. Numbers

1:48, 50–53.

7. Exodus 31:18.

8. Exodus 32:1.

9. Exodus 32:19.

10. Exodus 33:7.

11. Exodus 34:1.

12. Exodus

34:27–28.

13. See 3 Nephi 15:5.

14. D&C 59:5–13.

15. 1 Nephi 4:13.

16. 1 Nephi 4:14.

17. 1

Nephi

4:15–16.