Come Listen to a Prophet (unabridged)

More than Just another Pre-Conference Talk

I was asked to talk on “Come listen to a Prophet.”  This seems to be a common topic about every 6 months sometime soon before General Conference.  So I know exactly what is expected of me, but the Lord spoke to me in my heart saying I should not give the talk which I know is expected, and I should give the talk He should give me.  He told me this is a time for me to prove that I fear God more than man.  Listening to the Voice of God is what we should really strive for.  Sometimes that voice is delivered through His prophets, sometimes through other unexpected people, and sometimes it comes directly to us.  God wants us to come unto Him and listen to His Voice.  He does not want us to discredit any source of truth nor to take something as truth just because of the credentials of the person who said it, but rather He wants us to confirm truth with the Holy Ghost.  “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye shall know the truth of all things.”  I hope you will seek the Holy Ghost to know the truth of the words I speak here today.

To start out let us go back to the basics and establish what a prophet is.  From the Bible Dictionary, “The work of a Hebrew prophet was to act as God’s messenger and make known God’s will.  The message was usually prefaced with the words ‘Thus saith Jehovah.’”  This is important because it allows us to differentiate between the opinions of a man who might be called as a prophet, and the actual words that were revealed from the Voice of God to be taught to his people.  The scriptures are full of examples of this.  I think my favorite is Abinadi saying, “Behold thus saith the Lord, and thus hath He commanded me, saying, Go forth, and say unto this people, thus saith the Lord –” (Mosiah 11:20) and he proceeds to call the people of King Noah to repentance.  And then so as to leave no confusion he concludes, “and thus saith the Lord and thus hath he commanded me.”  These days we never here these words in conference by the men we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators, yet we read it over and over in the scriptures and especially in the Doctrine and Covenants.  So to really get to the Word of God for our dispensation we need to go back to the scriptures we received through the Prophet Joseph Smith for the pure doctrines of Christ, as received straight from the Voice of God.  Come to the scriptures and listen to the prophets as recorded therein, for there we know we are receiving the word of God for us, and much of it is specifically for our dispensation written by prophets who saw our day.

What else qualifies a prophet?  A prophet is really anyone who speaks by the spirit of prophecy.  In Numbers 11:24-29 we read,
    “And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the Lord, and
     gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round
     about the tabernacle.  And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake
     unto him and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the
     seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them,
     they prophesied, and did not cease. But there remained two of the men in
     the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other
     Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that
     were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied
     in the camp.  And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said,
     Elad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.  And Joshua the son of Nun,
     the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My Lord
     Moses, forbid them.  And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake?
     Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord
     would put his spirit upon them!”

Moses did not envy the gift of prophesy given to men among the Israelites, rather he encouraged it.  From this we learn that there can be any number of prophets, and what qualifies them is that the Lord pours out His Spirit upon them and they have the gift or prophecy.  In Words of Mormon we see another example of there being multiple prophets, we read in verses 16-18,
    “And after there had been false prophets, and false preachers and
     teachers among the people, and all these having been punished
     according to their crimes; and after there having been much contention
     and many dissentions away unto the Lamanites, behold, it came to pass
     that king Benjamin, with the assistance of the holy prophets who were
     among his people—For behold, king Benjamin was a holy man, and he
     did reign over his people in righteousness; and there were many holy
     men in the land, and they did use much sharpness because of the
     stiffneckedness of the people – Wherefore, with the help of these, king
     Benjamin, by laboring with all the might of his body and the faculty of
     his whole soul, and also the prophets, did once more establish peace
     in the land.” 

King Benjamin as great a man as he was still needed the help of other prophets in the land.  And they worked together to teach the people.  They didn’t contend with each other for who should have the title of “THE Prophet.”  They cared only to teach the people and establish peace in the land. It did not divide the people rather it united them in Christ.  Today we each have our own callings and stewardships.  We should all seek for whichever gifts of the Spirit help us in fulfilling our callings within the church.  It is fully within your rights to seek the gift of prophesy to assist you in your lessons and sacrament meeting talks.  That we all might come listen to a prophet’s voice EVERY Sunday by attending our regular meetings would be awesome.

What do prophets teach and prophesy about?  This is answered in Jacob 7 while he is discussing with an anti-Christ, in verse 10 Jacob asks, “Believest thou the scriptures? And he answered, Yea.”  In verse 11 Jacob replies, “Then ye do not understand them; for they truly testify of Christ.  Behold, I say unto you that none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ.”  From this we learn that all prophets testify of Christ.  Nephi teaches this as well in 2 Nephi 25:26 “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophesies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”  From this we learn that preaching and prophesying is centered on Christ for the purpose that our children will know to what source they should look for a remission of their sins.  No other subject of prophesy will save us and our children.  Any man claiming to prophesy who does not plainly and readily teach and testify of Christ is a false prophet.  As we teach one another we must remember to make Christ the center of our teachings.  And as we seek to listen to a prophet’s voice let us be mindful that Christ is the center of the teachings we receive.

We are warned many times in the scriptures about these perilous times we live in today.  In 2 Nephi 28 he expounds on many downfalls he saw in our day.  In verse 14 he says, “They shall wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray” (and I’d like to point out you can’t go astray unless you have the truth to begin with, so he’s talking about us here) continuing, “they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.”  We need to be continuously seeking to know God’s will for us personally. Then as a humble follower of Christ we need to be cautious that we are not lead astray by the precepts of men.  In verse 31 of that same chapter Nephi says, “Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.”  If we do not take the things we hear in conference, or sacrament meeting, or our classes, or wherever, to the Lord to be confirmed by His Spirit we are putting our trust in the arm of flesh.  We need to seek not just for a prophet to listen to, but for the direct Voice of God to us.  Come listen to the Voice of God alone in a quiet place with the humility and willingness to follow what He says FOR YOU.

To truly be a humble follower of Christ you need to constantly seek the Spirit to help you discern between truth and error, between true prophets and apostles, and false prophets and apostles.  In 2 Corinthians 11:12-13 we read, “But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.”  This was a problem in the New Testament church that led to the apostasy of the early Christian church. Today we seem to think we are exempt from such problems.  However God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and just as he could not take away the agency of those who sought to be false apostles in the past likewise today he cannot take the agency of those who would lead this church astray.  In Doctrine and Covenants 64:39-40 we are warned, “And Liars and hypocrites shall be proved by them [them being the inhabitants of Zion], and they who are not apostles and prophets shall be known.  And even the bishop, who is a judge, and his counselors, if they are not faithful in their stewardships shall be condemned, and others shall be planted in their stead.”  Every dispensation after God calls prophets there are three categories of people, first, those who listen and follow, second, those who seem to follow but seek to teach their own ideas as truth and mingle it with scripture, and third, those who ignore or persecute the prophet and his followers.  This second group who mingle the teachings of men with scripture is the root cause of apostasy.  These are the false apostles and false prophets.  It is NOT the persecution on the outside that leads to apostacy; it is those on the inside, who corrupt the doctrines of Christ and lead astray those who are seeking truth, and our dispensation today is not an exception.  This is why scriptures are always warning us against false prophets.  In Mathew 7:15-20, and 3 Nephi 14:15-20 we are taught,
    “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but
     inwardly they are ravening wolves.  Ye shall know them by their fruits. 
     Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?  Even so every
     good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth
     evil fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit neither can a corrupt
     tree bring forth good fruit.  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit
     is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  Wherefore, by their fruits ye
     shall know them.” 

What are the fruit we should look for to tell a false prophet from a true prophet of God?  Galatians 5 teaches,
    “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery,
     fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
     variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders,
     drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before,
     as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall
     not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
     peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance:” 

Of everything we hear from one who claims to be a prophet we must prayerfully seek the Spirit to confirm whether it is truth.  And the fruit it produces will show us whether they are of God or of man. When you do come listen to a prophet, be sure to personally seek the Spirit and look to the fruit of his teachings to see if he is truly a prophet or if he is actually a false prophet.

When we listen to the teachings of any man we need to know how to discern the truth which comes from God, from the errors which come from the devil.   In Moroni 7 we are taught further how to discern truth from error.  In verses 11-13, 16 it reads:
    “For behold, a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water; neither
     can a good fountain bring forth bitter water; wherefore, a man being
     a servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; and if he follow Christ he
     cannot be a servant of the devil.  Wherefore, all things which are good
     cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the
     devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against Him continually, and
     inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.  But
     behold, that which is of God inviteth  and enticeth to do good continually;
     wherefore every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love
     God, and to serve him, is inspired of God….For behold, the Spirit of Christ
     is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I
     show unto you the way to judge; for every thing  which inviteth to do
     good and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and
     gift of Christ; wherefore you may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.”

These are the tools given to us that we might not be deceived.  All the things we are taught by men should be put to this test.  Does it invite us to believe in Christ?  Does it invite us to do good and serve God?  Does the Spirit of Christ confirm it in our hearts and minds?  We live in uncertain times but there are things we can know of a certainty if we put it to this test. We can know what is and isn’t of God.  As we seek to listen to a prophet’s voice let us put everything to this test that we may know whether it is of God. 

Now after we have tested and confirmed and we know someone spoke as a prophet, we know their words are true and inspired by the Holy Ghost, because the Holy Ghost has confirmed it to us personally, we see the fruits that they are good, they inspire us to believe in Christ, and to serve God, what then?  In Doctrine and Covenants 68:4 we read, “And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the Voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation.”  So, we should regard it as scripture and study it with our scriptures.  Most of all we should use it as a springboard for our personal revelation to seek out God’s will for us personally.  Because just listening to a prophet’s voice will not save us.  We are only saved as we sacrifice to follow God’s Voice to us whatever source it comes from.  Let us not only come listen to a prophet, and confirm his teachings are true and from God, but then let us faithfully and humbly act on what we hear the Voice of the Lord speak to our hearts and minds that we should do.

 
And now the Lord hath commanded that I, Camilla, say unto you, this ward:  Behold, Thus saith the Lord, there are some among my church with whom I am displeased, for they set up the leaders and look unto them for salvation.  Behold, this is idolatry, for none can save but Christ.  See that this practice is not found among you.  Look unto Christ in every thought.  Doubt not, fear not.  The time soon cometh, saith the Lord, that my arm shall be revealed; see that ye are numbered among the humble followers of Christ, and not the prideful followers of men.  And thus hath the Voice of the Lord commanded me that I must say and I must obey. 

I bare you my witness that God lives.  That He speaks to His people who are the humble followers of Christ.  His sheep will hear His Voice whatever source it comes from.  Christ is the only name under heaven by which we can be saved.  Joseph Smith the prophet is the head of our dispensation.  The Book of Mormon is the word of God and scripture for our day.  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever; He never lies.  Therefore, any supposed new revelation if it contradicts established scripture is the work of a false prophet.  Let us all seek the gift of discernment to know for ourselves what is truth and then seek the humility to live it.  In the name of Jesus Christ, to whom I will be accountable for the words I have spoken here today, Amen.