JLHPROF wrote:
That doesn't refer to personal revelation. I have seen the difference in my life. I am certain that the Lord has communicated things to me for me and nobody else. As I said, God will judge each on how well they listen to him, not how well we obey others.
You mean you expect YOUR God to judge YOU on how well YOU listen to YOUR God. Using "they" in this instance, is irrelevant to anyone but you, because your subjective experiences are your own. There is no evidence for the Mormon God, (only the feelings of Mormons) which is no evidence at all that your God exists. And according to Mormonism, that God will certainly judge each and every Mormon on how well they obey their file leaders. That is what is wrong with most Mormons who post here, they confuse what the church actually teaches with what they personally believe and more likely than not, they don't agree.
“Those men and women who persist in publicly challenging basic doctrines, practices, and establishment of the Church sever themselves from the Spirit of the Lord and forfeit their right to place and influence in the Church.... There is a certain arrogance in thinking that any of us may be more spiritually intelligent, more learned, or more righteous than the Councils called to preside over us.” -James E. Faust, “Keeping Covenants and Honoring the Priesthood,” Sunstone, 16:6, no. 92, November 1993, p. 72
Neil Maxwell,
Lest the casual observer mistake "following the Brethren" as producing only one-sided pressures, let him listen to the humble words of that great scholar, Elder Talmage: "Ofttimes I tremble, literally, as I consider what am doing when addressing the Latter-day Saints, for I know that what I say unto them is binding upon me, and that I shall be judged by the precepts that I impress upon them; and what I say under such conditions is likewise binding upon those who hear." (Ibid., p. 188.)
Such heavy responsibilities do not rest upon the Brethren without producing real anxieties.
As one examines the typical things that get in the way of following the Brethren, these are among them:
1. There are those who maintain they are wiser and better informed than the Brethren. Therefore, they reject the counsel of the Brethren.
2. There are those who feel the Brethren try to direct them too much in their personal affairs. These individuals may not feel the advice is wrong, but they resent the coaching, especially in what they see as temporal matters.
3. There are those who reject the counsel of the Brethren, not because they disbelieve it or see it as irrelevant, but rather because its timing is inconvenient. They are like one who said, "Give me chastity, but not yet."
4. There are those who reject the counsel of the Brethren in a rather indirect way. They are simply too caught up with the cares of the world even to notice the counsel; they do not, therefore, give place in their life for it. Theirs is the heedlessness of worldly preoccupation, but the consequences of this form of disobedience are just as severe as outright rejection.
5. There are those who reject following the Brethren because they wish to be the leaders. This is a mortal reflection of Lucifer's bid in the premortal world. His need for ascendancy was so great that he simply would not follow. Whether his desire to be chosen drove him to advance his "no-growth, no-loss" approach to mortality or whether he believed in his way so much that he sought ascendancy to further his convictions, we do not fully know. In any event, there are those whose need for ascendancy causes them to be disobedient even if, in their heart of hearts, they know the prophetic counsel given is correct. Ego crowds out all other considerations!
6. Finally, there are those few, like Cain, who, in effect, have gone so far as to have made a deal with the devil; they are on the other side. The passionate intensity with which they pursue their goals makes it, of course, impossible for them to hear the words of God— short of some dramatic confrontation such as we read of with men like Korihor. (Alma 30.)
There are, of course, numerous variations of the above. Some have behavioral lapses and then seek to cover these by pretending to have reservations about a doctrine or a leader. Having misbehaved, they try to cover their sins. It is so fashionable nowadays to have a "noble grievance" with the Brethren. Remember, however, their gift of discernment. The Book of Mormon tells us flatly of one discerning prophet and his confrontation with Korihor:
"But, behold, I have all things as a testimony that these things are true; and ye also have all things as a testimony unto you that they are true; and will ye deny them? Believest thou that these things are true?
"Behold, I know that thou believest, but thou art possessed with a lying spirit, and yet have put off the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God." (Alma 30:41-42. Italics added.)
... Following the Brethren is, of course, a different challenge in a society that is sinking rapidly, such as was the case in Sodom and Gomorrah, as compared with following the prophets in a society where there is reasonable righteousness and reasonable happiness. Obedience is required in both settings, to be sure, but there is an intensification of the challenge presented to members of the Church in the one setting compared with the other somewhat more tranquil time and circumstance.
... Another steady follower of the earliest Church leaders was President Wilford Woodruff. In an address given October 6, 1856, he observed, "Whatever counsel the Presidency of this Church have been led to give unto this people, it has been dictated by the Spirit and power of God, and our safety and salvation lies in obeying that counsel and putting it into practice."
President Woodruff then recalled how, when President Young had led them westward, some had "thought it was a wild speculation... dangerous...." It even looked to some that Brigham was "leading the people to destruction," yet "in all ages of the world, it is where the counsels of the Prophets of God are not fully carried out" that destruction is actually assured. (Journal of Discourses 4:94-95.)
