In General Conference, November 2010, a certain talk was mentioned twice: 14 Fundamentals in Following the Prophet", a talk by President Benson. I decided that since two of the living prophets had mentioned it, I should go look it up. So I did. The first thing that hit me was that it was given at BYU. That meant that his audience was college students, like us. His message was that we should follow the living Prophet and he gave us the fundamental lessons about doing so. His message hit home to me: my testimony of the Prophet has increased as I've read it. Here's what did it for me:
Point two: "The living prophet is more vital to us than the Standard Works."
Think about how many times we're told to read our scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. They say it at least five times every conference, and bishops and stake presidents say it all the time throughout the year. It's said at least once a month in my ward. Think about your love for the scriptures, how strong it is. Then think "My love for the Prophet and how much time I spend reading his words should be more than that for the scriptures." Maybe we should sit down and read the Ensign...
Point five: "The prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or diplomas to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time."
No Prophet has had a doctorate in anything. Joseph Smith didn't even have a high school education, yet look at what he said, and how science has eventually proved it. Prophets don't have to know anything about a specific area, because God knows everything and will give them what they need to know. President Benson makes this promise: "if there is ever a conflict between earthly knowledge and the words of the prophet, you stand with the prophet and you’ll be blessed and time will show you have done the right thing."
Point six: "The prophet does not have to say “Thus saith the Lord” to give us scripture."
This is an interesting idea since this class has been talking about the use and power of words. Writing concisely means you write your thoughts and ideas with the fewest words possible while still getting your point across. Prophets speak concisely, which means they rarely say "Thus saith the Lord" anymore. They don't have to. Moses and Old Testament prophets did, but they had the lesser Law. The people didn't understand the importance of Prophets. Today, we do. Prophets always speak for the Lord. Follow every commandment, counsel, and word he says.
Point 14: "The prophet and the presidency—the living prophet and the First Presidency—follow them and be blessed—reject them and suffer."
“I thought how true, and how serious when we begin to choose which of the covenants, which of the commandments we will keep and follow, we are taking the law of the Lord into our own hands and become our own prophets, and believe me, we will be led astray, because we are false prophets to ourselves when we do not follow the Prophet of God. No, we should never discriminate between these commandments, as to those we should and should not keep.” -President N. Eldon Tanner
Can you imagine what would happen if people started picking and choosing commandments? If you're just looking at the Ten Commandments alone, that's 10! different permutations. Each permutation would become it's own church, and soon we'd have 3,628,800 additional churches on our hands! Think about what would happen as people: if one person picks "Love thy neighbor" to follow, and another decides to ignore "Thou shalt not kill", we'd have a massacre on our hands. The commandments are meant to be taken all together.
I really like the line "we are false prophets to ourselves when we do not follow the Prophet of God." This is logical. If we're not following God's Prophet, but we're following someone (ourselves) and some commandments, and we think that we are speaking for God, we just put ourselves up as a prophet who is false with one follower: yourself. From that point, everyone in Pres. Tanner's and Pres. Benson's audience would have heard of the scriptures about false prophets, and know the dangers and punishments that come with following them. Neither of them has to say what happens, we all know those who follow false prophets do not reach exaltation.
Here is something that hit me throughout the talk: the use of strong words. [bolding added]
“Now I tell you that a man in his position [following the dead prophets but rejecting the living ones] is on the way to apostasy. He is forfeiting his chances for eternal life. So is everyone who cannot follow the living prophet of God.” We've talked about the power of words; forfeit is such a powerful words. It connotes giving up, weakness, sorrow, loss. All are negative words. When I think of someone forfeiting, I think of someone who has given in to worldly pressures and lost his/her will to finish the task. I think of someone who has tried hard, but not hard enough, and who will regret that decision forever after. It is a powerful word, in connection with the greatest gift in this life: eternal life. How would it be to forfeit Eternal Life; to try hard, but not hard enough. To make all that work meaningless because you just didn't go far enough.
"Yea, they are they [rich, learned, and proud] whom he [God] despiseth." Despise. Hitler's hate of the Jews was powerful, but I've never heard anyone use the word "despise" in congruence with it. God hates those who are "wise, and ... learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up" more than Hitler hated the Jews. Yet at the same time, He loves them enough to extend His infinite mercy towards them. I think that's a second part of the word "despise" that we overlook: despise does not equal hate. Despise is like hating someone's actions, while still loving the person, so you despise them. It's a powerful word, but to me, there is also hope behind that word.
"We should never discriminate between these commandments..." Never is such a powerful word, at least to me. I had a teacher who would say that "never" and "always" get overused and have come to mean something completely different. When we here "never", we take it to mean "I won't, unless...." "Never" does not have a condition on it, it is set in stone. Using that word here draws attention to the point and tells of the importance of it: we cannot ever discriminate between the commandments.
I loved this talk. It was written to us. It is rhetorically strong and sound. The point is important: follow the Living Prophet, God's mouthpiece on Earth. This has strengthened my testimony of following the Prophet and given me a greater conviction to read the Ensign as part of my scripture study.
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