Watchman, what of the night?

1
Watchman, what of the night?

• Khinckley1_at_yahoo.com

2
Powerful BYU Letter to the Editor

• Energy is a resource that many people take for
  granted. What people don't realize is that
  every time you turn on a light switch, you
  impact much more than you think. Energy use
  impacts our environment, foreign policy,
  domestic security and economy.
• The United States contains only four percent
  of the world's population and is responsible
  for more than twenty percent of the world's
  emission. Action must be taken now. Brigham
  Young University is an ideal place to start
• Through investments in energy efficiency and
  clean energy resources, we can all "set an
  example for our community and help to ensure a
  more suitable future for our children and our
  grandchildren."
• I agree and am willing to pay a dollar to see
  that happen

3
Captain Moroni Fortifications

• Ditches
• Mounds
• Picketts
• Towers
• Men in the Towers!

4
The Watchman

• O, watchman, what of the night?
• Dawns not yet the morning light?
• World, hear the watchman's cry
• The perfect day draweth nigh.
• (Improvement Era, 1901)

5
DC 138

• 38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken,
  and I excuse not myself
• and though the heavens and the earth pass away,
  my word shall not pass away, but shall all be
  fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the
  voice of my servants, it is the same.

6
Question

• Which watchman is more popular
• Living ones or dead ones?

7
President Ezra Taft Benson

• "God's revelations to Adam did not instruct Noah
  how to build the ark. Noah needed his own
  revelation. Therefore, the most important
  prophet, so far as you and I are
  concerned, is the one living in our day
  and age to whom the Lord is currently
  revealing His will for us." (The Teachings
  of Ezra Taft Benson, 335)

8
Why Living prophets?
Satans Tactics in the last days
Wicked
Righteous
stirred up to anger for at that day shall
Satan rage in the hearts of the Children of
men and stir them up to anger against that which
is good (2 Nephi 28 19,20)
And others will he pacify, and lull them away
into carnal security, that they will say All is
well in Zion yea, Zion prospereth, all is
welland thus the devil cheateth their souls, and
leadeth them away carefully down to hell. (2
Nephi 2821)
9
President Kimball

• We testify to the world that revelation continues
  and that the vaults and files of the Church
  contain those revelations which come month to
  month and day to day. We testify also that there
  is, since 1830 when The Church of Jesus Christ of
  Latter-day Saints was organized, and will
  continue to be, so long as time shall last, a
  prophet, recognized of God and his people, who
  will continue to interpret the mind and will of
  the Lord.
• Expecting the spectacular, one may not be fully
  alerted to the constant flow of revealed
  communication. I say, in the deepest of humility,
  but also by the power and force of a burning
  testimony in my soul, that from the prophet of
  the Restoration to the prophet of our own year,
  the communication line is unbroken, the authority
  is continuous, a light, brilliant and
  penetrating, continues to shine. The sound of the
  voice of the Lord is a continuous melody and a
  thunderous appeal. For nearly a century and a
  half there has been no interruption. (Ensign, May
  1977, p. 78, emphasis added.)

10
President Hinckley with Mike Wallace

• Question . The Mormons, Mr. President,
  call you a living Moses, a prophet who
  literally communicates with Jesus. How do
  you do that?
• Answer I do it in prayer. Let me say first that
  there is a tremendous history behind this church,
  a history of prophecy, a history of revelation,
  and a backlog of decisions which set the pattern
  of the Church so that there aren't constant
  recurring problems that require any special
  dispensation.
• But there are occasionally things that arise
  where the will of the Lord is sought, and in
  those circumstances I think the best way I could
  describe the process is to liken it to the
  experience of Elijah as set forth in First Kings.
  Elijah spoke to the Lord and there was a wind.
  And there was a tempest, or an earthquake, and
  the Lord was not in the earthquake. And there was
  a fire, and the Lord was not in the fire. And
  after the fire a still, small voice, which I
  describe as the whisperings of the Spirit. Now
  let me just say, categorically, that the things
  of God are understood by the Spirit of God, and
  one must have and seek and cultivate that Spirit,
  and there comes understanding that is real. I can
  give testimony of that. (Dew, Sheri L. Go Forward
  with Faith, The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley.
  Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, 1996, pp.
  585-86).

11
From the life of Pres. Kimball

• The Reverend Norman Vincent Peale took the
  opportunity to meet the first Presidency. He
  was struggling with a personal challenge and
  asked President Kimball to bless him.
• "You mean you want me to give you a blessing such
  as I give our people?" Spencer queried.
• "Yes."
• Willingly President Kimball and his counselors
  put their hands on Dr. Peale's head and, as Dr.
  Peale related
• President Kimball in his quiet, sincere, loving
  manner prayed for me by name
  and asked the Lord to be near to me and
  love me and to take care of me
  and to guide me, and as he talked I
  began to be very broken up and
  touched, and then all of a sudden I
  had a wondrous feeling of the
  presence and I said to him, "Sir,
  He is here I feel His presence."
• We said goodbye I walked out into that crisp,
  sun-kissed morning and ... as I
  walked along, I suddenly felt the burden
  lift, and I saw the answer to the
  difficulty and I felt the victory.

12
Current Revelation from Pres. Hinckley?

• I offer a challenge to members of
  the Church throughout the world
  and to our friends
  everywhere to read or
  reread the Book of Mormon
• Without reservation I promise you that if each of
  you will observe this simple program, regardless
  of how many times you previously may have read
  the Book of Mormon, there will come into your
  lives and into your homes
• an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord,
• a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to
  His commandments,
• and a stronger testimony of the living reality of
  the Son of God.