Orson Pratt

“ You are not like those who have no revelation of whom the ancient apostle speaks, who were "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth;" but you are of those, if you keep the commandments of God, who are not only learning from the word of God, but have a knowledge of all revealed truth by the power of the Spirit, the Comforter, which is a revelator, an unction to all those who receive it; and they are able to bear record of the things which they formerly believed to be true. ”

“ For behold, the language which ye shall write, I have confounded, wherefore I will cause in my own due time that these stones shall magnify to the eyes of men, these things which ye shall write. And when the Lord had said these words, he showed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth." What a great gift it is to know and see by the enlightenment of the Spirit, by vision, things that have taken place from the beginning of this world ”

“ But we have every reason to believe that the time is not far distant, and that there are some living among the young now upon the earth, that will live to behold great numbers of revelations given, and will behold other books come forth and other records translated by the Urim and Thummim, that same instrument that Joseph Smith used in the translation of the "Book of Mormon," which will again come forth and be revealed to the seer and revelator that God will raise up by which these ancient records will be brought to light. ”

“ We find generations numbering from father to son, and from son to grandson, etc., and when we come to average generations, according to the statistic, of nations, we find them to be about thirty years to a generation; but when the Lord speaks in general terms, and says, This generation shall not pass away, until a House shall be built to his name, as is given in this "Book of Covenants," and a cloud should rest upon it; in that case I do not think he is limited to any definite period, but suffice it to say that the people living in 1832, when the revelation was given, will not all pass away ”

“ O Lord, look upon me in pity, and turn away thine anger from this thy people, and suffer not that they shall go forth across the raging deep in darkness, but behold these things which I have moulten out of the rock. And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man ”

“ And the king said that a Seer is greater than a Prophet. And Ammon said that a Seer is a Revelator and a Prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God. But a Seer can know of things which have passed, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them ”

“ The Lord has not, because of unbelief and wickedness of the people, permitted these things to come forth to be trampled under the feet, as swine would trample jewels under their feet. But as soon as the righteousness of the people shall warrant, he will reveal these hidden treasures of knowledge, and they will understand and comprehend the great things of God ”

“ It seems that the Lord manifested himself to the people of this great western continent in a similar manner. Here he raised up Prophets, and here they were in possession of an instrument, although not called strictly by the same name, yet an instrument evidently designed by the Almighty as a medium of communication to his people. King Mosiah, who lived some time after the Israelites came to the American continent, some few centuries before the first coming of Christ, he had this great gift. Ammon, a servant of God, who explained this gift to King Limhi, tells us the nature of the gift. ”

“ From what little I have said, the strangers present may begin to believe the truth of that Scripture which says, "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the book that should be written." ”

“ The judgment of man is naturally very weak and imperfect, and inasmuch as Aaron was required to judge the people of God, it was of the utmost importance that all his decisions should be given in righteousness, that there should be no imperfections connected with them, and for that reason the Lord gave express instructions to Aaron, through his brother Moses, to have a breast-plate. ”

“ And if it were important for him, in the early ages, to understand the great things of the latter-days, how much more important it is for us who are living, as it were, just preceding the coming of the Son of Man; and if ancient men of God were privileged and blessed in understanding the things of the future, how much greater blessing it will be to us, inasmuch as these things are at our doors. ”

“ Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh of great benefit to his fellow-beings.
"And now, when Ammon had made an end of speaking these words, the king rejoiced exceedingly, and gave thanks to God, saying, doubtless a great mystery is contained within these plates, and these interpreters are doubtless prepared for unfolding all such mysteries to the children of men. O how marvellous are the works of the Lord, and how long doth he suffer with his people ”

“ In other words, they were to be left without revelators, without prophets, without an inspired king to rule over them, all of which has been fulfilled for many centuries in the dispersion of the descendants of Jacob from their land of promise, among the nations whithersoever they are driven, without having any king; they do not offer sacrifices as anciently; they have no priest with the breast-plate of judgment, and Urim and Thummim to inquire of the Lord. ”

“ The Lord has thus raised up a great cloud of witnesses in connection with scores of thousands of others to bear record of the truth, in this last dispensation of the fullness of times. "For, because of my Spirit, he shall know that these things are true; for it persuadeth men to do good; and whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good, is of me ”

“ The reason of this was, that Aaron was appointed to be a judge among the children of Israel, occupying a similar place among that people that the President of the Bishopric occupies in the Church. But he was blessed above those who have been ordained to the same calling in this dispensation, for he was in possession of the Urim and Thummin, and by virtue of this instrument he could inquire of the Lord in relation to every case that should be brought before him for adjudication. ”

“ We know that thou art able to show forth great power, which looks small to the understanding of man."
You can see from the very language itself, what great confidence this man of God had in relation to the doings of the Lord. ”