The President of the Church Is the Only One Appointed to Receive Revelation for the Church
Doctrine and Covenants 43:1–7
1 O hearken, ye elders of my church, and give ear to the words which I shall speak unto you.
2 For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye have received a commandment for a law unto my church, through him whom I have appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations from my hand.
3 And this ye shall know assuredly—that there is none other appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations until he be taken, if he abide in me.
4 But verily, verily, I say unto you, that none else shall be appointed unto this gift except it be through him; for if it be taken from him he shall not have power except to appoint another in his stead.
5 And this shall be a law unto you, that ye receive not the teachings of any that shall come before you as revelations or commandments;
6 And this I give unto you that you may not be deceived, that you may know they are not of me.
7 For verily I say unto you, that he that is ordained of me shall come in at the gate and be ordained as I have told you before, to teach those revelations which you have received and shall receive through him whom I have appointed.
President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
“For the reasons which called forth the counsel and guidance in the first seven verses of [Doctrine and Covenants] 43, attention is called to [Doctrine and Covenants] 28. In a revelation given in September 1830 [D&C 28], the Lord gave a law to the Church in regard to the receiving of revelation. This was called forth because of the Hiram Page incident . . . Now, again, it becomes necessary for the Lord to give further instruction on this matter. The incident which called for this direction and law was due to the activity of a woman, Mrs. Hubble, who followed the lead of Hiram Page and endeavored to give revelation for the Church, and there were some who were willing to follow her. One of the strange things with humanity is that a person can obtain followers for almost any foolish idea which he may advance. Today there are cults and parties teaching some of the strangest doctrines that this world has ever known. In this heavenly communication, the Lord gives positive instruction to the Church in relation to the order by which revelation is to be received. Common sense should teach us the wisdom of this commandment without it becoming necessary for the Lord to give counsel such as this revelation contains. There is order in the kingdom of God. There could not be order if every man was privileged to give commandments and claim the right to direct by revelation the members of the Church.
“This law is given for our government for all time. It is the one who holds the keys and who stands as the Presiding High Priest and President of the Church who is the spokesman of the Lord for the members of the Church. Individual members may receive the inspiration and revelation for their own guidance, but not for the Church. Moreover, no member of the Church will profess to receive a revelation for his own guidance that is contradictory of any revelation coming from the President of the Church.”
(Church History and Modern Revelation, 2 vols. [1953], 1:187–88.)
