SMACK-DOWN OF THE ANTI'S ON LDSFF

Here is something a very wise person wrote on LDSFF about supporting the Brethren - not following blindly, but keeping Temple covenants to not speak ill or derisively of those whom we raise our hands to sustain.  I find myself constantly doing battle with these types.  If given the power (and I have had that privilege in unique circumstances), I would bring their world down around them in order to humble them in the name of the Lord.  I tolerate little or no discord and insolence among so-called "members" of the Church.  And its probably why I am not a Bishop.  I would read what they wrote, arrive at a conclusion and there would be a quick court where those individuals would then have the opportunity at some future time to petition their way back into membership in the Lord's kingdom.

This subject came up at the end of August in 2012 and this is part of what I wrote then:

So here are some of the things Joseph Smith wrote directly (found in letters Joseph wrote to others) about how apostasy began on an individual level and how you could detect it:

“It is in consequence of aspiring men that Kirtland has been forsaken. How frequently has your humble servant been envied in his office by such characters, who endeavored to raise themselves to power at his expense, and seeing it impossible to do so, resorted to foul slander and abuse, and other means to effect his overthrow. Such characters have ever been the first to cry out against the Presidency, and publish their faults and foibles to the four winds of heaven.”9 [History of the Church, 4:165–66; from a letter from Joseph Smith to Oliver Granger, July 1840, Nauvoo, Illinois.]

"Renegade ‘Mormon’ dissenters are running through the world and spreading various foul and libelous reports against us, thinking thereby to gain the friendship of the world, because they know that we are not of the world, and that the world hates us; therefore they [the world] make a tool of these fellows [the dissenters]; and by them try to do all the injury they can, and after that they hate them worse than they do us, because they find them to be base traitors and sycophants [flatterers].”12 [History of the Church, 3:230; first and second sets of bracketed words in original; from a letter from Joseph Smith to Church members in Caldwell County, Missouri, Dec. 16, 1838, Liberty Jail, Liberty, Missouri.]

HERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT ARE WRITTEN BY THOSE WHO HEARD JOSEPH YEARS BEFORE:

Orson Hyde, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, reported: “Joseph the Prophet … said, ‘Brethren, remember that the majority of this people will never go astray; and as long as you keep with the majority you are sure to enter the celestial kingdom.’”16 [ Orson Hyde, Deseret News: Semi-Weekly, June 21, 1870, p. 3.]

William G. Nelson reported: “I have heard the Prophet speak in public on many occasions. In one meeting I heard him say: ‘I will give you a key that will never rust,—if you will stay with the majority of the Twelve Apostles, and the records of the Church, you will never be led astray.’ The history of the Church has proven this to be true.”17 [William G. Nelson, in “Joseph Smith, the Prophet,” Young Woman’s Journal, Dec. 1906, p. 543; paragraph divisions altered.]

Ezra T. Clark remembered: “I heard the Prophet Joseph say that he would give the Saints a key whereby they would never be led away or deceived, and that was: The Lord would never suffer a majority of this people to be led away or deceived by imposters, nor would He allow the records of this Church to fall into the hands of the enemy.”18 [Ezra T. Clark, “The Testimony of Ezra T. Clark,” July 24, 1901, Farmington, Utah; in Heber Don Carlos Clark, Papers, ca. 1901–74, typescript, Church Archives.]

These quotes came from this link:
http://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-jos ... 81_000_031

Well here are many of the quotes from presidents of the church themselves, who have espoused the principle about "the prophet not leading members of the church astray." This really only includes quotes about the relationship between the prophet, God, and the church as that was your question.

In finding these quotes about a prophet leading the church astray, there were many interesting quotes also on our responsibility regarding our relationship and duties to revelation regarding us, the prophet and God, which I did not include...but it was good reading. This was just a quick cut and paste, by no means exhaustive or including all there is to include from all the prophets and scriptures.

BRIGHAM YOUNG
The Lord Almighty leads this Church, and he will never suffer you to be led astray if you are found doing your duty. You may go home and sleep as sweetly as a babe in its mother’s arms, as to any danger of your leaders leading you astray, for if they should try to do so the Lord would quickly sweep them from the earth. Your leaders are trying to live their religion as far as they are capable of doing so (DBY, 137).[Young, Brigham. Discourses of Brigham Young. Selected by John A. Widtsoe. 1941.]

entire article: http://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-bri ... 0?lang=eng

WILFORD WOODRUFF
We have revelation with us. True, the leaders of this Church since the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith have not [published] many revelations. Joseph Smith brought forth the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and it is a grand volume of revelation—one of the most glorious records ever given of God to man on the earth. But I want to say that Brother Brigham Young did not live without revelation. He always had revelation with him. He could not labor without it; he could not preach or do the will of God without it. Nor can any man that occupies that position. The Lord would permit no man to stand at the head of this Church unless he was governed and controlled by revelation. We are feeble instruments—weak worms of the dust; but God has chosen the weak things of the earth to confound the wise, and to build up His Zion, and He gives us revelation and makes known unto us His mind and will.11 [Millennial Star, March 5, 1896, 148.]

The Lord will lead [the President of the Church] where he wants him to go. We know God is with him, and has led him all the time. … It requires [the prophet] to tell us what is right and what is wrong in many things, because that is his place and calling. … A perfect channel exists between the Lord and him, through which he obtains wisdom, which is diffused through other channels to the people. That we know. We have got to learn to bring this knowledge into practice.12 [Deseret News, December 16, 1857, 324–25.]

The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place.13 [The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, 212.]

entire article http://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-wil ... 9?lang=eng



JOSEPH F. SMITH
If [the President of the Church] should become unfaithful, God would remove him out of his place. I testify in the name of Israel’s God that He will not suffer the head of the Church, him whom He has chosen to stand at the head, to transgress His Laws and apostatize; the moment he should take a course that would in time lead to it, God would take him away. Why? Because to suffer a wicked man to occupy that position, would be to allow, as it were, the fountain to become corrupted, which is something He will never permit. [Deseret News: Semi-Weekly, 26 June 1883, 1.]

I bear my testimony to the divine authority of those who have succeeded the Prophet Joseph Smith in the presidency of this Church. They were men of God. … I can bear testimony to the integrity, to the honor, to the purity of life, to the intelligence, and to the divinity of the mission and calling of Brigham [Young], of John [Taylor], of Wilford [Woodruff], and of Lorenzo [Snow]. They were inspired of God to fill the mission to which they were called, and I know it. I thank God for that testimony and for the Spirit that prompts me and impels me towards these men, toward their mission, toward this people, toward my God and my Redeemer.26 [Gospel Doctrine, 169.]

entire article: http://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-jos ... 5?lang=eng

HEBER J. GRANT
You need have no fear, my dear brothers and sisters, that any man will ever stand at the head of the Church of Jesus Christ unless our Heavenly Father wants him to be there.5 [Gospel Standards, 68.]
http://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-heb ... 8?lang=eng

I thought the whole article was interesting in that it discussed the building of a sugar beet factory by the church and the opposition (within the church) that was against it...

http://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-heb ... 8?lang=eng

HAROLD B LEE
To you Latter-day Saints everywhere, that promise [in D&C 21:4–6] will be yours if you will follow the leadership the Lord has placed within the Church, giving heed to their counsel in patience and faith.16 [The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 529.]

Look to the President of the Church for your instructions. If ever there is a conflict, you keep your eyes on the President if you want to walk in the light.17 [The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 532.]

entire article: http://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-har ... 9?lang=eng

"It is not to be thought that every word spoken by the General Authorities is inspired, or that they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost in everything they read and write. " [Lee, Harold B. "The Place of the Living Prophet, Seer and Revelator", Address to Seminary and Institute of Religion Faculty, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; July 8, 1964]

SPENCER W. KIMBALL
The authorities which the Lord has placed in his Church constitute for the people of the Church a harbor, a place of refuge, a hitching post, as it were. No one in this Church will ever go far astray who ties himself securely to the Church Authorities whom the Lord has placed in his Church. This Church will never go astray; the Quorum of the Twelve will never lead you into bypaths; it never has and never will. There could be individuals who would falter; there will never be a majority of the Council of the Twelve on the wrong side at any time. The Lord has chosen them; he has given them specific responsibilities. And those people who stand close to them will be safe. And, conversely, whenever one begins to go his own way in opposition to authority, he is in grave danger. I would not say that those leaders whom the Lord chooses are necessarily the most brilliant, nor the most highly trained, but they are the chosen, and when chosen of the Lord they are his recognized authority, and the people who stay close to them have safety.23 [In Conference Report, Apr. 1951, 104.]

http://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-spe ... 3?lang=eng

GORDON B HINCKLEY
"His church will not be misled. Never fear that. If there were any disposition on the part of its leaders to do so, He would remove them."
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1 ... d?lang=eng
[Hinckley, Gordon B. "Our Testimony to the World", Ensign, May 1997, page 83.]



My personal assessment:
One of the principles we might need to gain a greater testimony of is a prophet's role in restoring his gospel in the latter-days, and preparing the earth (individual by individual) to receive the Savior and become a part of the Kingdom of God. We may need to pray about the role this church and leaders have in the process of proclaiming this gospel and establishing that kingdom.

This doesn't mean we should be lazy and not pray, search, and seek to understand many various principles of the gospel by asking God ourselves. We need to pray about where we fit in with that role of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and his kingdom and what God's will is for us. Are we becoming who God would have us become should be our focus. Maybe we as a people need to evaluate our individual selves foremost. I have decided that I need to spend more time and energy asking God where I stand in his eyes and asking him to help me discern when promptings, inspiration, and revelation come from Him.