See Sermon by O. Pratt, J. of D., Vol. 16, page 47.
" " Prest. B. Young, Farmington, June 17, 1877, J. of D., Vol. 19. page 36.
VISIONS AND DREAMS.
"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets;" Amos 3. 7. "Where there is no vision the people perish;" Prov. 29. 18.
By visions and dreams the Lord has made known his will to his people, in every dispensation of the Priesthood. This method of communicating information, in its operations, is beyond the comprehension of our natural powers, and, for this reason, ranks among the supernatural.
In the past, the Lord has made known to his prophets many of the important events that were to become history, down through the centuries of coming time.
In the writings of Moses, as revealed to Joseph, the Seer, we have an account of wonderful things, made known in this way, to the prophet Enoch, who lived several hundred years before Noah's flood. He says: "As I was journeying, and stood in the place Mahujah, and cried unto the Lord, there came a voice out of heaven, saying, Turn ye, and get ye upon the mount Simeon.
"And it came to pass that I turned and went up on the mount; and as I stood upon the mount, I beheld the heavens open, and I was clothed upon with glory, and I saw the Lord; and he stood before my face, and he talked with me, even as a man talketh one with another, face to face; and he said unto me, Look, and I will show unto thee the world for the space of many generations." When we reflect that this great prophet lived nearly five thousand years ago, and that the Lord revealed to him the great events that were to take place on the earth until the coming of Christ in the latter-days, it will give us some little comprehension of the wonderful and great things revealed to him. The account of this is in P. of G. P., pages 17-22.
The Book of Mormon gives us a short account of another prophet, the brother of Jared, who lived about one hundred years after the flood. The Lord "Shewed 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; For he had said unto him in times before, That if he would believe in him, that he could shew unto him all things—it should be shewn unto him; therefore the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could shew him all things."