The Articles of Faith part 9 of 13

Article of Faith #9, "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."

This is such a vital part of the church. This Article of Faith is talking about revelation, not only past revelation, but present and future revelation as well. President Ezra Taft Benson in an address given at Brigham Young University in 1980 gave a talk entitled, "Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet." This is where I will get a majority of my quotes. One of my favorite parts of it talks about modern-day prophets. He says in his third point, "The living prophet is more important than a dead prophet." Under this third point he states, "God's revelation 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 living one in our day and age to whom the Lord is currently revealing His will for us. Therefore the most important reading we can do is any of the words of the prophet contained each month in our Church Magazines. Our instructions about what we should do for each six months are found in the General Conference addresses which are printed in the Church magazine.
"Beware of those who would set up the dead prophets above the living prophets, for the living prophets always take precedence."

Also in the second point, which is called, "The living prophet is more vital to us than the Standard Works," also has some great insights for us about prophets and the scriptures. He tells of a story of Joseph Smith when he was in Kirtland, Ohio. He tells of a man who gets up and tells the people that the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants, are all that we need and that we should "confine ourselves to them." He then asked Brigham Young to get up and tell them how he felt about the same topic. Brigham Young said that the books of scripture in front of him were nothing compared to the living prophet. Joseph Smith got up and stated, "Brother Brigham has told you the word of the Lord, and he has told you the truth."

So as you can see. Yes, the prophets of old are important, but modern day, and more importantly, living prophets are so vital for us today. The revelation that we gain from the prophet is more vital to us than any other form of scripture. Therefore we need to heed the council of the prophet. Follow what he says and we won't go astray. I know this to be true.