"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."

We have no account of any greater vision than this which the brother of Jared had. "And the Lord said unto him, Write these things and seal them up, and I will shew them in mine own due time unto the children of men;" Ether 3. 2-27. Thus we learn from the twenty-seventh verse, that all the great things which pertain to the history of man, from the beginning unto the end of the earth, are yet to be revealed, through the record of the brother of Jared, to all who are prepared to receive them.

Lehi, the head of the first Jewish colony to America, was commanded by the Lord, in a dream, to leave Jerusalem, take his family and go into the wilderness, preparatory to going to a strange land; 1 Nephi 2. 2; verse 4 proves his supreme faith in this dream: "And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness."

This great patriarch, on other occasions, showed his faith in dreams and visions. In these ways the Lord revealed many great things to him and his son Nephi.

The Mosaic dispensation opened by an angel of the Lord appearing unto Moses in a flame of fire "Out of the midst of a bush;" Exo. 3. 2.

The Old Testament gives an account of many visions and dreams, but perhaps the most important of the latter is the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, which was interpreted by the prophet Daniel; Dan. 2. It is now over twenty-four hundred years since the king of Babylon had that dream, and its fulfilment can be traced in the history of the world down through all these centuries.

The last great event, shown in this dream, was, that in the latter times the God of heaven would set up a kingdom which would break down other kingdoms and stand forever. This is the kingdom that it was the mission of Joseph Smith, Jun., to establish, and which the Latter-day Saints are laboring to build up.

Dreams characterized the opening up of the New Testament dispensation. After the birth of our Savior the wise men, who came from the east to see him, were warned to disobey the command of the wicked king Herod, who sought the life of the young child. The reputed father of the child, Joseph, was warned in a dream to take the child and its mother and flee into Egypt for the same reason. When Herod was dead, Joseph was warned in a dream to take the child and its mother and return into the land of Israel.

This great latter-day dispensation was opened up by a vision. When Joseph Smith, Jun., was a lad, in his fifteenth year, he retired to a secret place to ask the Lord to direct him and give him wisdom. When he kneeled down to offer up the desires of his heart to God, he was nearly overcome by the powers of darkness.

He says, in the narrative of his life written by himself, "Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me, I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said (pointing to the other), THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, HEAR HIM." P. of G. P., page 47.

An account of one of the most remarkable visions of this dispensation, is recorded in Doc. & Cov., sec. 76. The narrative commences as follows: "We, Joseph Smith, Jun., and Sidney Rigdon, being in the Spirit on the sixteenth of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, by the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened and our understandings were enlightened, so as to see and understand the things of God—even those things which were from the beginning before the world was, which were ordained of the Father, through his Only Begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, even from the beginning, of whom we bear record, and the record which we bear is the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Son, whom we saw and with whom we conversed in the heavenly vision;" verses 11-14. In Joseph Smith's first vision, God the Father bore testimony of Jesus Christ his Son. In this last vision, the Son appeared to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, and revealed to them many great and glorious truths concerning the resurrection, and the final reward of all men according to their works. The account of the vision will repay much careful study.

The Lord said, through his prophet Joel, speaking of the times when Israel should be gathered in the latter days, "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions;" 2. 28. Thousands of Latter-day Saints can testify that this prophecy is being fulfilled, and that dreams and visions characterize this as they have all former dispensations of the Priesthood.

Bible.

Gen. 15. 12 a horror of great darkness fell on Abraham.

20. 3 God came to Abimelech in a dream by night. 6.

28. 12-15 Jacob's dream in Bethel.

31. 10-12 Jacob's dream of the speckled cattle.

24 God appeared to Laban.

37. 5-8 Joseph's dream of the sheaves.

9. 10 Joseph's dream of the sun, moon and stars.

40. 5-19 the dreams of Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker.

41. 1-32 Pharaoh's dreams and Joseph's interpretation.

46. 2 God spake to Jacob in the visions of the night.

2 Sam. 7. 17 according to all this vision did Nathan speak to David.

1 Kings 3. 5-14 Solomon's dream in which he asks the Lord for wisdom.

9. 2 the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.

22. 19-22 Micah's vision of the lying spirit.

Job 4. 12, 13 was secretly brought to me from the visions of the night.

Jer. 1. 11-16 visions of a rod, and of a seething pot.

Ezek. 1. vision of four living creatures.

2. 9, 10 the visions of the roll of a book.

3. 22, 23 a vision of the glory of the Lord.

Chap. 8. vision of the glory of the Lord and of the rebelliousness of Judah.

Chap. 9. vision of the destruction of the wicked and of the preservation of the righteous in Jerusalem.

Chap. 10. vision of the coals of fire scattered over Jerusalem and of living creatures which Ezekiel had before seen by the river Chebar.

11. 22 vision of the Cherubim.

23 vision of the glory of the Lord departing from Jerusalem.

24, 25 Ezekiel in vision was carried by the Spirit into Chaldea.

37. 1-10 vision of dry bones, their coming together and being covered with flesh and filled with life.

Chap. 40. and remainder of Ezekiel is probably a vision of Jerusalem during the Millennium.

Dan. 4. Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great tree.

Chap. 5. the handwriting on the wall of the palace of Belshazzar.

Chap. 7. Daniel's vision of the four beasts, and of the sitting of the Ancient of days.

Chap. 8. Daniel's vision of the ram and the goat.

Hab. 2. 2, 3 write the vision and make it plain upon tables.

Zech. 1. 8-11 the vision of the horses among the myrtle trees.

18-21 visions of the horns and carpenters.

2. 1, 2 vision of the measuring line.

Chap. 4. vision of the golden candlestick.

Chap. 5. vision of the flying roll. 6. 1-8 of the four chariots.

Matt. 1. 20 an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream.

Luke 1. 5-19 Gabriel promised Zacharias that his wife Elizabeth should have a son named John.

Acts 9. 12 Saul's vision of Ananias.

10. 10-16 Peter's vision of all manner of beasts. 11. 5-10.

30-32 Cornelius' vision of a man in bright clothing.

16. 9 Paul's vision of a man from Macedonia wanting help.

18. 9, 10 the Lord appeared to Paul in a vision.

22. 17-21 Paul had a trance in the temple.

Rev. 1. 12-18 vision of the seven golden candlesticks.

Chap. 4. vision of the throne of God, of twenty-four elders and of four beasts.

Chap. 5. the book sealed with seven seals.

Chap. 6. the opening of the seven seals.

Chap. 7. 144,000 of the tribes of Israel sealed in their foreheads, an innumerable multitude stood before the throne.

Chap. 8. the opening of the seventh seal and the plagues that follow.

Chap. 9. opening of the bottomless pit, the plague of locusts; other woes follow.

Chap. 10. the book which John is commanded to eat.

Chap. 11. vision of two witnesses who shall be slain and rise after three days. The seventh trumpet sounds.

Chap. 12. vision of the woman with child, and of the great red dragon.

Chap. 13. the beast with seven heads and ten horns.

Chap. 14. the Lamb standing on Mount Zion; the Gospel preached; the fall of Babylon.

Chap. 15. the seven angels with the seven last plagues; the seven vials full of wrath.

Chap. 16. the angels pour out their vials full of wrath; the coming of Christ.

Chap. 17. great Babylon represented by a woman.

Chap. 18. the fall of Babylon; the gathering of the Saints.

Chap. 19. the blood of the Saints avenged; the marriage of the Lamb; the fowls called to the great slaughter.

Chap. 20. Satan bound for a thousand years; he is let loose again; Gog and Magog; the last resurrection.

Chap. 21. a new heaven and a new earth; the heavenly Jerusalem.

Chap. 22. the river and tree of life.

Book of Mormon.

1 Nephi 1. 6 there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before Lehi.

8 Lehi was overcome by the Spirit and carried away in a vision, in which he saw many things.

3. 2, 3 Lehi commanded, in a dream, to send his sons to Jerusalem for the record of the Jews.

Chap. 8. Lehi's vision of the tree with the white fruit, the river and the rod of iron, and of a great and spacious building.

Chap. 11. Nephi's vision of the Son of Man, his ministry, sufferings and death.

Chap. 12. Nephi's vision of his own seed, the seed of his brethren, and of the promised land.

Chap. 13. Nephi's vision of the Gentile nations across the "many waters," of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, and of many other great events that were to take place in the future.

18. 2 Nephi built the ship after the manner the Lord had shown him.

2 Nephi 1. 4 Lehi had a vision in which he knew that Jerusalem was destroyed.

Mos. 27. 11-13 an angel of God descended in a cloud and appeared to Alma.