Revelation for the guidance of the Church must come through the president of the Church, and through none other. He alone is the prophet, seer, and revelator to the Church. Revelations given to others are for the benefit of the individuals concerned, but have no bearing on the government of the Church. And, unless in spirit they conform to the teachings of the living prophet, they are from an evil source and dangerous to use by the individual.

That gives special significance to the utterances of the men who have stood, or the man who stands at the head of the Church. When they speak under the influence of this prophetic power, they amplify or add to the body of revelation possessed by the Church. They guide us in the maze of contending forces. Each one used or uses past revelation and the new, to meet the needs of the people of his day. The discourses of these men before and after their call to the presidency, should he read and observed as inspired messages for our guidance toward joy on earth and hereafter. – Wilford Woodruff, “The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff,” edited by G. Homer Durham, p. xi