pgs. 398 and 399...ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them and cast stones at them, and do slay them, and do all manner of iniquity unto them...

 7 And behold, an ^aangel of the Lord hath declared it unto me, and he did bring ^bglad tidings to my soul. And behold, I was sent unto you to declare it unto you also, that ye might have glad tidings; but behold ye would ^cnot receive me.

  8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord: Because of the hardness of the hearts of the people of the Nephites, except they repent I will take away my word from them, and I will ^awithdraw my Spirit from them, and I will suffer them no longer, and I will turn the hearts of their brethren against them.

  9 And ^afour hundred years shall not pass away before I will cause that they shall be smitten; yea, I will visit them with the sword and with famine and with pestilence.

  10 Yea, I will visit them in my fierce anger, and there shall be those of the ^afourth generation who shall live, of your enemies, to behold your utter destruction; and this shall surely come except ye repent, saith the Lord; and those of the fourth generation shall visit your destruction.

  11 But if ye will repent and ^areturn unto the Lord your God I will turn away mine anger, saith the Lord; yea, thus saith the Lord, blessed are they who will repent and turn unto me, but wo unto him that repenteth not.

  12 Yea, ^awo unto this great city of Zarahemla; for behold, it is because of those who are righteous that it is saved; yea, wo unto this great city, for I perceive, saith the Lord, that there are many, yea, even the more part of this great city, that will harden their hearts against me, saith the Lord.

  13 But blessed are they who will repent, for them will I spare. But behold, if it were not for the righteous who are in this great city, behold, I would cause that ^afire should come down out of heaven and^bdestroy it.

  14 But behold, it is for the righteous’ sake that it is spared. But behold, the time cometh, saith the Lord, that when ye shall cast out the righteous from among you, then shall ye be ^aripe for destruction; yea, wo be unto this great city, because of the wickedness and abominations which are in her.

  15 Yea, and wo be unto the city of Gideon, for the wickedness and abominations which are in her.

  16 Yea, and wo be unto all the cities which are in the land round about, which are possessed by the Nephites, because of the wickedness and abominations which are in them.

  17 And behold, a ^acurse shall come upon the land, saith the Lord of Hosts, because of the peoples’ sake who are upon the land, yea, because of their wickedness and their abominations.

  18 And it shall come to pass, saith the Lord of Hosts, yea, our great and true God, that whoso shall ^ahide up treasures in the earth shall find them again no more, because of the great curse of the land, save he be a righteous man and shall hide it up unto the Lord.

  19 For I will, saith the Lord, that they shall hide up their ^atreasures unto me; and cursed be they who hide not up their treasures unto me; for none hideth up their treasures unto me save it be the righteous; and he that hideth not up his treasures unto me, cursed is he, and also the treasure, and none shall redeem it because of the curse of the land.

  20 And the day shall come that they shall hide up their treasures, because they have set their hearts upon riches; and because they have set their hearts upon their riches, and will hide up their treasures when they shall flee before their enemies; because they will not hide them up unto me, cursed be they and also their treasures; and in that day shall they be smitten, saith the Lord.

  21 Behold ye, the people of this great city, and hearken unto my words; yea, hearken unto the words which the Lord saith; for behold, he saith that ye are ^acursed because of your riches, and also are your riches cursed because ye have set your hearts upon them, and have not ^bhearkened unto the words of him who gave them unto you.

  22 Ye do not remember the Lord your God in the things with which he hath blessed you, but ye do always remember your ^ariches, not to thank the Lord your God for them; yea, your hearts are not drawn out unto the Lord, but they do swell with great pride, unto ^bboasting, and unto great ^cswelling, ^denvyings, strifes, malice, persecutions, and murders, and all manner of iniquities.

  23 For this cause hath the Lord God caused that a curse should come upon the land, and also upon your riches, and this because of your iniquities.

  24 Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do ^acast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and do slay them, and do all manner of iniquity unto them, even as they did of old time.

  25 And now when ye talk, ye say: If our days had been in the days of our ^afathers of old, we would not have ^bslain the prophets; we would not have stoned them, and cast them out.

  26 Behold ye are worse than they; for as the Lord liveth, if a ^aprophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your ^bsins and iniquities, ye are ^cangry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he is a ^dfalse ^eprophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he ^ftestifieth that your deeds are evil.

  27 But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: ^aWalk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth—and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a ^bprophet.

  28 Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh ^aflatteringwords unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him.

Verse 24 gives us straightforward counsel to follow the prophet.  We know that is not always easy.  From the following quote by President Harold B. Lee we know that it will get even harder as we get closer to the second coming.  This is a good reminder to recommit myself and be firm in my conviction!

“We have some tight places to go before the Lord is through with this church and the world in this dispensation, which is the last dispensation, which shall usher in the coming of the Lord. The gospel was restored to prepare a people ready to receive him. The power of Satan will increase; we see it in evidence on every hand. There will be inroads within the Church. There will be, as President Tanner has said, ‘Hypocrites, those professing, but secretly are full of dead men’s bones.’ We will see those who profess membership but secretly are plotting and trying to lead people not to follow the leadership that the Lord has set up to preside in this church.

“Now the only safety we have as members of this church is to do exactly what the Lord said to the Church in that day when the Church was organized. We must learn to give heed to the words and commandments that the Lord shall give through his prophet, ‘as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; . . . as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.’ (D&C 21:4–5.) There will be some things that take patience and faith. You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if you listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory.’ (D&C 21:6.)” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1970, p. 152).