=14.= It is at once unreasonable, and directly contrary to our conception of the unchangeable justice of God, to believe that He will bless the Church in one dispensation with a present living revelation of His will, and in another leave the Church, to which He gives His name, to live as best it may according to the laws of a by-gone age. True, through apostasy, the authority of the priesthood may have been taken from the earth for a season, leaving the people in a condition of darkness, with the windows of heaven shut against them; but at such times, God has recognized no earthly Church as His own, nor any prophet to declare with authority "Thus saith the Lord." =15.= In support of the doctrine that revelation specially adapted to existing conditions is characteristic of God's dealings with His people, we have the fact of laws having been ordained and subsequently repealed, when a more advanced stage of the Divine plan had been reached. Thus, the law of Moses[877] was strictly binding upon Israel from the time of the exodus to that of Christ's ministry; but its repeal was declared by the Savior Himself,[878] and a higher law than that "of carnal commandments," which had been given "because of transgression," was instituted in its stead. [877] Exo. xxi; Lev. i; Deut. xii. [878] Matt. v, 17-48. =16.= From the scriptures cited, and from numerous other assurances of holy writ, it is evident that continual revelation has ever been characteristic of the living Church. It is equally plain that revelation is essential to the existence of the Church in an organized state on the earth. If to have authority to preach the Gospel, and administer in the ordinances of the same, a man must be called of God, "by prophecy"[879] it is evident that in the absence of direct revelation, the Church would be left without authorized officers, and would, in consequence, become extinct. The prophets and patriarchs of old, the judges, the priests, and every authorized servant from Adam to Malachi, were called by direct revelation manifested through the special word of prophecy. This was true also of John the Baptist,[880] of Christ Himself, and of the apostles,[881] and lesser officers[882] of the Church, as long as an organization recognized of God remained on the earth. Without the gift of continual revelation there can be no authorized ministry on the earth; and without officers duly commissioned there can be no Church of Christ. [879] See Lecture x, page 184. [880] Luke i, 13-18. [881] John xv; Acts i, 12-26. [882] Acts xx, 28; I Tim. iv, 14; Titus i, 5.