“Knowing the calamity” that was coming, the Father and the Son called upon the Prophet Joseph Smith and gave him—and through him, the rest of us—commandments (D&C 1:17). Perhaps the most important commandment was given by the Father when He and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith in the spring of 1820. Referring to His Son, the Father commanded Joseph, “Hear Him!” (Joseph Smith—History 1:17; see also Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35). On that day and thereafter, Jesus Christ gave Joseph doctrines, covenants, and commandments to “prepare [all people] for that which is to come” (D&C 1:12; see also D&C 133:10). Only by receiving such doctrines, covenants, and commandments can the world be properly prepared for the Lord’s coming and everything leading up to that event. “If ye are prepared,” the Lord has counseled, “ye shall not fear” (D&C 38:30).
Among the essential instructions given by the Lord to prepare for His coming is that we listen to and obey His voice. “Hearken and hear, O ye inhabitants of the earth … hear the voice of the Lord” (D&C 133:16). Significantly, “the voice of the Lord is unto all men” so that “all that will hear may hear” (D&C 1:2, 11). The Lord’s voice is manifest to us in various ways. It is manifest in the voice of His servants: “Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (D&C 1:38; see also D&C 133:8–10, 16, 36–38, 71).3 It is manifest in the administration of His Spirit: “My voice is Spirit” (D&C 88:66).4 In addition to His voice, manifestations in the commotions of the earth will be a witness of the warnings: “After your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes. … And … the testimony of the voice of thunderings, … lightnings, … tempests, and … waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds” (D&C 88:89–90).
Regardless of the form of the voice, the substance of the Lord’s message is the same. “Sanctify yourselves. … Go ye out from Babylon. … Hear the voice of the Lord; for he … commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (D&C 133:4, 5, 16). The call to repent and be sanctified is a call to prepare “to meet the Bridegroom” (D&C 133:10; see also D&C 133:19; 88:92; Matthew 25:1–13), who is Jesus Christ (see D&C 65:3). When the Lord returns, He “shall stand in the midst of his people, and shall reign over all flesh” (D&C 133:25).5 To dwell with the Lord in that day, we must be clean, for no unclean thing can dwell in His presence (see 1 Nephi 10:21; 3 Nephi 27:19; Moses 6:57; 1 Corinthians 6:9; Ephesians 5:5).
Thus, there is no more essential preparation for the great day of the Lord than heeding His call to repent and be sanctified, which we cannot accomplish without baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost (see 3 Nephi 27:19–20).6