At the Utah West Jordan River Stake Conference recently, Elder Bruce D. Porter was the presiding authority.He mentioned that as Latter-day Saints, "we live far below our privileges."
{Editorial note: I must admit that I myself feel that I do not receive the great spiritual manifestations as on the day of Pentecost and in the early Church. Blessings are predicated upon laws we obey, so there are some laws that either I do not follow as closely as I should or am currently unaware of to receive these great spiritual manifestations.}
There are many thoughts on this:
Click here for one viewpoint
Click here for another viewpoint
Elder Porter said there are many obstacles why we do not enjoy a more constant companionship with the Spirit and enjoy a greater spiritual outpouring. Some include:
1-Laziness/slothfulness
2-Procrastination
3-Fear
4-Materialism/Covetousness (10th commandment)
Elder Porter also mentioned that in the 10 Commandments, the 10th commandment is a bridge between the Law of Moses and the Law of the Gospel. The Law of Moses was more outward (how many steps you can take on the Sabbath, etc. Restrictions based on physical and temporal things) and the Law of the Gospel is more inward (the individual is expected to control his/her thoughts and behaviors, etc.).
The Prophet Joseph Smith explained that
God cursed the children of Israel because they would not receive the last law from Moses ... the Israelites prayed that God would speak to Moses and not to them; in consequence of which he cursed them with a carnal law (History of the Church 5:555).
Another good link on this is here, and some excerpts from this link are included below.
"The first nine commandments are such that one who breaks any of them can readily be detected. He may be caught doing or saying something wrong, in violation of one of these commandments. The punishment for breaking one of the principal commandments was death, usually by stoning.
But how was it possible to determine if an individual was guilty of being covetous and thus in violation of the tenth commandment? Because this commandment dealt with one’s thoughts rather than with outward deeds and speech, it was impossible to enforce. And yet it was at the root of the other commandments. "
