| 260 records or history of the church; their names shall not be found, neither the names of the fathers, the names of the children written in the book of the law of God, saith the Lord of Hosts; yea, thus saith the still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things, and oftentimes it maketh my bones to quake while it maketh manifest, saying: 'And it shall come to pass that I the Lord God will send one mighty and strong, holding the sceptre of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words, while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints whose names are found, and the names of their fathers, and of their children, enrolled in the book of the law of God; while that man, who was called of God and appointed, that putteth forth his hand to steady the ark of God, shall fall by the shaft of death, like as a tree that is smitten by the vivid shaft of lightning; and all they who are not found written in the book of remembrance, shall find none inheritance in that day, but they shall be cut asunder and their portion shall be appointed them among unbelievers, where is wailing and gnashing of teeth. These things I say not of myself, therefore as the Lord speaketh he will also fulfill"'-Times and Seasons, vol. 5, pp. 673, 674.
On Thursday, December 6, 1832, a revelation was received explaining the parable of the wheat and tares. 1
1 1. Verily thus saith the Lord unto you, my servants, concerning the parable of the wheat and of the tares: Behold, verily I say that the field was the world, and the apostles were the sowers of the seed; and after they have fallen asleep, the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign; behold, he soweth the tares, wherefore the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness.
2. But, behold, in the last days, even now, while the Lord is beginning to bring forth the word, and the blade is springing up and is yet tender behold, verily I say unto you, The angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields; but the Lord saith unto them, Pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also; therefore let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe; then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold, and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be bundled.
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