History of Joseph Smith, the Prophet and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph F. Smith
And now this is the end of the vision which we saw of the terrestrial, that the Lord commanded us to write while we were yet in the Spirit.
81. And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament.
82. These are they who received not the Gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus.
83. These are they who deny not the Holy Spirit.
84. These are they who are thrust down to hell.
85. These are they who shall not be redeemed from the devil, until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb shall have finished His work.
86. These are they who receive not of His fullness in the eternal world, but of the Holy Spirit through the ministrations of the terrestrial;
87. And the terrestrial through the ministration of the celestial;
88. And also the telestial receive it of the administering of angels who are appointed to minister for them, or who are appointed to be ministering spirits for them, for they shall be heirs of salvation.
89. And thus we saw in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding,
90. And no man knows it except him to whom God has revealed it.
91. And thus we saw the glory of the terrestrial, which excels in all things the glory of the telestial, even in glory, and in power, and in might, and in dominion.
92. And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon His throne for ever and ever;
93. Before whose throne all things bow in humble reverence, and give him glory for ever and ever.
94. They who dwell in His presence are the church of the Firstborn, and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of His fulness and of His grace;
95. And He makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.
96. And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is one.
97. And the glory of the terrestrial is one, even as the glory of the moon is one.
98. And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one, for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world;
99. For these are they who are of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas.
100. These are they who say they are some of one and some of another—some of Christ and some of John, and some of Moses, and some of Elias, and some of Esaias, and some of Isaiah, and some of Enoch;
101. But received not the Gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus, neither the prophets, neither the everlasting covenant.
102. Last of all, these all are they who will not be gathered with the Saints, to be caught up unto the church of the Firstborn, and received into the cloud.
103. These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers and whosoever loves and makes a lie.
104. These are they who suffer the wrath of God on earth.
105. These are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire.
106. These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the fullness of times, when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under His feet, and shall have perfected His work;
107. When He shall deliver up the kingdom, and present it unto the Father, spotless, saying I have overcome and have trodden the wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.
108. Then shall He be crowned with the crown of His glory, to sit on the throne of His power to reign for ever and ever.
109. But behold and lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial world, that they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the sea shore,
110. And heard the voice of the Lord, saying—these all shall bow the knee, and every tongue shall confess to Him who sits upon the throne for ever and ever.
111. For they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared,
112. And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end.
113. This is the end of the vision which we saw, which we were commanded to write while we were yet in the Spirit.
114. But great and marvelous are the works of the Lord, and the mysteries of His kingdom which He showed unto us, which surpass all understanding in glory, and in might, and in dominion,
115. Which He commanded us we should not write while we were yet in the Spirit, and are not lawful for man to utter;
116. Neither is man capable to make them known, for they are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit, which God bestows on those who love Him, and purify themselves before Him;
117. To whom he grants this privilege of seeing and knowing for themselves;
118. That through the power and manifestation of the Spirit, while in the flesh, they may be able to bear His presence in the world of glory.
119. And to God and the Lamb, be glory, and honor, and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
The Prophet's Views on the Foregoing Revelation.
Nothing could be more pleasing to the Saints upon the order of the kingdom of the Lord, than the light which burst upon the world through the foregoing vision. Every law, every commandment, every promise, every truth, and every point touching the destiny of man, from Genesis to Revelation, where the purity of the scriptures remains unsullied by the folly of men, go to show the perfection of the theory [of different degrees of glory in the future life] and witnesses the fact that that document is a transcript from the records of the eternal world. The sublimity of the ideas; the purity of the language; the scope for action; the continued duration for completion, in order that the heirs of salvation may confess the Lord and bow the knee; the rewards for faithfulness, and the punishments for sins, are so much beyond the narrow-mindedness of men, that every honest man is constrained to exclaim: "It came from God."
A Key to St. John's Book of Revelation.
About the first of March, in connection with the translation of the Scriptures, I received the following explanation of the Revelation of St. John:
Revelation, given at Hiram, Portage County, Ohio. 10
1. Q.—What is the sea of glass spoken of by John, 4th chapter, and 6th verse of the Revelations?
A. It is the earth, in its sanctified, immortal and eternal state.
2. Q. What are we to understand by the four beasts, spoken of in the same verse?
A. They are figurative expressions, used by the Revelator John, in describing Heaven, the Paradise of God, the happiness of man, and of beasts, and of creeping things, and of the fowls of the air; that which is spiritual, being in the likeness of that which is temporal; and that which is temporal, in the likeness of that which is spiritual; the spirit of man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit of the beast, and every other creature which God has created.
3. Q. Are the four beasts limited to individual beasts, or do they represent classes or orders?
A. They are limited to four individual beasts, which were shown to John, to represent the glory of the classes of beings, in their destined order or sphere of creation, in the enjoyment of their eternal felicity.
4. Q.