I wish you to understand and practise the lessons you have already received, or you cannot consistently look for more. And do not become tired or discouraged if you cannot learn your lessons all at once, for with diligent and close application you can learn how to live to all eternity, which is the object of our being here. Be patient; do not murmur at the dealings of Providence. The Lord rules in the heavens and works his pleasure upon the earth. Can you comprehend the meaning of the Prophet Amos in the question, "Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?" His providences are constantly ruling and overruling, to a greater or less degree, in the affairs of the children of men. Do all people discern and understand that his providences are over the workmanship of his hands, and that he controls all things? No, they do not. The lessons you have been taught tend to instruct you upon these points.
Can this people understand that the Lord—that Being we call our Father, as also the Gods and all heavenly beings, lives upon the principles that pertain to eternity? Can the people comprehend that there is not, has not been, and never can be any method, scheme, or plan devised by any being in this world for intelligence to eternally exist and obtain an exaltation, without knowing the good and the evil—without tasting the bitter and the sweet? Can the people understand that it is actually necessary for opposite principles to be placed before them, or this state of being would be no probation, and we should have no opportunity for exercising the agency given us? Can they understand that we cannot obtain eternal life unless we actually know and comprehend by our experience the principle of good and the principle of evil, the light and the darkness, truth, virtue, and holiness,—also vice, wickedness, and corruption? We must discern and acknowledge that the providences of the Lord are over all the works of his hands—that when he produces intelligent beings he watches over them for their good. He has given human beings an intelligence designed to become eternal, self-existent, independent, and as Godlike as any being in the heavens.
To answer such design, we are given our agency—the control of our belief, and must know the darkness from the light and the light from the darkness, and must taste the bitter as well as the sweet.
You need exhorting rather than teaching. You have been taught doctrine in abundance, and I have sometimes thought it a pity the Lord has revealed quite as much as he has. And I can truly say that I believe, if I am guilty in any one point in my walk before this people, it is in telling them things they are not worthy of—that I have given unto them things that they could not receive. For this reason I deem it mainly needful to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.
Brother Spencer referred to the carelessness and forgetfulness of the people, and to how prone we are to get out of the way, to depart from the love, enjoyment, peace, and light that the Spirit of the Lord and of our religion gives unto us. We should live so as to possess that Spirit daily, hourly, and every moment. That is a blessing to us, which makes the path of life easy. For a man to undertake to live a Saint and walk in darkness is one of the hardest tasks that he can undertake. You cannot imagine a position that will sink a person more deeply in perplexity and trouble than to try to be a Saint without living as a Saint should—without enjoying the spirit of his religion. It is our privilege to so live as to enjoy the spirit of our religion. That is designed to restore us to the presence of the Gods. Gods exist, and we had better strive to be prepared to be one with them.