484 The Spiritual Man
This should not at all be misconstrued to signify, however, that
henceforth we shall become joyless persons. “Joy in the Holy Spirit”
is the greatest blessing in the kingdom of God (Rom. 14.17). The
fruit of the Holy Spirit, moreover, is joy (Gal. 5.22). If this is so, then
bow can we reconcile this apparent inconsistency? Simply come to
see that though we do lose joy in our feeling, nevertheless the joy we
gain issues from a pure faith and cannot be destroyed. Joy of this
caliber runs far deeper than emotion. In becoming spiritual we
abandon the old desire for self-pleasure and hence additionally the
former search for bliss; but the peace and joy of the spirit which
arises from faith remains forever.
After the SpiritTo walk after the spirit a Christian must deny every scintilla of his
life of feeling. He must move by faith and eliminate the crutches of
wonderful sensation to which the flesh naturally clings. When he is
following the spirit he neither fears if he receives no help from
feeling nor if feeling opposes him. But when his faith is weak and he
follows not the spirit, he then will heed the support of the visible, the
sensible and the touchable. Emotion replaces intuition in guidance
whenever spiritual life grows weak. He who abides in feeling will
come to see that, having long sought pleasurable sensations, he shall
soon seek as well the help of the world, because feeling rests
nowhere save in the world. An emotional Christian often employs his
own way and seeks man’s help. To follow the leading of the spirit
requires faith, for it usually is contrary to feeling. Without faith no
one can actually march forward. A soulish person ceases to serve
God the moment he becomes depressed; on the other hand one who
lives by faith does not delay in serving the Lord until he becomes
joyful: he simply goes forward while beseeching God to increase the
strength of his spirit that he may overcome any depressed feeling
which may descend.