472 The Spiritual Man
been forfeited in our feeling has unconsciously become a part of our
life. This is a spiritual law. We would do well to remember it so as
never to faint.
The whole problem is therefore the will. Is our organ of volition
still yielded to the Lord? Is it free to follow the spirit’s leading as
before? If so, then however much feeling has changed, it is of no
concern. What we must be concerned with always is this: is our will
obeying the spirit? Let us not indulge our feelings. Rather let us
wisely heed the example of what occurs surrounding the experience
of new birth: on that occasion the believer is usually full of joyous
sensation; yet soon this sensation disappears; has he consequently
perished all over again? Of course not! He has already possessed life
in his spirit. How he subsequently feels makes not a particle of
difference.
The Danger of This LifeThere is positively no danger if, while having such an experience,
we comprehend its meaning and press forward in accordance with
God’s will. But it can be highly hazardous to spiritual life if we do
not apprehend God’s will and fail to resist our living by feeling; that
is, when we encounter a buoyant feeling we advance unhesitatingly,
but in the absence of such sensation we refuse to move at all. Those
who make feeling their principle of life expose themselves to many
dangers.
Anyone who walks by blissful emotions is usually weak in his
will. It is unable to follow the direction of the spirit. The
development of spiritual sensing is hampered by substituting his
feeling for the spirit’s intuition. He walks by his emotion. His
intuition on the one side is suppressed by emotion and on the other is
left unused; it is barely growing. Now intuition is active solely when
emotion is quiet; only then can it communicate its thought to man. It
waxes strong if it is often exercised. But the will of that person who