(3.) Over the action and states of the Sensibility the Will may exert an
indirect influence which is all-powerful. If, for example, the Will is
in full harmony with the infinite, the eternal, the just, the right, the
true and the good, the Intelligence will, of course, be occupied with
"whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good
report," and the Sensibility, continually acted upon by such objects,
will mirror forth, in pure emotions and desires, the pure thoughts of
the Intelligence, and the hallowed purposes of the Will. The Sensibility
will be wholly isolated from all feelings gross and sensual. On the
other hand, let the Will be yielded to the control of impure and sensual
impulse, and how gross and impure the thoughts and feelings will become.
In yielding, or refusing to yield, to the supreme control of the law of
Goodness, the Will really, though indirectly, determines the action of
the Intelligence and Sensibility both.
(4.) To present the whole subject in a proper light, a fixed law of the
_affections_ demands special attention. A husband, for example, has
pledged to his wife, not only kind intentions, but the exclusive control
of those peculiar affections which constitute the basis of the marriage
union. Let him cherish a proper regard for the sacredness of that
pledge, and the wife will so completely and exclusively fill and command
her appropriate sphere in the affections, that, under no circumstances
whatever, will there be a tendency towards any other individual. The
same holds true of every department of the affections, not only in
respect to those which connect us with the creature, but also with the
Creator. The affections the Will may control by a fixed and changeless
law.
Such being the relation of the Will to the Sensibility, while it is true
that there is nothing right or wrong in any feelings, irrespective of
the action of the Will, still the presence of feelings impure and
sensual, may be a certain indication of the wrong action of the
voluntary power. In such a light their presence should always be
regarded.
RELATION OF FAITH TO OTHER EXERCISES MORALLY RIGHT.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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