1889 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

shall be selected and given this very honorable and responsibleposition.Not only is this class required to follow after righteousness andtruth, and to support them and oppose sin, to their presentdiscomfort and loss, but they are required to do all this on thestrength of faith, outward evidences being often contrary tofaith. A part of their test is, that they must walk by faith and notby sight. They are to believe God's promises though everyoutward circumstance seems to contradict it. This is part of theirlesson as well as part of their trial.They are to believe God's testimony, that death and troubleentered the world as a result of Adam's sin, and that a fall fromperfection took place in Eden, no matter what speculationsamong scientists may suggest to the contrary,--as that Adam wasevolved from an ape, and that the Bible story of the fall, thecondemnation and the redemption are alike unscientific; thatChrist, like Confucius, was a great teacher, but nothing more;that he accomplished no redemption and that none could havebeen needful or required. The saints are to shun all suchbabblings of science and philosophy, falsely so-called, and towalk by faith in God's revelation.-- Rom. 5:12-20.Though they see errors flourish and Scriptural truths spurnedand disregarded, they are to disregard numbers and humantraditions and, by faith, hold to God's Word. Though told byGod that they are redeemed and no longer under hisR1127 : page 5condemnation and disfavor with the rest of the world, they are tobelieve and walk by faith, nothing doubting, even though theyare not the recipients of special earthly favors, and even thoughthey, like others, have a share of sickness, pain and death.Their advantages are often less than those of other men, andtheir course often much more up-hill and rough. They walk byfaith and not by sight, however; they endure as seeing him whois invisible, and the crown which is invisible, and the kingdomwhich is invisible, and as though they already had everlastinglife, though they die like other men. In all these things, yea, ineverything, they are required to walk by faith and not by sight, ifthey would be crowned overcomers and made heirs in thecoming kingdom.Their advantages are all invisible to the world, and are seen onlyby the eye of faith. Their peace and joy are dependent upon theirknowledge and trust of God and his plan; and their knowledgeand trust depend upon their faith in his Word of promise. Byfaith they "know [even when outward evidences seem contrary]that all things are working together" for their ultimate good, andthat the glories and blessings of the future shall far over-balanceall the trials and troubles and wounds of the present; and so