1889 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

privations, persecutions and ignominious deaths, having faith inthe promise of God to reward their loyalty to him and the grandprinciples of truth and righteousness, in due time. If Goddeclares that a flood is coming and commands the building of anark, the reasonable course is to build and to warn men, thoughthe flood and every indication of it should tarry for a hundredand twenty years. When God commanded Abraham to sacrificehis son, it was reasonable for Abraham to comply, and to leavethe fulfillment of the promises, which centered in that son, toGod. When he commanded Lot to flee out of Sodom, it wasreasonable for Lot to make haste and depart, though the morningwas gloriously fair.These were commendable acts of simple, child-like, implicitfaith. But observe that in every instance of faith commended inthe Bible, there was good ground for faith: there was a clearcommand of God, a well defined principle of truth andrighteousness; and no foolish imaginations or vague impressionswere blindly followed. How foolish Noah would have been tospend a hundred and twenty years building an ark and warningthe people, if he had only imagined that a flood was coming.How culpable Abraham would have been in laying his son onthe altar of sacrifice, had he only imagined God desired him todo so. And how simple Lot would have been to run out ofSodom that bright morning declaring that the city would bedestroyed, if he had no positive information of it.But notice that in each instance of unusual requirement Godgave clear evidence of his will, either by an angel, a vision, orsome remarkable circumstance --ways, however, which are notnow necessary since the completed Scriptures of the Old andNew Testaments form a perfect guide to faith (2 Tim. 3:15-17),and which, therefore, are not now resorted to. And in theinstances of suffering and martyrdom cited, God's will wasclearly expressed in the principles of truth and righteousnesswhich he ordained. These illustrations should be speciallymarked by very many who claim wonderful faith in God, whenthe chief wonderment about it is their ability to believe so muchon so slight a foundation.In many enterprises, too, undertaken under the name of works offaith, and successfully carried on financially, faith has a betterfoundation in the sympathies of philanthropic people, than in theplan, methods and promises of God. If Christian people makepublic statements that they are starting a benevolent enterprisefor the amelioration of the present woes of suffering humanity,they may do it with a large degree of faith in the support ofbenevolent people; even the worldly are often fully as active inthese directions as Christians--for instance, mark the responsesto calls for help in great calamities and disasters.Success in these directions of popular benevolence we do notregard as proofs