A SURE TOKEN by K. O. Russell

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 18, 1900

A SURE TOKEN.

By K. O. Russell

K. O. RUSSELL.

There seems to be implanted in our very natures a desire to have some unmistakable evidence or token that we can see, by which we may be assured that we are accepted of God, and that we are to have a part in Christ’s everlasting kingdom. While it is true that we know that our sins are forgiven, and that we are accepted of the Lord, by believing in his word, which says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” yet the Lord has, in addition to this infallible evidence of our salvation, given us a remarkable token as a constant assurance that we are to obtain a part in the kingdom of heaven.

Anciently the Lord employed tokens, or gave some tangible evidence, that he would be with his people in what he asked them to do. Perhaps one of the most remarkable tokens that God gave was that to Gideon, which is recorded in Judges 6:36–40. By this unmistakable double token given of God, Gideon was assured that he would be victorious in delivering Israel. What confidence and hope it would inspire in the hearts of many faltering ones could they have a token as tangible as that, to assure them of their acceptance with the Lord now, and that they would obtain a part in the city of God at last. Well, thank the Lord, he has given it.

The sure token that God has given every child of his is described in 2 Thess. 1:4, 5, as follows: “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer.” Let it be noted that the apostle was only glorying in the churches of the Thessalonians to the extent that they endured patiently persecutions and tribulations. This was a manifest token that they would be accounted worthy of the kingdom of God. Thus it will be seen that every trial that befalls us, if we endure it patiently, will be a manifest token that we shall be accounted worthy of the kingdom of God.

It will be observed that the Lord can not give us this token unaccompanied with a trial; but praise be to God, the more frequent the trials come, if we endure them, the more constantly we shall have the token. From this it will be easy to understand the value of trials, and how we can count them as “all joy,” as we are admonished to do, in James 1:2.

Do you see this unmistakable token in every trial that comes to your life? or do you become impatient, and fail to endure? As the trials come to us in our home life, in our business, or in the church, may we see in each one a token of our salvation, instead of failure and defeat. It is evident that the apostle Paul had this sure token, or he could not have exclaimed, as he did when approaching the close of his earthly life: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.” Were the closing words of many who profess to be Christians written to fit their uncertain, doubtful experience, I fear that the record would read like this: “I hope I have fought a good fight, I have tried to finish my course, and keep the faith: henceforth I hope that there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which I hope the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.”

May we each so unite with Christ that we may have this token in each day’s experience, and thus be able to speak with the same assurance as did the great apostle to the Gentiles.