Last year when we were buying a piece of land, a few times I took the money to the bank myself. Some of the money was in notes. The other money was in coins. I wrapped them up in a big bundle and wrote on a bank slip the amount of cash included. Then I handed in the package. I thought that if any of the notes or coins were counterfeit, I would have to rewrite the slip. While I was standing by the counter, I kept worrying. How do I know that the amount was correct? How do I know that all the notes were genuine? How do I know that all the coins were genuine coins? The teller would at times take a note and examine it under the light. After he had counted all the money, he put his signature on the slip and passed it to another senior officer, who also signed the slip. The slip was then passed to another man sitting opposite to him who signed the slip again. Finally, the slip was handed to me. By then I knew that the transaction was completed, and I took the slip home. I did not have to worry anymore about whether the notes were genuine or whether the coins were real. As long as the three signatures were genuine, everything was all right. If after I returned home, I still worried that one of the notes might be counterfeit and could not eat or sleep because of this, there had to be something wrong with my mind. The question was no longer whether the notes had the right color, the right print, or the right paper texture. As long as the bank took the money and put its signature on the slip, the money was genuine, and all the problems were over. In the same way, as long as we see the Lord resurrected, everything is all right. The resurrection of the Lord tells us that we are justified. What does it mean for us to be justified? It means that God has acknowledged the redemption of Jesus His Son. After this, He justified us and then resurrected His Son. Resurrection testifies that His death is proper. Hence, if you still do not have peace and still do not know God's view concerning your salvation and whether you can be saved before God through the Lord Jesus, all you need to ask is whether the Lord has resurrected. His death takes care of redemption. His resurrection takes care of justification. Without justification, He could not have resurrected. This is why I have often said that resurrection is the receipt that God issued for the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus offered. Resurrection is God's receipt to us. It acknowledges the payment as adequate.

If you have faith in a certain person and you know that he has good credit, you would not necessarily need a note of receipt from him if you loan him a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand dollars. You know that he would not cheat you. But if it is a person that you do not know, one whom you have never been acquainted with and whose credit you know nothing about, you would definitely want a note of receipt from him. You do not know what he would do with your money. Thank the Lord. He knows that we are of little faith. He knows that we would doubt Him and that we would not believe in Him immediately. Although He has given us His Son and caused His Son to suffer judgment and accomplish redemption, and has even declared that whosoever receives His Son would be justified, He knew that man would still not believe in Him. Therefore, He has resurrected His Son from the dead to be a proof of our justification. His Son is the proof of our justification before Him.

My friends, you have a receipt in your pocket now. Suppose I am now saved, but after a few years God were to say, "Now you have to go to hell. You have to go into eternal perdition." Of course, this is something that will never happen. I would ask, "Why?" Suppose He says, "Because you have sinned. You are not good." I would say, "Has not the Lord Jesus accomplished redemption?" Suppose He would say, "The redemption of Jesus is not enough. You must go to hell." I would then say, "Why is the Lord's redemption not enough?" God might say, "Don't you think that I know everything. When I say that it is not enough, it means it is not enough." What should I say then? I say that I have indeed done wrong, but I am trusting in the Lord's redemption. But God says that though the Lord's redemption has been accomplished, it is not completed. I would then say to Him, "If the work of the redemption of the Lord Jesus was not thorough enough, You should not have resurrected Him. If You resurrected Him, You were telling us through this resurrection that everything was all right. How can You say that it is not enough now?" If I were to say this to God, even He would have to acknowledge that I am right. Hallelujah! The purpose of His resurrection is to show us that His works are proper.

If there is no resurrection among us, then how do we know what happened on the cross? How do we know what the Lord negotiated with God on the cross? We heard these words on the cross, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). Another word that we heard was, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). One word tells us that God forsook Him. Another tells us that it was finished. If the Lord Jesus had died only, then the whole world could only have hope in Him; it could not have assurance in Him. Man could hope to receive eternal life in Him. He could hope to be justified and forgiven in Him. But he could never have the assurance to say that he is saved or has received eternal life, or that his sins have been forgiven, or that God has justified him. The reason I have the assurance that my sins are forgiven and that I am saved through faith is that I have seen the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. His resurrection shows us that the cross has satisfied God's heart.