1.  The hardest or worst part of the work of thy Saviour is over:  his bloody work, his bearing thy sin and curse, his loss of the light of his Father’s face for a time.  His dying upon the cursed tree, that was the worst, the sorest, the hardest, and most difficult part of the work of redemption; and yet this he did willingly, cheerfully, and without thy desires; yea, this he did, as considering those for whom he did it in a state of rebellion and enmity to him.

2.  Consider also that he has made a beginning with thy soul to reconcile thee to God, and to that end has bestowed his justice upon thee, put his Spirit within thee, and begun to make the unwieldable mountain and rock, thy heart, to turn towards him and desire after him, to believe in him and rejoice in him.

3.  Consider also that some comfortable pledges of his love thou hast already received; namely, as to feel the sweetness of his love, as to see the light of his countenance, as to be made to know his power in raising thee when thou wast down, and how he has made thee to stand while hell has been pushing at thee utterly to overthrow thee.

4.  Thou mayst consider also, that what remains behind of the work of thy salvation in his hands, as it is the most easy part, is so the most comfortable, and that part which will more immediately issue in his glory; and therefore he will mind it.

5.  That which is behind is also more safe in his hand than if it was in thine own.  He is wise, he is powerful, he is faithful, and therefore will manage that part that is lacking to our salvation well, until he has completed it.  It is his love to thee has made him that he putteth no trust in thee:  he knows that he can himself bring thee to his kingdom most surely, and therefore has not left that work to thee, no, not any part thereof.

Live in hope, then, in a lively hope, that since Christ is risen from the dead he lives to make intercession for thee; and that thou shalt reap the blessed benefit of this twofold salvation that is wrought and that is working out for thee by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Every believer may say, Christ did not only die and rise again, but he ascended into heaven to take possession thereof for me, to prepare a place for me.  He standeth there in the second part of his suretyship to bring me safe thither, and to present me in a glorious manner, “not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.”  He is therefore exercising his priestly office for me, pleading the perfection of his own righteousness and the virtue of his blood.

He is there ready to answer the accusations of the law, the devil, and sin, for me.  Here a believer may through faith look the devil in the face and rejoice, saying, “O Satan, I have a precious Jesus, a soul-comforting Jesus, a sin-pardoning Jesus.”  Here he may listen to the thunders of the law, and yet not be daunted.  He may say, “O law, thou mayest roar against sin, but thou canst not reach