The safety of appearing at the day of judgement, in the righteousness of Christ

4 Let us consider what confidence such men may attain unto: And it is plain from the Scripture that such may be very confident of their good estate, and future salvation: they may be strongly possessed with it, that they shall be saved: tho many that are seeking life by their own righteousness live in dismal perplexity, and through fear of death are subject to bondage: and others live an unquiet life between hope and fear, according as the frames of their hearts are: yet there be those that do attain a very strong confidence, Prov. 30.12. there are a generation that are pure in their own eyes, yet not cleansed from their filthiness, Joh. 9.40. are we blind also: a self-righteous man may be more confident than many Saints: and this confidence does arise partly from a conceit of the worthiness of their carriages: they think that their carriages do make up the breach between God & them: & partly from signs which are of two sorts.

1. False signs, many times men make rules to ⟨p. 187⟩judg of themselves by, which are fallacious and deceitful, men make a judgment of themselves by a false Standard: they take such to be signs of salvation as may be found in many a man that perishes; either from their own fancy or the apprehensions of some other men, or from mistaking some other pieces of Scripture, men look upon that to be a sign, which does not distinguish an Heir of glory from a child of wrath: it may be of great advantage for Ministers to lay down sometimes probable signs, but men must have a care that they don't draw conclusions from thence: when men try themselves by false signs they take a ready course to deceive themselves: thus men do when they conclude from hence, that they pray constantly in secret, they don't know that they allow themselves in any known sin, they associate with the people of God, they are liberal to the poor, they are accounted of by the godly &c: that they are in a good estate and shall be saved. 2. True signs misapplied: that many times men mistake in judging of themselves, tho the rule they go by is good, yet falsely apply it to themselves, they take that which they find in themselves to be another thing than it is: the rule is good but the qualification is not found in them: that rule which does indeed condemn them, they do justify themselves by: so they justify themselves by those signs of trial, of love to the Brethren, hatred of sin, believing in Christ, concluding upon some mistakes that it is so with them.