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

1. God has made no promise to you in this way, there are promises made to them that trust in the Righteousness of Christ, but there is not a syllable that way to those that trust in their own righteousness: it is a presumptuous thing for any man to promise himself salvation, in such a way wherein God does not promise it to him: God indeed in the covenant of works does promise life upon the account of perfect obedience; but what is that unto you, ⟨p. 192⟩who are destitute of that obedience; who neither have nor ever can fulfil the condition of that covenant: God also promises salvation in the Gospel to those that are sincerely godly and righteous, but where does he speak one word of saving them upon the account of their own righteousness, or to save those that confide in their own righteousness: God is wholly silent as to any such promise: if there were such a promise, there would be a foundation for Faith: but God gives no encouragement unto men to depend upon their own righteousness, which he would certainly do if that were a way of safety: for God undertakes in his Word to direct men the right way to heaven, if this way had been right, God would not have neglected to have promised salvation to them in this way; besides it has bin Gods manner all along to deal with man in the way of a covenant, to that end that men may be encouraged to walk in the right way to the obtaining of good: and honour him by exercising Faith in his Word: Gods manner is to propose conditions to men, and give them assurance of the benefit in that way: he never left mankind to guess at the way of salvation, and to contrive by their own wisdom a suitable way to bring them to heaven, the wisdom of man is utterly insufficient to any such work: God knew his own mind, what way pleased him, and has bound himself unto man in that way: when he first made man, he entered into a covenant with him, and when that covenant was broke, he presently proposed a new covenant to him: it is no part of the work of man to devise a way of his own head to lead to heaven, but to walk in that way that God has prescribed unto him: but when men trust in their own righteousness, they go without book, they have no word ⟨p. 193⟩from God to warrant their way: they lean unto an invention of their own, this is like the practice of Jeroboam that kept a Fast in the month that he bad devised in his own heart,