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

2. If it be commanded that we belie•• ••on the righteousness of Christ, then it is duty so •o do: then we are bound in conscience to come unto Christ, we cannot without sin stay away from Christ: and therefore surely it is safe […] in the righteousness of Christ: the holy God would never make ⟨p. 109⟩it our duty to trust in that which is not a sufficient ground of faith: it were an hard lesson to be bound in conscience to do that, which we could not satisfy our consciences in doing: it were wildness for any man to imagine that God should command us to love that which is not lovely, or to mourn for that which is not matter of sorrow, or to rejoice in that which is not matter of joy: so it is to think that God should require us to trust in that which is not a ground of confidence: that would be very hard for God to bind us to put our confidence in that which we could not put our confidence in, except we were out of our wits: if it were not safe to trust in Christs righteousness, what could induce us to do it, except we were under a delusion: it is against nature for man to put confidence in any thing but under this notion, that there is ground of confidence in it: what persuasions can prevail to make men rest on that, which they could not safely rest upon: the Lord is a righteous God, and gives no such unequal command, all his commands are righteous, he requires but what is equal, Psal. 119:138.

2. If it be commanded that we belie•• ••on the righteousness of Christ, then it is duty so •o doe: then we are bound in conscience to come unto Christ, we cannot without sin stay away from Christ: and therefore surely it is safe 〈…〉 in the righteousness of Christ: the holy God would never make ⟨p. 109⟩it our duty to trust in that which is not a sufficient ground of faith: it were an hard lesson to be bound in conscience to do that, which we could not satisfie our consciences in doing: it were wildness for any man to imagine that God should command us to love that which is not lovely, or to mourn for that which is not matter of sorrow, or to rejoyce in that which is not matter of joy: so it is to think that God should require us to trust in that which is not a ground of confidence: that would be very hard for God to bind us to put our confidence in that which we could not put our confidence in, except we were out of our wits: if it were not safe to trust in Christs righteousness, what could induce us to do it, except we were under a delusion: it is against nature for man to put confidence in any thing but under this notion, that there is ground of confidence in it: what perswasions can prevail to make men rest on that, which they could not safely rest upon: the Lord is a righteous God, and gives no such unequal command, all his commands are righteous, he requires but what is equal,