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

2. They are afraid to see the plague of their own hearts; experience witnesses to this, that they dare not yield themselves to be such as they are; many a sinner dare not yield himself to be unsound in Religion, to be unconverted; they compass sea and land to strengthen their false hopes: and many a man that ⟨p. 186⟩knows he is unconverted, and has some conviction that he must see the badness of his heart before he be converted, and accordingly pra•es for it, that God would open his eyes and discover it to him, yet all the while he is secretly nourishing an apprehension that his heart is better than it is: he hopes he hates sin, that he desires holiness, that he is sincerely labouring after the work of humiliation, and he dreads the sight of his own heart, is very loth to yield it to be so bad as it is, and when God forces the conviction on him, it is a terror unto him, he is like a man that desires that a limb of his body should be cut off▪ for the preservation of his life, yet when it comes to be done it is a terror to him: so a natural man does not see the plague of his own heart, nor will he ever see it till it be forced upon him.

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 •e 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