Prayer - Bunyan - VI - Section II continued

Required reading
Prayer by John Bunyan (Available from Amazon or free here) - Continue Section II (Throne of Grace) by reading Chapters 3 and 4.

My summary
Chapter Three outlines for us who are the people who are exhorted to come to the throne of grace.  Bunyan looks at the Old Testament practice of cleansing oneself before entering into the holy of holies which is a shadow of how we are to cleanse ourselves in Jesus blood before coming to the throne of grace.

At the beginning of Chapter Four there is a continuation the same subject of how we are to approach the throne.  We must approach the throne by:
(i) the second veil which is flesh of Christ;
(ii) having our hearts sprinkled by the blood of Christ from an evil conscience;
(iii) having our bodies washed with pure water which is the Word mixed with the Spirit.

Then Bunyan teaches us what it is to come to the throne of grace without boldness.

Finally, we see that none but the godly can distinguish the throne of grace because:
(i) of the strong guilt of sin upon their conscience;
(ii) of the new nature which gives them a kind of heavenly natural instinct;
(iii) they have the very direction of God himself.

What grabbed me
A good point was made about how without knowledge a sin, we cannot discern grace: 'Sin is that, without a sense of which, a man is not apprehensive what grace is. Sin and grace, favor and wrath, death and life, hell and heaven, are opposites, and are set off or out, in their evil or good, shame or glory, one by another. What makes grace so good to us, as the sense of sin in its guilt and filth ? What makes sin so horrible and damnable a thing in our eye, as when we see there is nothing can save us from it but the infinite grace of God?'

There is a good use for sin - it helps reveal the wonderful grace of God.

Next week's reading
Continue Section II (Throne of Grace) by commencing Chapters 5 and reading all of the first subpoint (The legal qualifications of Jesus Christ for the office of high priest).

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.