0L1J4aa Vua xr4ualaal} ß 11LL14 IV Lí 1 4Q 144 CWV, Will 1IL Ub in to the difcovery notable advantages that at.. tend a good Confcience. As for the ill, we fay in general, That a good Confci- ence hath a notable influence on prayer, and putting o-. thers to pray for us ; or, there is a ífrong connexion be- twixt a good Confcience, and the advantage of prayer: iß, There is a connexion betwixt a good Confcience, and liberty and boldnefs in prayer ; as it is clear, i 7ohn 3. 21. If our hearts condemn us not, we have confidence to- wards God : A man that bath an evil Confcience, or an accufing and challenging Confcience, path a fort of fear_ Ting at, and, at belt, much difcouragement in prayer ; fo that he cannot lift up his face without blufhing and fhame But a good Confcience,on the contrary,helps to boldnefs in prayer, and to the exercife of faith in God as a Fa.. ther, fo that he can boldly fay, Our Father. 2dly, A good Confcience bath influence on, or a connexion with, our obtaining a hearing in prayer, and on our being confi- dent that we fhall get a hearing ; For we know (faith that poor man, yob/ 9. 3i .) that God hears not fnners, but if any man do his will, he bears him And David lays, Pfal. 66. 18. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me; and 'tis Paid, i John 3. 22. l'Vhatfoever we ask, we receive of him, becaufe we keep his commandments, and do thefe things that are pleating in his fight. A good Confcience is not indeed a meritorious caufe of the bearing of prayer, yet God hath effablifhed a connexion betwixt it and his hearing of prayer, and it bath in- fluence on our expefting a hearing, and on our know- ing that we lhall get a hearing. idly, And more parti- cularly, as to the fcripture now before us ; A man that hath a good Confcience, may be confident to put others to pray for him, which another cannot have ; and here- in lies the weight of the apoffle's argument, Pray for vs, for we have a good Confcience: On this ground, he pleads for this privilege of the communion of faints; which he could not have fo done, had he not had a good Confcience. 4.thly, A man that hath a good Confcience may more confiden ly expert the benefit of others prayers, as well as of his own ; Whereas a man whofe way and Con.
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