The murderer will not seek to the City of refuge, before the revenger of blood follow him, and this must not be done slightly, but your conscience must be awakened to apprehend sin fully, and this prepareth you for Christ, for in these three things stands the sound conversion of a sinner to God: first, humiliation, secondly, the taking of Christ as the chiefest good, thirdly, when you will not forsake for him any worldly thing. And these three things follow one another, for if sin be the chiefest sorrow, Christ must needs be the chiefest joy, & if we once have Christ we ⟨p. 435⟩can never forgo him; those therefore that are not soundly humbled have cause to fear that they have no part in Christ. Secondly, Consider whether you live in Christ or no, for if you live not in him you have not received him, for who taketh Christs •n•r• ted into him as into a living stock; if you would therefore know whether you have taken Christ in good earnest or no (for many think they have Christ when they have him not:) I ask you this question, do you grow in Christ, and wax green in Christ, are you changed into the same nature with him? If you find these things, it is a sure sign you have taken Christ, but if you find not this new life in you, it is a sign you never received him, and this is not a light cha•••, but a great and manifest change, as apparent as the difference is betwixt a dead man and a living man, because when a man takes the Son he hath the spirit of the Son within him, and if he hath the spirit he hath the disposition of the Son, the same life that the Son hath; for the spirit is to the soul, as the soul is to the body, and therefore if you find no life, it is a sign you have no part in Christ.
The murderer will not seek to the City of refuge, before the revenger of blood follow him, and this must not be done slightly, but your conscience must be awakened to apprehend sin fully, and this prepareth you for Christ, for in these three things stands the sound conversion of a sinner to God: first, humiliation, secondly, the taking of Christ as the chiefest good, thirdly, when you will not forsake for him any worldly thing. And these three things follow one another, for if sin be the chiefest sorrow, Christ must needs be the chiefest joy, & if we once have Christ we ⟨p. 435⟩can never forgo him; those therefore that are not soundly humbled have cause to fear that they have no part in Christ. Secondly, Consider whether you live in Christ or no, for if you live not in him you have not received him, for who taketh Christ•s •n•r• ted into him as into a living stock; if you would therefore know whether you have taken Christ in good earnest or no (for many think they have Christ when they have him not:) I ask you this question, do you grow in Christ, and wax green in Christ, are you changed into the same nature with him? If you find these things, it is a sure sign you have taken Christ, but if you find not this new life in you, it is a sign you never received him, and this is not a light cha•••, but a great and manifest change, as apparent as the difference is betwixt a dead man and a living man, because when a man takes the Son he hath the spirit of the Son within him, and if he hath the spirit he hath the dispossition of the Son, the same life that the Son hath; for the spirit is to the soul, as the soul is to the body, and therefore if you find no life, it is a sign you have no part in Christ.
