ON TEE ADVANTAGE OF PATIENCE. 29
•who allhave attainedto the heavenlycrowns hy the praiseof
patience. For the crown of sorrowsand sufferingscannot be
receivedunlesspatiencein sorrowand sufferingprecedeit.
11. But that itmay be more manifestlyand fullyknown
how usefuland necessarypatienceis,beloved brethren; let
the judgment of God be pondered,which even in the begin
ning of the world and of the human race,Adam, forgetful
of the commandment, and a transgressorof the given law,
received. Then we shallknow how patientin thislifewe
ought to be who are born insuch a state,thatwe labourhere
with afflictionsand contests." Because,"saysHe, " thou hast
hearkened to thevoiceof thy wife,and hasteatenof thetree
of which aloneI had charged theethatthoushouldestnoteat,
cursed shallbe the ground in allthy works :in sorrow and in
groaning shaltthou eatof itallthe days of thy life.Thorns
and thistlesshallitgiveforthto thee,and thou shalteatthe
food of the field.In the sweat of thy faceshaltthou eatthy
bread,tillthou returnintothe ground from which thou wast
taken : for dustthou art,and to dustshaltthou go."1 We
are alltiedand bound with the chainof thissentence,until,
death being expunged, we departfrom thislife. In sorrow
and groaning we must of necessitybe allthedays of our life:
itisnecessarythatwe eatour bread with sweat and labour.
12.Whence every one of us,when he isborn and received
in the inn of this world, takes his beginning from tears;
and, although stillunconsciousand ignorantof allthings,
he knows nothing elsein that very earliestbirthexcept to
weep. By a naturalforesight,the untrainedsoul laments
the anxietiesand laboursof the mortal life,and even in the
beginningbearswitnessby itswailsand groansto the storms
of the world which itisentering.For the sweat of the brow
and labouris the conditionof lifeso long as itlasts.Nor
can therebe suppliedany consolationsto those that sweat
and toilotherthan patience; which consolations,whileinthis
world they are fitand necessaryfor allmen, are especially
so for us who are more shaken by the siegeof the devil,
who, dailystandingin the battle-field,are wearied with the
1 Gen.iii.17-19.