19. It is tried gold! Try it as thou desirest; examine it as thou wishest, thou wilt not find in it any dross. This shows us not only the fortitude of others, but also brings much farther1042 consolation; for what saith Christ, “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven: for in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.”1043 Again, Paul writing to the Macedonians in his desire to console them, says, “For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which are in Judea. For ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews.”1044 And again, he consoles the Hebrews in like manner, reckoning up all the just who had lived1045 in furnaces; in pits; in deserts; in mountains; in caves; in hunger; and in poverty.1046 For communion of suffering brings some consolation to the fallen. 20. But that this also introduces arguments for the resurrection, hear the same Paul again, saying, “If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what shall it profit me if the dead are not raised.”1047 And further, “If in this life only we have hope, we are of all men the most miserable.”1048 We suffer, he tells us, innumerable evils during the present life; if then there is no other life to be hoped for, what can be more wretched than our condition? Hence it is evident that our affairs are not bounded within the limits of this present state; and this becomes manifest from our trials. For God could never suffer those who have endured so many and so great evils, and who have spent all the present life in trials and dangers without number, to be without a recompense of far greater gifts; and if he could not suffer this, it is certain that he has prepared another, a better and brighter life, in which he will crown those who have wrestled in the cause of godliness, and proclaim their praises in the presence of the whole world. So that when you see a just man straitened and afflicted; and in sickness, and in poverty, as well as innumerable other woes, till he ends this present life; say to thyself, that if there were no resurrection and judgment, God would not have permitted one, who endured such great evils for His sake, to depart hence without enjoying any good thing; from whence it is evident, that for such He has prepared another 1042 ›τ™ραν al. ›τ™ροις “brings the rest much.” 1043 Matt. v. 11, 12. The last clause of this passage seems quoted from the parallel passage, Luke vi. 23. 1044 1 Thess. ii. 14. 1045 The word δι€γοντας, in the Greek, comes last, and so separated from the “furnaces” 1046 Heb. xi. 34, 35. 1047 1 Cor. xv. 32. 1048 1 Cor. xvi. 19. 468 Homily I