ON THE ADVANTAGE OF PATIENCE. 25 ing His disciplesto perfection,He laiditdown, and said, " Ye have heard thatitissaid,Thou shaltlovethy neighbour, and have thineenemy in hatred. But I say unto you, Love your enemies,and pray forthem which persecuteyou ; that ye may be the childrenof your Father which is in heaven, -whomaketh His sun to riseon the good and on the evil,and rainethupon the justand on theunjust. For ifye lovethem which loveyou, what reward shallye have ? do not even the publicansthe same ? And if ye shallsaluteyour brethren only, what do ye more [than others]? do not even the heathens the same thing? Be ye thereforeperfect,even as your Father in heaven is perfect."1 He said that the chil dren of God would thus become perfect. He showed that they were thuscompleted,and taught thattheywere restored by a heavenlybirth,ifthe patienceof God our Father dwell in us— ifthe divinelikeness,which Adam had lostby sin,be manifested and shine in our actions. What a gloryisitto become liketo God ! what and how greata felicity,to possess among our virtues,thatwhich may be placedon the levelof divinepraises! 6. Nor, beloved brethren,did Jesus Christ,our God and Lord, teach thisin words only; but He fulfilledit alsoin deeds. And because He had said that He had come down for thispurpose,that He might do the willof His Father ; among the othermarvelsof His virtues,whereby He showed forth themarks of a divinemajesty,He alsomaintainedthe patience of His Father in the constancyof His endurance. Finally,all His actions,even from His very advent, are characterizedby patienceas theirassociate; in that,first of all,coming down from thatheavenly sublimityto earthly things,the Son of God did not scornto put on the fleshof man, and althoughHe Himself was not a sinner,to bear the sinsof others. His immortalitybeing in the meantime laid aside,He suffersHimself to become mortal, so that the guiltlessmay be put to death forthe salvationof the guilty. The Lord is baptizedby the servant; and He who isabout to bestow remissionof sins,doesnot Himself disdainto wash 1Matt.v.43-48.