He is gone before thee, carrying his cross: and he died for thee upon the cross: that thou mayest also bear thy cross, and love to die on the cross.
Because, if thou die with him, thou shalt also live with him; and if thou art his companion in buffering, thou shalt also partake in his glory.
3. Behold the cross is all, and in dying [to thyself] all consists: and there is no other way to life, and to true internal peace, but the way of the holy cross, and of daily mortification.
Go where thou wilt, seek what thou wilt, and thou shalt not find a higher way above, nor a safer way below, than the way of the holy cross.
Dispose and order all things according as thou wilt; and as seems best to thee; and thou shalt still find something to suffer, either willingly or unwillingly, and so thou shalt still find the cross.
For either thou shalt feel pain in the body, or sustain in thy soul tribulation of spirit.
4. Sometimes thou shalt be left by God, other times thou shalt be afflicted by thy neighbour: and what is more, thou shalt often be a trouble to thyself.
Neither canst thou be delivered or eased by any remedy or comfort, but as long as it shall please God, thou must bear it.
For God would have thee learn to suffer tribulation without comfort, and wholly to submit thyself to him, and to become more humble by tribulation.