If then thou dost not make use of the buckler of patience, thou wilt not be long without wounds.
Moreover, if thou dost not fix thy heart on me, with a sincere will of suffering all things for my sake, thou canst not support the heat of this warfare, nor attain to the victory of the saints. It behoveth thee therefore to go through all manfully, and to use a strong hand against all things that oppose thee.
For to him that overcomes is given manna, (Apoc. ii.) and to the sluggard is left much misery.
2. If thou seekest rest in this life, how then wilt thou come to rest everlasting?
Set not thy self to seek for much rest, but for much patience.
Seek true peace, not upon earth, but in heaven; not in men, nor in other things created, but in God alone.
Thou must be willing, for the love of God, to suffer all things, viz. labours and sorrows, temptations and vexations, anxieties, necessities, sicknesses, injuries, detractions, reprehensions, humiliations, confusions, corrections, and contempts.
These things help to obtain virtue: these try a novice of Christ: these procure a heavenly crown.