Genesis 15:13

Gen 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land [that is] not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

Ver. 13. Know of a surety, that thy seed. ] Must first suffer, before they can enter; and so be conformed to Christ their Captain, who was "perfected by sufferings," Heb 2:10 and came not to the Crown but by the Cross. Difficile est ut praesentibus bonis quis fruatur et futuris; ut hic ventrem, illic mentem reficiat, ut de deliciis ad delicias transeat; ut in coelo et in terra gloriosus appareat , saith St Jerome. Through many tribulations we must enter into heaven. He that will go any other way, let him (as the emperor said to the heretic) erect a ladder, and go up alone a

a Erigito tibi scalam, et solus ascendito. - Const. Mag.