Faith and Assurance 1Faith is a sure confidence of thinges which are hoped for, and a certaynte of thinges which are not sene. 2By it ye Elders were well reported of. 3Thorow faith we vnderstonde, that the worlde and all the thinges which are sene, were made of naughte by the worde of God. The Faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah 4By faith offered Abell vnto God a more plenteous sacrifice: by the which he optayned wytnesse, that he was righteous: God testifyenge of his giftes, by the which also he beynge deed, yet speaketh. 5By faith was Enoch take awaye, that he shulde not se death: and was not founde, because God had taken him awaye. For afore he was taken awaye, he had recorde that he pleased God. 6But without faith it is vnpossible to please God. For he that commeth vnto God, must beleue that God is, & yt he is a rewarder of them that seke him. 7By faith Noe honoured God, after yt he was warned of thinges which were not sene, & prepared the Arke, to ye sauinge of his housholde: thorow the which Arke he condemned the worlde, and became heyre of the righteousnes, which commeth by faith. The Faith of Abraham and Sarah 8By faith Abraham (wha he was called) obeyed, to go out in to the place, which he shulde afterwarde receaue to inheritaunce: and he wente out, not knowynge whither he shulde go. 9By faith was he a straunger in the lode of promes as in a straunge countre, & dwelt in tabernacles: and so dyd Isaac & Iacob, heyres with him of the same promes: 10for he loked for a cite which hath a foundacion, whose buylder and maker is God. 11By faith Sara also receaued strength to be with childe, and was delyuered of a childe whan she was past age, because she iudged him to be faithfull which had promysed. 12And therfore spronge there of one (yee euen off one which was as good as deed concernynge the body) so many in multitude as the starres off the skye, and as the sonde off the See shore, which is innumerable. 13All these dyed acordinge to faith, and receaued not the promyses, but sawe the afarre off, and beleued them, and saluted them: and cofessed, that they were straungers & pilgrems vpo earth. 14For they that saye soch thinges, declare, that they seke a naturall countre. 15And doutles yf they had bene myndefull off that countre from whence they came out, they had leysure to haue returned agayne. 16But now they desyre a better, that is to saye, a heauely. Wherfore God is not ashamed of the, eue to be called their God: for he hath prepared a cite for them. 17By faith Abraha offered vp Isaac, wha he was tempted, and gaue ouer his onely begotten sonne, in whom he had receaued the promyses, 18of whom it was sayde: In Isaac shal thy sede be called: 19For he considered, yt God was able to rayse vp agayne from the deed. Therfore receaued he him for an ensample. The Faith of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph 20By faith Isaac blessed Iacob and Esau, concernynge thinges to come. 21By faith Iacob, whan he was a dyenge, blessed both the sonnes off Ioseph, & bowed himselfe towarde the toppe of his cepter. 22By faith Ioseph whan he dyed, remembred ye departynge of the childre of Israel, & gaue comaundemet concernynge his bones. The Faith of Moses 23By faith Moses wha he was borne, was hyd thre monethes of his Elders, because they sawe that he was a proper childe, nether feared they the kynges comaundemet. 24By faith Moses whan he was greate, refused to be called the sonne of Pharaos doughter: 25and chose rather to suffre aduersite with the people of God, then to enioye ye pleasures of synne for a season: 26and estemed the rebuke of Christ greater riches, then the treasure of Egipte: for he had respecte vnto the rewarde. 27By faith he forsoke Egipte, and feared not the fearcenes of the kynge: for he endured, eue as though he had sene him which is inuisible. 28By faith he helde Easter, and the effusion of bloude, lest he which slewe the firstborne, shulde touche them. 29By faith they passed thorow the reed See as by drye londe: which wha the Egipcians assayed to do, they were drowned. The Faith of Many 30By faith the walles of Iericho fell, wha they were compased aboute seuen dayes. 31By faith the harlot Raab perished not with the vnbeleuers, wha she had receaued the spyes to lodginge peaceably. 32And what shal I more saye? ye tyme wolde be to shorte for me to tell of Gedeon, of Barac, and of Samson, & of Iepthae, and of Dauid, and Samuel, and of the prophetes, 33which thorow faith subdued kyngdomes, wroughte righteousnes, optayned ye promyses, stopped ye mouthes of lyos 34quenched the violece of fyre, escaped ye edge of the swerde, of weake were made stronge, became valeaunt in batayll, turned to flighte the armyes of the aleauntes, 35the wemen receaued their deed agayne from resurreccion. But other were racked, and accepted no delyueraunce, that they mighte optayne the resurreccion that better is. 36Other taisted of mockinges and scourginges, of bondes also and presonment: 37were stoned, were hewen a sunder, were tempted, were slayne with the swerde, wente aboute in shepe skynnes and goates skynnes, in nede, in tribulacion, in vexacion, 38which (men) the worlde was not worthy of: they wandred aboute in wyldernesses, vpon mountaynes, in dennes and caues of the earth. 39And these all thorow faith optayned good reporte, and receaued not ye promes: 40because God had prouyded a better thinge for vs, that they without vs shulde not be made perfecte. |