A Call to Endurance 1Wherfore seynge we haue so greate a multitude of witnesses aboute vs let vs also laye awaye all yt presseth downe, and the synne that hangeth on, and let vs runne with pacience vnto the batayl that is set before vs, 2lokynge vnto Iesus ye auctor and fynissher of faith: which whan the ioye was layed before him, abode the crosse, and despysed the shame, and is set downe on ye righte hade of ye trone of God. 3Cosidre him therfore that endured soch speakinge agaynst hi of synners, lest ye be weery and faynte in youre myndes: God Disciplines His Sons 4for ye haue not yet resisted vnto bloude, stryuynge agaynst synne, 5and haue forgotten the consolacion, which speaketh vnto you as vnto children: My sonne, despyse not the chastenynge off the LORDE, nether faynte whan thou art rebuked of him: 6for who the LORDE loueth, him he chasteneth, yee and he scourgeth euery sonne that he receaueth. 7Yf ye endure chastenynge, God offereth himselfe vnto you as vnto sonnes. What sonne is that, whom the father chasteneth not? 8Yf ye be not vnder correccion (wherof all are partakers) then are ye bastardes and not sonnes. 9Morouer seyenge we haue had fathers off oure flesh which corrected vs, & we gaue them reuerence, shulde we not then moch rather be in subieccion vnto ye father of spirituall giftes, yt we mighte lyue? 10And they verely for a few dayes nurtred vs after their awne pleasure: but he lerneth vs vnto yt which is profitable, that we mighte receaue of his holynes. 11No maner chastisynge for the present tyme semeth to be ioyous, but greuous: neuertheles afterwarde it bringeth the quyete frute of righteousnes, vnto them which are exercysed therby. 12Life vp therfore the handes which were let downe, and the weake knees, 13and se that ye haue straight steppes vnto youre fete, lest eny haltinge turne you out of the waye, yee let it rather be healed. A Call to Holiness 14Folowe after peace with all men, and holynes, without the which no man shal se the LORDE, 15ad loke well, that no ma be destitute of the grace of God, lest there sprynge vp eny bytter rote, and cause disquyetnes, and therby many be defyled: 16that there be no whoremonger, or vncleane person, as Esau, which for one meate sake solde his byrth righte. 17For ye knowe, how that afterwarde whan he wolde haue inhereted the blessynge, he was put by: for he foude no place of repetaunce, though he desyred (ye blessynge) with teares. An Unshakable Kingdom 18For ye are not come to ye mout that can be touched and burneth with fyre, nether yet to myst and darcknes, and tempest of wedder, 19nether to the sounde of the trompe, and ye voyce of wordes: which they that herde, wysshed awaye, that the worde shulde not be spoken to them, 20for they were not able to abyde that which was spoken. And yf a beest had touched the mountayne, it must haue bene stoed, or thrust thorow with a darte. 21And so terrible was the sighte which appeared, that Moses sayde: I feare and quake. 22But ye are come to the mount Sion, and to the cite of the lyuynge God, to the celestiall Ierusalem, and to the multitude of many thousande angels, 23and vnto the congregacion of the first borne, which are wrytten in heauen, and to God the iudge of all, and to the spretes of iust and perfecte men, 24and to Iesus the mediatoure of the new Testament, and to the sprenklynge off bloude, that speaketh better then the bloude of Abel. 25Se that ye despyse not him that speaketh vnto you: for yf they escaped not which refused him that spake on earth, moch more shal we not escape, yf we turne awaye from him that speaketh from heaue: 26whose voyce shoke the earth at that tyme. But now promyseth he, & sayeth: Yet once more wyl I shake, not the earth onely, but also heauen. 27No doute that same that he sayeth yet once more, signifieth the remouynge awaye of those thinges which are shaken, as off thinges which are made: that ye thinges which are not shake, maye remayne. 28Wherfore, seynge we receaue the vnmoueable kyngdome, we haue grace, wherby we maye serue God, & please him, with reuerence and godly feare. 29For oure God is a consumynge fyre. |