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The Gospel of Jesus Christ According to
St. Matthew Pasquier
Quesnel Translated
by the Rev. Daniel Wilson, D.D., Vicar of Islington and now Bishop of Chapter VI. Sect. I. Alms. 1. TAKE heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. The best way is to do good works in
secret, as far as is consistent with the advancement of God’s glory. The
devil engages the wicked to do evil with pleasure, and the righteous to do good out of vanity. Let us wait with patience one moment;
the eternal reward can neither fail us nor be delayed. To desire to be paid
ready money by the hands of men, is the way to lose all; but to trust God, is
to enrich ourselves forever. 2. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. To do alms in secret is to offer a double
sacrifice. A transient and momentary honour is the empty reward of vain men.
Unhappy he, who, in parting with his wealth, deprives himself, by his vanity,
of the heavenly riches. It is, as it were, attempting to impose upon God with
a wrong title, for a man to endeavour to sell that to him which he has
already sold to vain-glory. 3. But when thou doest aims, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: It is good to conceal our good works, even
from our nearest relations, unless we are under an obligation of edifying
them. We ought to proceed farther, to conceal them, as one may say, even from
ourselves, by not allowing ourselves the satisfaction so much as to think on
them, or to lay them before our eyes by reflections of complacency and
self-love. They are given to God, and therefore they ought to be kept hid in
him. 4. That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. The substantial reward of the secret virtue
of the humble is conferred openly. Our alms is our
treasure; not to hide it, is to expose ourselves to being robbed. He who
seeks any other approbation than that of God, forgets that he is made only
for him, and that he ought ultimately to refer all to him alone. Sect. II. Prayer. 5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. In order to approach God, and to incline
him to give ear to our prayer, it is necessary to pray out of the hearing of
men, and without affecting to be seen by them. A man loves the world when he
seeks to please it, and this love spoils the best works. God is a jealous
God, and cannot share with any one what is due to himself alone; and this not
out of envy, but goodness. He is not afraid of losing any thing, but of being
obliged not to give, and not to bestow himself. 6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. The heart is God’s peculiar portion; he is
the judge of it; it belongs to him to reward. It is in this that he will be
worshipped and adored. Prayer is the most secret inter course of the soul
with God, and, as it were, the conversation of one heart with another. The
world is too profane and treacherous to be of the secret. We must shut the door
against it, by forgetting it, and all the affairs which busy and amuse it.
Prayer requires retirement, at least of the heart; for this is the closet in
the house of God, which house is our selves. Thither we ought to retire, even
in public prayer, and in the midst of company. What goodness is there equal
to this of God, to give not only what we ask, and more than we ask of him,
but to reward even prayer itself! What ad vantage is it to serve a prince,
who places prayers in the number of services, and reckons to his subjects
account even their trust and confidence in begging all things of him. 7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Prayer requires more of the heart than of
the tongue, of sighs than of words, of faith than of discourse. The eloquence
of prayer consists in the fervency of desire, in the simplicity of faith, and
in the earnestness and perseverance of charity. The abundance and choice of
fine thoughts, studied and vehement motions, and the order and polite ness of
the expressions, are things which compose a mere human harangue, not an humble and Christian prayer. Our trust and confidence
ought to proceed from that which God is able to do in us, not from that which
we can say to God. 8. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. Prayer is not designed to inform God, but
to give man a sight of his misery, to humble his heart, to excite his desire,
to inflame his faith, to animate his hope, to raise his soul toward heaven,
and to put him in mind that there is his Father, his country, his
inheritance. He is a Father to whom we pray; let us go to him with
confidence: he knows our wants; let us remove far from us all anxious
disquiet and concern. 9. After this manner therefore pray ye: The prayer which Jesus Christ gives us
here is the pattern of all Christian prayer, and an abridgement of the
gospel. What satisfaction it is to learn, from God himself, with what words
and in what manner he would have us pray to him, so as not to pray in vain! A
king, who himself draws up the petition which he allows to be presented to
himself, has surely a very great desire to grant the request. We do not sufficiently
conceive the value of this prayer, the respect and attention which it
requires, the preference to be given to it, its fulness
and perfection, the frequent use we should make of it, and the spirit which
we should bring along with us to it. The order of the petitions is the order
of our desires and of our duties; it is here we ought to be particularly
mindful of them. Our Father which art in heaven, 1st, We must, in the first place, say this
prayer with the heart of a heavenly child, disengaged from the earth by his
new birth, animated with the Spirit of the divine adoption, and full of
desire to be reunited to his Father and Author. The heart of a child of God
is a brotherly heart, in respect of all other Christians; it asks nothing but
in the spirit of unity, fellowship, and Christian charity, desiring that for
its brethren which it desires for itself. Let us adore God in the unity and
simplicity of his essence, in the trinity and fellow ship of his persons; as
the Father of Christians, the source and model of all paternity both in
heaven and earth, and the Author of all created good. Hallowed be thy name. 2d, We must say it, with the heart of a
priest, all inflamed with zeal for God’s glory, and for the sanctification of
souls, and with the desire of that holiness, which should render him like to
God as to his Father. In the sanctification of the elect and of the whole
church, God is pleased to place his glory; and, therefore, this glory and
this sanctification we ought to desire and to pray for before all things. Let
us adore the holiness of God; let us desire that his holy name may be
everywhere known; let us labour to this purpose with all our power, beginning
first with ourselves. 10. Thy kingdom come. 3d, We must say it with the heart of a
faithful subject, zealous for the glory of his sovereign. When will it be, my
God, that death and sin, the devil and his ministers, the world and its
offences, shall cease to reign upon earth; and that thou, after having judged
the quick and the dead, separated thy elect from the reprobate, and destroyed
all the powers of earth and hell, wilt thyself reign alone everywhere, in
all, and forever, and thy saints with thee, and with thy Son? In order to
desire the coming of this kingdom, it is necessary to be in a condition to
expect it with confidence. Let us adore the sovereignty of God, and labour to
establish his kingdom in our own hearts. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 4th, We must say it with the heart of a
wife who studies the desires and inclinations of her husband, and seeks only
to please him. God everywhere effects his will, even
in those who oppose it the most; but it is done, with and by love, in none
but the saints in heaven and on earth. We acknowledge the necessity of a
grace, which, by a free and predominant love, may subject our will to that of
God, when we pray that “his will may be done in us as it is in heaven.” It is
by this that God reigns, and that his name is hallowed. Let us adore the
almighty will of God, and desire that it may work in us, so as to subject us
to itself. 11. Give us this day our daily bread 5th, We must say it with the heart of a
sheep, which re quires food from its shepherd; and of one really in want, who
begs his bread. We ought to ask of God the bread of the body; but much more
the bread of the soul, his grace, his word, the divine eucharist,
the love of his law, and the accomplishment of his will. God will have us
depend on him. He gives not to the body all its nourishment, nor to the soul
all the grace which is necessary for it, on purpose to oblige us to pray; and
prayer, which proves that we always stand in need of this grace, proves also
that we have it not always. Let us adore the providence of God, let us love
to depend upon it, and let us frequently have recourse to it. 12. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 6th, We must say it with the heart of a
penitent who begs mercy of his God, while he affords it to his neighbour in
all respects. That man condemns himself to suffer the eternal vengeance of
God, who makes use of this prayer with revenge and hatred in his heart. He
who observes not the condition of a transaction so advantageous, does not
comprehend what he owes to God, and is a madman who resolves to perish. Let
us adore the infinite love and mercy of God; and let us beseech him to give
us such a heart as is indulgent, charitable, and always ready to forgive. 13. And lead us not into temptation, 7th, We must say it with the heart of a
sick person, who implores the assistance of his physician, acknowledging that
he deserves to be forsaken by him. The way of salvation is a way of humility,
and the Christian grace a grace of combat. There is nothing makes men more
humble, renders them more vigilant, and obliges them to have recourse more
frequently to the arms of faith and prayer, than their being unable to
ascribe to themselves any good, their perceiving themselves capable of all
evil, their having a domestic enemy who leaves them not one moment’s quiet or
security, and their depending continually upon a grace which is not due, and
of which they are altogether unworthy. Let us adore the wonderful contrivance
and wisdom of God in the work of our salvation; and let us give up ourselves
entirely to him, that he may not give us up to ourselves. But deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Lastly, we must say it with the heart of a
captive, an exile, or an afflicted person, who has recourse to his deliverer.
With how many snares, how many obstacles to good, how many occasions of sin,
how many enemies of salvation are we surrounded, among whom our false friends
are the most dangerous! Lord, from thee alone we expect deliverance: delay
not to succour us. May the frequent combats, in which the tempter engages us,
make us sigh and long after the general deliverance, which will forever
banish to hell the tempter and the temptation, all disorderly affection and
concupiscence, all sin and wickedness whatsoever. Let us adore the power and
justice of the sovereign Judge; let us wait like exiles, to be called home,
and, like captives, to be delivered; and let us fly to him for aid under the
miseries of our banishment and slavery, and in all the assaults of our
enemies. 14. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: He
who shows mercy to men, receives it from God. For a king to forgive his
subjects a hundred millions, and an in finite number of treasons against his
authority and person, on this one condition, that they will but live
peaceably with him and with one another, is what we shall never see; and yet
this is but the shadow of that which Christ promises on his Father’s part to
all true penitents. A man must needs love his salvation but little, who
refuses to purchase it at this price. 15. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. He
who does not awake at the sound of so loud a thunder, is not asleep, but
dead. It is not without reason that Christ insists thus upon this one
petition concerning the forgiveness of sins; since this alone contains the
threat of God’s eternal wrath, and the necessity of brotherly love. We hazard
all if we either do not understand it, or do transgress it. Sect. III. Fasting. 16. Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. It is difficult to avoid hypocrisy and
ostentation in external mortifications, and chiefly in fasting. He who
desires to please men in that which he does by way
of atonement to God, seems as if he pretended to expiate and make amends for
his affection to the creatures by this affection itself. God turns from the
sinner the eyes of his mercy, in the same pro portion that he endeavours to
draw upon himself those of men. When a man, out of hypocrisy, affects a sad
countenance, he has but little of that godly sorrow in his heart which
repentance gives. 17. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; The love of God makes us do that with joy which we do for him. Our heart is the same in respect of God, that our head and face are in respect of men. It is
by the heart that he knows us, and judges of us; it is by this that we please
him. It is this victim of the heart, which we must wash with the water of our
tears, and anoint with the spirit of charity, to make it an acceptable
sacrifice of repentance. 18. That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. He
who takes no care to avoid the sight and applause of the world, has but
little desire to be seen and rewarded by God. There is a time to show
ourselves to men, through the obligation we have to edify them; and a time to
hide our selves from them, to prevent our own destruction. Let us not be
afraid that our heart will be concealed from God; but let us be afraid lest
he should discover it to be greedy of the glory which comes from men, and
little filled with the desire and esteem of that glory which he alone can
confer. Sect. IV. Treasures In Heaven. The Single
Eye. 19. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: What blindness is it for a man to lay up
that as a treasure which must necessarily perish! This is to degrade a heart
designed for God and for eternity, to fix it upon such things as are subject
to corruption, and, on their account, to set it in competition with moths. 20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: He
who frequently considers the solidity and eternity of the treasures in
heaven, little amuses himself with the contemptible goods of the earth. This
treasure is laid up by good works, and especially by alms. The only way to
render perishing goods eternal, to secure stately furniture from moths, the
richest metals from rust, and precious stones from thieves, is to transmit
them to heaven by charity. This is a kind of bill of exchange, which cannot
fail of acceptance but through our own fault. 21. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Happy he, who has a heart only for God,
and who has only God in his heart. How misplaced is a heart, when it cleaves
either to the smoke of honours, or to the dirt of riches, or to the mire of
pleasures! Let our heart, then, God, rest satisfied in thee alone, since it
was made only for thee, and since thou alone art worthy of it. 22. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. The single eye,
is the pure intention, and the unity of the end. The eye is neither single
nor pure, when it looks upon two objects at once; nor the heart, when it seeks
not God and his righteousness only; when it has some other end besides his
glory and his will; when it would fain be happy in the enjoyment of some
other good together with him; and when it pretends to unite God and the
world, to be the servant of Christ and to please men, and to reconcile the
gospel with the eager desire of earthly things. Nothing is more single than
the eye of faith; there is nothing which renders our whole conduct more
uniform in goodness, than to follow singly the light of it. 23. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! An evil intention corrupts the best works
and renders them evil. Who can conceive the misfortune and corruption of a
heart which lays up for itself a double treasure of wrath, by suffering
itself to be led away to evil actions by a perverse will, and depriving
itself of the fruit of good ones by a bad intention? The way of the righteous
is a way of light; that of sinners is nothing but darkness. Sect. V. God To Be Served, Not Mammon.
Trust. 24. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. The master of our heart, is the love which
reigns in it; we are slaves to that only which we love most. A man cannot be
in a perfect indifference between two objects which are in compatible; he is
inclined to despise and hate whatever he does not love in the highest degree,
when the necessity of a choice presents itself. Could we ever imagine that
mammon has the advantage of God in the hearts of the generality of mankind,
did not experience force us to believe it? How dangerous is it to set our
minds upon riches, since it is so easy to make them our god! 25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what she shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? To be so intent
on the means of subsistence as to lose all the satisfaction of it, is to have
but very little faith; it is even infidelity. On the other hand, to rely so
much upon providence as to do nothing at all, is to
tempt God. But to labour, without placing our trust and confidence in our
labour, expecting all from the blessing of God: this is to obey him, to
co-operate with his providence, to set the springs of it a-going, and to
imitate Christ and the saints by a sedate care and an industrious confidence.
In the following verses, Christ lays down several reasons why men should not
disquiet them selves about the wants of life, or concerning the future. The
first is the experience of greater benefits already received. He who gave us
life and the body, before we could ask them of him, can he refuse us
wherewith to conserve them, when we ask it with an
humble confidence? It is ingratitude to fall into distrust with respect to
our great Benefactor. 26. Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? The second reason is the example of the
lesser animals, which the providence of God feeds without their own labour,
though he be not their Father. We never knew an
earthly father take care of his fowls and neglect his children; and shall we
fear this from our heavenly Father? That man is unworthy to have God for his
father in heaven, who depends less upon his goodness, wisdom, and power, than
upon a crop of corn, which may be spoiled, either in the field or in the
barn. The excellency of man consists in his being
capable of knowing, loving, and enjoying God; and what ought he not to expect
from God after so great a gift? 27. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his
stature? The third reason is the unprofitableness of human cares, unless God vouchsafe to
bless them. What can our own un easiness do, but only render us unworthy of the
divine care? The passage from distrust to apostasy is very short and easy;
and a man is not far from murmuring against providence, when he is
dissatisfied with its conduct. He ought to depend entirely upon it, as well
for the conservation of its gifts as for the gifts themselves. 28. And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: The fourth reason is the example even of
insensible creatures. Let us learn from hence, not, like these plants, to do
nothing, but to trust to God’s eye, and to commit ourselves to his almighty
hand, which the least of his works discover and manifest unto us. He who
makes the lilies of the field grow, cannot he augment our substance, if it be
for his glory and our advantage? Nothing is more capable of increasing our
confidence toward God, than to consider his works with attention, and to
meditate upon his conduct. 29. And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, ye of little faith? Christ confounds, at one and the same
time, both the luxury of the rich in their superfluities, and the distrust of
the poor as to the necessaries of life. Let man, who is made for heaven and
eternity, learn from a flower of the field, from a flower of a moment’s
duration, how low the care of 31. Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32. (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) The fifth reason is, that to concern
ourselves about these wants with anxiety, as if there was no such thing as
providence in the world; with great affection toward earthly enjoyments, as
if we expected no other; and, without praying to God or consulting his will,
as if we could do any thing without him: this is no better than to imitate
the heathens. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. The sixth reason is, because God is a good
father, who knows all our wants. It is the property of a true father to
provide necessaries, and not superfluities. Not to hope for the former, is to
offend his goodness; to expect the latter, is to do injury to his wisdom. The
want of what is necessary is that which generally casts men into uneasiness
about the future; and yet it is this very thing which ought to make them
easy; because this is properly the business of providence, and the care of a
father. 33. But seek ye first the The seventh reason is, because the
business of our salvation ought entirely to take us up. Hither all our
desires, our cares, and our inquiries ought to tend. He
who first seeks God, finds him together with all these things; the righteous
are never deprived of them, but only in order to their finding God more
certainly, readily, and fully. He who has all his spiritual wants supplied by
God himself, though he were left under the greatest wants and necessities of
the body, would yet be far from complaining that God had broken his word.
Grant, Lord, that I may desire and seek nothing but thee, and that I may live
only for thee, and in thee. 34. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. The eighth and last reason is, that a solicitous carefulness renders us unhappy
beforehand. The future falls under the cognizance of God alone; we encroach
therefore upon his rights, when we would fain foresee all which may happen to
us, and secure ourselves from it by our cares. How much good is omitted, how
many evils caused, how many duties neglected, how many innocent persons
deserted, how many good works destroyed, how many truths suppressed, and how
many acts of injustice authorized, by these timorous forecasts of what may
happen, and these faithless apprehensions concerning the time to come! Let us
do in season what God then requires of us; and let us trust to him for the
consequences. The future time, which God would have us foresee and provide
for, is that of judgment and eternity; and it is this alone which we will not
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