Quaker Bible Index:

§37 S-V (Mat 6:1-8)

Mat 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before [BT: to your almes, that ye give it not in the sight of] men, to [BT: +the intent that ye would] be seen of them: otherwise [GBT: or else] ye have [G: shall have; T: get] no reward of your Father which is in heaven. qtext

Mat 6:2 Therefore when thou doest [GBT: givest] thine alms, do not sound a trumpet [GBT: thou shalt not make a trumpet to be blown] before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory [GT: to be praised; B: that they might be esteemed] of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Mat 6:3 But when thou doest [GBT: +thine] alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: qtext

Mat 6:4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself [G: he; BT omit] shall reward thee openly. qtext

Mat 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are [G: be not as the hypocrites]: for they love to pray standing [GT: stand and pray; B: stand praying] in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may [GT: because they would] be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. qtext

Mat 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet [GBT: chamber], and when thou hast [T: omits] shut thy door [T: +to them and], pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. qtext

Mat 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions [BT: babble not much], as the heathen do: for they think [B: +it will come to pass] that they shall [G: to] be heard for their much speaking [G: babbling; BT: babbling’s sake]. qtext

Mat 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of [GT: whereof ye have need] , before ye ask him. qtext

(Mat 6:1-4)

HPS 188 (Katharine Evans & Sarah Chevers, 1662): He was compelled to work for us sometimes, and would say it was for God’s sake, and would have us thank him for it. We would tell him, those that did any thing for God, did not look for a reward from man [Mat 6:1-4].

(Mat 6:3)

IP4:74 (1671): So in eating and drinking, and whatever we do [1 Cor 10:31], our heart is retired to the Lord, and we wait to feel everything sanctified by his presence and blessing.... And in whatever God enables us to do, we narrowly watch to that direction of Christ, "not to let the left hand know what the right hand doeth [Mat 6:3]." For we are nothing of ourselves, nor can do anything of ourselves [John 15:5]; therefore whatever is done in us, as we feel the grace of God, the virtue and power of his life working all in us; so it is still given to us to attribute all the honor and glory thereto [1 Cor 10:31].

(Mat 6:4)

JN3:310 (1656): Was there ever such a nest, to set your hands to slander the truth? Shall not the Lord find you out and bring your wickedness on your own pate? Shall your joining hand in hand keep your wickedness from being punished? What you have done in secret the Lord will reward you openly [Mat 6:4]; the day of revelation is at hand, and you can be no longer hid.

(Mat 6:5) usually used in conjunction with material from Mat 23

Other texts citing Mat 6:5: GF7:47, JN1:397f (both under Mat 23:5-7), WDS 90 (2 Jn 1:9)]

JN2:4 (1659): That Spirit which in all ages bare witness against such which sought for their gain from their quarters [Isa 56:11], bare rule by their means [Jer 5:31], were called of men masters [Mat 23:7], had the chief place in assemblies [Mat 23:6], stood praying in the synagogues [Mat 6:5], laid heavy burdens on the people [Mat 23:4], &c., was not a private spirit, though it was but in one against hundreds, which Spirit testified against all the world and its invented worships, pride and covetousness, and it's the same at this day....

(Mat 6:6)

HPS 286 (Susannah Blandford, 1698): ...a desire was begotten in me, to know the true God, the which to attain I endeavoured the best way I could, by prayer and fasting in secret, not to be seen of any [Mat 6:6,18]: but God,... knowing herein I was not safe, tried me, and ... dashed all in my building to pieces, and I thought myself the worst creature living....

(Mat 6:7)

GF4:283f (1661): ...they have a form, and its own form of prayer without the spirit, and think to be heard for their much speaking (Mat 6:7), which is called babbling by Christ (Mat 6:7G)....

(Mat 6:8)

MFU 300 (1660): And I doubt not but his arm and power will be over you and his sweet love and presence will be with you, who is your Father and head of that family who careth for you and knoweth what you have need of [Mat 6:8], unto whose arm & bosom alone I commit you.

(Mat 6:9-13 | Luk 11:2-4)

IP4:113f (1671): [detailed exposition of the Lord's Prayer]

SBD 104 (1750): Our blessed Saviour, having first set the false and fictious prayer in a true light, teaches his disciples their duty herein, saying, "After this manner therefore pray ye;" and then lays down that most beautiful and comprehensive prayer [Mat 6:9-13]. But with how little thought, consideration, or seriousness is it frequently repeated by sundry that use it? I am fearful it is little better in many than taking the Lord’s name in vain [Exo 20:7].

(Mat 6:9 | Luk 11:2)

[Other texts citing Mat 6:9: GF8:268 (1 Jn 2:15f)]

(Mat 6:9f | Luk 11:2)

[Other texts citing Mat 6:9f: HPS 370 (John 8:32)]

(Mat 6:10 | Luk 11:2)

Other texts citing Mat 6:10: IP4: 355 (under Mat 7:21), WPR 33 (Mat 15:9), WPR 156f ( Mat 28:20), WPR 172f ( Luk 5:31)

JN2:223 (1655): You say, you do what you can, and God accepts the will for the deed [Gen 22:12f].... I say God accepts no will but his own, and this he begets by his Spirit in all that wait upon him in the light of Jesus, and with which he that begets the will begets the deed also, and it is no more what we can, but what he will, with whom all things are possible [Mat 19:26]; and we can do nothing, neither do we desire to do anything, of ourselves [John 15:5], yet can we do all things that he wills, through him that is in us, so the will of God is done in us by his power (in our measures) as it is in heaven [Mat 6:10], and this is perfect righteousness, where Christ is all and the creature nothing.

WPR 141 (1677): Yea, if [the Enemy] can but keep the creature's will alive, he knoweth that there is a ground to for him to work upon; a place he can enter, and in which is seed will grow. If this will of man be standing, he knoweth that the will of God cannot be done on earth, as it is in heaven [Mat 6:10]. O this will is God's enemy, yea, the soul's enemy; all "will-worship" [Col 2:23] ariseth hence: Yea, it is the offspring of the Serpent and of the will of man; and it can never please God.

JWJM 173f (1772): strong desires have attended me that his family, who are acquainted with the movings of his Holy Spirit, may be so redeemed from the love of money [1 Tim 6:10] and from that spirit in which men seek honour one of another [John 5:44] that in all business by sea or land we may constantly keep in view the coming of his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven [Mat 6:10], and by faithfully following this safe guide, may show forth examples tending to lead out of that which under the creation groans! [Rom 8:22]

JSS 45 (17–) : Hence it is that in the kingdom of God, both when, and wherever it cometh in earth, where the divine will is done as it is in heaven [Mat 6:10], and also hereafter in the abodes of bliss, "all things are new, and all things of God [2 Cor 5:17f];" for in this state and kingdom "God is all in all [1 Cor 15:28]."

(Mat 6:11 | Luk 11:3)

[Other texts citing Mat 6:11: (John 6:32-58), JN1:252 (under Mat 6:31f), IP2:263 (John 6:51)]

WPR 144 (1677): as [the manna] daily cometh, so it must be daily gathered and fed upon; for the manna that was gathered yesterday, will not be good for today, it will not keep for that use [Exo 16:15-20]. And as it was outwardly, so ‛tis inwardly. Time past is none of thine. ‛Tis not what thou wast, but what thou art; God will be daily looked unto. Didst thou eat yesterday? That feedeth thee not today: therefore Christ taught his disciples, and us in them, to pray for our daily bread [Mat 6:11 | Luk 11:3]; for the present sustenance, and to look no farther, but depend upon the Lord, and live by faith in him, that raised up Jesus from the dead, so that the time to come is no more ours, than the time past can be recalled.

§37X-Y (Mat 6:12-18 | §85B Luk 11:4)

Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts [T: trespasses even], as we [G: +also] forgive our debtors [T: trespassers]. qtext

Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Mat 6:14 For if ye forgive [G: do forgive; T: shall forgive other] men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: qtext

Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not [GT: do (T: will) not forgive] men their trespasses, neither will [GBT: no more will (BT: shall)] your Father forgive [GB: +you] your trespasses. qtext

Mat 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not [G: look not sour; B: be not of an heavy countenance; T: be not sad], as the hypocrites [BT: +are], of a sad countenance [GBT: omit]: for they disfigure their faces, that they may [GBT: might] appear unto [G: seem unto; T: be seen of] men to [T: how they] fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. qtext

Mat 6:17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

Mat 6:18 That thou [T: it] appear [G: seem] not unto men to fast [T: how that thou fastest], but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. qtext

Luk 11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also [GBT: even we] forgive every one [GBT: man] that is indebted to [GBT: trespasseth] us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

(Mat 6:12)

Other texts citing Mat 6:12: GF3:562 (Luk 17:3f)

GF7:162f (1659): That pray, "Forgive us Lord, as we forgive them," [Mat 6:12] and fall a persecuting and imprisoning one another, and taking their brethren and fellow servants by the throat about religion, which in their prayers they said, "Forgive us, as we forgive them," and will not forgive, but say their prayers, as the Pharisees did the scriptures, and did not [Mat 23:3]: this is he, that must be cast into prison, until he pay the utmost farthing [Mat 5:25f], and must not come out.

(Mat 6:14)

MFU 314 (1660, to Charles II, asking that he spare the Regicides): Triumph in mercy; and now let this bloody issue be stopped that hath run twelve years [Mat 9:20-22]. And forgive thine enemies and let them have their lives for a prey [Jer 21:9; (text: "prayer [?]") ] that so they may have time to repent of their wickedness, so wilt thou be clear before the Lord of their blood, and this will stop the fury and rage of thine enemies which is great, and hereby thou wilt receive mercy and forgiveness from the Lord, as thou forgivest others that trespass against thee [Mat 6:14].

(Mat 6:14f)

GF7:276 (1666): For Christ ... who never trespassed, comes to forgive trespasses and blot them out [Col 2:13f]. And every one that comes to witness this forgiveness by him, who have been the trespassers against God, they cannot but forgive men their trespasses against them [Mat 6:14f], as they come into the kingdom of glory and life, where the Lord hath his glory.

WPR 635 (1699): Excuse faults in others, own them in yourselves, and forgive them against yourselves, as you would have your Heavenly Father and Judge forgive you. Read Prov 17:9 and Mat 6:14, 15. Christ returns and dwells upon that passage in his prayer, above all the rest, forgiveness, the hardest lesson to man, that of all other creatures most need it.

(Mat 6:16-18)

GF4:111f (1656): [quotes Mat 6:16-18 while expounding on Isa 58:1-10]

(Mat 6:18)

HPS 286: [Mat 6:18, see under Mat 6:6]

(Mat 6:19)

WPR 151 (1678): woe to the hypocrite, and to the covetous man too; for his God will fail him; the thief, the moth and rust will invade his bags and surprise his treasure [Mat 6:19].

(Mat 6:19f)

[Other texts citing Mat 6:19f: GF7:147 (1 Pet 1:4), (Mat 9:16f |Mar 2:21f | Luk 5:36-38)]

IP2:209 (1661): Only be not wise to catch the notion of things into the earthly part, where the moth can corrupt, and where the thief can break in and steal; but know the divine treasury [Mat 6:19f], where all the things of life are treasured up by the Spirit, and handed forth to the living child with fresh life, according to its need of them.

(Mat 6:20 | Luk 12:33)

[Other texts citing Mat 6:20: GF8:32 (Heb 2:7), DFR 66 (Mat 6:33)]

(Mat 6:20f | Luk 12:33f)

WPR 91 (1669): Mind, my friends, more heavenly things, hasten to obey that righteous principle which would exercise and delight you in that which is eternal; or else with Babylon, the mother of lust and vanity, the fruits that your souls lust after shall depart from you, and all things which are dainty and goodly shall depart from you, & you shall find them no more; lay your treasures therefore up in Heaven, where nothing can break through to harm them [margin: Luk 12:33f], but where time shall shortly be swallowed up in incomprehensible eternity.

(Mat 6:21 | Luk 12:34)

GF4:48: [Mat 6:21, see under Mat 4:8f]

§38B-C (Mat 6:22-24 | §89 BC Luk 11:34-35, §107A Luk 16:13)

Mat 6:22 The light of the body is the [T: thine] eye: if therefore [G: if then; BT: Wherefore if] thine eye be single, thy whole [BT: all thy] body shall be full of [G: omits] light. qtext

Mat 6:23 But if thine eye be evil [GBT: wicked], thy whole [GBT: then all thy] body shall be full of darkness [G: dark] . If therefore [GBT: Wherefore if] the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! qtext

Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold [GBT: lean] to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon [G: riches]. qtext

Luk 11:34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is [G: then is thy whole body; B : all thy body also shall be; T: then is all thy body] full of [G: omits] light; but when thine eye is [GBT: if thine eye be] evil, thy body also is [G: then thy body is; B: thy body also shall be; T: then shall thy body also be] full of darkness [G: dark]. qtext

Luk 11:35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. qtext

Luk 11:36 If thy whole [BT: all thy] body therefore be full of light [GT: shall be light; B: be clear], having no part dark, the whole shall [GBT: then shall (B: +it) all] be full of [G: omits] light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light [GBT: a candle doth light thee with brightness].

Luk 16:13 No servant [B: man] can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold [GBT shall lean] to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon [G: riches] . qtext

(Mat 6:22 | Luk 11:33f) implied in such phrases as "keep single to the Lord"

[Other texts citing Mat 6:22: MFS 28 (under Mat 15:14), MFU 166 (Jas 4:8), JN2:103 (1 Pet 1:23), WDS 304 (Mat 7:3-5), IP1: 181 (John 12:40), WTG 271 (Gen 18:19), SIW 152 (Heb 2:10)]

GF3:15 (Edward Burrough, 1659): As for the ministry, ... we looking on it with a single eye [Mat 6:22 | Luk 11:34], in the light of the spirit of God which had anointed us, we beheld it clearly ... not to be of Christ, nor sent of him, nor having the commission, power, and authority of Christ, as his ministry had had in the days of the true churches; but in all things, as in call, practice, maintenance, and in everything else, in fruits and effects we found it to disagree, to be wholly contrary to the true ministry of Christ in the days of the apostles.

GF7:152 (1658): The sufferings in all ages, of the righteous and just, were, because they could not join to the nations' vain worships [Mat 15:9], evil customs, rudiments, traditions [Col 2:8], and carnal inventions, but joined to the Lord [Jer 50:5, 1 Cor 6:17, etc], and not to them; and therefore they suffered, and kept single to the Lord God [Mat 6:22,24] in following him and his truth, and living in it, the amen, [Rev 3:14] the crown, life, virtue, and righteousness [Rev 2:10/2 Tim 4:8], that floweth over all [Amos 5:24], in which the righteous have peace.

MFU 432 (1679): And so reader, the Lord open thy understanding that thou may read with a single eye to the Lord [Mat 6:22 | Luk 11:34] & in it judge between truth and error.

JN1:311 (1652): Dear sister, I saw many dangers coming through looking out [Eccl 12:3], but if you wait upon the Lord to be guided by his fear, all will be well, hushed and calm.... Dear sister wait for a death to thy carnal wisdom, that thou mayest have that single eye open by which thy whole body shall be full of light [Mat 6:22 | Luk 11:34].

IP1:257 (1659): And how can he wrest scripture [2 Pet 3:16], who is kept single [Mat 6:22 | Luk 11:34], and has no desire to have any thing to be the meaning of it, but what is the meaning; nor no will to know the meaning, further than the good-will of him whose Spirit penned it thinks good to give forth the meaning to him; and who waits to receive this, not to feed the lustful, knowing part in himself, but to feed the life with it? And when the life hath no use for it, he is content to have it shut up, and to be without it: I say, how is it possible for this man to wrest scriptures?

JWJM 68 (1757): First, my dear Friends, dwell in humility and take heed that no views of outward gain get too deep hold of you, that so your eyes being single to the Lord [Mat 6:22 | Luk 11:34] you may be preserved in the way of safety.

DFR 8 (17–): While I kept near the spring of life, my mind fixed on the true object, the world and the things thereof lost all their lustre. But, alas! not keeping my eye single to the light [Mat 6:22 | Luk 11:34], I lost my Leader; and then, by little and little, the world rose again with splendor to my view.

JSS 39: Be content with a little, make not haste. And as thine eye is single to the divine light in thee, thy whole body will become full of light [Mat 6:22 | Luk 11:34]; thou wilt not lack any good thing [Psa 34:10], any necessary information; but God will reveal all things to thee, as far and as fast as thou canst safely and usefully bear them.

(Mat 6:23 | Luk 11:35)

Other texts citing Mat 6:23: JN2:247 (under Mat 25:25), IP1:58 (Luk 11:52)

IP1:130f (1659): the god of the world hath blinded the eye in them [2 Cor 4:4], which alone can see the truth; and with that eye wherewith they now strive to see, they shall never see with comfort. Yea, so exceeding gross [Mat 13:15 | Acts 28:27] and thick are many of them become, and their hearts so fat [Isa 6:10], that instead of feeling the want of the spirit of God in themselves, and mourning after it, they can mock at the appearance of it in others; and speak contemptuously of a light within, where Christ saith the light is: for, saith he, Take heed that the light which is in thee be not darkness; for if, etc. [Luk 11:35f (text: 33,36)].

HPS 393 (Elizabeth Bathurst, 1679): ..if man pass [the Day of Visitation] over without any regard to the loving-kindness of the Lord extended to them in this matter, ‛tis just with them to turn their light into darkness in them [Rom 1:21?]; and then, as Christ said to some of old, If the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness? Mat 6:23.

(Mat 6:24 | Luk 16:13)

[Other texts citing Mat 6:24: JN2:67 (Rom 1:16)]

HPS 52 (Sarah Blackborow, 1658): such as your seeking is, such as your finding; if in the changeable, you find that ... that perisheth with the using [Col 2:22]; if in the eternal, you find that which is eternal, ... life and death is set before you [Deut 30:19], as you love the one, you must hate the other [Mat 6:24]....

John Woolman, “Considerations On The True Harmony Of Mankind, And How It Is To Be Maintained", 38 (17– , DQC): It was the Saying of our blessed Redeemer, Ye cannot serve God and Mammon [Mat 6:24 | Luk 11:33].There is a deep Feeling of the Way of Purity, a Way in which the Wisdom of the World hath no Part, but is opened by the Spirit of Truth, and is called the Way of Holiness [Isa 35:8]; a Way in which the Traveller is employed in watching unto Prayer; and the outward Gain we get in this Journey is considered as a Trust committed to us, by him who formed and supports the World....

John Burnyeat, “Truth Exalted”, 13 (1691, DQC): But as there was a coming under the wounding, slaying Sword that Christ brings, by which the Life of the Old man comes to be destroyed, who would still live in sin, and serve that, and yet profess Faith in Christ, and to be his Servant, which is impossible, according to Christ's own saying, No man can serve two Masters, &c. Matth. 6. 24. and therefore I saw there was no remedy, either I must be buried by that fiery Baptism of Christ's with him into Death, or else there could be no rising with him into newness of Life [Rom 6:4]...

§ 38D (Mat 6:25-30 | §93 B-E Luk 12:22-32)

Mat 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought [GBT: be not careful] for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body [T: +of more value] than raiment? qtext

Mat 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air [G: heaven]: for they sow not, neither do they [GT: omit] reap, nor gather into [GBT: carry into the] barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? qtext

Mat 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add [G: by taking care is able to add; B: by taking of careful thought, can add; T: though he took thought before, could put] one cubit unto his stature?

Mat 6:28 And why take ye thought [GBT: care ye (T: +then)] for raiment? Consider [G: Learn how; B: Learn of] the lilies of the field, how they [G: do] grow; they toil not [G: are not wearied; B: weary not themselves with labour; T: labour not], neither do they [GT: omit] spin: qtext

Mat 6:29 And yet [T: +for all that] I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory [BT: royalty] was not arrayed like [T: +unto] one of these.

Mat 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of [T: which is today in] the field, which to day is, [B: which though it stand today; T omits] and [B omits] to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not [G: +do] much more clothe [G: unto; BT: do the same for (T: unto)] you, O ye of little faith?

Luk 12:22 And he said [GBT: spake] unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the [GT: your] body, what ye shall put on. qtext

Luk 12:23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. qtext

Luk 12:24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and [GT: +yet] God feedeth them: how much more [T: omits] are ye better than the [G: omits; B: feathered] fowls?

Luk 12:25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?

Luk 12:26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least [G: the least thing], why take ye thought for the rest [GBT: remnant]? qtext

Luk 12:27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil [GBT: labour] not, they spin not [G: neither spin they]; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon [G: +himself] in all his glory [GBT: royalty] was not arrayed [GBT: clothed] like one of these. qtext

Luk 12:28 If then God so clothe [T: omits] the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is [T: shall be] cast into the oven [BT: furnace; T: +God so clothe]; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of [T: endued with] little faith?

(Mat 6:25 | Luk 12:22f)

[Other texts citing Mat 6:25: GF8:256f (Gen 3:7)]

WPR 646 (1699): Choose your clothes for their usefulness not the fashion, and for covering and not finery, or to please a vain mind in yourselves or others: they are fallen souls who think clothes can give beauty to man. The Life is more than raiment, Mat 6:25.... They show little esteem for the wisdom and power of their Creator, that underrate his workmanship ... to a tailor's invention: gross folly and profanity! But do you, my dear children, call to mind who they were of old, that Jesus said, took so much care about what they should eat, drink and put on. Were they not Gentiles, heathens, a people without God in the world? [Mat 6:31f]

(Mat 6:26-30 | Luk 12:22-28)

SIW 101f (Sarah Tuke Grubb, 17–): [Teachers who] endeavour after...an increasing acquaintance with the Fountain of Purity in themselves, need not have their eye outward for the establishment of power and authority: for He who feeds the ravens and clothes the lilies, knows what they stand in need of, and is able, out of His own treasury, to supply all their wants [Mat 6:26-30]; to be "mouth and wisdom [Luke 21:15], tongue and utterance [Acts 2:4]" and will not fail to help under their greatest difficulties, if they support a patient dependence upon Him alone; and profitably live under the persuasion, that when He shuts, no one should attempt to open; and when He opens, none can shut [Rev 3:7].

(Mat 6:28-31 | Luk 12:26-29)

MFU 470f (1700): Christ Jesus saith, that we must take no thought what we will eat, or what we shall drink, or what we shall put on; but bids us consider the lilies, how they grow in more royalty than Solomon [Mat 6:28-31]: but contrary to this we must look at no colours, nor make any thing that is changeable colours as the hills are, nor sell them, nor wear them. But we must be all in one dress, and in one colour; this is a silly poor gospel. It is more fit for us, to be covered with God's eternal spirit [Isa 30:1], and clothed with his eternal light which leads us, & guides us into righteousness, and to live righteously & justly & holily in this profane evil world [Tit 2:12]: this is the clothing that God puts on us, and likes, & will bless....

(Mat 6:28f | Luk 12:27)

GF6:115 (1682): [quotes Psa 24:1] And Christ saith, "For I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these lilies [Mat 6:28f | Luk 12:27]." So it is God that arrayeth the lilies with glory, that doth exceed Solomon in all his glory. And Jesus Christ, who is a greater than Solomon [Luk 11:31], hath spoken it,... "who is the brightness of God's glory, and the express image of his substance, upholding all things by the word of his power," by whom all things were made [Heb 1:2f]; who is glorified by the Father with the same glory that he had with him before the world began [John 17:5], and before the creatures were made, and their glory. So here you see that ... the glory of Christ is beyond the glory of the lily, and the glory of the whole creation....

TEM 92 (16–): I had known what it was, moderately, to abound, and if I should now come to suffer want, I knew I ought to be content [Phil 4:11f]; and through the grace of God I was so. I had lived by Providence before, when for a long time I had no money at all, and I had always found the Lord a good provider. I made no doubt, therefore, that he who sent the ravens to feed Elijah [1 Ki 17:1-6], and who clothes the lilies [Mat 6:28f], would find some means to sustain me with needful food and raiment....

§ 38E (Mat 6:31-34 | §93 F-H Luk 12:29-32)

Mat 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? qtext

Mat 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek [GT: seek the Gentiles]:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness [T: heaven and the righteousness thereof]; and all these things shall be added [GBT: ministered] unto you. qtext

Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought [GBT: Care not then] for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of [GBT: care for] itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof [G: the day hath enough with his own grief; T: for the day present hath ever enough of his own trouble]. qtext

Luk 12:29 And [G: Therefore] seek [GBT: ask] not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind [G: hang you in suspense; T: climb ye up on high]. qtext

Luk 12:30 For all these things do the nations [G: people; BT: heathen people] of the world seek after [GBT: for]: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

Luk 12:31 But rather seek ye [GBT: +after] the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto [G: cast upon; BT: ministered unto] you. qtext

Luk 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good [G BT: omit] pleasure to give you the [BT: a] kingdom. qtext

(Mat 6:31f | Luk 12:29f)

: [Other texts citing Mat 6:31f: GF4: 195f (1 Pet 3:3), JN1:255 ( under Luk 10:7f), WPR 646 (Mat 6:25)]

JN1:252 (1654): Now blush for shame to call yourselves churches, or to say that these break unto you the bread of life, who are afraid to want food for their bellies: for they whom Christ sent to break the bread of life are commanded to take no thought what to eat or drink or what to but on but to have the Father's care for them [Mat 6:31f], which whoever knows does not fear want; but these make it appear that they neither know him nor live on his care. And all may see what a God these men serve [Rom 16:18], who dare not trust him for daily bread [Mat 6:11].

(Mat 6:33 | Luk 12:31)

[Other texts citing Mat 6:33: HPS 480 (Jas 4:13-15), JWJM 176 (under Mat 5:8]

GF7:275 (1666): And you that grow rich in the world in earthly things, who have had a stirring in you formerly in the service of God, take heed lest your minds run into your outward businesses, about outward things, and therein be lifted up above the good and just spirit, and so leave the service of the Lord and his business, in minding your own. For outward riches, and the things of this world, will pass away with the outward riches therein, for they have wings [Prov 23:5]: but the word of the Lord, which lives and abides, and endures for ever, will remain [1 Pet 1:23]. Labour for the riches of it, for that will endure with you; and seek the kingdom of God [Mat 6:33], which will never have an end, that stands in righteousness and in holiness, in which you have joy and peace in the holy ghost [Rom 14:17]; then all outward things will follow, which are below.

DFR 66 (1779): In the twelfth year of my age I was mercifully visited, and called out of the vanities of the world; at which time I received a promise, that if I sought first the kingdom of God, all other necessary things should be added [Mat 6:33]; and I have found the promise true, for I never have wanted any of the good things of this life....If all men would :seek first the kingdom of heaven and the righteousness thereof," and carefully attend to the leadings of the Holy Spirit, with which all might be favored, I believe they might be blest with a sufficient portion of wealth. O, that mankind were wise! and would early seek that treasure which cometh from above, and which neither moth nor rust can corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal! [Mat 6:20]

SIW 50 (Ruth Alcock Follows, 17–?): about the twenty-third year of my age I was married to a young man far more worthy then myself;... and as it was our concern first to seek "the kingdom of God, and his righteousness" [Mat 6:33], kind Providence was pleased to bless us with health and strength, so that we could honestly labour for the support of our bodies, we not having much else to trust to but our industry.

(Mat 6:34)

GF7:88: [Mat 6:34, see under Jas 2:7]

JWJM 158: I was for a time as one who knew not what to do and was tossed as in a tempest, under which affliction the doctrine of Christ, "Take no thought for the morrow," [Mat 6:34] arose livingly before me.

(Luk 12:29) cf Mat 6:31

MFU 98, HPS 462 (1654): And be subject and patient and do not look out [Eccl 12:3], nor be weary, neither be of a doubtful mind [Luk 12:29]; for the same God you suffer for, and by the same you are preserved, which Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was [Dan 6, 3]; and by the same Spirit ye are preserved, which they were preserved by; therefore stand faithful and bold for the Truth upon the earth [Jer 9:3], which strikes at the foundation of all deceit and idolatry.

(Luk 12:32)

HPS 465 (Anne Gilman, 1662): Wherefore fear not, little flock, for it is the Father's will to give you the kingdom [Luk 12:32]; and this is the reason that none of you can be pluck'd out of the Father's hand [John 10:28f], because your lives are hid with Christ in God [Col 3:3]; and it is your meat and drink to lie down in the will of the Lord [John 4:34].

§ 38F-J (Mat 7:1-6, §63J 15:14, §57G 10:24 | Luk 6:37-38, 39-40, 41-42)

Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. qtext

Mat 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall [T: as ye judge, so shall ye] be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall [T: the same shall it] be measured to you again. qtext

Mat 7:3 And why beholdest [GBT: seest] thou the mote that is [BT: a mote] in thy brother's eye, but [GT: and] considerest [GBT: perceivest] not the beam that is in thine own eye? qtext

Mat 7:4 Or how [T: why] wilt thou say [GBT: sayest thou] to thy brother, Let [GBT: Suffer] me pull [G: to cast; B: I will pluck; T: to pluck] out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? qtext

Mat 7:5 Thou [GT: omit] hypocrite, first cast out the [G: that] beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast [BT: pluck] out the mote out of thy brother's eye. qtext

Mat 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample [GBT: tread] them under their feet, and [T: +the other] turn [GB: turning] again and [GB: all to; T: and all to] rend you. qtext

Luk 6:37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: qtext

Luk 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal [GT: with what measure ye mete] it shall be measured to you again [GBT: with the same (B omits) shall other men mete to you again] . qtext

Luk 6:41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is [GBT: seest thou a mote] in thy brother's eye, but perceivest [GBT: considerest] not the beam that is in thine own eye? qtext

Luk 6:42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest [GB: seest; T: perceiveth] not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly [GBT: perfectly] to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye. qtext

(Mat 7:1-5) GF4: 352; MFU 264; WPR 641

(Mat 7:1 | Luk 6:37) GFJN 153; GF3: 171; MFU 137; JN2: 190

(Mat 7:1f | Luk 6:37f) GF6: 345; GF7: 44 [37], 61 [48]

(Mat 7:2-5) GF7: 146 [154]

(Mat 7:2 | Luk 6:38) GFJN 264; MFU 267, 342; WDS 119; SIW 99

(Mat 7:3-5 | Luk 6:41f) JN2: 458, 598; WDS 304; IP3: 506

(Mat 7:3 | Luk 6:41) MFU 44, 268; JN2: 319; HPS 487

(Mat 7:4f | Luk 6:42) MFU 97, 187; HPS 459 (MF); JN1: 297

(Mat 7:6) GFJN 121, 204, 357; GF4: 314; GF7: 58 [46], 90 [79], 99 [91]; GF8: 187 [362], 281 [401]; JN2: 76; JN3: 49, 391; IP3: 478; HPS 295; TEM 116; JSS 23

[Luk 6:37f see Mat 7:1f]

(Luk 6:38 | Mat 7:2) GF8: 53 [302]; GFEJ 340

[Luk 6:39 see Mat 15:14]

(Luk 6:40) DGA 76; WPR 502 [cf Mat 10:24f]

[Luk 6:41f see Mat 7:3-5]

(Mat 7:1-5 | Luk 6:37f, 41f)

WPR 641 (1699): Remember you must be judged, Mat 7:1.... Remember yourselves before you fling the stone [John 8:7]. Get the beam out of your own eye [Mat 7:5]: it is humbling doctrine, but safe. Judge, therefore, at your own peril: See it be righteous judgment, as you will answer for it to the great Judge [Mat 7:1f].

(Mat 7:2-5)

GF7:145f (1657): Therefore live in that which keeps your peace, there is your life and dominion; that weeds may not grow, nor brambles, but that they all may be cut down and weeded out. For those grow through the liberty of the flesh [Gal 5:13], and by that ye come to be darkened, and lose your discerning and feeling; and there gets the beam into the eye, by which ye come to judge with that judgment which is for judgment [Mat 7:2-5], which should be judged down by the spirit of truth and peace.

(Mat 7:2 | Luk 6:38)

MFU 342 (to Charles II, 1661): It has been the desire of our hearts ... that your hands might be kept off persecution & cruelty, for certainly the same measure that everyone measureth must be meted to them again at some time [Mat 7:2]; and the truth of this hath been fulfilled in our age.

SIW 98f (Sarah Tuke Grubb, 17–): It is lamentable to see how people... seem to consider themselves, at any time, or in any disposition, qualified to instruct and correct children; without perceiving that their own wills require first to be subdued, before they can acceptably be instrumental in subduing the will of others.... their conduct not being the produce of that faith, which worketh by love [Gal 5:6], to the purifying of the heart [Acts 15:9], it is not to be expected but that ... a righteous retribution, or receiving that measure themselves which they have meted to others [Mat 7:2], may await them.

(Mat 7:3-5 | Luk 6:41f)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:3-5: IP3:505f (Rev 2:10)]

WDS 304 (1668): And be tender one over another, and watch over one another with a pure single eye [Mat 6:22], and every one see the beam cast out of your own eye, before you go to spy a mote in others [Mat 7:3-5]; and if any brother or sister offend, you that know, speak to them privately, in all tenderness, to restore them [Mat 18:15]....

(Mat 7:3 | Luk 6:41)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:3: MFU 44 (Mat 5:29)]

(Mat 7:4f | Luk 6:42)

MFU 97, HPS 459 (1654): I warn you from the Lord, who are so forward and rash in judging your brethren and sisters, to beware of it, lest ye be found the hypocrites; and that ye be sure, that that which you judge in another, be cast out in yourselves [Mat 7:4f]. For whosoever judges another, and hath not the beam cast out, is an hypocrite, and shall not escape the judgments of God; it is that which Christ Jesus abhors, who is the judge of the world; and the apostle likewise testifies against it [Rom 14:10].

JN1:297 (1654): And thou would be teaching ways to keep others out of evil, whenas thou art in the evil and in the fall and knows not the way out, nor the resurrection. Wherefore thou hypocrite, look to the beam in thine own eye first [Mat 7:4f], for thou knows not what spirit thou art of [Luk 9:55], but hast the spirit of envy at the innocent, arising from a blind zeal, from which thou speaks evil of that thou knows not [Jude 1:10].

(Mat 7:6)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:6: GFJN 204 (Mat 11:25), GF7:90 (Mat 11:29), GF8:187 (2 Pet 2:22), HPS 295 (Mat 15:26)

GF7:58 (1653): But minding the light within, it leads you into the assemblies of the righteous, who are in the life. The kernel is to be found within, the husk is without, which the swine feed upon [Luke 15:16], but the pearl is hid from them; and the swine and the dogs would devour them in whom the pearl is found [Mat 7:6]. They are outsides, who feed upon outsides.

TEM 116 (1662): If any should object, that wise men hold / That truth at all times ought not to be told, / Nor that whatever comes into one's head / Should straight, because ‛tis true, be publishéd; / I readily assent, because I know / Pearls before swine we are forbid to throw. [Mat 7:6]

38K (Mat 7:7-11 | §85D Luk 11:9-13)

Mat 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: qtext

[Ask, and ye shall receive: see John 16:24]

Mat 7:8 For every one that [GT: whosoever; B: he that] asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Mat 7:9 Or [G: For; BT omit] what man is there [BT: is there any (T: +man)] of [GBT: among] you, whom [GBT: which] if his son ask [GB: ask him; T: asked him] bread, will he give [G: would give; B: will give; T: would offer] him a stone? qtext

Mat 7:10 Or if he ask a [GB: ask; T: asked] fish, will he give [T: would he proffer] him a serpent?

Mat 7:11 If ye then, being [GT: which are] evil, know how to [GT: can; B: know to] give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? qtext

Luk 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. qtext

[Ask, and ye shall receive: see John 16:24]

Luk 11:10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Luk 11:11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? qtext

Luk 11:12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer [G: give] him a scorpion?

Luk 11:13 If ye then, being [GT: which are] evil, know how to [GBT: can] give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father [BT: your (T: the) father of heaven] give the Holy Spirit [G: the Holy Ghost; T: an holy spirit] to them that ask [G: desire; BT: desire it of] him? qtext

(Mat 7:7-11 | Luk 11:9-13)

SBD 20 (1750): [quotes Luk 11:9-13 ] What greater encouragement can be given to us than this? It is therefore greatly to desired that all people, especially such as profess faith in Christ, would in humility and godly sincerity [2 Cor 1:12] ask of God a portion of this Spirit [2 Ki 2:9], whereby we may know the things of God [1 Cor 2:11].

(Mat 7:7 | Luk 11:9)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:7: GF7:141 (Jas 1:6) IP1:418 (Gen 27:41)]

(Mat 7:7f | Luk 11:9f)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:7f: JSS 25f (John 15:7)]

(Mat 7:9f | Luk 11:11)

RBA 210 (1678, VIII.4): And what is this but to attribute to God the height of injustice, to make him require is children to forsake sin, and yet not to afford them sufficient means for so doing? Surely this makes God more unrighteous than wicked men, who if, as Christ saith, "their children require bread of them, will not give them a stone, or instead of a fish a serpent" [Mat 7:9f | Luk 11:11].... Is this not to make God as unjust to his children as Pharaoh was to the Israelites, in requiring brick and not giving them straw [Exo 5:7]?

(Mat 7:11 | Luk 11:13)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:11: IP4:222 (Luk 11:13)

(Mat 7:12 | Luk 6:31) often called "the royal law of liberty" [Jas 2:8/12]

[Other texts citing Mat 7:12: TEM 179 (Jas 2:12)]

GF4:275 (1661): For this is the law and the prophets, "to do to every man, and every one, as they would have them do to them" [Mat 7:12 | Luk 6:31]; so they would have others have their liberty; if they would have their liberty in matters belonging to the worship of their God, and all professing the name of Christ Jesus, they cannot but let others have their liberty, if they have it themselves, else they do not as they would be done by, and they do not to others, as they would have others do to them, if they were in power and authority as others were.

JN2:263 (1655): And such as you make laws which stand in respect of persons, where self is eyed and would be honoured. And by the royal law you are condemned, which denies respect of persons [Jas 2:8f], and leads to do to all men as they would be done to; and upon this foundation stands all the law and the prophets [Mat 7:12].

IP3:339 (1674): Learn to do to others as you would be done to [Mat 7:12 | Luk 6:31]. Do not do to any, because of their religion and tender consciences towards the Lord, what ye would not have done to yourselves because of your religion. How long will it be ere ye learn this? How many judgments and distresses shall come upon you, before ye bow in spirit under the mighty hand of God, and yield yourselves in submission to him, to learn these things of him?

JWJM 241f (17–): [quotes Mat 7:12] Now where such live in fullness on the labour of others, who have never had experience of hard labour themselves, there is often a danger of their not having a right feeling of the labourer’s condition, and therefore of being disqualified to judge candidly in their case, not knowing what they themselves would desire were they to labour hard from one year to another to raise the necessaries of life....

DFR 69 (1767): I have been acquainted with you for many years, and have always entertained for you a sincere regard and esteem, with desires for your present and eternal welfare. I have remembered a charge given to Israel of old– "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart, but shalt in any wise rebuke him, and not suffer sin upon him [Lev 19:17]." Whether you continue to hold slaves or not I am not informed, but if you are yet in that practice, I wish you seriously to consider the law that as given forth in the present dispensation, on this wise, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them [Mat 7:12]."

(Mat 7:13)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:13: WDS 240f (Under Mat 25:1-13), EQ 92 ( Luk 3:14)]

GF7:28 (1652): The knowledge of the letter, which you formerly got into your notions and comprehensions, the dark mind gave dark meanings to it, and so kept you in the broad way [Mat 7:13]; but now wait all to have the same spirit manifested in your understandings, which was in them who gave forth the scriptures, who were come out of the broad way [Mat 7:13], holy men of God [2 Pet 1:21], who had escaped the pollutions of the world [2 Pet 2:20].

JN1:268 (John Whitehead, 1653): [continued from under Rom 1:21]...be not secure and careless but strive to enter in at the strait gate [Mat 7:13]; yet many strive & are not able, because they would have their own wills and wisdoms kept alive, with the profits and vain delights of this world, which keepeth them captive in the broad way which leadeth to destruction. But my brethren, not as unbelieving or disobedient, put on strength in the power of the Lord [Isa 51:9, 52:1?] who hath called you, and press on at the strait gate, where the earthly will and wisdom is kept in death; "for the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force" [Mat 11:12].

HPS 486 (Mary Waite, 1679): Train up your children in the blessed Truth and fear of the Lord, so may you have hope that they will not depart from it (when they are old) [Prov 22:6].... keep the yoke upon that nature that's proud, stubborn, or disobedient to parents..., and bend them while they are young [Lam 3:27], lest when they grow up you cannot. And then you may sorrow greatly when it is too late, for by your overlooking their folly, or pride, the wrong nature grows in them to a strong head, whereby you have helped them forwards in the broad way that leads to destruction [Mat 7:13], and their blood (may come) to be required at your hands [Ezek 3:18].

WPR 165 (1682): ...to those that walked in the broad way [Mat 7:13], in the full latitude of their lusts, and dedicated their time and care to the pleasure of their corrupt appetites, to whom all yoke [Mat 11:29] and bridle were and are intolerable, the preaching of the Cross was and is foolishness [1 Cor 1:18].

(Mat 7:13f)

GF8:56 (1674): And there is a way that may be defiled, where all the wolves, dogs, and beasts, and the unclean passeth [Isa 35:8], and hath many turning ways in it, and many crooked, and rough, and mountainous ways [Isa 40:4] in it; and there is the broad way that leadeth to destruction; and these are not the way of Christ, that leadeth to life, which is the narrow and strait way [Mat 7:13f]

MFU 165 (1655): [Thou] saith thou strives to become a new creature [Gal 6:15]. I say strive to enter at the strait gate, else thy striving is in vain, there is no new creatures [on?] the broad way that leads to destruction [Mat 7:13]; the new creature passeth in the way that leads to life [Mat 7:14], which is the light Christ Jesus, the way the truth the life [John 14:6].

(Mat 7:14)

Other texts citing Mat 7:14: JN1:70 (under Mar 10:15), IP1:406 (Gen 3:24), IP3:318 (Mat 11:25), EQ 521 (Mat 5:13)

WDS 272 (1688): Here is a certain passage, and a certain way which never any miss of, that lose their lives for Christ; if you be not ready and willing to lose your lives for Christ, you shall never come here; the gate is strait, and the way is narrow [Mat 7:14], none come hither but those that die into a heavenly oneness with Christ. O Friends, let us empty ourselves, that Christ may fill us; let us be nothing in our own eyes, that we may be all in him, and receive of his fulness [John 1:16].

IP3:468 (1670): Oh! great is the mystery of godliness [1 Tim 3:16], the way of life narrow [Mat 7:14], the travel to the land of rest long, hard, and sharp; it is easy losing the Lord's glorious presence; unless the defence about it, by his Almighty arm, be kept up. There is a time for the Lord's taking down the fence from his own vineyard, because of transgression [Isa 55:4-7]; and then the wild boar may easily break in [Psa 80:8-13].

WTG 71 (Susanna Morris, 1745): our God is unchangeable and his ways are unchangeable but the gate is straight and the way is narrow [Mat 7:14] to the children of pride [Job 41:34]

JSS 66 (17–): full union with God can never take place, till death takes place in man upon all that is or acts in opposition to him. Hence, "straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it." [Mat 7:14] Few are willing to lose the life of their own wills, that is contrary to God....

DFR 12 (17–): But the adversary of my soul...strove, night and day, to deter me from walking in the narrow way [Mat 7:14]; representing the difficulties to be so great that I could never hold out to the end [Mat 24:13]; and that all my attempts would be in vain.

(Mat 7:15-20)

MFS 35f (1660): But we find little of those fruits of the Spirit [Gal 5:22f] in the world ... among all professors, priests, and teachers thereof. This is the mark which Christ hath set us to try the false prophets by. He says, by their fruits you shall know them, who get the sheep's clothing (the scriptures), but inwardly are ravening wolves [Mat 7:15f]. We have found the priests, professors and teachers of these nations to minister persecution and cruelty to us, as the prisons and gaols of these nations may bear (and have borne) testimony. [more, citing Mat 7:16-19, Gal 5:19-21, etc.]

WPR 466 (1678): [Christ] sets up a discrimination or distinction between false and true prophets, those that are his disciples, from counterfeits.... The tree was not accounted bad by the leaves, but by the fruits; not by the opinions, but by the holy living. [Mat 7:15-20]

(Mat 7:15) inwardly ravened from the spirit; often associated with Mat 24:24

Other texts citing Mat 7:15: GF3:522 (John 16:2), GF4:178 (under Mat 24:24), GF5: 267 (Gen 3:14), GF7:262 (Rev 14:14f), GF8:246 (2 Pet 2:22), JN2:182 (Luk 4:21)

GF3:44 (1659): And as for Bunyan's lies and slanders, they will come upon himself; they are his own garments. And for the scriptures which he quotes, they are owned, but not to cover the wolf withal [Mat 7:15].

GF3:112 (1659): And such as drink the blood [of the prophets, martyrs, and saints, Rev 17:5f] have the form [2 Tim 3:5], and get the sheep's clothing [Mat 7:15], but cry "prophecy is ceased, and revelation from heaven is ceased," only they have a standing rule, the scriptures without; and so here they have their clothing, the sheep's clothing, but ravened from the spirit, and so have denied the church in which there is prophecy, and the spirit of God; for where that is, there is prophecy amongst sons and daughters [Joel 2:28], but not amongst you apostates.

IP1: 389 (1660): "My sheep hear my voice," saith Christ [John 10:27]; they know it, and the voice of the strange spirit they know not so as to follow it, but to turn from it [John 10:3f], both in themselves and others. But that which is not the sheep, but hath only got the sheep's clothing [Mat 7:15], cries out, How shall we know the voice of the Spirit? We may be deceived. Nay, that which is born of God, that which is the elect of God, cannot be deceived. Wait therefore for the birth of the Spirit, to which the Spirit is given for a guide [John 16:13], who infallibly guides it out of deceit.

IP2:189, EQ 379 (1661): Can a lamb persecute? Can a dove persecute? Indeed a wolf in sheep's clothing may raven and devour [Mat 7:15], but a true sheep cannot.

(Mat 7:15f)

Other texts citing Mat 7:15f: JN1:248 (under Mat 24:5)

GF7:262 (1664): For the inwardly raveners, and wolves in sheep's clothing [Mat 7:15], whose fruits have been briars and thorns, and thistles [Mat 7:16], are them which have made up the false church, the whore, the false prophets, and the beast's worship, and the dragon's worship out of the truth, which have made the world like a wilderness [Isa 14:17], overgrown with thistles, thorns, and briars, in which lodge the wolves and dragons [Isa 34:13].

§38 P-T (Mat 7:16-20 | Luk 6:43-45)

Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles [T: briers] ? qtext

Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. qtext

Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil [BT: bad] fruit, neither can a corrupt [BT: bad] tree bring forth good fruit. qtext

Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is [T: shall be] hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. qtext

Luk 6:43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt [GBT: it is not a good tree that bringeth forth evil] fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring [GBT: is that (G omits) an evil tree, that bringeth] forth good fruit. qtext

Luk 6:44 For every tree is known by his own [BT: omit] fruit. For of thorns men do not gather [G: neither of thorns gather men] figs, nor of a bramble bush [GBT: bushes] gather they grapes. qtext

Luk 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is [G: omits] good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is [G: omits] evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

(Mat 7:16-20)

MFU 159 (1655): For thou art the cursed tree [Mar 11:21] whose end is to be burnt, which cannot bring forth good fruit [Mat 7:18f]. Thy poison & enmity (which is thy fruit) hath made thee manifest in this [Mat 7:16]: and the living pure eternal truth thou cannot touch it for it shall endure forever [Psa 117:2, 1 Esd 4:38]: but thy wickedness shall come to an end [Psa 7:9].

SBD 3 (1750): The tree must be good before the fruit can be so; and right and true ministers are to be known by their fruits [Mat 7:16-20].

(Mat 7:16 | cf Luk 6:44)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:16: JN2:99 (John 12:31)]

GF7: 254f (1664): the spirit of Christ does not persecute any that do not receive that which he sets up; but the spirit of the world doth persecute them that will not receive that which it sets up. And in this you may try both fruits [Mat 7:16] and spirits [1 Jn 4:1] (as the rod of Moses devoured up all the magician's serpents [Exo 7:12]) of the lying signs and wonders [2 Th 2:9]....

RBA 90 (1678, IV.2): We see the apostle contradistinguisheth the Law as spiritual, from man's nature as carnal and sinful [Rom 7:14]. Wherefore, as Christ saith, there can "no grapes be expected of thorns, nor figs of thistles" [Mat 7:16]; so neither can the fulfilling of the Law, which is spiritual, holy, and just [Rom 7:12], be expected from that nature which is corrupt, fallen, and unregenerate. Whence we conclude ... that the "nature" here spoken of, by which the Gentiles are said to have done the things contained in the Law [Rom 2:14], is not the common nature of men; but that spiritual nature which ariseth from the works of the righteous and spiritual Law that is written in the heart [Jer 31:33].

(Mat 7:17 | Luk 6:43) often confl w (Mat 3:10 | Luk 3:9): axe to the root of the corrupt tree

[Other texts citing Mat 7:17: JN2:228, IP4:209 (both under Mat 3:10)]

GF2:335 (1688): For a good tree bringeth forth good fruit [Mat 7:17]; therefore be ye trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord [Isa 61:3], having fruits unto holiness; and then your end will be everlasting life [Rom 6:22].

(Mat 7:17f)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:17f: IP3:81 (under Jude 1:6)]

IP4:69 (1671): Can the fruit ever be made good in thee till the tree be good? Can the corrupt tree ever bring forth the holy fruit of righteousness to the Lord? [Mat 7:17f] Oh, mind ... from what thou growest, and from what thy fruit proceedeth; for all the knowledge, faith, love, zeal, practices, &c. which proceed not from the renewed spirit and nature, are not the good fruit which God calls for and accepts; but the denying the least custom and fashion of this world, from a renewed nature, and from the drawings and teachings of God's Spirit, is good fruit, and accepted by him.

(Mat 7:18)

EQ 188 (John Banks, 1712, recalling incident from 1663): ...on the morrow, we let the jailer know how we were abused, whereupon he bid the turn-key bring us to the room where we were before, he scorned to keep us there: we were honest men, setting our religion aside. One of us answered, "If the tree be good, the fruit cannot be evil [Mat 7:18]." So in a little time after we had been in his house, he gave us our liberty, without paying of fees.

(Luk 6:44 | cf Mat 7:16)

WPR 305, WPT 91 (1674): as the tree is known by his fruits [Luk 6:44], so is the true Saviour, by his salvation.

(Mat 7:20f)

GFJN 78 (16–): And so I told them that this was the word of the Lord God unto them; that they lived in words but that God Almighty looked for fruits among them [Mat 7:20f]; so as soon as the words were out of my mouth they hurried me out and threw me down the stairs, but I got up again without any hurt and I went to my lodging again,

(Mat 7:21-23)

WPR 161 (1682): ‛Tis at that day, proud and luxurious Christians shall learn, that God is no respecter of persons [Acts 10:34]; that all sects and names shall be swallowed up in these two kinds, of sheep and goats [Mat 25:22f], just and unjust.... We are told by him, that cannot lie, many shall even cry, "Lord, Lord" [Mat 7:21]; set forth their profession, and recount the works that they have done in his name, to make him propitious [Mat 7:22], and be rejected with this direful sentence: "Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, I know you not" [Mat 7:23].

(Mat 7:21)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:21: RBA 195 (John 13:15)]

IP4:355f (167-): Query 23. Shall any enter into the kingdom of heaven, but they that do the will of Christ's Father which is in heaven [Mat 7:21]? Is it enough to pray, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven [Mat 6:10]? Is it not necessary also to receive that power which makes willing, and that nature and Spirit whose delight it is to do the will of the Father [Psa 40:8]?

(Mat 7:22)

GFT 75 (1674): Then, in the time of Christ, there were brave openings that some thought they were kings, and as he saith, prophesied in his name and cast out devils, etc. [Mat 7:22] These did the hurt among Christians, and Cain and others did the hurt before the Flood, etc.

(Mat 7:22f)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:22f: JN1:171f (1 Jn 2:4)].

(Mat 7:23 | Luk 13:27)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:23 | Luk 13:27: RBA 193 (Rom 3:24)]

GF7:43 (1653): And despise not the prophecy [1 Th 5:20], keep down that nature that would, which is the same as that is which acts contrary to that of God in them. Neither be lifted up in your openings and prophecies, lest ye depart from that which opened, and so come by the son of God to be judged, and bidden to depart as workers of iniquity [Psa 6:8, Mat 7:23, Luke 13:27]; for a worker of iniquity is gone from that which leads to the son of God, who is the end of the prophets.

IP4:355 (167-): Who are the unrighteous, that shall not inherit the kingdom of God [1 Cor 6:9]? Are they not both the manifestly unrighteous, and also the secretly unrighteous; who, though they may preach faith in Christ, and the righteousness of Christ, and may think themselves believers in him, and clothed with his righteousness [Psa 132:9], yet have not received power to become sons of God [John 1:12], nor through the spirit have mortified the deeds of the body [Rom 8:13]; but at last, notwithstanding all their profession and pretence to Christ's righteousness (out of the faith that works by love [Gal 5:6], and out of the fine linen [Rev 19:8,14], in their own filthy rags [Isa 64:6]), are found by him workers of iniquity [Psa 6:8, Mat 7:23, Luke 13:27].

(Luk 6:46)

JN1:145 (1653): Where is your redeemer you have professed so long in words and forms? Can you witness him in your works? And what hath he redeemed you from? For saith he, "Why call you me Lord, and do not the things which I say [Luk 6:46]?" Is he your Lord, and you servants to all manner of filthiness?

§ 38W-X (Mat 7:24-29 | Luk 6:47-49)

Mat 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine [G: of me these words; BT: of me these sayings], and doeth them [GBT: the same], I will liken him unto a wise man, which built [G: hath builded] his house upon a rock: qtext

Mat 7:25 And the [T: abundance of] rain descended [G: fell], and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that [T: +same] house; and it fell not: for [BT: because] it was founded upon a[GBT: grounded on a (T: the)] rock.

Mat 7:26 And [G: But] every one that [GT: whosoever] heareth these sayings of mine [G: these my words; BT: of me these sayings], and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: qtext

Mat 7:27 And the [T: abundance of] rain descended [G: fell], and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it [G: the fall thereof was great].

Mat 7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings [G: words], the people were astonished [GBT: astonied] at his doctrine:

Mat 7:29 For he taught them as one having authority [BT: power], and not as the scribes. qtext

Luk 6:47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings [G: words], and doeth them [GBT: the same], I will shew you to whom he is like:

Luk 6:48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood [GBT: waters] arose, the stream beat vehemently [GBT: flood beat] upon that house, and could not shake [BT: move] it: for it was founded [GBT: grounded] upon a rock. qtext

Luk 6:49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently [GBT: flood did beat]#, and immediately it fell [GT: it fell by and by]; and the ruin [GBT: fall] of that house was great. qtext

(Mat 7:24-27 | Luk 6:48f)

[Mat 7:24-27: GF8:76 (Mat 13:47f), IP3:314f (John 13:17)]

(Mat 7:24f | Luk 6:48)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:24f: GF7:238 (under Mat 10:28), MFU 24 (John 17:23), MFU 351 (John 10:29), JN2:240 (Rev 6:13), IP4:117 (Luk 10:18), HPS 205 (John 8:12), HPS 408 (Heb 6:19)]

GF7:257 (1664): Friends,—You who now come to suffer by a land flood, keep on the rock [Mat 7:24f], for there is safety, though a storm be in the sea, and the flood be great, and the winds great, and the way rough and crooked, the seed Christ can make all plain [Isa 40:4].

GF8: 221 (1682): And the apostle says to the Phillippians, "Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ [Phil 1:27]:" for the apostle says, "our conversation is in heaven [Phil 3:20]," where must be the conversation of all the true followers of Christ, that are built upon him the rock [Mat 7:24f] and foundation, who is from above. And the Lord God establish all his people upon this rock and foundation which standeth sure [2 Tim 2:19], that upon him they may stand fast with the grace and truth that come from him [John 1:17].

IP3:117 (1668): "other foundation can no man lay, than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" [1 Cor 3:11]; nor other rock did the Lord ever choose for his church to be built upon; nor hath any other rock sufficient strength to bear up the building against the storms and stress [Mat 7:24f] of the powers of darkness, which it often meeteth with, even every member, in its travels; after once it is built on the rock, the gates of hell press hard against it [Mat 16:18]; but abiding on the rock, it feel the strength and preservation of the rock. For as they cannot prevail against Christ, neither can they prevail against that which is built upon him.

JWJM 184 (1772): Of late years a deep exercise hath attended my mind that Friends may dig deep, may carefully cast forth the loose matter and get down to the rock, the sure foundation [Mat 7:24f], and their hearken to that divine voice which gives a clear and certain sound [1 Cor 14:8];

SIW 89 (Sarah Tuke Grubb, 1780): Deep are the baptisms of such, or how could they be fitted to stand in that day of trial which is, with a gradual and steady pace, approaching; if not rooted and established upon that Rock [Mat 7:24f], against which the gates of hell can never prevail [Mat 16:18].

(Mat 7:26f | Luk 6:49)

[Other texts citing Mat 7:26f: WDS 121f (Jude 1:9), WPR 151 (Jas 1:8)]

GF7:31f (1653): And so, our unity and fellowship with vain man are lost, and all his evil ways are now turned into enmity; and all his profession is now found to be deceit, and in all his fairest pretences lodgeth cruelty; and the bottom and ground of all his knowledge of God and Christ is found sandy, and cannot endure the tempest [Mat 7:26f]. For being brought off from that foundation, and having suffered the loss of all, which seemed beautiful upon the sand, (which was there builded according to that wisdom which was not eternal, but was earthly [Jas 3:15], upon which the curse of God was [Gen 3:17], and yet doth remain, where it is standing,) we declare against that bottom and foundation, by the power of God, in that light of Christ, which discovers all false foundations, and makes manifest all sandy bottoms, which man hath builded upon.

IP4:286 (167-): This doctrine may go for truth in Babylon, but can never be owned in God's Jerusalem, where his Spirit did build up [Eph 2:22], and defends the buildings, and judgeth out all such sandy and windy doctrines [Eph 4:14/Mat 7:26f], which are loose and airy, and have not a ground or bottom in the truth.

WTG 225f (Elizabeth Hudson, 1750): it is our incumbent duty, to keep a constant guard over our own hearts lest...a spirit that would exalt the creaturely part in us should lift up its head and ...build up self upon the sandy foundation [Mat 7:26f] of imaginary excellences that we poor creatures are endowed with above others of our fellow helpers [3 Jn 1:8] in the work

(Mat 7:29)

GF7:175 (1659): ... dwell in the authority, (the power of God,) ye that know it: that over all ye may reign in the seed, who fulfilled the law and the prophets [Mat 5:17]; who spake with authority, and speaks with authority now, more than the scribes and Pharisees [Mat 7:29], ... who were transgressors against the life that gave forth the words which were written. And so, the authority of the scribes and Pharisees ... is as the authority of the professing christians, who profess Christ and the apostles' writings, but are without the life and from the seed of God; these are one with them who put Christ to death, and knew not the authority of the seed.

WPR 623 (1696): But they did not dare to awake their Beloved before his time [Song 8:4]; or approach the throne of the King of Glory, till he held out his scepter [Est 4:11]; or take thought what they should say [Luk 12:11], or after their own or other men's studied words and forms, for this were to offer strange fire [Lev 10:1]; to pray, but not by the Spirit [Isa 30:1/1 Cor 14:15?]; to ask, but not in the Name [John 14:13 etc], that is, in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who prayed, as well as spoke, like one having authority [Mat 7:29], that is, power, a divine energy and force to reach and pierce the heavens, which he gives to all that obey his Light, grace and Spirit, in their solemn waitings upon him.

DFR 29 (17–): [Friends] were not like the scribes [Mat 7:29], to whom I had been listening all my life; who had neither commission nor authority, except that which was received from man; being such as the Lord never sent [Jer 23:21]; and therefore could not profit the people they professed to teach.

Quaker Bible Index

MATTHEW 6-7; LUKE various

Synoptic Gospels keyed to Henry Burton Sharman, Records of the Life of Jesus (§§ 37S-38)

§37 S-V (Mat 6:1-8)

§37W (Mat 6:9-11 | §85B Luk 11:1-3)

§37X-Y (Mat 6:12-18 | §85B Luk 11:4)

38A (Mat 6:19-21 | §93 I-K Luk 12:33-34)

§38B-C (Mat 6:22-24 | §89 BC Luk 11:34-35, §107A Luk 16:13)

§ 38D (Mat 6:25-30 | §93 B-E Luk 12:22-32)

§ 38E (Mat 6:31-34 | §93 F-H Luk 12:29-32)

§ 38F-J (Mat 7:1-6, §63J 15:14, §57G 10:24 | Luk 6:37-38, 39-40, 41-42)

38K (Mat 7:7-11 | §85D Luk 11:9-13)

38L (Mat 7:12 | §37K Luk 6:31)

§ 38M (Mat 7:13-14)

§38 N (Mat 7:15)

§38 P-T (Mat 7:16-20 | Luk 6:43-45)

§38 UV (Mat 7:21-23 | Luk 6:46 §100EF 13:26f)

§ 38W-X (Mat 7:24-29 | Luk 6:47-49)

Synoptic Gospels keyed to Henry Burton Sharman, Records of the Life of Jesus (§§ 37S-38)