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MATTHEW 7:16 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 7:15Matt 7:17
“Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”
You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? The diagnostic test for false prophets is not their claims, their doctrine, or their impressive presentations but their fruits — the outcomes of their influence, the character of their lives, the communities they produce. The botanical impossibility of grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles is the basis for the diagnostic principle: the fruit is reliable evidence of the tree's nature. James 3:12 makes the same point: neither can a salt pond produce fresh water. The fruit is not the occasional exceptional moment but the consistent pattern of what the tree produces.

Church Fathers on Matthew 7:16

The Lord had before commanded His Apostles, that they should not do their alms, prayers, and fastings before men, as the hypocrites; and that they might know that all these things may be done in hypocrisy, He speaks saying, 'Take heed of false prophets.'

Pseudo-Chrysostom · 5th century

When the Lord had said that there were few that find the strait gate and narrow way, that heretics, who often commend themselves because of the smallness of their numbers, might not here intrude themselves, He straightway subjoins, 'Take heed of false prophets.'

Augustine · 4th century · Serm. in Mont., ii, 23

Having taught that the gate is strait, because there are many that pervert the way that leads to it, He proceeds, 'Take heed of false prophets.' In the which that they might be the more careful, He reminds them of the things that were done among their fathers, calling them 'false prophets;' for even in that day the like things fell out.

Chrysostom · 4th century
Read all 21 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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Matthew 7:16 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy