Known By Their Fruits

Known by Their Fruits

The Eighth Sunday after Trinity – 7/26/2026

Matthew 7:15-23

Rev. Dr. Christopher W. Brademeyer

That portion from God’s holy Word for consideration this morning is our reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew in the seventh chapter with special emphasis on verses 15-16a which read as follows:

[Jesus said,] “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.”[1]

Thus far the Scriptures.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

One advantage of living in a rural community is that most of us know something about identifying things by their fruits. A farmer knows that a healthy wheat field and one infected with disease do not look the same by harvest. A rancher knows that a healthy cow produces differently than a sick one. A gardener knows that an apple tree isn’t judged by how pretty it looked in the spring but by what hangs on its branches in the fall.        

Jesus takes something His hearers understood well and applies it to something infinitely more important: His holy Church. Jesus tells you, His beloved Church, to beware of false prophets who appear to be holy, wise, and skilled in the delivery of religious truths, but who are inwardly greedy devourers. He does not tell us to watch out for pagans who present themselves falsely. He does not draw our attention to atheists who cover over their sinister motives. It is false prophets that our Lord directs our attention. The great danger that Christ warns you, His Christians about in this passage, is not those foes arrayed against us outside of the Church, but those who arise within it, particularly, those who wind up in our pulpits and who minister before our altars. The Church’s greatest threat is not those who besiege her from the outside. No, she has no fear of these things. The Church is encircled with the high wall of God’s truth and is well provisioned with God’s Word and sacraments. No, what she is susceptible to is attack from within.

A wolf would never fool the sheep if he looked like a wolf, smelled like a wolf,

growled like a wolf. This would be obvious to even the most foolish and dull of the sheep. The wolves who prowl in the Christian Church know this so they put on sheep’s clothing, they butcher and hollow out the hide of a sheep and wear it as if it was their own skin. They look like a sheep, they smell like a sheep, they even try to sound like a sheep. Worst of all, they are often successful in this ruse.

False teachers do not usually begin by denying Christ outright or by saying strange and novel things about our Lord right at the front. Instead, they first speak familiar word. They speak the Lord’s name. They quote Scripture. They use Christian jargon. They often even come across as kind, compassionate, and sincere. This is exactly what makes them so dangerous. This lowers the guard of the Christian sheep.

Our Lord says they are wolves. A wolf’s concern is never the sheep. A wolf is only concerned with himself. There are those who present themselves as pastors in Christ’s Church who do so for simple, wicked, financial gain. But there are also those wolves who are convinced that they are right in their teaching, not realizing that their instruction leads souls away from the Savior.

Jesus’s warning is especially important in our generation because the devil has never stopped attacking Christ’s Church through false doctrine. Sometimes false teachers deny the authority of God’s Word. They tell us that the Scriptures are outdated or culturally conditioned. Sometimes they deny the necessity of repentance. They preach a Christianity without the cross, without confession of sin, without amendment of life, without a need for the bloody death of our Savior. Sometimes they deny the Sacraments, reducing Baptism and the Lord’s Supper to symbols rather than the very gifts through which Christ delivers forgiveness. Sometimes they replace the Gospel with self-improvement, turning Christianity into little more than advice for living your best life. The clothing may change, but the wolf inside remains the same.

This is why Jesus gives us a way to recognize them, “You will recognize them by their fruits.” But we must be careful with this instruction from our Lord. Jesus is not speaking here primarily about the fruit of morality in the individual life of a pastor. Many false teachers lead exemplary lives. History is full of cult leaders who are disciplined and charismatic. Faithful pastors often have sins and failings. Even those sins which would disqualify a man do not mean that any particular teaching of his is automatically wrong.

The fruit Jesus is speaking about is first and foremost their doctrine, that is, what they teach about Christ, about salvation, about sin, about grace. Good doctrine produces good fruit. False doctrine always bears poisonous fruit. The Lutheran Confessions remind us repeatedly that pure doctrine and the right administration of the Sacraments are central marks of the Church. Where Christ’s Gospel is faithfully preached and His Sacraments rightly administered, there Christ Himself is present for the salvation of sinners. False teaching robs us of comfort; Christians who do not know the certainty of salvation find themselves listless, worried, or anxious. Those who are taught to deny the Law begin to live lives counter to the teaching of Scripture. Misunderstanding who Jesus is and how salvation is accomplished leads to wasted effort, frustration, and even unbelief.

In other words, doctrine matters because Christ and His truth matter. It is not because Lutherans enjoy arguing. It is because eternal life is at stake.

         In our culture people often say, “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere.” Jesus says exactly the opposite. Sincerity never made poison safe to drink. A sincere false prophet is still a false prophet. A sincere lie is still a lie. Truth matters because Jesus Himself is the Truth. All falsehoods, no matter how small, are attacks on Christ, the Truth.

But before we become too eager to identify everyone else’s false teachers, Jesus’s words first require us to examine ourselves. Why are false prophets successful? Because we sinners often prefer their message. St. Paul tells Timothy that people gather teachers who tell them what their itching ears want to hear. That temptation lives in every sinful heart. We all prefer a god who excuses our sins rather than exposes them. We all prefer sermons that comfort us without calling us to repentance. We all prefer religion that requires little sacrifice and offers maximum convenience. Our sinful flesh would gladly trade Christ’s narrow way for the broad road if left to itself. Which means we do not merely need protection from wolves. We need rescue from ourselves. 

That rescue comes only through the Good Shepherd. False prophets are wolves. Jesus does not come to devour and destroy, instead, He lays down His life for His sheep. Wolves scatter the sheep; Christ gathers them home. Wolves destroy, Christ saves. Every pastor is meant to preach Christ, His salvation, His comfort, and His truth. As Jesus says elsewhere, “My sheep hear my voice.” And so, it is the duty of each pastor to magnify and proclaim the voice of the Lord. He must resist temptations to preach what is culturally appealing, what is soft and comfortable, and what is expected if doing so means silencing the voice of the Good Shepherd.

This may sound like we live in a world full of perils and traps, and this is true, but you Christians must not lose heart at such things. Knowing your Savior, hearing His Word, holding fast to the truth of His salvation, is a result of Him knowing you. He has claimed each of you in Baptism, held you fast with His forgiving Word, and has put His Spirit within you. So now, you know His voice. You will hear and see the difference between Christ and the wolves. This is not you doing, but the promise of the Lord.

Yes, false teachers are a problem in Christ’s Church and one that we ought to be on constant guard about. But you have Christ, and no false teaching can bring you to ruin when you belong to the Lord.

In the Holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] Matthew 7:15-16a English Standard Version. All further quotations from the Holy Scriptures are from the ESV.