house," says St. John, " neither bid them God speed '^." And well ritiay we be on our guard against them. Many of them are extremely subtle; and some would almost withstand an Apostle himself ^ But they are only wolves, yea ravening wolves too, in sheep's clothing ; and though they may express much concern for the welfare of the Church, they fatten on the spoils of every fold to which they can get access™.]
But as it may often be difficult to discern the characters of these men, our Lord lays down, II. The rule whereby we are to judge of them —
It is a plain, acknowledged truth, that we must judge of trees by their fruit —
[No person will expect for a moment to find " grapes on a thorn, or figs on a thistle :" common sense will tell him, that every tree has its own proper productions ; and that even the fruit it does bear will not be found in perfection, unless the tree itself be good. " A bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit ; nor can a good tree bring forth evil fruit," The quality of the fruit will infallibly mark the quality of the tree itself. If the fruit be good, it will mark the tree to be deserving of culture and regard ; but if bad, to merit nothing but excision and the fire.]
Precisely in the same manner we must judge of those who call themselves prophets of the Lord —
[Twice is it repeated, " By their fruits ye shall know them." We should inquire. What is the fruit of their doc- trine upon themselves and on their hearers ? If the people themselves be proud, worldly, covetous, and despisers of real piety, we have no reason to think that they will ever produce the opposite dispositions in us. If they be resting on a wrong foundation themselves, they are not likely to build us up upon that which God has laid in Zion. If they be disputatious, contentious, ambitious of pre-eminence among their fellows, they are not calculated to be useful to us in bringing us to a meek, humble, and heavenly frame.
If our access to them be not such as to enable us to judge of their spirit and conduct, then we must endeavour to notice the effect of their doctrines upon others : and if we find that this is altogether unfavourable, we must be on our guard to prevent any evil accruing to ourselves. We may see in the Holy Scriptures, what was the temper, and what the conver- sation of Christ and his Apostles : and, if we find the word ministered unto us has a tendency lo assimilate us to them,
k 2 John ii. 10. ^ 2 Tim. iv. 15. "i Tit. i. 10, 11.