ily thereby, in the fear of God and in the faith of
Christ. And thou hast done thy duty more or less; and, in doing thy
duty, has taught thyself deeper and sounder lessons about thy life,
character, and immortal soul, than all books could teach thee. And
now thou hast thy reward. Thou hast been faithful over a few
things: I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord.'

SERMON XIII. FALSE PROPHETS

(Eighth Sunday after Trinity.)

Matthew vii. 16. Ye shall know them by their fruits.

People are apt to overlook, I think, the real meaning of these
words. They do so, because they part them from the words which go
just before them, about false prophets.

They consider that 'fruit' means only a man's conduct,--that a man
is known by his conduct. That professions are worth nothing, and
practice worth everything. That the good man, after all, is the man
who does right; and the bad man, the man who does wrong. Excellent
doctrine; and always needed. God grant that we may never forget it.

But the text surely does not quite mean that. 'Fruit' here does not
mean a man's own conduct, but the conduct of those whom he teaches.
For see,--our Lord is talking of prophets; that is preachers, who
set up to preach the Word of God, in the name of God. 'Beware,' he
says, 'of false prophets. By their fruits ye shall know them. By
what you gather from them,' he says. 'For do men gather grapes off
thorns, or figs off thistles?'

Now what is a preacher's fruit? Surely the fruit of his preaching;
and that is, not what he does himself, but what he makes you do.
His fruit is what you gather from him; and what you gather from him
is, not merely the notions and doctrines which he puts into your
head, but the way of life in which he makes you live. What he makes
you do, is the fruit which you get from him. Does he make you a
better man, or does he not? that is the question. That is the test
whether he is a false prophet, or a true one; whether he is
preaching to you the eternal truth of God, or man's inventions and
devil's lies.

Does he make you a better man? Not--Does he make you feel better?
but--Does he make you behave better? There is too much preaching in
the world which makes men _feel_ better--so much better, indeed,
that they go about like the Pharisee, thanking God that they are not
as other men, before they have any sound reason to believe that they
are _not_ as other m