Do men gather grapes from thorns?Matthew 7:16, “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”

An immutable law of nature is that all life brings forth of its kind. Thus the question, do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? The answer is no, they do not, and Jesus implied, they cannot.

This Scripture is often misunderstood through misapplication. It does not instruct us how to discover “true Christians” nor provide a touchstone for self-evaluation. Also, it is often erroneously tied to Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

Well-meaning teachers have led us through the evaluation of our Christian walk and made claims that the absence of this listed fruit in our lives is an indicator of not being converted (or completely converted). Absence proves nothing. It is the PRESENCE of fruit that determines the family of the vine.

For example, you may walk through a garden and see a vine with no fruit on it. Discounting the ability to identify by foliage, can you accurately say this is not a pumpkin vine because you see no pumpkins? Of course not. It may be fully under way growing pumpkins at that very minute, but perhaps it’s diseased or malnourished, or at that moment it’s too young, or hindered in some other way to bear fruit. The presence of a watermelon, however, proves it is not a pumpkin vine.

The question remains, to whom does this Scripture apply? In context, the Lord was warning us of false prophets. He says that we will know false prophets by their fruit, “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:17-20)

Jesus was telling those who would hear, “These men are thorns, not vines.” If you find a grape on a thorn it is because it was stuck there, it did not grow there. How it got stuck there is a matter for consideration.

A false prophet is a deceiver. This is a person falsely speaking for God (without authority) or a person speaking falsely for God (saying things that are not true). The difference is subtle, but important. The latter speaks lies in the name of God. These are usually not a threat to biblically sound people. The words of a false prophet are weighed and found in error by way of the axiomatic truth that the Spirit of God will not contradict Himself. Neither will the Spirit within us nor will the Spirit who brought forth the Scriptures, allow the lie to be believed. But, the other is more deceptive.

The person falsely speaking for God however, may be saying very nice things, Scriptural things, and things without the least contradiction; they are being said, however, without unction, without compulsion, without authority to speak. Through this kind of false prophet we are led into creaturely activity (fleshly motivated good works) and this subsequently causes an erosion of active communion with God to take place.

 The Clothing of a Shepherd

All that being said, we are warned to beware of the false prophets because they wear the “clothing of a shepherd” (sheep’s clothing) and are inwardly starving, and desperate wolves. Sometimes “sheep’s clothing” is misunderstood to mean that these starving wolves dress themselves up like sheep, but it is, more correctly, the clothing of a shepherd that they don in order to deceive. They don’t try to look like sheep; they try to look like a shepherd, which is an office awarded to only one, our Christ Jesus. It is the intention of these wicked “shepherds” not to feed, but to fleece and flay, and the first step, toward that end, is deception.

A person intending to deceive must work first at appearances. With the warning that we will “know them by their fruits,” the deceiver must surround himself with fruit. This is why we may find grapes on thorns but must realize they didn’t grow there. There are many who tout their accomplishments – not to gloat, but to deceive.

Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I [will] in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” (John 15:4) From this verse, you must realize that any fruit borne OUTSIDE of Christ is corrupt fruit. This is not as easy to prove as it is to sense. If you are born of the incorruptible seed, you have within you the Holy Spirit who will witness to this, and therefore, you must maintain a clear conscience and contrite heart in order to hear the slightest whisper of His warning.

These issues of life from your heart are the only true defense against the false prophets, the endless parade of literature, books, movies, preachers, Bible translations and close dear friends and family who mean well, but are in error. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

You must be vigilant and even suspicious to every twitch within you as you read, hear, and see things from all sources, accepting only that which the Lord reveals to you as true and worthy. The Scriptures secondarily, are never to be compromised as they were penned by men under the unction and authority of the Holy Spirit of God.

It would never insult a true prophet for someone to doubt, then check, and wait for confirmation from God on any revelation given them. Paul commended the Bereans for this. “These were nobler than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11) It is only the false prophet that leads people away from Christ’s witness within, and the Scripture’s witness without.

There are many fruits which are ascribed only to the children of God, and many which are found only on the withered and diseased branch of the false prophet. These fruits are well worth your attention and study.

When you determine a man to be truthful and faithful by the fruit abounding around him, you must be careful that you are not ascribing fruit to his ministry that did not grow there. I have seen whole churches full of proselytes.

A grape stuck on a thorn is not abiding in the vine. Although you may find a bramble bush loaded with grapes, Jesus wants us to know that they did not grow there. You should ask yourself, “Do men gather grapes from thorns?”