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Luther, House Postil: "No one is so foolish as to go into a
field full of thorns and thistles and look for grapes and figs. Such fruits we
seek on a different plant, which is not so full of barbs and prickles. The same
thing happens in our gardens. Seeing a tree full of apples or pears, everybody
exclaims: Ah, what a fine tree that is! Again, where there is no fruit on a
tree or the fruit is worm-eaten, cracked, and misshapen, everybody says the
tree is worthless, fit to be cut down and cast into the fire, so that a better
tree may be planted in its place. These tests, the Lord says, you must apply to
the false prophets, and you will not make a mistake, no matter how good their
appearance may be. If f wolf had put on twenty sheepskins, still you must know him
to be a wolf and not be deceived by him."
C. F. W. Walther,
The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, trans. W. H. T. Dau, St.
Louis: Concordia Publishing House 1897, p. 412.