MATTHEW (7:15-20) says: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruit. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
In the scripture above, Jesus reveals a great mystery of identification. He uses a principle that every seed produces after its kind. One of the worst challenges that a man will ever face in his life is counterfeit.
Every counterfeit looks like the real thing but is a fake of that which is real and genuine. Wherever quality exists, its fake also exists. If you do not know how to diagnose the counterfeit, you will end up been robbed. For instance, the Bible tells us that there are true prophets and there are false prophets.
There are true friends and there are fake friends. There are good pastors and there are fake pastors. There are good doctors and there are bogus or fake doctors. There is a real money and there is also fake money. Jesus warns of false prophets and says we will know these false prophets by their fruits, or their works.