This sermon uses the image of a fruitless vine to teach that Christians who make a religious profession but don't live holy, consistent lives are completely worthless—worse than non-Christians—because a vine without fruit is useless wood that can only be burned. Spurgeon warns that false professors are found everywhere in churches, among rich and poor, quiet and talkative people, and their hypocrisy makes them useless to the church, harmful to their families, and destined for an especially shameful punishment in hell. He urges everyone who claims to be Christian to either genuinely serve God with their whole heart and live righteously, or to honestly give up their fake profession rather than continuing to be hypocrites who damage Christianity's reputation.

A sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on March 22, 1857.