We must remind ourselves and one another that there is a great reunion day coming when Christ returns with all His people who have gone to heaven before us. There is great encouragement in this for the Christian and great terror for those who hate Christ.
The gospel must include a call to repentance. If not, it is not the gospel but mere easy believism. Repentance bears fruit. It is visible.
This parable of the Lord shows us the incredible grace of God in our salvation, and also the incredible wickedness of the sinner who refuses to come to Christ.
Satan attacks the gospel at every point, knowing that if any part of it is denied, such as the resurrection, it is no longer the gospel and cannot save.
This sermon is actually an article which appears in Ryle's book, Practical Religion, chapter 6. It is a very important sermon on an extremely important subject - the Lord's Table.
If the Word of God is going to take root and grow in us, we must not be careless in receiving it. There are many enemies of our souls waiting and watching to snatch away the seed of God's Word if we do not hold it fast.
We must understand that when we hear God's Word we must humble ourselves and remember that He is God and we are not. We must receive His Word by faith and we must not permit our sinful flesh to distort His truth into what sinful man fancies.
This is the last sermon in this series. We consider now what signs there might be visible in a person which would indicate that they are not only a Barren Tree, a fruitless professor, but that God's axe has either fallen or is raised and poised to cut such a tree down in a moment.
We now turn to the example of Esau who was cut down as a barren tree, though he still lived in this present world.
