Brooklyn Tabernacle - Audio Sermons Feed

We can refuse God. We can grieve the Holy Spirit. The Bible says so. “No, we can’t,” some say. “God is sovereign.” That’s true. But God has arranged it so that we will love Him from our hearts and not out of coercion. That’s why the writer of Hebrews says, “See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks” (Hebrews 12:25). Let’s have soft hearts that we might hear God today.

You ever notice that people who are into Old Testament legalism are also into vengeance? They say, “You’re denying Christ? We’re at war with you.” But Jesus said, “Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you.” The old covenant spilled people’s blood for vengeance. In the new covenant, Jesus shed His blood to give us peace. Praise God for the blood of Christ that brings us eternal life.

The law with its holy commandments can save no one. “No,” we say, “but I’m going to try.” Our desire is good, but it won’t change our behavior. What we need are new hearts and new minds, and no one can get those through the law. Ah, but the new covenant mediated by Jesus! It’s a better covenant, because in it our sins are washed away, forgiven, forgotten. We can rejoice in that today

We often pray “God, I have a need!” But the Lord wants to grow our faith so that we begin to pray also for the needs around us. He says, “I’ve got you—now I want you to bless others.” People around us need respite, like the man in Luke 11 who came to his neighbor at midnight seeking bread for his friend. God is calling us to be friends that people can come to in their storms. Let’s learn to interc...

Your name might be on a church roll—but is your name written in heaven? If you’ve come to Jesus, then you’ve come to “the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven” (Hebrews 12:23). Too many of us find our identity in ethnicity, race, or political affiliation. But our identity is in being part of Jesus’ church. Thank God, as needy and undeserving as we are, our names are written i...

We want a good report card from God. So we go back to the old-covenant way of trying to keep the law. But the law gives everyone an F. Praise God for the new covenant, which brings us to the city of the living God, where thousands of angels are rejoicing in His goodness and grace! We get forgiveness and heaven not through the law but by believing Jesus—and staying with Him.

How much of what we don’t receive from God has to do with not understanding who our Father is? To some of us, God seems distant or uncaring. But Jesus showed us otherwise. In fact, all the good in Jesus’ life came from spending time in prayer with His Father. The way God helps us is through prayer, but we will never pray unless we see God as a loving Father who will help us with whatever we need.

Are you stuck in the old covenant? Trying but failing to keep the law? The old covenant, Hebrews tells us, is gone. A new, better covenant has come, with the good news of Jesus Christ. Too many of us mix the two and miss God’s purpose for us. But we have not come to Mount Sinai, to the law. Thank the Lord, we have come to the new covenant of mercy and love.

“What have I done?” We’ve all had those moments. We can’t undo our mistakes, recover our losses, take back our words. When Esau came to his senses after selling his blessing for a bowl of soup, he wanted the blessing back. But he couldn’t get it. Let’s speak and act prayerfully and carefully. Jesus will help us do it today.

Instant gratification. We’ve all given into it—temptation, harsh words, cheating. But it costs us. We lose out with God. Esau learned this when he gave up a beautiful spiritual blessing for a single meal. “Don’t be godless like Esau,” the writer of Hebrews tells us. Let’s value spiritual realities over immediate satisfaction.

Are you fearful? Anxious? Unsettled? Jesus offers us a peace that no one can take away. We think, “It’s just a little unsettledness. It’s no big deal.” But God says “Be anxious for nothing.” We don’t have to fight for God’s peace. We just need to take command of our hearts and turn from our troubles to God’s faithfulness. It will restore peace and joy to our souls.

Have you ever met a bitter person? Angry. Accusing. Playing the blame game. Every one of us could be bitter about something—but we don’t have to be. We have Jesus. Let’s make sure “that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many” (Hebrews 12:15). God’s grace can keep us sweet.

“Make every effort,” the writer of Hebrews says, “to be holy.” But wait a minute. We can’t be holy in our own effort. Yes, the Holy Spirit is the only One who can make us like Christ. But we aren’t to sit back and say, “It’s a done deal.” Like the apostle Paul, we should “press on” to be more like Jesus every day.

Many Christians are anxious about the future. Our culture has drastically changed, rejecting God’s authority and glorifying sex, money, and power. But God tells us what He told the Jews who were exiled in Babylon: “I have plans to give you a future and a hope.” It may look like Babylon is winning, but we can be faithful, fruitful, and full of hope in the victory of God that's sure to come.

Hebrews tells us, “Make every effort to live at peace with everyone.” There is no such thing as a healthy fighting Christian. We should do whatever we can to live at peace with people, even those who disagree with us or we think are in the wrong. May God help us to avoid contention like the plague so that we can be more like Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Sometimes we run the race of faith with a limp. That’s why the writer of Hebrews tells us to take stock of our lives: where are we lame or weak? We should pinpoint the spot, then strengthen ourselves in God! We’ve got a race to run. Let’s throw off self-pity and be healed so that we can run with endurance.

When our parents disciplined us, it wasn’t pleasant, especially if we got a spanking. But it taught us right from wrong. It’s the same with God’s discipline. When we submit to the Lord in the disappointments and hardships of life, God will train us by them—and produce in us a harvest of righteousness and peace.

Nothing will change our cities and bring a harvest of souls except an outpouring of the Spirit of God. But it has to start with a spirit of supplication, or prayer, on God’s people. When God visits His people, we will want to pray, have to pray, like people did in past revivals in America, Ireland, Scotland. May the Spirit rest on us so that we may encounter the living God and be set on fire by Hi...

The Christian church in America today has lost the message of holiness. People make light of the things of God. But God wants us to be partakers of His holiness. The culture says, “I’ve got to be me,” but Christianity says, “I’ve got to be like Christ.” Let’s embrace God’s discipline so that we, by His grace, can be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

We don’t like hardship. But the writer of Hebrews reminds us that God uses hard times in our lives to discipline us. An intelligent son realizes, “Dad’s disciplining me because he loves me.” Everything God does is for our good, even the spankings and corrections. Let’s receive God’s discipline so that we can really live.

When we love someone, we want them to love us back. It’s no different for Jesus. One family in the Bible especially loved the Lord—Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. That’s why going to their home was so special for Him. Do we love Jesus? Let’s see how Martha’s service for Jesus, Lazarus’s communion with Jesus, and Mary’s worship of Jesus can encourage us to love Him even more.

In Hebrews 12:5 we find a strange “word of encouragement”: “Do not make light of the Lord’s discipline.” In our narcissistic society, that doesn’t sound like encouragement. But it is. Discipline is proof that God loves us. A wise person takes the rebuke of the Lord; a fool fights against it. Let’s receive hardship as God’s correction—and proof of His love.

The more like Jesus we become, the harder things will be. The spirit of antichrist in this world picks up the scent of Christ that we carry and says, “I hate that.” But when Satan comes at us with a one-two punch, let’s consider what Jesus went through so that we won’t grow weary and lose heart. Christ died for us; He loves us. He’s going to help us.

Jesus suffered. So will we. But Jesus knew how to handle the pain He endured: He looked ahead to the joy before Him. He knew that His suffering would end—and that the reward would be worth it. No matter what we suffer in Christ—hardship, disappointment, temptation, onslaughts of Satan—let’s fix our eyes on Jesus. He rejoiced. So can we. It will be worth it all.