Psalm 96 is an astonishingly happy psalm. It depicts the whole human race and even the trees, the earth, and the sea just filled with joy and rejoicing.  That actually raises a question. This isn’t the world the way we know it. Not everybody is filled with joy, and the world itself is a broken place with natural disasters, disease, and death. How could we get from where we are to what we see in this psalm? Is this nothing but just an inaccessible, crazy idea of a world like this, or is it possible to get to a world like this? The answer actually is in here in the links this psalm gives to the rest of the Bible. This psalm is a series of summons or invitations, and there are three basic ones that are being given to us here: 1) the call to see, 2) the call to sing, and 3) the call to rejoice in judgment. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 18, 2013. Series: Open My Lips: Studies in the Psalms. Scripture: Psalm 96. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

On the weekend before I had surgery for thyroid cancer, I wrestled with this question: “How do you face troubles with peace?” I came to realize it’s not petitionary prayer that helps you face troubles.  Of course the Bible is filled with petition, where you go to God and make your needs known. And you should do that. But the ultimate and main way to handle the troubles of life is not just through petitionary prayer, but through worship.  Psalm 95 is the classic text about worship. It tells us almost everything we need to know: 1) what is worship? 2) why should we worship? and 3) how can we worship? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on July 7, 2002. Series: Psalms: Disciples of Grace. Scripture: Psalm 95:1-11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Adoration is a practical skill, one we need to engage in if we’re going to grow into the people God designed us to be. Psalm 27 teaches us about individual, personal, contemplative adoration. And in the center of Psalm 27, it says, “one thing I ask, one thing I seek.” What is that one thing?  We learn three things from this psalm about this one thing: 1) why it’s so important, 2) what it is, and 3) how to do it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 2, 2002. Series: Psalms: Disciples of Grace. Scripture: Psalm 27:1-14. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Psalm 81 tells us how to handle the wilderness times of life. It tells us how to use various spiritual disciplines as practical skills in order to handle our times of suffering, our times of pain, our times of difficulty.  There are four things we learn here: 1) life is a wilderness, 2) there’s a rock in the wilderness, 3) there’s honey in the rock, and 4) there’s something else that I’ll tell you when we get to it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 19, 2002. Series: Psalms: Disciples of Grace. Scripture: Psalm 81. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When you know you’ve screwed up, when you know you’ve failed, how do you get up again in such a way that you have more joy and power than before?  There’s a secret basis of confession: it’s a secret only because most of us don’t know about it. And it’s a crucial missing piece in most people’s thinking. Let’s look at what Psalm 32 says about 1) the need for confession, 2) the way of confession, and 3) the secret basis of confession. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 12, 2002. Series: Psalms: Disciples of Grace. Scripture: Psalm 32:1-11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

What are you going to do with the anger that comes when you face serious mistreatment, serious injustice? Modern readers expect the Psalms to give inspiration, so when they read the searing pain and anger in Psalm 137, they say, “What’s this doing in the Bible?” But this passage, in spite of how disturbing it is, tells us some important things about how to handle our anger over mistreatment. Let’s look at 1) the context of this psalm within the message of the Bible, 2) the three things the psalmist does with his anger, and 3) the three more things we can do with our anger on this side of the cross. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 28, 2002. Series: Psalms: Disciples of Grace. Scripture: Psalm 137:1-9. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

For physical health, we have trainers and doctors. Through nutrition and exercise, trainers help you get further than you were. And when you get sick or injured, doctors help get you back on track. It’s the same thing spiritually.  There are spiritual disciplines that are like training and spiritual disciplines that treat problems. We look now at a discipline that is a way of dealing with a problem that can be disastrous. Let’s look at Psalm 42 and 43 and see 1) there’s a condition that is certain to come upon you, 2) there’s a set of causal factors, and 3) there’s a set of cures. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 21, 2002. Series: Psalms: Disciples of Grace. Scripture: Psalm 42:1-43:5. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Paul says you have to work the gift of salvation into every nook and cranny of your life, and that you do that through spiritual disciplines. That’s how you change.  But the modern mind finds some of these disciplines more appetizing than others. The idea of meditation is sort of cool. But obedience? That’s not very appetizing. And yet, this discipline tells us that you don’t get changed unless you’re willing to come in under the authority of God. Let’s look at what Psalm 119 shows us about 1) what’s wrong with trying to be your own ultimate spiritual authority, and 2) how you can put yourself under God’s authority in a way that’s transforming and not stifling. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 14, 2002. Series: Psalms: Disciples of Grace. Scripture: Psalm 119:32-49. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

For the first time, in Mark 15, we have Jesus in front of the political establishment, the Roman state. So we have to ask the question, “What is the relationship of Jesus to politics, of Christianity to the government?”  Pilate asks three questions. He asks Jesus, “Are you king of the Jews?” and, “Why aren’t you fighting back?” Then he asks the crowd, “What shall we do with the king?” The answers to these three questions are a lens by which to explore the relationship of Christianity to politics.  These three answers are 1) the ambiguity answer, 2) the revolutionary answer, and 3) the substitutionary answer.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 11, 2007. Series: King’s Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 15:1-15. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The word “blessed” in Hebrew is much richer than it is English. It means total fulfillment and well-being. How do we get that? The answer in Psalm 1 is that blessedness comes to a person who has learned to meditate on the law of the Lord. That’s an enormous promise. So let’s ask ourselves what we can learn about meditation, which is one of the disciplines by which we work grace into every nook and cranny of our lives. Psalm 1 teaches us four things about meditation: 1) the promise of meditation, 2) the principle of meditation, 3) the practice of meditation, and 4) the puzzle of meditation. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 7, 2002. Series: Psalms: Disciples of Grace. Scripture: Psalm 1:1-6. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

You can’t escape the city anymore. Technology means the kids in the farmlands of Iowa are getting immersed in the culture that’s formed in the cities. The problems of cities dominate the regions and societies in which those cities exist.  But as we see in Genesis, the city is a fundamental part of the human condition. And the Bible has some profound things to say about how Christians should understand the city.  In Genesis 10 and 11, we learn three things: 1) the need for cities, 2) the problem we have in cities, and 3) how God is healing cities. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 7, 2021. Series: Genesis – The Gospel According to God. Scripture: Genesis 10:31-11:9. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The story of Noah and the flood is about the fact that God is committed to creation, and he’s ready to give new beginnings. He’s ready to give a second chance.  In Genesis 9, God says to Noah and his family the same thing he said to Adam and Eve. In some ways, it gives more detail into what kind of life we’re called into. In a sense, he’s saying, “You’re not really living a fully human life unless you maintain three great relationships.” He’s calling us into 1) a relationship with the earth, which brings up the issue of ecology, 2) a relationship with all the people of the earth, which brings up the issue of justice, and 3) a relationship with the Lord of the earth, which brings up the issue of grace. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 10, 2000. Series: Genesis – The Gospel According to God. Scripture: Genesis 9:1-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Some of you are thinking, “The idea of divine judgment is upsetting, outdated, and irrelevant.” My goal is to respectfully show you that you’re absolutely wrong on all three counts.  The story of Noah and the flood is about divine judgment. And if we look at three things being taught in it, we’ll understand the meaning of judgment. And we’ll see what a difference these three things make for our lives. We’re taught here about 1) the violence of man, 2) the pain of God, and 3) the solution to both. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 3, 2000. Series: Genesis – The Gospel According to God. Scripture: Genesis 6:5-13; 7:17-18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

It’s fratricide, it’s brother killing brother, it’s a sensational story—the story of Cain and Abel. People call this the first case study of murder, but I think that’s missing the point. It’s actually the first case study of life east of Eden.  In Genesis 4, we see three realities are always present in every day, every part of life east of Eden. It shows that in every aspect of life you always have three things operating: sin, grace, and the possibility of salvation. Let’s look at what this teaches us about 1) the secrecy of sin, 2) the gentleness of grace, and 3) the subtlety of salvation. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 26, 2000. Series: Genesis – The Gospel According to God. Scripture: Genesis 4:1-16. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The Western romantic idea of human nature was that we’re inherently good. But the problem is over the last century, we’ve discovered that oppression and evil have not gone away but rather have erupted with ferocity over and over again regardless of social and political arrangements. This has created a crisis for the modern secular person. But the book of Genesis not only accounts for what we see, but also gives us enormous hope that there’s something that can be done about it.  Let’s look at what Genesis teaches us about the human condition and the hope for healing through three vivid images: 1) the reaching, 2) the covering, and 3) the sword. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 19, 2000. Series: Genesis – The Gospel According to God. Scripture: Genesis 3:20-4:2. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Earlier in the twentieth century, the intellectuals of the Western world said it was our society and our institutions that were making us bad. If we changed them, then we’d get rid of atrocities, evil, war, racism, and poverty. But it hasn’t worked. More and more, the Western world is looking back at Genesis, and I believe if you’re smart, you will too. In Genesis, we can see how sin and evil came into the world, and we can see the results. What we have here is a diagnosis and then what God shows us we can do about it.  Let’s look at Genesis 3 to see 1) the disease of sin and evil, and 2) the healing of the disease. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 12, 2000. Series: Genesis – The Gospel According to God. Scripture: Genesis 3:7-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

At street level there’s still this saccharine view that human beings are basically good and our problems come from our environment. But the Western intellectual world is beginning to see evidence that there’s something inherently evil and violent in us. And if that’s true, there’s almost no hope. But if you look at Genesis, you have the only hopeful answer for how evil got here: it’s not natural, and therefore, there’s something you can do about it. The Bible says Adam and Eve lost their oneness with God, with their true selves, and with each other. And it says that the way they lost it then is still the way we lose it now.  Let’s look at the three ways Adam and Eve lost things, which are the ways we still lose things: 1) the joke, 2) the lie, and 3) the tree. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 5, 2000. Series: Genesis – The Gospel According to God. Scripture: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-8. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We are created for relationship. One of the key differences I hope to show you between the biblical idea of God and other alternative views of God is in this whole idea of relationship. Genesis 1 shows us three things: 1) why we need relationships, 2) what kind of relationships we need, and 3) the key to getting relationships. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 29, 2000. Series: Genesis – The Gospel According to God. Scripture: Genesis 1:26-27; 2:18-25. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The book of Acts is all about the earliest Christianity. It shows us something about the character of the earliest Christianity, especially about where the church got its power. The book of Acts, but also the Bible in general, is bound to surprise you. No matter what your culture or what your class, no matter what conceptions and categories you come to the Bible with, it will smash some of them.  This story in Acts about Philip and the Ethiopian is the same way. It will show us the inclusivity of Christianity; the exclusivity of Christianity; and the grounding for both. Most people see Christianity as either inclusive or exclusive, but the fact is Christianity is both. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 3, 2013. Series: Acts: The Gospel in the City. Scripture: Acts 8:26-40. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Something is going on with work in our culture. We’ve lost our rhythms of work and rest. And work is becoming a crisis issue.  In Genesis 1 and 2, work and rest come up in the very beginning of creation. This tells us that understanding work and rest is at the very essence of living a human life.  Let’s look at what this says about 1) what we’re called to do (which is work), 2) how we’re called to do it, and 3) what we need in order to do it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 22, 2000. Series: Genesis – The Gospel According to God. Scripture: Genesis 1:26-2:2; 2:7-9, 15. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you live in North America or Europe, the question almost everyone has in mind when they read Genesis 1 is “How?” They ask, “How did it happen? How long did it take?”  But how questions aren’t as important as why questions. What you really need to know about this world is why did God make it? What is it for? Why do we feel the way we feel about it? How do we live in it?  Let’s look at what Genesis teaches us about 1) how the world began, but most importantly, 2) why the world began. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 15, 2000. Series: Genesis – The Gospel According to God. Scripture: Genesis 1:1-8, 31. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re in the second of a two-part series on the devil and the conflict between supernatural forces of good and supernatural forces of evil.  In Part 1, I made my case for why I think it’s immanently sensible to say there really is a devil. And we talked about Satan’s weapons and strategies. If you go through the Bible all the way back to Adam and Eve, what is Satan’s strategy? He’s not possessing them. He’s lying to them. On the basis of that understanding, we’re going to proceed and look at the Christian’s weapons and strategies. If you want to defeat the forces of evil and be successful in the battles of life, you must put on the full armor of God. What is that? In this passage, we can learn 1) when to put it on, 2) what it is, 3) how to put it on, and 4) whom to remember when you do. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 5, 2012. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 6:14-24. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The devil. Spiritual warfare. In Africa, Latin America, Asia, most places in the world, the idea of spiritual warfare—of a conflict between spiritual good and spiritual evil—is not an unusual concept. Many people in many parts of the world think this helps make sense of reality. But here in the Western world, we find it a foreign concept.  Let’s look at this passage on spiritual warfare, and let’s notice 1) whom we fight, 2) what we fight, and 3) how we fight. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 29, 2012. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-13. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

What it means to be a Christian is to be theologically driven—it means stuff about the cross, and grace, and redemption. And all those things have an effect on how we live in every area of our practical lives.  It’s helpful to look at the big picture and to see how Christ really is Lord of every area of life. In Ephesians 6, two of those areas are laid out for us: work and family.  Let’s take a look at this under these three headings: 1) Jesus and your work, 2) Jesus and your family, and 3) Jesus and your life. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 22, 2012. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-9. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Ephesians 5 is like a fair number of people in New York City. It’s both rich and famous. Because it’s so rich, you could work through it word by word and get quite a bit out of it. But it’s also advantageous to do what we’re going to do, which is to fly over the whole thing. In this way, we’ll get a panoramic view of the immense biblical wisdom on this subject of marriage. What we learn about marriage here is 1) what it is, 2) what it does, 3) what it needs, and 4) what it shows. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 15, 2012. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 5:21–33. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Christianity is not just a vitamin supplement. It doesn’t just come into your life and give you a little boost to live a better form of the life you’re living. It’s a sweeping revolution that affects every part of you. In Ephesians 5, we have a long passage on what it means to live the Christian life. And it’s not that we live in a certain way and, therefore, become Christians. It’s that we become Christians and, therefore, live in a certain way—because we’re saved not by what we do but by what Christ has done. In this passage, there are three important keys to understanding what it means to live the Christian life. It entails 1) knowing sin and walking in obedience, 2) knowing the time and walking in wisdom, and 3) knowing the Lord and walking in joy. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 8, 2012. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 5:5–21. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We all want to change. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t say, “I really need to change.” And one of the greatest things about Christianity is Christianity gives you the resources to change. Jesus Christ was born into this world to give us second birth. The idea of being born again means radical change. Often we don’t quite know how change actually happens. But Ephesians 4 gives four concrete principles for how the gospel helps us change. What does change mean to Christians? It means you have to 1) make a decision, and 2) change from the inside. And you do that by 3) transforming your thinking, and 4) being captivated by him. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 12, 2011. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 4:17–24. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In Ephesians 4, we find a pretty remarkable argument. The argument has three parts. The flow of the argument is that even though we have the life of the trinity in us, we live in spiritual immaturity until we’re willing to do the hard work of developing and creating unity in the church. Let’s take a look at each part: 1) the life of the trinity, 2) we live in spiritual immaturity, and 3) do the hard work of developing and creating unity in the church. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 4, 2011. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 4:1–16. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Thinking about the gospel of Jesus Christ leads Paul to pray in a particular way—in a passionate way. Usually people in those days prayed standing. Paul kneels—it’s a sign of great emotion and solemnity. And what does he so passionately pray for? That his readers—and that also means us—would be strengthened with the power of the Spirit. Let’s explore this: 1) Why is that so important? 2) What is it? and 3) How do we get it? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 27, 2011. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 3:14–21. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Most teachers tend to overlook or go past this particular passage in Ephesians 3. Here’s the reason. In the middle of the first sentence, there’s a dash. Paul just breaks off and goes into a digression, literally a sidebar, and he doesn’t come out of it until verse 13. This really is a sudden thought he had. And yet, what’s in here is so practical. In here we’re going to learn 1) the hardness of life, 2) the wonder of grace, 3) the brilliance of the church, and 4) the freedom that comes. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 20, 2011. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 3:1–13. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

There’s a problem. We aren’t what we are. The book of Ephesians is ultimately about the church. Paul very directly talks about what the church is and who the church is. These are some of the most powerful passages on that subject that you’re ever going to find. And in Ephesians 2, we’re being told 1) what we were, 2) what we are, and 3) how we can really become what we are. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 13, 2011. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 2:19–22. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Paul prays that we’d see the evidence of God’s mighty power at work in the world. And in Ephesians 2, we see one of the main ways we can be sure God’s power is at work. It’s the real heart of what Ephesians says about the church. And that is that inside the church, people who could never get along outside the church, are now living together in peace. Paul says God has addressed one of the main problems the human race has ever had: 1) what is the problem? 2) what is God’s solution for it? and 3) how did he bring it about? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 6, 2011. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 2:11–18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Christians talk about being saved. But what does it mean to be saved? Whatever we say we think it means, we should be meaning what’s said here in Ephesians 2. This is one of the richest passages in all the Bible word for word on what it means to be saved. And it says twice that we’re saved through faith. Notice it easily breaks into three parts: 1) the life we’re saved from, 2) the life we’re saved for, and 3) how we get from here to there. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 30, 2011. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 2:1–10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Many people say they don’t believe in Christianity. But in all my years as a minister, I’ve seldom talked to anybody who rejected Christianity and actually knew what they rejected. If you’re uninterested in Christianity, you need to know what it is you’re rejecting. And if you are a Christian, you need to figure out if you’re living consistently. In these first verses of Ephesians, Paul gives an amazing picture of what it means to be a Christian. This passage shows us that being a Christian means three things: 1) truth, 2) hope, and 3) glory. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 16, 2011. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 1:11–16. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

No matter how long a sentence is, if you find the subject and the predicate, you can figure out the point of the sentence. In the original Greek, there are 202 words in this one sentence that spans from verse 3 to 14 of Ephesians 1. The subject of this great sentence is God and everything God is doing. And the predicate shows that everything God’s doing is happening toward an end. There is a plan for history, and Jesus is the point of the plan. Let’s take a look at these three things: 1) there’s a plan, 2) what’s in the plan, and 3) Jesus is the point of the plan. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 9, 2011. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 1:8-11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at an astonishing claim. In the New Testament, the word “blessing” doesn’t just mean what we mean by it today. It’s closer to shalom. It means every joy and every benefit your heart and soul needs and longs for. And in Ephesians 1:3, we’re told if you’re a Christian you have already been blessed (past tense) with every spiritual blessing there is. What in the world could that mean? Let’s look at the text with these questions: 1) How do we get every spiritual blessing? 2) What is every spiritual blessing? 3) Why can we have every spiritual blessing? and 4) How do you know you have every spiritual blessing? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 2, 2011. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 1:1-8. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In Jonah, the antagonists are the religious, moral people. It’s us. It’s the city-disdaining, city-phobic, religious, moral people. We’re the antagonists, and God is the protagonist. It all comes down to this last question when God says, “Should I not have compassion? Should I not love that great city?” This is what the story is about. It’s about God’s love for a big, unbelieving, unjust, violent, pagan city. We can learn about three things here: 1) God’s call to the city, 2) God’s view of the city, and 3) God’s love for the city. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 14, 2001. Series: The Church in the City. Scripture: Jonah 4:1-11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

History tells us the Assyrian empire brought cruelty and massacre to a new level. It was a violent empire that slaughtered helpless people. And Jonah’s response to it is anger. He wants them punished. Yet, in the book of Jonah, we see one of the greatest surprising turns of all the stories in the Bible. God refuses to accept either the violence of Nineveh or the poisonous anger of Jonah. Let’s look at three things that this text tells us about violence: 1) the surprising sources of violence, 2) the remarkable strategy we should take with violence, and 3) the ultimate solution for violence. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 7, 2001. Series: The Church in the City. Scripture: Jonah 3:1-4:5. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jonah’s spirituality was fine for his old world and his old situations. But when he’s faced with a new situation, it just collapses. Then, when he’s in the belly of the fish, Jonah begins to reflect and pray, and as the prayer moves along, we see he has a spiritual breakthrough. Now the new situation is something he can handle. How do we, too, move to the next level? By looking at Jonah’s prayer we learn about 1) the key to spiritual transformation, 2) the method of spiritual transformation, 3) the marks of spiritual transformation, and 4) the continual need for it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 30, 2001. Series: The Church in the City. Scripture: Jonah 2:1-3:3. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jonah runs away for two reasons: fear and hate. God has told Jonah to go to Nineveh to warn them, but Jonah refuses. He’s afraid to put himself in the midst of his enemies, but he’s also filled with hate toward them. So the book of Jonah addresses in a real way the questions “What do I do about my fear?” and “What do I do about my anger?” Let’s notice three features of the story: 1) the story sea shows us who we are, 2) the religious sailors show us the wrong thing to do about it, and 3) the willing substitute shows us the right thing to do about it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 23, 2001. Series: The Church in the City. Scripture: Jonah 1:4-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Words like sin, sinner, heathen and heretic have been used for centuries to exclude and oppress people. That’s one reason we need the book of Jonah. Jonah gives a concept of sin that can’t be used to oppress people. In fact, it shows that it’s one thing to believe in sin and another thing to understand it in your own heart. Jonah was a prophet, but there was a kind of sin in his heart that flew under his radar—until it blew up. Let’s look at four features in the narrative that each tell us something about sin: 1) the coming word, 2) the running man, 3) the deathly sleep, and 4) the stormy hope. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 9, 2001. Series: The Church in the City. Scripture: Jonah 1:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jonah believes in love in general. But he doesn’t understand how God’s love actually operates. If it’s possible that you stand where Jonah stood, then chapter 4 is critical because God gives Jonah an answer. And his answer shows that God’s love, like God, is a fire. The strange thing about fire is that, on the one hand, it’s life-giving and warming, but on the other hand, it’s dangerous, consuming, and purifying. This text shows us two things: 1) God’s love is refining fire, and 2) God’s love is a seeking fire. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 16, 1990. Series: Jonah. Scripture: Jonah 4:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

How can we explain Jonah’s mood swings, his tremendous emotional instability, how he’s able to praise God and just a few days later say he’s angry enough to die? The answer is a divided heart. To put it another way, Jonah believed in and served the true God, but he also believed and served a rival god. As a result, his heart was divided. And divided hearts create the kind of misery and drive we see in Jonah. So we must ask, is it possible that our own instabilities are due to a divided heart? Let’s ask two questions of this text: 1) what is a divided heart? and 2) how do we solve it? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 2, 1990. Series: Jonah. Scripture: Jonah 4:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Do artists get exceedingly angry when their art is chosen for display at the Met? No! So why would Jonah get exceedingly angry when, in response to his preaching, the Ninevites actually turn away from violence and turn to the living God?  The answer has to do with the love of God. The incredible collapse of Jonah is because he misunderstands God’s love. And the collapses in our lives may very well have the same roots. So let’s look now at how God’s love is a patient love.  Let’s ask two questions: 1) why is God’s patient love not more operative and powerful in our lives? and 2) how can God’s patient love be more operative and powerful in our lives? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 2, 1990. Series: Jonah. Scripture: Jonah 4:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Nineveh was the greatest city the world had seen at its time. And yet, God decides to besiege it and sack it with an army of one. How did he do it? He did it by turning one person, Jonah, into a world-changer. Are you an army of one? You have people all around you who need you, people all around you who are dying, and you see it. How could you become a world-changer like Jonah? There are four things God brought to bear on Jonah that made him into a world-changer: 1) God’s persistent grace, 2) God’s calling, 3) God’s strategy, and 4) God’s power. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 26, 1990. Series: Jonah. Scripture: Jonah 3. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

How did Jonah, who was in utter despair, fear, and rebellion, come to be in a position of triumphant faith by the end of his prayer? Faith is not a talent. Faith is being controlled by the promises of God instead of your own impressions. If we look at the phenomenon of Jonah’s prayer itself, we will find how we too can respond to any situation in faith and come up through the waves and breakers onto dry land. Jonah exercised his faith in three stages: 1) he calls, 2) he remembers, and 3) he commits or sacrifices.   This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 19, 1990. Series: Jonah. Scripture: Jonah 2:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If it’s true that Jonah, a person who got direct revelation from God, can be blind to grace to the point where it distorts his very life, it’s even more likely that all of us, to one degree or another, are also blind to it.    Here is the thesis: our most severe problems are caused by our lack of understanding of the true depths of the meaning of God’s grace. Grace. The deepest secrets you ever need to learn in your life are locked up in there.    So let’s ask this passage questions: 1) what is the grace of God? 2) how do you receive the grace of God? and 3) how do you know you have received the grace of God? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 12, 1990. Series: Jonah. Scripture: Jonah 2:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

There’s a subplot in the book Jonah: it’s Jonah’s impact on the sailors and their impact on him. Do you see the exquisite irony here? Jonah runs away because he hates the dirty pagan Ninevites. He doesn’t think they can change and he doesn’t care enough to want them to change. But then, Jonah ends up sacrificing himself for dirty pagan sailors. The very truth missing from Jonah’s mind and heart is imparted even as God seeks him. Let’s see what this shows us about how we should regard the world. Here is what the sailors teach us: 1) every human being has a deep, spiritual longing, but 2) in our natural state our deep, spiritual longings are distorted by fear. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 5, 1990. Series: Jonah. Scripture: Jonah 1:4-16. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Until you admit that you run from God, you can’t know him or find him. You’re not just a troubled person. You’re not just a hurting person. You’re not a self-sufficient person. Primarily, you’re running.  Every one of us has unique, habitual ways of hiding and running away from God. Until you know what yours are, until you see them, you can’t really grow as a Christian. And that’s what the book of Jonah is about: it’s about Jonah running and God chasing. Let’s look at 1) the storm God sent and 2) Jonah’s response to the storm. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on July 29, 1990. Series: Jonah. Scripture: Jonah 1:1-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We all run away from God. It’s in our nature. And the book of Jonah is all about Jonah running and God pursuing. Most of us are familiar with the words sin and grace, but what they mean is another thing. And here it is: essentially sin is running away from God, and grace is God’s effort to pursue and intercept self-destructive behavior. That’s it. Running and chasing. And the first step in any relationship with God is to admit you’ve run and that even now, to some degree, you’re running. So let’s look now at how 1) Jonah is called to do something, 2) Jonah runs away from it, and 3) God pursues him. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on July 22, 1990. Series: Jonah. Scripture: Jonah 1:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The point of Galatians is that Christians need the gospel, continually. So let’s bring the gospel to a subject that’s very relevant for us: self-image and self-esteem. Christianity brings you a way of understanding yourself that is so different than what anything else brings you. And it’s a paradox. In Galatians 6, Paul says we’re nothing, and then, in the next verse, he says we should take pride in ourselves. What’s going on here? Let’s take a look at the two sides: 1) we’re nothing, and 2) we should have pride. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 10, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 5:26-6:5. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Our relationships are such hard work. People are always getting hurt. People are always getting disappointed. Relationships are a nightmare, but we can’t get along without them. As soon as we try to pull back from relationships, we lose our humanity. Because we’re made in the image of God. And the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—has, from all eternity, been loving and knowing and communicating with each other. Relationship is at the very heart of things. Galatians 5 tells us a lot about relationships. Let’s look at 1) what is the problem? and 2) what is the solution? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 26, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 5:13-15,25-6:5. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Through faith in Christ, through the gospel, through the Holy Spirit, you can experience lasting, deep, radical, permanent change. If you’re going to make such changes, you need to understand the nature of Christian change. You have to understand the nature of it, the pattern of it, and the process of it. Galatians 5 shows us that Christian change is 1) gradual, 2) inevitable, 3) internal, and 4) symmetrical. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 19, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 5:16-18,22-25. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When you become a Christian, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead comes into you spiritually, internally. You have the power to change. You have an unsurpassed power to change. So we have to ask ourselves right away, “Are we settling for too little?” I mean, how much have you changed so far? The power that raised Jesus from the dead, that broke the bands of death, is in you. Now, how does it actually work? Let’s look at 1) the signs of spiritual deadness, 2) the signs of spiritual life, and 3) how you move over from death to life. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 12, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 5:13-25. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Freedom is the greatest value in the modern Western world. The secular model of freedom is basically freedom from something. It says, “I am only free when there’s nothing in my way.” When people come to Christianity, they would like inspiration and help, but they don’t want to give up their freedom. Very often, Christians say to them, “You must give it up. God has a will,” but the Bible doesn’t come at it like that at all. The Bible instead is dripping with the language of freedom. So let’s look at what this text shows us about 1) the failure of secular freedom, and 2) the nature of real Christian freedom. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 5, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 5:5-18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

How could the idea that you’re saved by grace alone be any incentive to live a good life? Paul says the gospel of salvation through free grace, not works, is actually a greater incentive to a life of honesty, sacrifice, and love than anything else. He’s talking about how we change the human heart, and he says the motivation behind what we do is all-important. Paul tells us 1) what the new motivation is, and 2) how the new motivation works. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 29, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 5:5-12. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Most people think the job of religion is to call people into a life of morality. But Paul says that’s not what Christianity is at all. Gospel transformation is completely different than moral reformation. In Galatians 5, Paul says there are two different reasons you could obey God—and the reason for your obedience makes all the difference in the world. Paul tells us 1) there is a wrong reason for moral obedience, and it enslaves us, and 2) there is a whole other engine for obedience, and it is hope and love. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 22, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 5:1-12. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

What’s the purpose of writing a letter to somebody? The purpose is to get something across. So when we read the Bible, we need to have the intellectual integrity to treat it the way we’d want our own communications treated. Galatians 4 is a text that many find difficult to read and interpret. What is Paul saying? What does he mean? But if we understand the context, it really is very simple in the end. If we look at Galatians 4, we’ll see 1) he talks about two sons, 2) then he talks about two covenants, and 3) then he gives two applications. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 15, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 4:21-31. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The difference between a sword and a scalpel at first sight doesn’t seem that great. But you can either cut in order to defeat or in order to heal. The book of Galatians is counseling, and for Paul, truth is a scalpel. He’s not using truth to bludgeon, but to do surgery. And the reason this truth changed other people’s lives was because Paul brought the truth through the mode and channel of true friendship. We’re told three things in this passage about transforming friendships: 1) a friend has a vision for who God is making you, 2) a friend has a vision for Christ being formed in you, and 3) a friend is willing to go into labor pains for it all. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 8, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 4:21-31. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you want to be an agent of reconciliation and change and healing in the lives of others, Paul says something that applies to us all. Paul says the essence of his ministry was this: “become like me, for I became like you.” There are two sides to that sentence. Only by the power of God can you do both. But if you can do both, you can change people’s lives. Here’s what you need: 1) you need ministers, 2) you need the kind of ministers who understand the gospel, and 3) you need ministers who labor until Christ is formed in you. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 1, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 4:12-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

This is a startling passage. The context is that the Galatians, who became Christians out of pagan backgrounds, are now falling under the influence of teachers who say, “It’s not enough just to believe in Jesus Christ. You also have to obey everything in the Bible.” Paul says something here which is astounding. He says that if they do that, they will fall back under what he calls the slavery of the non-gods. So we ask ourselves three questions: 1) what are the non-gods? 2) how do they enslave? and 3) how can we be free? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 22, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 4:8-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

On Today's episode of Gospel in Life, we're previewing the first episode of our new standalone limited podcast series: Cultivating a Healthy Marriage with Tim Keller. Cultivating a Healthy Marriage with Tim Keller is a short podcast series featuring the messages from the most popular sermon series of Dr. Keller’s time at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Preached in 1991, this series was the basis for the bestselling book by Tim and Kathy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage. Whether you’re single, married, widowed, or divorced, through this podcast you’ll learn new ways to apply God’s wisdom about marriage to your life. To listen and subscribe, visit https://marriage.gospelinlife.com or search for Cultivating a Healthy Marriage wherever you listen to podcasts.

As a new Christian, I thought of salvation as taking things off of me: that my sins were taken off. But at the very same moment, there’s another part of that legal transaction: something is put on me. I’m adopted as God’s own son. Galatians tells us that because we’re legally adopted, we have an agent—it’s the Spirit. The Spirit is sent not into the world but into our hearts. And the Spirit comes to give not the objective status, which we already have, but the subjective experience of sonship. Let’s break it into three things: 1) what is promised, 2) what it’s like, and 3) how it comes. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 8, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 3:26-4:7. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The gospel insists on putting two things together that no other religion tries to put together, that all other human categories of thought insist is impossible. How is it possible to have both law and grace in your life? It’s a striking apparent contradiction. In fact, if it doesn’t create some tension in you, you’ll never experience the glorious release Christianity can give. I’d like to pose the central question Paul asks in Galatians 3: is the law opposed to grace? I’d like to show you 1) the significance of the question and 2) the significance of the answer. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 25, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 3:19–29. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

I don’t think there’s any competition on this: the cross is the single most visible and recognizable symbol in human history. It’s everywhere. But what does it mean? Before Christ came, the cross was a gallows, a firing squad, a guillotine. All the cross meant was that you’d lost. It was not a symbol of strength—it was a symbol of weakness. Galatians 3 is perhaps the most complete picture on the meaning of the cross. Let’s look at 1) why the cross is necessary, 2) what actually happened on the cross, and 3) how the cross makes us different. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 18, 1998. Series: Galatians: New Freedom, New Family. Scripture: Galatians 3:10-14. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Whenever we listen or read about marriage we bring our own filters. We have filters based on our experiences and cultures. So before we pick at this passage in Ephesians 5, let’s stand back and consider that the passage presents a view of marriage that may be challenging to our very filters. Because the biblical model of marriage is neither optimistic nor pessimistic about human nature, and it’s neither traditional nor modern. Let’s look at it. The model of marriage in this passage has three things to it: 1) a power, 2) a purpose, and 3) a pointer.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 16, 1998. Series: Ephesians – God’s New Society. Scripture: Ephesians 5:21-33. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When we think of temptation, we tend to almost immediately think of physical kinds of sins. But there are a lot of other temptations. There’s temptation to pride, to despair, to dishonesty. Anything, whether it’s good or not, can become addicting—it becomes your master. That’s what temptation is about. Temptation is about something which may be good or may be bad, but it becomes your master, and therefore, it’s bad. Let’s look at 1) temptation and the devil, 2) the way of attack, and 3) the way of defense. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 22, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: Genesis 3:1-7; 39:6-12. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When Jesus Christ came into the life of the demon-possessed man in Mark 5, it says the man sat at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind. That’s the result of Jesus’ resurrection power: self-control. All of us who look fairly polished on the outside realize, in many cases, our spirits are completely out of control. We look pretty well-manicured, but on the inside, we desperately need to have Christ’s power come into our lives so we can sit as his feet, clothed, and in our right minds. Let’s look at 1) the problem of self-control, 2) the counterfeit solution, and 3) the real self-control. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 15, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: Ephesians 2:1–3; Luke 11:14–26; 1 Corinthians 9:23–27. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We all have a problem with self-control, right? You can probably think of some emotion or some habit you have trouble controlling. And if you can’t think of anything that’s out of control, your pride is out of control. The fruit of the Spirit is a singular word, which means it’s like a diamond with many facets. That’s very important. Because you can manufacture a kind of self-control that is nothing more than willpower, that has nothing to do with love or joy or peace. And that’s not self-control. Let’s look at 1) what self-control is, 2) what self-control is not, and 3) how to get self-control. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 8, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: Galatians 5:19-26. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Goodness and faithfulness are greatly interrelated. They both have to do with integrity, with living honestly. The word integrity is related to integer—a whole number as opposed to a fraction. A person of integrity lives in a unified, not a fractured, way. But today we live in a fragmented world, in which one area of life has one set of values and another area has another set. What does it mean to have a truth-centered life? Let’s look at 1) what the Bible teaches about truth, and then 2) what the Bible teaches about getting the truth into your life, about becoming a person of goodness and faithfulness. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 25, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: 1 John 1:5-2:8. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The Bible says one of the marks of a real Christian is that your love finds expression in deeds of kindness—especially toward those with material, physical, and economic problems. Kindness is loving deeds, doing something for someone out of love. And in a number of places, the Bible says a real Christian will care for the poor. It’s the Christian’s social concern, social responsibility. Let’s look at 1) the definition of kindness 2) the opposite of kindness 3) the counterfeit of kindness, and 4) how we cultivate kindness in our lives. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 11, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: 1 John 3:16-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When the Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is patience, it’s saying a Christian is somebody who at last knows how to deal with anger. You know, anger is a scary thing. Almost all murders and wars start with anger. It’s a tremendously dangerous emotion. And this ability to deal with anger, to really release and remove it, to pray for enemies, to forgive people, to pray for oppressors, to repay evil with good is an essential sign of Christianity. Ephesians 4 shows us three things about anger: 1) anger in itself is not a sin, 2) anger usually is a sin, and 3) your motives are always impure. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 4, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: 1 John 3:11-20, Ephesians 4:26-32. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When we talk about the fruit of the Spirit, love and joy seem like they’re in a higher league than patience. We think, “everybody gets impatient!”  But in James 5, it says impatience and grumbling is worthy of judgment. You may say, “Why?” But what do you think murder is? It’s just grumbles that were planted and watered and fertilized. Impatience is at the root of things.  Let’s look at 1) the danger of impatience 2) what patience is, 3) what patience is not, 4) the counterfeit of patience, and 5) how you develop a patient heart. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 25, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: James 5:7-16. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

A lot of Christians are cast down, losing their peace and joy because they don’t expect attacks on their peace and joy. We’re sad that we’re sad. We’re upset that we’re upset. We say, “it’s not supposed to be like this!” because we don’t have the proper expectations.  Before you became a Christian, your main enemy in life was God: someone who loved you, who was doing everything he could to wake you up. But the minute you make peace with God, instantly, all of God’s enemies declare war on you—and they’re not nice enemies.  We’re going to look at 1) what the Bible says about peace and joy, 2) our three enemies, and 3) the attacks on assurance.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 18, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: Philippians 4:4-9. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When the Bible says joy comes in the morning, it doesn’t mean you’ll wake up every morning with a smile on your face. It means there’s a joy of such intensity in the Christian life that nothing can put it out.  A Christian will receive a joy of such intensity that no sorrow, in the end, can overwhelm it. Sorrow is always a temporary condition for a Christian, and joy is a permanent condition.  To look at the fruit of joy, let’s ask 1) what’s the definition of joy? 2) what’s the opposite of joy? 3) what’s the counterfeit of joy? and 4) how do we cultivate joy in our lives? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 11, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: John 16:16-22. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

They say if you’ve been married long enough you start to look like each other. Whether or not that’s true in marriage, I know that’s true about God and you.  We’re being transformed into the image of his Son. Every fruit of the Spirit, every aspect of holiness comes from looking at God himself. We look now at 1) what it means to study the fruit of the Spirit, 2) why love is more important than anything else, 3) what the opposite of love is, 4) what the counterfeit of love is, and 5) how you develop love in your life. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 4, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In a single acorn is not only the entire tree, but all the acorns on that tree and all the acorns on that tree and so on and so forth. It’s all already in that one acorn.  In the same way, a Christian already has the divine nature in them. When we talk about love, joy, peace, and patience, we’re not talking about how to import these into our hearts. No. The Bible says we must grow up into our salvation. So instead of saying, “Oh, I’ll never get there,” the question is: “When are you going to grow up?” We’re looking at this passage on the fruit of the Spirit as a whole. Galatians 5 shows us 1) there are two natures in every Christian, 2) what it means to live in the Spirit, and 3) how we can walk in the Spirit. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 7, 1990. Series: Fruit of the Spirit. Scripture: Galatians 5:16-25. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The point of Robert Louis Stevenson’s book, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, surely is to make us look at ourselves and say, “Are we that bad? Is the evil in us that evil?” Therefore, another question immediately rises up. Since this story is inspired by the Bible, is this the biblical view of human nature?  On the one hand, Stevenson is profoundly right about human nature, but in another way, he is profoundly wrong. The biblical view of human nature is more pessimistic and more optimistic than any other view I have ever heard of.  Looking at Romans 7, we can see 1) how this pessimistic view is right, 2) how this pessimistic view is wrong, and 3) how to defeat evil and sin in your life. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 24, 1997. Series: The War Between Your Selves. Scripture: Romans 7:1-25. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

All of life is a battle between two selves, but there’s a war before you become a Christian that’s different from the war that happens after you become a Christian.  When you become a Christian, you don’t move from warfare to peace. You move from a battle you cannot win to a battle you cannot lose. To understand the difference is extremely important.  If you look at Romans 7, you’ll see 1) the battle you can’t win, 2) the battle you can’t lose, and 3) how you make the transition. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 17, 1997. Series: The War Between Your Selves. Scripture: Romans 7:1-25. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In Psalm 73, Asaph is mad at God. He’s been living right, but everything is going wrong. Yet all kinds of abusive people are having great lives. Life seems unjust. Asaph’s just about to chuck his faith. Yet at the end, he’s able to say in his pain, “God is always good.”  I’ll tell you, if you’re trying to live a decent life, this is going to happen to you. At some point, you’re going to say, “God, why are you letting this happen? You’re not running my life right. You’re not running history right.” It’s going to happen. How will you handle it?  How does Asaph do it? He goes through a number of steps: 1) he grabbed hold of a negative, 2) he entered the sanctuary for understanding, 3) he saw the big picture, and 4) he asked the ultimate question. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 28, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Psalm 73. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

A lot of people are mad at God. People who believe. People who don’t believe. And people who don’t know what they believe. And in Psalm 73, we see Asaph get mad at the way God seems to be mishandling the world. Asaph has been living a self-controlled, compassionate life, but everything is going wrong. On top of that, he sees all sorts of people who live abusive, immoral lives, and they’re having a great life. Yet we’re told that Asaph finally comes to the conclusion that God, in spite of it all, is good.  How does he get there? We’re going to look at this psalm over two weeks. This week I want to show you 1) the situation he was in, 2) how he escaped it, and 3) how he finally came to say, “God is good, no matter what happens to me.” This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 21, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Psalm 73. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jesus’ teaching about money here is triggered by an event: a Pharisee gets upset that Jesus didn’t wash his hands before he ate his food.  The ceremonial washings of the Old Testament were visual aids for the idea that you need to approach God with a clean heart. But the Pharisees had turned religion into a matter of externalities. Jesus slams that whole idea. He refuses to emphasize the external over the internal, but he also refuses to pit the external against the internal. Instead, Jesus says true religion is living externally out of an inner reality.  Jesus applies this to the issue of financial giving, teaching us three things about our attitude toward our possessions and our giving: 1) there’s an external aspect, 2) there’s an internal aspect, and 3) there’s a spiritual motor that energizes and drives both. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 14, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Luke 11:37-42. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Everyone points to a different reason for why the city has problems. The futurologists will say, “Technology has doomed the city. We don’t need to live in proximity anymore.” The liberals will say, “Racism has doomed the city.” The conservatives will say, “Big government and taxes have doomed the city.” Many Christians will say, “God has doomed the city for its wickedness.” But what the Bible says about the city is far more optimistic and far more pessimistic than anything you’ll find in the newspapers. It’s far more hopeful and yet far more realistic than any of the defenders or the detractors of the modern city. The Bible teaches 1) that God invented the city, 2) why God invented the city, and 3) that God sends us into the city. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 7, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Genesis 11, Proverbs 11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Guilt is a lot like an iceberg. You don’t see much above the surface, but if you really look, you’ll see it’s under everything. So how do you deal with a guilty conscience?  In Psalm 51, David has been plunged—through the shock of recognizing the magnitude of evil he’s done—into the depths. Imagine the guilt, the shame, the horror, the self-hatred. He’s plunged into an emotional and spiritual dungeon. And yet this psalm is a record of his rescue. There’s no good human explanation for how he got out. But he got out. Here’s how he did it: he made two critical distinctions. He learned 1) the distinction between remorse and real repentance, and 2) the distinction between a reprieve and regeneration. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 31, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Psalm 51. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Of the articles and books I survey on worry or anxiety, they almost always say, “The things you’re worried about may never happen. So don’t think about them.” But in Psalm 27, David does the opposite: he visualizes the worst things that can happen. Why? Because he wants to have a strategy of life that can stand up to anything.  Psalm 27 has a refreshing realism, even though it’s full of tremendous promises. It shows that you can have a way of dealing with anger, anxiety, and fear that assumes the worst things may and can happen.  How can you have a strategy that will enable you to face any of stresses of life? By 1) dwelling, 2) gazing, and 3) seeking. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 24, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Psalm 27. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

A Newsweek cover story said that after a 30-year spree, our entire society is waking up with a monstrous hangover, facing a values vacuum. It said that we realize unlimited personal freedom is not the way to build a society, but now we face the question of whose values we should use. If you think the Bible’s answer to the values vacuum is simply “Let’s get back to traditional values,” you don’t understand how penetrating and nuanced and sophisticated the biblical answer is.  What is the biblical answer to the search for values? Psalm 19 tells us three things: 1) so-called “moral values” must be based on universal moral absolutes, 2) submission to God’s moral absolutes do not enslave—they liberate, and 3) God’s moral absolutes will destroy you unless they have assumed the right role in your life. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 17, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Psalm 19. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When it comes to building up identity and self-esteem, I’m afraid Americans are very pragmatic—and our pragmatism gets to us. Our books and articles say if you want self-esteem, you should lose weight, change your friends, switch your career, and so on. But nobody asks why. They don’t like to think about the underlying theory. It’s important to understand that there are certain reigning theories of identity formation. Unless you recognize them and analyze them, you’ll just pick them up like a virus.  Let’s divide our inquiry into two parts: 1) what the world says is the way to find out who you are and 2) what the Bible says is the way to find out who you are. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 10, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Psalm 8. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

A fool can be brilliant and a fool can be stupid. Foolishness is not a function of your intelligence. Foolishness is a function of how you use your intelligence.  The Bible says every human being is born with a heavy streak of foolishness. It’s like a deposit. It’s foolishness, according to the Bible, that destroys our sense of God’s reality. And it’s a common reason why people have trouble believing God is real. The Bible tells us 1) foolishness is a proud willfulness that keeps us from learning, 2) foolishness is a superficiality that makes it impossible to see our own heart commitments as alternatives to believing in God, and 3) foolishness can’t understand grace. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 3, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Psalm 14. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

There is a thirst in the human heart that will not be denied. It cannot be denied. That thirst is for transcendence. Transcendence is intimacy with the infinite. Psalm 63 is about the search for transcendence. It says there is irreducible knowledge, there is terrible thirst, and there’s only one resolution for it.  Psalm 63 tells us 1) the human heart needs transcendence and 2) how the human heart can find transcendence. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 26, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Psalm 63. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

A plant without roots is at best a tumbleweed. Is a tumbleweed freer than an oak tree? Yeah, it’s free to be blown about forever.  There is what the Bible calls a rootlessness and a weightlessness about our society right now. Many of the problems you face today are that you’ve been affected deeply by this weightlessness we experience in our culture and society.  The roots of this rootlessness were addressed long ago in Psalm 1, which tells us 1) the diagnosis of rootlessness and 2) the prescription for rootlessness. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 19, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Psalm 1. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Have you in this modern world learned how to become happy and stay happy? I hope you don’t think that’s a trivial question. Because if you read the psychology books, the urban planning books, the biochemistry books, the political science books, they’re really about this problem: we’re not happy. How can we be happy?  The Bible has always said the issues that make you happy or unhappy are profoundly cosmic and spiritual. In Psalm 1, we see 4 principles: 1) happiness is possible, 2) happiness is fundamental, not superficial, 3) happiness can never be found directly, and 4) happiness is something you choose. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 12, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Psalm 1. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jesus, in Matthew 18, uses a word for conversion that means to turn completely around and face in a whole new direction. That’s a perfect image of what Christian conversion really is.  Christian conversion is a radical inner transformation. But it’s not so much a replacing of what you are as a re-facing of what you are. Your temperament doesn’t go away; your culture doesn’t go away. But everything you are is now lived on a whole new basis. The case study of Cornelius the centurion teaches us four important facts. Christian conversion comes 1) through God’s initiative, 2) through the challenge to religion, 3) through the transformation of the Holy Spirit, and 4) through the words of the gospel. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 30, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Acts 10:27-47. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Christianity was originally never understood as a set of teachings that one took on. Christianity was a power that took you up. It completely turned you inside out, transformed you from the inside.  The classic example is the conversion of Paul. Paul was an abusive, violent zealot. He went from someone who was deeply unhappy and restless to someone who was utterly unflappable, absolutely content. How? A radical, deep conversion.  We all need to know how to live deeply converted lives. And though Paul’s conversion is dramatic, it shows three things involved in every conversion: 1) an untame God, 2) a stubborn fact, and 3) a radical relationship. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 23, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Acts 9:1-19. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Conversion is a radical change of life. And in its early days, Christianity grew through conversions. It spread so rapidly that it changed a hostile society completely. What does it mean to become a Christian? By looking at the conversions in Acts, we can see what Christianity really is.  In this passage, the conversion of an Ethiopian, we learn three things: 1) who converts, 2) the context of conversion, and 3) the key instrument conversion uses. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 16, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Acts 8:26-40. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Christianity was born into a culture that was every bit as resistant and unsympathetic to its claims as ours is. So how did its message come into the lives of people and actually change them?  In Acts, we have more case studies of conversion than anywhere else in the Bible. And in this passage, Luke chooses three to show us both how incredibly different and yet how incredibly similar Christian conversions can be.  What does it mean to be a Christian, and how do you become a Christian? 1) Lydia is a case of the gospel for the religious, 2) the slave girl is a case of the gospel for the oppressed, and 3) the jailer is a case of the gospel for the secular. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 9, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Acts 16:13-34. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The biggest problem people have in believing in God is probably the problem of evil and suffering.  In the Greek imagination, the voyage was a metaphor for your life’s journey, and a storm was a metaphor for the evil and suffering and tragedies that come upon us. In this passage in Acts, Luke is in a boat, and he includes this account to teach us about the problems of evil and suffering. Let’s take a look at what he teaches under three headings: 1) the paradox of the storm, 2) the product of the storm, and 3) the presence in the storm. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 2, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Acts 27:15-32. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Christianity was born into a society hostile to its claims. And the claim that was most revolting to that society is also what our society sees as the most repugnant: the shocking claim that salvation is found in no one else. It’s critical to realize this claim was as implausible in the Greco-Roman world as it is in ours. The Roman Empire was every bit as religiously pluralistic as our society, if not more. If they were as revolted as we were, why did so many believe it?  Acts 4 shows us four important things: 1) the claim was an implication, not arrogation, 2) the claim is no more exclusive than the claim of religious relativism, 3) this exclusive claim led to a transformation of identity, and 4) this exclusive claim led to the most inclusive human community the world had ever seen. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 26, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Acts 4:8-14, 31-37. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The culture in which Christianity was born was every bit as skeptical of the claims of Christianity as ours is. But the case for Christianity was made so strongly that skeptical people believed in numbers so great that it changed the entire Roman culture.  There’s no better place to see the case that changed the whole Roman Empire than the book of Acts. Within it, there are a number of spots where Paul or Peter make the case, including this famous spot where Paul speaks to the intellectual elites on Mars Hill in the Areopagus.  This text shows three aspects to the persuasive power of gospel: 1) the cultural, 2) the intellectual, and 3) the personal. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 19, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Acts 17:16-34. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

It’s a simple fact that in the Greco-Roman world, the claims of Christianity were found every bit as implausible, if not more, than people find them now. So why did so many people believe?  Fortunately, we have a case study in Theophilus. How does a cultured, intellectually sophisticated person living in a culture that’s hostile to the basic claims of Christianity come to believe Christianity is true? The answer in a nutshell: the resurrection.  Whether we already believe or aren’t sure we believe, because of the resurrection we can know three things: 1) the truth is out there, 2) the truth is up there, and 3) the truth is in there.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 12, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Acts 1:1-11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When the Jewish exiles got to Babylon, they found a huge city—hostile, big, brutal—and it was filled with other exiles, with different people groups and radically different views. Our culture is not so different. Liberals feel our country is so conservative that they’re pulling their hair out, and conservatives feel our country is so liberal that they’re pulling their hair out. Both groups feel like exiles. Millions of ethnic minorities feel like exiles. So how do you respond to a city that’s hostile to your views? How do you live in a fragmented society?  God’s answer to the Jewish exiles is astounding. In it, we see three things: 1) wrong ways to relate to the city, 2) God’s way to relate to the city, and 3) how to get the power to do it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 5, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Jeremiah 29:4-14. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re not at home. We live in a world that doesn’t sustain or support the deepest needs of our hearts. Martin Heidegger (a fascist sympathizer) and Karl Marx (the father of Communism) were very different, prominent thinkers; yet, they both agreed that we can’t understand the human condition without the concept of alienation. Of course, that immediately raises the question, why wouldn’t we feel at home here?  The prophet Jeremiah gives us a lot of insight: 1) why we long for a home, 2) how we can get home, and 3) what life there will be like. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 28, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Jeremiah 31:10-17; 31-34. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In a culture where people really don’t know who they are and what life’s about—in a fragmented culture like ours—the fastest way to still feel good about ourselves is romance. It’s the ultimate philosophical narcotic.  “I don’t know what life is about, but when I’m with her or him, I feel somehow life is significant.” Do you see? It’s an end run. That’s the reason why in all fragmented cultures, romance and sex and marriage can either be the ultimate fatal detour or a clue to how to find your way home.  Jeremiah tells us about 1) an incredible offer: the ultimate lover; 2) the problem with the offer: that we’re faithless lovers; and 3) the resolution: a redeemed love relationship. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 21, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Jeremiah 2:31-36; 3:12-16. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In a fragmented culture like ours, identity formation is a challenge. We decide our own goals and standards, and we get our sense of worth from whether we can achieve them. Jeremiah shows us that there’s something profoundly disordered and sick about the way in which we form our identities. In a traditional culture, where identities and roles are assigned, it might be hard to recognize this. But in our culture, where we’re actively aware of identity formation, we can better see what Jeremiah means. Jeremiah shows us 1) how identities are formed, 2) why our identities are sick, 3) a glimpse of a cured identity, and 4) the medicine that can cure it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 14, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Jeremiah 9:21-26. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We live in a fragmented culture. There’s no consensus about the big questions of what’s right and wrong and true. Jeremiah is a prophet in this same situation—he lived and wrote in a fragmented culture.  One of the challenges of a fragmented culture is living in the cafeteria of different worldviews, religions, and systems of thought. It’s typical to respond by saying, “I don’t think anybody has the answer.” But Jeremiah shows us that this very statement is ignorant of how the heart works. Jeremiah shows us that we need to see three things about the human heart: 1) the radical faith of every heart, 2) the radical flaw in every heart, and 3) the radical cure for every heart. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 7, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Jeremiah 17:5-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jesus Christ says not just “I was resurrected,” but “I am the resurrection.” Present tense. He comes after his resurrection with his arms full of newness.  I don’t know why we get into gift-giving at Christmas—I think we ought to be getting into it at Easter. Because as soon as Jesus Christ shows up risen from the dead, he is giving out all kinds of gifts of newness.  Let’s look at these gifts and divide them into two parts: 1) there is the gift of faith, and 2) there are all the rest of the gifts that come out of that. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 15, 1990. Scripture: John 20:10-29. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’ve been looking at the life of Jesus and we come now to the risen Jesus. At the end of the gospel of Luke, the risen Jesus does four things that change the lives of his disciples forever. And because he’s the risen Jesus, he can do the very same things for us right now.  Jesus 1) answers the doubts of their minds by arguing with them, 2) satisfies the needs of their hearts by eating with them, 3) reforges the direction of their lives by sending them, and 4) shows them his hands and his feet. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 20, 2003. Series: The Meaning of Jesus Part 3; Seeing Him. Scripture: Luke 24:36-49. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The night Jesus was betrayed has a theme: darkness, night. Right in the middle of the passage, Jesus makes an odd statement: “But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.” What that must mean is the physical darkness is a representation of something deeper.  There’s a darkness that blinds the eyes, and then there’s a darkness that blinds the heart and the mind and the soul. It’s a spiritual darkness. This is the thing Jesus came to deal with. Because he came to deal with it, there’s a solution for it.  There are three incidents that happened in the physical dark. The first two tell us about our condition, and the third tells us what Jesus has come to do about it. The incidents: 1) the soldiers reject Jesus, 2) the disciples reject him, and 3) even his Father rejects him. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 13, 2003. Series: The Meaning of Jesus Part 3; Seeing Him. Scripture: Luke 22:39-64. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

One of the great questions of history is, “Why in the world did the early Christians adopt the cross as their main symbol?”  All the other founders of the great religions died old and successful. In absolute contrast, you have Jesus, who dies at age 33, ignominiously, in agony, abandoned by everyone. But on the night before he died, Jesus gave his disciples the interpretation, the meaning of his death on the cross, and when it was all over, it changed them and the world.  Jesus tells us four life-changing principles about his death: 1) Jesus’ death is the center of history, 2) Jesus’ death is the foundation for a radically new, profoundly different community, 3) Jesus’ death is the solution to the great mystery, and 4) Jesus’ death is appropriated personally. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 6, 2003. Series: The Meaning of Jesus Part 3; Seeing Him. Scripture: Luke 22:14-34. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The last week of Jesus’ life addresses not just our minds or our wills, but our hearts. We are to see Jesus, to meet Jesus.  As Luke shows us the last days of Jesus’ life, all the doctrines and themes will be narratively depicted in the most vivid way. They’re driven home so we can really see Jesus and have an existential encounter with him.  Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem shows us who he is, what he can do for us, why he can do it, and how he can do it. In other words, it shows us 1) he’s the actual king, 2) he’s the transformational king, 3) he’s the paradoxical king, and 4) he’s the confrontational king. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 30, 2003. Series: The Meaning of Jesus Part 3; Seeing Him. Scripture: Luke 19:28-40; 45-48. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you ask the question, “Why should a believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ be passionately involved with the poor?” this text gives you the answers.  Isaiah 61 is the last of the Servant songs, a prophecy about the Servant of the Lord. And Jesus Christ preached from this in his first sermon. When Jesus reads this, he’s saying, “This is the essence of my mission. I have come to bring good news for the poor.” What does that mean?  The three reasons why a believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ should be deeply involved with the life of the poor are 1) because of the future, 2) because of the present, and 3) because of the past.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 28, 2010. Series: The Songs of the Servant (from Isaiah). Scripture: Isaiah 58:6-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

This is a text of realism. There are many promises in the Bible about the great blessings Jesus’ salvation brings. In Isaiah 57, we have a reminder that we still live in a world filled with tragedy, difficulty, and suffering.  The salvation we get from Jesus is by no means an exemption from the same brokenness that everyone else in the world is experiencing. Rather, the salvation is wonderful because it gives us the resources to face the brokenness in a way we never could without it.  In this chapter, let’s look at 1) what we face in life as Christians, 2) how we should try to face it, and 3) why we can be assured that we’ll be able to. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 21, 2010. Series: The Songs of the Servant (from Isaiah). Scripture: Isaiah 57:12-21. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

For some, when they hear that salvation is absolutely free, their first response is to say, “If I really believed that, then I wouldn’t have any incentive to live a good life.”  To that, I would say, “If, when you lose all fear of being smacked by God, you lose all incentive to live a good life, then the only incentive you ever had was fear. You need a better incentive.” See, if you realize the implications of the costly love of Jesus, it’s going to change your whole life. Isaiah 56 shows that when we receive salvation 1) it creates a new concern for living justly in the world, 2) it creates a new kind of community of believers who are absolutely equal before God and radically accepting of differences, and 3) we get an everlasting name that will never be cut off.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 14, 2010. Series: The Songs of the Servant (from Isaiah). Scripture: Isaiah 56:1-8. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

There are two pictures of two different women in Isaiah 54. And they teach us something miraculous. These last chapters of Isaiah are about a figure called the Servant of the Lord who is going to bring God’s salvation to the world. The New Testament writers identify Jesus Christ as the Servant of the Lord. And Isaiah 54 talks about the salvation he brings. From the two pictures in this passage, we learn about 1) miraculous births, 2) a miraculous marriage, and 3) the kind of miraculous life that flows from them. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 28, 2010. Series: The Songs of the Servant (from Isaiah). Scripture: Isaiah 54:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Isaiah 52 is the best chapter in the whole Bible to explain what happened on the cross. We know that because the New Testament writers were constantly referring back to it. It was the basis for their understanding of what happened on the cross.  As I stand as a preacher before this text, I not only see too much in it to tell you, I feel too much about it to express to you. Therefore, I want to give you a due sense of the solemnity of this text. I want you to exercise the mental equivalent of taking your shoes off, because this is a holy place. Looking at each of the five stanzas, it teaches us to 1) understand the mixture, 2) accept the ordinariness, 3) realize the magnitude of the love, 4) commit to justice, 5) live out of and live off of the principle. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 21, 2010. Series: The Songs of the Servant (from Isaiah). Scripture: Isaiah 52:13-53:12. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

What did Jesus come into the world to do?  In the final chapters of Isaiah, a mysterious figure called the Servant of the Lord is prophesied. This figure is going to come into the world and bring God’s salvation. And the New Testament writers identify this prophesied Servant of the Lord as Jesus.  Isaiah 50 is the third of the Servant songs, and it 1) tells us about the life we ought to live, 2) shows us where to get the power to live that life, and then 3) explains why that power works. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 14, 2010. Series: The Songs of the Servant (from Isaiah). Scripture: Isaiah 50:4-11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Isaiah 49 gives a sweeping, panoramic view of God’s salvation. But immediately following that promise, there’s a fascinating skeptical response. This is the second of the Servant songs, a prophecy about the Servant of the Lord, who the New Testament writers identify as Jesus. In it, it shows that there’s a salvation soon… and then eventually… and then ultimately. But to this view, Israel skeptically says, “There are all these promises of loving action, but I don’t feel loved.” And God responds. Let’s look at these verses to see 1) a painful question, 2) an answer to the question, 3) a cure for the pain. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 7, 2010. Series: The Songs of the Servant (from Isaiah). Scripture: Isaiah 49:1-16. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Isaiah prophesies about a mysterious figure called the Servant of the Lord. In the New Testament, the writers identify the Servant of the Lord with Jesus Christ.  These prophecies tell us some things about Jesus, about his work, about what he brings, and about ourselves that we learn nowhere else. Many of the prophecies are called songs, the servant songs. Let’s introduce ourselves to this servant, and therefore, to what this tells us about Jesus Christ. The first of the servant songs is in Isaiah 42. We see depicted here 1) a servant king, 2) a healing king, and 3) a suffering king. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 31, 2010. Series: The Songs of the Servant (from Isaiah). Scripture: Isaiah 42:1-9. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you thought when you became a Christian you were leaving the fight to get into peace and tranquility, Paul says you were wrong. The Christian life is a fight. But now you have divine resources.  We come now to the last piece of the armor of God: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” At the beginning and at the end of talking about how to live a victorious Christian life, Paul talks about the Bible. It shows that everything we do in putting on the armor is a matter of taking Scripture and digesting it, applying it, working it out.  Let’s look at how 1) the truth is in the beginning of the armor, 2) the truth is at the end of the armor, and 3) how to take it up. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 12, 1992. Series: Spiritual Warfare – The Armor of God. Scripture: Ephesians 6:14-18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In the Bible, salvation is a broader term than what we usually use in the Christian church. We’re looking at the armor of God, and we turn now to another piece: the helmet of salvation. A lot of churches use the word salvation in the past tense: “I’ve been saved,” or “When were you saved?” If you’re accustomed to this, you might get confused when you see that often in the Bible, the word salvation for Christians is used in the present or future tense.  Let’s look at: 1) the past tense of salvation, 3) the present tense of salvation, 3) the future tense of salvation, and 4) how to put it on. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 5, 1992. Series: Spiritual Warfare – The Armor of God. Scripture: Ephesians 6:14-18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Fiery arrows do not come all throughout the battle. When do they come? Right when you’ve decided to storm the stronghold of the enemy.  We’re looking at the armor of God—it’s an illustration Paul uses as a way of saying we have everything we need to meet the battles of life, but we must make use of those resources. And in looking at the shield of faith, we see that the more we decide to get our lives together, the more likely we are to find fiery arrows coming at us. This passage on the shield of faith teaches us: 1) God lets Satan send us fiery trials, 2) we should expect fiery trials, and 3) faith is not a passive thing. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 29, 1992. Series: Spiritual Warfare – The Armor of God. Scripture: Ephesians 6:14-18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you’re trying to do anything more important than to just get ahead in life, you’ll know the shield of faith is extremely important. Because let’s face it: the enemy attacks at the front line.  Your front line is the place where you go out on a limb to do something because you know it’ll make a difference—perhaps in this neighborhood, this city. When you go to the front line, there are all sorts of flying missiles with your name on them. That’s the reason we’re talking about this piece of armor: the shield of faith. Let’s look at 1) what it is, 2) when you need it, and 3) how to put it on. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 22, 1992. Series: Spiritual Warfare – The Armor of God. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Paul says a Christian should be characterized by readiness, a spiritual buoyancy that comes from the use of the gospel of peace.  We’re looking at the armor of God and we’re in the third part of our examination of the shoes and this one little phrase about the gospel of peace. There are three basic parts this phrase teaches us: 1) there is a joy through the gospel, 2) that brings peace with God, and 3) that brings peace with people. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 8, 1992. Series: Spiritual Warfare – The Armor of God. Scripture: Ephesians 6:14-18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When Paul talks about shoes, he’s talking about a kind of spiritual athleticism.  The idea behind the armor of God is that God has given us all sorts of things we aren’t using. The shoes were part of the armor, and the shoes of the Roman soldier had to be gripping, tough, and light. The only kind of shoes in our culture that need these qualities are athletic shoes.  We’re going to continue our look at the shoes of the readiness of the gospel of peace by looking at 1) what is spiritual athleticism, 2) what you have to have for spiritual athleticism, and 3) how to develop spiritual athleticism. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 1, 1992. Series: Spiritual Warfare – The Armor of God. Scripture: Ephesians 6:14-18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Some of you may be surprised that when Paul thinks about armor, he lists the shoes.  Paul goes through the pieces of equipment that a Roman soldier would wear. It’s an illustration on how to live the Christian life, and it gets at a balance that is critical to understand: the balance of how much of the Christian life is your exertion and how much is God’s working in you. To understand this particular piece of armor, we have to ask ourselves a couple of questions about the footwear of a Roman soldier: 1) what role did shoes have? 2) what do the shoes represent? and 3) what’s the gospel of peace? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 23, 1992. Series: Spiritual Warfare – The Armor of God. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When you fail, when people accuse you, when people reject you, how do you defend yourself? How do you look yourself in the mirror?  We all have a problem of feeling unpresentable, of deeply seeking to be examined and approved. In Ephesians 6, Paul talks about the breastplate, about the fact that we all have to have a righteousness to cover our hearts. We have to have some way of defending ourselves against accusation.  In continuing our look at the breastplate of righteousness, let’s look at 1) the false solution that is the secular way, 2) the false solution that is the religious way, and 3) how to put on the real remedy. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 16, 1992. Series: Spiritual Warfare – The Armor of God. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you’re on your back and you’re a Christian, it’s because there are resources in your faith that you’re not using. Paul exhorts Christians to take the benefits and resources in the gospel, and to not just believe in them but to use them—so that in day-to-day challenges you’re able to stand. Each piece of the armor of God is one of those benefits, and we’re looking now at the breastplate of righteousness. In this series, we’ve talked about what this righteousness is not. Let’s continue our inquiry now and ask two questions: 1) what is this righteousness? and 2) how do you put it on as a breastplate?  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 9, 1992. Series: Spiritual Warfare – The Armor of God. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When you become a Christian, there’s a sense in which you receive all of the blessings and all of the privileges and power and benefits instantly. But there’s another sense in which you don’t.  You’ve received the armor when you became a Christian, but then the process of growing in grace is actually a process of sticking each piece on, piece by piece. We’re continuing our look at the armor of God by looking at 1) what it means to put on the belt of truth, and then, 2) what it means to understand the breastplate of righteousness. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 2, 1992. Series: Spiritual Warfare – The Armor of God. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The armor of God is the benefits, the privileges, and the freedoms you have in the gospel.  To put on the armor of God means to get a new mindset. It’s to look at yourself and look at the world in a new way—through those truths and through those freedoms.  Let’s continue our look at 1) what the armor of God is. Then we’ll turn to the first item of armor, the belt of truth: 2) what it is, and 3) how to put it on. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 26, 1992. Series: Spiritual Warfare – The Armor of God. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

What are we supposed to do so we don’t lead defeated lives? Ephesians 6 tells us about spiritual warfare, about the problems that get thrown at us. And it also tells us about our arsenal, the full armor of God. We’re now going to look not so much at what is being thrown at us, but at what we can do to respond to it, how we can defend ourselves.  We’re beginning a series on the full armor of God, looking at 1) what is is and 2) how to put it on. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 19, 1992. Series: Spiritual Warfare – The Armor of God. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

You make or break your life on the basis of your choices. In Hebrew Scriptures, the word for guidance is usually derived from the word for rope because the ropes were the method of navigation for sailors. They used ropes to lower or move or raise the sails. Without them, they’d be blown totally off course. So the question is how do you get God’s guidance? How do you get God’s navigation, so that when you have all these choices, you know the right course to take?  By looking at these proverbs we can see 1) the guidance God does, 2) the guidance God gives, and 3) the guidance God purchases for us. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 12, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 11:3; 12:5, 15; 15:22; 16:1-4, 9, 25, 33; 21:5; 27:1. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We all at certain times have a lot of trouble dealing with the deep, conflicting, confusing, powerful, sometimes warring dynamic impulses and feelings that just roll through our hearts.  Sometimes we don’t feel we have any power over it. We don’t know how we got to feeling like that. We don’t know what to do about it. We need wisdom with regard to the complex realities of the inner being, the inner life, or what we would today call the psychological life. Proverbs shows us that we won’t be wise unless we understand 1) the priority of the inner life, 2) the complexity of the inner life, 3) the solitude of the inner life, and 4) the healing of the inner life. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 5, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 12:25; 13:12; 14:10, 13, 30; 15:4,13-14; 16:2; 18:14; 28:1. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at qualities you must have in order to live a wise life. Today, we come to self-control.  A man or woman without self-control is not going to live a wise life, is not going to make wise choices. They’re going to mess up their lives, and they’re going to mess up the lives of people around them.  We learn three things from Proverbs about self-control: we learn 1) the problem of self-control, 2) the principle of self-control, and 3) the practice of self-control. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 28, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 18:10; 23:19-21; 25:28; Titus 2:11-14. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Anybody who reads the book of Proverbs will see how often the book talks about the subject of work.  It talks positively about work under the heading of “diligence.” It talks negatively about work under the heading of “sluggard” or “sluggardliness.”  Proverbs says if you want to have a fulfilled human life, you have to do four things regarding work: you have to 1) do your work, 2) love your work, 3) re-narrate your work, and 4) redeem your work. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 21, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 8:1-4; 10:4-5; 12:10-11; 15:19; 22:29; 27:18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Americans are how-to oriented. We want a technique. But Proverbs doesn’t give methods for wise decisions. Instead, it says, “Here’s the kind of person you have to become to make wise decisions.”  And here is the one character quality that’s most crucial for becoming a wise person. Over and over, the Bible says, “If you think you’re wise, you’re a fool; but if you’re aware of your foolishness, you’re on your way to becoming wise.” This is about pride and humility. We’re going to learn three things from these texts: 1) the diagnosis of pride (what it is), 2) the destructiveness of pride (what it does), and 3) the antidote for pride. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 14, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 11:2, 12; 13:10; 15:25, 33; 16:18-19; 21:4; 28:26. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Very basic to the development of wisdom is the ability to understand and channel the deep currents of our hearts. The book of Proverbs looks at the subject of wisdom. And in these passages, we come to a theme the Bible says is very important to understand: envy.  Let’s look at three things: 1) how to understand envy, 2) why to deal with envy, and 3) where to take your envy. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 7, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 23:17-18; Psalm 73:1-3, 20-26. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

You will have a mess of a life if you only follow the rules and don’t have actual wisdom in the area of money. Wisdom is not less than being moral and good; it’s much more. It’s knowing the right choice in the majority of life situations that moral rules don’t address. People who only look to the rules in the area of money are going to be destructively unwise in their lives. Proverbs shows three things you need to know to be wise in the area of money and possessions: 1) the power of money, 2) the reasons for the power of money, and 3) how to break the power of money and use it in your life. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 31, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 10:15-16; 11:1, 4, 24, 26; 13:21, 23; 30:8-9. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In order to be wise, we have to learn how to understand and manage the power of sexuality.  Wisdom is not less than being moral and good, but it’s quite a bit more. It’s knowing the right decision to make in the vast majority of life situations that the moral rules don’t address. If we’re going to be wise with regard to sex, we have to know three things: 1) why and how we tend to undervalue sex, 2) why and how we tend, at the same time, to overvalue sex, and 3) how we can solve that. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 24, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 5:15-19; 11:16, 22; 30:18-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you’re going to live a wise life and have a discerning heart, you need to understand anger.  Wisdom is knowing the right decision in the vast majority of life situations that the moral rules don’t address. And in order to be wise, you need to be able to understand and handle anger—not only in yourself, but in other people as well.  There are four things we need to learn about anger: 1) its dangerous power, 2) its basic goodness, 3) why it goes wrong, and 4) how it can be healed. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 17, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 14:29-30; 15:1, 18; 16:32; 19:11, 19; 24:28-29; 25:21-22. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

One of the main themes of the Bible is that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. But what does that mean?  There’s a place in Job where God shows how important this term is when he says, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him in all the earth; a man who fears God and shuns evil.” It’s obvious the term “fear of the Lord” is something that summarizes everything we’re supposed to do and be. So why is it important and what in the world is it?  From these passages from Proverbs, I’m going to show you that I think the fear of the Lord is 1) beginning with God, 2) knowing God, 3) trusting God, and 4) discovering the grace of God.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 10, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6; 9:10; 16:6; 19:23; 20:9; 23:17-18; 28:14. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The appeal of legalism—of multiplying more and more rules—is so we don’t have to think. We want a rule to cover every situation. We don’t want to have to actually think out the implications.  But you know what? No matter how much you multiply rules, you’ll never cover all of the situations. It just doesn’t work. You need wisdom. Wisdom is being in touch with and understanding reality. What does it mean to be in touch with reality?  In these passages in Proverbs and Revelation we’re taught 1) the persistence of reality, 2) the problems with reality, and 3) how it gets healed. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 3, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 5:16-23; Revelation 21:1-5. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Most of the situations you face in life aren’t covered by moral rules: “Do I say something, or do I wait? Do I act, or should I be more passive?” The rules don’t cover those things. And yet, you will sink, and the people around you will sink, unless you get wisdom.  Wisdom is not having a technique for making choices. Wisdom is having the character of mind and heart that enables you to make the right choices. How do you get that character?  Proverbs 4 shows us 1) how this character develops, 2), where this character comes from, and 3) how character can be transformed. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 26, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 4:11-27. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

It’s not good enough to be a person of vision, a person of high principle, a person of high moral values. Not if you’re not a person of wisdom.  Wisdom is knowing the right thing to do in the 80 percent of life situations to which the moral rules don’t apply. For most of our decisions, there are four or five different options, and they’re all moral. Which is the right one? We have decisions to make, and if we don’t make them wisely, we’re going to blow up our lives and the lives of people around us.  How do we get wisdom? Proverbs 3 shows us 1) the path of wisdom, 2) the process of wisdom, and 3) the man off the mountain. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 19, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 3:1-12; 30:1-4. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Ancient societies usually had more consensus about morality. Partly because of that, I think they saw something we have a harder time seeing: that moral standards, as important as they are, don’t actually address most of the situations we face.  If you’re going to avoid making an absolute mess of your life, you need something we hardly talk about today. It’s not identical to knowledge, and it’s not identical even to moral goodness. It’s wisdom.  For wisdom, there’s no better place than to go to the book of Proverbs. And this passage shows us 1) the importance of wisdom, 2) the definition of wisdom, 3) the problem of wisdom, and 4) a clue to its solution. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 12, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 8:10-16; 22-31. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jesus addresses our worry about money.  We are in the grips of anxiety about money, about what we will eat, about what we will drink, where we will live, whether we can make the rent. We are in deep anxiety. Jesus comes to us and says, “Stop it!” But he’s a surgeon, not a sergeant. He goes underneath and says, “Let me show you why. Let me help you out.”  Jesus teaches us 1) that money makes us deeply anxious, 2) why money makes us deeply anxious, and then 3) how to break the power of money. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 23, 1997. Series: Stewardship, Generosity and Money. Scripture: Luke 12:22-34. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jesus addresses a crowd with some things he wants them to hear, but he also gives them some things he wants them to overhear. Jesus wants the crowd to overhear him talking to his disciples about their money. And I’ve begun to realize that one of the main ways you will come to know and understand who Jesus is and what he’s done is if you see him talking to his disciples about their money.  If you’re not sure what you believe, Jesus is not asking for your money. But if you want to understand him, you need to hear what he says to his disciples. This passage shows us three r’s: 1) a request, 2) a refusal, and 3) a rebuke.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 16, 1997. Series: Stewardship, Generosity and Money. Scripture: Luke 12:13-21. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Christmas shows why Christianity is unique. In all other religions, a prophet arrives and teaches how we can find eternal life. In Christianity, God himself comes to us and gives himself as the way to eternal life. Christmas shows that salvation is by grace, that we can have true intimacy with God, that love really matters, and that there exists an unceasing river of joy beneath all the sorrows of this world. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 18, 2011. Series: Christmas 2011. Scripture: 1 John 1:1-4. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In public these days, Christmas is seen as meaning that if we work hard, if we hold hands and breathe in unison, if we get together, we can make the world a better place. It’s like the song in the Live Aid concert in 1985, “We Are the World.” That’s what most people think the meaning of Christmas is.  But after that 1985 concert, Bob Dylan said to the press that he was uncomfortable singing a song like that. They asked him why. He said, “Because man cannot save himself.” So we look today unto Bob Dylan for the true meaning of Christmas—because he got it right.  The Bible says Jesus Christ came because we cannot save ourselves. Colossians 1 shows us 1) the need for reconciliation, 2) the way of reconciliation, and 3) the radical, thorough results of reconciliation. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 24, 1995. Series: Advent: God and Sinners Reconciled. Scripture: Colossians 1:19-23. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If the baby in the manger was God—not just a guru, not just a supernatural being, not just the first created thing, not just a hologram, but God himself—it should make a difference in our lives. Christmas is about the incarnation: God becoming human. And Colossians 1 is a roller coaster ride through the doctrine of the incarnation. There are hairpin turns: Jesus was God, and though he was God, he was dead. But let’s look at what this means to us.  If that baby was God, it should make three differences in our lives: it should lead to 1) a reordering, 2) a relinquishment, and 3) a rejoicing. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 17, 1995. Series: Advent: God and Sinners Reconciled. Scripture: Colossians 1:15-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

No place gives us a loftier and more penetrating view of who Jesus is than Colossians 1, which tells us that Jesus is a king.  This passage tells us Jesus is the king of all kings. One paragraph tells us about the kingship of Christ that is. The other paragraph tells us about the kingship of Christ that can be. He is king of the cosmos, but he needs to be, and he can be, king of your personal life.  Let’s take a look at both these aspects: 1) that Christ is cosmic king, and 2) that Christ must be your personal king. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 10, 1995. Series: Matthew 9. Scripture: Colossians 1:9-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

It’s one thing to have the gospel presented to you. It’s another thing to have it come to you.  According to this passage, it is very easy to miss the gospel. How do you know if the gospel has come to you?  This passage tells us four tests so you can know if the gospel has come to you or not: 1) the gospel is joy, 2) the gospel is a power, 3) the gospel is grace, and 4) the gospel is Christ himself. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 3, 1995. Series: Matthew 9. Scripture: Colossians 1:1-8, 28-29. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you want an idea of who Jesus is, he says he’s more like the bridegroom than anything else. If you want an idea of what it means to be a Christian, he says it’s more like going to a wedding feast than anything else. When Jesus says he’s the bridegroom, he’s telling us something about himself, he’s telling us what it means to be a Christian, and he’s telling us about our relationship to him.  When Jesus says he’s the bridegroom, he tells us that Christianity is 1) a bond that consists both of duty and love, 2) a bond of completing love, 3) a bond of absolutely permanent love, 4) a bond of utter exclusiveness, and 5) a bond of ravishing love. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 24, 1995. Series: Matthew 9. Scripture: Matthew 9:9-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jesus tells us that to become a Christian, there has to be a smashing. Christianity is new wine: it ferments, it swells, it’s organically and chemically active, and it will smash the old, inflexible wineskins.  Jesus teaches that there’s an old way that everybody, religious or not, operates under. You will not be a Christian until all your old foundations, your whole approach to yourself and God, are utterly smashed. You must be called away from mere religion. What’s the difference between religion and Christianity? In Matthew 9, we see 1) what religion is, 2) how Jesus smashes it, and 3) a few tests by which we can judge whether we’ve moved away from religion. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 17, 1995. Series: Matthew 9. Scripture: Matthew 9:9-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Here’s my thesis: The reason most people who profess belief in Christianity still don’t live big lives is because they don’t actually understand Christianity. Most people think Christianity is basically like other religions. But Jesus says his message is absolutely different. Everyone who really becomes a Christian has a sense of being awakened. Something radical has to happen. A real Christian is someone who has been called. A real Christian is someone who has had an experience like Matthew. The calling of Matthew shows us that to be called means 1) you sense a power coming in from outside taking charge, 2) you are confronted with a person, not a lot of intellectual ideas, and 3) you rise and follow him. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 10, 1995. Series: Matthew 9. Scripture: Matthew 9:9-13. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

At the end of Jesus’ life, the religious leaders want him executed. But the Romans have all the political power. So they bring Jesus to the Roman politicians, saying he’s a threat, and the question is put directly to Jesus by Pilate: What are your politics, Jesus?  I always found Jesus’ answer maddeningly ambiguous, but today I can say it is beautifully, profoundly, deliberately ambiguous. Jesus is not just playing hard to get; he is trying to bring us to the truth.  So let’s look at 1) what this tremendously ambiguous answer is, 2) how Jesus is not political, and 3) how Jesus is political. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 23, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2: His Life. Scripture: Luke 23:1-25. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jesus debated. Jesus fought. Jesus argued with the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, the teachers of the law, people we would call religious and civil elites today. But Jesus never picked a fight unnecessarily.  In Mark 7 Jesus argues about the clean and unclean laws, the ceremonial washings, the ablutions the Jews observed. We might think it’s an antiquated point, but Jesus never debated something that wasn’t a universal, profound principle.  We see three basic things here: 1) that we all have a problem with a sense of spiritual uncleanness, 2) that we all find a particular way to try to clean ourselves, and 3) why our ways of cleaning ourselves will never work, and what will. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 16, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2: His Life. Scripture: Mark 7:1-23. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

It’s not the whale events in your life that make you who you are. It’s all the guppies. Every morning you wake up and millions of them come at you. You have to eat. You have to sleep. You have appointments. The mundane, the hum-drum, the hustle and bustle.  The difference between Martha and Mary is that Martha is swept along by the mundane, but Mary has put her feet at the bottom of the stream. The stream is going one way, but Mary walks the direction she wants to walk. Mary sits at Jesus’ feet in spite of distractions, in spite of opposition.  Because we’re more like Martha than Mary, we’re sinking in a sea of mediocrity. So we ask, what does it mean to sit at Jesus’ feet? Let’s look at: 1) who Martha is, 2) what Martha needs, 3) what Mary does, and 4) why we should do like Mary. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 9, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2: His Life. Scripture: Luke 10:38-11:13. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The real Jesus believed in demons. The real Jesus believed in the devil. Most of us say, “They didn’t understand then what we understand now about diseases and mental illnesses. They attributed them to demons.” But in Matthew 4:24, you see something that explodes that whole idea.  In Matthew 4:24, it says they brought all manner of sick people to him, and then they have a list: they say there were demon-possessed people, paralyzed people, and people with madness. Both the gospel writers and Jesus understood there were illnesses that had a demonical base and illnesses that did not. In other words, Jesus did not believe in demon possession out of ignorance, but out of conviction. If you screen that out, you’ll miss important insights for living your life.  Mark 5 teaches us at least three things about evil: 1) the power of evil, 2) the patterns of evil, and 3) the pattern for the healing. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 2, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Mark 5:1-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The gospel changes the way we look at our money and possessions. If we understand the gospel, we should have a radically different relationship with money than what our culture says is normal. To look at what the Bible says about this, let’s look at this very famous passage: Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler. From the rich young ruler, we can learn 1) that money has great spiritual danger attached to it, 2) how money is spiritually dangerous, 3) why money is spiritually dangerous, and 4) how to escape it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 6, 2015. Series: What We Are Giving: The Dynamic of Grace. Scripture: Luke 18:18-30. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to make a gift to Gospel in Life this Giving Tuesday, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/tuesday.

In Luke 7, we see a personal encounter Jesus has with two people. They’re both seeking him, but he responds very differently to each of them.  We first see Simon, a member of the religious and cultural elite. He invites Jesus to dinner, which meant inviting someone into relationship. Then we see the women, who’s a sinner and prostitute. She approaches Jesus and anoints his feet with perfume and tears. They’re both serious seekers. But Jesus Christ rejects him and welcomes her. Why is there a difference?  We can see the difference in 3 waves: 1) in the beginning, we see they respond to Jesus in two different ways, 2) in the middle, we see these two responses derive from two different understandings of Jesus, and 3) at the end, we see that these two different understandings of Jesus result in two different responses from Jesus. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 26, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Luke 7:36-50. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you want to get the gist of who Jesus is, you have to look at encounters Jesus had with individuals. The gospels are filled with encounters Jesus has with all sorts of people.  In Luke 19, we get to a guy named Zacchaeus, and we’re told two things about him: that he’s a chief tax collector and that he’s wealthy.  This teaches us two different and important things: 1) anyone can approach Jesus, but 2) money is always an issue when coming to Jesus. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 19, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Luke 19:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Some people dwell on Christ’s power and authority and majesty, and other people dwell on Christ’s vulnerability and tenderness and grace. But it’s critical not to screen out one side of Jesus as if it’s incompatible. The power of Christ is caring power, and the care of Christ is powerful caring. Jesus Christ, the little, tender, meek and mild baby, is the Lord of the storm. Mark 4 tells us four things about the power of Christ: 1) the reality of Christ’s power, 2) the magnitude of Christ’s power, 3) the divinity of Christ’s power, and 4) the compatibility of the caring power of Jesus with storms. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 5, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Mark 4:35-41. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Because Jesus claims that he’s the final word, that salvation is completely by grace through him, the Pharisees and the Herodians band together to kill him. This teaches us not only how radical Jesus’ way of salvation is, but that if you really hear it, it will create all sorts of division in your own heart. Whenever the real Jesus is revealed, there’s a juxtaposition of both attraction and revulsion. They both happen together.  This passage shows us 1) that Christ is offensive, 2) to whom he is offensive, and 3) why he is offensive. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 5, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Mark 2:23-3:6. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Of all the passages that are read at Christmas, Luke 2 is perhaps the most famous. And in this most famous passage, the most famous word is peace. What is Christmas all about? Peace on earth.  When Jesus Christ was born as a baby, he was born to bring this peace. But what is this peace on earth? We’ll look at 1) what it is not, 2) what it is, and 3) how you receive it and live it out. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 22, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Luke 2:10-14. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The message of Christmas is the message of the gospel. It’s the essential message of Christianity. And in Luke 1, we have one person’s response to that message. At Christmastime you’ll be hearing this message. The question is, “How should you respond to it?”  The message is that the Most High has become the most low. God has become human. Let’s look at three things that this means: 1) God is far greater than we thought, 2) we are more sinful than we thought, and 3) God is more loving than we think. Then we’ll look at one person, Mary’s, three-stage response to this message. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 15, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Luke 1:26-38. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

There is absolutely no better place anywhere in the Bible that depicts Jesus as Immanuel, as God with us, as God truly with us in our condition as this passage. We’re going to see who Jesus is and what he came to do. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 8, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: John 11:32-44. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Though there may have been other occasions, the only time we know of that Jesus ever left his country, ever left the boundaries of Israel is here in Mark 7. He did so for a purpose, and he did so to teach us something. There are two stories: the healing of the little daughter and the healing of the deaf-mute. Let’s look at them and see what they teach us. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 1, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Mark 7:24-37. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In John 2, John puts the changing of water into wine at the wedding and the cleansing of the temple together. He sticks them together, even though on the surface, they look utterly different.  In the wedding feast, you have Jesus acting quietly, hidden, privately. Here in the cleansing of the temple, you have him public and dramatic. There, he was requested. He was asked in. Here, he goes where no one has asked him to go. He intrudes. He intervenes. At the wedding, he brings joy and laughter. Here, he brings weeping and gnashing of teeth.  If Jesus Christ comes into your life, he will sometimes fill your table with a feast and other times, he will turn your table over and spill everything on the ground. These passages show us the authority of who he is, they show us the purpose of what he does, and then they show us the glory of what he brings.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 24, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: John 2:12-25. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visitinghttps://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jesus’ first miracle was not just a miracle, but a miraculous sign. It was an acted-out picture of who Jesus is and everything Christianity is. His inaugural event was not walking on water or raising somebody from the dead. Instead, what you have here is not a very big deal. A party looks like it’s going to go two days instead of three days. Wow. What a shame.  Why did Jesus do this miracle? Why was this the first one? How does this reveal his glory? If you ask that question, there’s so much in it. You have the whole nine yards here: who he came to be, what he came to do, what he has to offer, and how we can receive it.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 17, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: John 2:1-11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visitinghttps://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

True Christianity is a fight. Anyone who offers you a Christianity without tears is not giving you good money; it’s counterfeit. Anybody who says, “If you receive the baptism of the Spirit, your problems are over; if you receive the voice of assurance down on your heart, if you receive the sense God is pleased with you, that’s the end of conflict, strife, temptation,” that person is not offering you the real thing. There are three things we learn about the fight right here. Who’s the enemy? Where’s the front? What are the weapons? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 10, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Matthew 3:13-4:11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at the life of Jesus. Not at his words and teachings, but at his deeds and his life—the things that happened to him and the things he did.  The birth of Christ has one wonderfully big word attached to it: the word “incarnation.” The birth of Jesus is the incarnation of God. Incarnate means God comes in. He comes in our flesh. He comes into our humanity, into our vulnerability, into our history, into our reality. God comes in.  We’ll look at the incarnation in this way: 1) what it is, 2) what it means, and 3) how we can connect to it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 3, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Matthew 1:17-25. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We all want peace, contentment, groundedness. And Jesus says, he will give us his peace. But he doesn’t just zap us with it. He says it comes through learning who he is. John 16 is the end of the training course Jesus gives his disciples. It’s just before he dies, and verse 28 summarizes everything he’s been saying: he explains who he is, how he came, why he came, and what he accomplished. But the key to this whole thing is in verse 33 where he says, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  Jesus has been teaching about himself. And he says this doctrine leads to peace, but only if you do two things. So let’s look at this under two headings: 1) what is this doctrine that you need in order to have peace? and 2) what are you supposed to do with it? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 9, 2017. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: New Power. Scripture: John 16:28-33. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

There’s a whole field now called happiness studies—whole departments in academia are dedicated to happiness studies. And of all the things I’ve read, none of them are as nuanced as what Jesus says. Jesus says one of the main resources his disciples need in life is joy. And he says joy is something he gives. In John 15:11, he says, “I give you my joy that your joy may be complete,” but he doesn’t elaborate on it. In John 16, he gives us more information.  What does John 16 tell us about the joy that Jesus gives? Five things: that this joy 1) is inevitable, 2) is not circumstantial, 3) is thoughtful, 4) is prayerful, and 5) is based on wonder. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 2, 2017. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: New Power. Scripture: John 16:16-27. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When you’re about to die, you don’t make small talk. You talk about the most crucial, important things. And on the night before Jesus is about to die, he’s talking about the Holy Spirit.  Why is Jesus so constantly talking about the Holy Spirit? I think we see at least two reasons. One is a hard reason, at least it’s hard to hear. And one is a wonderful reason.  I think the two reasons that Jesus thinks the Holy Spirit is so important to talk about, so crucial to understand, so important to have, is because 1) without the Holy Spirit there’s no remedy for our spiritual blindness and cluelessness, but 2) with the Holy Spirit, we can be taken into realms of experience and transformation that we can’t imagine. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 26, 2017. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: New Power. Scripture: John 16:5-11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

There’s no more important issue, spiritually, for people than the question of innocent suffering. We don’t struggle much with the suffering that comes to people who’ve brought it on themselves. The real problem is innocent suffering.  We’re looking at Old Testament narratives because in them, profound truths are depicted concretely. In the New Testament, authors explain these truths with rational propositions. But in the Old Testament, they’re depicted. And there’s probably no place anywhere, beyond the book of Job, where you have the problem of innocent suffering so profoundly depicted.  We learn three things about suffering from the story of Job: 1) from Satan, we get an understanding of suffering, 2) from the early Job, we learn how to face suffering, and 3) from the later Job, we learn how to overcome suffering. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 9, 1997. Series: Pointers to Christ – Directional Signs in History. Scripture: Job 1:8-22. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Exodus 33-34 remarkably depicts, in the most concrete way, how to find God. And not only how to find God, but how to find him when you’ve lost him.  The Bible often talks about our relationship with God as if it’s fire. It comes down into our lives. But the second you stop tending a fire, it burns down. See, if you’ve never found God, or if you have but it’s been a long time, for both, this passage tells you the path. Because basically the path of “new-al” and the path of renewal are the same.  How do you find God the first time? How do you find him again and again? We learn here 1) that we desperately need renewal, and 2) how we get renewal. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 2, 1997. Series: Pointers to Christ – Directional Signs in History. Scripture: Exodus 33:4-9, 15; 34:1-7. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When we hear the word “sin,” we think we know what it means. But we don’t—not really.  If we don’t understand sin, then Christianity makes no sense. But even more so, if we don’t understand sin, then the knowledge of God’s love and grace won’t really transform or heal us. So how do we find out what the Bible means by sin? By looking at Jonah, who’s said to be very religious, and seeing how he falls into terrible sin, we can then get a good idea of what sin is.  In the story of Jonah, we see him doing four things. And each one of them tells us something about the real nature of sin. We see Jonah 1) running, 2) sleeping, 3) sinking, and 4) rising. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 26, 1997. Series: Pointers to Christ – Directional Signs in History. Scripture: Jonah 1:1-5, 2:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

It takes tremendous courage to leave the land you’ve always lived in and permanently move to another land. People don’t usually do it unless they expect a better life. In the book of Ruth, we have the story of two immigrant women—Naomi and Ruth—who forge an amazing interracial sisterhood. But these women immigrate expecting to have not a better, but a worse life. Naomi’s an old widow without hope, because in that society, she’s bereft of everything that could give her meaning. So Ruth goes with her to Israel, despite knowing that because she’s a Moabite, she’ll be hated. And yet, at the end of chapter 4, there’s joy. Why? Naomi has been redeemed.  If you look carefully, there’s an ambiguity in the text that points us to the secret of the story and the secret of our lives. To see this, let’s look at three redeemers in this story: 1) a formal redeemer, 2) a surprise, hidden redeemer, and then 3) a real redeemer. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 19, 1997. Series: Pointers to Christ – Directional Signs in History. Scripture: Ruth 4:13-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Forget the heroes. These days, we want authenticity. We want personal vision. We’ve done away with hero worship.  In the story of Samson, we see that the Bible doesn’t give us hero worship, but it also doesn’t give us hero hatred or deconstruction. Some people have called Samson an old-fashioned hero, like Superman—but he’s not. I’ve been waiting for people to call him the anti-hero—he even makes jokes when he’s killing people. Samson is physically quite strong and morally quite weak. But in spite of this, God actually judges Israel with him. What does it all mean? In the story of Samson we see that 1) hero worship does not help, 2) but hero deconstruction doesn’t help either, and 3) we need something else. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 12, 1997. Series: Pointers to Christ – Directional Signs in History. Scripture: Judges 15:9-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you don’t yet, you will soon sense an acute need for wisdom. You’ll take a job you never should’ve taken, hire somebody you never should’ve hired, date somebody you never should’ve dated. Often, the older you get, the more you worry. Because the older you get, the more you see how important wisdom is, how difficult it is to gain, and how your life absolutely blows up when you make choices without it. Many centuries ago, Solomon became king of Israel at the age of 20. When he did, he got wisdom, and he exercised wisdom in a way that can teach us a great deal about how we can get it ourselves.  If we take a look at this narrative, we’ll see 1) the need for wisdom, 2) the anatomy of wisdom, and 3) the essential principle of wisdom that runs all the way through it—the heart of wisdom. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 5, 1997. Series: Pointers to Christ – Directional Signs in History. Scripture: 1 Kings 3:16-28. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The story of Joseph tells us something awfully basic, and yet probably all of us will recognize that the problems in our lives are due to a lack of orientation to this thing that’s so basic. This story tells us God is a God both of truth and of love—equally, together. And what does he want for us? He wants us to forgive the way he forgave us. To see this, we need to look at the very end of a very long story that goes from Genesis 37 all the way to Genesis 50. This is the end of the story, and in many ways it looks back and recaps the rest of the story.  We’re going to ask two questions about the narrative: 1) Why did Joseph weep? 2) What did Joseph say? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 28, 1997. Series: Pointers to Christ – Directional Signs in History. Scripture: Genesis 50:15-21. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

How do we find God? We’re looking now to, I think, probably the strangest of all narrative accounts in the Bible of a human being encountering God. It’s a long story. All of Jacob’s life, he’s been wrestling with his twin brother, Esau. He’s been away, but he decides to come back and finally have it out. He sends a bunch of gifts ahead of him, he divides his own family up, and he gets ready to meet Esau alone. And there in the dark when Jacob is alone, a mysterious man—not Esau—attacks him, and he wrestles him all night. Finally, as the day is about to break, Jacob realizes this is the Lord himself—that he’s wrestling with God. Jacob meets God, and the encounter tells us how we can meet God and how we can check our own hearts to find out if we’ve met God. Four things: 1) an encounter with God is personal, 2) an encounter with God is personal wrestling, 3) an encounter with God is always losing, but 4) an encounter with God is winning through losing. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 21, 1997. Series: Pointers to Christ – Directional Signs in History. Scripture: Genesis 32:22-32. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at laughter and bitterness by looking at a particular experience, and that is a woman laughing because her only child has been born. It’s an incredibly old woman we have here: a woman who’s 90 years old. We’re told in the Bible that this laughter is a clue to who God is and what he has done and how you find him.  This passage is actually the key, because all of Abraham and Sarah’s lives and all of their fascinating incidents can be understood in terms of the name of their son. The name “Isaac” means laughter. You can understand all of their lives, and actually I think eventually you’ll be able to understand all of your life, through the word “laughter.”  There’ve been three kinds of laughter in the story of Abraham and Sarah. They had to go through the first two to get to the third. Let’s look at these three kinds of laughter: 1) the laughter of scoffing, 2) the wild laughter of addiction and fixation, and 3) the laughter of grace. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 14, 1997. Series: Pointers to Christ – Directional Signs in History. Scripture: Genesis 21:1-7. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

A lot of people say Ecclesiastes is the greatest book of the Bible. But I can almost guarantee none of them felt that way the first time they read it. Because when you first read Ecclesiastes, what you’re struck with is a professor in absolute despair.  Some will think this seems to contradict the rest of the Bible. Others will say, “Who needs this pessimism?” It can be a confusing book because people don’t realize its instructional approach of andragogy, which means adult instruction by goading and asking questions. And it can also be confusing because people don’t notice that the teacher is looking at life in two different ways, and that he keeps going back and forth between them. Let’s look at both of the ways he looks at life. Let me show you: 1) how he looks, 2) what he sees, and 3) why he sees it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 7, 1997. Series: Pointers to Christ – Directional Signs in History. Scripture: Ecclesiastes 2:17-26. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We're at a cultural moment in which most people recognize that marriage is struggling. And what does the Christian vision of marriage have to say for that? We believe that understanding the biblical vision for marriage will help you no matter your own situation. We’re applying it to the culture. We're applying it to unmarried people. We're applying it to married people. Kathy and I will each talk about different aspects of this. We’ll look at 1) marriage and our culture, and 2) the biblical contours of marriage: the power, the essence, the purpose, and the three major means of marriage. This talk was given by Dr. Timothy Keller and Kathy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 30, 2012 for the conference "Marriage, Sex & Singleness Conference". Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

This is the least appetizing of titles, but I want to talk to you about a theology of singleness.  I’d like to share with you the basic theological principle in the New Testament about singleness. There is a Christian biblical theology of being a single adult, which means to be an adult without a spouse or children of your own. I’d like to discuss 1) that there is a theology, 2) the uniqueness of this theology, 3) what it means when Paul says singleness is a gift, and 4) the practical implications. This talk was given by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 1, 2014 for the conference "S1NGLE: God’s Gifts — Our Plans". Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

There’s a wide spectrum of how individuals experience singleness: some would describe it as suffering, others might just call it sadness, and still others say it’s a sense of freedom. It’s important to recognize though that the experience of suffering and unhappiness are a part of life for everyone—whether you are a single Christian, whether you are happily married, or whether you are unhappily married. Our core challenge is to live a godly and holy life in whatever condition we are in. Every situation will have its particularities, but the similarities are greater than the differences. I’d like to talk about how to live godly lives in Christ under any of our circumstances. This talk was given by Kathy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 1, 2014 for the conference "S1NGLE: God’s Gifts — Our Plans". Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We look now at the peak verse of the most famous biblical passage on marriage. It’s Ephesians 5:32, where Paul says, “This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.” He says everything he’s said about marriage has also been about Christ and the church.  This verse teaches there are some things we would never know about marriage if we didn’t know about how we relate to Christ by faith. Conversely, there are things we would never know about our relationship with Christ if we didn’t know about marriage. You can’t completely understand one without understanding the other.  I’d like to look at this under these two headings: 1) what does marriage teach us about our relationship with Jesus? and 2) what does our relationship with Jesus teach us about marriage? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 13, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at a subject that’s controversial. I’m going to try to speak as personally out of my own experience as I possibly can. Yet it’s still an area to think carefully. In our series on marriage, we look for the second time at Ephesians 5:22: “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church.” What does this mean? It means a whole lot.  Let’s look at what this passage teaches about the head: 1) head means the husband and the wife complete one another, and 2) head means there is an authority structure inside marriage. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 6, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Depending on the culture it’s sitting in, Christianity can either be considered radically liberal or horribly conservative. But Christianity isn’t to the left or to the right. In fact, if it’s true that Christianity doesn’t arise from the human spectrum of thought, but that it comes from above, then it’s natural that it doesn’t fit any particular ideology—and that every ideology is going to be suspicious of it.  In a series on marriage, we come now to the question of whether there’s any differentiation between the roles and obligations of a husband and wife in marriage. And the basic thesis in Ephesians 5 is that being male and being female are overlapping but distinguishable ways of being human.  I’d like to show that Ephesians 5 teaches us 3 things about gender roles: 1) there are roles, 2) why there are roles, and 3) what those roles are. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 29, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re in a series on marriage, and we’ve said the purpose of marriage is friendship and a unique oneness. And we’ve also said there’s a structure in marriage.  Ephesians 5 teaches that there’s a mutuality between husband and wife, and yet the commands are not the same to both. They’re equal, but they’re not equivalent. We’ll look now at 1) the concept that in marriage you become one flesh, 2) how this oneness happens, and 3) how this oneness bridges into the subject of role relationships between men and women in marriage. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 22, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Marriage is a cosmic friendship, a spiritual friendship, a friendship with eternal dimensions. Marriage is not romance garnished with friendship. Rather, biblically, marriage is friendship garnished with romance.  If you’re going to marry somebody, you should marry someone who is now or has the potential to be your very best friend. But friendship is not just a feeling of affection. Friendship is a particular form of love, and it has a structure.  The structure of friendship is a deep oneness that comes from two people journeying together toward a common horizon. Let’s look now at 1) the common horizon, 2) how you get to that horizon, and 3) the implications of journeying together toward that horizon. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 15, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

I’m tired of listening to sentimental, slurpy talks on marriage during weddings and in Sunday school and in sermons. They have about as much depth and reality to them as a Hallmark card. The fact is, marriage is many things—in fact, it’s everything except slurpy and sentimental.  Marriage is glorious: it’s a burning strength and joy. Marriage is hard: it’s blood, and it’s sweat, and it’s tears. It’s defeats, and it’s victories. It’s almost everything except sweet.  We’re in a series on the Bible’s view of marriage. We’ve already looked at the power, the definition, and the priority of marriage. We look now at 1) the great purpose of marriage, and 2) what this purpose means in practicality. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 8, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The purpose of marriage is friendship, companionship. Your spouse has to be your best friend, or you don’t have a marriage. I know that’s not traditional, but it’s biblical. We’re in a series looking at marriage: at its power, its definition, its priority, its purpose, its structure, and its mystery. So far, we’ve looked at the power of marriage and the definition of marriage. Now we’ll look more into the definition of marriage and then at the priority marriage.  We’ll look now at 1) three critical aspects without which a marriage will not run, 2) the definition of marriage, and 3) the priority of marriage. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 1, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Ephesians 5 is the most detailed and famous of New Testament passages about marriage. It shows us the power, the definition, the priority, the purpose, the structure, and the mystery of marriage. In this series, we’ve already looked at the power of marriage, though we’ll talk a little more about it now. Then the next aspect to discuss is the definition of marriage: that marriage is a covenant. We’ll look at 1) what it means that marriage is a covenant and 2) the amazing and practical ramifications of marital commitment. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 25, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Whether you’re single, married, widowed, or divorced, you can immediately apply Scripture’s teachings about marriage to your life. According to the Scripture, marriage is a divine invention. It stands apart from other human institutions because it didn’t evolve out of human thinking. And the basic principles for marriage that are laid out in Ephesians 5 are critical to our understanding of what God says marriage is. We’ll look now at the first of these basic principles: Self-centeredness is the main enemy of any marriage. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 18, 1991. Series: Marriage. Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-33. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

There are obvious ways Christian hope affects us, like in the way we face death and troubles. But I’d like to show you that Christian hope affects everything, every area of our lives.  The biblical understanding of hope is a life-shaping, joyous certainty that your future is the eternal love and glory of God and a new heavens and new earth. And this Christian hope even determines and revolutionizes our whole attitude toward sex, romance, singleness, and marriage.  This passage in 1 Corinthians 6 and 7 is outrageous in all sorts of ways. It shows us that 1) Christianity gave the world a revolutionary view of sex, 2) Christianity gave the world a revolutionary view of singleness and marriage, and 3) Christian hope radically reshapes our approach, our actions, and our attitudes in this area. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 18, 2004. Series: Living in Hope. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:13-20; 7:27-31. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

There are two problems people have with God today: the problem of evil and suffering, and the problem with the exclusiveness of religion.  We’re all in the same boat here. Whether you believe in God or you don’t believe in God, you still have these two problems. Because they get at something that really is a problem. But the real question is, are they insurmountable? Can we find a way through them? I’d like to give you something to consider as a possible way through: it’s important to see 1) that people’s problems with religion are themselves beliefs which in turn have their own problems, and 2) that Christianity has a unique resource for each of these problems. This talk was given by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 9, 2003. Series: Redeemer Open Forums.  Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Most of the great world religions share a tremendous amount of ethical common ground. But suddenly, Jesus breaks through all the conventional principles of morality—he soars into the stratosphere and puts forth the most radical love ethic anyone has ever seriously presented.  On the one hand, when we hear it, we feel we’re in the presence of something sublime. But there’s another side to us that has difficulty with it, because it sure looks like Jesus is saying, “Let people walk all over you.”  But what we actually have here is a set of remarkable balances. Let’s take a look at two balances: 1) There is the balance between the tough and the tender (between justice and kindness), and 2) there is a balance between the inner and the outer.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 21, 1993. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Luke 6:20-36. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

As we look at the hard sayings of Jesus, we see in this passage that Jesus gives us a radical principle of truthfulness.  The whole Bible is built on covenants, public promises, observed words. So what does Jesus mean when he says to let your “yes” be “yes”? He can’t mean you can’t take oaths. What he does mean is actually something almost the opposite, that if you think you can separate and create levels of truthfulness, you’re wrong. Everything is observed. Every yes and every no is an oath.  Jesus is teaching us 1) the importance of truthfulness, 2) the nature of truthfulness, and 3) how you become a person of integrity. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 14, 1993. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Matthew 5:33-37. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at the most strange, enigmatic, perplexing things Jesus ever said. This is one of them. People always blink a bit when they read it.  But here, Jesus is actually teaching us about power to change. He’s telling us something extremely practical.  Even though it’s an enigmatic passage, Jesus is basically saying three things: 1) There are many ways to change, 2) if you use any way but Jesus, you’ll be worse off than before, and 3) Jesus is the only one who can give you the power to change thoroughly and permanently. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 7, 1993. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Luke 11:14-26. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In this interview from November 2019, Rebecca McLaughlin talks about some of the inspiration for writing her book Confronting Christianity and some of the insight she's gained in her life that led her to address the hardest questions that Christians face today. As she talks about her experiences, you will learn how and why she believes that Christianity is objectively the best hope for the modern world. Interview hosted by Chuck Armstrong. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When Jesus is asked by his disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray,” he tells them a story and puts forth an approach that runs against common sense and against what other religions say about prayer. In the story, a man who’s in bed at midnight gives bread to another man who’s knocking and asking. Jesus says the man gives the bread not because the other man is his friend but because of the man’s boldness. Other ways to translate the word Jesus uses include shamelessness, rudeness, discourtesy, impertinence, and impudence. That’s what Jesus says is a model for our prayer. “Pray like that,” he says. “Bother God.”  Why should we pray this way? Jesus gives the answer: 1) it’s a way to judge our hearts today, and 2) it’s a way to actually live our lives tomorrow in a different way. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 31, 1993. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Luke 11:5-13. Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Today on Gospel in Life we're sharing a special worship service of praise to God for Tim Keller’s life and ministry. The memorial took place on August 15, 2023 at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. To access the service program or view a video recording of the full service made available thanks to Redeemer City to City, visit gospelinlife.com/memorial. Order of Service and Timestamps: Opening — Rev. Michael Keller [01:01] Welcome — Cardinal Dolan [01:19] Introduction — Rev. Michael Keller [01:46] Hymn — Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise [07:06] Hymn & Intro — Amazing Love, How Can It Be? [09:11] Scripture Reading — John 14, 1 Corinthians 15 [13:58] Max McLean — Weight of Glory, Mere Christianity [16:50] Hymn & Intro — How Firm a Foundation [19:36] Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 4, Romans 8 [24:12] Graham Howell — Remembrances of Tim Keller [27:15] Glen Kleinknecht — Remembrances of Tim Keller [31:28] Kathy Keller — Remembrances of Tim Keller [38:14] John Keller — Remembrances of Tim Keller [42:54] David Keller — Prayer [45:50] Hymn & Intro — Jesus Lives and So Shall I [47:31] Scripture Reading — Mark 10:35-45 [51:33] Homily — Rev. Sam Allberry [53:32] Hymn & Intro — For All the Saints, Who from their Labor Rest [01:11:01] Closing Sentences and Prayer — Rev Sam Allberry [01:15:33] Benediction — Rev. Michael Keller [01:16:53] Closing Hymn — There Is a Redeemer [01:17:36] Closing Remarks — Rev. Michael Keller [01:21:13] This podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If Jesus was a pastor, I don’t think his church would’ve grown very fast. Any leader of a movement wants to make it easy for people to enter. But Jesus acts in a completely different way. People come and say, “I want to join up,” and Jesus says, “Get back. Think.”  In Luke 9, Jesus does this because the three men clearly don’t understand what they are asking for. Therefore, if we take a look at how Jesus answers them, we’re going to learn a great deal about what it means to follow Jesus.  What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? This text shows us 1) that to follow Christ is to enter the kingdom, 2) that we need to understand the hardness of the kingdom, and 3) that we need to understand the greatness of the kingdom. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 24, 1993. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Luke 9:57-60. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Sometimes when you read Jesus’ teachings, you feel like you’ve gotten on a horse that’s much too big and much too fast for you. When you read what Jesus says in Luke 12, you have nothing but lightning and blood, but in the center of this teaching is the most wonderful thing a human heart can hear. In this text, we learn two things: we learn about the divisiveness of Jesus caused by his self-centered teaching, and we learn about the agony of Jesus caused by his self-denying love. It may be surprising to many of you to see what he says, but you don’t know the real Jesus unless you understand his divisiveness and the constant agony and pressure under which he labored every minute of his ministry. Let’s look now at these two things: 1) the divisiveness of Jesus, and 2) the agony of Jesus. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 17, 1993. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Luke 12:49-53. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In Matthew 11, Jesus talks about the kingdom of God, and he uses the word “violence.” That’s what the Greek word means. There’s no way around it.  The context is Jesus telling us about John the Baptist, who realized the kingdom of heaven is real. Then Jesus says the kingdom of heaven comes with violence. This bothers us. Isn’t this Jesus? Isn’t this the one who said, “turn the other cheek?” Yes. That’s the reason why Jesus uses this term. Jesus is a communicator. He knows by saying this you’re going to be startled. You’re going to say, “What does that mean?”  Let’s cooperate with him. Let’s ask, what is this holy violence? Let’s look at 1) what it’s not, 2) what it is, and 3) why we need it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 3, 1992. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Matthew 11:7-15. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jesus said an awful lot of hard things. And in the story of the rich young ruler, Jesus says two hard things: he says our understanding of riches and our understanding of moral goodness are wrong. The rich young ruler is not only rich, but he’s also a man of exquisite moral character. Yet, Jesus sends him away. Jesus turns our common notions about wealth and goodness on top of their heads and he gives us new ones—ones that are explosively in contradiction with what the world thinks, but ones that, if we obey them, have the power of God exploding in our midst. Let’s look at these two principles. Jesus tells us 1) something new about wealth and 2) something new about moral goodness. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 3, 1992. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Mark 10:23. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In this cultural moment, when our non-Christian friends look at the Christian faith, they often see a history of racism, an anti-intellectual mindset, homophobia, and the denigration of women.  It's tempting to think that the best thing Christians can do is batten down the hatches and cling on for dear life, while the waves of secularization wash over us. But if that's what we think, I believe we've got it all wrong. When we look more closely at each of these devastating roadblocks, they become signposts to Christ.  I believe we have an opportunity before us. But there are four things we need to do. We must reclaim 1) diversity, 2) the university, 3) morality, and 4) sexuality. But we must do all these things with humility and not by watering the scriptures down, but by lapping them up. This talk was given by Dr. Rebecca McLaughlin at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 14, 2019. Series: Missional Living. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

For a person to go from no faith to faith it takes at least four things.  There has to be 1) sustained attention, 2) some attraction, 3) a demonstration, and 4) an explanation.  I’m going to give a couple ideas on three of these four things. This talk was given by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 14, 2019. Series: Missional Living. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The first 30 years of my ministry life, I spent most of my time saying, “You’ve got to care about the poor. You’ve got to do justice. You can’t just do word—you’ve got to do deed.” The last 10 years of my ministry life in New York City, everybody wants to do justice—and that’s great. However, now I’ve got to say, “But you’ve got to open your mouth and tell people in whose name you’re doing it.” Jesus was mighty in word and deed. And just like Jesus, Christians have got to be mighty in both word and deed. There are four headwinds to sharing our faith today. These four headwinds are 1) the problem of attention, 2) the problem of comprehension, 3) the problem of attraction, and 4) the problem of the spectrum. This talk was given by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 14, 2019. Series: Missional Living. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you’re reading through the book of Isaiah, you get to this passage and you’re shocked. Up until now, Isaiah indicates that God’s going to send a great king to put things right in the world. Then Isaiah starts talking about a servant. But then, here in chapter 52 and 53, he says this person has no majesty. He has no majesty? Well, who is this?  It’s surprising and it’s shocking. It subverts every human category of thought about salvation.  Let’s look at three ways in which it’s so surprising, and see what this teaches about the salvation Jesus Christ brings. Let’s notice 1) the ordinariness, 2) the violence, and 3) the vicariousness. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 21, 2016. Series: Bible: What We Are Receiving: The Gospel Goods. Scripture: Isaiah 52:13-53:12. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The great enemy of the human race is death. And we all have to face it.  No matter how young you are, no matter how your life’s been going up to now, I can say, without fear of contradiction, that there is a lot of death in your future. And therefore, you severely need what this text talks about. It talks about hope in the face of death.  Let’s ask the text three questions: 1) Why do we need hope in the face of death? 2) How can we get hope in the face of death? and 3) If we have it, how do we use it and increase it in our life? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 14, 2016. Series: Bible: What We Are Receiving: The Gospel Goods. Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at the passage that Martin Luther thinks is the greatest single place in the Bible that explains the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he might be right, because it’s talking about three great gospel words.  The three great gospel words are redemption, propitiation, and justification. What do we need? Redemption. What does God do about it? Propitiation. And what do we get as a result? Justification. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 7, 2016. Series: Bible: What We Are Receiving: The Gospel Goods. Scripture: Romans 3:22-31. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The gospel brings great goods into our lives. This text tells us a lot about one of them: reconciliation. We’re reconciled to God. What does that mean? One of the ways to understand this passage is to start at the end and work back. It’s actually a pretty simple argument, but its message is deeper than the whole universe.  By working backward, let’s see 1) a more visible but lesser problem, 2) a less visible but greater problem, and 3) the solution to it all. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 24, 2016. Series: Bible: What We Are Receiving: The Gospel Goods. Scripture: Hebrews 9:11-14. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Home is where you fit. Home is where you can be yourself. But Genesis 3 tells us what’s wrong with the human race: we’re homeless. To see the great goods the gospel brings to us, we need to first see what’s fundamentally wrong with the human race. What we’re told here is that the condition of the human race is homelessness and exile, writ large. In this passage we see 1) that all human beings are exiles, 2) why we’re all exiles, and 3) how we can be brought home. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 10, 2016. Series: Bible: What We Are Receiving: The Gospel Goods. Scripture: Genesis 3:7-24. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re wrapping up a series tonight, where we’ve been tracing the single story of the Bible. The Bible is not a set of individual stories that tell you how you should live in order to find God. The Bible is a single story about how God came to earth to find you.  The beginning of that story is in Genesis, where we learn what’s wrong with us. The middle of that story is in Romans, where we learn what God did through Jesus Christ to put things right. We’re now looking at the book of Revelation, where it tells us how all things work out in the end.  Here, in the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, we have the final vision of God’s future and what he is preparing for us. Let’s ask three questions: 1) What is it? 2) How does it arrive? and 3) How can you be sure that you belong to it? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 26, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Redemption and Restoration. Scripture: Revelation 22:1-11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

A special announcement from Kathy Keller and Steve Shackelford, CEO of Redeemer City to City. To learn more about Redeemer City to City, watch this video or visit redeemercitytocity.com.

When Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, he was called the first fruits for the dead. The first fruits are the beginning of a harvest. As great as the resurrection of Jesus Christ is—and it means everything—it’s only the first installment on something to come. On what? The new heavens and the new earth. John was not writing this for us to sit around in an abstract academic way trying to work out the symbols. He wrote it for a group of people facing terrible things, in order to give them a living hope. If you understand that when Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, he was a first installment on something to come, it enables you to face things that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to face. Because you have not just an abstract idea, but a living hope. To understand what this text is about, and even what the resurrection of Jesus Christ is about, let’s look at 1) the nature of this hope, 2) the need you have for it, and 3) how to get it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 12, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Redemption and Restoration. Scripture: Revelation 21:1-7. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re tracing the single story of the Bible. We look now to the very end of the book of Revelation because all well-told stories tie up all the plot lines. And in the book of Revelation, all the plot lines of the history of the human race and all the plot lines of your life find a happy ending in Jesus. They’re all resolved with him.  First, we have this remarkable and yet strange vision of the marriage supper of the Lamb. There are three figures or characters: a prostitute, a Lamb, and a bride. If we look at this vision and these three figures, we’ll see it wraps up the whole history of the world.  Let’s look at these three things: 1) the prostitute and the problem, 2) the Lamb and the solution, and 3) the bride and the result. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 5, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Redemption and Restoration. Scripture: Revelation 19:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In Romans 3 and 4 the Bible tells us exactly what God has done to put things right in Jesus Christ. You can put it in a phrase: we’re justified by faith through the blood of Christ.  We look now at one of those terms: faith. What is this saving faith that connects us to God? Notice that Paul twice contrasts faith with boasting. He tries to throw into relief what saving faith is by contrasting it with this idea of boasting.  Let’s look at this passage under three headings: 1) the spiritual sickness the Bible calls boasting, 2) the antidote to that spiritual sickness, and 3) what it means to take the antidote. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 22, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Restoration and Redemption. Scripture: Romans 3:27-4:8. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In Romans 3, we have the heart of Paul’s message about what God has done to put the world right in Jesus Christ.  Christianity alone says that God prepares a perfect righteous record through Jesus Christ and gives it freely to you. So you’re saved not by performance—you’re saved by faith. And that faith is not just faith in general—it’s faith in the blood of Christ. But what does that mean?  There are three words that help us grasp the meaning of the blood of Christ. We’re told here 1) what we need, which is redemption, 2) what he does, which is propitiation, and 3) what it means for us, which is demonstration. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 15, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Restoration and Redemption. Scripture: Romans 3:21-31. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In Romans 1 through 4, Paul summarizes the story of the Bible. And here, in the last half of chapter 3 and into chapter 4, we have Paul’s most essential summary of what God has done to put the world right.  Three phrases are repeated and brought into relationship with each other throughout these few verses: that we are justified freely, all by faith, and through the blood of Christ. I want to be clear and practical about what these three things are and how to relate to them. We’re going to look now at the first of these three ideas: free justification. 1) What is it? 2) Why do we need it? and 3) How do we receive it? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 8, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Romans 3:21-28. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Romans 1 through 4 gives Paul’s version of the entire biblical story, also called the gospel. In this passage, we come to the end of Paul’s analysis of what’s wrong with the human race.  When I was a new believer, this was a tough passage for me. It bothered me, and I wrestled with it. But eventually it revolutionized my way of thinking about life and myself and the world.  This is perhaps the most radical of all the statements the Bible gives us about what’s wrong with the human heart. We’re going to learn three things about sin here: 1) the egalitarianism of sin, 2) the trajectory of sin, and 3) the cure for sin. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 1, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Romans 3:9-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re tracing the storyline of the entire Bible. We started in Genesis, where we learn what’s wrong with the human race, and we’ve come to Romans, where we learn what God has done about it through Jesus Christ.  Here at the beginning of Romans 2, Paul does a turnaround. It’s so surprising and shocking I don’t have much to introduce. I’ll start to explain it, and it’ll draw us right in.  This chapter tells us three things: 1) the failure of religion, because of 2) the terrible beauty of the law and, therefore, 3) the need for a regenerated, new heart. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 22, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Romans 2:1-6; 12-26. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re in a series tracing the storyline of the Bible: what’s wrong with the human race, what God has done about it, and how it’s all going to turn out. We’ve begun to look at Romans 1 through 4, where Paul gives us perhaps the single most comprehensive explanation of what God has done about our problem through Jesus Christ.  We turn now to this passage in Romans where Paul actually reflects back on Genesis and what it says is wrong with the human heart.  If you look in every human heart, Paul says, you’ll find four things: 1) the knowledge of our God, 2) the manufacturing of our idols, 3) the hardening of our humanity, and 4) the capacity for endless praise. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 15, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Romans 1:18-32. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re tracing the storyline of the Bible, and we looked first at what it says went wrong with the human race. Now we look at Romans 1 through 4, at perhaps the single most comprehensive place where we learn what God has done to make things right. Scholars of Romans believe verses 16 and 17 are Paul’s way of putting the gospel in a nutshell. Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism, said these two verses brought about his own breakthrough, where he was completely transformed by pondering on these verses. If these two verses have never done to you what they did to Luther, I’m going to try to show you three factors you have to grasp if you’re going to break through. According to this text, you have to grasp 1) the form of the gospel, 2) the content of the gospel, and 3) the power of the gospel. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 8, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Romans 1:1-7, 14-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re in a series tracing the single storyline of the Bible—the single story that tells us what’s wrong with the human race, what God has done about it, and how history is going to turn out in the end.  We’ve started by looking at the beginning of the biblical story, at what’s wrong with us. We’re at the end of this section of Genesis, at a particular passage that’s not often preached on. We learn three extremely important things in this passage. We learn about 1) the ruin of Cain, 2) the culture of death, and 3) the future city of grace.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 1, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Genesis 4:11-26. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The Bible’s simple answer to the question “What’s wrong with the human race?” is sin.  Contemporary people cringe when we use the word sin because we don’t like it. Then what vocabulary will you use to talk about war atrocities, massive corruption, slavery, or violence? Will you use the language of technology or sociology or psychology? The language in those disciplines isn’t profound enough to deal with the realities of what’s really going on in the world.  We learn more about what the Bible means by the term “sin” by looking at the famous story of Cain and Abel. We see three new things here about sin: 1) the potency of sin, 2) the subtlety of it, and 3) our eventual victory over it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 25, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Genesis 4:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The Bible is a single story telling us what is wrong with the human race, what God is going to do about it, and how it’s all going to turn out.  Genesis 3 and 4 give us answers to what’s wrong with the human race and why the human race is so prone to selfishness, violence, wars, atrocity, and corruption all the time.  Let’s look at what the Bible has to say about sin. We learn four things: 1) the heart of sin, 2) the breadth of sin, 3) the depth of sin, and 4) the end of sin. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 18, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Genesis 3:8-24. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The Bible is not a series of disconnected stories, each one with a little moral for how to live, but it’s actually primarily a single story about what went wrong with the human race and what will put it right.  Figuring out what went wrong with the human race is really important. In her 1925 diary, Beatrice Webb, one of the architects of the modern British welfare system, says there’s something wrong with us that leads to selfishness and violence, corruption in business and government, war and atrocities—and that it’s consistent across history. Science hasn’t dealt with it. Education hasn’t dealt with it. Social machinery hasn’t dealt with it. Who will explain it? Chapters 3 and 4 of Genesis do.  Let’s start with this very famous text, and let’s notice four features of the narrative: 1) the sneer, 2) the lie, 3) the tree, and 4) the call. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 11, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Genesis 3:1-7. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

You can’t understand the central storyline of the Bible unless you understand something about marriage. The Bible begins with a marriage in Genesis 2, and at the end, in Revelation, it ends with a marriage and the wedding supper of the Lamb. In some ways, you can understand what the whole Bible is about and what the gospel is about in terms of marriage. In Genesis 2, we have the first wedding. Let’s ask the text a question: how can we be successful in seeking out marriage and in actually being married?  There are three things the text says you need if you’re going to be married well: 1) attentiveness to idolatry, 2) patience for a very long journey, and 3) supernatural humility. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 4, 2009. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Genesis 2:18-25. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you stand back a little bit from Genesis 1 and 2, you’ll see that perhaps the main thing the first two chapters of the Bible are about is work, job and vocation.  We’re told in Genesis 2 that God sends the human race into the world to work. He put them in the garden to work it and take care of it.  With regard to the idea of work and vocation, there is 1) an assumption, 2) a direction, 3) a burden, and 4) a provision made.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 7, 2008. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Genesis 2:4-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation

We’re in a series tracing the single storyline of the whole Bible. So we’re actually looking at the history of the universe.  Today we get to this passage about how God made us in his image and likeness. This immediately brings up a huge and crucial issue or theme of the whole Bible: what it means to be in the image and likeness of God.  We’re going to look at 1) the importance of the image of God, 2) the meaning of the image of God, and 3) the renovation and repair of the image of God in you and me. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 30, 2008. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Genesis 1:26-2:3. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The Bible is about how the world was made and ruined, how it was rescued through Jesus Christ, and how someday it’s going to be remade into a new heavens and new earth.  In order to trace out that storyline, we’re first taking a look at Genesis. In Genesis 1, we have the doctrine, the teaching on creation. It’s a very big subject.  Let’s look at what the Bible teaches about creation under three headings: 1) understanding the doctrine of creation, 2) practicing the doctrine of creation, but even more, 3) experiencing the doctrine of creation. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 23, 2008. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Genesis 1:3-25. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The Bible is not a compendium of varied stories like Aesop’s Fables, each with directions and examples on how to live. If that’s all it was, then basically the Bible would be about you and what you must do. Read rightly, the Bible is not about you—it’s about him and what he has done. A single storyline moves from creation to the fall to what he has done to rescue you and renew the world through grace.  We start, obviously, at Genesis 1. This tells us the beginning of the story of the world. And if you look carefully at the first three verses, you actually get a glimpse of what was going on before the beginning.  We see three things before the beginning: 1) there was God, 2) there was love, and 3) there was darkness. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 16, 2008. Series: Bible: The Whole Story - Creation and Fall. Scripture: Genesis 1:1-3. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When do you ordinarily say that God is good? When the circumstances of your life are going well for you. But Habakkuk says it’s possible to face disaster and still have a life of sustained joy in the midst of it. Habakkuk has learned that the great Babylonian Empire is going to crush his country. It’s an absolute social disaster. What does it mean, then, to rejoice in your suffering? Not for your suffering, but in your suffering?  We’re going to learn four things about rejoicing in suffering: 1) what it is, 2) when it happens, 3) how it’s done, and 4) why it’s possible. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 7, 2009. Series: Living by Faith in Troubled Times. Scripture: Habakkuk 3:1-19. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

How do you face economic scarcity? The little book of Habakkuk talks about how to handle evil times, and in particular, it describes an economic disaster. Habakkuk’s answer for dealing with economic scarcity is fuller than you might think because he alludes to the Old Testament principle of the firstfruits, where you were supposed to give the firstfruits of your harvest to God. But here, Habakkuk brings up the possibility of having no harvest at all.  We’re going to learn three things about financial giving: 1) you should give sacrificially, not just out of surplus, 2) you should give joyfully, not just out of duty, and 3) you should give graciously. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 31, 2009. Series: Living by Faith in Troubled Times. Scripture: Habakkuk 3. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The little book of Habakkuk tells us how to handle evil times, especially evil times in a culture. In this passage, God is saying to Habakkuk something about the evil Babylonian Empire that is rising up and wreaking havoc everywhere. God shows the rottenness at the heart of the culture and shows what is wrong in that culture.  As God deconstructs what’s wrong with the Babylonian culture, he actually gives us two principles for facing evil times wherever we are: 1) with your head, you need to understand the source of the evil that’s surrounding you, and 2) with your heart, you need a consolation to help you face the evil. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 17, 2009. Series: Living by Faith in Troubled Times. Scripture: Habakkuk 2:5-20. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Tim Keller always encouraged Christians to share the hope and beauty of the gospel with the people God puts in their lives. The ministry of Gospel in Life is most effective in spreading the gospel when you are prayerfully and thoughtfully sharing our sermons, books and articles with your family, friends and coworkers who don’t yet have a personal faith in Christ.  As an encouragement to you and to remind all of us about the beauty of the gospel, you’ll hear a short message from Redeemer City to City's Tim Keller tribute video. In it, Tim gives a short and winsome presentation of the gospel which reminds us how salvation comes from God and we do nothing to save ourselves.   Tim and Kathy Keller have set Gospel in Life on a clear course to continue pointing people to the love and forgiveness found in Christ, and with your help and the work of the Holy Spirit we are praying that in the years ahead many people will come to know Jesus and many more will grow in their faith through this ministry.

It’s almost cliché to hear someone say you should “wait on the Lord.” But here in Habakkuk, we have a book that’s all about how to face evil times. And one of the main ways in which we’re able to handle evil times is what the Bible calls “waiting on the Lord.”  Habakkuk has started by voicing a great complaint, has heard God’s first response, and has called out to God again. In this passage, Habakkuk waits to hear God’s second answer. Habakkuk waits. There is a rich meaning to this, which we can see in this text. We are to wait on the Lord 1) patiently, 2) perspectively, 3) obediently, 4) God-centrically, and 5) joyfully. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 10, 2009. Series: Living by Faith in Troubled Times. Scripture: Habakkuk 2:1-4. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

It would be possible to go to church for many decades and never hear a sermon on Habakkuk. It’s a short book in the Old Testament, and we know almost nothing about Habakkuk himself. But this book is very contemporary in its application.  This little book talks about how to handle evil times, whether those are society-wide evil times or just your own personal evil times.  Let’s see why this is so relevant to us. Let’s notice 1) what Habakkuk saw, 2) what he did, 3) what he heard from God, and 4) what it meant.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 3, 2009. Series: Living by Faith in Troubled Times. Scripture: Habakkuk 1:1-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at people who have had close encounters with God. Of course, Mary’s experience is often read at Christmastime. In Luke 1, Mary sings the very first Christmas carol. It’s the first Christmas song, and I’d say it’s the best.  Let’s look at 1) what leads her to sing, 2) what she sings a little about, and 3) what she sings a lot about.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 8, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: Luke 1:39-55. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When people in the Bible have close encounters with God, in almost every situation they say, “I can’t believe I’m still alive,” and Hagar is one of them. In Genesis 16, we see the story of Hagar, the maidservant of Sarah. Sarah’s and Hagar’s experiences overlap. We’re told Sarah mistreats Hagar, and it’s so bad that Hagar, a pregnant woman, flees out into the desert. We have here a story that will tell you the gospel. This is the gospel according to Hagar. We’ll look at 1) how we can understand the narrative, and 2) a few important principles we can draw from here. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 1, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: Genesis 16:1-16. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

It is with sadness that we share with you that our founder and friend, Timothy J. Keller passed away this morning, May 19, 2023 at the age of 72, trusting in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection. Please join us in prayer for his family as they go through the grieving process. While our hearts are heavy with the news of Tim’s death, we know he is rejoicing with his Savior in heaven.

We’re looking at historic accounts of people who had direct encounters with the living God. Isaiah 6 is a seminal passage: all of biblical religion is in here. It tells us so much about what it means to be a Christian and what it means to really meet God. In this passage, Isaiah’s just going to the temple like he’s gone to the temple hundreds of times before. It’s the Sabbath day. He walks into the temple, and the very last person in the whole world he expects to actually see is God. This passage tells us four characteristics of the Christian experience: 1) the reality, 2) the diversity, 3) the beauty, and 4) the festivity. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 24, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Two times God appears to Abraham, but this time is utterly different than the last time. This time, God has come to get Sarah’s attention. In Genesis 15, God speaks to Abraham in dread darkness as an unapproachable thing. Here, in Genesis 18, in the heat of the day and in the most approachable possible way, God has come not so much to talk to Abraham—he has come to talk to Sarah. God is going to establish Sarah in his promise. We’ll look at 1) why, 2) how, and 3) what lessons we can draw out. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 10, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: Genesis 18:9-33. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking in the Bible at people who have had direct encounters with the raw presence of God. But this situation in which Abraham has a meeting with God is one of the weirdest stories in the Bible. It’s also the most significant passage for me in all of the Old Testament. In this passage, Abraham asks how he can know that God will do what God’s promised. When God responds, Abraham knows what’s going on: a covenant ratification ceremony. This was the making of a contract. Abraham knew right away, but he didn’t figure what would actually happen. No one on the face of the earth would figure what would actually happen. We’ll look at what happened. And then to apply this, we’ll see 1) the problem is we need an anchor for our souls, and 2) how we can get it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 3, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: Genesis 15:1-21. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at times when people have had close encounters with God. The one Paul gives us is one of the most curious of all. And it’s actually about discouragement. Paul is writing a letter to the church at Corinth. There were false teachers who had come to Corinth, twisting the gospel and claiming to have divine authority. When Paul responds, he does not enter into a direct competition. He does not say, “My revelations are bigger or better.” Oh, no. He says his revelations are different. Let’s see what we can learn from what Paul shares: 1) the heaven experience, and 2) the thorn experience.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 20, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at individuals who have met God in a particularly poignant way, who have actually come into the presence of God. To understand Elijah’s experience, we have to first jump back. Right before this moment in Elijah’s life, we see one of the most dramatic, spectacular events in all of the Bible. But after that spectacular event, Elijah is afraid, running for his life, and in utter despair. Let’s tell the story, and then let’s draw out lessons from it. Let’s look at 1) the three things God does for a depressed Elijah, and 2) the three things Elijah learns. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 13, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: 1 Kings 19:9-18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at places in the Bible in which someone, or in this case something, got near to the presence of God. Whenever a person gets into the presence of God, there’s usually some kind of physical manifestation. In other words, God connects his presence to something visible, something tangible. There’s only one object, however, in all the history of the Bible, that God routinely attached his presence to, and that was the ark of the covenant. Let’s look at what the ark is and what happens in this incident. Then we’ll look at what it teaches us about getting close to God. It shows us that 1) the presence of God is never permanently connected to any one object or method, but 2) his presence is always attached to several principles. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 6, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: 1 Samuel 5:14. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Many of you have probably heard of the battle of Jericho. But you probably didn’t know about what happens in these first three verses. These verses make all the difference. Jericho was a huge city, a fortified city, and humanly speaking, an impossible city for the Israelites to handle. It’s important to remember that this is not the first time Joshua has been to Jericho. In this passage, Joshua goes out all by himself and looks at it. He’s remembering something that happened 40 years before. When he gets out there, he has this amazing encounter with God. There are three lessons we draw from this passage: 1) this is Jesus, 2) Jesus is absolutely holy, and 3) Jesus had a drawn sword. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 22, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: Joshua 5:13-15, 6:1-5. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Many people say, “I want to meet God. I want to have an encounter.” But the way Job gets to an encounter with God is through absolutely horrible suffering. Job is a book for adults. It’s not easy. It’s certainly not sugarcoated. When God shows up, it’s not a Hallmark-card, folded-hands, rays-of-light-coming-through-the-stained-glass-window kind of religion. Oh no, not at all. Let’s look at the story of Job, and then let’s look at what it teaches about what it means to know God. It shows us 1) the philosophical lesson, 2) the foundational lessons, and 3) the practical lesson. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 15, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: Job 42:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Drawing near to God is perilous. If there’s any place in the Bible where that comes out, it’s here, because when Jacob draws near to God, he finds that God is a wrestler. This is the climactic moment in Jacob’s life. This is the place where Jacob finally finds out what his life means, finally finds out what his main problem is, finally has a transformation of heart. Before this incident, Jacob plays at religion. After this, he’s a changed man. To understand this narrative, we have to 1) look at the whole scope of Jacob’s life and how this brings it all together, and then 2) draw out four practical conclusions for us today. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 8, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: Genesis 32:22-32. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

This talk and Q&A by Tim Keller was held at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City on October 2, 2013.

There’s nothing more inevitable in life than suffering, and there’s no book in the Bible, and maybe no work of world literature, that faces the issue of suffering with more realism, integrity, and wisdom than the book of Job. In the middle part of the book, there are long speeches by Job, and most of the time he’s expressing confusion and anger. But there are two places where, in his wrestling, Job wrestles through to remarkable faith and insight. In this one, Job comes to grips with three resources we’re told Christians have in order to face suffering. These three resources are to know 1) the comfort of the presence, 2) the challenge of the glory, and 3) the joy of the resurrection. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 20, 2008. Series: Job - A Path Through Suffering. Scripture: Job 13:20-24; 14:7-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

How do you bear suffering? How do you get through the inevitable suffering that will come to you? The answer to that is comfort. In the book of Job, Job has three friends who show up and do an absolutely terrible job of comforting. Yet, even by looking at their terrible comfort, we’re going to learn something about the sources of comfort. In this passage, let’s take a look at 1) the bad comfort, 2) the better comfort, and 3) the ultimate comfort. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 13, 2008. Series: Job - A Path Through Suffering. Scripture: Job 5:1-7; 6:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When you suffer, it’s natural to ask the question, “Why?” Instinctively, it’s sometimes the very first thing out of our mouths when tragedy hits: “Why me? Why this? Why now?” There’s no other book of the Bible or piece of literature that addresses the great why question of suffering with the intellectual and philosophical integrity and deftness, the emotional and dramatic realism, and the spiritual wisdom of the book of Job. This text teaches us three things about the why question of suffering: 1) you have to avoid pat answers, 2) you need to embrace living without an answer, and 3) you need to anticipate the ultimate answer.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 6, 2008. Series: Job - A Path Through Suffering. Scripture: Job 1:8-22. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The Christian hope is a life-shaping certainty that our ultimate future is the eternal love and glory of God, the new heavens and new earth. The uniqueness of the Christian hope means every area of our lives is shaped by that belief, that future. And so the Christian hope has an enormous impact on how we face and process suffering, disappointment, difficulty, troubles. In 2 Corinthians, we’re told three things about suffering: 1) the inevitability of it, 2) the pattern of it, and 3) the future of it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 16, 2004. Series: Living in Hope. Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:7-18; 12:7-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

There’s more emphasis in our culture on getting and spending money, on consuming goods, than in any culture in history. In his book, The Real American Dream: A Meditation on Hope, Andrew Delbanco says we’ve lost the sense that there’s something beyond this world, so we use money to distract ourselves from the fear that our lives aren’t going anywhere. Paul agrees with that, that what you believe your ultimate future to be will have a huge impact on how you use your money. In these two famous chapters in 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about money. He says there’s a way to use your money that will make your life an exciting story. If you want to have that, you have to see three things: 1) there is a problem, 2) there is a key to the problem, and 3) there is a power to use the key. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 2, 2004. Series: Living in Hope. Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:8-15, 9:6-12. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Christian hope is unique. The certainty of a material future, the new heavens and new earth, and the certainty that in Christ, that’s coming to you, makes Christianity a distinct, life-shaping force. It distinctly shapes the way in which we live in every area of life. We’re looking now at an area of life that has been a matter of enormous concern to us as a whole world, especially as a society. How do people of different races, cultures, and religions live together in peace? The Christian hope gives us an enormous resource to use on this problem. In Romans 14, Paul shows us 1) the problem, 2) a false solution, 3) the true solution, and 4) the power to do it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 25, 2004. Series: Living in Hope. Scripture: Romans 14:1-3, 14:14-15:7. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We underestimate the degree to which our present behavior and our present living are determined by what we believe our ultimate future to be. Christian hope affects everything, every area of our lives. That means Christian hope, our understanding of the future, revolutionizes our whole attitude toward sex, romance, singleness, and marriage. This passage in 1 Corinthians 6 is outrageous in all sorts of ways. It shows us 1) Christianity gave the world a revolutionary view of sex, 2) Christianity gave the world a revolutionary view of singleness and marriage, and 3) how Christian hope radically reshapes our view, our actions, and our attitudes in this area. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 18, 2004. Series: Living in Hope. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:13-20; 7:27-31. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Historical and sociological scholarship shows the early Christians were remarkably different than their neighbors. Why were the Christians so much more compassionate to the sick? Why were they so much more forgiving to their persecutors? Why were they so much more ethnically inclusive than anyone had ever seen? Were they just ahead of their time? Were they just nicer people? No, it all depended on what they believed their future to be. You might say, “That sounds very good, but how could anybody be certain about the future?” That was what was different. The answer and, therefore, the key to this whole dynamic of Christian hope is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When the early Christians looked at the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the resurrection 1) gave them certainty of God’s future and 2) described the shape of God’s future. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 11, 2004. Series: Living in Hope. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:1-10; 47-58. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In this short special episode, Tim and Kathy Keller have a conversation about the resurrection of Jesus as the historically verifiable event on which the Christian faith stands.

I think I can say without fear of contradiction that no matter who you are, there’s a lot of death in your future. If you look around, you look at your loved ones, you look at your family, you look at your friends. Either you will face death yourself because you will be dying younger than is our want, or you will live a long time and face the death of the other people around you. Christian hope gives you something to deal with that, gives you something remarkable. Let’s look at 1) what Christianity gives us so we can handle death, and 2) how we get it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 4, 2004. Series: Living in Hope. Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

You might say that even though you believe in most of what the Bible says about the ultimate future, it hasn’t changed your life. You really don’t handle suffering or death or other things any differently than other people. Why would that be? The answer is because it’s not simply the doctrine of Christian hope, it’s not just the cognitive belief that changes us. It’s the experience of hope. Let’s look at 1) the promise of this experience, 2) the sources of this experience, and 3) how we get it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 28, 2004. Series: Living in Hope. Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-21, 1 John 3:1-3. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Nobody has ever asked me to preach on hope, except my wife, who asked me to do this whole series. The reason people don’t ask me to preach on hope is we underestimate tremendously what really is the engine of our lives. How you live now is completely determined by your believed-in future. We’re going to look at what Christian hope is and how it is the great life-changing dynamic in the Christian life. Let’s notice what Ephesians 1 tells us about 1) the importance of hope, 2) the content of hope, and 3) how to get it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 21, 2004. Series: Living in Hope. Scripture: Ephesians 1:13-23. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

All four of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) tell us that the women followers of Jesus on Easter Sunday morning found the tomb empty and heard a message from the angel. Of those four accounts, Mark’s is the shortest. In two wonderful verses, we have the entirety of the life-changing message of the resurrection, of Easter. There are three aspects to this message: 1) there is a word of challenge to change your mind, 2) there is a word of grace to change your heart, and 3) there is a word of mission to change the whole course and shape of your life in the world. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 8, 2007. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 16:1-8. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In the burial of Jesus, we see three classes of people who are brought together by the death of Jesus. There is the Roman centurion, who is a pagan. There are the women who stay with Jesus all through this time. And there’s Joseph of Arimathea, who is a member of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee, a member of the ruling party. Women, pagans, Pharisees—three groups of people who don’t usually hang out together. Yet something has brought them together. These are three groups all making positive responses to the death of Jesus. What we learn here is 1) the world we all want, 2) the change we need, and 3) how we can get it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 1, 2007. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 15:39-47. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

At the actual moment of Jesus’ death, an inexplicable, mysterious darkness comes down. From noon to 3:00 PM, it was absolutely dark. This is an inexplicable darkness. A solar eclipse does not create absolute darkness for more than a few minutes. Besides that, a solar eclipse can’t happen during a full moon, and it was Passover, which is a time of a full moon. Beyond that, it was the wet season, so you can’t attribute it to a desert wind storm. This is a supernatural darkness, and therefore it means something. But what? What does it signify? I think we’ll see that it signifies 1) the darkness we have, 2) the darkness Jesus received, and 3) how Jesus’ darkness can dispel our darkness. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 25, 2007. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 15:33-39. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In the first half of the crucifixion account, there’s a theme. That theme is the fact that Jesus is mocked, insulted, jeered at, laughed at, humiliated, and shamed. The soldiers are jeering at him, spitting on him. He is stripped naked and crucified naked. The passersby are insulting him. The religious leaders are mocking him. And at the very end, even the thieves on the crosses beside him are making fun of him, insulting him. Jesus didn’t only get killed on the cross—he also got shamed and humiliated. This is important because it teaches us three things: 1) the mocking tells us about our own hearts, 2) the mocking reveals Jesus’ heart, and 3) if we let it, the mocking can change our hearts so ours become like his.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 18, 2007. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 15:16-32. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

For the first time, in Mark 15, we have Jesus in front of the political establishment, the Roman state. So we have to ask the question, “What is the relationship of Jesus to politics, of Christianity to the government?” Pilate asks three questions. He asks Jesus, “Are you king of the Jews?” and, “Why aren’t you fighting back?” Then he asks the crowd, “What shall we do with the king?” The answers to these three questions are a lens by which to explore the relationship of Christianity to politics. These three answers are 1) the ambiguity answer, 2) the revolutionary answer, and 3) the substitutionary answer.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 11, 2007. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 15:1-15. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The story of Peter’s denial and the story of Jesus’ arrest and trial are intertwined in Mark 14. We’re meant to compare these two stories. Peter is on trial, just like Jesus. Peter is being questioned, just like Jesus. The question is being put in front of us: do you have what it takes to be a person of truth, of integrity, who does the right thing, who stands up for justice, who tells the truth in general and the truth about Jesus in particular, regardless of what it costs you? According to this passage, no, you don’t have what it takes—but you can get it. We learn here 1) how Peter failed to be a true witness, 2) how Peter was healed and succeeded in being a true witness, and 3) how that happened. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 4, 2007. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 14:29-31, 53-54, 66-72. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at the final days of Jesus’ life on earth. And in Mark 14, Jesus is on trial. There’s nothing more dramatic than to be on trial for your life. And there’s no more dramatic moment in a trial than when the defendant is called to testify on the witness stand. And there perhaps has never been a more dramatic and shocking testimony given on a witness stand than the one Jesus Christ gives. In this passage, we see 1) that Jesus is the judge, 2) that Jesus is the judge who was judged, and 3) if we understand those two things together, it’ll change our lives. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 25, 2007. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 14:53-65. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

As we look at the last part of Jesus’ life, we come to this scene: his arrest. In it, Jesus makes a big deal about them coming for him with swords and clubs. What we have here is a clash between two kingdoms, two administrations of reality, two sets of priorities and values. We have the right-side-up kingdom of this world and the upside-down kingdom of Jesus and of God. In this passage in Mark 14 we see, 1) Judas shows us the kingdom of this world, 2) Peter shows us the difficulty of living in the kingdom of Jesus, and 3) the mysterious young man gives us insights into how we get the power to live in Jesus’ kingdom. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 18, 2007. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 14:43-52. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you read the rest of the life of Jesus, he’s totally unflappable, but in the garden of Gethsemane, as he faces his imminent death, it says he’s astonished and overcome with horror. The fact that Jesus struggles with his death is not only unique in ancient history, it’s actually almost unique in church history itself. This passage in Mark 14 helps us 1) see that it all really happened, 2) understand we have a culture, 3) come to grips with the wrath of God, 4) discover a way to deal with trouble and suffering, and 5) get the power to use that method. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 11, 2007. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 14:32-42. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In this special episode, Susan Nacorda Stang interviews Tim about his book, Hope in Times of Fear.  The interview was recorded prior to the book's release in March 2021.

Confucius, Muhammad, Buddha, Moses—they all died in old age, in comfort and blessedness, triumphant over their opponents. Of all the founders of major religions, Jesus alone died alone, young, stripped naked, stared at, mocked, while he died by inches in agony, crying out to God who had forsaken him. Who, hearing that story, would say, “That’s the spiritual leader I want”? And yet, the suffering and death of Jesus Christ transformed lives at a depth and on a scale that completely changed the ancient world. People’s lives were changed if they grasped the understanding of Jesus’ death that he gave at the Last Supper. So what did Jesus say? There are three things we see here: 1) the importance of his death, 2) the meaning of his death, and 3) how it can be a transforming power in your life. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 4, 2007. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 14:22-31. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In Mark 14, Jesus predicts his betrayal by one disciple, and he predicts the defection and the failure of all the disciples. So what are we supposed to learn from this? Even though it will be relevant to everybody, this passage is particularly meant for people who think they are Jesus’ friends, people who think they’re pretty close to him, people who feel they’re really following him, people who even would consider themselves the leaders of the Christian movement. This passage teaches us about 1) the breadth of sin, 2) the depth of sin, and 3) how to overcome it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 28, 2007. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 14:12-21, 27-28. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

It’s very clear what Jesus Christ came to do. He came to die. That sets him apart from the founders of every other major religion. They came to live and be an example. He came to die. Most of the people in the world fall into one of two categories with regard to the cross of Jesus. Many people struggle too much with the cross, because they find it offensive and nonsensical. Many other people struggle too little with the cross. They think they believe it, but it’s not changing their life at all. Mark 10 speaks to both groups. There are two things it shows us: 1) why Jesus came to die, and 2) how that should change us from the inside out. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 14, 2007. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 10:32-45. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at a very famous passage about Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the cleansing of the temple. And in the midst of this passage, there’s the curious incident of the fig tree. In this we can see 1) the character Jesus has, 2) the power he brings, and 3) how that power reproduces his character in you and me.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 17, 2006. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 11:1-18. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jesus tells the disciples that Jerusalem and the temple, at some future time, are going to be destroyed by the Romans. And Jesus says this is a foreshadowing of the end of the world, of judgment day, of his second coming to earth. Jesus then tells his disciples to watch and yearn for his coming back to earth. A lot of people, both inside and outside the church, really struggle with this teaching. Three questions come up immediately: 1) Doesn’t this lead to fanaticism? 2) What difference does it really make? and 3) What does it mean to watch? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 10, 2006. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 13:24-37. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The first three chapters of Ephesians has a lot of heavy theology about what it means to be a Christian and who we are in Christ. Then, it suddenly gets incredibly practical—and it’s not actually a different subject.  All of the theology has an effect on how we live in our practical lives. Christ really is Lord of every area of life. Two of those areas are now laid out for us: work and family.  We’re going to look now at 1) Jesus and your work, 2) Jesus and your family, and 3) Jesus and your life. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 22, 2012. Series: A Study of Ephesians: Who is the Church? Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-9. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Isaiah 60 describes the new heavens and the new earth. It’s looking to the end of time when God makes everything right—paradise restored. And in this passage, all the nations of the world are bringing their work products.  What is gold and silver? What is the flux and the grain? They’re bringing the products of their work to God as offerings to God. And this means that just as there was work in the original paradise, there’ll be work in the future paradise.  What does that mean for our work? Let’s notice three things: 1) the goodness and dignity of work, 2) what’s wrong with work, and 3) how work can be healed. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 10, 2016. Series: Where We are Going: The City and the Mission. Scripture: Isaiah 60:1-11, 18-21. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

What does it mean to follow Jesus and apply the gospel to every single area of life? In Luke 6, we look to an area of life that’s covered in the fourth commandment: sabbath rest. We all have somewhat different relationships to work. There are people, for example, who are out of work and would love to have more work. But by and large, one of the biggest problems we have is the discipline of getting sabbath rest.  As we look at sabbath rest, we’re going to ask 1) Why do we need it? 2) Where do we get it? And 3) How do we do it?  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 23, 2003. Series: The Meaning of Jesus Part 2: Following Him. Scripture: Luke 6:1-11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The gospel affects how you do your work, how you do your job, and how you pursue your vocation. How does that affect your work?  If we’re going to understand what Paul says in this passage, we need to look at 1) some background work and historical context, 2) practical principle number one, 3) practical principle number two, and 4) the power to carry them out.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 17, 2010. Series: The Gospel and the World. Scripture: Ephesians 5:21, 6:5-9. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In the Bible there’s a view of work that’s revolutionary. It’s so revolutionary that Dorothy Sayers writes that society as a whole, and individuals in particular, are dying for the lack of it—that individuals are hurting because we don’t have it. Unless you understand the biblical doctrine of work, you will never find rest. That’s the irony. You see, there’s a kind of work that arises from rest, and on the other hand, there’s a kind of restless work. It’s one or the other. The biblical doctrine of work has 1) two practical guidelines and 2) two motivational principles. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on July 7, 1996. Series: Thessalonians; The Gospel and the End of Time. Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

How does the gospel give us hope? And how does that hope shape our public life? We’re looking at how hope shapes the way in which we live our lives—not just in giving us inner peace and not just in our family life, but in our public life out in the world. In particular, how does hope shape the way in which we do our work?  We’re going to see 1) the passion of hope, 2) the case study of hope, and then 3) the reason for hope.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 25, 2009. Series: The Gospel, Hope, and the World. Scripture: Titus 2:11-3:9. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The night before Jesus is going to die, he’s trying to get his disciples ready to be sent out into the world to represent him. And what does he do? He washes their dirty feet.  We’re meditating on the fact that he washed their dirty feet. Only when you understand this picture, do you really understand the kind of love that Jesus is calling all Christians to. The love that Jesus is calling us to 1) is not just attraction, it’s action, 2) is not just giving, it’s investing, and 3) is not out of our emptiness. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 23, 2016. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: New Purpose. Scripture: John 13:12-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When Jesus knew it was his last time to train his disciples, he started their training with foot washing.  He gets up out of his place as the guest of honor, and he puts on a towel, picks up a basin, and begins to wash their feet. We’ve seen that this has symbolism that tells us who Jesus is. We look now at how it tells us what he came to give us: his salvation. We learn here that 1) we have a deep problem, 2) there’s a twofold cure, and 3) why and how we can get it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 16, 2016. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: New Purpose. Scripture: John 13:6-11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

On the night before he went to the cross, Jesus was about to send his disciples out into the world in a new way, and so he trained them. He started with this remarkable act of foot washing. Jesus has just finished talking about who he is and what he came to do. And then he gets up and begins to wash the disciples’ feet. So the foot washing is clearly a sign, a symbolic act. In the foot washing, we’re going to learn something about Jesus. This act shows us 1) his person, 2) his power, and 3) his pattern of life for us.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 9, 2016. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: New Purpose. Scripture: John 13:1-5. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Does becoming a Christian mean the end of your freedom? Is a relationship with Jesus Christ a radical challenge to your freedom? The answer is yes and no. But ultimately, no. Now I know somebody’s going to say that sounds like an ambiguous answer, but actually, it’s a complex answer.  In John 8, Jesus teaches about freedom. Jesus shows us 1) the complexity of freedom, 2) the enemy of freedom, 3) the ultimate source of freedom and the true liberator. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 2, 2016. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: New Purpose. Scripture: John 8:31-36; 56-59. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at the last sermon that Jesus Christ preached publicly to the world at large. And when you know this is the end, that you’re never going to speak to people again before you die, you usually say the things that are most important to you.  There are three ideas that Jesus gets across in this passage. They are not easy messages for the world to hear, but they’re brilliant.  Jesus is saying three things: 1) you need my power to believe, 2) you need my light for your darkness, and 3) the only hope you have is the judgment of God.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 25, 2016. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: New Purpose. Scripture: John 12:37-50. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

According to the Bible, there’s nothing more eminent than the glory of God. But that term is so remote to us now. Most Christians have heard of doing things for the glory of God, but what does that mean?  Do you want to have meaning in life? Do you have some need for deep personal change? Are you concerned about justice in the world? The key to all those things is the glory of God. We see in John 12 that to live for the glory of God is to 1) treat God as supremely important, and 2) see God’s beauty. And then we see 3) how to do it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 18, 2016. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: New Purpose. Scripture: John 12:27-36. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

At first glance, Psalm 111 seems to be a generic recitation of the great things God has done for his people. But there’s more to it than meets the eye. If you read consecutively, Psalm 111 and 112 look a lot alike—and there are remarkable links between the two.  Psalm 111 describes the great God, and Psalm 112 describes a great, flourishing, happy life. The links between the two are unmistakable. If you want the life of Psalm 112, you need to know the God of Psalm 111.  This psalm teaches us about 1) a powerful, involved God, 2) a supernaturally changed life, and 3) the way to connect the power of God to your life. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 25, 2013. Series: Open My Lips: Studies in the Psalms. Scripture: Psalm 111. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Psalm 96 is an astonishingly happy psalm. It depicts joy and rejoicing for the whole human race, and not just for everyone, but for everything—even the trees, the fields, the mountains, the earth, and the seas are filled with joy and rejoicing.  But this isn’t the world the way we know it—where there are hurricanes, natural disasters, diseases, and death. So how do we get from where we are to there? Is this nothing but an inaccessible, crazy idea, or is it possible to get to a world like this?  In order to find the answer to that question, we need to look at the psalm itself, which is a series of invitations. Let’s look at the call 1) to see, 2) to sing, and 3) to rejoice in judgment. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 18, 2013. Series: Open My Lips: Studies in the Psalms. Scripture: Psalm 96. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Romans 8 tells us it’s possible for us to experience God because of the work of the Holy Spirit. At the end of the chapter, we get to the heart of the Holy Spirit’s job: to assure us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. If this is the main job of the Holy Spirit, it means that your main problem tonight is that you’re not persuaded. At every level, the Spirit works to convince us. And we need to hear the Spirit’s arguments because there will always be 1) the inside problem, and 2) the outside problem. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 13, 1997. Series: Lessons in Drawing Near. Scripture: Romans 8:31-39. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re in a series on experiencing God, and we’re looking at the work of the Holy Spirit. The main job of the Holy Spirit is to assure you that you are a child of the King—to assure you that you belong to him, that you’re his child, that he loves you.  The three great ministries of the Holy Spirit, which are all assurance ministries, are 1) the ministry of regeneration, 2) the ministry of sanctification, and 3) the ministry of high assurance and power. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 6, 1997. Series: Lessons in Drawing Near. Scripture: Romans 8:1-17. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at what it means to experience God. To be a Christian is to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Not just to be helped by the Holy Spirit, not just to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, but to be indwelt.  Today, we’re going to look at how we increase spiritual dynamics in our lives. What are the basic dynamics which, when they’re heightened, heighten spiritual vitality? If we are to walk in the Spirit, we will be involved in two processes: 1) mortification, which is putting to death the deeds of the sinful nature, and 2) aspiration, which is setting your heart and mind on the things of the Spirit. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 23, 1997. Series: Lessons in Drawing Near. Scripture: Romans 8:1-14. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

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