Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

How the Gospel Changes Lives: Part 1

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 19:30:00 GMT

The heart of Acts chapter 16 are three wonderful case studies of how God changes three very different people. There’s a woman, there’s a girl, and there’s a man. They are three marvelous examples of how God can work in such remarkably different ways and yet at the same time bring people to the same Christ through the same gospel. This gospel is rich enough and flexible enough for anybody — it can change anybody.

We’re going to look at the first two case studies and then draw a few lessons: who the people are, how the gospel comes to them, and what the results are.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 21, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 16:1-19.

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.

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Claryfying the Gospel

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 22:30:00 GMT

Acts 15 is not a chapter that is commonly used for sermons. It usually is not something we spend time on because it’s a long theological debate. But this debate teaches us at least four incredibly important things about the gospel itself. Truth matters because truth has consequences for how we live. Secondly, no other religion offers freedom from burdens like Christianity because Christ took on our burdens for us. Next, God uses community to reveal things to us and to teach us about him. Finally, unlike the sacrifices of the Old Testament, we are made pure by the work of Christ.

We learn the importance of these four things in Acts 15: gospel accuracy, gospel liberty, gospel community, and gospel purity.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 14, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 15:1-11, 22-29.

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The Gospel for the Pagan

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 22:30:00 GMT

There’s no doubt if you’re looking to understand what real Christianity is, the book of Acts is the place you should start. Nothing shows us what authentic Christianity is more than the earliest years of the church’s history in the book of Acts.

The first church was in Jerusalem and the first Christians were Jewish. When the gospel began to spread in the first 13 chapters of Acts, we see a lot of evangelism being done between Jews and God-fearers who already believed the Bible. But in this passage, it’s the first time we see Christian speakers speaking to polytheists — people who don’t believe the Bible at all. This passage shows us how we should present the gospel in a place where people believe a lot of different things like our modern society. We can learn four things gospel ministry in such a pluralistic setting: love the needy, identify the idols, endure the hardness, and fulfill the longings.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 7, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 14:8-23.

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But God Raised Him

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 22:30:00 GMT

The first recorded sermon by Saint Paul is found in Acts 13. It’s dominated by the subject of Christ’s resurrection. Elsewhere Paul says that without the resurrection of Christ, “our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1 Cor. 15:14). Over and over again in Acts 13, Paul mentions the resurrection. If the resurrection was preached and believed in the earliest church, then we should too.

We see here it was preached and believed in two ways: as a fact and as fulfillment. Verse 31 says that there are witnesses to this fact. Verse 32 says what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us. Fact and fulfillment. Let’s find out what these mean for us today and what the ramifications are for our lives.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 31, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 13:26-31, 38-39.

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The Gospel Church

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 22:30:00 GMT

The church of Antioch was one of the most important churches in early Christianity. It teaches us many things about Christian outreach, cultural diversity, prayer, discipleship, and caring for people in need. But we’re going to look at one of the less prominent themes in Acts 11 and 13. It’s one of the keys to gospel ministry that Barnabas shows us in these passages: the ministry of encouragement. It’s a ministry that speaks the truth, but does so in love. It’s an intense, personal, and yet exhortational ministry to people.

As soon as Barnabas shows up and bathes the church with this ministry of encouragement, people start growing. Things start happening. It’s the ministry of truth and love that is the key. Let’s look more closely at what this ministry is and how we get the power to do it with the Holy Spirit.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 24, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3.

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Converted by the Spirit

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 22:30:00 GMT

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 30, 2003. Series "The Necessity of Belief". Scripture: Acts 10:27-47.

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The Gospel to the Pharisee

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 22:30:00 GMT

We come to perhaps the most famous conversion story in the history of the world: the conversion of Saul (who becomes Paul). This is the man who sought to do the most harm to the earliest Christians, but then God saves him and he becomes the writer of about a quarter of the New Testament.

Jesus uses no uncertain terms regarding conversion; in Matthew 18:3 he says unless you’re converted, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. Conversion means that we turn and trust. Conversion stories can vary in nature, but there are certain elements that must be present if you have really been converted. These three elements are: collision (vv. 1-5), darkness (vv. 6-9), and embrace (vv. 17-19).

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 10, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 9:1-11, 17-19.

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The Gospel to the African

Wed, 06 Jan 2021 14:30:00 GMT

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 Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 3, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 8:26-40.

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The Gospel to the City

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 22:30:00 GMT

The book of Acts is about the history of the early church. For the first seven chapters, we only see the gospel in Jerusalem and Judea, but because of the execution of Stephen and then the persecution that ensued, the great body of Christians in Jerusalem were scattered. As they went out the church became a church on mission.

The word mission today is almost everywhere. Everybody has a mission statement. People create personal missions of their own. The word mission comes from the Latin word that means to be sent. Mission characterized the earliest church. We see there were basically four marks to this mission: it was an organic mission, an urban mission, an embodied mission, and a gospel mission.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 24, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 8:1-18.

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The Gospel in a Pluralist Society

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 22:30:00 GMT

What we see in the book of Acts is that the church was born in a pluralistic society — a society with many different beliefs in various gods. Christians made absolute truth claims about the one true God. Not surprisingly, this was not well-received at times (it got the first apostles thrown into jail). There was real opposition in a pluralistic society to these absolute truth claims.

Christians today are increasingly told we need to get with the times in our modern pluralistic society. We’re told we shouldn’t be making universal claims and that Jesus is the only way to be saved. But Christians have faced the same kind of opposition in the past. Let’s see what we learn from the earliest church under these three headings: the problem with truth claims, the problem with the problem with truth claims, and the solution to the problem.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 13, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 4:1-13.

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The Furious Love of Jesus

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 14:30:00 GMT

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 8, 1996. Series "The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life". Scripture: John 11:32-44.

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The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus

Mon, 28 Dec 2020 14:30:00 GMT

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 10, 1996. Series "The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life". Scripture: Matthew 3:13-4:11.

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Christmas Peace

Fri, 25 Dec 2020 10:30:00 GMT

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 22, 1997. Series "The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life". Scripture: Luke 2:10-14.

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Mary's Son

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 22:30:00 GMT

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 15, 1997. Series "The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life". Scripture: Luke 1:26-38.

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The Birth of Jesus

Mon, 21 Dec 2020 22:30:00 GMT

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 3, 1997. Series "The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life". Scripture: Matthew 1:17-25.

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With A Religious Crowd

Fri, 18 Dec 2020 22:30:00 GMT

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 16, 1997. Series "The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life". Scripture: Mark 7:1-23.

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The Law of Grace

Wed, 16 Dec 2020 22:30:00 GMT

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 27, 1996. Series "The Real Jesus Part 1; His Teaching". Scripture: Matthew 5:1-10, 17-20.

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The Grace of the Law

Mon, 14 Dec 2020 22:30:00 GMT

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 20, 1996. Series "The Real Jesus Part 1; His Teaching". Scripture: Matthew 5:1-10, 17-20.

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The Restful Burden

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 22:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at one of the more well-known parts of Matthew 11. If you’re looking at Christianity, this is a matchless summary. Jesus calls out to those who are burdened and weary, and he gives an invitation to find rest in him. He says, “If you are weary and if you are burdened, you haven’t really yet understood the greatness of what I offer.”

We’re going to look at two things in this passage. First of all, Jesus gives us an analysis: we all have restlessness and we’re all yoked to something. Then he offers to give us certain things in their place instead. He offers himself; he offers himself as the yoke; and he offers himself as rest.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 13, 1996. Series "The Real Jesus Part 1; His Teaching". Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30.

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The Grace of Jesus

Wed, 09 Dec 2020 22:30:00 GMT

Matthew chapter 11 begins with John the Baptist sending a message that reveals John is struggling with who Jesus is. All of Matthew 11 is a response to John the Baptist’s question. Jesus doesn’t say something like, “John, you’ve misunderstood me.” No, instead, he says “John, the things I claim and the things I am are much more outrageous than you have even heard. Let me show you just how outrageous and how offensive I really can be.”

Jesus makes some of the most outrageous and the most offensive statements that have ever been made in verse 27. He says that he is the only way. This claim that made the people of Jesus’ day struggle is also the thing that makes us struggle. Let’s look at what this deeper claim is, why you should believe it, and how you should use it.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 6, 1996. Series "The Real Jesus Part 1; His Teaching". Scripture: Matthew 11:25-27.

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The Greatness of Jesus

Mon, 07 Dec 2020 22:30:00 GMT

In Matthew chapter 11 John the Baptist is struggling with the identity of Jesus. He sends a message and he says, “Are you really who you claim to be?” The rest of the chapter is Jesus’ answer to that question. The contemporary relevance of a chapter like this is so amazing and so obvious, because Western civilization is filled with people just like John the Baptist. People who are filled with doubts and questions about Jesus.

Jesus gives us two important things to do in his response. First of all, he says, “Use the magnitude of my claims, the greatness of who I claim to be, to knock yourself out of the deadly middle.” And secondly, “Turn it on yourself and use it to make yourself a little child spiritually.” Let’s look more closely at what the deadly middle is and then how to do this.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 29, 1996. Series "The Real Jesus Part 1; His Teaching". Scripture: Matthew 11:18-27.

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Rejecting the Real Jesus

Fri, 04 Dec 2020 22:30:00 GMT

This passage is part of Jesus’ response to John the Baptist who was struggling with doubts about the identity of Jesus. It is so relevant for today because many of us may have similar questions or doubts about Jesus. We may be in a similar situation as John the Baptist. In Jesus’ response, we find answers to that unbelief.

Let’s look at three wonderful things about unbelief that Jesus teaches us in this passage: the power of unbelief, the character of unbelief, and the solution for unbelief.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 22, 1996. Series "The Real Jesus Part 1; His Teaching". Scripture: Matthew 11:16-24.

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Meeting the Real Jesus

Wed, 02 Dec 2020 22:30:00 GMT

Matthew 11 has incredible relevance to us today. In the last 1500 years in the West, there has always been indifference to Jesus; but never have there been so many people who are offended at Jesus. John the Baptist is in the same place. When in prison, he sends Jesus a message, and he says, “I don’t know that you’re the One. Are you the Messiah? How do I know?”

In Jesus’ response, we see three groups of people that don’t take offense at Jesus: the poor, the violent, and the least. Each one tells you something about what you have to be and what you have to do if you’re even going to be open to Jesus’ claims. These three are a model for us to be open to who Jesus is.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 15, 1996. Series "The Real Jesus Part 1; His Teaching". Scripture: Matthew 11:4-15.

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Who is the Real Jesus?

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 14:30:00 GMT

In this passage from the book of Matthew, John the Baptist is struggling with who Jesus is. Why would John, this great religious figure, be dealing with such difficulty? We learn two things from his struggle: 1) if you’re going to find out whether Jesus is the One, first of all, you have to make sure you do not try to understand yourself before you understand him, and 2) you also had better realize that if you reject him you’ll never be able to stop searching for him.

As a response, Jesus gives John a straight answer. We learn two more things from Jesus. He says, “You will not know I’m the One until 1) you feel my offensiveness and 2) you see how I welcome the weak. Let’s look a little deeper into this interchange and its burning contemporary relevance for our world today.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 8, 1996. Series "The Real Jesus Part 1; His Teaching". Scripture: Matthew 11:2-6.

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 during Giving Tuesday, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/tuesday and making a one-time or recurring donation. Thanks to a generous donor, all gifts on Giving Tuesday will be matched up to $40,000.

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Praying the Gospel

Mon, 30 Nov 2020 20:05:51 GMT

The book of Psalms is the preeminent place to learn how to deal with your emotions and the conditions of the heart. Psalms, in a certain sense, is God’s counseling case book. Not his counseling textbook, but his case book. Not a place where you have lots of principles laid out, but lots of actual cases of people struggling with all of the many kinds of conditions of the human heart.

Psalm 103 is a general psalm about how to handle life. In it, David gives you the key approach to handle all of life’s circumstances. David is saying, “The main thing I need to do, the main thing you need to do, the main way to handle life is to not forget.” The main problem we have is that we forget what God has done. David is calling for something far deeper than mental recall, and he’s dealing with something far more transforming than just counting your blessings. We’re going to learn here why we need to remember, where we need to remember, what we need to remember, and how we need to remember. This is the key to handling life.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 19, 2000. Series "Psalms - The Songs of Jesus". Scripture: Psalm 103:1-22.

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 during Giving Tuesday, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/tuesday and making a one-time or recurring donation. Thanks to a generous donor, all gifts on Giving Tuesday will be matched up to $40,000.

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Praying Our Guilt

Fri, 27 Nov 2020 19:30:00 GMT

Psalms give us a unique gospel way to deal with our emotions and feelings — it’s different from secular and religious approaches. Psalms tell us we’re supposed to pray our feelings. Not just pray about our feelings, but to actually take them before God and pour them out in a pre-reflective way and process them in the presence of God, in the light of who he is and who we are, in the light of the realities that come to us, that bear down on us, as we’re in his presence.

Today we look at guilt and shame — those feelings that come over you when your heart is broken under a sense of failure and unworthiness. We see guilt and shame likened to a hole, to something we’ve sunk down in (verses 1-2). We’re also shown a rope you throw a person — that’s available for a person who’s in that hole of guilt and shame (verses 3-4). Then we see a little bit about the process of how you climb out with that rope (verses 5-6).

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 12, 2000. Series "Psalms - The Songs of Jesus". Scripture: Psalm 130:1-8.

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Praying Our Fears

Wed, 25 Nov 2020 22:30:00 GMT

In this passage, we see that David has something very serious to be afraid of. He has literal armies after him. He has people trying to attack and kill him. Right in the middle of the chapter, what does he say? “I will not fear. I sleep in the midst of all these armies.” He has discovered a way of praying his fear and he is able to handle it.

In this psalm, we see that there are two levels down into fear and that there are four steps out. The first level is a healthy kind of fear, and then there’s a deeper, unhealthy, and debilitating kind of fear. The four steps out of the pit are all there in verses 3–8: follow your thread, relocate your glory, see the substitute, and remember the people. Let’s look closer to learn more about fear and how to handle it.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 5, 2000. Series "Psalms - The Songs of Jesus". Scripture: Psalm 3:1-8; Genesis 15:1,8.

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Praying Our Tears

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 22:30:00 GMT

The book of Psalms gives us a gospel third way with your feelings. It’s a third way between what religiosity and what secularity ordinarily tell you. Religiosity tends to deny feelings. Why? Because if you are trying to warrant God’s blessing through a good record, you are psychologically unable to admit dark, intense, turbulent feelings. On the other hand, the secular approach is just the opposite, it tends to hold to the sovereignty of feelings. The discovery and expression of your feelings is a good in itself.

Psalms suggests neither. The Psalms does not say deny or vent, but pray your feelings. Pray your deepest feelings. Bring them before God and process them. In this text we’re looking at pain, sorrow, and tears. What do you do with these feelings? What do you do with tears? We learn three things. Expect tears, invest tears, and pray your tears.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 27, 2000. Series "Psalms - The Songs of Jesus". Scripture: Psalm 39:12-13; 126:1-6.

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Praying Our Doubts

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 19:30:00 GMT

Psalms are not about so much lofty, high doctrine as they are about how the human heart works, particularly human feelings. The anger, fear, hostility, rawness, and white heat of emotions expressed in the psalms really just disturb people today. We will see that psalms are neither mere rational discussions of feelings or just expressions of feelings. The psalms do not deny feelings, and they don’t vent feelings. The Psalms show us how to pray our feelings.

In Psalm 73, we’re going to look at a person struggling with doubt. We see a person filled with many types of doubts — someone struggling with doubts about God and about faith. Doubt is a condition of the soul and the heart. Let’s look at what the condition is, what the cause is, and what the cure is.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 20, 2000. Series "Psalms - The Songs of Jesus". Scripture: Psalm 73:1-3; 12-26.

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Worship

Wed, 18 Nov 2020 22:30:00 GMT

We all have troubles in life. How do we face troubles with peace, with rest, with equilibrium? I’ve come to realize it’s not mainly through petitionary prayer. Of course the Bible is filled with petition, where you go to God, and you make your needs known, and you ask for things. You should do that, but the ultimate and main way to handle the troubles of life with peace is through worship.

Psalm 95 is the classic text in the Bible about worship. Through the centuries, the Christian church has looked to this maybe more than any other single place in the Bible to inform our worship. This text tells us almost everything we need to know. Let’s look at the questions: what is worship; why should we worship; and how can we worship?

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on July 7, 2002. Series "Psalms; Disciplines of Grace". Scripture: Psalm 95:1-11.

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Contemplation

Mon, 16 Nov 2020 22:30:00 GMT

In the book of Psalms, we’re shown various spiritual disciplines, which are practical skills we have to engage if we’re going to grow into the people God designed us to be.

Here in Psalm 27, we learn about adoration — personal individual adoration, contemplative adoration. We will look at Psalm 95 at a later date in which we’ll learn about corporate adoration. You cannot grow without both of them. They have to both be there. They’re both absolutely necessary.

We’re going to focus specifically on verse 4 which talks about the “one thing I ask, one thing I seek.” What is that one thing? We learn three things from this psalm about it: why it’s so important, what it is, and how to do it.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 2, 2002. Series "Psalms; Disciplines of Grace". Scripture: Psalm 27:1-14.

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Honey from the Rock

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 19:15:00 GMT

Spiritual disciplines are the practical skills you have to be able to exercise in order to grow into the person God wants you to be. Psalm 81 shows us how to use various disciplines to handle the wilderness times of your life: the times of suffering, the times of pain, the times of difficulty.

Let’s look at four things that we can learn in this particular psalm: 1) life is a wilderness, 2) there’s a rock in the wilderness, 3) there’s honey in the rock, and 4) God has sent his son Jesus to pass the test in the wilderness (v.7) on our behalf. You yourself will become sweet, joyful, and beautiful through the work of Jesus Christ, who was tested in the wilderness and passed that test perfectly.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 19, 2002. Series "Psalms; Disciplines of Grace". Scripture: Psalm 81.

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Confession

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 00:30:00 GMT

We’re studying spiritual disciplines in the book of Psalms. Today, we’re looking at another practical spiritual competency you must engage in if you’re going to grow into the person God wants you to be: confession.

When you know you’ve messed up, when you know you’ve failed, when you know it’s your fault, how do you get up again after you’ve fallen in such a way that you have more joy and power than before? How do you get up not broken but get up in better shape than you were before? Let’s look in psalm to see our need for confession, the way of confession, and the secret basis of confession.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 12, 2002. Series "Psalms; Disciplines of Grace". Scripture: Psalm 32:1-11.

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Praying Our Anger

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 00:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at spiritual disciplines that the psalms teach us, disciplines by which we grow into the people God wants us to be. These disciplines help us face forces that could spiritually derail us. One of the things that’s going to happen in life is serious mistreatment, where you become the object of mistreatment from other people and things in this world. What are you going to do with that mistreatment and the anger that comes from that?

This passage is going to tell us some very important things about how to handle mistreatment and how to deal with your anger over mistreatment. We’ll first look at three things the psalmist does with his anger: he owns his anger, he prays his anger, and he limits his anger. Then we’ll look at three practical things that we can do with our anger on this side of the cross.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 28, 2002. Series "Psalms; Disciplines of Grace". Scripture: Psalm 137:1-9.

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Finding God

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 22:30:00 GMT

When it comes to physical growth and health, you have two kinds of practices or disciplines. You have trainers and you have doctors. Through nutrition and exercise, trainers help you get further than you were. They help you make progress physically. But when you get sick or maybe injure yourself, you need a doctor to get you back on track. You need trainers to get you forward from where you were; you need doctors to get you back to where you were physically.

We need the same things spiritually. There are spiritual disciplines that are more like training – disciplines by which you grow into the person God has meant you to be, such as meditation and prayer. But there are other spiritual disciplines that are more defensive. That is, they’re ways of treating problems and difficulties. This is what we find in Psalm 42-43. We learn about a specific condition to which we are susceptible and then we’re given a set of cures for this condition. Becoming skilled at dealing with this condition is absolutely critical if you’re going to make spiritual progress.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 21, 2002. Series "Psalms; Disciplines of Grace". Scripture: Psalm 42:1-43:5.

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The Liberty of Obedience

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 22:30:00 GMT

In Philippians 2:12 Saint Paul says, “Work out your salvation in awe and wonder.” Notice he didn’t say, “Work for your salvation.” He said, “Work out your salvation.” You can only work out something you already have. Whatever salvation is, the spiritual gift of grace is not something you just clutch or hold on to, but it’s something you have to work out into every part of your life. You have to work it out into your identity, into your psychology, your sociology, your relationships, your approach to the world, into everything. That’s how we change. That’s how we become new.

This change is done through disciplines of grace. The discipline that we’re looking at today in Psalm 119 is scriptural application: how Scripture leads us into obeying God’s word. We don’t get changed and we won’t obey God, unless we’re willing to come in under the authority of God. Let’s look at these two things in this psalm: 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 Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 14, 2002. Series "Psalms; Disciplines of Grace". Scripture: Psalm 119:32-49.

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Meditation

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 00:30:00 GMT

We’re going to look at the processes by which a supernaturally changed heart comes about – the disciplines of grace. Now what are the ways that this happens? Over the centuries, Christians have looked to the Psalms maybe more than any other place in the Bible to learn about these disciplines of grace and today, we’re starting with the first psalm.

So let’s ask ourselves what we learn from this passage about meditation, which is one of the disciplines of grace – it’s one of the ways in which we work out our salvation into every nook and cranny of our lives in awe and wonder (Phil 2:12). There are four things we’re going to learn about meditation from the passage: the promise of meditation, the principle, the practice, and the puzzle.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 7, 2002. Series "Psalms; Disciplines of Grace". Scripture: Psalm 1:1-6.

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The Parable of the Seed; On Hidden Power

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 18:30:00 GMT

When Christianity is ever covered in the newspaper or on TV, Christianity is typically discussed and seen as a cultural or intellectual position. So people tend to talk about Christianity something like this: “Well, you know, there are various positions, there are various points of view on the nature of God and the nature of the soul, morality and ethics and the meaning and purpose of life. There are these various positions, and the Christian position is one of them.” They try it on the way somebody tries on a dress, looking to see whether it brings out your best parts and hides your worst parts.

It is possible to adopt Christianity only in word. That means to say, “I accept the position. I accept the point of view. I accept the ideals. I accept the beliefs.” You can do this and yet not have received it as it really is as a power. The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power (1 Corinthians 4:20).

Now see, Jesus, without using the word, is saying the same thing here in this parable. He is saying Christianity is a ruling power. It’s not just a set of ideals, such as forgiveness or God’s love. It’s much more than that – it’s a power. Let’s consider two things about this power: Christianity is the power of new life and it is the power of growth.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 21, 1994. Series "The Parables of Jesus (1994)". Scripture: Luke 13:18-21.

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The Parable of the Beggar; On Hell

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 18:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the subject of hell, one of the most unpopular classic doctrines of orthodox Christianity. I’m asking you to consider it today for two reasons: 1) I submit to you that unless you understand, unless you can reflect on, unless you can agree with the Christian doctrine of hell, you have no idea of how much love God has shown us; and 2) Jesus, the one who teaches us the most about God’s love, is the one who teaches us this doctrine of hell. Jesus, the Lord of Love, the one who knew the most about love, teaches us the most about hell.

Jesus intertwined the love of God and hell so much that you really can’t reject just one and accept the other. They have to be taken together. Let’s take a look at what Jesus teaches in this story of two men. If we want to understand hell, we have to see what he says about 1) the two men in this life and 2) the two men in the next life and 3) the two men in our life.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on July 17, 1994. Series "The Parables of Jesus (1994)". Scripture: Luke 16:19-31.

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The Parable of the Tree; On Repentance

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 23:30:00 GMT

In this parable, Jesus is teaching about repentance. Now there are a lot of different opinions about repentance. For example, the famous poet Lord Byron said, “… the weak alone repent!” Yet Shakespeare said in one of his characters, “I’ll repent, and that suddenly … I shall be out of heart shortly, and then I shall have no strength to repent.” Do you see? The one poet says, “It takes weakness to repent,” whereas Shakespeare sees it as taking strength to repent. He sees it as being an achievement.

Now who is right? Is repentance a sign of strength or is it a sign of weakness? Shakespeare is much more profound at this point, and he’s much closer to what Jesus Christ says. Jesus says repentance is the key to everything. Jesus says repentance is the way in which we should process everything that comes to us — it is the grid through which everything should pass. He tells us 1) we need it, 2) how to do it, and 3) how he brings it about in us.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on July 10, 1994. Series "The Parables of Jesus (1994)". Scripture: Luke 13:1-9.

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Second Lost Son (and the Dance of God)

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 18:30:00 GMT

We’re studying the parable of the prodigal son. We read that the younger brother comes to the father and says, “Give me my slice of the inheritance.” He says basically, “Even though you’re not dead, I want your things, but I don’t want you. I don’t want you involved with my life. Give them to me. I’m leaving.”

You have to understand in that culture this was an absolute outrage. He had brought tremendous humiliation on the family. He essentially destroyed the family estate by insisting it be liquidated and then he goes off and squanders it. This is immense, and yet when he returns, we see the father he betrayed, the father he humiliated, welcomes him with open arms and a kiss.

What we’re going to see is that this string of parables is not ultimately about an assurance to bad and immoral and messed-up people, but it is an in-your-teeth warning to good people. In this entire chapter Jesus Christ is saying nothing comes between you and God like morality and goodness and decency and respectability. How can this be? To answer this, let’s consider two things about the elder brother: 1) The elder brother is lost; and 2) he is more lost than the younger brother.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 25, 1998. Series "The Prodigal Son and the Elder Brother". Scripture: Luke 15:20-32.

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First Lost Son (and the Kiss of God)

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 23:30:00 GMT

The purpose of the prodigal son was to blow out the existing paradigms, the existing categories, human beings had for their understanding of their relationship with God. Some people have what you might call a moralistic view of life. The moralistic view of life says, “The problem with the world is not me; it’s them, those immoral types.” Then you have another kind of person. The other kind of worldview is what we could call a relativistic view of life. The relativistic people are the ones who say, “The problem with the world isn’t me; it’s them, those condemning types.” Generally, the relativistic types, the younger brother types, tend to move. They tend to go away from their hometown, while the moralistic types tend to stay where they were raised and they live very “good” lives.

Jesus says, “Look at these two brothers. Look carefully. They are both lost. They are both alienated from the father’s heart.” In both cases, they will not come in and the father has to come out to bring them in. Jesus Christ lays bare the flaws of both of these paradigms. Jesus is talking about an experience of God – the kiss of the Father, the love of the Father. Let’s look at the three things have to happen: You have to come to your senses; You need a love that’s prior to your repentance; You need an elder brother who will foot your bill.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 18, 1998. Series "The Prodigal Son and the Elder Brother". Scripture: Luke 15:11-24.

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Lost Treasure (and the Search of God)

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 23:30:00 GMT

Now Jesus seems to be continually arguing when we read the accounts of his life in the Bible. Why does he do so? Because Jesus would speak to people, but when people listened to him, they would take his words, they would take the sayings, and they would pour them into their own categories. They would listen to him, in a sense, through their own categories — their own biases, assumptions, and predetermined beliefs. Of course, that meant they weren’t really listening to Jesus at all.

What Jesus is saying continually is “I come in to blast out all of your foundational assumptions. I demand to be the thing through which you see everything. I’m here to open up new vistas, new realms of knowledge. I’m here to explode your paradigms.” First we’re going to look at what those foundational assumptions are — the grid that people believed to be true, the old set of assumptions, the prevalent and pervasive understanding of religion. And then we’re going to discuss the new paradigm, the new worldview that Jesus brings to the world.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 11, 1998. Series "The Prodigal Son and the Elder Brother". Scripture: Luke 15:1-12.

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The True Older Brother

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 23:30:00 GMT

In the very beginning of Luke chapter 15, Jesus speaks to religious leaders — teachers of the law — who look at Jesus fraternizing with “sinners,” and they say to him basically, “Why are you hanging out with all these lost people?” The people who are spiritually lost — meaning far from God, away from home, alienated from God. Why is Jesus fraternizing with them?

In response, Jesus gives three parables, and they’re all about lostness. The third parable is this one, the parable of the prodigal son – the most amazing, shocking, category-busting message of Jesus about what it means to be spiritually lost. Jesus is basically trying to get across a new idea, a better idea, than the Pharisees had of what it means to be spiritually lost.

Let’s look at this new category of spiritual lostness that Jesus introduces: 1) what it is; 2) how you can judge whether you’re in the category yourself (what the signs are of that condition); 3) what do you do with it if that’s you, and 4) what are some of the implications for our church.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 9, 2008. Series "The Fellowship of Grace". Scripture: Luke 15:17-32.

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We Had to Celebrate

Wed, 14 Oct 2020 23:30:00 GMT

The twentieth century philosopher Martin Heidegger believed all human beings were characterized by unheimlichkeit, which means homesickness. It means to be alienated, to feel that we’re not really home in this world, to feel that we are in exile, that we’re in a world that’s profoundly at variance with our deepest desires. Why would that be? What are we going to do about that? Those profound questions are all addressed and actually answered by this wonderful parable in Luke 15.

We’re going to see how Jesus so brilliantly ties this story in with one of the main themes of the entire Bible, which is exile and homecoming. Let’s take a look at how it does that under three headings: the human condition, the divine solution for it, and the new Communion that is the result.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 2, 2008. Series "The Fellowship of Grace". Scripture: Luke 15:17-32, Isaiah 25, Matthew 19.

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And Kissed Him

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 23:30:00 GMT

The one thing everybody knows when you read the parable of the prodigal son is it’s about forgiveness. The parable is a beautiful picture of a father that forgives his son and welcomes him home.

Let’s take a look first at what it teaches us about forgiveness and then ask the question … What kind of community would we be if we took the teaching about forgiveness seriously? Consider these four headings: forgiveness is assertive, it’s sacrificial, it’s powered from inside, and it leads to a resurrection.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 26, 2008. Series "The Fellowship of Grace". Scripture: Luke 15:11-24, Matthew 5, Matthew 18, John 1.

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To Be Called Your Son

Fri, 09 Oct 2020 23:30:00 GMT

This great parable of the prodigal son teaches us many insights as to how the grace of God affects our relationships with each other, how it creates a unique community, a unique human society. Today we’re focusing on the theme of sonship. What did sonship mean in ancient culture? What does sonship mean in the Bible? We have to understand this if we’re going to grasp not only the narrative in the text but some of the greatest information we can get about what God has given to us through Jesus. Let’s take a look at these four things: the character of sonship, the practice of sonship, the community that results from sonship, and the accomplishment of sonship.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 19, 2008. Series "The Fellowship of Grace". Scripture: Luke 15:21-24, Galatians 3-4, Revelation 21.

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He Came to Himself

Wed, 07 Oct 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the parables of Luke 15. Of course, the biggest, longest, and most famous of them is the parable of the prodigal son. We see how the grace of God not only changes my individual life or your individual life, but how the grace of God creates a new kind of community, a new kind of human society, and how it creates new kinds of relationships.

This parable is essentially an image about the meltdown of a community and the restoration of it. The key theme we’re going to look at in this text is the theme of repentance — this is crucial for the restoration of community. Even though the word is not in this text, what we have when the younger son decides to go back to his father is an example of repentance. Let’s notice three things: the importance of repentance, the anatomy of it (what it’s actually made of), the key to doing it, and the kind of community that results from it.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 12, 2008. Series "The Fellowship of Grace". Scripture: Luke 15:11-20; Psalm 51; James 5:16.

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Give Me Mine

Mon, 05 Oct 2020 23:30:00 GMT

In Luke 15, we’re learning how the gospel creates a special kind of community, and how it creates a new kind of community. We’re looking at the last of the three parables: the parable of the lost son. It’s the most famous. And it’s the longest.

I’d like you to think about this story in a slightly different way than you probably want to do. I’d like you to consider the story is giving us a picture of an assault on community because of idolatry. And this is only overcome by agony. This is our first avenue into understanding this very rich and important text.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 5, 2008. Series "The Fellowship of Grace". Scripture: Luke 15:11-14.

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He Welcomes Sinners

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the parables Jesus tells in Luke 15: the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son.

These are famous parables and they all show us how God’s grace can change someone’s life. The not only show us how God’s grace changes us individually but forms us into a unique kind of human community. With the grace of God, the gospel creates a completely unique and distinct kind of community — a community the world has never seen.

Let’s take a look at the sheep, the search itself, and the shepherd and see what each one of those teaches us about how God’s grace creates community.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 28, 2008. Series "The Fellowship of Grace". Scripture: Luke 15:1-10; Ephesians 2.

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Let Them Give Up Their Violence

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 18:00:00 GMT

The book of Jonah is awfully relevant to our situation, especially today. Jonah has been asked to go to the capital of Assyria, the great rising, emerging imperial world power. It was a violent place. It slaughtered helpless people. Jonah’s response to that is anger. He wants them punished. He is angry at them for their violence. Yet, in one of the great surprises in all of biblical narrative, there’s probably no more surprising turn than what we see in this book.

God refuses to accept either the violence of Nineveh or the poisonous anger of Jonah. Let’s take a look and see what this text tells us about violence: first, the surprising sources of violence, secondly, the remarkable strategy we should take with violence, and then lastly, the ultimate solution for violence.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 7, 2001. Series "The Church in the City". Scripture: Jonah 3:1-4:5.

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They Greatly Feared

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 23:30:00 GMT

Jonah is a prophet. God has come to him and told him to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, the implacable foe, the implacable enemy of his country. “Go to that city and preach against it. Warn them about God’s anger.” What Jonah does, of course, is he runs away. He refuses to do it. He goes in another direction.

Jonah’s on the run. Why? Because Jonah has fear in his heart. He’s afraid to go to Nineveh, because why put himself in the very midst of his enemies?

We’re going to see what the Bible says about fear by noticing three features of the story: the stormy sea, the religious sailors, and the willing substitute. The stormy sea is who we are. The religious sailors show us the wrong thing to do about it. And the willing substitute is what to do about it.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 23, 2001. Series "The Church in the City". Scripture: Jonah 1:4-17.

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Running from God

Wed, 23 Sep 2020 23:30:00 GMT

The book of Jonah is really one of the best possible places to get an overview of what the Christian message is about. This passage, this text, the book, is about sin. But it doesn’t actually ever use the word sin. Not only does it profoundly map out the real nature of sin, it gives us an understanding of sin that goes deeper than what traditionally you’d think the definition of sin is. It also deconstructs the very danger contemporary people are so afraid of. It shows you not only a concept of sin, but it gives you a concept of sin you can’t use to oppress people once you’ve grabbed it. You can’t use it that way.

It’s one thing to believe in sin. It’s another thing to understand it and understand your own heart. We’re going to take a look at four features in the narrative, and each one is going to tell us something about sin. The four features we see are in verse 1. We see the coming word. “The word of the LORD came …” In verse 3, we see the running man. In verse 5, we see the deathly sleep. And lastly, we see the stormy hope.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 9, 2001. Series "The Church in the City". Scripture: Jonah 1:1-10.

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God's Love and Ours

Mon, 21 Sep 2020 23:30:00 GMT

Jonah was called to go to Nineveh to preach, and after a lot of detours, he did. When he got there and began to preach, we’re told that Nineveh, by and large, the populace turned from its violence and its evil ways. Now this is a marvelous thing and we would expect great joy in Jonah’s heart. But surprise, in 4:1, we read, “But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.” Why is that? The bottom line is Jonah can’t figure out God’s love.

Jonah, like everybody, believes in love in general, but when it comes right down to it has a fatally inadequate understanding of how love actually operates, and in particular, how God’s love actually operates. In the same way, many, maybe most, of our own struggles and collapses (just like Jonah here) are due to our own inadequate understanding of how God’s love really, really operates.

Let’s look at two things that God is trying to get across to Jonah. First, God’s love is refining fire. It is life-purifying. Secondly, God’s love is a seeking fire, a seeking power, a seeking love.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 16, 1990. Series "Jonah". Scripture: Jonah 4:1-10.

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Angry Enough to Die

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 17:30:00 GMT

Jonah went into a big city like New York — Nineveh was proportionally bigger — and he saw a massive change. He saw repentance that was culturally transforming. The people turned from their violence and evil ways. In response to this amazing thing, we’re told, “But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.” What’s going on here?

How can we explain Jonah’s mood swings, his tremendous emotional instability, able to praise God in chapter 2 and a few days later saying, “I am angry enough to die?”The answer is a divided heart. Jonah believed in and served the true God, but he also believed and served a rival god. As a result, his heart was divided between worshipping two different things.

Hearts divided between more than one god create that kind of instability we see in Jonah. They create the kind of misery and drivenness of Jonah. And what we see is that it could be true of us as well. Now let’s just ask two questions of the passage: 1) What’s a divided heart? And 2) how can we heal a divided heart?

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 9, 1990. Series "Jonah". Scripture: Jonah 4:1-10.

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Abounding in Love

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 23:30:00 GMT

The last chapter of Jonah is a surprise chapter. It’s the most surprising ending of any of the books of the Bible. If you gave this whole chapter a title, you might call it “The Incredible Collapse of Jonah.” Why would a preacher get exceedingly angry when, as a response to his preaching, he’s actually turned a culture away from violence, oppression, and wickedness to the living God?

The incredible collapse of Jonah is because of a misunderstanding of God’s love.There are several lessons we can learn, but one is that God’s love is a patient love. Fruitful Christians like Jonah can fall back into old patterns of sin and self-deception but only the patient love of God stands between them and oblivion. God’s patient love is such that he will always bring his children back.

Why is God’s patient love not more operative and powerful in our lives? How can God’s patient love be more powerful and operative in our lives? Let’s look at four things we can do: 1. Examine your heart; 2. Confess sin; 3. Make sure you realize God’s patient love is the thing that will keep you out of despair; and 4. Seek reality.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 2, 1990. Series "Jonah". Scripture: Jonah 4:1-10.

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The Secret Siege of Nineveh

Mon, 14 Sep 2020 23:30:00 GMT

Nineveh, which is the capital of Assyria, was the greatest city the world had yet seen. It was an impregnable fortress. Military might, economic might, cultural might …Nobody in their right mind would even think of besieging the city, let alone trying to capture the city, because you couldn’t even get an army around it. Who had an army that could stretch around the circumference of this city? But the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men, and God decides, not just to besiege the city, but to sack it with an army of one.

God did it by taking one person (one man, in this case) and turning that one man into a city-changer, into a world-changer. Then, by doing so, he was able to sack the greatest city in the history of the world up to that time. How did God make Jonah an Army of one? There are four things that we learn: God’s persistent grace makes you an army of one; God’s calling makes you an army of one, God’s strategy, and God’s power.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 26, 1990. Series "Jonah". Scripture: Jonah 3.

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Your Own Grace

Fri, 11 Sep 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’ve seen that Jonah was called to preach in the great city of Nineveh, he refused and fled from God, God sent a storm to reclaim him, and the storm made things such that Jonah was thrown over the side of the boat into the ocean. There, he was swallowed by a great fish. The result is, in the belly of the deep, Jonah prays a prayer of faith, and he grasps the grace of God.

We’re going to look, not so much at the subject or topic of the prayer, but the phenomenon of the prayer itself. How did Jonah, who was in this condition of utter despair, of cowering fear, and of rebellion … How did he come from that position to a posture of triumphant faith by the end of the prayer? The answer is that faith rose up and it brought with it Jonah’s heart. We’ll see his faith that he exercised was done in three stages. First, he calls, then he remembers, and finally he commits.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 19, 1990. Series "Jonah". Scripture: Jonah 2:1-10.

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The Church Before the Watching World

Mon, 07 Sep 2020 23:30:00 GMT

Jonah is called by God to go to Nineveh, the greatest city in the world, and warn the city about impending disaster and preach there. Jonah refuses, heads in the other direction, and gets on a boat. God sends a storm to hunt him down, endangering the lives of everyone on the ship. Jonah, recognizing this, offers to be thrown into the ocean so the lives of the other sailors will not be forfeit.

We’re going to pause and look at the sub-plot here: Jonah and his relationship and impact on the sailors and their impact on him. God uses the sailors to teach Jonah something about himself and the world. In doing so, let’s just take a look and see how God will teach us something about ourselves and how we are supposed to regard the world.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 5, 1990. Series "Jonah". Scripture: Jonah 1:4-16; Philippians 2.

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Love Beneath the Waves

Fri, 04 Sep 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the Book of Jonah and we’ve seen that one subject is sin and grace. Even though there are many places in the Bible that talk about those topics very theologically, the great thing about the book of Jonah is it presents these concretely. Sin is running away from God, and grace is God chasing us down, hunting us down in love, and intercepting our self-destructive behavior.

We’ve learned that Jonah ran from God – he literally decided to get as far away from God as he possibly could. Then God sent a storm, and so the plot thickens. This chapter is about the storm God sent and about Jonah’s response to the storm.

Until you see you are not competent to run your life, you are not competent to run your life. This is an intervention of God. Let’s look to see how God intervenes and uses the storm as a way of teaching Jonah about himself and about sin and grace.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on July 29, 1990. Series "Jonah". Scripture: Jonah 1:1-17.

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Runaway Believer

Wed, 02 Sep 2020 23:30:00 GMT

The book of Jonah is a very simple story. It’s a book about a man running away from God and about God pursuing him, and as a result of that, this book is one of the very most concrete ways to learn what the Bible means by sin and grace.

Almost everybody is familiar with the words sin and grace, but what they actually mean is another thing. Essentially (as concretely as you can put it), sin is running away from God and grace is God’s effort to pursue and to intercept self-destructive behavior. That’s it. Sin and grace. Running and chasing.

In this passage, we’re going to see, first of all, Jonah is called to do something. Secondly, Jonah runs away from it. Thirdly, we’ll see how God pursues him.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on July 22, 1990. Series "Jonah". Scripture: Jonah 1:1-10.

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The Quality of Mercy: Stories of Justice and Reconciliation (An Open Forum)

Mon, 31 Aug 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We have all faced these questions at some point or another: How can you live with both justice and mercy in the world? Can mercy and justice be combined? Can forgiveness and justice be combined? I’m not sure that immediately grabs you as one of the great problems in your life or in the culture, but it is.

We have at least two problems, and I’m going to show you it’s because of a third. We have a problem of public justice. In public justice, when one group has really wronged another group, should there be forgiveness? How can there be forgiveness and justice? On the other hand, personally, if someone has wronged you, how can there be both forgiveness and at the same time justice?

Let’s break this down, and let’s show there’s a problem of public justice, there’s a problem in the area of private justice, and it’s all because there’s a huge problem with perfect justice.

This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 27, 2000 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.

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Creation Care and Justice

Fri, 28 Aug 2020 17:26:57 GMT

We’re looking at the book of Proverbs and the subject of wisdom. At the heart of what Proverbs says it means to live a wise life is caring for justice. “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.” This little word for caring is way too weak an English word to get across what’s actually being said here. The Hebrew word here is yada`, which is the most deep and intimate and experiential word in the Hebrew language for knowledge. It is knowledge so passionate and so intense and so intimate that it’s a synonym for sexuality when used in the book of Genesis.

This proverb is saying, “You’re not wise unless you are living an intensely passionate life, committed to justice.” What does that mean? Let’s look at this under four headings: Why do we need justice? What is justice? Who does justice? And how can we be one of the ones who do justice?

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 16, 2005. Series "Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living". Scripture: Proverbs 3:18-20, 27-32; 11:10-11; 19:17; 29:7.

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Blessed are the Poor

Wed, 26 Aug 2020 23:30:00 GMT

I read a treatise by Jonathan Edwards on the Christian’s duty to the poor. I was really struck by something: one of the marks of the church (not just urban churches) is care and involvement with the poor. That’s how Jesus designed it. Edwards said, “Where have we any command in the Bible laid down in stronger terms, and in a more peremptory urgent manner, than the command of giving to the poor?” He is saying there is nothing clearer and stronger in the Bible than our duty for care and involvement with the poor — not just churches near poor areas, not just certain kinds; everybody.

The Sermon on the Mount — Jesus’ famous sermon on the principles of the kingdom — is clearly something he preached very often. We read, “Blessed are the poor; woe to the rich. Blessed are the empty; woe to the fool.” There’s no way to spiritualize this away. There’s no way to allegorize it away. There’s no way to “metaphorize” it away.

The Bible tells us the gospel, if you get it, does three things to you with regard to the poor. The gospel is an agent in us knowing the poor, becoming the poor, and loving the poor. Knowing, becoming, and loving. The gospel does them all.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 5, 1998. Series "The Church - How to Believe Despite Christians". Scripture: Luke 6:20-26.

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The Tenth Commandment

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’ve been looking at the Ten Commandments. We’ve said the Ten Commandments are without doubt the single most influential set of ethical directives in the history of the world. We now come to the tenth commandment, and it is perhaps the key, in some ways, to understanding all the rest.

This commandment expresses one of the most important principles to believing and practicing the Christian life that I know of. This theme is something that is part and parcel of what we talk about at Redeemer a lot. When we take a look at this text, notice verse 21: “You shall not covet …” If we meditate on it, we’ll see three things: what we need, why we need it, and how to get it.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 19, 2007. Series "Deuteronomy - Doing Justice, Preaching Grace". Scripture: Deuteronomy 5:1-6, 21.

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False Testimony

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the Ten Commandments, and today we’re getting to the ninth commandment. I always tend to hear all the commandments in Cecil B. DeMille tones. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” I don’t know if you remember it. There was sort of a little pillar of fire, and these little comments were coming out of it into the stone tablets in the Cecil B. DeMille movie, The Ten Commandments.

In spite of how famous these Ten Commandments are — by far, the most influential, ethical set of directions in the history of the world — most of us don’t know exactly what each commandment requires, and even fewer of us know how to get the power to be able to actually and practically live as the commandments require.

We’re going to take a look here at the ninth commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” As we look at what the text tells us, we’ll see three things. We learn what people need, why they need it so much, and how you can become the kind of person that gives it to them.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 19, 2007. Series "Deuteronomy - Doing Justice, Preaching Grace". Scripture: Deuteronomy 5:1-6, 20.

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Not by Bread Alone

Wed, 19 Aug 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the book of Deuteronomy, which we have said is a series of sermons preached by Moses just before he died. The subject is: “Having experienced the salvation and grace of God, how should we then live? How should that concretely affect and shape the way we live?” It’s a very practical book, and no passage is more practical than today’s, because here we have some insights about how you handle suffering and pain and grief and difficulty. There’s nothing more practical than that.

We learn three things from the text. First, we can’t survive in the wilderness. Secondly, we can’t survive without the wilderness. Thirdly, therefore, we only have one hope.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 17, 2007. Series "Deuteronomy - Doing Justice, Preaching Grace". Scripture: Deuteronomy 8:1-16.

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Grace – therefore, Holy

Mon, 17 Aug 2020 23:30:00 GMT

In Deuteronomy 7, we come upon a topic that is a very controversial topic and a difficult one for, I think, everybody actually. This word that comes up a couple of times in the first couple of verses, where it says, “The Lord your God chose you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people …” He chose you. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament say that if you believe, you believe because God has chosen you. He came to you, and he opened your heart, and that’s the reason you believe.

People struggle mightily with this whole idea, and so we’re going to see how this text helps us — it text helps us struggle very smartly and wisely. It’s going to tell us three things. Being chosen by grace produces a deep humility and a radiant community, because it creates, at bottom, an absolute security. Let’s take a look at the first point.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 10, 2007. Series "Deuteronomy - Doing Justice, Preaching Grace". Scripture: Deuteronomy 7:6-11.

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Knowing God

Fri, 14 Aug 2020 14:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the book of Proverbs every week, and that means we’re looking at the subject of wisdom every week. Wisdom, while not being less, is more than being moral and good. Wisdom is knowing what the right thing to do is in the vast majority of life situations in which the moral rules don’t apply, that they don’t address.

Today we come to a theme that runs all through Proverbs and, in fact, all through the whole Bible. That is, that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. There’s a place in Job where God actually shows how important the 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 is a summary of everything we’re supposed to do and be.

So why is it so important and what in the world is it? Today we’re going to see how 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 Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 3, 2007. Series "Deuteronomy - Doing Justice, Preaching Grace". Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4-23.

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God's Law

Thu, 13 Aug 2020 00:43:59 GMT

The book of Deuteronomy is a series of sermons Moses preached just before he died. In it, he lays out, in the most comprehensive and practical way, how you should live if you experience the grace and salvation of God. If you experience God, how should that actually affect the way in which you live your life? It’s a very, very practical book and an incredibly comprehensive book.

Today, we get to the Ten Commandments. This is one of the most influential texts in the entire history of the world. Let’s take a look and see what we’re taught about it. It’s awfully basic, but it’s awfully basic because it’s awfully important. There are four things we’re going to learn here about God’s Law: 1. the origin of the Law; 2. the substance of the Law; 3. the problem of the Law, and 4. the solution to that problem.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 27, 2007. Series "Deuteronomy - Doing Justice, Preaching Grace". Scripture: Deuteronomy 5:6-21, 24-29; James 2:10; Luke 19:41-42; 2 Corinthians 5:21.

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The Fire of God

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the book of Deuteronomy, and there’s probably no single book of the Bible that is more comprehensive in showing us how we should live if we’ve actually met God.

The primary concept of the book of Deuteronomy is the concept of covenant. The Bible says you can only relate to God covenantally. Right away, we say, “What’s a covenant? Is it a contract?” We’re going to see our relationship with God is far more personal and intimate than a contractual relationship. At the very same time, far more binding and solemn and accountable than a friendship. It’s covenantal.

In this chapter there are three awesome terms — awesome images — Moses introduces for us to understand what it means to have a covenantal relationship with God. Those three terms are jealousy, idolatry, and the fire of God.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 20, 2007. Series "Deuteronomy - Doing Justice, Preaching Grace". Scripture: Deuteronomy 4:15-24; 33-36.

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The Grace of Law

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 17:30:00 GMT

Deuteronomy is a series of sermons by Moses just as he was about to die, giving the people of Israel a comprehensive look at, now that they had received God’s grace, how they should live. It begins with this story about the children of Israel who had come to the border of Canaan actually 40 years before Moses is preaching these sermons. Because of the report of the spies about the size of the inhabitants and about the danger of going in, they had failed God. They had failed to obey him and listen to him and turned away. It was a great disaster.

This passage teaches us some basic things about who we are and who God is. Here’s what we learn from this passage: 1. what’s wrong with the human heart, 2. two forms wrongness can take, and 3. God’s solution for it.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 13, 2007. Series "Deuteronomy - Doing Justice, Preaching Grace". Scripture: Deuteronomy 1:26-28, 34-36, 41-46.

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A Community of Justice (Part 2)

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the book of James, which is a book that asks and answers this question: If you really believed the gospel of Jesus, if you really believed what Jesus said he came to do, what would that mean for the way in which you live your life every day? What does that look like on the ground? What practically does that look like?

Every single week, we’re looking at another part of the book of James, in which he’s showing us how belief in the gospel affects the way we actually live day to day. James is contrasting God’s wisdom with the world’s wisdom or with what the Bible calls foolishness.

Let’s look at it under four headings. What he’s telling us here is about 1. a problem we have, 2. the reasons it is a problem, 3. the thing that can make the problem worse, and 4. the thing that can make the problem better or solve it.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 17, 2010. Series "The Gospel in Community: The Book of James". Scripture: James 4:13-5:6.

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Praying Our Guilt

Mon, 27 Jul 2020 23:30:00 GMT

The Psalms give us a unique way to deal with our emotions and feelings. It’s unique because, on the one hand, in religious circles, amongst religious people, there is a fear of admitting and facing our feelings. In secular circles, there’s the opposite mistake, which is there’s a tendency to simply see expression of feelings and discovery of feelings as a good in itself, and once you’ve found what those feelings are, that’s who you really are. The Psalms say it is very bad and dangerous to either deny your feelings or vent your feelings — to either stuff your feelings or bow down to your feelings.

The Psalms tell us we’re supposed to pray our feelings. Not just pray about our feelings, but to actually take them before God and pour them out in a pre-reflective way and process them in the presence of God, in the light of who he is and who we are, in the light of the realities that come to us, that bear down on us, as we’re in his presence.

Today we look at a psalm about guilt and shame — having your heart broken under a sense of failure, liability, and general unworthiness. In these eight verses, we actually see guilt and shame likened to 1. a hole, to something we’ve sunk down in, and 2. we’re shown a rope you throw a person, that’s available for a person who’s in that hole of guilt and shame, and 3. we see a little bit about the process of how you climb out with that rope.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 12, 2000. Series "Psalms - The Songs of Jesus". Scripture: Psalm 130:1-8.

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Praying Our Fears

Fri, 24 Jul 2020 17:30:00 GMT

The Psalms are deeply emotional prayers. If you’re a modern person, a modern New Yorker, religious or non-religious, you have a tendency to say, “Now David, we mustn’t be angry at our enemies. We must control ourselves.” But the Psalms are too real for that. The Psalms give us a unique approach to emotions.

David is being deposed as king, and there’s an army after him to literally imprison and kill him. But David is not just simply being attacked physically; he’s being attacked psychologically and spiritually. His very identity is under attack and assault as well.

David is really at the bottom. So what’s he going to do about it? The four things he does, the four steps out of the pit, are all there in verses 3–8. I’ll tell you what they are, and then we’ll go through them: Follow your thread, relocate your glory, see the substitute, and remember the people.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 5, 2000. Series "Psalms - The Songs of Jesus". Scripture: Psalm 3:1-8; Genesis 15:1,8.

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Praying Our Tears

Wed, 22 Jul 2020 23:30:00 GMT

As you can see, these psalms are about weeping, suffering and grief. Religious people, by and large, want to deny the power and the depth of their feelings. On the other hand, secular people tend to see discovery and expression of your feelings almost as a good end in itself. To bow to your feelings or to stuff your feelings, to be over-awed by your feelings or under-aware of your feelings are both dangerous.

The Psalms give us a gospel third way of dealing with your feelings. The Psalms do not say to deny or vent, but to pray your feelings. Pray your deepest feelings. Bring them before God and process them. There are three things these texts tell us. Expect tears, invest tears, and pray your tears.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 27, 2000. Series "Psalms - The Songs of Jesus". Scripture: Psalm 39:12-13, 126:1-6; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Psalm 16, Psalm 17.

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Praying Our Doubts

Mon, 20 Jul 2020 23:30:00 GMT

The Psalms are not so much about lofty, high doctrine as they are about how the human heart works, the deep recesses of the motives and emotions of the human heart. And what we’re now going to look at in Psalm 73 is doubt.

Doubt always masquerades as more intellectual than it is, but doubt is a condition of the soul and the heart. Here’s a person filled with doubts, struggling with doubts about God and about faith. Let’s see what the condition is, what the cause of the condition is, and what the cure of the condition is.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 20, 2000. Series "Psalms - The Songs of Jesus". Scripture: Psalm 73:1-3; 12-26.

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David's Passion

Fri, 17 Jul 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the life of David, and this episode in 2 Samuel 6 is a strange one for modern readers. One of the very first things David does after he becomes king is he wants to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. To do so meant putting, in a sense, God’s worship in the very center of the national life and in the very center of David’s life.

Two fascinating incidents happen first; one is the death of Uzzah, a man who simply tries to keep the ark from falling off the cart. David is frightened and angry, thinking, “This God is more holy than I thought.” Secondly, the ark is given to Obed-Edom, the Gittite, and there the ark actually doesn’t do anything but make them prosper, showing God is more gracious than he thought.

Let’s notice three things when David brings the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem: David is a changed man. Secondly and thirdly, the first thing that changes him and the second thing that changes him.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 31, 2015. Series "David: The Man of Prayer". Scripture: 2 Samuel 6:1-23.

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David's Mercy

Wed, 15 Jul 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re going through the books of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, which tell the story of King David’s life. Each week we look at a new episode, and each week the episode ties us into another major biblical theme. This week, this particular story talks to us and tells us quite a bit about what it means to love people who have wronged you.

What I’m going to do is kind of recount the story, and as we recount the story, we’re going to see what it tells us about loving a neighbor, loving an enemy or someone who has wronged you, loving a fool, and where you get the power to do so.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 24, 2015. Series "David: The Man of Prayer". Scripture: 1 Samuel 26:7-14, 21-25.

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David's Friend

Mon, 13 Jul 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the life of David, and the life of David is a little bit of a challenge for a preacher because we have more information in the Bible about the life of David than about any other figure. Therefore, the narrative arcs are longer in this part of the Bible than normal.

If you’re going to follow David’s relationship with Saul or David’s relationship with Jonathan, you have multiple texts, so we did something a little unusual today, and we gave you four texts. We’re going to show you how they tell us about the rightly famous friendship between Jonathan and David; and what these texts and what the Bible tell us about the importance of friendship.

Let’s take a look at what we learn from the relationship of David to Jonathan about the 1) absolute importance of friendship, the constituent elements of friendship — what it’s made of — and 3) the requisite power in order to be a friend and to have friends.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 17, 2015. Series "David: The Man of Prayer". Scripture: 1 Samuel 18:1-4; 19:4-7; 20:40-42; 23:15-18.

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Saul's Jealousy

Fri, 10 Jul 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the life of David, and it’s interesting how this ancient text every week yields so much insight about very current problems (you could even say perennial problems), and this week we get a portrait, a simple portrait of something that is a lot bigger problem than most of us think of it as being. Saul’s life is being destroyed by envy.

Envy. Over the years, I’ve had plenty of people come to me to talk about issues like anger and despondency, but almost never does somebody come to me and say, “I have a problem with envy.” I’ve had lots of people say, “You need to preach on this issue,” or “You need to preach on that issue. These are important issues.” Never, I want you to know, has anyone ever asked me to preach on envy.

Yet, Aristotle … Not just the Bible but all of the ancients understood envy is one of the deadly sins, one of the things that destroys people’s lives, one of the things that’s making the world such a miserable place, so let’s look at what this passage tells us about envy: what it is, what it does, and how we can escape it.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 10, 2015. Series "David: The Man of Prayer". Scripture: 1 Samuel 18:1-14.

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David's Courage

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 23:30:00 GMT

Of all the episodes in the life of David, his encounter with Goliath is the most famous, it’s the most dramatic, it’s the most often told, and it’s probably the one that deals with the most fundamental question of all … How do you deal with fear? How do you have the courage to face life?

The ordinary way this text is read to answer that question is kind of like this. Goliath represents your fears. Look at them. They’re intimidating, but David is your inspiring example to show you how to handle those fears, which is to go right at them. Banish the fears. Face your fears, and the bigger they are the harder they will fall.

I’m here to say that’s a shallow understanding, even a deceptive understanding of how to read the text, and it has a lot more in here to answer that question if we read it a little differently, so let’s, first of all, ask the question, “What is this telling us?” I think it’s going to give us two answers. It’s going to show us the problems of counterfeit courage, but it will also show us the way to true courage.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 3, 2015. Series "David: The Man of Prayer". Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:32-50.

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David’s Anointing

Mon, 06 Jul 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the life of David, and it impresses me how each week each time we look at a new episode we not only are getting ancient history, but we’re always getting some question addressed that has quite modern, contemporary … I should actually say perennial … relevance. For example, I think the question we’re going to be helped to answer today is … What do you really look like? Am I ugly? Am I attractive? What do I really look like? This passage helps us answer these questions.

There are a number of ways to read a passage, so let’s read this one while keeping that question in mind. Let’s notice what it teaches us about 1) the importance of true beauty, 2) the source of true beauty and 3) the secret of both detecting and developing true beauty.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 26, 2015. Series "David: The Man of Prayer". Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:1-13.

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Saul's Rejection

Fri, 03 Jul 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re looking at the life of David, and today we get to a text that actually gets us to address one of the most urgent and important questions you could ask: what’s wrong with the human race? The problem is we know how we should live, and we aren’t able to do it. Why do we do the terrible things we do when we basically know how we should live? One answer is in this passage from 1 Samuel. It’s not the only answer, but it’s an extremely important one. It’s a small but important subject I want to bring to your attention. To get at it, let’s ask these questions: How did Saul fail? Why did Saul fail? How can we escape the thing that destroyed him?

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 19, 2015. Series "David: The Man of Prayer". Scripture: 1 Samuel 15:10-23.

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Hannah's Prayer

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re going to be looking at the life of David, who is not only the author of most of the Psalms but was a great man of prayer. First and second Samuel are often called the book of David. This story begins with a woman who radically changes her life through prayer. She’s a desperate woman. She’s culturally oppressed, but she takes control through prayer, so it’s very appropriate.

She’s obviously the forerunner of David and the mother of the forerunner of David. Let’s take a look at this very attractive person. Her name is Hannah.

We are first going to look at Hannah’s sorrow, which we’re given more insight to in the first few verses. Secondly, Hannah’s response to her sorrow. Lastly, in her great song, only of which a few verses we were able to read, we see a Savior who Hannah is looking forward to who actually enables her to respond to the sorrow in the way she does.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 12, 2015. Series "David: The Man of Prayer". Scripture: 1 Samuel 1:3-11, 18-20; 2:8-10.

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What is Love?: An Open Forum

Mon, 29 Jun 2020 23:30:00 GMT

Whenever you really fall in love, you want to completely give yourself away. You want to just let all your defenses down. You want to be completely vulnerable. On the other hand, we also see love is continually letting us down because people are letting us down.

When you love someone, you’re loving a human being. That human being to whom you’re giving complete trust will tend to let you down. There’s something cosmic about love. There’s something, on the other hand, completely fickle about love.

Do you have a philosophy of life, an understanding of the world, that can account for all the various aspects of love, explain them and enjoy them? There is one model of love I’m going to call the conservative ideal. There’s another model I’m going to call the liberal ideal. Both of them don’t work. Then there’s another model of love which, I think, is the Christian model that pulls it all together.

This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 19, 1995 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.

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Surprised by Joy: An Open Forum

Fri, 26 Jun 2020 23:30:00 GMT

The subject of this talk is one of those perennial human questions. Joy, happiness–what is it? How do you get it? In these gospel spirituals, we see the celebration of the oldest roots of the African American music, which said the solution to the joy problem is the message of the Christian gospel.

I would suggest to you that there are three themes in the music. The first is that there’s a joy vacuum that’s very deep in the human heart. Secondly, there are joy strategies every human being has. You have some way of trying to fill that joy vacuum. You might have this one or that one. You may change them, but there are joy strategies. And lastly, this music has a solution for the joy vacuum.

This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 6, 2002 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.

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My Problem with Religion: An Open Forum

Wed, 24 Jun 2020 23:30:00 GMT

I’d like to look at two objections, two problems people have with God today. First of all, the problem of evil and suffering. How could a good and powerful God allow that? Secondly, the problem of the exclusiveness of religion. If you think you have the truth, if you think your religion is right, if you think you have the superior take on spirituality, doesn’t that lead to exclusion and oppression and abuse?

You say, “Well, you’re a minister, so obviously you don’t think those problems are very big.” No. I think that’s quite wrong. They have great weight, and I think we’re all in the same boat here. Whether you believe in God or you really don’t believe in God, you still have those problems.

The real question is are they insurmountable? Is there a way through them? I would like to at least give you a way through. Let me give you something to consider as a possible way through.

This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 9, 2003 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.

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What Happened When Jesus Died?: An Open Forum

Mon, 22 Jun 2020 23:30:00 GMT

In some ways, the key prayer in Mozart’s requiem is in the “Rex Tremendae,” the king of terrible majesty. It says, “… who saves those who are being saved freely.” In spite of all the talk about judgment day, we get mercy.

Now on what basis do we get mercy? On what basis do we get rest, if we don’t deserve it? When modern people in Western society listen to something like Mozart’s Requiem, there are certain questions that come up right away.

First, did Jesus really die like that? Was he a sacrificial lamb? Was Jesus crucified on the cross? Did that really happen historically, or was that just made up? Second, why did Jesus have to die like that? What’s the whole idea? Why was it even necessary? Third, what difference does it make to us?

This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 4, 2004 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.

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Who is this Jesus?: An Open Forum

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 23:30:00 GMT

What we’re going to do is look at the question–who is Jesus Christ?

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is both intellectually credible and existentially satisfying. I’ve come to see over the years that those are the two tests of any valid worldview, philosophy or religion. It has to be both rational, coherent, and it has to be true. It has to meet my needs. It has to connect with my experience.

Don’t come to Christianity because it’s relevant–though, it certainly is. Don’t come to Christianity because it’s exciting–though, absolutely, it is. Don’t come to Christianity because it’ll meet your needs–though, it certainly will. Come because it’s true. And because it’s true, it’ll meet your needs, it’s exciting, and it’s relevant.

This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 1, 1994 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.

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A Reason for Living: An Open Forum

Wed, 17 Jun 2020 23:30:00 GMT

Miguel de Cervantes, Albert Camus, Aldous Huxley, Tolstoy, Voltaire, Shakespeare, Jesus Christ–they all know the average person is so busy in both work and play that you go years and years without asking yourself, “What is my reason for doing all this? What is my reason for life? What’s my whole life about?” Put another way: “When all is said and done, what will I have really accomplished?”

Do you want freedom? The great thinkers will say that if you want absolute freedom to live your life the way you want, you have to admit the utter meaninglessness of life. If you want complete freedom, you must face utter meaninglessness. That’s the first point.

The second point is nobody can live that way. To really believe life is meaningless gets you into convolutions that are emotional, psychological, logical, philosophical. You can’t even live that way, because life does have meaning. Let me argue that both freedom and meaning are found in Jesus Christ.

This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 27, 1994 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.

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The Reason for God: An Open Forum

Mon, 15 Jun 2020 23:30:00 GMT

I want to talk about the reasoning behind belief in God–what the reasons for God and belief actually are. Why is the reason for God important? How does it work? What are the actual reasons for God?

This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 2, 2008 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.

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Literalism: Isn’t the Bible historically unreliable and regressive?

Sat, 13 Jun 2020 00:05:42 GMT

Each week we’re choosing one of the things that most trouble people today about Christianity. The problem with Christianity we now come to centers around the Bible. Many people in a place like New York would say this: “There are many good things in the Bible, but you shouldn’t take every word of it literally. There are legends in there. Don’t insist on it being entirely trustworthy and completely authoritative in everything it says.”

What do we say to that? I’d like to argue (to the contrary, of course) that you should trust the Bible. You can and should trust the Bible in three ways: historically, culturally, and, most of all, personally.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 5, 2006. Series "The Trouble with Christianity: Why it's so Hard to Believe it". Scripture: Luke 1:1-4, 24:13-32; 1 Timothy 1:9-11, Deuteronomy 2:24-27.

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Hell: Isn’t the God of Christianity an angry Judge?

Wed, 10 Jun 2020 23:30:00 GMT

Every week, we’re taking one of the things that in our culture troubles people the most about Christianity. We’re now going to look at the Christian teaching that God is a judge and a judge who consigns people to hell.

Someone says, “How can you possibly reconcile the concept of judgment and hell with the idea of a loving God? They just don’t go together.” What do we say about that? I’d like to argue that understanding what the Bible says about hell is crucial for understanding your own heart, for living in peace in the world, and for knowing the love of God.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 22, 2006. Series "The Trouble with Christianity: Why it's so Hard to Believe it". Scripture: Luke 16:19-31; Romans 6.

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Injustice: Hasn’t Christianity been an instrument for oppression?

Mon, 08 Jun 2020 23:30:00 GMT

We’re in a series taking the things that people in our culture (especially in New York City) are troubled by with regard to Christianity. This time, the objection could be put like this. The Christian church has a long history of oppression, and people acting in the name of Jesus Christ have engaged in systemic, economic, and cultural oppression of various races and classes. Therefore, the beliefs of Christianity are not credible and we shouldn’t believe them.

What do we say to this? Here’s three things we can learn from the book of James that address the problem. First, the passage will teach us the biblical God actually chooses the poor and the oppressed. Secondly, anyone with a true spiritual connection to that God inevitably does the same. Thirdly, we will learn how we can make that connection.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 15, 2006. Series "The Trouble with Christianity: Why it's so Hard to Believe it". Scripture: James 2:1-17.

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