Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

As we look at the hard sayings of Jesus, we see in this passage that Jesus gives us a radical principle of truthfulness. 

The whole Bible is built on covenants, public promises, observed words. So what does Jesus mean when he says to let your “yes” be “yes”? He can’t mean you can’t take oaths. What he does mean is actually something almost the opposite, that if you think you can separate and create levels of truthfulness, you’re wrong. Everything is observed. Every yes and every no is an oath. 

Jesus is teaching us 1) the importance of truthfulness, 2) the nature of truthfulness, and 3) how you become a person of integrity.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 14, 1993. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Matthew 5:33-37.

Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at the most strange, enigmatic, perplexing things Jesus ever said. This is one of them. People always blink a bit when they read it. 

But here, Jesus is actually teaching us about power to change. He’s telling us something extremely practical. 

Even though it’s an enigmatic passage, Jesus is basically saying three things: 1) There are many ways to change, 2) if you use any way but Jesus, you’ll be worse off than before, and 3) Jesus is the only one who can give you the power to change thoroughly and permanently.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 7, 1993. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Luke 11:14-26.

Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In this interview from November 2019, Rebecca McLaughlin talks about some of the inspiration for writing her book Confronting Christianity and some of the insight she's gained in her life that led her to address the hardest questions that Christians face today. As she talks about her experiences, you will learn how and why she believes that Christianity is objectively the best hope for the modern world. Interview hosted by Chuck Armstrong.

Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When Jesus is asked by his disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray,” he tells them a story and puts forth an approach that runs against common sense and against what other religions say about prayer.

In the story, a man who’s in bed at midnight gives bread to another man who’s knocking and asking. Jesus says the man gives the bread not because the other man is his friend but because of the man’s boldness. Other ways to translate the word Jesus uses include shamelessness, rudeness, discourtesy, impertinence, and impudence. That’s what Jesus says is a model for our prayer. “Pray like that,” he says. “Bother God.” 

Why should we pray this way? Jesus gives the answer: 1) it’s a way to judge our hearts today, and 2) it’s a way to actually live our lives tomorrow in a different way.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 31, 1993. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Luke 11:5-13.

Today's podcast episode is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If Jesus was a pastor, I don’t think his church would’ve grown very fast. Any leader of a movement wants to make it easy for people to enter. But Jesus acts in a completely different way. People come and say, “I want to join up,” and Jesus says, “Get back. Think.” 

In Luke 9, Jesus does this because the three men clearly don’t understand what they are asking for. Therefore, if we take a look at how Jesus answers them, we’re going to learn a great deal about what it means to follow Jesus. 

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? This text shows us 1) that to follow Christ is to enter the kingdom, 2) that we need to understand the hardness of the kingdom, and 3) that we need to understand the greatness of the kingdom.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 24, 1993. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Luke 9:57-60.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In Matthew 11, Jesus talks about the kingdom of God, and he uses the word “violence.” That’s what the Greek word means. There’s no way around it. 

The context is Jesus telling us about John the Baptist, who realized the kingdom of heaven is real. Then Jesus says the kingdom of heaven comes with violence. This bothers us. Isn’t this Jesus? Isn’t this the one who said, “turn the other cheek?” Yes. That’s the reason why Jesus uses this term. Jesus is a communicator. He knows by saying this you’re going to be startled. You’re going to say, “What does that mean?” 

Let’s cooperate with him. Let’s ask, what is this holy violence? Let’s look at 1) what it’s not, 2) what it is, and 3) why we need it.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 3, 1992. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Matthew 11:7-15.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jesus said an awful lot of hard things. And in the story of the rich young ruler, Jesus says two hard things: he says our understanding of riches and our understanding of moral goodness are wrong.

The rich young ruler is not only rich, but he’s also a man of exquisite moral character. Yet, Jesus sends him away. Jesus turns our common notions about wealth and goodness on top of their heads and he gives us new ones—ones that are explosively in contradiction with what the world thinks, but ones that, if we obey them, have the power of God exploding in our midst.

Let’s look at these two principles. Jesus tells us 1) something new about wealth and 2) something new about moral goodness.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 3, 1992. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus (1993). Scripture: Mark 10:23.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

For a person to go from no faith to faith it takes at least four things. 

There has to be 1) sustained attention, 2) some attraction, 3) a demonstration, and 4) an explanation. 

I’m going to give a couple ideas on three of these four things.

This talk was given by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 14, 2019. Series: Missional Living.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The great enemy of the human race is death. And we all have to face it. 

No matter how young you are, no matter how your life’s been going up to now, I can say, without fear of contradiction, that there is a lot of death in your future. And therefore, you severely need what this text talks about. It talks about hope in the face of death. 

Let’s ask the text three questions: 1) Why do we need hope in the face of death? 2) How can we get hope in the face of death? and 3) If we have it, how do we use it and increase it in our life?

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 14, 2016. Series: Bible: What We Are Receiving: The Gospel Goods. Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at the passage that Martin Luther thinks is the greatest single place in the Bible that explains the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he might be right, because it’s talking about three great gospel words. 

The three great gospel words are redemption, propitiation, and justification. What do we need? Redemption. What does God do about it? Propitiation. And what do we get as a result? Justification.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 7, 2016. Series: Bible: What We Are Receiving: The Gospel Goods. Scripture: Romans 3:22-31.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.