Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

What does experience of God actually consist of? How does it happen? And how do I know if I’m experiencing God?

Psalm 63 shows several principles of what a real experience of God is and consists of. Each principle can be used as a test on your own heart. And each principle is also a discipline—a practical handle for what to do to draw near to God.

We’re going to look at two of these principles: 1) you develop a spiritual appetite and, 2) you are capable of a new sense of God.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 26, 1997. Series: Lessons in Drawing Near. Scripture: Psalm 63.

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

We have a tremendous hunger for spiritual experience. But how do we experience God? And how do we know we’re experiencing God?

The Psalms are an amazing resource, because in the Psalms you have someone describing their experience of God from the inside. Psalm 63 shows us features of authentic Christian experience—and each feature is both a test and a discipline. 

Let’s look at the first feature: 1) the way you know you’ve found God is that you develop a spiritual appetite. In other words, the way you know you’re really moving toward God is you feel you’re too far from him.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 19, 1997. Series: Lessons in Drawing Near. Scripture: Psalm 63.

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

If you want to get the gist of who Jesus is, you have to look at a whole number of encounters Jesus had with individuals. The gospels are filled with encounters Jesus has with all sorts of people: with the powerful person, with the powerless person, with a man, with a woman, with a Jew, and with a Gentile.  In Luke 19, we get to a guy named Zacchaeus, and we’re told two things about him: that he’s a chief tax collector and he’s wealthy.  This teaches us two different and important things: 1) anyone can approach Jesus, but 2) money is always an issue when coming to Jesus.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 19, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus, Part 2: His Life. Scripture: Luke 19:1-10.

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

Some people dwell on Christ’s power and authority and majesty, and other people dwell on Christ’s vulnerability and tenderness and grace. But it’s critical not to, because of our own temperaments, screen out one side of Jesus as if it’s incompatible. This passage shows us that the power of Christ is caring power, and the care of Christ is powerful caring. Jesus Christ, the little, tender, meek and mild baby, is the Lord of the storm. This tells us four things about the power of Christ: 1) the reality of Christ’s power, 2) the magnitude of Christ’s power, 3) the divinity of Christ’s power, and 4) the compatibility of the caring power of Jesus with storms.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 5, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus, Part 2: His Life. Scripture: Mark 4:35-41.

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

This text tells us something that’s easy to ignore, that’s often missed: that Jesus is the final word. Jesus claims a finality here, and because he claims his salvation is completely by grace through him, the Pharisees and the Herodians get together and want to kill him. This teaches us not only how radical Jesus’ way of salvation is, but that if you really hear it, it will create all sorts of division in your own heart. Whenever the real Jesus is revealed, there’s a juxtaposition of both attraction and revulsion. They both happen together.  This passage shows us 1) that Christ is offensive, 2) to whom he is offensive, and 3) why he is offensive.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 26, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus, Part 2: His Life. Scripture: Mark 2:23-3:6.

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

Of all the passages that are read at Christmas, Luke 2 is perhaps the most famous. And in this most famous passage, the most famous word is peace. What is Christmas all about? Peace on earth.  When Jesus Christ was born as a baby, he was born to bring this peace. But what is this peace on earth? We’ll look at 1) what it is not, 2) what it is, and 3) how you receive it and live it out.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 22, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus, Part 2: His Life. Scripture: Luke 2:10-14.

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

The message of Christmas is the message of the gospel. It’s the essential message of Christianity. And in Luke 1, we have one person’s response to that message. At Christmastime you’ll be hearing this message. The question is, “How should you respond to it?” 

The message is that the Most High has become the most low. God has become human.

Let’s look at three things that this means: 1) God is far greater than we thought, 2) we are more sinful than we thought, and 3) God is more loving than we think. Then we’ll look at one person’s, Mary’s, three-stage response to this message.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 15, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus, Part 2: His Life. Scripture: Luke 1:26-38.

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

We’re looking at the life of Jesus. Not at his words and teachings, but at his deeds and his life—the things that happened to him and the things he did. Of course at the very beginning is his birth. 

The birth of Christ has one wonderfully big word attached to it: the word “incarnation.” The birth of Jesus is the incarnation of God. Incarnate means God comes in. He comes in our flesh. He comes into our humanity, into our vulnerability, into our history, into our reality. God comes in. 

We’ll look at the incarnation in this way: 1) what it is, 2) what it means, and 3) how we can connect to it.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 3, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus, Part 2: His Life. Scripture: Matthew 1:17-25.

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

We’re looking at the Sermon on the Mount. It is very famous because in it, Jesus says, “This is what God wants from you. This is the law.” We learn that Jesus really demands things that no other founder of any religion has ever demanded. But when you look at this passage as a whole, you see that the law of God is filled with grace. As Jesus expounds it, we see that the law is grace and that it drives us into grace. 

Let’s look at three aspects of the law of God that show us his grace: the pain of the law, the premise of the law, and the profile of the law. 

This sermon was preached by Dr. 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.

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

The gospel of Matthew is famous for having long discourses of teaching. Matthew 11 is the best single place where Jesus explains how to receive him; Matthew 5 through 7 is the best single place where Jesus explains how to follow him. He teaches us what it means to become a Christian and how to live the Christian life.

If you go through the Sermon on the Mount verse by verse, you learn a tremendous number of details about what it means to be a Christian, but we’re going to look at it as a whole and we’ll begin to see larger themes. First, Jesus tells us what we are to do in the Christian life; secondly, why we are to do it; and thirdly, how we are to achieve it.

This sermon was preached by Dr. 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.

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