Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

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.

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

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.

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

In the 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.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support 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 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.

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