Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

How can you live a life so no matter what comes at you, you face it with equilibrium, you face it with poise, you face it with strength? 
Today we come to an incident in Abraham’s life which is called a test. In the beginning of this particular brief account, it says God tested Abraham. This is the secret of a great life. The secret of a great life is to understand you become great only through tests. 
We have to understand 1) there are tests, 2) how these tests work, 3) why we need these tests, and 4) how we pass these tests.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 30, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:17-19.
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.

There’s one guy who is so preeminently an example of a life of faith that three religions look to him as the paragon of faith. That guy’s name is Abraham. 
Here’s the story of Abraham’s life: God said, “Get out!” Abraham said, “Where?” God said, “I’ll tell you later. Just go.” The Lord said, “I will give you this land.” Abraham said, “When?” God said, “I’ll tell you later. Just wander around in tents.” The Lord said, “I will give you a son.” Abraham said, “How?” God said, “I’ll tell you later. Just wait around.” The Lord said, “Slay your son.” Abraham said, “Why?” God said, “I’ll tell you later. Just walk up the hill with him.” If you read the whole narrative, you’ll find that he fell down a number of times. But every time Abraham masters the situation. 
In the face of it, the circumstances didn’t master Abraham. How? Three principles: 1) he heard the call of God, 2) he obeyed the call of God, and 3) he looked to the city with foundations.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 23, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:8-16.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Abraham had greatness in the face of a completely uncertain future. He had no idea what was coming, and yet he lived a life of greatness. How can we? 
The writer of Hebrews is writing to a group of Christians whose lives were going very badly. And in chapter 11, he says to them, “You don’t understand. The great men and women of God have never had designer lives. Yet they lived great lives.” And Abraham is perhaps the greatest case given.
How we can live life with greatness, with stability, with confidence? There are three principles: 1) the negative principle, 2) the positive principle, and 3) the ultimate principle.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 16, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:8-16.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Enoch is a very mysterious Old Testament figure. God took him right to heaven without him tasting death—because he walked with God. What’s so special about walking with God?
In the garden of Eden, in the beginning of time, God took long walks with us every evening. And yet the minute human beings disobeyed God, they couldn’t stand intimacy with infinity anymore. Humans no longer walk with God. But suddenly, in Genesis 5, Enoch shows up and he still walks with God. What? It’s still possible? Yes, it’s possible by faith. Faith. You can do it too. 
Being a Christian is not about a general belief in God—it’s about walking with God. To walk with God is to 1) walk in peace with him, and to 2) walk in the presence of God. Let’s look at these two aspects and then, 3) look at how these two are drawn together.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 9, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:5-7.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Many of us are wondering how we’re even going to face Monday, but the men and women in Hebrews 11 didn’t just know how to face life—they were enabled to even go against the whole world. And the thing that enabled them was they were commended by God.
Abel got the commendation from God—he was shown God accepted him as absolutely righteous, and as a result, he became one of these great hearts who can face the world, can face anything. By looking at Abel, and the contrast with Cain, we can have some understanding about how we also can know this same thing.
The best way to understand the case of Cain and Abel is to ask: 1) how were Cain and Abel alike, 2) how were they not alike? and 3) are you Cain or Abel?
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 2, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-7.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Christian faith is more than thinking, because the Christian message, the gospel, is much more than an idea. It is not just an idea; it’s a power. 
The gospel bears fruit in you. It’s a living thing. But how does faith move from being an idea to being a power? You stop just believing in God and you start believing God. Noah shows us the way. 
Hebrews 11 shows us that Noah does three things that bring the power of faith into life: 1) he believes God, 2) he condemns the world, and 3) he hides in the ark.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 25, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-7.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The Bible tells us faith begins with thinking. The Bible says faith requires and stimulates the profoundest thinking and reasoning. You cannot be a Christian without using your brain to its uttermost. 
Nowadays, we’re told by our culture from the time we’re very little that the big questions—what is real, what is right and wrong, and what we should be living for—are questions for the philosophers. We’re taught that the important things are standard of living, career, appearance, and psychological needs. 
Hebrews 11 shows us three aspects about faith: 1) that thinking leads to faith, 2) how thinking leads to faith, and 3) whythinking leads to faith. 
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 18, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-7.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

What is faith? What is it made of? How do you know if you have it? How do you lose it? How do you get it back? Hebrews 11 deals with all of these things through specific personal case studies of men and women who wrestled with issues of faith.
I would suggest that it’s the easiest to understand the parts of faith as three layers, one of which comes first, then the others resting upon it. But the reality is it’s more complex than that. If you look hard enough at any one of these aspects, the other two are contained in the one. Yet all three are absolutely critical if we’re going to understand faith.
Faith 1) begins with understanding, 2) which leads to conviction, but 3) completes itself always in commitment.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 11, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-3, 6, 7.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

One mark of a supernaturally changed heart is a changed attitude and view of races and cultures. 
In social relations, grace-changed Christians use their power to serve, not exploit. We’re going to look at this by looking at a dispute that happened in the church of Rome, and by comparing it to another dispute.
These passages show us 1) the problems that culture poses, 2) the solutions, true and false, and 3) how we get the power to implement the true solution.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 26, 2016. Series: What We Are Becoming: Transforming Love. Scripture: Romans 14:1-3, 14:14-15:7.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Some people say there’s a cultural crisis of integrity. 
For example, Volkswagen was revealed to have deliberately used software designed to lie about emissions. It was a failure of integrity from one of the biggest corporations in the world. And some of you may be yawning, thinking that’s just the way things are. But the Bible says a supernaturally changed heart rejoices with the truth.
Let’s talk about 1) how important integrity is, 2) how you practice integrity, and 3) how you can become people of integrity. 
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 19, 2016. Series: What We Are Becoming: Transforming Love. Scripture: Ephesians 4:14-15, 25-32.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When the Greeks and Romans met the early Christians, one of the first things that surprised them was how Christians handled suffering. 
Christianity brought into the world a view and a way of handling suffering that the world had never seen. It was one of the evidences of a supernaturally changed heart. And in Romans 8, a passage that looks at all the benefits of salvation, we learn a lot about suffering.
Romans 8 shows us 1) the unique Christian view of suffering, 2) the unique resources we get to face suffering, and 3) how we can make those resources our own.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 15, 2016. Series: What We Are Becoming: Transforming Love. Scripture: Romans 8:16-28.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

What are the characteristics of a supernaturally changed heart?
You can be very moral and active in church and still be an incredibly impatient, bitter person. So we’re looking at what Paul says are the marks of a supernaturally changed heart. And for this, Romans 12 is an explosive passage. 
Let’s look at what this passage says about 1) patience and graciousness in life in general, and 2) love and forgiveness in the face of mistreatment.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 8, 2016. Series: What We Are Becoming: Transforming Love. Scripture: Romans 12:9-21.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Most of us know how to restrain a life. We start to get in trouble, so we change. But when the consequences go away, we snap back the way we were. 
Human nature without supernatural intervention is like a rubber ball that’s squished, but when the pressure is off, it snaps right back. The rubber ball was constrained. It wasn’t actually changed or reshaped. 1 Corinthians 13 is about how you actually change, about how you get a supernaturally changed heart.
What is the supernaturally changed heart? Let’s take a look at 1) two things it is not and 2) what it is.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 1, 2016. Series: What We Are Becoming: Transforming Love. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

There is nothing that beggars your own sense of wisdom than to study what the Bible says about divine wisdom.
Ephesians 5 tells us a lot about wisdom. And it shows us that biblical wisdom puts God in the center in a way that develops three aspects of wisdom.
We see in these verses 1) why we need to walk in wisdom, and 2) what it means to walk in wisdom.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 9, 1991. Series: Christian Lifestyle. Scripture: Ephesians 5:11-17.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Ephesians 5 talks about light and wisdom. Paul says that because you once were darkness and now are light, you should now expose works of darkness and experience the fruit of light.
Then in verse 15, Paul says that we are to walk as wise and not as fools, for the days are evil. What Paul is saying is that walking in wisdom is the way in which you expose the deeds of the darkness.
In these verses, Paul shows us 1) there are two different realms—darkness and light, 2) we are to have nothing to do with unfruitful works of darkness, but are to instead bear the fruit of the light, and 3) as one who is in the light, your job is to expose the deeds of darkness.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 2, 1991. Series: Christian Lifestyle. Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-18.
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.

The essence of Christianity is arguing with yourself. What makes you an effective Christian is that you’re continually arguing with yourself, and you’re winning the argument.
Because of what Christ did, God can restore the world and restore everything if we come to him through Christ. And in Ephesians 5, Paul uses the imagery of darkness and light to argue with us about how we need to be living: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” If you don’t get the verse right, you’ll never win the argument. 
To understand this, we have to understand what the Bible means when it talks about light and darkness in spiritual terms. It means: 1) God is truth, 2) God is righteousness, and 3) a mark of somebody who has crossed from darkness to light is that they become more of a servant.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 26, 1991. Series: Christian Lifestyle. Scripture: Ephesians 5:8-14.
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.

Christianity is never a mechanical thing. And the church is not a morality agency—it’s a regenerating agency.
The real goal of the do’s and the don’ts in the Christian life is always character—growing into God’s holy people. The church does bring about moral behavior but, in a sense, as a byproduct. Because what the church is after is to turn people into saints, to create a kind of person.
In Ephesians 5, we learn three things: 1) your Christian faith has to include a saying no as well as a saying yes, 2) Paul explains a few critical things you must say no to (greed, foolish talking, and sexual immorality), and 3) the whole point is not to give us a list of do’s and don’ts, but the point is always to be holy. 
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 12, 1991. Series: Christian Lifestyle. Scripture: Ephesians 5:3-7.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Whenever God turns to you, if you believe in him, all he sees when he looks at you is complete beauty and sweetness. Jesus Christ offered himself up and fulfilled all of the obligations we owe God, so he has completely satisfied God. God sees nothing and senses nothing but sweetness when he regards you.
But you still live in a world twisted and broken by sin. And you have to deal with the realities of that. Therefore, there’s always a negative. And Ephesians 5:3-7 tells the negatives: there are prohibitions, limits, warnings. There are no exceptions to them. 
We must see both the positive and the negative: 1) the positive is that Jesus has fulfilled the law, and 2) for the negative, there are three categories of no’s: no covetousness, no foolish talking, and no sexual immorality.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 5, 1991. Series: Christian Lifestyle. Scripture: Ephesians 5:3-6.
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.

If you look at the particulars Christian teachings, the particulars don’t look that different from many other ethical systems. The difference is that Christianity is never interested in moral behavior simply as moral behavior. In every instance, putting on the new self means to remember your identity.
Being a Christian is ultimately about being melted with spiritual understandings of who you are now that Jesus Christ has said, “You are my beloved child,” of who you are now that the Holy Spirit has come in and said, “I now live within your heart.” Ephesians 4 is an amazingly multifarious passage on what the Christian lifestyle really is. And the purpose of this passage is to show how we can put off the old self and put on the new. 
Let’s look at anger and forgiveness. We’ll look at anger to see 1) suppression or denial of anger is wrong, 2) anger is sometimes required, 3) there are sinful forms of anger, and 4) if you can’t forgive, it’s because you haven’t sensed his forgiveness.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 3, 1991. Series: Christian Lifestyle. Scripture: Ephesians 4:25-32.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Christianity has an amazing approach to lying and to anger that almost nobody else has. For truth-telling, it says truth must always be told with love. And for anger, it says, “Be ye angry, and sin not.”
Paul doesn’t say, “Well if you get angry, it might be okay.” He says, “Be angry. Do it.” Very often it is wrong not to be angry. But then he turns around and says, “and sin not.” It must mean two things: that anger can easily lead to sin and trouble, and that it’s possible to be angry but not become sinful.
Ephesians 4 shows us a lot about lying and anger. Let’s look at 1) what it means to speak the truth in love. And then we’ll discuss how 2) anger is not wrong in itself, 3) we are to sin not, and 4) we have a way to deal with anger.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 27, 1991. Series: Christian Lifestyle. Scripture: Ephesians 4:25-32.
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.