Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

Hebrews is written to people who had suffered a great deal of persecution and difficulty. They were getting discouraged. Some of them were saying, “What good is this Christianity? We’re good people. Why are such bad things happening to us?”
The writer is showing them that they have resources as Christians such that they can face life, no matter what it throws at them, with greatness and power and stamina. And in Hebrews 12, we come to the final case study that shows this. We come to Jesus himself. By looking at what Jesus suffered, why Jesus suffered, and how he suffered, we learn how we can face anything and triumph.
This passage shows us three basic principles: 1) you will handle life’s difficulties depending on your focus, 2) you will deal with your troubles as long as you understand Jesus’ work, and 3) you should discern his model.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 4, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-13.
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.

The whole story of Moses and the leading out, the exodus, of the people of Israel out of Egypt and out of their slavery is all told in Hebrews 11 in just a couple of phrases.
In the Passover’s ordinance of the death of a lamb and taking shelter under its blood, God gave the Israelites and anyone who wanted to read the Old Testament a clue to the meaning of the universe. Look at Jesus as Lamb, and a tremendous greatness of life will develop. This is the object of our faith. This is the thing we look at to become people of faith.
From looking at Jesus as our Passover, Jesus as the Lamb of God, we get three lessons: 1) we see everybody deserves judgment, 2) Jesus’ death is a propitiation, and 3) the reason Jesus Christ was so weak as the Lamb was because his love was so strong.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 20, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:27-29.
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.

Is it possible in a throwaway culture, in a society of throwaway relationships, and in a society of throwaway identities to be a person who can endure and hyperstand? 
To hyperstand means you put your feet down and nothing can knock you off your feet. It’s like you’re in a river, but you can stand in the river. That’s what the book of Hebrews is about. And in the life of Moses, we see the secret of endurance, of someone who stands firm in the long run.
Let’s look at 1) what Moses endured, and 2) how he did it.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 13, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:23-30.
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 we live a big life of faith, how will it show itself in the most specific and particular daily lifestyle details? 
The writer of Hebrews shows us the lifestyle of a person of faith. If circumstances and events and troubles no longer have the mastery over us, if we instead master them, what kind of people will we be in the way we live? We will be characterized by a lifestyle of openness and generosity. 
There are three kinds of openness and generosity that are mentioned in this passage: 1) living space, 2) social situations, and 3) your finances.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 6, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 13:1-6.
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.

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.