Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

It’s not the whale events in your life that make you who you are. It’s all the guppies. Every morning you wake up and millions of them come at you. You have to eat. You have to sleep. You have appointments. The mundane, the hum-drum, the hustle and bustle. 
The difference between Martha and Mary is that Martha is swept along by the mundane, but Mary has put her feet at the bottom of the stream. The stream is going one way, but Mary walks the direction she wants to walk. Mary sits at Jesus’ feet in spite of distractions, in spite of opposition. 
Because we’re more like Martha than Mary, we’re sinking in a sea of mediocrity. So we ask, what does it mean to sit at Jesus’ feet? Let’s look at: 1) who Martha is, 2) what Martha needs, 3) what Mary does, and 4) why we should do like Mary.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 9, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2: His Life. Scripture: Luke 10:38-11:13.
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 real Jesus believed in demons. The real Jesus believed in the devil. Most of us say, “They didn’t understand then what we understand now about diseases and mental illnesses. They attributed them to demons.” But in Matthew 4:24, you see something that explodes that whole idea. 
In Matthew 4:24, it says they brought all manner of sick people to him, and then they have a list: they say there were demon-possessed people, paralyzed people, and people with madness. Both the gospel writers and Jesus understood there were illnesses that had a demonical base and illnesses that did not. In other words, Jesus did not believe in demon possession out of ignorance, but out of conviction. If you screen that out, you’ll miss important insights for living your life. 
Mark 5 teaches us at least three things about evil: 1) the power of evil, 2) the patterns of evil, and 3) the pattern for the healing.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 2, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Mark 5:1-20.
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 changes the way we look at our money and possessions. If we understand the gospel, we should have a radically different relationship with money than what our culture says is normal.
To look at what the Bible says about this, let’s look at this very famous passage: Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler.
From the rich young ruler, we can learn 1) that money has great spiritual danger attached to it, 2) how money is spiritually dangerous, 3) why money is spiritually dangerous, and 4) how to escape it.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 6, 2015. Series: What We Are Giving: The Dynamic of Grace. Scripture: Luke 18:18-30.
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 make a gift to Gospel in Life this Giving Tuesday, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/tuesday.

In Luke 7, we see a personal encounter Jesus has with two people. They’re both seeking him, but he responds very differently to each of them. 
We first see Simon, a member of the religious and cultural elite. He invites Jesus to dinner, which meant inviting someone into relationship. Then we see the women, who’s a sinner and prostitute. She approaches Jesus and anoints his feet with perfume and tears. They’re both serious seekers. But Jesus Christ rejects him and welcomes her. Why is there a difference? 
We can see the difference in 3 waves: 1) in the beginning, we see they respond to Jesus in two different ways, 2) in the middle, we see these two responses derive from two different understandings of Jesus, and 3) at the end, we see that these two different understandings of Jesus result in two different responses from Jesus.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 26, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Luke 7:36-50.
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 encounters Jesus had with individuals. The gospels are filled with encounters Jesus has with all sorts of people. 
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 that 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 screen out one side of Jesus as if it’s incompatible.
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.
Mark 4 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.

Because Jesus claims that he’s the final word, that salvation is completely by grace through him, the Pharisees and the Herodians band together 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 January 5, 1997. 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, 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.

There is absolutely no better place anywhere in the Bible that depicts Jesus as Immanuel, as God with us, as God truly with us in our condition as this passage. We’re going to see who Jesus is and what he came to do.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 8, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: John 11:32-44.
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.

Though there may have been other occasions, the only time we know of that Jesus ever left his country, ever left the boundaries of Israel is here in Mark 7.
He did so for a purpose, and he did so to teach us something. There are two stories: the healing of the little daughter and the healing of the deaf-mute. Let’s look at them and see what they teach us.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 1, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Mark 7:24-37.
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 John 2, John puts the changing of water into wine at the wedding and the cleansing of the temple together. He sticks them together, even though on the surface, they look utterly different. 
In the wedding feast, you have Jesus acting quietly, hidden, privately. Here in the cleansing of the temple, you have him public and dramatic. There, he was requested. He was asked in. Here, he goes where no one has asked him to go. He intrudes. He intervenes. At the wedding, he brings joy and laughter. Here, he brings weeping and gnashing of teeth. 
If Jesus Christ comes into your life, he will sometimes fill your table with a feast and other times, he will turn your table over and spill everything on the ground. These passages show us the authority of who he is, they show us the purpose of what he does, and then they show us the glory of what he brings. 
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 24, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: John 2:12-25.
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 visitinghttps://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Jesus’ first miracle was not just a miracle, but a miraculous sign. It was an acted-out picture of who Jesus is and everything Christianity is. His inaugural event was not walking on water or raising somebody from the dead.
Instead, what you have here is not a very big deal. A party looks like it’s going to go two days instead of three days. Wow. What a shame. 
Why did Jesus do this miracle? Why was this the first one? How does this reveal his glory? If you ask that question, there’s so much in it. You have the whole nine yards here: who he came to be, what he came to do, what he has to offer, and how we can receive it. 
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 17, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: John 2:1-11.
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 visitinghttps://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

True Christianity is a fight. Anyone who offers you a Christianity without tears is not giving you good money; it’s counterfeit. Anybody who says, “If you receive the baptism of the Spirit, your problems are over; if you receive the voice of assurance down on your heart, if you receive the sense God is pleased with you, that’s the end of conflict, strife, temptation,” that person is not offering you the real thing.
There are three things we learn about the fight right here. Who’s the enemy? Where’s the front? What are the weapons?
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 10, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Matthew 3:13-4:11.
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. 
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 all want peace, contentment, groundedness. And Jesus says, he will give us his peace. But he doesn’t just zap us with it. He says it comes through learning who he is.
John 16 is the end of the training course Jesus gives his disciples. It’s just before he dies, and verse 28 summarizes everything he’s been saying: he explains who he is, how he came, why he came, and what he accomplished. But the key to this whole thing is in verse 33 where he says, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” 
Jesus has been teaching about himself. And he says this doctrine leads to peace, but only if you do two things. So let’s look at this under two headings: 1) what is this doctrine that you need in order to have peace? and 2) what are you supposed to do with it?
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 9, 2017. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: New Power. Scripture: John 16:28-33.
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 a whole field now called happiness studies—whole departments in academia are dedicated to happiness studies. And of all the things I’ve read, none of them are as nuanced as what Jesus says.
Jesus says one of the main resources his disciples need in life is joy. And he says joy is something he gives. In John 15:11, he says, “I give you my joy that your joy may be complete,” but he doesn’t elaborate on it. In John 16, he gives us more information. 
What does John 16 tell us about the joy that Jesus gives? Five things: that this joy 1) is inevitable, 2) is not circumstantial, 3) is thoughtful, 4) is prayerful, and 5) is based on wonder.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 2, 2017. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: New Power. Scripture: John 16:16-27.
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 you’re about to die, you don’t make small talk. You talk about the most crucial, important things. And on the night before Jesus is about to die, he’s talking about the Holy Spirit. 
Why is Jesus so constantly talking about the Holy Spirit? I think we see at least two reasons. One is a hard reason, at least it’s hard to hear. And one is a wonderful reason. 
I think the two reasons that Jesus thinks the Holy Spirit is so important to talk about, so crucial to understand, so important to have, is because 1) without the Holy Spirit there’s no remedy for our spiritual blindness and cluelessness, but 2) with the Holy Spirit, we can be taken into realms of experience and transformation that we can’t imagine.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 26, 2017. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: New Power. Scripture: John 16:5-11.
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 no more important issue, spiritually, for people than the question of innocent suffering. We don’t struggle much with the suffering that comes to people who’ve brought it on themselves. The real problem is innocent suffering. 
We’re looking at Old Testament narratives because in them, profound truths are depicted concretely. In the New Testament, authors explain these truths with rational propositions. But in the Old Testament, they’re depicted. And there’s probably no place anywhere, beyond the book of Job, where you have the problem of innocent suffering so profoundly depicted. 
We learn three things about suffering from the story of Job: 1) from Satan, we get an understanding of suffering, 2) from the early Job, we learn how to face suffering, and 3) from the later Job, we learn how to overcome suffering.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 9, 1997. Series: Pointers to Christ – Directional Signs in History. Scripture: Job 1:8-22.
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.

Exodus 33-34 remarkably depicts, in the most concrete way, how to find God. And not only how to find God, but how to find him when you’ve lost him. 
The Bible often talks about our relationship with God as if it’s fire. It comes down into our lives. But the second you stop tending a fire, it burns down. See, if you’ve never found God, or if you have but it’s been a long time, for both, this passage tells you the path. Because basically the path of “new-al” and the path of renewal are the same. 
How do you find God the first time? How do you find him again and again? We learn here 1) that we desperately need renewal, and 2) how we get renewal.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 2, 1997. Series: Pointers to Christ – Directional Signs in History. Scripture: Exodus 33:4-9, 15; 34:1-7.
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.