Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

Today’s passage comes from the Passion narrative found in the book of Matthew. Matthew is not just a reporter; he’s a teacher. He doesn’t just tell us that Jesus died, but he always builds the narratives around certain statements and sayings that interpret why Jesus died. It’s very typical today for people to say, “Well, the cross might mean something for you. You interpret it your way. I interpret it my way.” But the gospel writers don’t leave that as an option; they are very clear to let Jesus interpret the events that are happening. 
In the last moment of Jesus’ life, there are three cries in the dark, and each tells us something about the meaning of the cross (vv.46, 50, 54). The first cry solves our modern dilemma; the second solves a human dilemma;  and the third solves a personal dilemma.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 16, 2000. Series "St. Matthew's Passion; The World's Last Night". Scripture: Matthew 27:45-56.
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’ve been going through the book of Matthew looking at the big blocks of teaching Jesus gives his disciples for how he wants his followers to live. While the Sermon on the Mount was mainly about how Christian disciples would relate to each other, starting with this passage, Jesus turns around and says, “But now here’s how I want my disciples to relate to the world.” 
This passage was Jesus teaching on how to move into a new town or a new neighborhood or a new city as Christian disciples and begin to do mission, begin to do Christian ministry. The whole passage is about, first of all, how we are to share the compassion of Jesus (verses 5–15); secondly, how we are to share the offense of Jesus (verses 16–23); and thirdly, where we are to get the power to do that (verses 24 and 25).
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on July 1, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 10:5-25.
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’ve come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. It would be very profitable if we went through and took each of these metaphors Jesus ends the sermon with. You notice there are always two. There are two gates. There are two roads. There are two trees. There are two homes built on two different foundations.
How many ways are there to live? Are there two ways to live, two paths, two trees, two gates? Yes and no. This is one of the most hard-hitting parts of the Bible. It is pretty astonishing. In fact, let’s get right to it. There’s a call to discernment, a call to narrow spaciousness, and a call to action, to decision.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 24, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 7:13-27.
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 get to Matthew 7, which is the last chapter in the Sermon on the Mount, the most famous sermon in history, there is a lot of intriguing stuff. There are ludicrous things in there. There are strange things in here. This isn’t so much inspiring as it is a convicting and brilliant piece of teaching.
Verses 1–6 are talking about relationships, the kinds of relationships Jesus Christ wants us to have in the Christian community. Let’s look at the first six verses and see the kind of relationships Jesus Christ wants us to have, the kind of heart you need in order to conduct those relationships, and where to get that heart.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 17, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 7:1-11.
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 visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We continue to look at the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ outline of what he wants his people to live like in the world. Put another way, Jesus says here that if we take the essential message of the Christian faith, the gospel, and actually live it out, it will not only make us different individuals, radically different people, but it’ll turn us into a counterculture. It’ll turn us into a completely new kind of human society.
He’s now talking about money. Let’s notice three things about money from his teaching. He’s going to tell us here how money can blind us, how money can reveal what controls us, and then he shows us how to break the power of money in our lives.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 3, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 6:19-24.
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.

We’re going through the Sermon on the Mount each week, and now we come to the most famous part of the most famous sermon in history, which is the Lord’s Prayer. The thing we have working against us with the Lord’s Prayer is the familiarity. We know it too well. 
Let’s see what Jesus tells us here about the foundation for prayer, the substance of prayer, and then the key to having a rightly founded, substantial, effective prayer life. The foundation for it, the substance of it, and the key to it.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 27, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 6:1-15.
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 going through the Sermon on the Mount and we have Jesus Christ telling us how he wants us to live. He has dealt with the commandment on murder and adultery, and now he’s dealing with the commandment on lying. He’s going to talk to us about integrity, truth, and honesty.
We have as big a problem in our culture with this. Therefore, let’s take a look and see what Jesus says about integrity. He gives us the principle behind integrity and tells us something about the practice of integrity. And finally, he hints at a problem we all have with integrity, and how to solve it.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 13, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 5:33-37.
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.

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, is telling us how he wants us to live in every area of life. Love and sex is one of those areas of life, and so he gets to that here. When you first read it, it would be natural to have a negative response, because on the surface it looks like Jesus is saying, “If you have sexual desire, you’re going to hell.”
It would be very natural for somebody to say, “Aha! See? That’s that negative view of sex everybody says Christians have.” But that’s a great misunderstanding. I’m going to show you that the biblical or Christian understanding of sex, while it is very different from that which the culture gives you, nevertheless is one of the most attractive things about Christianity. There are three things we see here: the integrity of sex, the challenge of lust, and the future of love.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 6, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30.
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.

In the Sermon on the Mount, whenever Jesus talks about how we should live, he always also talks about how we get the power to live that way. Jesus is never just concerned about behavior. He’s also concerned about the heart.
Here we have such a nice, small, compact text that gives us the whole picture. In these six verses, Jesus tells you three things. He says, “Here is what you must do.” Secondly, he says, “You’ll never do it.” Thirdly, he says, “But in and through me, you can.” I believe that’s the theme of the Bible, those three things.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 29, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 5:17-22.
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.

The Beatitudes make up the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, and it defines what it means to be a Christian. A Christian is someone who has a radically new relationship with God through belief in the gospel. The Beatitudes is essentially a list of the characteristics of someone with this new relationship with God.
Today’s passage shifts to focus on the Christian’s relationship to the world. In other words, if you have a relationship with God (described in vv. 1–10), then that will mean you will have this relationship to the world (vv. 11-16). Jesus says that if you are living a Christian life, then in the world you will be salt (v. 13), you will be light (vv. 14–16), and you will be hurt. Let’s tease these out of the passage in more detail.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 22, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 5:11-16.
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.

We read in the New Testament about the life of Jesus and how he brings us new life. Now it’s natural to ask if we’ve been given this new life, then how should we live? Our passage today in Matthew, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount, is one of the best places to get Jesus’ main teaching on how to live.
This is one of the most famous pieces of literature in the history of the human race. Because it is so rich, we need to pay close attention to every part, every verse and word. But today we’re going to look at an overview under three headings: the glory of the Sermon on the Mount, the terror of the Sermon on the Mount, and the hero of the Sermon on the Mount. You won’t understand the Sermon on the Mount unless you understand these three things.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 15, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 5:1-10.
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.

Matthew gives us one of the four direct descriptions of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are two important questions for us as we read an account like this: Did it really happen? And what does it mean?
Our culture is so dubious of miracles and the idea of resurrection already so the first question is very important to consider with that in mind. But it’s not just for those who are skeptical, it’s for all readers — we all have to come to grips with this question. Secondly, if the resurrection of Jesus did happen, what does it mean for us? It’s not just a naked historical fact like other facts of history that you just believe with your mind. Let’s look more closely at both of these questions and how answering them will totally change the course of your life.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 8, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 28:1-20.
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 passage today is on the crucifixion, which is one of the most important events in Jesus’ life. We’re going to zoom in on verse 46: “… Jesus cried out in a loud voice … ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” How do we understand Jesus’ cry? And what does it mean for us today?
Let’s look more closely at the cry, the word why, the word my, and Jesus’ question taken as a whole. The cry points to the fact of Jesus’ death. The word why points to the reason for his death. The word my points to the accomplishments of his death. The question taken as a whole shows us something about his motive for doing it.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 1, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 27:45-56.
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.

Our passage today takes place the night before Jesus is going to die. He has just had his last supper, and he goes out into the garden of Gethsemane with three of his disciples. Jesus’ career began with a temptation in the wilderness, and now it essentially ends with a great temptation in a garden.
Jesus goes to the garden to pray and he is described as “sorrowful and troubled” (Luke uses “agony”). This is an important clue to understand why Jesus died and how his death affects our lives today. We’re going to consider two questions that will help us dig a little deeper into this passage: Why the magnitude of Christ’s agony? Why the timing of it?
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 25, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 26:36-46.
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 Gospels give us all kinds of events that help paint a biographical picture of Jesus. Today we’re going to look at one very famous episode: the triumphal entry to Jerusalem. This is also called Palm Sunday because the crowd used palm branches to welcome Jesus to the city (John 12:13).
There are important details in this passage that are deeply symbolic. They show us something about who Jesus is and what he came to do. It teaches us three things about his kingship: he is a confrontational king; he is a counter-intuitive king; and he is the coming king.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 18, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew". Scripture: Matthew 21:1-14.
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.

How does the gospel affect your work? How does it influence your work and vocation? Our particular passage is not so much a high, lofty sermon by Paul, but it is more of a down-to-earth teaching. It’s not inspirational, but it’s more practical. As a result, it’s incredibly useful.
We’re first going to consider the historical context. After seeing the background, we’re going to highlight two practical principles and learn about the power to do them.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 17, 2010. Series "The Gospel and the World". Scripture: Ephesians 5:21, 6:5-9.
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 does it mean to take the gospel out of your private life, out of the church, and into the world? It means sharing the gospel with your friends. It means letting the gospel affect your work. It also means that we’ll go into the world caring about mercy and justice.
Paul was sent as a missionary to Macedonia where he planted a church in Philippi — a large city. Our passage today is about the conversion stories of three people in that church:  Lydia, the slave girl, and a jailor. We’re going to look at what happened to these individuals, and then we’ll draw some implications for how to take the gospel out into the world.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 7, 2010. Series "The Gospel and the World". Scripture: Acts 16:13-33.
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.

The gospel is intensely personal because it entails a commitment of the whole person to Jesus. And if the whole person is committed to Jesus, that includes one’s private and public life. If this is true, then what happens when we take the gospel out of our private lives and out of the church and out into the world? 
One of the things that happens is that the gospel creates a passion for doing justice in the world. Deuteronomy teaches us many things about justice. We’re going to look at these three headings in chapters 4 and 15: 1) the threefold call by God to us to do justice, 2) the dynamic for doing justice, and 3) doing justice is a testimony to the world.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 31, 2010. Series "The Gospel and the World". Scripture: Deuteronomy 4:5-8; 15:1-11.
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 visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

What happens when you take the gospel, the basic message of Jesus Christ, out of the church into the world? It has many consequences for our lives, but one of the things that happens is it affects your work and your job. It gives us a different perspective on what work is for, how we should do our work, and it gives our work meaning and significance.
The book of Genesis may be one of the best places to learn about the meaning of our work. 1) It gives us a vision for work; 2) it gives us guardrails for our work; and 3) it gives us a power to do our work.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 10, 2010. Series "The Gospel and the World". Scripture: Genesis 1:26-28; 2:2-17.
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.

Our passage today is really about evangelism. The gospel writer shows Jesus evangelizing a woman, and then, when she figures out who he is, she runs off and evangelizes her friends. This is a wonderful picture of how evangelism works. Christians talk about their faith with others and then they invite others to embrace the faith for themselves.
Many modern people can be skeptical of this idea of evangelism. In a pluralistic society like ours, encouraging others to adopt your beliefs and convictions is not generally welcomed. However, evangelism for Christians, no matter what kind of society we’re in, is both reasonable and necessary. Let’s look at these four things in Jesus’ offer: 1) the freeness of his offer, 2) the greatness of his offer, 3) the process by which he makes the offer, 4) and the singleness of his offer.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 3, 2010. Series "The Gospel and the World". Scripture: John 4:1-26.
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.