Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

We’re looking at the life of David, and it impresses me how each week each time we look at a new episode we not only are getting ancient history, but we’re always getting some question addressed that has quite modern, contemporary … I should actually say perennial … relevance. For example, I think the question we’re going to be helped to answer today is … What do you really look like? Am I ugly? Am I attractive? What do I really look like? This passage helps us answer these questions.
There are a number of ways to read a passage, so let’s read this one while keeping that question in mind. Let’s notice what it teaches us about 1) the importance of true beauty, 2) the source of true beauty and 3) the secret of both detecting and developing true beauty.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 26, 2015. Series "David: The Man of Prayer". Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:1-13.
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/partner and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re looking at the life of David, and today we get to a text that actually gets us to address one of the most urgent and important questions you could ask: what’s wrong with the human race? The problem is we know how we should live, and we aren’t able to do it. Why do we do the terrible things we do when we basically know how we should live? One answer is in this passage from 1 Samuel. It’s not the only answer, but it’s an extremely important one. It’s a small but important subject I want to bring to your attention. To get at it, let’s ask these questions: How did Saul fail? Why did Saul fail? How can we escape the thing that destroyed him?
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 19, 2015. Series "David: The Man of Prayer". Scripture: 1 Samuel 15:10-23.
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/partner and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re going to be looking at the life of David, who is not only the author of most of the Psalms but was a great man of prayer. First and second Samuel are often called the book of David. This story begins with a woman who radically changes her life through prayer. She’s a desperate woman. She’s culturally oppressed, but she takes control through prayer, so it’s very appropriate.
She’s obviously the forerunner of David and the mother of the forerunner of David. Let’s take a look at this very attractive person. Her name is Hannah.
We are first going to look at Hannah’s sorrow, which we’re given more insight to in the first few verses. Secondly, Hannah’s response to her sorrow. Lastly, in her great song, only of which a few verses we were able to read, we see a Savior who Hannah is looking forward to who actually enables her to respond to the sorrow in the way she does.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 12, 2015. Series "David: The Man of Prayer". Scripture: 1 Samuel 1:3-11, 18-20; 2:8-10.
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/partner and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Whenever you really fall in love, you want to completely give yourself away. You want to just let all your defenses down. You want to be completely vulnerable. On the other hand, we also see love is continually letting us down because people are letting us down.
When you love someone, you’re loving a human being. That human being to whom you’re giving complete trust will tend to let you down. There’s something cosmic about love. There’s something, on the other hand, completely fickle about love.
Do you have a philosophy of life, an understanding of the world, that can account for all the various aspects of love, explain them and enjoy them? There is one model of love I’m going to call the conservative ideal. There’s another model I’m going to call the liberal ideal. Both of them don’t work. Then there’s another model of love which, I think, is the Christian model that pulls it all together.
This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 19, 1995 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.
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 subject of this talk is one of those perennial human questions. Joy, happiness–what is it? How do you get it? In these gospel spirituals, we see the celebration of the oldest roots of the African American music, which said the solution to the joy problem is the message of the Christian gospel.
I would suggest to you that there are three themes in the music. The first is that there’s a joy vacuum that’s very deep in the human heart. Secondly, there are joy strategies every human being has. You have some way of trying to fill that joy vacuum. You might have this one or that one. You may change them, but there are joy strategies. And lastly, this music has a solution for the joy vacuum.
This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 6, 2002 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.
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.

I’d like to look at two objections, two problems people have with God today. First of all, the problem of evil and suffering. How could a good and powerful God allow that? Secondly, the problem of the exclusiveness of religion. If you think you have the truth, if you think your religion is right, if you think you have the superior take on spirituality, doesn’t that lead to exclusion and oppression and abuse?
You say, “Well, you’re a minister, so obviously you don’t think those problems are very big.” No. I think that’s quite wrong. They have great weight, and I think we’re all in the same boat here. Whether you believe in God or you really don’t believe in God, you still have those problems.
The real question is are they insurmountable? Is there a way through them? I would like to at least give you a way through. Let me give you something to consider as a possible way through.
This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 9, 2003 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.
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 some ways, the key prayer in Mozart’s requiem is in the “Rex Tremendae,” the king of terrible majesty. It says, “… who saves those who are being saved freely.” In spite of all the talk about judgment day, we get mercy.
Now on what basis do we get mercy? On what basis do we get rest, if we don’t deserve it? When modern people in Western society listen to something like Mozart’s Requiem, there are certain questions that come up right away.
First, did Jesus really die like that? Was he a sacrificial lamb? Was Jesus crucified on the cross? Did that really happen historically, or was that just made up? Second, why did Jesus have to die like that? What’s the whole idea? Why was it even necessary? Third, what difference does it make to us?
This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 4, 2004 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.
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 we’re going to do is look at the question–who is Jesus Christ?
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is both intellectually credible and existentially satisfying. I’ve come to see over the years that those are the two tests of any valid worldview, philosophy or religion. It has to be both rational, coherent, and it has to be true. It has to meet my needs. It has to connect with my experience.
Don’t come to Christianity because it’s relevant–though, it certainly is. Don’t come to Christianity because it’s exciting–though, absolutely, it is. Don’t come to Christianity because it’ll meet your needs–though, it certainly will. Come because it’s true. And because it’s true, it’ll meet your needs, it’s exciting, and it’s relevant.
This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 1, 1994 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.
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.

Miguel de Cervantes, Albert Camus, Aldous Huxley, Tolstoy, Voltaire, Shakespeare, Jesus Christ–they all know the average person is so busy in both work and play that you go years and years without asking yourself, “What is my reason for doing all this? What is my reason for life? What’s my whole life about?” Put another way: “When all is said and done, what will I have really accomplished?”
Do you want freedom? The great thinkers will say that if you want absolute freedom to live your life the way you want, you have to admit the utter meaninglessness of life. If you want complete freedom, you must face utter meaninglessness. That’s the first point.
The second point is nobody can live that way. To really believe life is meaningless gets you into convolutions that are emotional, psychological, logical, philosophical. You can’t even live that way, because life does have meaning. Let me argue that both freedom and meaning are found in Jesus Christ.
This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 27, 1994 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.
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.

I want to talk about the reasoning behind belief in God–what the reasons for God and belief actually are. Why is the reason for God important? How does it work? What are the actual reasons for God?
This talk was given by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 2, 2008 as part of the Redeemer Open Forum series. Open Forums were specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity.
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.

Each week we’re choosing one of the things that most trouble people today about Christianity. The problem with Christianity we now come to centers around the Bible. Many people in a place like New York would say this: “There are many good things in the Bible, but you shouldn’t take every word of it literally. There are legends in there. Don’t insist on it being entirely trustworthy and completely authoritative in everything it says.”
What do we say to that? I’d like to argue (to the contrary, of course) that you should trust the Bible. You can and should trust the Bible in three ways: historically, culturally, and, most of all, personally.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 5, 2006. Series "The Trouble with Christianity: Why it's so Hard to Believe it". Scripture: Luke 1:1-4, 24:13-32; 1 Timothy 1:9-11, Deuteronomy 2:24-27.
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.

Every week, we’re taking one of the things that in our culture troubles people the most about Christianity. We’re now going to look at the Christian teaching that God is a judge and a judge who consigns people to hell.
Someone says, “How can you possibly reconcile the concept of judgment and hell with the idea of a loving God? They just don’t go together.” What do we say about that? I’d like to argue that understanding what the Bible says about hell is crucial for understanding your own heart, for living in peace in the world, and for knowing the love of God.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 22, 2006. Series "The Trouble with Christianity: Why it's so Hard to Believe it". Scripture: Luke 16:19-31; Romans 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.

We’re in a series taking the things that people in our culture (especially in New York City) are troubled by with regard to Christianity. This time, the objection could be put like this. The Christian church has a long history of oppression, and people acting in the name of Jesus Christ have engaged in systemic, economic, and cultural oppression of various races and classes. Therefore, the beliefs of Christianity are not credible and we shouldn’t believe them.
What do we say to this? Here’s three things we can learn from the book of James that address the problem. First, the passage will teach us the biblical God actually chooses the poor and the oppressed. Secondly, anyone with a true spiritual connection to that God inevitably does the same. Thirdly, we will learn how we can make that connection.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 15, 2006. Series "The Trouble with Christianity: Why it's so Hard to Believe it". Scripture: James 2:1-17.
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.

We’re looking at the things that trouble people the most about Christianity. Now, we come to one that could be put like this: “Christians believe they have absolute truth. They have some things everyone should believe and everyone should do. But people who have absolute truth,” the objection goes, “undermine freedom. They tend to oppress people who are different than they are and impose their views on others. Everyone should be free to determine their own truth and what is right or wrong for them.”
What do we say to that? There are three things to say. Truth is a lot more important than you would think, freedom is a lot more complex than you would think, and Jesus is a lot more liberating than you think. Those principles are found in this passage. Let’s look at them.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 8, 2006. Series "The Trouble with Christianity: Why it's so Hard to Believe it". Scripture: Galatians 2:4-16.
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’re looking at the problems people in our culture, and especially in New York City, have with Christianity. We’re now going to look at the one you could call the problem of evil and suffering. And it’s a very formidable one for Christian belief.
The problem goes something like this. If God allows evil and suffering to continue because he can’t stop it, then he might be good, but he’s not all-powerful. On the other hand, if God allows evil and suffering to continue because he could stop it and yet won’t stop it, then he might be all-powerful, but he’s not good. It’s a pretty formidable argument. What do we say to it?
Let’s first look at why getting rid of your belief in God in order to understand evil and suffering will not help. And then three ways, according to Peter, we can face suffering and evil in our lives. Peter says you have to look back to something, you have to look ahead to something, and you have to look into something to handle evil and suffering in this world.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 1, 2006. Series "The Trouble with Christianity: Why it's so Hard to Believe it". Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3-12.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

We’re beginning a series looking at the main objections, the main problems, people in our culture have with Christianity. The objection we’re looking at now can be summed up in one word: exclusivity. The problem is this: how can you possibly claim your religion is the only true religion, that you have the one truth?
Religion, generally speaking, has a very strong tendency to divide people and create strife amongst human beings. In fact, I would go so far as to say religion tends to create a slippery slope in the heart that moves all the way down to even oppression and violence. So what do we do about this? We have to do something.
I would suggest that right now, people are trying to address the divisiveness of religion in two ways. There are two main strategies people are taking, but I’d like to show you they won’t work. Lastly, I’d like to give you a strategy that I think will.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 24, 2006. Series "The Trouble with Christianity: Why it's so Hard to Believe it". Scripture: 1 John 4:1-10.
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.

This particular passage is about the devil. Here’s what we’ll learn: there is a devil, and the devil works through our own heart sin.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 15, 1994. Series "Splendor in the Furnace; 1 Peter, Part 2". Scripture: 1 Peter 5:5-11.
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.

Peter is very, very realistic about the troubles of life. Yet he gives us a secret here. He says it’s possible not just to survive suffering but to use suffering–not just to get through it, but to actually use it.
There are two things this passage tells us. First, what troubles, griefs, and losses really are–what their nature is. Secondly, how you should respond to them. As I think I’m going to show you, understanding their nature is 50 to 70 percent of responding. To understand what trials are, you’re already halfway home to responding to them in such a way that’s profitable and beneficial to you.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 8, 1994. Series "Splendor in the Furnace; 1 Peter, Part 2". Scripture: 1 Peter 4:12-19.
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.

“The end is near. Therefore, be clear minded, sober, love one another, serve.” Let’s look at what this verse teaches in both its form and its content, because it’s very striking and very practical.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 24, 1994. Series "Splendor in the Furnace; 1 Peter, Part 2". Scripture: 1 Peter 4:7-11.
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.

To the world, the ways in which Christians behave will not just look different; it will look crazy. Peter says that you will be looked upon as extremely strange, going against nature even, in many ways. As a result, you’re going to have lots of abuse heaped on you.
Inside the Christian faith, you can often see how obvious it is that we should live in certain ways. But outside of the Christian faith, the world has a whole different plausibility structure and set of assumptions. Therefore, the way Christians act looks absolutely berserk, absolutely bizarre, strange, and crazy.
But Peter says, “You live according to the will of God.” And the question immediately arises–how do you do that? How can you live a life like that in the face of not just a kind of abuse, but really, a war of plausibility structures?
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 17, 1994. Series "Splendor in the Furnace; 1 Peter, Part 2". Scripture: 1 Peter 4:1-6.
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.