Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

What's ironic is the Lord's Prayer has probably the most familiar words in the English language, and yet it is the secret to what you seek. We're so tired of technology, of quantifying everything, of being a number. At the core of our being, we need and we desperately want real soul experience. And how to have it is right in front of us.  Jesus Christ taught it to us in the Lord's Prayer. Jesus says, “This is how to pray. This is the key.” I must say that one of the reasons why we don't know how to use it is because this prayer is so familiar. But it tells you everything you need to know about communication with God. Looking at just one verse, we see how Jesus shows us 1) the difficulty of prayer, 2) the basis of prayer, and 3) the essence of prayer. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 6, 1990. Series: The Lord's Prayer 1990. Scripture: Matthew 6:9-15. 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.

It's artificial to avoid the subject of money when so many of your problems, your worries, and your difficulties revolve around money. And it's also artificial to avoid the subject because so much of the Bible is about money. The Bible says there can be no significant spiritual growth unless you put your money and your attitude toward it into God's hands. And 2 Corinthians 9 shows us that it's the mark of a real Christian to be radically generous. This passage teaches us 1) the impact of that generosity, 2) the motivation for that generosity, and 3) the measure of that generosity. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 10, 1991. 2 Corinthians 9:6-15. 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.

In the middle of John 1, the religious leaders send people to interrogate John the Baptist. It doesn't look like it's got much to do with Christmas, and yet it does. Some major inner change has happened to John the Baptist. And if John the Baptist has had that change with what little knowledge he had of Jesus and the meaning of Christmas, how much more should we be exhibiting that change?  Let's take a look at 1) John's view of himself, 2) John's view of Jesus, 3) the resulting character change, and 4) how we might know it as well.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 18, 2016. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: Advent. Scripture: John 1:19-28. 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.

When the original hearers of John's gospel—the Jews and the Greeks—heard the term, “the Word became flesh,” it was revolutionary. Many scholars have said it marked a complete revolution in the history of human thought.  But I'd like us to think about the fact that Christmas doesn't change our lives like it ought to. John says the Word of God became a flesh and blood human being. This is a life-transforming truth.  Let's look at three ways this truth should change our lives. If Christmas happened, and it did, 1) we have infinite comfort in the face of suffering, 2) we have infinite powerful conviction and incentive to serve, and 3) we have a hope that is both realistic and infallible. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 11, 2016. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: Advent. Scripture: John 1:14-18. 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.

John 1 is about Jesus first coming into the world. It's John's way of helping us understand the meaning of Christmas.  And at the very beginning, John sort of hits us between the eyes and says the reason why Jesus Christ came into the world is so that you might be born again.  It's all here in two verses, where it says the new birth is 1) essential, 2) radical, 3) simple, but 4) hard. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 4, 2016. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: Advent. Scripture: John 1:12-13. 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.

Light in the darkness is one of the ways that throughout history, Christmas has been celebrated. Lighting candles, and lights on trees, and lights at night. What is that all about? In John 1, John talks about Jesus coming into the world. It's his way of talking about the meaning of Christmas. And in this very famous passage, the word “light” shows up seven times. Let's look at how this tells us that 1) human beings need light, 2) there is a light, and 3) how we can connect to it and receive it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 27, 2016. Series: Jesus, Mission, and Glory: Advent. Scripture: John 1:1-11. 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.

Paul gives us an assurance at the end of Romans 8. It is magnificent and yet very simple. In these verses, he's saying, “Here's the thing that will absolutely change your life through Christ.”  Paul tells us this assurance, and he says this is the thing that you can use every day that will change your life. Let's look at it under three headings: 1) that we can be assured, 2) why we can be assured, and 3) how we can be assured. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 7, 2007. Series: In Christ Jesus: How the Spirit Transforms Us. Scripture: Romans 8:28, 38-39. 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.

Rightly so, at Christmas, people who are suffering want to know, “Why should I be merry? What basis do I really have for joy?” The answer is that if Christmas really happened, if God really did open a cleft in the pitiless walls of this world, if he broke into our broken reality with his healing power, if he became a human being, then there are three solid bases for joy in any circumstance.  If Christmas happened, then even in the deepest grief, you can feel these three things holding you up: 1) our bad things will turn out for good, 2) our most truly good things can never be taken away from us, and 3) our best things are yet to come. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 17, 2006. Series: In Christ Jesus: How the Spirit Transforms Us. Scripture: Romans 8:28-39. 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're going to be equipped for real life, we have to see how Christ actually prepares us to face the unavoidable brutalities of life. We've been looking at how faith in Christ concretely and profoundly changes us. And in Romans 8, we get to the subject of suffering. It's absolutely crucial if we're going to be equipped in any spiritual way for real life, to see how Christ helps us in our sufferings. This text gives us three things: 1) it gives us a warning about suffering, 2) it gives us three resources for suffering, and 3) it tells us how we can be sure those resources will work. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 10, 2006. Series: In Christ Jesus: How the Spirit Transforms Us. Scripture: Romans 8:13-27. 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 I first embraced the Christian faith, there were a number of things in my life that profoundly needed changing. But nothing seemed to work until some Christian writers took me to Romans 6, 7 and 8.  When I began to understand the teaching of these chapters, my life began to change. In this brief series, I'm sharing these teachings with you as we ask this question: how does faith in Christ actually lead to real change in one's life? In Romans 8, we see that in Jesus, you get three things: 1) you get the freedom to know yourself, 2) you get a new method to change yourself, and 3) you get a new power to be yourself. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 3, 2006. Series: In Christ Jesus: How the Spirit Transforms Us. Scripture: Romans 8:1-13. 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.

How does change really happen in somebody's life? And how does faith in Christ concretely and practically lead to change?  In Romans 7 we see, in very starkly and shockingly realistic terms, a depiction of the human heart. And what we really see is the very heart that any principles about change have to be applied to. When we look at Romans 7, I think we learn three things: 1) what our biggest problem is, 2) what won't address that problem, and 3) what will. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 26, 2006. Series: In Christ Jesus: How the Spirit Transforms Us. Scripture: Romans 7:1-9, 18-25. 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.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 19, 2006. Series: In Christ Jesus: How the Spirit Transforms Us. Scripture: Romans 6:1-7, 11-18. 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.

How should Christians view their money and their possessions? We're looking at the Gospel of Luke, because Luke has much to say on this subject. How does God want us to think about money in general? What should our attitude be toward it? How should we relate to giving and spending? In Luke 14, we see two things: 1) Jesus Christ lays out a standard for sacrificial giving that's so astonishing it will seem unreasonable, and 2) Jesus actually shows how reasonable this kind of giving is. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 20, 2010. Series: Money and Possessions – In the Teaching of St. Luke. Scripture: Luke 14:7-24. 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.

As we end our series on the Holy Spirit, we come to maybe the most astonishing thing the Holy Spirit does for us. We've looked at a number of well-known things the Holy Spirit does in us and for us. He calls us and enables us to believe. He regenerates us, creates Christ-like character in us, unites us inside the church, and empowers us with his gifts so we can serve people around us. But now we look at a passage that tells us about the ultimate, the final thing the Holy Spirit does for us.  Let's notice from the text 1) what the Spirit will do for us in the future, 2) what the Spirit, therefore, can do for us in the present, and 3) how we can let the Spirit do that in our lives. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 12, 2010. Series: The Holy Spirit. Scripture: Romans 8:17-25. 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.

I've seen the pendulum in the church swing to extreme places over spiritual gifts—sometimes giving obsessive focus to them, and sometimes ignoring them. There's nothing more practical for helping us avoid extremes and understand what a Christian church should actually look like than to embrace what the Bible gives us here, a theology of spiritual gifts. Let's ask three questions of this text: 1) what are spiritual gifts, 2) what are the practical implications for church life, and 3) how can we rightly use spiritual gifts? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 29, 2010. Series: The Holy Spirit. Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-13. 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.

Each year when we get to Thanksgiving, we pause to recognize all the ways God has been so gracious in his provision — both for our basic physical needs, and for the ways he provides for us spiritually to give us joy, hope and renewal through his son Jesus Christ.

Paul commands us to be filled with the Spirit.  Paul doesn't say, “It would be a great thing to attain if you could. Try really hard.” No, he commands that we “be filled with the Spirit.”  Let's ask this short text three questions: 1) what is being filled with the Spirit? 2) how do we know if we are filled with the Spirit? and 3) how can we become filled with the Spirit? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 22, 2010. Series: The Holy Spirit. Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-21. 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.

We're looking at what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit. My impression is there are an awful lot of churches in the world that talk about nothing but spiritual experience, and there are an awful lot of churches that are absolutely afraid of the subject and talk only about truth and knowing the right things. I think the remedy for that imbalance is the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, because the deeper you get into it, the more you realize Spirit and truth go together. Let's look now at what John 14 tells us about 1) who the Holy Spirit is, 2) what the Holy Spirit does, and 3) how you can receive what he gives. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on July 4, 2010. Series: The Holy Spirit. Scripture: John 14:16-26. 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.

We all have a problem with self-control. You can't be circumspect without coming to the end of a day and looking back and saying, “Why did I say that? Why did I follow that impulse?”  The Greek word used here for self-control translates to self-command. It's a synonym for being free, because if you're not self-controlled, then you're out of control. If you're out of control, then you're a slave to some other forces.  Paul knew a lot about self-discipline and self-control, and here's what he tells us: 1) what it is, 2) how it's born in you, and 3) how it can grow. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 30, 2010. Series: The Real Signs of the Spirit. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:23-10:13. 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.

Contemporary people stare at the biblical concept of humility the way a cow stares at a new gate.  The approach of our culture is expressive individualism, and it completely flies in the face of what the Bible says about the importance of humility. So let's look in Philippians 2 at this concept of humility.  This magnificent passage tells us about 1) a sickness we have, 2) what we would look like if we were healthy, and 3) how to get the cure. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 23, 2010. Series: The Real Signs of the Spirit. Scripture: Philippians 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 visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

There couldn't be a more relevant topic than faithfulness—a word that means honesty, integrity, and truthfulness. Americans' trust of their institutions—business, government, church—is at an all-time low. All the studies show that. There's a sense that there has been a failure of integrity in our society at all levels. Therefore, what does the Bible have to say about this all-important subject?  Ephesians 4 shows us 1) there's a problem of practicing truthfulness, 2) there's a problem of abusing people with the truth, and 3) how we solve both problems.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 16, 2010. Series: The Real Signs of the Spirit. Scripture: Ephesians 4:15-16; 25-30. 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.

How do you talk about kindness? Depending on the context, the Greek word can be translated as fitting, pleasing, honest, or compassionate. How do you talk about a word with that kind of lexical range? The answer is you can't do it abstractly. You have to look at a kind of relationship that combines all those traits. The kind of relationship that combines them is friendship. And nothing is more humanizing and life-changing than friendship.  John 15 is a unique passage about friendship. It tells us 1) the character or nature of friendship, 2) how you forge friendship, and 3) where you get the power for friendship. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 9, 2010. Series: The Real Signs of the Spirit. Scripture: John 15:6-15. 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.

If you've ever read a translation like the King James Version, you know when you get to the word “patience,” the older English translation will use the word “longsuffering.” This is because the Greek word for patience literally means to suffer a long time, which doesn't sound very promising.  What it's saying is that patience is the trait by which you are able to bear up under difficulty without giving up or giving in to bitterness. There are two kinds of patience: there's patience under difficult circumstances and there's patience with people. And Romans 12 is a remarkable passage about how to be patient and gracious to people who are opposing you.  This passage gives us 1) a principle of showing patience, 2) some ideas on how to practice it, and 3) how to get the power to do it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 2, 2010. Series: The Real Signs of the Spirit. 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.

There's a difference between controlling or suppressing the natural self-centeredness and insecurity of the heart through willpower and seeing it permanently changed through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Galatians 5, there's a list of the traits or characteristics of a supernaturally changed heart. They're called the fruit of the Spirit. We're in a series trying to understand how we can have more of that supernaturally changed heart in our own lives. Today we look at peace.  We're going to learn three things from this classic passage in Philippians 4: 1) the character of peace, 2) the three disciplines of getting peace, and 3) the secret of peace. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 25, 2010. Series: The Real Signs of the Spirit. Scripture: Philippians 4:4-12. 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.

How do you know whether you're just trying to be good, or whether the Holy Spirit has really brought transformation into your life?  The way to know is to look at what's called the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. There's a whole set of characteristics of a supernaturally changed heart. We're looking now at the first of these: joy. Romans 5 tells us three things about joy. It tells us 1) joy is important, 2) Christian joy is unique, and 3) where Christian joy comes from. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 18, 2010. Series: The Real Signs of the Spirit. Scripture: Romans 5:1-11. 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.

Almost all of us have parts of our lives we really want to see changed, but change is really hard. And it's very possible to mistake a morally restrained heart for a supernaturally changed heart.  If you squeeze a rubber ball and then take your hand away, it snaps right back to where it was. You restrained the rubber ball temporarily, but you didn't really change it. Almost all of us have that rubber ball experience. We try to change parts of our lives, and we put a lot of willpower behind it. Then as soon as circumstances change, it snaps right back. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that a supernaturally changed heart 1) is not the same as a busy life in service of others, 2) is not the same as a morally committed life, but 3) is meeting love as a power and as a person.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 11, 2010. Series: The Real Signs of the Spirit. 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.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 14, 1999. Series: What's Really Wrong with the World. Scripture: Isaiah 49:8-21. 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.

We've lost connection with part of what the Bible teaches about sin: that God gets angry at sin. And I'm here to tell you that losing that is a bad thing. In fact, I'll go this far: you need an angry God. If you don't believe in an angry God, a really angry God who hates sin and is going to punish it, you're impoverishing yourself. You're taking away all sorts of hope and humility and love. Isaiah 64 and 65 show us 1) God's anger is not like our anger usually is, 2) you need an angry God if you're going to live in hope, 3) you need an angry God if you're going to live in humility, and 4) you need an angry God if you're going to understand how loved you are. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 7, 1999. Series: What's Really Wrong with the World. Scripture: Isaiah 64:1-9, 65:17-18. 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.

When people in the West were faced with the atrocities of World War II, the culture's prevailing optimistic views of human nature were devastated. Two questions kept coming up: what's wrong with us that we're capable of this, and what are we going to do about it?  Isaiah 52 to 53 was written to answer those same two questions. It was written to a nation facing exile, to people who were about to face captivity, atrocities, and prison. And it has maybe the most well-known answer in the Bible to the question about human evil: God is sending somebody, the servant of the Lord. In this passage, we learn 1) who he is, 2) why he came, and 3) what he did. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 28, 1999. Series: What's Really Wrong with the World. Scripture: Isaiah 52:13-53:12. 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.

In Isaiah 61, we have one of the great prophecies about the Messiah. It tells us the Messiah is going to deal with the problems of life—and that shows us something about sin.  Sin is not just breaking God's scale and breaking God's heart; it's also breaking God's design for us. God's law is also the design print of your heart, the way you were built to work. So when you break God's law, you're trampling on yourself. In Isaiah 61, we can see 1) what the problem is, 2) what God is going to do about it, and 3) how we should respond. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 21, 1999. Series: What's Really Wrong with the World. Scripture: Isaiah 61:1-11. 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.

Even when we feel vaguely guilty for things in our past, or when we feel outraged by what we see other people doing, we have trouble talking about sin and evil. In our society, we've been taught that words like “sin” or “evil” are oppressive or meaningless. Yet we sense something out there that we don't have the vocabulary for. But the Bible gives us a far richer vocabulary and helps us understand sin in far more nuanced ways. In Jeremiah 2, there's a prophesy from Jeremiah to a nation in spiritual decline. And in it, we'll see how sin is replacing God, and the result is addiction of spirit. Jeremiah's telling us about 1) the dynamics of spiritual attraction, 2) the dynamics of spiritual addiction, and 3) the dynamics of spiritual restoration. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 14, 1999. Series: What's Really Wrong with the World. Scripture: Jeremiah 2:1-8. 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 sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 7, 1999. Series: What's Really Wrong with the World. Scripture: Judges 17:1-13. 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.

When people see the evidence of great evils and atrocities, they automatically turn into philosophers. They start to ask the metaphysical questions. How could this have happened? Why doesn't God do something about evil, about the wickedness and violence that's here? Why doesn't God do something about the brokenness of the world? Exodus 17 tells us that God has. This passage tells us about a trial that happened years ago, and it was the most remarkable trial in the history of the world. Look at it carefully: 1) there's a lawsuit, 2) then there's a trial, and 3) then there's an execution. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 9, 1995. Series: The Seven Deadly Sins. Scripture: Exodus 17:1-7. 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 story of Jacob and Esau is a great example of how anger works out in a family situation.  Esau and Jacob were twins, and Esau was the oldest. When their father is fooled into giving Jacob the birthright, Esau can't get ahold of his anger. We're told that Esau held a grudge against Jacob and consoled himself with thoughts of killing Jacob. And when Esau's father does pronounce a blessing on Esau, he predicts that Esau is going to be driven by anger all of his life. How can you make sure your anger does not imprison and control you? How can you make sure that you control it? This passage in Hebrews gives us some principles: 1) it tells you what anger is, and then, 2) it tells you three ways to handle it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 2, 1995. Series: The Seven Deadly Sins. Scripture: Hebrews 12:14-17. 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.

The rich young ruler looked like he had it made. He's characterized by moral excellence and he's financially wealthy. He's got it so together that he even admits he doesn't have it all together—that there's still something he lacks. He isn't sure what it is. He's gotten to the top and realized, “I've almost made it.”  So he comes to Jesus and says, “I just need that one more step.” And Jesus gives him an outrageous, strong answer. Jesus tells him he's on a completely wrong road—that he's totally outside the kingdom of God. Unless we understand why the rich young ruler went away from Jesus grieved, we might be in danger of also being sent away. The rich young ruler went away grieving because 1) he talked to the real Jesus, 2) Jesus smashed two of his basic assumptions about how religion works, 3) Jesus got personal, and 4) he didn't understand treasure in heaven. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 19, 1995. Series: The Seven Deadly Sins. Scripture: Matthew 19:16-25. 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.

Joseph's career was going along fairly well. He'd risen from servanthood to becoming, in a sense, the Chief Operating Officer of a huge estate. And then sex came. He wasn't even looking for it, but it came at him. Things may be going very well for you, but sex will come—and it's such a powerful force that how you handle it can make or break you. From Genesis 39, we can learn about what we're going to call lust. We learn something from what we see Potiphar's wife doing, we learn something from what we see Joseph doing, and we learn from what we see God doing.  Let's look at 1) how to understand lust, 2) how to handle it, and 3) how to heal it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 12, 1995. Series: The Seven Deadly Sins. Scripture: Genesis 39:4-21. 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.

In the Middle Ages, theologians said there are different forms of gluttony—that you can eat and drink excessively, sumptuously, daintily, or impulsively. Technically, gluttony means to eat and drink immoderately. But gluttony also tells us something about each of us. Gluttony is taking something good and then cramming it in until we're sick of it. Our desires are disordered so that good and necessary things become cravings. Sin, in other words, makes us all addicted to something. We all crave something, and we do it in such a way that it is very, very bad for us. Let's look at three things this Scripture teaches us about craving: 1) the depth of our craving, 2) the structure of our craving, and 3) the healing. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 5, 1995. Series: The Seven Deadly Sins. Scripture: Joshua 7:19-26, Hosea 2:13-15. 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.

There's a sickness in us. We are cruel to each other in ways we cannot seem to heal. We have an inveterate kind of unhappiness in our hearts we can't seem to put out.  For the last hundred years, the reigning Western understanding of why we are so cruel and unhappy has been that it comes from outside of us, that it comes from conditions. But in the last few decades, the intelligentsia have increasingly admitted there's something deeper than that. The Bible says the problem with human beings is not environmental—that there is a poison in us that's called sin. And we need to understand the symptoms of that poisoning, the symptoms of sin. Let's look today at 1) the symptom of envy, 2) the root cause, and 3) the antidote. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 26, 1995. Series: The Seven Deadly Sins. Scripture: Numbers 11:4-6. 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.

After he broke his promise to Jesus, Peter wept bitterly. Peter was an absolutely broken man in the profoundest possible way, and yet within weeks he was poised as the leader of a new movement, about to become one of the most influential leaders in the history of the world. What broke Peter like this, and then what restored him so quickly? The answer is the same: promises. Promises are the reason he was broken, and promises are the reason he was restored. And the case of Peter tells us more about the power of commitments than, I think, any other incident in the Scripture. Let's look at what Peter learned: 1) how promises make us, and 2) how we can make promises. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 12, 1995. Series: The Seven Deadly Sins. Scripture: Matthew 26:69-75. 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 sixth century B.C., Nebuchadnezzar was the absolute monarch of the Babylonian empire. He'd built maybe the most incredible city in history. He was at the pinnacle of power, and his life fell apart anyway. And here's the incredible part: he's glad it happened! He praises God for having done it. Do you know why? Because he says, “There was a spiritual cancer in me. There was something in me that was so bad, it was so dangerous, it had poisoned my soul so deeply that even as drastic as the treatment was, it was worth it to get it out of my soul.” What was it? Pride. Spiritual pride. Could it be that we need to know the same lesson he learned? This text teaches us four things: it tells us about 1) the sleep of pride, 2) the heart of pride, 3) the outcome of pride, and 4) the healing of pride. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 5, 1995. Series: The Seven Deadly Sins. Scripture: Daniel 4:24-37. 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.

Jeremiah is speaking at a time when his society was literally falling apart—politically, psychologically, socially and culturally. Everybody was asking, “What's wrong?” And the answer of God through Jeremiah, was, “It's not the economy. It's sin.” The Bible shows us that sin is a dislocation of the soul. The soul should be centered on God, and all of our problems come from our unwillingness to center on him because we don't want to lose control. So what happens? What are the effects of centering on something else? Jeremiah gives a metaphor of us falling in love with other gods, meaning these other things we center our lives on. And he shows that there are two major consequences: 1) our lover gods will always enslave us, and 2) our lover gods will always leave us empty. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 29, 1995. Series: The Seven Deadly Sins. Scripture: Jeremiah 2:19-32. 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.

In Jeremiah, the people of Israel were calling out and saying, “What's wrong with us? Why are things falling apart?” And God came through and said, “Let me tell you what's wrong.” In Jeremiah 2, we have the first sermon by the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Israel. It's a sermon to show them why their lives are falling apart, why their culture is falling apart, why their psyches are falling apart, why their families are falling apart. And it's a sermon on sin. There are three things that we learn from this passage about the nature of sin: 1) sin is denial, 2) sin is a disposition, and 3) there is a solution. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 22, 1995. Series: The Seven Deadly Sins. Scripture: Jeremiah 2:2-13, 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.

It's acceptable now to say, “I am spiritually searching.” But it's not really acceptable to say you've found anything. But the Bible says you can find God. Not just search for God, but find God. And the famous passage about the burning bush, where Moses finds God, is very important—it gives you all of the basic principles for truly finding God. And until the same three things that happened to Moses happen to you, you can't find God. Looking at this passage, we can see three stages: 1) the burning bush is a disrupting event, 2) when Moses gets closer he sees it's an unmanageable power, and 3) in the midst of the burning bush, there's an angel. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 4, 1998. Series: When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough. Scripture: Exodus 3:1-14. 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.

The Ecclesiastes writer says, “I have sought to construct meaning in life.” He takes the view of a practical secularist—that we don't know for sure if there's a God, and that this life is all there is. And then he asks, “If this life is all there is, does that make life meaningless?” He tells us in Ecclesiastes that he tried to construct meaning by being a cause-based person who fought injustice. He tried to construct meaning by seeking pleasure and beauty. And next, he tries a work-based life, making career and achievement the organizing principle of life. In exploring a work-based life, he finds three things: 1) a life of work is not worth it, 2) why it's not worth it, 3) what is worth it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 27, 1998. Series: When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough. Scripture: Ecclesiastes 2:17–26, 4:4–8. 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 go on a spiritual search, there are problems people always run into. One of them is the problem of pain. But there's also the problem of pleasure. I don't think I've ever really talked to anybody who said, “I have trouble believing in God because of pleasure. Why is there pleasure in the world?” But my thesis, and the Ecclesiastes writer's thesis, is that it should bother you, because pleasure is a huge problem.  The Ecclesiastes writer teaches us three things about pleasure: 1) what pleasure promises, 2) why it fails, and 3) how it points beyond. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 20, 1998. Series: When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough. Scripture: Ecclesiastes 2:1–11, 3:10–14. 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.

If you're on a spiritual search, there's no better place to go than the book of Ecclesiastes. In the entire Bible, it's the only book written from the viewpoint of a skeptic. The writer of Ecclesiastes asks, “If this life is all here is, what meaning is there in life?” To explore that, he looks at several questions we all have to answer in some way. The first of these is how we deal with the injustice and suffering we see in the world. How do you deal with injustice? The Ecclesiastes writer 1) refuses to let you avoid the question of injustice, and 2) gives us clues to two answers for how to deal with injustice. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 13, 1998. Series: When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough. Scripture: Ecclesiastes 9:2–16. 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.

When you're young, there are probably things you're sure would never happen to you, or things you're sure you or friends would never do. But usually, as we get older, we begin to wonder whether there's any rhyme or reason to life. Scientifically, they now say life is chaotic, that there is nothing but disorder. That's both the practical and the intellectual perception. But Christianity has the most wonderful, the most sophisticated, and the most decisive answer to that perception: Jesus is King. When we see our lives and history looking chaotic, the Bible comes and says to us, “Calm down. There's an explanation.” Let me show you how the two aspects of the kingship of Christ make up this most wonderful answer: 1) Jesus Christ has a kingdom coming, and 2) Jesus is King right now of history. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 30, 1994. Series: Understanding Jesus. Scripture: Ephesians 1:9–12. 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.

Jesus Christ carries out his office of King in two different ways. He carries it out spiritually in the hearts of his people, and he carries it out cosmically in history.  We're going to look now at the first of these: how Jesus Christ approaches the human heart. And 2 Corinthians 10 describes this approach in an interesting way. Let's look at this passage to see 1) what it's describing implicitly, and 2) what it's describing explicitly. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 23, 1994. Series: Understanding Jesus. Scripture: 2 Corinthians 10:1–6. 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.

Many people today think of Christianity as a set of beliefs you take up, something you decide upon. But the Bible says Christianity is something that comes upon you. It's not something you pick up—it's something that picks you up.  Jesus Christ is not a passive Savior. Jesus is not someone who sits back and waits for you to figure it out. He is a revealer. He makes a provision for us, he comes after us, and he shows us the truth. Let's look at this prophetic ministry of Christ: 1) what he does, 2) why he does it, and 3) how he does it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 16, 1994. Series: Understanding Jesus. Scripture: Luke 24:44–53. 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.

By saying Jesus is a prophet, we mean he is a revealer. He communicates truth. He's the revealer of who God is and what his will is. As a prophet, Jesus comes and speaks to you and to me for God. Even though Jesus is far more than a prophet, he is a prophet. And the fact that Jesus is a prophet shows us that we have a God who speaks to us. Let's look at two aspects of Jesus as a prophet: 1) what are prophets? and 2) why is Jesus the ultimate prophet? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 9, 1994. Series: Understanding Jesus. Scripture: Acts 3:17–26. 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.

In English, the word Immanuel has only eight letters. Yet I tell you it is heavier than the heavens and the earth. In that one word, Immanuel, you have the most offensive and the most comforting, the most repulsive and the most attractive message the world has ever heard. It means “God with us.” Let's see how this message 1) is the most repulsive because it says Jesus Christ is God, and 2) is the most attractive because it says Jesus Christ is God with us. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 19, 1993. Series: Understanding Jesus. Scripture: Matthew 1:20–23. 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/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.