Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

Jesus gives us the most radical ethic of love that’s ever been put forth: “Turn the other cheek.” This ethic has been criticized and disregarded, but no one ever says the reason is because it’s too low or vile or unworthy. They always say it’s too high, too lofty.

The reason it seems so lofty is it’s a whole new dimension. The love ethic in Matthew 5 is part of a package. The package is that Christianity itself is actually an interconnected set of radically altered relationships. A new relationship with God creates a new relationship with yourself, creates a new relationship with others. They can’t be separated. They rise and fall together, and you can’t have one without the others. 

Let’s take a look at those three aspects. As we move through this passage, we’ll see 1) the understanding of the self, 2) the relationship with others, and 3) the root of it all: a new relationship with God.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 3, 1989. Series: Ten Commandments 1989. Scripture: Matthew 5:21-24; 38-48.

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 individual human life is sacred. Every individual person is of infinite value. In Genesis 9, at the end of the flood, God assures Noah and his family of this truth. He says that if a person takes the life of any other human, he will hold that person accountable.

This passage is meant to get everybody to feel the weight of your neighbor’s glory, to feel the weight of the value God has invested in every human being. If you really let this passage have its effect, you will come out saying to yourself, “I cannot ignore people the way I do. I have to treat people seriously. I have to honor them. I have to be aggressively compassionate.”

Let’s see how this passage makes a case for us to be a compassionate people. The case is 1) every human being is made in the image of God, and 2) every human being is held accountable for that image.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 25, 1989. Series: Ten Commandments 1989. Scripture: Genesis 9:1-7.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

What gets God angry? Romans 1 tells us: ingratitude. If there’s a God who created you, do you work for his goals or do you take all that he’s given you and live for your own interests? My friends, that is ingratitude of the highest order, and this passage says it is secret treason. 

The reason this is a secret treason is because you keep it secret from yourself. Romans 1 says even though we know deep down that there is a God who created us, we all suppress that truth to some degree. We know we’re committing treason, but we keep it secret even from ourselves. We know it and we don’t know it. 

This passage looks at the structure of this secret treason: it says 1) ingratitude leads to repression, 2) repression leads to darkness, and 3) darkness leads to all of the problems in your life.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 19, 1989. Series: Ten Commandments 1989. Scripture: Romans 1:18–24.

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.

The fifth commandment is talking particularly to adult children. It says, “Honor thy father and thy mother.”

What’s intriguing about the Ten Commandments is they are a summary of everything human beings ought to be. Yet in all of the Ten Commandments, there’s no place that talks about how people should relate to the government or to the people above them. It doesn’t talk about authority except right here. 

So let’s look a little bit deeper and ask the commandment three questions: 1) what does this commandment tell us to do? 2) why should we do it? and 3) how can we do it?

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 12, 1989. Series: Ten Commandments 1989. Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-4.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

What is true rest? In Psalm 3, we see a man who goes to sleep the night before a battle knowing full well that he’s greatly outnumbered. And he sleeps. He rests. 

Scientists will tell you the thing that restores the body is not the length of your sleep—it’s the depth. In the same way, the Bible shows that there are all kinds of shallow ways you can get rid of tension, but none of those are the deep rest that really restores the soul.

Hebrews 4 says there remains a rest for the people of God. What is it? Let’s see how this passage 1) helps us understand the rest, and then 2) helps us understand how to enter the rest.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 5, 1989. Series: Ten Commandments 1989. Scripture: Hebrews 4:1-12.

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.