Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

When we go out into the world as Christians, Jesus says our lives will have three characteristics. First, we are salt that preserves the people and societies around us from decay. Second, we will inevitably be hurt by those who misunderstand or reject our beliefs. Lastly, we will be like a light on a hill that attracts people from all around.

Daniel’s life under the king Darius, including his being thrown into a den of lions and rescued by God, highlights these very principles.

Let’s examine how 1) we can work for the peace and prosperity of those around us, 2) how to respond to hostility against us, and 3) how knowing where our true salvation lies can be attractive to others.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 21, 2000. Series: Daniel: Living by Faith in a Secular World. Scripture: Daniel 6:1-10, 16-23.

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.

We all have a deep desire for our lives to have real significance. But when we try to find that fulfillment in romance, creativity, careers, or even religious obedience, we miss the only real solution there is: hope in Jesus Christ.

Daniel shows us that when we trust in God’s Word, lay down our pride, and learn the difference between religion and faith, our lives can be truly changed as we take part in a kingdom that will last far longer than any single lifetime.

Let’s look at the story to see how 1) we all try to secure our own significance, 2) how God offers us the only real way to do so, and 3) how we can show this truth to those around us.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 14, 2000. Series: Daniel: Living by Faith in a Secular World. Scripture: Daniel 5:1-6, 17-31.

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 cultures today believe the idea that there are many moralities—and even many gods—that are all equally valid. Pluralism says that everyone is free to worship their god or way of life as long as they admit all of the others are just as real. But how can we as Christians maintain faith in one true God in a setting like this?

The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego illuminates a key truth for us: while pluralism may seem inclusive, there’s an intolerance that guides the way it works. By contrast, Christianity may look intolerant on the outside, but holds a radically more inclusive hope than the world can find anywhere else.

Explore how the gospel both 1) maintains a marvelous inclusivity amid its absolute truth, and 2) includes a God who stands alongside us through the pain and hardships of life.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 7, 2000. Series: Daniel: Living by Faith in a Secular World. Scripture: Daniel 3:14-29.

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 we become a Christian, there is a question that we inevitably ask ourselves: how do we live as a believer in an unbelieving world? Is it really possible to hold onto faith and integrity in a society that doesn’t operate on those values?

Oftentimes we’re tempted to assimilate into our culture by leaving the biblical ethic behind, or to simply withdraw from culture altogether. But Daniel shows us that God has a third option for us: to seek the peace, prosperity, and restoration of our cities, all while maintaining the distinctiveness of our faith.

Let’s look at 1) how God has a plan for us to live in our cultures without assimilating or separating, 2) how we can keep God’s glory as our true motivation, and 3) how this work contributes to the coming Kingdom of God.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 30, 2000. Series: Daniel: Living by Faith in a Secular World. Scripture: Daniel 2:24-35, 44-46.

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.

We’ve been looking at the ways in which an experience of the grace of God creates a new interior character of the heart.

At the end of 1 Corinthians 13, Paul tells us that the secret, the key, to developing that interior supernaturally changed heart is to look to the future—to something that’s going to happen in the future.

If we’re going to understand this, we need to look at this whole passage and what it shows us about 1) the problem, 2) the remedy, and 3) how to use the remedy.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 24, 2002. Series: Practical Grace; How the Gospel Transforms Character. 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.

Gospel in Life recently launched The Global Reach Project (https://theglobalreachproject.com), which is an initiative to translate 500 of Tim Keller’s most foundational sermons into 30 of the world’s most spoken languages. This project is something Kathy Keller and her family are truly excited about, and we brought them together to talk about what they think of it and what they hope God will accomplish through it.

We hope this episode of Kathy, David, Michael and Jonathan discussing the project gives you a deeper understanding of why we think this project is so important and why we hope you will …

- be praying regularly for our teams that are doing the translation work
- consider making a special gift in support of the project
- share the translated sermons as they become available with people you know who speak one of the target languages

We know the gospel can change anyone, and we are grateful for the ways you are partnering with us to bring the message of the gospel to more people all over the world.

Visit https://theglobalreachproject.com to support and learn more about the initiative.

Translated Tim Keller sermons are currently available in our first 5 languages through https://gospelinlife.com and via podcast (links below):
- Spanish Weekly Podcast: https://ginl-spanish.podbean.com/
- French Weekly Podcast: https://ginl-french.podbean.com/
- Portuguese Weekly Podcast: https://ginl-portuguese.podbean.com/
- Indonesian Weekly Podcast: https://ginl-indonesian.podbean.com/
- Mandarin Weekly Podcast: https://ginl-mandarin.podbean.com/

Long before Marx, Nietzsche, and Foucault rightly noticed that normally people follow moral virtue out of fear, pride, and a desire for power, the apostle Paul said it’s extremely possible to live a completely ethical life without any love at the root of it.

We’re looking at the traits that show not just moral restraint but a supernatural change. And in Galatians 5 and 1 Corinthians 13, we see a list of a wide spectrum of traits that are in a supernaturally changed heart.

Let’s look at 1) how to know them, understand them, and recognize them, and 2) how to grow them.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 17, 2002. Series: Practical Grace; How the Gospel Transforms Character. Scripture: Galatians 5:16-25.

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.

In the last 40 years or so, we’ve had an explosion of 12-step groups helping people with a range of addictions. And even if you don’t have those addictions, think of how much misery there is in our lives because we can’t control our tongue or our time or our thoughts. Just about everybody has a problem with self-control in some area. What’s the solution?

In 1 Corinthians, Paul says he has self-control. And he says he’s going to share the secret to having self-control.

Let’s look at 1) some principles about the nature of self-control, and 2) some specific ways of increasing self-control in our lives and carrying it out.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 10, 2002. Series: Practical Grace; How the Gospel Transforms Character. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:23-27; 10:11-13.

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

A lot of people think that to say Christians have a changed relationship to the truth means that Christians become honest. It’s not less than that. Technical, ethical honesty is one thing. But we’re talking about something more and deeper.

In Ephesians 4:15, Paul says, “speaking the truth in love.” But what Paul actually says in Greek is, “truthing in love.” He turns a noun into a verb. It’s an awkward phrase. And it harkens to a place where Jesus speaks of his followers as people who are of the truth, sort of made of truth, swimming in truth. It means a supernaturally changed heart is a heart that has an attitude and relationship to truth that no other kinds of hearts have.

What are we talking about? In this great passage, we see 1) the problem of truth, 2) the encounter we have to have with truth, and 3) something about the practice of truth.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 3, 2002. Series: Practical Grace; How the Gospel Transforms Character. Scripture: Ephesians 4:15-25.

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.

To talk about humility means we’re getting into a very culturally interesting subject, which is self-esteem.

Traditional cultures have believed that having too high a view of yourself is the real root cause for most of the evil in the world. But in modern Western culture, particularly in the United States, we have an utterly opposite consensus: that people misbehave for lack of self-esteem, because of too low a view of themselves. What’s intriguing about 1 Corinthians 3 is that it gives us an approach to self-regard, an approach to the self, that is absolutely, utterly different than both traditional cultures and postmodern contemporary cultures.

The three things Paul teaches here are 1) the natural condition of the human ego, 2) the supernatural condition, the transformed sense of self and identity, that can be brought about through the gospel, and 3) how to get it.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 24, 2002. Series: Practical Grace; How the Gospel Transforms Character. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:21-4:7.

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.

How can you relate to someone whose views and values and practices offend you and distress you? How can we relate to people with whom we deeply differ?

Our culture says we need to be tolerant, but I want to show you that Paul says the mark of a supernaturally changed heart is to go way beyond tolerance. It’s something better than tolerance, something greater than tolerance, something I’m going to call gospel-receptivity—a loving, peaceful receptivity toward people with whom we deeply differ.

What is this receptivity, this receptive grace? The best way to figure it out is to look at 1) what it’s not, 2) what it is, and 3) how we develop it.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 10, 2002. Series: Practical Grace; How the Gospel Transforms Character. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 8:4-11; Romans 15:1-7.

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.

One trait or quality of a supernaturally changed heart is peace.

There’s a difference between a supernaturally changed heart and a morally restrained heart. The marks of a supernaturally changed heart are sometimes called the fruit of the Spirit. They’re listed a number of places in the New Testament. And peace is always included.

So let’s look at 1) what is this supernatural peace that’s available to us? and then 2) how can we cultivate it?

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 3, 2002. Series: Practical Grace; How the Gospel Transforms Character. Scripture: Colossians 3:1-15.

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.

Every religion in the world gives you a list of virtuous behaviors. But the New Testament gives you something different. It does give you a list, but it’s of aspects of how a supernaturally, grace-changed heart shows itself.

The apostle Paul says it’s possible to do all the morally virtuous behavior without any love at the core, for virtuous behavior to flow out of an inner emptiness rather than an inner fullness. Jesus actually talks about this constantly. And so we’re looking at what we’re calling practical graces, at the aspects of a heart that isn’t just restrained but that is supernaturally changed.

We’re looking now at kindness. Let’s look at 1) what kindness is not, 2) what kindness is, and 3) how you can get it.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 27, 2002. Series: Practical Grace; How the Gospel Transforms Character. Scripture: Ephesians 4:29-5:2; John 15:12-15.

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.

Morally virtuous behavior can arise out of a heart that hasn’t actually been supernaturally changed.

For example, in traditional moral training, we teach people to be honest by using a motive of fear and insecurity. But only for a heart that feels absolutely loved is lying unnecessary and unnatural. It’s only an experience of the grace of God through Jesus Christ that changes the heart rather than restrains the heart.

We’re looking at the marks of a supernaturally changed heart, and we come now to patience. Let’s look at patience: 1) why do we need it? 2) what is it? and 3) how do we get it?

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 20, 2002. Series: Practical Grace; How the Gospel Transforms Character. Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35; 1 Corinthians 13:4, 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.

The city of Corinth was a place of commerce. Nobody went there except to be successful. It was built from scratch just a few decades before Paul’s letter was written. There were not old families and traditions. This was a place that attracted an unusually resourceful, talented, ambitious, intense kind of person.

And right into this culture, Paul says, “I don’t care how rich or talented you are. If you’re irritable, impatient, selfish, self-centered, self-pitying, driven and anxious, you have nothing. Don’t say, ‘I just have a few personal issues to deal with.’ You have nothing.” Paul says character is everything. And so what is inner love and joy? What is the inner supernatural change in character that God can bring?

In 1 Corinthians 13, we see 1) two things that heart character is not, and 2) one thing that it is.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 13, 2002. Series: Practical Grace; How the Gospel Transforms Character. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1-8.

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 talk was given by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 6, 1994. Series: Redeemer Open Forums.

Today's episode 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 August 29, 1993. Series: Salvation From the Outside In. Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-21.

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.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 22, 1993. Series: Salvation From the Outside In. Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-21.

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.

As we find ourselves discouraged with our circumstances in life, we usually react in one of three ways. We might harden ourselves by saying life is unfair and we should get used to it, we might be overcome by despair, or we might simply believe everything will get better for us soon.

The apostle Paul shows us there’s a better way to deal with discouragement. Even as he writes from prison, he explains how our suffering can’t compare to the gifts God has given us—and how it can deepen our appreciation of how Christ suffered for us.

Let’s examine how 1) hardship is inevitable for Christians, but 2) our hope in Christ gives us a remarkable motivation to persevere through it.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 15, 1993. Series: Salvation From the Outside In. Scripture: Ephesians 3:1-12.

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.

We sometimes think becoming a Christian is something that has to take a lot of time and effort. As we consider what we believe, it can be easy to feel as if we’re somewhere between “not a believer” and “someone saved by Christ.”

But the Bible gives us a different interpretation: we are either strangers to this world and God’s kingdom, or we are fully citizens of it. And when we profess faith in Christ, we undergo a wonderful, instant change in this identity that doesn’t depend on how smart, experienced, or moral we are.

Let’s look at how 1) until we believe in Christ, we are alienated to God’s world, and 2) becoming a Christian is a change in our citizenship.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 16, 1993. Series: Salvation From the Outside In. Scripture: Ephesians 2:19-22.

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.