Let Your Yes Be Yes
August 11, 2021
Jesus thought it was important to talk about promises — truthfulness in general and promise-keeping in particular. In today’s passage in Matthew 5 he talks about swearing and oaths, which are really just promises.
The whole Bible is built on covenants, public promises, observed words, and accountability. So what does Jesus teach us specifically in Matthew 5? He is saying if you think you can create levels of truthfulness, you’re wrong. He is saying that “every yes and every no must be as truthful as if you just swore it on a stack of Bibles on network television.” Every yes and every no is observed, because God is the creator and is present with us. This is a radical principle of truthfulness that Jesus teaches us.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 14, 1993. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus 1993. Scripture: Luke Matthew 5:33-37.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
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Sometimes when you read Jesus’ teachings, you feel like you’ve gotten on a horse that’s much too big and much too fast for your little hands and feet, and yet off it goes, galloping away with you. This may be the case with today’s passage. There is not anything gentle about it, but it is so wonderful.
There are two things we learn about Jesus from this text. First of all, we learn the divisiveness of Jesus. His teaching was self-centered in a sense because he came as the one true God in the flesh. Secondly, we learn about the agony of Jesus caused by his self-denying love. You don’t know the real Jesus unless you know about both of these aspects of Jesus’ ministry.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 17, 1993. Series: Hard Sayings of Jesus 1993. Scripture: Luke 12:49-53.
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.
August 9, 2021
Jesus Christ was a teacher who walked around and told people to love each other. He was kind to the poor. He laid his hands on the sick. He fed the hungry. He did all these things. But there have been lots of people who have done good things like this and that have told us, “Let’s just love each other.” So why did this one teacher become the most influential single figure in the history of the world?
It’s not because of the uncontroversial things, but it’s because of the controversial ones. Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). It’s this kind of claim that makes all the difference. No Jewish person could possibly ever say he was God. It would be inconceivable — and definitely controversial. Let’s look more deeply at the nature of this claim and then the uniqueness of the claim.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 14, 1997. Series: Christ the Controversialist - Confrontations With Jesus. Scripture: John 14:5-10.
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.
August 6, 2021
George Gallup recently released a poll that asked Americans what would be the biggest issues they faced when they died. The poll showed that 42 percent (or almost half) of Americans said one of the things they were very concerned about was whether God would forgive them or not. Let’s face it, we all need mercy.
The good news is that the kingdom of God runs completely on mercy – not merit. How does this work? How does the mercy of God come to us? Today’s passage tells us the mercy of God comes to us in three forms and in three ways: as a call, as a covering, and as a feast.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 7, 1997. Series: Christ the Controversialist - Confrontations With Jesus. Scripture: Matthew 22:1-14.
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.
August 4, 2021
If you read through the gospel stories, one of the things that strikes you almost immediately is how often Jesus Christ debated with those around him — not only how often he came into debates but how often he started them too. Today’s message comes from a series on some of these great debates when Jesus was on earth.
We’re looking at a passage in which Jesus is arguing about Scripture. He’s going to teach us about the Bible through a debate — surprisingly, a debate with diligent Bible students. He comes up to the most astute Bible students, and he says they are as dead wrong as people who don’t believe in the Bible at all. They are as deaf to what God is saying as people who are absolutely skeptical about the nature of the Bible. We learn four things: 1) God speaks to us; 2) how God speaks to us; 3) why we don’t hear what God speaks to us; and 4) how we can hear it.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 30, 1997. Series: Christ the Controversialist - Confrontations With Jesus. Scripture: John 5:31-47.
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.
August 2, 2021
Today’s teaching is the last part of a series on the life of Jesus in the gospel of Luke. When you believe in Jesus it doesn’t just give you some kind of inner peace, but it completely changes your life. Jesus rearranges our lives upside down — he changes our attitude to our wealth and recognition and power. Jesus rearranges our lives inside out — he satisfies our need to get approval. He gives us self-esteem, worth, honor and dignity.
Now we’re going to see one more way in which Jesus rearranges your life through the kingdom of God. He doesn’t just have you live upside down and inside out, but also forward back. What does that mean? Let’s take a look and see what he teaches us about 1) the power of the kingdom; 2) the practices of the kingdom; and 3) the provision of the kingdom.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 18, 2003. Series: "The Meaning of Jesus Part 4; The Kingdom of God." Scripture: Luke 12:32-46.
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.
July 30, 2021
In today’s passage from the Gospel of Luke, we’re taking a look at a parable which shows us a problem that everybody faces in life – it’s universal in scope. This is the problem of righteousness.
There are two ways to deal with this problem. The parable introduces us to two guys, each of whom represents a particular solution to the problem. One works (the inside-out approach) and one does not (the outside-in approach).
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 11, 2003. Series: "The Meaning of Jesus Part 4; The Kingdom of God." Scripture: Luke 18:9-14.
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.
July 28, 2021
Many of you have heard the term “kingdom of God,” but can you put in a nutshell what it is? Dallas Willard, a philosopher at the University of Southern California, says a kingdom is the “range of your effective will.” If somebody gets into your bag and takes something out, you’ll be outraged. Why? There has been an intrusion on your territory — or your kingdom. There has been a violation of the range of your effective will.
What does it mean, then, to put yourself within the range of God’s effective will? It means that you get a lasting identity that goes on for eternity, and it is marked by astounding liberality. Let’s look more closely at how we can get that kind of identity.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 4, 2003. Series: "The Meaning of Jesus Part 4; The Kingdom of God." Scripture: Luke 16:19-31.
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.
July 26, 2021
Today’s sermon comes from a series on the life of Jesus in the gospel of Luke. Luke gives us a detailed portrait of Jesus, who he is and what he has done. Even though people saw Jesus in person, some of them didn’t get it — they didn’t understand. We have all of this information about Jesus, but how do make sense of it? How do you respond to him?
Everything you need to respond to Jesus in a life-transforming way is right here in Luke 23. We see all of the people rejecting him — both the leaders and the common people, the Jews and the Gentiles. This is everybody. We’re going to study four groups who rejected Jesus and then highlight three things: who gets Jesus, how they get Jesus, and how we can do the same.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 27, 2003. Series: "The Meaning of Jesus Part 4; The Kingdom of God." Scripture: Luke 23:33-56.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
July 23, 2021
Today’s sermon comes from a series on the life of Jesus in the gospel of Luke. We come to the end of the book that describes multiple scenes of Jesus interacting with different groups of people after his death, burial, and resurrection. Specifically in Luke 24:36-49, he appears to his disciples and helps them understand the meaning of the events that had happened.
Jesus does four things in this passage that change the lives of his disciples forever, and because he’s the risen Jesus, he can do the very same things to us right now. 1) He answers the doubts of their minds; 2) he satisfies the needs of their hearts by eating with them; 3) he reforges the direction of their lives by sending them, and 3) he shows them his hand and his feet.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 20, 2003. Series: "The Meaning of Jesus Part 3; Seeing Him." Scripture: Luke 24:36-49.
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.
July 21, 2021
Today’s passage comes from Luke and it describes the night in which Jesus was betrayed. There is a theme to this passage: darkness and night. When the authorities come to take Jesus away, he tells them in verse 53 “this is your hour — when darkness reigns.” It could be translated as “this the hour of the authority of darkness.” The physical darkness is a representation of something deeper that happens.
There’s a darkness that blinds the eyes, and then there’s another kind of darkness that blinds the heart and the mind and the soul. It’s a spiritual darkness. Jesus has come to redeem us from this darkness. There are three incidents that we’re going to look at; the first two tell us about our condition and the third tells us what Jesus has come to do about it. First, the soldiers reject him; then, the disciples reject him; and lastly, the Father rejects him. These are necessary for Jesus to do the redeeming work that he was sent to do.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 13, 2003. Series: "The Meaning of Jesus Part 3; Seeing Him." Scripture: Luke 22:39-64.
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.
July 19, 2021
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The Reason for God
Why does God allow suffering in the world? How can one religion be “right” and the others “wrong”? Hasn’t science basically disproved Christianity? In his book The Reason for God Tim Keller addresses these questions and more. When you give to Gospel in Life this month, we’ll send you two copies of his book as our thanks —one for you and one to give to a friend.