Gospel in Life

Tim Keller

Love and Lust

March 17, 2021

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, is telling us how he wants us to live in every area of life. Love and sex is one of those areas of life, and so he gets to that here. When you first read it, it would be natural to have a negative response, because on the surface it looks like Jesus is saying, “If you have sexual desire, you’re going to hell.”

It would be very natural for somebody to say, “Aha! See? That’s that negative view of sex everybody says Christians have.” But that’s a great misunderstanding. I’m going to show you that the biblical or Christian understanding of sex, while it is very different from that which the culture gives you, nevertheless is one of the most attractive things about Christianity. There are three things we see here: the integrity of sex, the challenge of lust, and the future of love.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 6, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew ". Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30.

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.

Featured Offer

How to navigate life’s biggest milestones
 In How to Find God, Tim Keller shows us how we can face the key milestones of Birth, Marriage, and Death with God’s help. When you give to Gospel in Life this month, we’ll send you this collection of three short books as our thanks for helping us share the Gospel with more people. 

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In the Sermon on the Mount, whenever Jesus talks about how we should live, he always also talks about how we get the power to live that way. Jesus is never just concerned about behavior. He’s also concerned about the heart. Here we have such a nice, small, compact text that gives us the whole picture. In these six verses, Jesus tells you three things. He says, “Here is what you must do.” Secondly, he says, “You’ll never do it.” Thirdly, he says, “But in and through me, you can.” I believe that’s the theme of the Bible, those three things. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 29, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew ". Scripture: Matthew 5:17-22. 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.
March 15, 2021
The Beatitudes make up the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, and it defines what it means to be a Christian. A Christian is someone who has a radically new relationship with God through belief in the gospel. The Beatitudes is essentially a list of the characteristics of someone with this new relationship with God. Today’s passage shifts to focus on the Christian’s relationship to the world. In other words, if you have a relationship with God (described in vv. 1–10), then that will mean you will have this relationship to the world (vv. 11-16). Jesus says that if you are living a Christian life, then in the world you will be salt (v. 13), you will be light (vv. 14–16), and you will be hurt. Let’s tease these out of the passage in more detail. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 22, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew ". Scripture: Matthew 5:11-16. 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.
March 12, 2021
We read in the New Testament about the life of Jesus and how he brings us new life. Now it’s natural to ask if we’ve been given this new life, then how should we live? Our passage today in Matthew, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount, is one of the best places to get Jesus’ main teaching on how to live. This is one of the most famous pieces of literature in the history of the human race. Because it is so rich, we need to pay close attention to every part, every verse and word. But today we’re going to look at an overview under three headings: the glory of the Sermon on the Mount, the terror of the Sermon on the Mount, and the hero of the Sermon on the Mount. You won’t understand the Sermon on the Mount unless you understand these three things. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 15, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew ". Scripture: Matthew 5:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
March 10, 2021
Matthew gives us one of the four direct descriptions of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are two important questions for us as we read an account like this: Did it really happen? And what does it mean? Our culture is so dubious of miracles and the idea of resurrection already so the first question is very important to consider with that in mind. But it’s not just for those who are skeptical, it’s for all readers — we all have to come to grips with this question. Secondly, if the resurrection of Jesus did happen, what does it mean for us? It’s not just a naked historical fact like other facts of history that you just believe with your mind. Let’s look more closely at both of these questions and how answering them will totally change the course of your life. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 8, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew ". Scripture: Matthew 28:1-20. 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.
March 8, 2021
The passage today is on the crucifixion, which is one of the most important events in Jesus’ life. We’re going to zoom in on verse 46: “… Jesus cried out in a loud voice … ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” How do we understand Jesus’ cry? And what does it mean for us today? Let’s look more closely at the cry, the word why, the word my, and Jesus’ question taken as a whole. The cry points to the fact of Jesus’ death. The word why points to the reason for his death. The word my points to the accomplishments of his death. The question taken as a whole shows us something about his motive for doing it. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 1, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew ". Scripture: Matthew 27:45-56. 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.
March 5, 2021
Our passage today takes place the night before Jesus is going to die. He has just had his last supper, and he goes out into the garden of Gethsemane with three of his disciples. Jesus’ career began with a temptation in the wilderness, and now it essentially ends with a great temptation in a garden. Jesus goes to the garden to pray and he is described as “sorrowful and troubled” (Luke uses “agony”). This is an important clue to understand why Jesus died and how his death affects our lives today. We’re going to consider two questions that will help us dig a little deeper into this passage: Why the magnitude of Christ’s agony? Why the timing of it? This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 25, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew ". Scripture: Matthew 26:36-46. 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.
March 3, 2021
The Gospels give us all kinds of events that help paint a biographical picture of Jesus. Today we’re going to look at one very famous episode: the triumphal entry to Jerusalem. This is also called Palm Sunday because the crowd used palm branches to welcome Jesus to the city (John 12:13). There are important details in this passage that are deeply symbolic. They show us something about who Jesus is and what he came to do. It teaches us three things about his kingship: he is a confrontational king; he is a counter-intuitive king; and he is the coming king. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 18, 2012. Series "Savior and Teacher - A Study of Matthew ". Scripture: Matthew 21:1-14. 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.
March 1, 2021
How does the gospel affect your work? How does it influence your work and vocation? Our particular passage is not so much a high, lofty sermon by Paul, but it is more of a down-to-earth teaching. It’s not inspirational, but it’s more practical. As a result, it’s incredibly useful. We’re first going to consider the historical context. After seeing the background, we’re going to highlight two practical principles and learn about the power to do them. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 17, 2010. Series "The Gospel and the World". Scripture: Ephesians 5:21, 6:5-9. 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.
February 26, 2021
What does it mean to take the gospel out of your private life, out of the church, and into the world? It means sharing the gospel with your friends. It means letting the gospel affect your work. It also means that we’ll go into the world caring about mercy and justice. Paul was sent as a missionary to Macedonia where he planted a church in Philippi — a large city. Our passage today is about the conversion stories of three people in that church:  Lydia, the slave girl, and a jailor. We’re going to look at what happened to these individuals, and then we’ll draw some implications for how to take the gospel out into the world. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 7, 2010. Series "The Gospel and the World". Scripture: Acts 16:13-33. 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.
February 24, 2021
The gospel is intensely personal because it entails a commitment of the whole person to Jesus. And if the whole person is committed to Jesus, that includes one’s private and public life. If this is true, then what happens when we take the gospel out of our private lives and out of the church and out into the world?  One of the things that happens is that the gospel creates a passion for doing justice in the world. Deuteronomy teaches us many things about justice. We’re going to look at these three headings in chapters 4 and 15: 1) the threefold call by God to us to do justice, 2) the dynamic for doing justice, and 3) doing justice is a testimony to the world. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 31, 2010. Series "The Gospel and the World". Scripture: Deuteronomy 4:5-8; 15:1-11. 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.
February 22, 2021
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Featured Offer

How to navigate life’s biggest milestones
 In How to Find God, Tim Keller shows us how we can face the key milestones of Birth, Marriage, and Death with God’s help. When you give to Gospel in Life this month, we’ll send you this collection of three short books as our thanks for helping us share the Gospel with more people. 

About Gospel in Life

Gospel In Life is a ministry that features sermons, books, articles, and resources from Timothy Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, and Redeemer City to City. The name reflects our conviction that the gospel changes everything in life. In 1989 Dr. Timothy J. Keller, his wife and three young sons moved to New York City to begin Redeemer Presbyterian Church. He has since become a bestselling author, an influential thinker, and an advocate for ministry in cities and to secular people.

About Tim Keller

Timothy Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, which he started in 1989 with his wife, Kathy, and three young sons.  For 28 years he led a diverse congregation of young professionals that grew to a weekly attendance of over 5,000.

He is also the Chairman & Co-Founder of Redeemer City to City (CTC), which starts new churches in New York and other global cities, and publishes books and resources for ministry in an urban environment. In 2017 Dr. Keller transitioned to CTC full time to teach and mentor church planters and seminary students through a joint venture with Reformed Theological Seminary's (RTS), the City Ministry Program. He also works with CTC's global affiliates to launch church planting movements.

Dr. Keller’s books, including the New York Times bestselling The Reason for God and The Prodigal God, have sold over 2 million copies and been translated into 25 languages.

Christianity Today has said, “Fifty years from now, if evangelical Christians are widely known for their love of cities, their commitment to mercy and justice, and their love of their neighbors, Tim Keller will be remembered as a pioneer of the new urban Christians.”

Dr. Keller was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and educated at Bucknell University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Westminster Theological Seminary. He previously served as the pastor of West Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Hopewell, Virginia, Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, and Director of Mercy Ministries for the Presbyterian Church in America.

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