In the Bible, wisdom is certainly not less than being moral and good — it’s much more. To be wise means that you are so in touch with reality that you know what the right thing is to do in the vast majority of the situations the moral rules don’t apply to. It means that when you are faced with multiple permissible choices, you will know which one to make.
Proverbs says you’re not going to be a wise person unless you are great at choosing, forging, and keeping terrific friendships. Let’s look more deeply at friendships under these four headings: the uniqueness of friendship; how to discover a friend; how to forge a friend; and lastly, where to get the power for friendship.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 29, 2005. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 17:17; 18:24; 25:17,20; 26:18,19; 27:5,6,9,14,17; 28:23; 29:5.
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 his book, "Shaped by the Gospel," Tim Killer helps you discover how reflecting on the essence, truths, and patterns of the gospel leads to renewal in your life, church, and ministry. When you give to Gospel in Life this month, we’ll send you a copy of "Shaped by the Gospel" as our thanks.
Of all the things the book of Proverbs says something about, speech is at the top of the list. It has so much to teach us about how to use our tongues and about language. In short, how you speak will make or break your life. Learning to speak wisely is all-important. We’re going to look at several different proverbs that shed light on these topics for us. These three headings will guide us: the power of our words, the character of our words, and the healing of our words. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 15, 2005. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 10:18-19. 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.
December 14, 2021
Today we’re going to look at the subject of wisdom. Wisdom is so much more than just being good and moral and ethical. Wisdom has to do with knowing something about the way the world works so that you can make the right decision when you’re faced with multiple options that are morally permissible. This doesn’t necessarily happen with more education, or by being a world traveler, or by becoming more sophisticated. The secrets of wisdom are locked in your ordinary experiences if you know how to learn from them. According to the book of Proverbs, there are two particularly common experiences, and when you’re in either of these two situations, you are in both a moment of great spiritual danger and a moment of great spiritual opportunity. There are tests, and if you pass the tests, you’ll become wiser about yourself, the world, and about human nature. If you fail, you’ll actually become more of a fool. We’re going to ask these three questions: 1) what are the tests, 2) why do they work, and 3) how we can pass. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 23, 2005. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 3:9-14; 10:16, 25; 24:10-12. 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.
December 10, 2021
In Proverbs we see that at the heart of what it means to live a wise life is caring for justice. Take a look here at this last verse that was just read to you, “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.” This little word caring is way too weak an English word to get across what’s actually being said here. The Hebrew word here is the word yada`, which is the deepest and most intimate and experiential word in the Hebrew language for knowledge. It’s even used in Genesis to describe sexual activity that brings forth children — it’s a very strong word. What this is saying is, “You’re not wise unless you are living an intensely passionate life, committed to justice.” We’re going to look at this under four headings. Why do we need justice? What is justice? Who does justice? How can we be one of the ones who do justice? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 16, 2005. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 3:18-20, 27-32; 11:10-11; 19:17; 29:7. 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.
December 8, 2021
In the book of Matthew, the account of the birth of Jesus tells us the “wise men” came to worship him. Who were the wise men? The wise men were the culturati, the cultural experts and the leading thinkers of their society. So why did they come to worship a baby? Their coming illustrates the point that God makes foolish the wisdom of this world — God’s wisdom makes the world’s wisdom bow to God. In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul asks, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” When you grasp who the child born in the manger really is, the things you thought of before as foolish will look wise, and the things you thought of before as wise will look foolish. We’re going to learn more about how this happens by looking at the antonym of wisdom: foolishness. First, what a fool is; secondly, what kinds of fools there are; thirdly, how to be a fool no more. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 26, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 1:22, 32-33; 8:27-32; 14:15; 15:5; 16:25; 19:25; 21:24. 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.
December 6, 2021
Psalm 113 points us back to the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1 and 2, and it looks forward to the song of Mary in Luke 1, where Mary sings because she has been told she’s going to give birth to Jesus. So these three — the song of Hannah, Psalm 113, and the song of Mary — are connected. There’s a theme running through all of these that will shed light on what Christmas is about. So what is Christmas about? It’s about the infinitely high becoming inconceivably low, the infinitely huge becoming astoundingly small. In other words, there’s a protocol God has when it comes to renewing the world and renewing your life. The protocol is he tends to work through the poor to renew the world, and he tends to work through weakness and suffering to renew you. Let’s take a look at this protocol as God depicts it in Psalm 113 and then as Jesus Christ works it out through his own life. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 19, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Psalm 113:1-9. 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.
December 3, 2021
Today’s message is part of a series on the subject of wisdom in the book of Proverbs. We’ve said that wisdom is basically the ability to make right choices. You make or break your life on the basis of your choices and we need wisdom to make the right ones. For example, is this the right career for you? Is this the right person to marry? Is this the right place to live? In every one of those situations, the options in front of you are many. Most of them are moral and most of them are legal. Most of them are allowable, but most of them aren’t wise. We need guidance to make decisions. How do you get God’s guidance? We’re going to look at a few different proverbs to see 1) the guidance God does; 2), the guidance God gives; and 3) the guidance God purchases for us. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 12, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 11:3; 12:5, 15; 15:22; 16:1-4, 9, 25, 33; 21:5; 27:1. 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.
December 1, 2021
The gospel brings about a radical change in the way in which a believer regards money and possessions. Money has tremendous power. It exerts a huge power in our lives. Let’s look at why and how it does that, and then how we can break the power of money over our lives. We’re going to learn three things here. We’re going to learn that money exercises great power over us, why it exercises great power over us, and how to break that power over us. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 29, 2015. Series: Proverbs: What We Are Giving: The Dynamic of Grace. Scripture: Proverbs 10:15. 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 during Giving Tuesday, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/tuesday and making a one-time or recurring donation. Thanks to a generous donor, all gifts on Giving Tuesday will be matched up to $20,000.
November 30, 2021
Today we’re going to talk about wisdom with regard to the complex realities of our inner beings — what we would today call the psychological life. We all at certain times have a lot of trouble understanding and dealing with the very deep, conflicting, confusing, powerful, sometimes warring dynamic impulses that just roll through our hearts. Sometimes we don’t feel we have any power over those impulses. We feel helpless. We don’t know how we got there and what to do about it. The book of Proverbs can help us. We’re going to look at four headings in a collated group of proverbs. You’re not going to be wise unless you understand the priority of the inner life, the complexity of the inner life, the solitude of the inner life, and the healing of the inner life. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 5, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 12:25; 13:12; 14:10,13,30; 15:4,13-14; 16:2; 18:14; 28:1. 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.
November 29, 2021
The book of Proverbs is one of the best places to learn about the topic of wisdom. The book teaches us that a wise person has certain characteristics and qualities. In order to be wise, you need to become a certain type of person. The book does not talk nearly so much about how to make the right decisions but it teaches us how to become the kind of person who makes the right decisions. Today, we come to self-control. A man or a woman without self-control is not going to live a wise life and will inevitably mess up their lives, along with the lives of people around them. What do we learn from the passages in Proverbs about self-control? There are at least three things: the problem of self-control; the principle of self-control; and the practice of self-control. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 28, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 18:10; 23:19-21; 25:28; Titus 2:11-14. 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.
November 26, 2021
Today’s sermon is a continuation of a study on wisdom in the book of Proverbs. Throughout the book you’ll find that work is a recurring theme. It talks positively about work under the heading of “diligence.” It talks negatively about work under the heading of “sluggard” or “the sluggardliness.” It tells us if you want to have a fulfilled human life, you need to do four things with your work: do your work, love your work, re-narrate your work, and redeem your work. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 21, 2004. Series: Proverbs: True Wisdom for Living. Scripture: Proverbs 8:1-4; 10:4-5; 12:10-11; 15:19; 22:29; 27:18. 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.
November 24, 2021 See More Episodes This ministry does not have any series.
In his book, "Shaped by the Gospel," Tim Killer helps you discover how reflecting on the essence, truths, and patterns of the gospel leads to renewal in your life, church, and ministry. When you give to Gospel in Life this month, we’ll send you a copy of "Shaped by the Gospel" as our thanks.
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.
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.
