We all want to change. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t say, “I really need to change.” And one of the greatest things about Christianity is Christianity gives you the resources to change. Jesus Christ was born into this world to give us second birth. The idea of being born again means radical change. Often we don’t quite know how change actually happens. But Ephesians 4 gives four concrete principles for how the gospel helps us change. What does change mean to Christians? It means you have to 1...
Sep 25, 2024•39 min•Ep. 1120
In Ephesians 4, we find a pretty remarkable argument. The argument has three parts. The flow of the argument is that even though we have the life of the trinity in us, we live in spiritual immaturity until we’re willing to do the hard work of developing and creating unity in the church. Let’s take a look at each part: 1) the life of the trinity, 2) we live in spiritual immaturity, and 3) do the hard work of developing and creating unity in the church. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Kell...
Sep 23, 2024•35 min•Ep. 1119
Thinking about the gospel of Jesus Christ leads Paul to pray in a particular way—in a passionate way. Usually people in those days prayed standing. Paul kneels—it’s a sign of great emotion and solemnity. And what does he so passionately pray for? That his readers—and that also means us—would be strengthened with the power of the Spirit. Let’s explore this: 1) Why is that so important? 2) What is it? and 3) How do we get it? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian ...
Sep 20, 2024•42 min•Ep. 1118
Most teachers tend to overlook or go past this particular passage in Ephesians 3. Here’s the reason. In the middle of the first sentence, there’s a dash. Paul just breaks off and goes into a digression, literally a sidebar, and he doesn’t come out of it until verse 13. This really is a sudden thought he had. And yet, what’s in here is so practical. In here we’re going to learn 1) the hardness of life, 2) the wonder of grace, 3) the brilliance of the church, and 4) the freedom that comes. This se...
Sep 18, 2024•37 min•Ep. 1117
There’s a problem. We aren’t what we are. The book of Ephesians is ultimately about the church. Paul very directly talks about what the church is and who the church is. These are some of the most powerful passages on that subject that you’re ever going to find. And in Ephesians 2, we’re being told 1) what we were, 2) what we are, and 3) how we can really become what we are. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 13, 2011. Series: A Study of Eph...
Sep 16, 2024•34 min•Ep. 1116
Paul prays that we’d see the evidence of God’s mighty power at work in the world. And in Ephesians 2, we see one of the main ways we can be sure God’s power is at work. It’s the real heart of what Ephesians says about the church. And that is that inside the church, people who could never get along outside the church, are now living together in peace. Paul says God has addressed one of the main problems the human race has ever had: 1) what is the problem? 2) what is God’s solution for it? and 3) ...
Sep 13, 2024•33 min•Ep. 1115
Christians talk about being saved. But what does it mean to be saved? Whatever we say we think it means, we should be meaning what’s said here in Ephesians 2. This is one of the richest passages in all the Bible word for word on what it means to be saved. And it says twice that we’re saved through faith. Notice it easily breaks into three parts: 1) the life we’re saved from, 2) the life we’re saved for, and 3) how we get from here to there. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redee...
Sep 11, 2024•39 min•Ep. 1114
Many people say they don’t believe in Christianity. But in all my years as a minister, I’ve seldom talked to anybody who rejected Christianity and actually knew what they rejected. If you’re uninterested in Christianity, you need to know what it is you’re rejecting. And if you are a Christian, you need to figure out if you’re living consistently. In these first verses of Ephesians, Paul gives an amazing picture of what it means to be a Christian. This passage shows us that being a Christian mean...
Sep 09, 2024•37 min•Ep. 1113
No matter how long a sentence is, if you find the subject and the predicate, you can figure out the point of the sentence. In the original Greek, there are 202 words in this one sentence that spans from verse 3 to 14 of Ephesians 1. The subject of this great sentence is God and everything God is doing. And the predicate shows that everything God’s doing is happening toward an end. There is a plan for history, and Jesus is the point of the plan. Let’s take a look at these three things: 1) there’s...
Sep 06, 2024•42 min•Ep. 1112
We’re looking at an astonishing claim. In the New Testament, the word “blessing” doesn’t just mean what we mean by it today. It’s closer to shalom. It means every joy and every benefit your heart and soul needs and longs for. And in Ephesians 1:3, we’re told if you’re a Christian you have already been blessed (past tense) with every spiritual blessing there is. What in the world could that mean? Let’s look at the text with these questions: 1) How do we get every spiritual blessing? 2) What is ev...
Sep 04, 2024•33 min•Ep. 1111
In Jonah, the antagonists are the religious, moral people. It’s us. It’s the city-disdaining, city-phobic, religious, moral people. We’re the antagonists, and God is the protagonist. It all comes down to this last question when God says, “Should I not have compassion? Should I not love that great city?” This is what the story is about. It’s about God’s love for a big, unbelieving, unjust, violent, pagan city. We can learn about three things here: 1) God’s call to the city, 2) God’s view of the c...
Sep 02, 2024•41 min•Ep. 1110
History tells us the Assyrian empire brought cruelty and massacre to a new level. It was a violent empire that slaughtered helpless people. And Jonah’s response to it is anger. He wants them punished. Yet, in the book of Jonah, we see one of the greatest surprising turns of all the stories in the Bible. God refuses to accept either the violence of Nineveh or the poisonous anger of Jonah. Let’s look at three things that this text tells us about violence: 1) the surprising sources of violence, 2) ...
Aug 30, 2024•42 min•Ep. 1109
Jonah’s spirituality was fine for his old world and his old situations. But when he’s faced with a new situation, it just collapses. Then, when he’s in the belly of the fish, Jonah begins to reflect and pray, and as the prayer moves along, we see he has a spiritual breakthrough. Now the new situation is something he can handle. How do we, too, move to the next level? By looking at Jonah’s prayer we learn about 1) the key to spiritual transformation, 2) the method of spiritual transformation, 3) ...
Aug 28, 2024•48 min•Ep. 1108
Jonah runs away for two reasons: fear and hate. God has told Jonah to go to Nineveh to warn them, but Jonah refuses. He’s afraid to put himself in the midst of his enemies, but he’s also filled with hate toward them. So the book of Jonah addresses in a real way the questions “What do I do about my fear?” and “What do I do about my anger?” Let’s notice three features of the story: 1) the story sea shows us who we are, 2) the religious sailors show us the wrong thing to do about it, and 3) the wil...
Aug 26, 2024•40 min•Ep. 1107
Words like sin, sinner, heathen and heretic have been used for centuries to exclude and oppress people. That’s one reason we need the book of Jonah. Jonah gives a concept of sin that can’t be used to oppress people. In fact, it shows that it’s one thing to believe in sin and another thing to understand it in your own heart. Jonah was a prophet, but there was a kind of sin in his heart that flew under his radar—until it blew up. Let’s look at four features in the narrative that each tell us somet...
Aug 23, 2024•47 min•Ep. 1106
Jonah believes in love in general. But he doesn’t understand how God’s love actually operates. If it’s possible that you stand where Jonah stood, then chapter 4 is critical because God gives Jonah an answer. And his answer shows that God’s love, like God, is a fire. The strange thing about fire is that, on the one hand, it’s life-giving and warming, but on the other hand, it’s dangerous, consuming, and purifying. This text shows us two things: 1) God’s love is refining fire, and 2) God’s love is...
Aug 21, 2024•38 min•Ep. 1105
