Christ Calls Us to Himself

12/08/23 • 39 min

2 Listeners

Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

Here’s my thesis: The reason most people who profess belief in Christianity still don’t live big lives is because they don’t actually understand Christianity.

Most people think Christianity is basically like other religions. But Jesus says his message is absolutely different. Everyone who really becomes a Christian has a sense of being awakened. Something radical has to happen. A real Christian is someone who has been called. A real Christian is someone who has had an experience like Matthew.

The calling of Matthew shows us that to be called means 1) you sense a power coming in from outside taking charge, 2) you are confronted with a person, not a lot of intellectual ideas, and 3) you rise and follow him.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 10, 1995. Series: Matthew 9. Scripture: Matthew 9:9-13.

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Here’s my thesis: The reason most people who profess belief in Christianity still don’t live big lives is because they don’t actually understand Christianity.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 10, 1995. Series: Matthew 9. Scripture: Matthew 9:9-13.

Previous Episode

With a Politician

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At the end of Jesus’ life, the religious leaders want him executed. But the Romans have all the political power. So they bring Jesus to the Roman politicians, saying he’s a threat, and the question is put directly to Jesus by Pilate: What are your politics, Jesus?

I always found Jesus’ answer maddeningly ambiguous, but today I can say it is beautifully, profoundly, deliberately ambiguous. Jesus is not just playing hard to get; he is trying to bring us to the truth.

So let’s look at 1) what this tremendously ambiguous answer is, 2) how Jesus is not political, and 3) how Jesus is political.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 23, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2: His Life. Scripture: Luke 23:1-25.

Next Episode

Mercy, Not Sacrifice

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Jesus tells us that to become a Christian, there has to be a smashing. Christianity is new wine: it ferments, it swells, it’s organically and chemically active, and it will smash the old, inflexible wineskins.

Jesus teaches that there’s an old way that everybody, religious or not, operates under. You will not be a Christian until all your old foundations, your whole approach to yourself and God, are utterly smashed. You must be called away from mere religion.

What’s the difference between religion and Christianity? In Matthew 9, we see 1) what religion is, 2) how Jesus smashes it, and 3) a few tests by which we can judge whether we’ve moved away from religion.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 17, 1995. Series: Matthew 9. Scripture: Matthew 9:9-17.