Oneplace.com
Sign In

Gospel in Life

Tim Keller

Follow

Finishing Well

April 30, 2021
00:00
Download Download Share Share Podcast Podcast

When Paul got to Rome for his trial, he was not put in a dungeon, but he was put under house arrest. He was in a rented home, and therefore, he was able to have guests and have people come and go. Therefore, he was free to do what his job was, to proclaim the gospel. 

What I want to do is look at the very end of Paul’s life. It’s only natural since we’ve been following him all along to say, “How did he end? What did happen?” How did Paul finish? He finished well. Why did Paul finish well? Because of five perspectives Paul kept all through his life that enabled him to basically live his life with every fiber of his being and finish well, finish strong. 

What are those five perspectives? Those five perspectives Paul always kept in mind were life is a struggle, death is an adventure, history is a masterpiece, the gospel can’t be stopped, and ultimately in the end you only need one thing.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 30, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 28:30-31; 2 Timothy 4:6-22.

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.

...see more

Featured Offer

Tim Keller on the Christian Life

In Matt Smethurst’s new book "Tim Keller on the Christian Life", he distills Dr. Keller’s teachings on prayer, suffering, friendship, vocation, and more into practical wisdom for navigating everyday life.


"Tim Keller on the Christian Life" is our way to say thanks for your gift below to help share the transformative power of the gospel with more people.


Request Yours More resources

Past Episodes

The last chapters of the book of Acts could all be called “The Sufferings of Paul,” because it’s just one bad thing happening to Paul after another. He is caught in a storm on his way to Rome. He has appealed to Rome and the soldiers have him in custody, and the sailors, of course, are running the boat. Now he’s in a storm, and everyone is afraid for their lives. It says they had gone for days in this situation. Down in verse 20 it says, “Neither sun nor stars appeared for many days. The storm continued raging. We finally gave up all hope of being saved.” The storm, which was another part of Paul’s suffering, represents all suffering. All the suffering we get in life could be called a storm. They’re all like storms. Watching Paul deal with his storm teaches us something about how we can deal with all storms, all suffering, all troubles, when they come in. I would like you to notice the paradox, the purpose, and the presence in storms. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 23, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 27:13-32. 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.
April 28, 2021
Play
Download
What we have here is Paul on trial. He had been charged with sedition, causing a riot, undermining the public peace. He had been charged with heresy.  At the very top of chapter 26, Paul gives a defense. He tells the story of his conversion, meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus. But it’s here at the end that Paul shows the real goal of his speech, what he’s really after, and it’s surprising.  He’s not really out to defend himself, because if his primary goal was to get himself off the hook, he would never have made the bold move he makes. He would have played it safe, but he doesn’t. What was Paul’s goal, how does he get to that goal, and where does he get the power and poise and boldness to try that? This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 16, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 26:15-27. 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.
April 26, 2021
Play
Download
Our passage comes from Acts 22 where Paul is facing a hostile audience and one life-threatening situation after another. In a way, there’s one overall theme, which is God can bring good out of evil and can show the power of the gospel through it. We will all inevitably face some kind of danger in life. How will you face it? How does your faith prepare you for it? We’re going to look at courage in this passage and we’ll try to find some clues as to how we can get the same kind of courage that Paul has. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 26, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 22:1-22. 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.
April 23, 2021
Play
Download
In our passage today, Paul, after having ministered in tremendous ways in Ephesus for three years, is now taking leave to go to Jerusalem. He assembles the elders, who are the leaders of the church, to say farewell to them.  Usually when this passage is taught, it’s taught to give us job descriptions of ministers or elders, or leaders. But I think it’s helpful to look at this from a different angle because it’s actually addressed to Christians. There are many speeches and sermons in Acts, but this is the only place where we actually have a sustained address given to Christians about how they should be the church. We’re going to study this under four headings: truth, tears, ties, and not missing the forest for the trees. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 19, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 20:17-37. 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.
April 21, 2021
Play
Download
Our passage comes from Acts chapter 5 where things begin to look dim for the followers of Christ. Beginning around this time and spanning to around AD 300, the history of the early church is filled with persecution and suffering. Christians were systematically imprisoned, plundered, tortured, and killed. In this particular incident in Acts, we see Christians facing danger and the possibility of death with heroic courage. Where did they get that heroic courage? We’re going to focus on the reply of the apostles in just four verses, 29-32. There are three questions to guide our time together: 1) What was that heroic courage? 2) Where did it come from? 3) How can we get it? This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 3, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 5:27-42. 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.
April 19, 2021
Play
Download
Acts is about the origins of Christianity. Whenever you go to the origins, you learn something about what genuine Christianity is — authentic, original, real Christianity. That is important because many people base, to some degree, their non-belief on what it was like to be a “Christian” earlier in life or on what other “Christians” are like.  If you ask yourself every day the question, “Am I a real Christian?,” it will drive you nuts. On the other hand, if you never ask that question, that’s not healthy either. Let’s ask the question on the basis of this text by looking at four marks of a real Christian: 1) you serve God consistently, especially in suffering, 2) you are getting to know God deliberately 3) you experience God periodically, and 4) you exhibit God generously. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 20, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 4:23-37. 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.
April 16, 2021
Play
Download
Our passage today is on the first miracle the apostles perform after the resurrection of Jesus, which is at the very beginning of the Christian church. If you want to learn about the topic of suffering, you go to the book of Job or a lot of other places in the Bible that seem to deal with it more directly. But this passage is actually a lot about suffering.  This miracle, in many ways, is typical of so many of the other miracles of the New Testament done by Jesus or by apostles. If you understand this one, in some ways you’ll be able to understand all of the miracles in the New Testament. We’re going to see that it points 1) upward, 2) forward, 3) inward, and 4) downward. This is the grid for us to learn about suffering and to see the meaning of New Testament miracles. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 6, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 3:2-8; 13-23. 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.
April 14, 2021
Play
Download
Our passage from Acts 2 is about the birth of the Christian church. We’re going to look at how the birth of the church is intimately related to the birth of Christ: Christmas. In many ways, what happened at Christmas explains what happens in the early church; and what happens in the early church explains what Christmas is about. When the early Christians began to understand the reality of Christmas, they began to practice Christmas. They brought ideals into the world that no one had ever thought of, because it was based on their new idea of ultimate reality.  First of all, we’re going to see what made the earliest Christian community so different from the culture surrounding them and secondly, what the source of that difference was. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 9, 2012. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 2:40-47. 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.
April 12, 2021
Play
Download
Our passage is the first Christian sermon given by Peter on the day of Pentecost. It’s important that we consider the entire sermon for the context, but we’re going to focus our time on the last four verses (36–39) and what it means to be a Christian.  How do you become a Christian? In a sense, when you get to the end of the sermon, you have a little compendium on how to do this, but there are four things that come into play. In verse 36 we learn about mind and grace, in verse 37 about heart, and in verses 38–39 we’ll learn about life. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 12, 2012. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 2:12-39. 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.
April 9, 2021
Play
Download
We’re going to look at a very famous episode in the book of Acts today, the day of Pentecost. What makes this unique is the descent of the Holy Spirit. There’s a sense in which the Old Testament people of God became the New Testament people of God because the Holy Spirit came down with a transforming power that had never been known heretofore. In a certain sense, the people of God are getting rebooted, relaunched — it’s the fullness of the Spirit. We need to ask the same question the crowd asked: “What does this mean?” It will take several sermons to answer this question, but today we’re going to cover four things that being filled with the Spirit means: outside power, inner wonder, a universal message, and a new man on the mountain. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 25, 2012. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 2:1-13. 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.
April 7, 2021
Play
Download
See More Episodes
Listen to Gospel in Life on
Amazon Echo
Learn How

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.

Contact Gospel in Life with Tim Keller