Abraham and the Growth of Faith

Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

Tim Keller

Religion & Spirituality, Religion, Religion & Spirituality:christianity, Christianity, Spirituality

4.8 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There’s one guy who is so preeminently an example of a life of faith that three religions look to him as the paragon of faith. That guy’s name is Abraham. Here’s the story of Abraham’s life: God said, “Get out!” Abraham said, “Where?” God said, “I’ll tell you later. Just go.” The Lord said, “I will give you this land.” Abraham said, “When?” God said, “I’ll tell you later. Just wander around in tents.” The Lord said, “I will give you a son.” Abraham said, “How?” God said, “I’ll tell you later. Just wait around.” The Lord said, “Slay your son.” Abraham said, “Why?” God said, “I’ll tell you later. Just walk up the hill with him.” If you read the whole narrative, you’ll find that he fell down a number of times. But every time Abraham masters the situation. In the face of it, the circumstances didn’t master Abraham. How? Three principles: 1) he heard the call of God, 2) he obeyed the call of God, and 3) he looked to the city with foundations. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 23, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:8-16. 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.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Gospel in Life podcast.
0:06.1	We all strive to live with stability and balance in the face of the challenges life brings.
0:11.9	It's natural to want poise and strength when we deal with adversity or uncertainty.
0:16.7	Today on Gospel in Life, Tim Keller shows us how a life of faith in Christ is the key to
0:22.0	facing the challenges and adversity in life.
0:25.4	After you listen to today's teaching, we invite you to go online to gospelandlife.com and
0:30.4	sign up for our email updates.
0:32.5	When you sign up, you'll receive our quarterly journal and other valuable gospel-centered resources.
0:40.3	Subscribe today at gospelandlife.com.
0:51.2	I think it's to start to get colder.
0:57.0	It's good to talk about suffering and troubles and winter.
1:07.3	There's a question that always is the subject of many, many self-help books and all the talk shows.
1:14.5	It's a subject of many conversations on the commuter train. How do you face life?
1:22.6	How do you keep your equilibrium? How do you keep your stand when life is really coming at you with all sorts of troubles, throwing you all sorts of curveballs? How can you live a life of power no matter what?
1:28.4	How can you live a life of stability and equilibrium and courage and poise no matter what comes
1:35.4	at you?
1:37.1	How do you live a life of power?
1:39.6	Now, in terms of religion, that's the same thing as asking a question, how do you live a life of faith?
1:47.7	And there's one guy in the history of the world who is preeminently an example of a life of faith or a life of power.
1:56.0	In fact, he's so unique that there are three religions. I don't think there's anybody else about whom this can be said.
2:04.1	There are three religions that all look to him as the paragon of faith.
2:08.0	Three religions that all look to him as the father of the faith.
	...

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