First of All

Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

Tim Keller

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

4.8 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 9 January 2026

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you have any other gods before God—and we all do—to that degree that you have other gods before him, you’re in bondage, co-conspirator with your own jailers. God in his grace seeks to liberate us—with the most liberating of all of the Ten Commandments: “I am the Lord thy God … thou shalt have no other gods before me.” What he’s saying there is, “I’m the only God there is; all others are imposters. My yoke is easy, and the yoke of any other god is bondage.” Let’s look at Jonah as a case study and see 1) how you can detect the things in your life that are controlling you, and 2) how you actually abandon those gods. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 1, 1989. Series: Ten Commandments 1989. Scripture: Jonah 1:1-10. 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

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Gospel and Life. During January, we're inviting our listeners to consider becoming a Gospel and Life monthly partner.
0:10.7	Monthly partners are an important part in helping us to plan for how we can be the most effective in reaching people all over the world with the gospel.
0:19.1	If you'd like to become a monthly partner, just visit
0:21.7	gospelonlife.com slash partner. That's gospelonlife.com slash partner. What comes to mind when you
0:30.6	hear about the Ten Commandments? For many people, they bring up feelings of guilt and shame, or they
0:35.9	seem like a list of rules that are impossible to follow.
0:39.1	In today's sermon, Tim Keller shows us how God didn't give us the Ten Commandments to crush us
0:43.9	with unattainable moral standards, but to appoint us to Jesus Christ, the only one who perfectly
0:49.6	fulfills God's law.
0:57.6	Jonah Cheney. fills God's law. Jonah chapter 1
0:59.1	Versus 1 through 10.
1:06.6	But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.
1:10.6	He prayed to the Lord, O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home?
1:15.9	That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish.
1:18.6	I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love,
1:24.0	a God who relents from sending calamity.
1:28.2	Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.
1:34.5	But the Lord replied, have you any right to be angry?
1:39.1	Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city.
1:42.6	There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade, and waited to see a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter,
1:45.1	sat in its shade, and waited to see what would happen to the city.
1:49.9	Then the Lord God provided a vine that made it and made it grow over Jonah
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 19 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Tim Keller, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Tim Keller and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.