Should I Not Love That Great City?

Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

Tim Keller

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

4.9 • 16.2K Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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 city, and 3) God’s love for the city. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 14, 2001. Series: The Church in the City. Scripture: Jonah 4:1-11. 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	You're listening to the Gospel and Life podcast.
0:06.7	What does God's concern for cities tell us about his mission?
0:10.4	Jonah was called to preach to the great city of Nineveh, but his own anger and prejudice
0:15.4	blinded him to what God would accomplish there.
0:18.3	Today, Tim Keller looks at why culture-shaping cities matter to God
0:22.2	and what that reveals about his heart for the entire world.
0:33.7	Let's take a look at the passage in the bulletin which the teachings based.
0:39.8	Jonah chapter four.
0:41.3	This is the end of the book of Jonah, which we've been looking at for several weeks.
0:45.6	Jonah chapter four, verses one to eleven.
0:50.4	But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.
0:56.1	He prayed to the Lord, O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home?
1:02.7	This is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish.
1:05.8	I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents
1:12.9	from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.
1:19.6	But the Lord replied, have you any right to be angry? Jonah went out and sat down at a place east
1:25.9	of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade, and waited to see what would happen
1:31.0	to the city.
1:32.5	Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his
1:36.2	head to ease his discomfort.
1:38.6	And Jonah was very happy about the vine.
1:41.9	But at dawn the next day God provided a worm which chewed the vine so that it
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 6 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.