The Gifts of the Spirit

Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

Tim Keller

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

4.8 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I’ve seen the pendulum in the church swing to extreme places over spiritual gifts—sometimes giving obsessive focus to them, and sometimes ignoring them. There’s nothing more practical for helping us avoid extremes and understand what a Christian church should actually look like than to embrace what the Bible gives us here, a theology of spiritual gifts. Let’s ask three questions of this text: 1) what are spiritual gifts, 2) what are the practical implications for church life, and 3) how can we rightly use spiritual gifts? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 29, 2010. Series: The Holy Spirit. Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-13. 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.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Gospel and Life.
0:05.9	Who is the Holy Spirit?
0:08.0	And why is the Spirit's work so vital to the Christian life?
0:11.3	The Bible tells us the Holy Spirit is not just a vague force,
0:14.9	but a person who works in the lives of Christians in profound ways.
0:18.9	Today, Tim Keller is exploring how the Spirit calls us to faith, unites us together,
0:23.7	equips us with gifts, and shapes us to be more like Christ.
0:34.1	Our scripture reading this morning is from Ephesians chapter four verses 7 through 16.
0:44.2	But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
0:50.9	This is why it says, when he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.
0:59.0	What does he ascended mean, except that he also descended to the lower earthly regions?
1:06.0	He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.
1:17.5	It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God's people for works of service,
1:32.0	so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the
1:39.3	knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the Son of God, and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
1:49.5	Then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there,
1:56.0	by every wind of teaching, and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
2:03.3	Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will, in all things grow up into him, who is the head
2:14.4	that is Christ.
2:16.8	From him, the whole body,
2:19.2	joined and held together by every supporting ligament,
2:23.4	grows and builds itself up in love
	...

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