Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life - Love Your Enemies

Episode Date: January 21, 2026

Jesus gives us the most radical ethic of love that’s ever been put forth: “Turn the other cheek.” This ethic has been criticized and disregarded, but no one ever says the reason is because it’s too low or vile or unworthy. They always say it’s too high, too lofty. The reason it seems so lofty is it’s a whole new dimension. The love ethic in Matthew 5 is part of a package. The package is that Christianity itself is actually an interconnected set of radically altered relationships. A new relationship with God creates a new relationship with yourself, creates a new relationship with others. They can’t be separated. They rise and fall together, and you can’t have one without the others.  Let’s take a look at those three aspects. As we move through this passage, we’ll see 1) the understanding of the self, 2) the relationship with others, and 3) the root of it all: a new relationship with God. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 3, 1989. Series: Ten Commandments 1989. Scripture: Matthew 5:21-24; 38-48. 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.

Welcome to Gospel and Life. During January, we're inviting our listeners to consider becoming a Gospel and Life monthly partner. If you'd like to learn more, keep listening at the end of today's podcast for details. Have you ever wondered what it really means to live a great life? The Bible says the Ten Commandments aren't confining rules, but a framework for building a life of true greatness. Today, Tim Keller takes an in-depth look at one of the Ten Commandments and helps us understand what it means to live the way God designed us to, free, whole and rooted in his love. Let's turn to Matthew

Chapter 5. Jane, thank you. I never had anybody in my church that could sing that before. That's why I came to New York, among other things. Matthew chapter 5, and we're going to read from verses 21 to 24,

and then we will move down the chapter and read verses 38 through 48. Matthew 5, 21 to 24. 38 to 48. You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And again, anyone who says to his brother, Raqa, is answerable to the Sanhedron,

but anyone who says you fool will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, first go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift. You've heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

You have heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your father in heaven. He causes his son to rise on the evil and the good and sends reign on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that.

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect. This is the word of the Lord. We're moving through a series on the Ten Commandments. And we've said each week that the commandments are high steel on which to build a life of greatness. And now we get to the Sixth Commandment. thou shalt not murder, and in particular this morning, we're looking at Jesus Christ's exposition or teaching of that commandment. Now, Jesus' way of expounding the commandments, his way is simple and yet profound.

He always points out that if a commandment forbids something, at the same time it enjoins the opposite. That means if on the one hand it says, have no other gods before me, it means that I should be the first priority in your life. Of course, if the negative is there, the positive is implied. And so Jesus Christ at this point is saying, yes, thou shalt not murder means human life must not be destroyed or weakened. And we looked at that last week. Human life must not be destroyed or weakened. But that means the opposite as also being demanded by this commandment. And that is that we must live an ethic of radical love and forgiveness. This is a very famous radical ethic of love. The most radical ethic that's ever been put forth, turn the other cheek. If someone slaps you on the one cheek,

turn to him the other one also. Now this ethic has been roundly criticized and widely is disregarded, but no one ever says the reason that this ethic is disregarded or the reason I don't like it, no one ever says because it's too low or vile or unworthy. They always say it's too high. It's too lofty. See, the Christian ethic, the Christian understanding of relationships is so lofty, it's unrealistic. I think what we're going to see here as we look at this passage is that it's not. it's lofty, it's high, in fact, it is the only hope that the world's got.

And I'm not sure anybody could really argue. I don't know, no one in their right mind would want to come up and debate the issue. And that issue would be, the issue would be something like this, stated that Jesus ethic of turn the other cheek, that radical love ethic is the only hope of mankind. I think you'd be crazy to try to get up and debate that. I think everybody understands that if only people could live like that, just imagine what the world would be like. But the thing we don't understand is that that ethic is part of a package. If you look at this passage, you will see it's part of a package.

The package is Christianity itself is actually an interconnected set of radically altered relationships. Christianity, yes, it's a religion, it's a faith. It's many things, but one of the ways to understand it is to think of it as an interconnected set of radically altered relationships. This passage shows you how they are interconnected. It goes like this. A Christian is someone who's come into a radically new relationship with God. And because you have come into that new relationship with God, it creates a brand new and unique relationship to yourself. And because you've come into a brand new relationship and attitude toward yourself, it results,

in a completely unique and different attitude and relationship to the world and the people around you. You see that? A new relationship of God creates a new relationship with yourself, creates a new relationship with others. And it's a package. It comes together. It's very clear that you cannot just pick this thing up out about turning the other cheek and say, wouldn't it be great if everybody could live like that? Of course it's unrealistic.

Because it's all of a peace. That's why we see here that God says, if your relationship with your fellow man is out of accord, you shouldn't be worshipping. Because your relationship with God and your relationship with yourself and your relationship with the world all fit together. And they can't be separated. They rise and fall together. And you can't have one without the others. And that's why Jesus at the end of this passage down in verse 47 says, what do ye more than others? What he's saying here is, if you are a follower, of mine. If you have been radically transformed inside in your attitude toward yourself because of your

new relationship with God, you have got the ability, not just to love the people who love you, but to love your enemies, to turn the other cheek, to live this incredible lifestyle. He says, what do ye more than others? It's almost a way of saying, you have the ability to go into light speed. You know how Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo when they're trying to get away from, you know, But from the bad guys, they would say, got to jump to light speed. And what it means is not going a little faster, but just zipping into an entirely different realm. And Jesus Christ says, if you understand this package, you will see a reason I can talk about turning the other cheek. The reason it seems so lofty is it's a new dimension.

It's a whole new dimension, but it's based on a radically different relationship change between you and God and you and yourself. It comes together. What is that dimension? Let's take a look at those three aspects. Christianity is an interconnected set of radically altered relationship. They all come together. There's a new relationship with God, with yourself, and with others. They all fit together.

Now, as we move through the passage, we'll see, first of all, we see what God says a Christian's understanding of him or herself is. Then we'll see the relationship with others, and finally we'll see the root of it all a new relationship with God. We move through the passage. So let's do that. Number one, first. A follower of Christ has a restructured, unique attitude toward him or herself.

Verse 22. You have heard it said, do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you, anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Anyone who says to his brother, Raqa, is answerable to the Sanhedron. And anyone who says, you fool, will be in danger of the fire of hell. point number one a lifestyle of love starts on the inside

with a heart that doesn't look down on anybody a lifestyle of love outside you know love in your behavior begins with a heart on the inside that cannot look down at anybody oh my friends

do you know what we're about to talk about if there's anybody can get away from these verses unblooded you are not honest These verses are like a surgical knife, and they will bloody you. The only difference is, are you going to move around on the table so the surgeon can't really go in and do his work? He might gall you, he might gore you if you do that, because you can come away just feeling more guilty or let it go all. Just stay still and let the surgical knife go all the way into your heart. Now look, what Jesus says here, first of all, he says, you've heard it said, thou shalt not murder.

Jesus is not here talking about the Old Testament scripture. Because if he was talking about the scripture, he would have said, it is written. Instead, all along here, he says, you have heard it said. He's talking about what teachers were saying about the law. And he's pointing out that the teachers say, if you don't murder, that it means if you don't physically kill somebody, then you're not subject to the judgment. If you physically kill someone, you are subject to the judgment, and that's it. But Jesus is going ahead and saying, no way, you don't understand.

the import of the law, the import of Alshallat murder is this. Anyone who is angry with his brother is guilty. Now, that word anger that Jesus used, there's a number of words he could have used, but the word he uses there is a word that means to swell up. It means a slow burn. It means dislike. It means distaste. You can imagine it starts as dislike, then it becomes distaste,

then it becomes resentment, then it becomes bitterness. It's a slow burn. He's not talking about a temper flare. though that can be wrong too. But he's talking about that slow, dislike, and burn. Anyone who is angry with his brother is guilty. Then he goes a little further and says, anyone who says Raqa.

Now, wait a minute. Let me just tell you what you do. This is a real New York sin. The word Raqa means literally you nobody. And, you know, why would anybody say you nobody? What Jesus is trying to point out is not that anybody actually uses that as a as a slur or an insult. But what he means is when you treat people as non-persons,

when you treat people as inconsequential, in other words, it's the attitude that goes something like this. Please. Roll the eyes. Oh, brother, I am so much cooler. I am so much more sophisticated. I am so much more cultured. I'm so much more mature.

I'm so much more macho. I'm so much more together than you. But I'm not saying that. I'm just missing you. Please. Oh, brother, you nobody. And then the last thing he points out is anyone who says you fool. And there the Greek word, it's actually not a Greek word, it's an Aramaic word, which is

Jesus spoke Aramaic. And therefore, when they wrote the Bible, they had to take Aramaic words and bring them into Greek. So Rakhai is an Aramaic word, but then there's a word here. It's a Greek word morass from which we go. get the word moron, and we all know what that means. You moron. He says, you're guilty of hell, fire, if you call somebody a moron. And what he's trying to get across is that the sin that is so wrong is the sin of scorn. It's the sin of looking down your nose at somebody else and saying, you are less important than me. And Jesus says it all starts there. That's the problem. That's what

leads to murder. That's what leads to a lack of love. That's it. Scorn. And the reason this is so absolutely critical is we have to recognize that if there is pride, if there is a looking down the nose that eats up love because the way the Bible defines love is love is counting your own needs as less important than somebody else's. That's what love is. It's counting someone else's needs and interest is more important than your own needs or interests or comfort. So it means to see someone else as actually more important than you, at least the needs. It doesn't mean to see a person as more intelligent. It doesn't mean you have to see everybody's more cultured or more sophisticated or more mature as you,

because they're not. But what love is is an act of the will in which you say your needs are more important than mine. And so if you're looking down, you know's at people, if you're looking and scorning people, if you're saying you're not at my level, that eats up your ability to love. That's why you have in 1st Corinthians 13, we're told love, when Paul is defining love, he says love is not proud because they're mutually exclusive. They can't live together. He also says love isn't courteous.

Now, love is courteous. And you see, courtesy comes to the degree that you see somebody as important. That's why you're courteous to the president who walks in. How do you do? Please sit right here. I'm fine. Thank you. Can I get you something?

But a little kid, you know, who's in your way, you're trying to get out the bus. You don't say, excuse me, you know, pardon me. And say, get out of my way, kid, even though you're not saying it out loud, you know. If you're from the Midwest, you're not saying it out loud. But you're saying it in here, right? Courtesy, love is eaten up when you look down, you know it's somebody. And therefore, if you're counting people is less important than you, Jesus says, it just destroys. It destroys the ability to love.

And here we're getting to a very important point. One of the main differences between a Christian, a real Christian, and somebody who's just religious, is that a Christian understands the inwardness of sin. See, Jesus is saying something quite critical. He is saying, look, what is a murderer? What's the difference between a murderer and a grumpy person? What's the difference between a murderer and you? And the answer is, it's all relative.

It's not a qualitative difference. It's a quantitative difference, Jesus says. Imagine anger, slow distaste and dislike for somebody that grows into resentment, that grows into a love and a desire to see somebody else knocked down, finally grows into murder. But you've got to remember, when you think about an acorn, the whole tree is in the acorn. And the acorn doesn't look like much, does it? At the whole tree is in there, plus all the acorns on that tree, and therefore the whole forest is in there. It's hard to believe that the whole forest. All the trees in all the world could have come from one seed, you see, technically. And the point is, when the seed is laying on your hand, if it doesn't have the proper moisture and the proper soil and the proper conditions, it'll just stay there in a kind of inert form, but it's there. It's all there. And if it's just put in the right situation, in the right location, it's all there. What is the difference, Jesus says, between you and a murderer?

And the answer is, the Christian answer has all. always been, it's only a quantitative difference. The murderer has been in a condition, in a family situation, living in a particular social situation where his acorn got watered, where it got planted. And it's the only difference between that person and you. We all chase things like success, true love, or the perfect life, good things that can easily become ultimate things. When we put our faith in them, deep down, we know they can't satisfy our deepest longings. The truth is that we've made lesser gauze of good things. that can't give us what we really need.

In his book, Counterfeit Gods, the empty promises of money, sex, and power, and the only hope that matters, Tim Keller shows us how a proper understanding of the Bible reveals the truth about societal ideals and our own hearts, and shows us that there is only one God who can wholly satisfy our desires. This month, we'll send you counterfeit gods as our thank you for your gift to help Gospel and Life share the love of Christ with people all over the world. You can request your copy at gospelonlife.com slash give. That's gospelonlife.com slash give.

Now here's Dr. Keller with the rest of today's teaching. And a Christian begins to realize that. A Christian understands the inwardness of sin. A Christian doesn't say, oh, well, you know, I don't disregard the Ten Commandments. I'm a pretty good person. I don't lie. I don't cheat. I don't steal.

I don't rape. I don't, you know, I don't, I'm a straight arrow. I haven't killed anybody. But, you know, a non-Christian might. look at life like that. A moral person might look at life like that, but a Christian is somebody says, man, I see my self-centeredness. I see how self-absorbed I get. And I see how that eats up love. I see it. And when you see it, you have crossed over the line into what every Christian has got to experience in order to really be born again, and that is conviction of sin. You have to

say, I am in need. I am a sinner. Listen, friends, until you have gotten that conviction of sin, by the way, if you think that what I'm just telling you right now is just crazy, it's not rejecting my idea, you're rejecting the whole ethic, because the whole love ethic is based on this, that you are not qualitatively different than the other people around you. That you might look at somebody who looks far below you economically or far below you educationally or far below you socially or far below you socially or far below you in many other ways. but the difference between you and that other person is extremely marginal. You know, if you're looking through a little microscope, and you're looking way down at all these tiny little one-cell animals, here's one-cell as twice as big as another one-cell. And they might, you know, the one-cell animal that's twice as big

as the other one-cell animal might feel like he's pretty great, and he pushes the rest of them around. But as far as you're concerned, they're all microbes. You know, it's kind of silly for you to think of one as bigger than the other. They're all minuscule in relationship to you. When God looks at you, he doesn't see a great deal of difference. You know, one microbe is a little bit bigger than another microbe. Big deal.

We all are so far short of the standards that he gives, and that is love. Treat people as if they were yourself. Love God with all your heart, soul strength in mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. You're so far from that, and a Christian understands that, and that radically changes the Christian's understanding of Him. him or herself. So he's no longer looking down at people, and he finds his ability to start to love actually goes up with conviction of sin, not down. There's a wisdom that comes with it. In the beginning, for example, in the beginning of the bulletin, there's an interesting little

quote. G.K. Chesterton, who was a fine Christian, wrote a series of detective novels, and the hero in the detective novels was a priest, a Roman Catholic priest named Father Brown. In fact, hasn't there been some TV shows based on that recently? And G.K. Chesterton, at one point, has Father Brown explain, Father Brown is a thoughtful Christian, and at one point somebody says, Father Brown, how is it possible that you always seem to be able to figure these murders out? How is it possible you always seem to be able to understand how the murderer thinks? And Father Brown says, it's all a theological issue.

Look, no man's really any good until he knows how bad he is. or might be, see, till he's realized exactly how much right he has to all this snobbery, this sneering, this talking about criminals

as if they were apes in a forest 10,000 miles away. Till he squeezed out of his soul the last drop of the oil of the Pharisees till his only hope is to capture one criminal only in life and to keep him under his own hat. Now, listen, Chesterton

was Roman Catholic. Chesterton was living in a different age. I want you to see that what I'm telling you today is not my idea. It's always been the Christian ethic. Unless you come to understand that the seeds of the worst sins live in your own breast, unless that humbles you, unless you begin to see that you're not really intrinsically that much different from the people around you, unless you recognize the fact that, yes, God has come to you and through Christ you've been forgiven, but that doesn't make you that much different than other people, you will never be able to come about and have that radical love ethic.

until you realize that the same reason that some people have wanted to dominate the world is the same reason that Harry wants to run the accounting department, and it's the same reason that you always like to look your name up in print whenever you can find it. It just looks great, your name at print. It's the self-centeredness that's there at the bottom. And then Jesus goes on to give us a case test study. He says, here's one of the ways in which you can see how this attitude, this new radically changed attitude toward the self-manifested.

himself. He goes over here to verse 38 and he says, turn the other cheek. Now look, people really misunderstand this. When he says, when someone slaps you on a cheek, turn him the other one. And a lot of people have said, ah, Jesus is teaching that you should never stop injustice. That no matter what somebody does to you, you should let them walk all over you. And that's silly. Because Jesus doesn't talk like that. Paul doesn't teach that. And you can see it. Remember when Paul, because he was a Roman citizen, he was jailed without a trial, and that was illegal, and he called people to account, and he lodged a protest, and he appealed to Caesar? Do you remember when Jesus was slapped during his trial, and that was illegal, he lodged a protest? Do you realize that Christians are supposed to

stand for justice, and they're supposed to deal with oppression? Well, then what is he talking about? He is saying, you heard it said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. And Jesus is referring to the fact that in the Old Testament, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth was a law for judges. It was a rule of thumb for civil suits. Israel was the most merciful of all the ancient peoples because it limited personal revenge. You see, in the good old days, if I killed your cow, you'd probably come and, what would you do? When someone does something wrong, you don't say, I'm going to kill your cow. What you do is you go and you say, I'm going to burn your farm down, fella.

And you poked one of my eyes out. I'm going to poke both of your eyes out. The judges of Israel got this extremely merciful rule. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It was called a Lex Talionis, and it meant we do not have personal vengeance in our society. But instead, we make restitution in an orderly way. And Jesus says, as great as that is, and as important as it is for building a society on that, it is not your law for relationships.

And he says, when you are slapped on the cheek, turn the other one. Now, you realize that being slapped on a cheek does not mean somebody's trying to beat you up. You don't slap somebody on a cheek when you're trying to beat them up. You shoot them, you punch them in the mouth. A slap on a cheek is an insult. And Jesus is very clearly saying, when someone insults you, there must be no concern on your part to save face. there must be no more concerned to deal with your honor or your dignity.

You don't, see, when Jesus lodges his protest or when Paul lodges his protest, they don't say, they say this. They say, you've done wrong. And I respectfully suggest that you look at the law books and that we work on this because justice must be done. Instead, of that, you know, people like to do this? They like to say, do you know who you are? Do you know who I am? How dare you do that? I'm going to sue you for everything it's worth.

And what you're doing is, I'm going to save faith on face. I'm going to deal with my honor. And a Christian is somebody who's got an attitude toward the self that does not worry about that. You seek justice, yes, but you forgive. In fact, that also comes up here in verse 40. If somebody wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. That does not mean when somebody's robbing you of one wallet, say, you missed this one. What it does mean is this.

It's the same thing as turning the other cheek. Why you turn the other cheek? why you give him your tunic, you go to the second mile, is you never close the door on the relationship. You always say, I'm going to give you a chance to do it right. When somebody wrongs you, there's a Christian approach to it and a non-Christian approach. The non-Christian approach is, never again will I give you even a chance to do that because of what you did to me? You dishonored me, that galls me, and I cut you off. and even though I'm not going to come after you and try to beat you up, I want nothing more to do with you.

The relationship is over. Forget it. And a Christian goes about it like this. Say, listen, what you did was wrong, and I really want justice. But it's not because that I need somehow in any way to reinstate my great honor. And I also want to know this. I want you to know this. I am not going to let you continue to sin against me because that wouldn't help you. But anytime you want to be friends, I'm ready.

Anytime you want to get back in a decent relationship, I'm ready. Because, you see, I want you to be able to do it right. And the answer to the question, what does it mean to turn your other cheek, means not to worry about an insult and to always say, listen, you slap me on this cheek, but anytime you want to come back and kiss this one, I'm ready. Anytime you want to get the relationship back on the right level and on the right footing, I'm ready.

A Christian has that attitude toward the self. And that's the reason why the Christian can even act like that. And that leads to that relationship. We're already into the other point. The relationship of the radically reoriented relationship to other people, it says in verse 44, love your enemies. Now look, some people say, this is incredibly impractical. Do you realize that if you just love people like this and forgive them constantly,

they're going to walk all over you. Number one, I said, a Christian doesn't let them walk all over you. But number two, when somebody says it's impractical to keep your heart open to people, to keep forgiving people, I say if you're a Christian, number one, you will forgive because you will say in your heart, wait a minute, I was an enemy too. I did things wrong. And if I decide I'm going to hold this grudge against this person, how in the world am I going to expect God to forgive me. If I won't forgive this person these three sins against me, how in the world do I expect God to forgive me my three billion sins against him? A Christian says, why do I think of myself as so important? I'm a sinner saved by grace. And that takes away

the need for vengeance. It takes away the need for honor. And if anybody says it's really impractical to keep opening your heart to people, I'll tell you what's impractical. It's impractical. It's impractical to do what many of you are doing, and that is spending all of your life pulling yourself into a tighter and tighter and tighter circles so you won't be hurt, and so nobody can wrong you, and so you'll never be vulnerable again. And you see what happens when you really make sure that you don't forgive people and you don't turn the other cheek? Listen to this. Here's a great quote. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact,

you must give your heart to no one. Wrap it carefully. around with your hobbies, your avocations, your luxuries, and your leisure pursuits. Avoid all real entanglements. Lock it up and safe, have it be safe in the casket of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe and dark, your heart will change. Oh yes, it will not be broken. It will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The only alternative to the risk of tragedy is damnation. What's practical? You tell me. Is it impractical to turn the other cheek? My friends, it's impractical not to because of what it does to you. And the only way you can ever have the power to turn the other cheek is if you have this

radically new attitude toward yourself that enables you to love other people and give of yourself to other people. It creates a servant heart only if you realize that you were an enemy and that though God could have punished you and should have punished you, we sent Jesus Christ to take your punishment on. That and only that gives you that radically new self-image that changes your attitude toward people. And only that, let me conclude with this interesting story. True story.

Years ago, the czar of Russia, I'm not sure it was the last czar. I think it was the second last czar. I'm not sure which one. One of the czars of Russia, the emperors of Russia, had a friend, dear friend, who died. and the friend gave him his son to keep and to raise. The czar raised this young man and educated him and clothed him in every...

The czar to keep and to raise. The czar raised this young man and educated him and clothed him and everything. And this young man went into the army. There he became the accountant of a pretty large part of the army. and because he began to get into gambling, he began to embezzle funds to make good his debts. And one night he was sitting and looking at the books, and he realized that the jig was up.

It wasn't going to be long before they were going to find him. And he sat there with a gun, and he said, the best thing to do would be to kill myself because I won't be able to stand the dishonor of it. But he was drinking heavily in order to get the nerve up to kill himself. But what happened was he drank so heavily, he passed out before he could. Now, the czar was the kind of man who liked to go spy on people, as czars are wont to do. And he used to get in his corporal's outfit. He used to dress up in a

corporal's uniform and go about, you know, his army and just hear what people were saying and find out what things were doing and find out what the morale was of the rest of the troop. He came into the room where this young man had passed out over the books. He looked at the books, and he began to realize what had happened. So he wrote a note. He added up how much the debt was. He added up what was going to happen. And he wrote up a note and said,

I will make good this amount of the debt. And he wrote the entire debt out, and he signed it, the czar, and he took his signet ring, and he stamped it. And he left. Young man woke up later on out of his drunken stupor and found a note. And he couldn't believe it. And he says, wait a minute. The czar has been here, and he's seen everything, and he still loves me.

And not only that, he accepts me. Not only that, he put his seal to my cause and my need. Now, friends, the gospel is very simply the same thing. Jesus Christ came to earth, incognito, as a man. He's come in and he's looked into your heart. And he's not only seen a lot of things that no... There's things in your heart that you wouldn't want anybody else in this room to ever know. But the scary thing is he saw a thousand things worse than that. Worse than you've

ever seen. And he still loves you. And he gave himself for you. And if you receive him as savior, all of those things can be wiped away. Does that move you? If that moves you, then you will be enabled to turn the other cheek. If that doesn't move you, if you reject it, you're stuck. What do ye more than others? There's a light speed in relationships that's available to us all. What do ye more than others? Let's pray. Thanks for listening to Tim Keller on the Gospel and Live podcast. If you'd like to see more people encouraged by the gospel-centered teaching and resources of this ministry, we invite you to consider becoming a Gospel and Life monthly partner. Your monthly partnership helps us to plan and steward

our resources throughout the year to be the most effective in reaching people all over the world with the life-giving power of Christ's love. small thank you for your monthly support, we will mail you a physical copy of each new life in the gospel quarterly journal that you can enjoy and share with others. To learn more, just visit gospelonlife.com slash partner. That website again is gospel and life.com slash partner. Today's sermon was recorded in 1989. The sermons and talks you hear on the Gospel and Life podcast were recorded between 1989 and 2017 while Dr. Keller was senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church.