The Church Before the Watching World – Timothy Keller [Sermon]

Tim Keller sermons via Gospel in Life: This sermon continues examining the story of Jonah, particularly his relationship with the sailors on the ship to Tarshish. Jonah is called by God to go to Nineveh, the greatest city in the world, and warn the city about impending disaster. Jonah refuses, heads in the other direction, and gets on a boat. God sends a storm to hunt him down, endangering the lives of everyone on the ship. Jonah, recognizing this, offers to be thrown into the ocean so the lives of the other sailors will not be forfeit. The sailors rebuke Jonah for not using his faith for the common good. When his behavior alters, it creates a change in them. Too often the church is like Jonah: asleep to the people standing right in front of them. What does the story of Jonah teach us about how Christians should relate to the outside world? We must recognize that every human being has a deep, spiritual longing, but in our natural state those deep, spiritual longings are distorted by fear.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on August 5, 1990.

Scripture: Jonah 1:4-16

[DaveUrquhart-jzsx]

Wow, this is so beyond any teaching that I have experienced on the Jonah story. What a call to action while balanced
in appropriate humility and grace for all people. Touching on so many issues that are so relevant to all that we face today.
Tim's teaching is such a treasure of the deep wisdom in scripture.

[mrshmanckles]

I notice that Tim smuggles the same glorious truth about grace in the gospel in all his sermons, praise God.

[jayjaehwakim]

Wow this was preached in 1990. This time the sermon is not so organized as before like three major things. Yet it had impact to me so thanks.

[rebanelson]

Thanks for this amazingly profound sermon. It seems that "homo religiosus" is inherently disinclined to trust God. But when the Gospel is preached the Spirit of God creates faith in the heart that can lead to genuine salvation by grace. It is the responsibility of Believers to present the Gospel to the sailors on this sinking ship called Earth. There are many people groups across the world that have never heard the Gospel in a way that can lead to true faith and conversion.

[Truthseeker]

Jonah first refused to obey God's command to go to Nineveh. He finally obeyed after experiencing three days in the Big Fish, could-be whales. In the ancient Mediterranean sea were found whales and sharks. The moral of Jonah's story is very very simple: obey God.

[Truthseeker]

Interestingly, the city of Nineveh in Iraq speak Aramaic that Jesus spoke in his time. Very few places in the Middle East continue to use the Jesus time Aramaic. Assyrians in Iraq, though they are Muslims, also speak that language.