Send us Fan Mail It’s hard to imagine accusing the Patriarch of our faith, the standard bearer of our walk of faith, of lying. But that’s exactly what King Abimelech did, and Abraham admitted it, with a caveat. “She is truly my sister, and she became my wife.” And the holy couple had planned the whole thing! Abraham reasoned, “Sarah is so beautiful, wherever we go they will kill me to have my wife.” Having thoroughly rebuked Abraham and Sarah, Abraham prayed for God to heal Abimelech and his family. God answered that prayer. Finally the promised child was born. They named him Isaac (the name means Laughter) and had him circumcised in keeping with the covenant. Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90. Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” On the day they celebrated his weaning with a feast, Sarah saw Ishmael “scoffing” and so she sent him and his mother away with this word to Abraham, “Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for her son shall not be heir with my son.” (Gal.3:18; 4:30) God approved of this to prove a great New Covenant truth that Christians are free from bondage to the flesh. While Hagar was crying God heard her cry and gave her and her son hope of becoming a great nation, without Abraham. Abraham dug a well, but King Abimelech’s servants seized the well. The king gave it back and cut a covenant. Abraham named the place Beersheba. There Abraham called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. I. Lying. Laughing and lying are not two tracks upon which the train of our faith should run. They do not go together. Liars should not be laughing. And yet strangely enough, in the life of faith exhibited by Father Abraham in this story we see these two things running parallel to each other. God condemns lying. It is number eight of the big Ten Commandments. Lying is not acceptable to God. Laughing is. Lying is the most self-centered thing you can do. You lie to protect yourself, which is what Abraham did, or to make yourself look favorable to others. Hypocrites are liars. Say one thing and do another. Even unbelievers know it’s wrong. King Abimelech did. Liars should be rebuked. II. Laughing. Laughing is condoned by God. Even God laughs (Ps.2:4). And He makes people laugh. He made Sarah laugh. “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord” (Ps.144:15). What do happy people do? Laugh. What do people who have “joy unspeakable” do? Laugh. “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” What is a more joyful noise than laughing? “God will yet fill your mouth with laughing.” (Job 8:21) “There is a time to laugh.” (Ecc.3:4) When is that? “When the Lord brought the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ The Lord has done great things for us and we are glad.” (Ps.126:1-3) Laugh when you’re up. Laugh when you’re down. “A merry heart does good like medicine.” (Prov.17:22) When you are feeling down, laugh your way out of it. A stage four cancer patient was given six months to live. He went home and watched Three Stooges movies and tv programs and just laughed and laughed. Within a year he was cancer free. His merry heart was better than chemo. Consider what the Lord has done for you. He has loved you enough to send His Son to die for your sorry sins, so you could believe in Him, be forgiven and have eternal life. He not only put His Son on the cross for you, He also put His Spirit within you to give you wisdom and power to live the life that pleases God. He has provided a home for you in heaven. I know a preacher who started passing blood… profusely. Day after day, week after week. He wouldn’t go to the doctor because he believed and constantly quoted the Scripture verses on healing. And he wouldn’t tell anyone but his wife because he didn’t want all the unbelief and pity that his church members, family, and friends would pour out on him. He just kept “filling up commodes with blood” and still preaching and going about his business. Then one evening he was scheduled to preach as a visiting evangelist at another church and as he walked through the door “the Holy Ghost fell on me.” Others were coming in and the first thing they saw was this stranger running and dancing up and down the aisles shouting, “I’m healed! I’m healed! I’m healed!” All the while he was loudly laughing. People coming in didn’t know who he was because they had never met him. “Who’s that guy?” He’s the visiting evangelist. But he didn’t care. He just kept laughing and shouting. He had what he called a “laughing fit.” Well… that’s what you do when the Lord does something great in your life. For about 50 years I substitute taught in public schools. I have many great stories to tell. One of my favorites is a lady who called me one day and told me about her sixteen-year-old cheerleader daughter who had always been a happy girl, until recently. She was a “life of the party” cheerleader. But she had become depressed and nobody knew why. Her parents wanted to take her to a psychologist and she said, “No, I want to go see Mister Simpson.” They asked her who that was and she said, “One of my substitute teachers.” The parents were shocked. “Why?” She told them I was a pastor or something and the happiest guy she’d ever met. Said she loved it when he subs for us. So her mom called and asked if she could bring her to see me. They walked into my office and this girl looked miserable. Her mom left her with me for an hour and we talked. She was severely depressed. I simply share the gospel with her. Told her the Good News. She received Christ as her Savior. Her mom came back and mom was in a hurry. No time to talk. About three weeks later the mom called me. “I want to thank you. My daughter is so happy now. And by the way, she now has the whole family going to church every Sunday.” Stay Connected with Grace Church! 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