We’re looking at laughter and bitterness by looking at a particular experience, and that is a woman laughing because her only child has been born. It’s an incredibly old woman we have here: a woman who’s 90 years old. We’re told in the Bible that this laughter is a clue to who God is and what he has done and how you find him.
This passage is actually the key, because all of Abraham and Sarah’s lives and all of their fascinating incidents can be understood in terms of the name of their son. The name “Isaac” means laughter. You can understand all of their lives, and actually I think eventually you’ll be able to understand all of your life, through the word “laughter.”
There’ve been three kinds of laughter in the story of Abraham and Sarah. They had to go through the first two to get to the third. Let’s look at these three kinds of laughter: 1) the laughter of scoffing, 2) the wild laughter of addiction and fixation, and 3) the laughter of grace.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 14, 1997. Series: Pointers to Christ – Directional Signs in History. Scripture: Genesis 21:1-7.
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.
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Welcome to gospel and life throughout the bible. There are signs that point us to the gospel today. Tim Keller is looking at how we can discover them and what they teach us. The passage on which the teachings basis found in your bulletin. Let me read it to you: genesis, twenty one versus wonder
seven
the lord was gracious to Sarah, as he had said
lord, did for Sarah. What he had promised ceremony
pregnant and bore asunder Abraham in his old age. At the very time got it promised him
Abraham gave the name isaac to the sun. Sarah bore him
and when his son Isaac was eight,
days, old, Abraham circumcised them,
God had commanded him,
was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him, and Sarah said god has brought me laughter
And everyone who hears about this or laugh with me and she added-
who would have said to Abraham
that Sarah would nurse children yet
I have borne him. A son in his old age is god's word
why, in these morning, services here in the fall, are we rummaging around in documents that are so ancient that they're called the old testament.
I mean how relevant is that very relevant, my wife kathy
tore out a an article format of mademoiselle magazine september? Ninety seven very up to date and
surprising article, because it was by niobium wolf, whose a very sharp and pretty well known feminist author in the title of the
article is coming out for god, subtitle
ok, I pray. So why do I feel so funny talking about it
article she basically says that she has come into a spiritual searches, decided, there's gotta be more and she is looking
for god and she searching forgotten she searching for spirituality, and I want
when she says it's really all coming down to this and she's nothing, she arrived, but this is what she says she's coming down to her. She says beyond at all, I have increasing increasingly pressing question. This is the increasingly pressing question: what
heck. Does god want me to do and how do I figured out.
What is going to do and how do I figured out and when you ask-
question: how do you figure out what god once of me? That's the question is
worse, where do I go to find out what
as well as and there's really cool
Sickly, there's really only two basic answers over the years: the
The answer is look outside to some authoritative text to some authoritative,
source outside to the objective.
and, on the other hand, the other kind of
sir the has been well. You look inside
to the inner light. You look to the subject of you. Look to your heart. You look to your experience. Now
The wonderful thing about the old testament that really
needs to be understood. Besides the fact that it's a book that's considered wholly bye, bye, jews and christians and muslims is with the old testament, you dont have to choose what great about the old testament is. You have authoritative, theological teaching, but it's always
teaching in the form of stories always teaching in the form of real human experiences. So last week we looked at
existential despair of the teacher and ecclesiastic this week, we look at laughter, we look
bitterness you look at real human experiences and the old testament says
in those real human experiences? You ve got pointers to god. You ve got clues to god, but by going to the old testament
You're not only look at human experience, you also do it in a way that people have been
owing to four years through the centuries, the old
instead of being self accredited instead of
saying what I've looked at my heart now. I know a guy once you're looking into
human heart into human experience and therefore into your own experience, but in the old testament, a place where milk
of people over the centuries have found gone in that way. You can trust, see you don't have to choose and that's where we're going to these great accounts innocent
We are looking at a particular experience and that is a woman.
laughing because her
we child has been born, but isn't
credibly old woman. We have here, we have a woman whose ninety years old here and there
Told in the bible, but this laughter is a clue,
god is and what is done and free. How do you find him
The reason that I read this little section, which many of you may not have even ever heard, even though you may have heard the story of Abraham answer, is. I think this is the fulcrum. This is actually the mid point. This is actually the key, because all
of Abraham and Sarah's life, and all the fascinating incidents. Can all
understood in terms of the name of their son, because the word isaac means laughter means laughter,
it has brought me laughter,
and all? Who here will laugh with me and you can others
in all of their life and actually, I think, eventually do understand all of your life
The word you suck isaac laughter because there's been three kinds of laughter. If you
the story of Abraham, an icy there's three kinds of laughter
and only the last one is the best they had to go through to other kinds, cigarettes and the third one of these three kinds of laughter. First of all,
first, you see in the history of abraham, sarah, you see the laughter of scoffing. The laugh
of disbelief, the shallow laughter of disbelief. If you go way back into the passage, go deep, you'll see back and genesis. Twelve god comes to Abraham
says. I'm gonna, give you a sun assembled
born to you through Sarah, and that's through that son you have,
The scent a group of descendants will become a great nation and through that nation albany,
since the world will be blessed and of course, when Abraham first gets that their problem,
It's a wonderful promises excited because Sarah cannot conceive and because our
and I can see in those days and in that culture- a women's issues.
The bear. Children was her worth. It was
honor. It was her dignity and for a woman to be baron and not be able to produce children, it meant it was at the very
the tragedy of the very worst a disgrace, and so when Abraham hears guy come and
when I give you your wife, a child.
Excited, he of course is excited and if god had given the child
to Abraham and Sarah back when a sarah was
child bearing years and Abraham we beckoned during the normal sort of age frame. They would have just rejoice.
The amazement but the world wouldn't have because they would have said well, it's about time, so comes and gives the promise
as time goes on, got keeps giving the promise,
get older and older, and I keep giving the promise and the promise keeps not coming true.
It is one way to look at it and find
Lay in genesis seventeen when Abraham is is a hundred years old, narrowly and cyrus. Ninety years old, narrowly, god shows up
labour abrahams torrents as Abraham, I will come and I will give you a son:
What the does Abraham the manifest do in genesis. Seventeen seventeen, it says, says
Abraham heard the promise he fell.
it's down, why to worship, to praise the prostrate himself.
For the base himself before the majesty of god. No, it says Abraham, the man of faith fell, face down and laughed he was doubled over with laughter. He couldn't
he laughed and then not long after that, god shows up in the form of a human being and two companions
three people, it's god and a couple of angels. We guess, shows up the tent of abraham and
Sarah stands behind is, as as the customs of modesty, the time prescribe, she stood behind the tent flat.
and listen to Abraham speak with with these men and at one point lord, the lords
the one who is the lord says Abraham
next year. I will return and Sarah will have a son and in genesis, eighteen,
down inverse twelve. It says so Sarah laughed to herself and said after I,
and worn out and my men
result. While I now have this pleasure, she laughed to herself and she left to now what had happened, here's what had happened,
what had happened was Abraham and Sarah had lost their belief in the supernatural power of god they become they become skip,
go up the transcendent power of god. They could accept
the idea of a promise in which god came and
cancer is one when she was in her thirty's or even her forties or even our fifties? They can accept that
would have been a miracle, but the idea that
could send a child.
Their old old age they couldn't, except that so what they had done as they had become intellectually sceptical about the supranational power of god. They believe it
guy, could work through natural processes, but not supernatural processes, and there
very anybody pullback now why why they pulled back because
afraid of the vulnerability of hope. They were afraid to hope c and that's the reason,
laughed reason. Sarah laughed she hears them say she says she says that old promise
a little late. Isn't it I mean,
he's laughing, but what's she doing she's trying to defend herself from hope,
I remember some years ago a man came into a room with a group of us any announced to us that he was they had cancer on his face and someone says: did
They treat the cancer. Now. This is a man who is a kind of humorously. Was a joke stir in what he said is sure course no problem. First, the cut off my lip. If that doesn't work, no problem the cut off my job
and if that doesn't work, no problem and cut off my head and that will solve it all. Nobody laughed. It was funny, but what was it? He was fortifying himself against her. He was afraid to hope, and it was the laughter sceptic.
ism now before I move on see what this is saying, what this is saying is something very important to people who don't believe in the christian faith in general:
in other words, is plenty of people today that laugh. What are they laugh at? They laugh at the idea
the supernatural
can handle little promises, they can say. Well, I,
I believe, in god, a god of love
and if we pray- and we live lives of love, he can sort of work in us. But I reject
whole idea of what we reject. The supernaturalists of christianity
jack, the idea that the creator, god could have been better.
and as a human being safe. We reject the idea that
a physical resurrection. We rejected this, although
kinds of ideas. We can't believe in that, but why not and see there's something to be said from this text. The people who are having trouble-
believing like that they, I can't believe atonement, incarnation resurrection. I can build
in general, the Jesus was a good man, and then he lived a good life.
We follow him and that he had a lot of god in him, but the supernatural, no, I can't I want you to.
Nice to things from Sarah and from Abraham. Two things number one. The first thing you have to realise is
The reason the people disbelieve in the gospel is not because it promises to little, but because a promises too much if you know,
understand that you don't even know what you're rejecting to reject the gospel with tears to say, I can't believe
then it with tears that has integrity, and that shows you know what you're rejecting, but to reject it with laughter to scarf added to people like that who believe things like that that shows ignorance. But what is the gospel promise? What it that way
asked what promises is that there is a world there is a bright heaven of invention. Theirs.
bright, worldly, eternal world and everything that your heart has ever design.
And more is there, and there is a barrier between us between us and that which everybody
see all sorts of things that we longed for and that we want.
Say we want to live, wouldn't want to die. We want to create what I want to be frustrated. We want to love, we dont want always be barrette breaking up, and the gospel says that, in spite of all of our flaws, in spite of all the ways in which we treat each other
And god, someone has broken through the hole, the barrier
made a horse rugged through the barrier between the ideal unreal and all of them
Heaven and all that power and all of that glory can come into you how only by asking not by working up qualifications. No, not the working of qualifications, the only qualification for it is to admit that you're not qualified for it, and if you do that in your life it comes now. You can say
I believe that fine, but to scoffed at it shows you don't understand what it is. You have now
idea. The promise of god
The promise of the gospel is too great for you. If you rejecting it's not too little, meaning to see that you need to admit that you need to reject the with tears or use, or I want you to see that you haven't listened and secondly,
The other thing were taught is not only that you when you reject the gospel subject: christianity, rejecting it, because it's too great not has too little, but the second thing is that there is always very deep emotional reasons for rejecting christianity, always whenever I have discussed
With people who don't believe that
they say to me. Y know christians, but you see,
need to believe
christianity have emotional needs, and your motion emotional and reasons to believe increased,
not just rational reasons and guess what has true absolutely
can deny that. But what you must see is you have just as powerful set of emotional reasons to disbelieve
the reason that Abraham and Sarah did not believe was because they were afraid to hope they
not want the vulnerability of hope.
Naomi wolf it does a prick
good job. In that article of saying the problem with talking about god is that
says in the social world. I inhabit a secular careerists world of people who pride themselves on their cynicism. No substantive conversation, addiction, affairs neuroses, is forbidden, nothing except religious faith.
admitting to an interesting god is a real faux, something that provokes the social embarrassment that used to, because by off color jokes, engaging in an act of spiritual,
It is for me now, like a private vice people laugh at it say she says people to engage in that they laugh at it.
and then she goes on. She's is, of course, a certain dry existentialist, miss cool, witty,
He is an is very cool talking about.
It makes you uncool, but this is the silliest sphere of figures since we're all thirteen years old inside its very real
The fear that is that, if you admit to being a spiritual, unjust, you'll, be demoted from the crowd of coke, is the lesser placed the crowd of nice kids. Now, here's what she says
What does she is saying is
People who laugh
at meaning in life. At religious faith, are thirteen
I said now: do you hear? What's going on? Little kids can be serious and adults can be serious, but you can't get a third. She says where she says. Are you thirteen inside that I'll tell you why thirteen year olds laugh at everything they never want to look weak? They never wanna, look vulnerable! That's why they can never say.
eight affectionate word as the reason why they can never say straight words about faith. They may they laugh at everything: its adolescents, the
reason? Abraham and Sarah are rejecting this incredible promise they showing intellectual scepticism but they're, afraid to hope because then lose control and you need it.
Met that that's one of the reasons why you have so much trouble, there's powerful emotional reasons. Why have so much trouble believing christianity,
if I'm reading Caesar's gallic wars have to decide to think this is a stark fact or not.
But it won't matter how I live, whether it is it isn't, but if I'm right
the gospels, matthew, mark, look and John I sit down. I say: is this historic fact, but if it is a completely affects the way my life is lived as compared to whether it isn't, which means there's no objectivity going on here. Absolutely not
your whole life will be changed. If it's true you ve got emotionally very powerful reasons, do not want to open it, because I don't wanna be disappointed. I dont want to be let down recognise that the laughter of scoffing, one of the biggest obstacles for peace,
to believe in christianity is that they think they already know all about it. But if we look at Jesus's encounters with various people during his life, we'll find some of our assumptions challenged. We see him meeting people at the point of their big unspoken questions. The gospels are full of encounters that made a profound impact on those who spoke with Jesus and in his book, encounters with Jesus. Tim Keller explores how these encounters can still address our questions and doubts today. Encounters with Jesus is our thanks for your gift to help gospel in life. Reach more people with the amazing love of Christ, request your copy of encounters with Jesus. Today, when you give at gospel on life dot com
ass give that's gospel unless life come slash, give now here's tim keller with the remainder of today's teaching, but then there's a second kind of laughter the comes up in their lives. You see it. We have to do
over chapter twenty one back before
it is born. They were laughing, but it was a shadow laughing scoffing. It was that it was a laughing of self defense trying to keep themselves from the hope of the gospel, which was so incredible that they were afraid to believe it. There.
kind of laughing and other kind of laughing is the wild laughter of addiction and a fixation. Now, if you go
the other side of this. This incident you'll see something very, very strange and very weird, and that is in chapter
twenty one, verse eight. In other words, if I
kept on going, which we didn't and printed more of this here in chapter
twenty. One percent were told that when isaac was weaned.
And I went off- breast milk Abraham had a huge party, a great feast.
And you just imagine the laughing in the end they and the and the food and drink and the celebration can you imagine? Abraham and Sarah laugh
in doting, however, inverse
and were told that ishmael who was abrahams child
The maid servant Hagar was making fun of isaac and Sarah turn her laughter turned a fury and she comes to him and throw the maid servant and her son
because you see what's going on here is Sarah is don't,
she's laughing and in isaac but she's
In a way that that laughter turns the rage immediately, if anybody touches-
apple of her eye, the light of her life see immediately there's some.
thing wrong with her last year and there's also something wrong with Abraham's laughter, because in chapter twenty two god comes to Abraham and says verse, one says god tested Abraham and then it says he came to Abraham and said Abraham. Take your son, your only son
whom you love and go to the mountains and maria and go up into a mountain that I show you and sacrificing their to me.
why? What god?
knowing how crushingly difficult this request is. Why
good god not just say. Take your son but you're only
son, whom you love? Why would he say that in a twisting the knife? No, because that's the issue, what Abraham answer had done is they had taken.
Isaac and made him now the centre of their lives. There
laughter and isaac, but it was the laughter of addiction was laughter a fixation.
he was now the light of their lives he now and as a writ now. Here's something we've got consider this laughter, just like the first gonna laughter isn't really laughter. The first kind of laughter is really filled with fear and fear. It filled filled with a kind of
lessons, fear of loss of control and a loss of vulnerability, Emmy, anne and vulnerability loss of independence? This is a different kind of laughter
It turns to rage very quickly or turns to terror very quickly. If anything goes wrong with the thing that you've put your hope in you see the first kind of laughter comes when you're afraid to put your home at anything the second kind of
after comes when you take something or someone or something and put all your hopes in it, and this kind of laughter is also wrong. It's
so bad. It's not real after there's, no real joy under it, as you can see now for a minute, we
to stop and say the word addiction is:
pretty strong and I'm afraid some of you're gonna miss the point. First of all, let's take a look at the case, but then I'll show you the principle
the case of building your life on your children. You know what happens if you,
children become alive? Your eyes, if the children become
the saviour of your souls? You know what happens. Several things can happen. First of all because
your child is the very the very first
thing in your life. You may be so afraid of this
pleasing your child, you may be so absolute fraid of the child's anger that leads to under discipline, you're afraid to ever get it
the child, angry and therefore under discipline, the child grows up, spoil self indulge
undisciplined or it's also possible that, because
You build your whole life around the child that what
and then is that you do over discipline because
when your child is displeased with you, it's like a death. It's like a spiritual death. It's like an emotional death, and you just snap
worst of all, the child will grow up, knowing that you are living your life out through that child and that you are
really loving that child, but your loving yourself through the child and the travel sense that unless
succeed or beautiful, or successful, or athletic or whatever that that you know
in that year, let down, they can't take the pressure. They won't be able to take the pressure, there's nothing more destructive and that now some of you, your whole life, just flash before your eyes. I know I know, but
We gotta get on we've gotta get on very quickly, because that's just the psychological manifestation of the real problem, which is a theological distortion. The theme
well distortion is the first kind of laughter, I'm afraid to even I'm afraid to hope and anything, but in the sector.
Can you use zip over the giver, and you put all of your heart in the gift and both kinds of laughter
ways of avoiding resting in rejoicing in the giver himself. There, both ways of in a sense of staying in charge, in fact, was really interesting.
Is how Sarah originally three four chapters ago by chapter sixteen and so on.
Sarah came to Abraham and said Abraham. You know what I don't think that Gaza
we're going to give you a sun through me. The promises to great, why you sleep with Hagar and very interesting he sleeps with Hagar, and they they
better fulfil the promise, not in god's ways here's what interesting they say, we're we're gonna get us.
On, but we're gonna get a son, not true god's work, but through our work, not through gods grace but through our human effort, not in god's time, but in our time for trying to save themselves.
what's interesting is even though they seem to understand grace in chapter twenty one when cyrus's god has brought me laughter yet in practice there doing with isaac what they did with Ishmael in principle, unjustly
most of us who are christians remember before we understood the gospel they were trying to
save ourselves through our own effort. After we become christians,
principle. We seem to understand that were saved by grace, not by works, but in practice we can
Can you on the same way as a reason? Why got tested abraham and said
take your son you're only son whom you up and go up the mountain sacrificed. Why is it a test when I was a teacher? I
give my lectures and then I would test them and the reason I was testing was not because I didn't think they heard anything. I said I figured they heard it. I was testing them so because I wanted them through the test to work it in to think it out to get it down
and god had come to Abraham and Sarah and he had to say eyes, it was a gift, but I accept the giver. I'm the guy
and, as a result, there was this wild laughter of addiction in their life. This is wide laughter, a fixation, but still wasn't the laughter of grace. Is there wasn't the laughter of joy see? Thirdly, the laughter of grace is what
god has made me to laugh, who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a child. Yet I have.
Now it's all there and if you want understand what this means you gotta go back to that beautiful little place where god is talking outside the tent and he says I'm going to come back and Sarah is going to get a chance.
And Sarah? Here, sir, the tent and says she laughed to herself, she says: cut it out, come on to herself and the lord turns to her and says: why did you laugh and Sarah got scared and said I did not laugh and jake, and god says
No, but you did. Why does he do that because he wants it on the record? Why did you do that? What was sarris
and if you want to know what's our assent, is you have to say
there's a little phrase in the middle of genesis. Eighteen first, fifteen.
He says. Why did Sarah laugh when I said this
is anything too hard for the lord and ever
commentator. I know, says the original hebrew word, but it's never translated that way.
Is anything to wonderful for the Lord Sarah's cyrus mistake, sir?
sin cyrus sin is that she wouldn't wonder.
Now you know little children wonder their eyes. Get big like soccer saucers, take them to a zoo, take them to an amusement park. Take them to any steven. Spielberg movie. Wonder
But when they get three thirteen, like my may well said you can take him to the
take him to the the greatest movie, the most incredible sports event, and they come back. What was it like? It wasn't terrible. Why? Because we are afraid to wonder no, because we can't you,
chesterton, wrote an interesting essay some years ago on. Why fairytales give us such wonder. It's called the ethics of elf land and he says: there's always three things.
In every one of those stories
number wonders in acknowledgement of hopelessness. There's a doom were an impasse
situation. You know everybody spent turned to stone, something's wrong,
doom, and the second thing is there- is also a signal
Meant that there is a world out there, though a stupendous powers and deep mysteries, but
number three there's a heroic key, some way in which unlooked for the door is open between that power
or- and it comes into really interrelated with they impossible situation, and this resolution
in the beast impossible situation,
and what's the heroic key she sacrifices herself?
he loves the unlovely she gives herself to what looks like to be a nightmare, and ah
see there's these great powers in the world and
come in and we didn't realize it, and now everything is redeem. Don't you see? The gospel story is the story of wonder from which all other fairy tales and stores of undertake
their cues. You can see it in the structure of this very passage: chapter twenty one. Over and over again it says over it
over again there is a god who will definitely do what he said.
As he said when he said that there is a god high, acknowledged,
and of the high realities and powers in the universe. Secondly, there's an impasse
four situation there old there, a hundred years old there worn out their baron, but then there's a
a key, and that is the son of the promise you see cs louis and his favorite famous article on hope. He says: there's three kinds:
If the people he says are the cynic and they laugh what they laugh at the idea that there's powers out there, that's the reason they have no wonder and then there's the fool and the fool thinks I can save myself. I can put my life right if I just my career gets like this
they get into the school. If I have this child, if I have a wonderful little family, if I have children love me, if I have this great sexual partner, it's the fool
The cynic has no wonder in life, because one admit the power
where's that are out there in the universe and the fool wanted
It has no wonder in life because won't admit that you're lost,
your situation is impossible that you will screw up your children, you will screw up your career, that you are weak, that you can't get
and as a result, both those people have no wonder, but in the gospel were told, there is a great god and there is
impossible situation, your sin, but there's a heroic kay the son of the promise, who was the son of the promise he's the one to whom is it points? He is the true isaac, because you see if this isaac could be born and triumph through gods, grace all the impasse
The bill is the situation of a wife whose ninety years old, giving her husband a child. The greater isaac
you say was born the way he was. He was born without any husband and are involved and the angel
came to his mother and said nothing is too hard or wonderful forgot, and this is the son of the promise and he has come. How is a part
although how is it possible? You see we're like sarah. If you get,
over your laughter of disbelief and if you get over laughter of addiction,
and say god has made me to laugh. He has brought me laughter if that happens, then what happens? Is this power from on high this Jesus Christ himself is born in you is born through you, you
have to believe the objective. You have to believe that there is a power out there. You have to believe in god. You have to believe the truth, but it's not enough. You have to rejoice,
You have to rest in it. You have to take your hearts off the
isaacs in your life and, if the rest any, if they give yourself to it
but when that happens, crisis born in europe,
can that be? How can it be that Jesus Christ become in your life
all the wrong kind of laughter. You know a lot of us have done at both. A lot of us have been skeptical laughed at christianity, and we have also said, but if all, if everything
I just got this. If I just got that that everything would go right, you know, there's no wonder and our life we ve been laughing and all their own ways. How could he come in? I tell you how, because you see the true father took the true. I set up a mountain, raise a dagger.
Over his head and there was nobody there to say: don't brought it down in proverbs chapter eight. First, thirty, a toxin
when god was creating the world that
creating the world with wisdom at his feet and wisdom, says I danced and rejoiced before. God, as we created the world together,
and the hebrew word there is the word chicago of word for eyes. It I danced before the lord I danced before. God
I am delighted in him and in the world that we are creating Jesus Christ
I am the wisdom.
you'll know her by her fruit, janshah
One says in the beginning was the word. The wisdom in the word was withdrawn. The word was god, here's what happened: Jesus Christ,
throughout, all eternity was laughing with god. He was laughing and rejoicing with god, but he lost it. He lost the smile of god. He utterly lost it so that we can have it.
That's the reason why George Herbert has that wonderful poem where Jesus and looking down on the cross.
Member have outlined goes now.
Fishing he'll thyself now come down. Alas, I did so when I left my crown and fathers smile for you to feel his frown. He felt the fathers
Also. You can have a laughter, so you could laugh and how do you know you're a christian here's, how you know you're a christian if you're a religious person- and someone comes up to you and says: are you a christian.
What you're going to say is. What do you mean? Am I a christian something wrong with me? How dare you ask such a thing? There's no sense,
humor about it.
If you want to know why, because
you're, relying completely on on your subscription to the doctrine to sew on, but if you want to know what a christian sounds like in your heart, all the time look at Sarah
ass, a real christian. Are you a christian, and what will the real christian say? Who would have thought that I would be a christian, yet I
This is the reason why god could actually
aim her dad child isaac, which laughter, which was the sign of her greatest failure. She laughed a guy,
how is she redeeming that terrible memory not the way we do it in the world today, which is try your best to forget? It know if you know you're safe
grace and not by works, not by your effort, not by your achievement, only because of Jesus Christ losing the laughter of got taking the eternal just the front of god. That means that memories of your past failures are redeemed,
god turns into gold through the gospel
become humility in you. They become compassion and you they become wisdom, and that becomes skill in you. That's all you face your pass with laughter of guy.
nothing can wipe this smile off your face. Nothing, not thing, not a thing,
And, as you will be, the future, nothing can either because whenever you start to really weep Jesus wept, that's ok, but when
find yourself in despair. You have to say what,
my delighting in more than the one who lost the laughter of the father so that I could have it. What is my isaac? What do I have to demote? What
I have two two demote and revel more in Jesus than this that my laughter will come back. You understand that. Do you see that there's a place- and I say fifty one where it says look to the rock to Abraham.
and look to the rock from which refuse to Sarah, your mother, heavy, seem all the pointers how you can
him? How you can know him, how you can find him they're all their? Let us love and sing and wonder: let us praise the saviours name. He has hush the laws loud thunder. He has quenched mouse on ice flame.
Let's pray our father, we ask that as we give ourselves to you, you would give yourself to us by opening our hearts to.
We can hear the laughter of grace in Jesus Christ. The true isaac, that's what
need more than anything else. Give it to us show us the way: reprint, Jesus name,
After listening to TIM keller on the gospel in life, podcast, if you were encouraged by today's teaching, we invite you to consider becoming a gospel in life monthly partner. Your partnership helps more people, discover the transformative power of christ's love through this ministry. Just visit gospel in life, dot, com, slash partner, to learn more
This month's sermons were recorded in nineteen, ninety seven and two thousand and seventeen the sermons and talks you hear on the gospel and life podcast were preached from nineteen, eighty nine to two thousand and seventeen. While doctor keller was senior pastor at redeemer, presbyterian church.
Transcript generated on 2023-10-05.