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Amen so Genesis chapter 28 part I want to look at there is beginning of verse 10 when the Bible reads and Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran and he lighted upon a certain place and tarried there all night because the sun was set and he took the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep and he dreamed and behold a ladder set upon the earth and the top of it reached to heaven and behold the angels of God descend ascending and descending upon it and the Lord stood above it and said I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaac and the land the land where thou lies to thee will I give it and to thy seed so of course this is a real familiar passage here that's often referred to as Jacob's ladder who's proud everyone probably in the room has probably heard it of Jacob's ladder at some point or another and this is what's referring to is because this is one of course Jacob is looking out and he sees this vision he dreams a stream of a ladder coming down from heaven he sees the angels going up and down upon it and really I don't think there's anything wrong with that tired title to call it Jacob's ladder I understand why people call that but I think when we start to understand the the symbology of this ladder of this vision that he's given that really would be probably more aptly called or correctly called heavens ladder because really it's not Jacob's ladder he didn't set it up right this is something that God showed him so again nothing wrong with that title I wouldn't fault anybody for using that but when I read this story and I start we start to see the parallels here in in between this ladder and that of Christ's ministry you know really what would probably the more correct thing to call it is heavens ladder and that's the title of the sermon heavens ladder and really there's some interesting things about this vision and this passage of scripture that scripture that really parallel Christ ministries in a lot of ways and I just kind of wanted to look at those this morning and and just see how you can look at this vision even all the way back in the Old Testament and you can see Christ and that's the amazing thing about the Bible is that you can read any book in the Bible you can go from from beginning from Genesis all the way through to Revelation Christ is in every single book of the Bible you find them in Genesis you find them in Exodus you find them in Deuteronomy Exodus or excuse Mary said Leviticus numbers so on and so forth there isn't a book in the Bible that you can turn to and not find Christ there and this is I think a great example a picture of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament now let's go ahead and just look at it one of the probably the first and strongest parallel is here where it says in verse 12 behold the angels of God ascending and descending upon it I think that's the strongest and most obvious parallel so obviously keep something in Genesis 28 but turn over to John chapter 1 John chapter 1 excuse me John chapter 1 will begin reading in verse 47 the Bible says Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him and saith of him behold Israelite indeed in whom in whom there is no guile now Nathaniel saith unto him whence knowest thou me Jesus answered and said unto him before that Philip called thee when thou was under the fig tree I saw thee Nathaniel answered and sayeth unto him rabbi thou art the Son of God thou art the King of Israel Jesus answered and said unto him because I said unto thee that I saw thee under the fig tree believeth thou thou shalt see greater things than these and he saith unto him verily I say unto you hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man so just like Jacob back in Genesis he saw that that ladder that went into heaven and he saw angels ascending and descending upon it you know that's a picture I believe of Jesus Christ because here you see Jesus saying hey you're going to see angels ascending and descending upon me this is Nathaniel don't be surprised by the fact that I saw that I said that I saw you before while when you said it on the fig tree you're gonna see greater things than these and truly Nathaniel did see greater things than that in Christ's ministry and one of the things he saw and we'll look at it here is many in a few instances where we actually see angels coming and ministering unto Christ ascending and descending upon the Son of Man go ahead and turn over to Matthew chapter 26 Matthew 26 I'll remind us of some familiar passages where Jesus had the angels come and ascended to ascend and descend upon him it says here in Mark chapter 10 and immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness of course this is the temptation of Christ and it says and he was there in the wilderness 40 days tempted of Satan and was with wild beasts and the eight was he in Tucson anyway and and it goes on he says and the angels ministered unto him so we see when Christ went out and he was you know in the wilderness when he was there fasting was 40 days the angels descended upon him and they ministered unto him that's what he was referring to there I believe when he talked to what said that in Nathaniel that he would see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man again in Luke 22 it says in verse 3 90 and he came out and went as he was want to the Mount of Olives and his disciples also followed him so of course this is when Christ went into the garden to pray before his crucifixion and it says there and there appeared an angel unto him from heaven a straightening strengthening him so in Christ's ministry you see this taking place angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man in Matthew chapter 26 verse 51 this would you know this is more just showing you the fact that Christ you know could have called many angels anytime he wanted he says in verse 51 and behold one of them which were with their which were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck a servant of the high priests the high priests and smote off his ear of course that was Peter and then sayeth Jesus unto him put up again thy sword into its place for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword thinkest thou that I cannot now call to my father and he shall presently give me more than 12 legions of angels so Jesus could have called and they would have descended upon the scent of the Son of Man and delivered him you could think of another you know even after Christ's resurrections went when Mary came into the sepulcher what did she see she see it two angels in white sitting so even then we see angels coming upon the Son of Man often in his ministry and Jesus even saying hey I could call him anytime I want so I think that's a really strong parallel between Jesus Christ and this ladder that of Genesis chapter 28 this this parallel between the angels ascending and descending upon it now another parallel is the fact that this ladder was set up on the earth and really that's a picture of the fact that Jesus was sent from heaven to minister upon the earth to man you know Jesus didn't just manifest out of nothing Jesus came from heaven and was born a virgin the Bible says in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 God was manifest in the flesh Jesus didn't become God at his birth got Jesus Christ has always been he was set upon the earth he came from heaven and came to man go ahead and turn over to Hebrews chapter 2 Hebrews chapter 2 and it just shows us the fact that he came down to heaven this ladder remember this ladder in Genesis 28 was set upon the earth it wasn't set up on her it was set down up and when he says it was set upon earth it was set meaning came down from heaven and was set there you know Jacob wasn't the one that set that up there wasn't somebody else like lifting up a ladder into heaven this ladder I believe came down from heaven and set upon her they came from heaven to earth I think that's a picture there of Jesus Christ he says there in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 16 for verily he took on him not on him the nature of angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham that wherefore in all things that behooved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and high and faithful high priest and things pertaining to God so you see that Jesus Christ was made like unto the seed of Abraham he took on the seed of Abraham meaning he was already there he already existed before his earthly ministry go ahead turn over John chapter 3 John chapter 3 Bible says in Philippians 2 let this mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God he was God thought it not robbery to eat robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant so he took it upon him that that ladder was set upon the earth look at John chapter 3 verse 12 he said if I have told you earthly things and you believe not how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things and no man and how she believe if I tell you of heavenly things verse 13 and no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven even the Son of Man which is in heaven so Jesus saying look I came down from heaven so can we see that there's this parallel here between Jesus Christ and this ladder and Jacob Jacob's vision of Genesis 28 how it is that you know we see that the angels ministering unto it we see the angels ascending descending upon it we see it coming down to from heaven to earth go ahead and turn to John chapter 6 and we see Jesus Christ saying that you know he came down from heaven just like that ladder did God was manifest in the flesh he came down from heaven John chapter 6 verse 38 Jesus said for I came down from heaven to not to do my own will but rather the will of him that sent me jump down to verse 41 the Jews then murmured at him excuse me because he said I am the bread which came down from heaven verse 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven is there any question about where Jesus came from he came down from heaven this is that bread which came verse 58 this is that bread which came down from heaven not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead but he that eateth of this bread shall live forever and what's great about John 6 you say this is a little far-fetched brother Corbin I mean you're comparing this ladder to Jesus Christ well Jesus compared himself to the manna and this is this is a concept that you find throughout Scripture where different things in the Bible represent Christ you think of the sort the serpent that Moses raised up in the wilderness was a picture of Christ taking upon him the sins of the world you know think of the rocket and that was split when when they crossed the Red Sea and water gushed out of it that was a picture of Christ being smitten for us and eternal waters flowing out of him you know there's all these pictures throughout the Bible of Jesus Christ I mean we could probably go around the room this morning and just each you know we could all probably think of one you know there's just a multitude of them so should it really surprise us that there's parallels between Genesis chapter 28 and and the ministry and person of Jesus Christ it shouldn't we could think of the animal skins that clothed a Adam and Eve that was a picture of Christ God's covering of said first of sin through the sacrifice of another you could think of the first thing of Abel's offering that was a picture of Jesus Christ Abraham's sacrifice of his only son Isaac was a picture of Jesus Christ this is all throughout Scripture you could think about the blood upon the doorpost in Egypt that was a picture of the blood of Christ in fact he told them to put on the two side posts in the lentil and if you think about it that actually makes a cross so these are all these pictures that go back all the way throughout Scripture so it shouldn't surprise us that this ladder is a parallel of Christ and his ministry the ladder was set upon earth you know it was showing us it came down from heaven just as Jesus descended from heaven at the virgin birth you know and again it's worth noting that what happened at his birth there were angels right present there as well so we see these angels again praising God another parallel we could see is the fact that it reached to the top of heaven if you notice there in Genesis 28 it says in verse verse 12 and he dreamed and behold a ladder set upon the earth that's one parallel the top of it reached to heaven right that's would be another parallel so that would show you we look first of all at Christ ascended or descended down to earth right well this could be a picture of the fact that Christ ascended into heaven you know there's really two parallels here in this in this this phrase the top of it reached to heaven and of course in Acts 1 if you would turn over to Acts in fact turn over to Acts in Acts 1 verse 9 then we have spoken these things they be while they beheld he was taken up and the cloud received them out of their sight you know what I love about the Bible is that God so often just tells us what happened but he doesn't give a lot of detail right he didn't tell us at what speed he went up he didn't tell us you know you know how what what rate of speed he ascended into heaven how you know you know what I mean there's all these different you could just kind of use your imagination we're gonna look at that here a little bit more about this ladder God just tells you these things and I think he just lets man not draw his own conclusions about necessary about what everything means but he lets you use your own imagination to see these things with your mind's eye and I whenever I read this it says while they be held he was taken up I always think about like if you know if you let go of a helium balloon it kind of goes up like that you know it's I don't think he took off like a rocket you know I think he slowly ascended up in heaven and he spake these things while he was going up I mean if you have something important to say and you want someone to get through it you know often you'll do something dramatic to kind of you know make an impression upon them I mean what could be I'm sure a lot of you would snap out of it this morning and remember this sermon if all of a sudden I just you know started to send up into the you know I hit the ceiling tile and it's kind of got stuck but you know what I mean that and I think that's what was going on here Jesus is trying to make a very strong impression I could just see this in my mind's eye when I read this about him just slowly as what an oppressed an oppression that would have made and he says in verse 10 and when they look steadfastly toward heaven he as he went up behold two men stood by them in white apparel which also said ye men of Galilee why stand you gazing into heaven well I I don't know maybe because we just saw the Lord to send into it you know it seems like one of those questions you know like duh this same Jesus which is taken up from you shall so come in like manner as you've seen him go into heaven so again no there as well who do what do we see you see angels so we see angels so often associated with Christ ministries and that's what we see in Genesis 28 in this ladder so that's one you know that phrase there that's at the top of it reached to heaven that could be a parallel of Christ's ascension into heaven right but I think another and probably a more you know more significant or applicable parallel would be the fact that that ladder you know is a means of access you know that's what you as a ladder for to get somewhere you couldn't otherwise get you know if you can't you know reach you know up on the roof you know we have to often get ladders out to gain access to these things well you know none of us is gonna get to heaven on our own good works none of us is gonna get to heaven on our own merit we're not gonna live a good enough life in order to earn heaven you know we're not gonna you know do whatever all these you know man has all these means that he thinks he's gonna get to heaven by but this ladder coming down shows us that there's only one way into heaven and it's by Christ that he is the only means of access into heaven Jesus saith unto him in John 14 I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the Father but by me there's only one way in there's only one way up and it's up that ladder and that's the only way you're gonna get there look there in Acts chapter 4 if you're still there Acts chapter 4 Acts chapter 4 look there at verse 12 in Acts 4 verse 12 he says neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved you know there's only one way in Jacob only saw one ladder that he didn't see a multitude of ladders you know this one's over here is Buddha this one's over here is Muhammad you know there's only one ladder that it's gonna reach into heaven and that's the ladder of Jesus Christ another parallel we could look at so far we've looked at and if you would turn over to Acts 10 we've looked at the fact that we saw the angels ascending and descending upon the ladder and we saw the angels over and over again we keep seeing them in Christ's ministry we saw that that ladder was set upon the earth the fact that it came down from heaven and was here upon earth Jesus Christ came down from heaven and was born of a virgin we see also that the the ladder reached the top of heaven just like Christ you know ascended into heaven and not only that that he's that only means into heaven but I believe that you know this fourth parallel which is very similar to the third one is there in verse I don't read to this to you in verse 16 of Genesis 28 or verse 17 it says and of course at the end of the vision you know Jacob wakes up and he says and he was afraid and said how dreadful is this place this is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven so he's saying look this is the gate of heaven and again it's interesting you know God gives us you know just tells us what Jacob Jacob sees but he leaves it again he leads it up to our our own imagination to see exactly what it is he saw we don't know but whatever he saw it led him to say and this is just kind of a side note how dreadful is this place you know exclamation point this made an impression upon Jacob and he woke up and he was afraid he said this place is dressed it says he and he was afraid you know he woke up with a start and was startled by what he saw I mean you know often we have these like these images of the things we read in the Bible maybe if we were in a Sunday school class you know we saw some stupid drawing or flannel glare half of a ladder coming down you know doesn't do it justice what Jacob saw here I mean if we could just stop for a minute and think about what he actually saw I mean how many angels were there I mean was it a great multitude how big was this ladder was it an actual ladder like we think of it where was it more like steps how you know how vast was it was it shiny I mean the brightness that must have had the shining just just an amazing vision that he has so amazing in fact that he wakes up and says that it says that he was afraid and he says this place is dreadful it is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven so he likens it there unto the gate of heaven and of course you know that would be likened unto Jesus Christ again because what is a gate it's a means of access right it's what we would call a door you know if you had a pen of some kind you wouldn't you wouldn't say you know you would have a door somewhere in that gate or in that in that in that pen and you wouldn't call it a door you call it a gate right but it's the same thing it's on hinges it opens it closes it's a means in and out of that pen or in and out of that place you're trying to get to so he says in John 10 I'll read to you then Jesus say unto them again verily verily I say unto you I am the door of the sheep you know what is he talking about he's not I am the gate I am the door these are these these are these terms are the same all that ever came before me are thieves and robbers this but the sheep did not hear them I am the door by me if any man enter in he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture so Jesus is likened unto this gate to I believe in Jacob or excuse me in Genesis 28 you know he is the gate of heaven he's the only way you're going to get in there he's the only means of access and you know this really these parallels should remind us that salvation is through Christ and that's probably the greatest imagery that we get out of this this is probably the truth that that we should be getting from this vision is that there's only one means to heaven and the Bible and it should just remind us that salvation is through Christ and again you say well you know this just seems this seems a little far-fetched but the Bible says at the beginning and when Jesus was you know he met as his disciples on the road to Damascus it says and beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded unto them in all the scriptures that things concerning himself so Jesus when they when he after his resurrection he meets his disciples going to the road to Damascus he meets two of them and it says he'd be at beginning at Moses not just at Moses but beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself saying look let me show you in the Bible all the things that talk about me all the things that point to me all the things that are picture of me all the things that prophesy of me and that's you know so again this is not a far-fetched concept in Scripture that Jesus has found in all these these different parallels and in symbology and pictures and just all these places we can turn to in Scripture and see Christ on every page that says there in Acts 10 where you are and look at verse 43 to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins so again the scriptures you know all the prophets give witness to Christ and not just that you know what is the point of it that whosoever believeth in him shall not shall receive remission of sins again what's the one thing you have to do their belief what's the one mean into heaven faith in Christ for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves Jesus said in John 5 search the scriptures for in that for in them you think you have eternal life and they they are and they are they which testify of me so look the scriptures testify of me you know this proves something really great too is that the Old Testament Saints had the testimony of Scripture to show them that salvation was by grace through faith you know Jacob understood something salvation was by grace through faith they knew this vision that one day there was gonna be a maid a way made into heaven and that that was the way in was through Christ that God was going to provide a way Abraham when he you know was told to sacrifice his son he knew that was a picture of the fact that you know Christ one day is gonna God is going to sacrifice his own son and all these pictures in the Old Testament are giving witness to Jesus Christ meaning that the Old Testament States they understood salvation all the way there wasn't some different way of getting saved back then you know this is a whole nother sermon you know and I don't like to just throw things out there without backing him up but there's a lot of people out there they say well you know we get saved by we get saved by faith today but back then it was by works you know and in the future during the tribulation it's gonna be by works again but God's just gonna keep switching up on everybody and you're gonna have to figure out where you fall in God's timeline to figure out how you're gonna get saved today no it's always by been by grace throughout all scripture all the scripture here gives testimony all the prophets give testimony all you know all these things prophesy and give testimony to Christ the fact that salvation is by grace through faith even this ladder in Jacob 28 it shows that there's one way into heaven it's through Christ Bible says in Romans 4 for what sayeth the scripture Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness you know that's what that's what Abraham's righteousness was it wasn't his works it wasn't the fact that you know he was sacrificing animals it was the fact that he believed God he had faith in what God told him and that was counted as righteousness to him so one of the great things about this is that you know this shows us that salvation has always been by grace that the Old Testament Saints they had this witness even back then of Christ that they could understand salvation by grace through faith but really what I think is even better than that is that or what's more appropriate here is what this sermon should be showing us is that it just testifies to the richness and the uniqueness of the Bible there's no other book that does this there's no other book on this earth that has so many different authors I mean spanning thousands of years and that are telling just this deeply interwoven story that just fits together like a hand in a glove just comes together perfectly I mean Genesis was written all those thousands of years ago and it gives a perfect picture of Jesus Christ in his ministry I mean it's written by different authors say they all it's just one big conspiracy it's impossible and it just testifies that how you know what we have in our hands when we have the Bible you have a book that's like no other that just it has all that just these rich deep truths all these great pictures all these beautiful pictures that if we would just pick it up and read it we could see for ourselves the Bible says in 2nd Peter chapter 1 we have also a more sure word of prophecy whereunto you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn you know why am I preaching this because I want the point of the sermon is to try inspire people to read the Bible you know hey how did I figure this out how did I see this you know let me demonstrate how I how I how I came across this this truth in the Bible right like this I got in it and I read and I kept reading and then I read some more and then I kept reading and I read some more and that's how I saw it I just came across it reading it you know and that's what I want people to do and we should be people that read this book you know not just for our own benefit I mean but you know it is to our benefit isn't that what it says there in 2nd Peter you do well that you take heed unto this prophecy as unto a light that shineth in a dark place I always loved that analogy it gives there as a light that shines in a dark place you know if you if it was if it's dark the first thing you walk in at home at night with no lights around what's the first thing you do try and feed the cat in the dark you know no you find the light switch you don't even think about it you just walk it click and it's on you know you do that right away but how quickly do we pick up the light that we have in this dark world it says it shines as a light in a dark place is there any question that the world how dark this world is right now I mean I know the Sun is shining out there but if we could see it spiritually it's dark and it's getting darker and we need this light and I'm trying to just you know take this this small simple truth today about this vision that Jacob had and just inspire you to read the Bible because that's how I saw it you know I'm not saying I have some divine revelation from God that God somehow gave me I just was reading it today this this reminds me of Jesus what if what a beautiful picture maybe if I preach this this will inspire other people to pick up the Bible and look for Jesus in the Bible because you know I remember I remember what just recently a little while back after Anderson preaching a series of sermons you know Jesus and Exodus Jesus and Leviticus just going through all the Old Testament you know I and I and and it was funny you start that series right as I just finished my reading what the Bible through I was about to reset and start reading the Bible through again I say you know what I'm gonna read through and I'm gonna look for Jesus as I go and sure enough you find him if you just look but you're never gonna look if you if you don't you're never gonna find it if you don't look you're never gonna find these type of things you're never gonna see these things if you don't pick up that book and read it even if it's for 10 15 minutes a day something get in there and read that book why cuz it's dark it's your light it's gonna guide you it's gonna lead you he says there in Psalm 138 I will worship toward the high of thy holy temple hey it's good to be in church right it's good to come to the holy temple and worship it's good to come into God's house and be with God's people is I'll praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth it's good to praise God and give him the glory that's due unto his name and he answer and says for that was magnified thy word above all thy name you know it all those things are great to do but we need to be in his word because he's magnified it above all his name you know consider how loving of God it is to give us such a sure testimony of himself in the form of the scripture and that's a very gracious thing I mean God's not playing hide-and-seek with us God's not you know trying to hide from humanity you know he wants them to know who he is and he's published a book you know the king in the King James Bible he's preserved for us and for the english-speaking people the King James Bible the most popular book of all time the best-selling book that's ever been we have that got you know it's in every dollar store it we've got we've got dozens of them laying around although it's everywhere you think God's trying to hide from from people no it's just they don't want they don't want that God no I don't want to read about that one they want to make a God in their own image he's magnified his word above his name could sit you know that's a very loving thing for him to have done to make his word so abundant so that we could know who he is the Bible says in Psalm 92 Oh Lord how great are thy works and thy thoughts are very deep a brutish man knoweth not neither do a fool doth understand this so he says look thy works and thy thoughts are very deep Lord he says wow he's amazed at this how deep God is how deep God's thoughts are and then he goes on and says a brutish man knoweth not now what's a brutish man well that's an old-fashioned way to say it's stupid a stupid man doesn't know he's like a like a dumb animal neither doth a fool understand this you know the dummy the fool they don't get it they don't understand it they don't understand how deep God is how great his works are and his thoughts you know dumb people they don't know a thing about the Bible and fools they can't understand it but you know what I'm not saying that to pick on them it's it's unfortunate we know what that should do it should cause us to consider ourselves privileged that we do know it that we can pick it up and that we can understand it that we have the Spirit of Christ that we're not like fools we're not like dumb people who just don't know anything about God that we could pick up the Bible we can learn about God we can know who God is and understand some very deep things about him you know and that's really the point of the sermon this morning is just trying to motivate people to continue to read their Bibles and to get in it and to see these great truths for yourself and to and to have God show you something out of the Word of God yourself and then you could step back and praise God for it and say wow thy thoughts are very deep you know I'm not maybe I just didn't press anybody in this morning but I know when I saw that I step back and said wow God that's amazing that's deep that you have this picture of Jesus Christ in Genesis 28 and I praise God for it you know the Bible is a beautiful book and it's full of all these just deep truths that and they just they just testify to the fact that it's divine there's no denying it the only the only way this book could be is if God wrote it but here's the question do we read it books yeah it's beautiful you know that's great you know what read it if you believe that you'll read it let's go ahead and pray