Jacob's Ladder - Grace Unsought - [Genesis 28:1]

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There are two and only two religions in the world you might look at a book and it'll say the 900 religions
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But when you boil them all down, there are two and only two Every religion except Christianity falls into the first category and it's a religion of doing good
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Being good saying no to self saying yes to other things trying to be virtuous
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Trying to get to heaven by your own merit It's a religion of works.
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It's a religion of Being nice of of trying to keep the law Then there's another religion and it's
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Christianity and it's a religion that says That mankind is so sinful because of Adam and his fall that everything that we do
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Is tainted by sins and we can't get to heaven You just can't get there on your own heaven has to come down.
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Someone has to come and rescue you You can't climb up to heaven. Heaven has to come down And so today we're gonna look at a passage turn to Genesis chapter 28
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About a passage that links heaven and earth by the grace of God We need heaven and earth to have communion to have fellowship
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Holy heaven the God of heaven with sinful mankind How can it be done and it can only be done by the grace of God not our own merit not our own
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Climbing as George Whitfield would say if you want to get to heaven by your own good deeds It would be like climbing a ladder made out of sand to the moon
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How far up would you go? You wouldn't get very far at all So heaven has to come down and this is that great passage in Genesis chapter 28
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Jacob's ladder you say well, it's kind of Christmas time. Why did you pick Jacob's ladder and you'll find out very quickly
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It's perfect for a Christmas message because heaven does come down except His name is
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Jesus Christ and he is as we'll find out today the ladder that connects. Holy heaven and sinful
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Mankind a great passage Jacob's ladder now before we look at the text when I say Jacob's ladder what pops into your mind
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For me lots of things pop into my mind and I did a little research online. The first one is
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Jacob's ladder Cardio machine there's a cardio machine that uses low -impact exercise to optimize physical training and it's just a
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Stair that goes on and on and on and it's it's a called Jacob's ladder.
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Do you have one of those? All right Jacob's ladder is also a high -voltage Traveling arc a device for producing a continuous train of large sparks that rise upwards and it kind of looks like a ladder
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And it's been called Jacob's ladder There's also something that you've probably played with before it's called
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Jacob's ladder the toy who knows the Jacob's ladder toy Some do they found one in King Tut's tomb?
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But the Puritans loved it because finally they could play a game on Sunday The Sabbath as they called it because it was called
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Jacob's ladder. Every other game was Pagan, but since this had a Christian name or a
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Bible name you could play with these tumbling blocks that were held together by ribbons Or strings and it was kind of the optical illusion.
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You'd hold it up and the blocks would fall down. That's called Jacob's ladder Well, if you'd like to buy a house in the
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Berkshires, there's a Jacob's ladder Realty, I assume they're hooking up people who need a house and those that have a house and they're the ladder in between There's a band called
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Jacob's ladder There's a plant called Jacob's ladder But most likely when I say Jacob's ladder you think of the song the spiritual the folk song
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Climbing climbing Jacob's ladder who has sung that song and you even admitted it
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Think about those two religions again the religion of trying to get up to heaven
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Climbing climbing Jacob's ladder are the religion of Christianity where Jesus the
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Eternal Son Cloaks himself with humanity and he descends to earth to live the life
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We were supposed to live but didn't and couldn't and then also to die in the cross as a substitutionary representative so Jacob's ladder the song goes something like this.
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We are climbing climbing Jacob's ladder. We are climbing Jacob's ladder soldiers of the cross
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Every round goes higher higher every round goes higher higher soldiers of the cross sinner
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Do you love Jesus sinner? Do you love Jesus? soldiers of the cross and so lots of people have sung that by the way just for an
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FYI Pete Seeger sang it staple singers Arlo Guthrie and Bruce Springsteen But let's find out what
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Genesis 28 actually says and then we'll look at the New Testament Reference to this as well in John chapter 1 so this morning before we get into Malachi in a couple weeks
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Genesis 28 and John chapter 1 Jacob's ladder, and what does
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God mean when he wrote it? There's all kinds of meanings to this passage, but I want to know what
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God's meaning is don't you I want to know what? Authorial intent is so we can think about it properly and we can think about it
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Reverently, so when you want to study the Bible, what do you do you say? There's a close context
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Genesis 28 is preceded by 27 and followed by 29 It's also set in a book context the book of Genesis and if you wanted to wrap your arms around Genesis It's super simple you do it this way 50 chapters for people
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Preceded by four events so there are four events in the first 11 chapters four people
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What would be those events the four events of Genesis 1 to 11? creation the curse
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Catastrophe or flood and Chaos Tower of Babel, so you've got creation then the fall of mankind then the flood then the
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Tower of Babel Those are the four events in Genesis and now between Genesis 12 and 50 you have four people
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Who would those four people be as we we look at Israel's maybe like national? Tree their family tree is what
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I meant Abraham Isaac Jacob and Joseph and so now we parachute into Genesis 28
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Jacob and Jacob is on the run remember he he's a deceiver
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He's a person who tricks and who is full of guile And he is robbed
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Esau out of his blessing and look at chapter 27 for a close context verse 42 To pick us up so we know where we are
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Genesis 27 42 but the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebecca So she sent and called
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Jacob her younger son and said to him behold your brother Esau comforts himself about you
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By planning to kill you that's how he receives his comfort Now therefore my son obey my voice
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Arise flea to Laban my brother and Haran and stay with him for a while until your brother's fury turns away until your brother's
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Anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you've done to him You stole his blessing
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Then I'll send you Send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day and Rebecca said to Isaac I loathe my life because of the
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Hittite women if Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these he marries a pagan One of these women of the land what good will my life be to me?
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And so he moved to chapter 28 verse 1 Jacob obeys the first five verses Then Isaac called
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Jacob Blessed him directed him you must not take a wife from the Canaanite women
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Genesis 28 1 verse 2 says arise. There's an urgency here in the original go to Padan Aram to the house of Bethuel Your mother's father
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Take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother
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Esau is angry Canaanites are bad to marry into but I need you to go find a nice wife
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He's probably 60 70 years old by now and so flee get out of here My uncle lives there
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Laban lives there and now language of the Abrahamic Covenant verse 3 El -shaddai
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God Almighty the sovereign power God who creates something and everything out of nothing this great
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God May he bless you Make you fruitful and multiply doesn't that sound like Genesis 1 2 that you may become a company of peoples be fruitful and Multiply not just you but the nation behind you the company of peoples and the blessing continues verse 4
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May he give the blessing to Abraham to you To your offspring with you that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham Isaac now is finally getting it even though Jacob got the firstborn blessing in a conniving way in a deceitful way
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It is the sovereignty of God and he acknowledges that does Isaac thus
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Isaac sent Jacob way verse 5 and again We're just learning some of the background before we get to our main passage
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He went to this place to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean the brother of Becca Jacob and Esau's mother and in that order
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Jacob and Esau's mother that is the divine order I Wonder what
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Jacob was thinking about Away from mother out in the middle of the wilderness
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He's kind of a homebody. I wonder if I'll see my mom again. I wonder if I'll see my father again
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I wonder if he had pangs of guilt for all his deception that he had Wonder what he's thinking a solo journey.
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Was he really alone though? Now here's a little flashback to verse 6 7 8 and 9
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Esau thought you know what? Jacob's obeying maybe if I do the same thing, I might get my father's blessing, too
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It's a day late and a dollar short as one man said it's like closing the barn door when the horse was gone
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But he tries anyway now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob. Yeah I want that blessing sent him away to Padam Ram to take a wife from there that he blessed him and directed him
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You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women and that Jacob had obeyed his father So I think
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I'll obey to is the idea verse 8. So when Esau saw the Canaanite women did not please his father He so went to Ishmael and took as his wife besides the wives
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He had so instead of saying I'm gonna divorce my pagan Canaanite gods and their pagan gods rather.
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I'm gonna take another wife Mahalath by the way, her name means sickness.
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I don't know when you want to find a wife who you look for but Maybe sickness might not be the best
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And I've married sickness the non -chosen Esau Finds a wife from the non -chosen line of Ishmael Thinking somehow that my past sins my past delinquencies my past Problems will be all solved now if I do things in my kind of human way
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Of course, it doesn't work and now
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Jacob heads out. I wonder if he'll be like his brother Will he marry the right person verse 10
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Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran Okay, he's got to go 400 miles and he's going out by himself and he's about 50 miles in Okay, a lot of rocks by the way when
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I was younger and I asked the question to my Sunday school teacher Why do people in Israel stone other people?
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One of the answers I got was because there's just stones everywhere, right? it's just a rocky place of all kinds of rocks everywhere and Here Jacob comes to a certain place verse 11 three times
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You'll see in this verse place the sovereignty of God place perfectly orchestrated by God He came to a certain place
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Stayed there that night because the Sun had set Taking one of the stones of the place. He he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep
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Verse 19 we're gonna find out this place is called Luz a place of separation And he's gonna now because of what
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God has done for him and to him. It's gonna be called the house of God He just happens to end up at this place
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Accidentally on purpose as it were and he uses a stone pillow.
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What this what's this all about? Well, they use stones back then for all kinds of things for memorials
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Says in Exodus 17 Moses hands grew weary. So they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it
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What are you gonna use for a chair stones? What are you gonna use for a pillow stones? What are you gonna use to throw at people stones?
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That's just what you have stones And he uses a stone he puts it under his head and verse 12 says three times see if you can see the words behold in verses 12 and 13 and he dreamed and Behold there's a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven and behold the angels of God were ascending and descending on it and Behold the
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Lord stood above it and said I am Yahweh the Lord God of Abraham your father and the
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God of Isaac the land on which you lie. I will give to you and to your Offspring now, let's think about this
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He has a dream and there's a ladder King James says ladder and here's what we think of when we think of ladder
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I think of rungs climbing a ladder, but the language here is a stairway a staircase
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And it's wide enough to have angels go up and down on it and it's tall enough to go to heaven and here's this staircase
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Some kind of ramp and God's at the top There's a staircase that goes up to heaven and God's at the top of it, what are you thinking if you've read
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Genesis before What's your background? Theologically, let's say you've read Genesis 1 to 27 and you're thinking about a tower or a large ramp that goes up to heaven
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With the God at the top Answer what's that sound like? Pardon me
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Tower of Babel go there if you would please Genesis chapter 11 and let's think through this now
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Back in those days They would build these large ziggurats is what they were called and they would have a shrine at the top and the shrine would always be
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Blue because it would blend into heaven and they would think that God was at the top So God's at the top and we build a shrine to get to heaven.
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How do you get to heaven? We build a shrine all the way up Some people say well They built this shrine in Genesis 11 because they wanted to have a high place in place in case
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God flooded the earth again Well, that wouldn't have worked they're gonna build an attempt to get to God, how do you get to God on your own?
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well for people today, it's I'm nice to people. I've been confirmed. I attend church.
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I'm a member I get baptized. I I Got dunked
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I didn't just get dunked one time in water. I got triple dunked I saw that once by the way at a church I baptized you in the name of the
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Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit I thought I hope that pastor's got good chiropractors what
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I was thinking. I'm doing something so God may be pleased It's my attempt to get to heaven on my own.
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And by the way friends as I'm thinking about this the overarching problem with all this kind of I'm gonna get to heaven on my own
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When you think of the language of Scripture Think of Galatians chapter 2.
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I'll just read it for you It says and by the works of the law
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No one will be what? Justified if you could get to heaven on your own then
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Christ died for no purpose. I Don't need Jesus to die for me I'm good enough to get to heaven on my own and that kind of thinking was prominent back in Genesis as well
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I don't need God's help. I'll just get to heaven on my own Do you see Genesis chapter 11 Tower of Babel the whole earth used the same language in the same words?
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Same language. They all had one lip. That's the Hebrew my father. I could just hear him saying right now.
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Don't give me any what? They had all one lip. They all spoke the same thing Came about as they journeyed east they found a plane
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Settled there said to one another come let's make some bricks and burn them Let's build off for ourselves a city and on a tower whose top will reach into heaven
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Let us make for ourselves a name. You can just see the pride lest we be scattered all over the face of the whole earth
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Out of the ark God says to Noah. I want you to be scattered and fill the what earth no way
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We're not gonna do what God says. We're gonna all get together We're not gonna populate the entire earth and we're gonna build our own way to God.
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We'll worship the way we want build the ziggurat I Mean, this is the first Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame
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We'll do it on our own. Thank you. We don't need your sacrifice. We don't need grace. Can you imagine? I don't need your grace
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It's crazy It's like the two men in the insane asylum First guy says
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I'm Napoleon Second guy, how do you know? First guy
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God told me Second guy. No, I did not defiance
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We will do it our way. Thank you We don't care that it's by grace alone through faith alone through Christ alone
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If they knew about Jesus the second person of the Trinity, that's what they would be saying. We'll do it our own way
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Thank you. And if you ever want to know if there's humor in the Bible verse 5 it starts pretty early in Genesis And Yahweh came down to see the city and The tower
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Genesis 11 5 which the sons of men had built How puny?
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How mad these schemes are one writer said but from the real heaven all this looks like something built by brownies goblins and Lilliputians So tiny and microscopically small that it can't be seen with the naked eye and so you see the satire language this anthropomorphic language where God has to go down there and get a magnifying glass because it's so Small the
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Lord came down and then he confused the language. So let's go back to Genesis 28
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The idea is a tower that goes up to heaven With God at the top remember
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Genesis 28 God is speaking at the top, but this isn't made by human hands This is not I want to get to heaven by being good
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This is God doing it God speaking at the top and he's the one graciously initiating everything
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You see it back in verse 12 The angels of God were ascending and descending on it and God is at the very top of this
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Speaking verse 13 behold the Lord stood above it It's not some false God of the top with some kind of blue color faded in This is the
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God of the universe and he's at the top and there is now communication between heaven
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And earth there's access between heaven and earth How can you be in the holy heaven if you're a sinful man?
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Could there be any access? Is there any hope? Is there any mediator remember Job chapter 9?
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Job 9 is like if I only had a go -between if I had an arbitrator God is holy.
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I'm sinful. Is there a mediator? Is there someone who can mediate? Arbitrate who could be an advocate and we know his name, don't we?
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Of course we do We need a bridge between God and man by the way, what's the
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Latin word for bridge? Pontiff's We need a maximum bridge
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Who is the maximum bridge builder between heaven and earth? Holy God and sinful man.
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We need Pontiff's Maximus And if you think he's got a hat on in the
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Vatican, you would be mistaken We need a bridge builder and his name has to be God because what he does is holy
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Jacob is out in the middle of nowhere. He's by himself and he doesn't know if through himself the scheming deceitful
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Jacob of a man that God will still be with him Will God be with me?
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I've sinned so much. I've finagled. I'm this kind of guy Will God be with me? But God has promised not because of Jacob but in spite of him and I am here and heavens open up and the angels go up And down and in spite of his character in spite of him going to Canaan There's a reiteration of the
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Abraham Abrahamic Prophet Abrahamic promises look at verse 14 Your descendants shall be also like the dust of the earth
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Wait a second. I don't have a wife yet. I'm on my way to get my wife Yes In fact God is saying you'll get your wife and look at how many descendants you'll have
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I'll spread out from the west to the east to the north to the south and in you and in your descendants
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Shall all of the families of the earth be blessed. He was single Behold, what do you need out in the middle of the wilderness if you're by yourself?
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What's the most comfort out of anything that could happen? I am with you And we'll keep you wherever you go
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I'll bring you back to this land for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you
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Now think back in those days it was a localized deity Here's what would happen for us.
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It's very simple. God is omnipresent He's the God of everything the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry lands
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He's the God of everything but back in those days. It was a localized territory. So here's what you do
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You would have the God of Clinton and When you left Clinton and you went to Lemonster, you'd have a new
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God And then when you left Lemonster and you went to Fitchburg, you'd have a different God And you'd go from place to place to place not saying anything about Clinton or Lemonster or Fitchburg, although I want to Localized deities.
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He's out in the middle of nowhere. I'm your God I'm the only God and I'm going to be with you. We're not changing deities as we go.
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I am with you Jacob deceives his dad and gets the blessing but in the providence of God God now is saying
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I Sovereignly bless you you do get the blessing not because you're a deceiver but because I'm gracious You get the land to the promise of the land and the descendants what a gracious God and I'll keep you wherever you go
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Even Fitchburg, why does Fitchburg always get a bad rap by the way around here?
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Is anybody here live in Fitchburg? Thank you Made it. I Won't leave you.
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What do you need to hear from God? I won't leave you One man said that's the most precious promise of all the
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Bible to Jacob I won't leave you to Moses before you cross the Jordan I won't leave you to Joshua before he assumed leadership.
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I won't leave you to Solomon before he builds the temple I won't leave you to the disciples at Matthew 28 and lo
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I'm with you What always and to us even today? Hebrews 13,
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I will never leave you nor will I ever forsake you and we shall
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Confidently say the Lord is my helper. I will not be what? afraid
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Now we look at Genesis 28 16 Joey Jacob Jacob, at least you're listening.
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My own daughter just helped me If I say a kid's name in a sermon they get a dollar my own kids, but now you owe me a dollar grace
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Yacob awoke From his sleep and said see he knew it. Surely Yahweh is in this place and I didn't know it
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Verse 17 and when you know, you're in the presence of God sinful man or sinful woman in the presence of Holy God He was afraid
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How awesome is this place? This is none other than the house of God Bethel and this is the gate of heaven
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The language is tremble. He's awestruck. He is revering
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God By the way, that's that word used exclusively of God God is awesome and only
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God alone is awesome God is to be revered and only God is to be revered when I first got here 17 years ago
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Scott Ferris said Mike, you know, what do we call you as the new pastor? What do you prefer? I Said well, probably your kids should say pastor
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Abendroff pastor Mike. Maybe it's hard to pronounce Abendroff And I said Scott for you, you know, we're friends.
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We're just both men. So I said hi Holy Father will do But anything but revered there's nothing that those of you that know me well enough would realize there's nothing to revere in Mike I want to point you to the one who is to be revered who is to be feared who is
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Awesome and Jacob was out there in the middle of nowhere rocks and dirt and bleak and all of a sudden he goes
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God is here. I Didn't even know it It's a gate of heaven
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God you are with me. You're superintending. You're far away and transcendent, but you're close to an eminent
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It's worship. And what do you do when you worship back in those days verse 18 got up early took the stone
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That was under his head set it up as a pillar for a memorial poured oil on its top.
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This is all worship Feared the Lord he put the stone pillar there as this memorial
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Every time you walk by this place in Bethel you'd say to yourself and he called that place
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Bethel house of God However, previously the name of the city had been separation.
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I think he just got saved right here Jacob made a vow God's with me will keep me on this journey that I take and will give me food to eat and garments to wear
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I'll return to my father's house and safety then the Lord will be my God. I don't think he's bargaining bargaining
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He is if it's true. No since this is assurance the stone
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I've set up as a pillar will be God's house And all that you do give me I will surely give you a tenth and worship now
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Where would you go in the New Testament to see? Jacob's Ladder If you had to go between Matthew all the way to Revelation, where do we get?
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Jacob's Ladder in the New Testament. Well, let's find out because this is how everything's tied together John chapter 1
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John chapter 1 if you have a plan to read through the Bible in the coming year I Would think that'd be a great thing to do because then you're gonna see the flow you're gonna see that all
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Scriptures written by the same divine author even though we have different human authors and the plan is to show the great ladder himself the
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Lord Jesus Christ Now John chapter 1 Jesus is demonstrated as God himself same essence of God same nature of God very
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God of very God and John the Baptist in verse 29 of chapter 1 has seen
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Jesus And he said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world language of sacrifice
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Jesus is the substitutionary sacrifice for Jews for Gentiles For English for German for everyone else and verse 43.
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It says this here's the tie -in to Jacob's ladder The question in the
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Old Testament may be what happened at the ladder the question in the New Testament is who's the ladder the next day
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John 1 43 Jesus decided to go to Galilee He found
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Philip and said to him follow me Don't you love that? That's like with Abraham Basically follow me.
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These are sealed orders. Where we going not told Explanation not told why not told how long your whole life
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Follow me now
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Philip was from Bethsaida the city of Andrew and Peter Philip found Nathanael You'd also call him
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Bartholomew if you'd like and he said to him You can just feel the intensity to we found him of whom
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Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph Jesus is the
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Messiah. Yes. He's from a little podunk place called Nazareth and Nazareth And yes, he's the son of Joseph, but he's the
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Messiah Moses wrote about him the prophets wrote about him Nathanael said to him
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Remember Nathanael was from Cana another Galilean town They thought they were better than the
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Nazarenes. Can anything good come out of Nazareth and you could see what the writer
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John is doing Jesus the person from Nazareth this lowly place
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He probably could have said Jesus the one from Bethlehem this great place in Judah, but he says no
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Jesus the Nazarene can any good thing come out of Nazareth?
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That's like Crete Crete's got a bad reputation. What will you find a Crete? Probably some liars probably some evil beasts and probably some lazy gluttons
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What will you find in Nazareth? You mean the Messiah is from Nazareth? Come and see that's good evangelism.
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Come check it out find out for yourself Verse 47
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Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said Behold an
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Israelite indeed in whom there's no guile There's no deceit in this guy.
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There's no fraud in this guy. There's no hypocrisy in this guy He's not talking about Nazareth in a in a bad way.
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This guy's Upstanding matter of fact this Israelite. There's no
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Jacob in this Israelite because that's what Jacob means There's no heel grabbing there's no deceit there's no scheming
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Here's a particular Israelite and there's no Jacob in this Israelite. No crookedness
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Now here's where we focus in and we start thinking about Jacob's ladder Nathanael said to Jesus How do you know me?
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Jesus answered and said to him Before Philip called you, you know when you were under the fig tree
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I saw you the omniscience of God three times
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I think in the book of Revelation it talks about Jesus's laser -like eyes the eyes of omniscience
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He knows what's going on. Jesus is fully God he's fully man and often and regularly you'll see certain cases like this where the
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Omnipresence of the omniscience of God comes through and he knows what's going on sitting under the fig tree
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What does that have to do with anything? What do you do under trees? Well, you know what you do if under a fig tree if you were
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Jewish You pray you'd have your devotions. What do you like to have your devotions?
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Well in the winter time, it's not under a fig tree But for them their winter times they easily could under a fig tree.
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I Couldn't see you with my eyes. I just saw you coming here, but I couldn't see you with my eyes When you were under the fig tree
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Studying the Bible having your devotions and prayer, but I saw you because I'm God I saw you
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What does Philip do? How does he respond? I? Mean he's under the tree
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When you realize you're in the presence of God and he's omniscient and he knows these things about you
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Nathaniel answered and said to him How did Nathaniel talk to Jesus in verse 48?
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How do you know me? But it's different now Three things he calls him rabbi
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So much more respectful You are the Son of God You have to be because you're on Omniscient you can see places that you can't see with your eye that I couldn't see you're the
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Son of God You're the Messiah. You're the ones that you're the one that Moses talked about.
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I think of 2nd Samuel chapter 7 I Will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son talking about the
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Messiah I think of Psalm 2 verse 7. The Lord said to me you are my son today.
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I have what begotten you You're a rabbi. You're the Son of God. You can think of Daniel 7 language and what else?
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You're the king of Israel. Hey, I'm an Israelite and you're my king There's an Israelite in whom there's no guile and this particular
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Israelite realizes that he has a king and his name is not Caesar king of Israel, I Remember when
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I was in Corinth and you could just get out go over to this little spot and it was a little
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Monument made out of stone and this is where once a year you just had to take a little pinch of incense and walk over To it and you only had to say in Latin or in Greek Caesar is
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Lord just one little pinch of just one little pinch of incense That's all you have to say
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Caesar is Lord and you go on and go worship. Anybody else you wanted Are no one else that you wanted many people lost their lives because they couldn't do that because they know
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Jesus is alone the Son of God the ultimate rabbi and what does the text say the king of Israel Zephaniah 3 talks about the
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Son the eternal Son the king of Israel. The Lord is in your midst
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Nathanael at the beginning of his ministry, you're the king and then those people at the cross Years later.
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He's the king of Israel. Let him save himself How's this tie into Genesis?
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28 the next two verses tell us verse 50 Jesus answered him because I said to you
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I saw you under the fig tree. Do you believe I Just use some of my omniscience and I saw you under the fig tree
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That is so impressive to you that you believe by the way, you're gonna see greater things than these
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You're gonna see so many greater things, by the way What are those greater things answer John 2
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John 3 John 4 John 5 John 6 John 7 and all the way through you think that?
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Was impressive wait till I turn Water into wine you think that's impressive wait till I talk to the most
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Respected preacher in all of Israel Nicodemus and tell him you must be born again Wait till I heal the blind wait till I heal the lepers wait till I raise people from the dead
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You think that's impressive you're gonna see greater things than these verse 51.
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Oh I have a question for you before I read it Remember Nathanael's under the fig tree.
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He's probably having his devotions and probably praying We're not told that but that's most likely what's happening. What was he reading by the way?
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What book of the Bible was he reading maybe he was reading Psalm 51 created me a new heart
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Oh God Maybe he was reading Trust the Lord and do good. Maybe he's reading
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Proverbs 3 Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he'll make your path
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Straight, maybe he was reading some of those things What was he reading under the tree? answer
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Genesis 28 Nathanael's under the tree and he's reading about Jacob's ladder and he's reading about Jacob and the angels
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Descending and the place called Bethel and I know that for what reason why?
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Because Jesus ties it in I saw you under the fig tree. You'll see greater things than these
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What are those things that you're talking about Jesus said to him? Amen, amen
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Nobody talks like that except Jesus. Nobody talked like that during those days except Jesus He puts the truly truly up front the verily verily the amen.
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Amen Amen, amen, I say to you You will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending
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There's more to the verse But you're reading underneath the tree the angels of God ascending and descending and here's
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God at the top speaking to Jacob and I'm with You no matter where you go. I'm with you. You want to see something greater than that?
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You will see heaven opened access Sinful men have access to holy heaven.
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It's open and the angels of God ascending and descending Not on the ladder not on the staircase but on the
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Sun on the Son of Man You are gonna see greater things than what you've looked at in Genesis 28 where heaven and earth
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Commune through the angels ascending with God at the top now God comes down in his
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Son the second person of the Trinity By the way you there both times in John 151 is plural
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Talking to all the disciples emphasizing these major truths heaven comes down and his name is the
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Son This is amazing Look at John 3 13
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Only God could do this. How do you get to heaven? There's only two religions in the world God has to come down and he is the ladder
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He is Jacob's ladder because we can't climb up a ladder made of sand to get to heaven John 3 13
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Don't you love it? No one has ascended into heaven Not in Genesis 11 not in Genesis 28 not today not in any other religion
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No one has ascended into heaven except he who descends from heaven the
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Son of Man Jesus is the ladder Holy heaven sinful man.
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I wish we could have a mediator and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ His name is
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Jesus He is the ladder in John 1 alone
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These are the names of Jesus Word God light of men true light of light begotten of the
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Father Greater than John the Baptist Jesus Christ the only begotten God Son Lord Lamb of God he who baptizes with the
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Holy Spirit God's chosen one the Son of God rabbi Messiah He of whom
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Moses and the prophets wrote and the king of Israel and you can add one more the ladder
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The ladder how can holy heaven and sinful man be together? Heaven is opened and the
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Lord Jesus Christ descends. He is the real ziggurat. He is the ultimate staircase
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Listen to John, excuse me Romans chapter 5. You don't have to turn there. Just listen for a second Can you imagine?
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Because of the work of Christ we've been justified by faith We have peace with God through our
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Lord Jesus Christ and through Jesus We have obtained access by faith into this grace with which we
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Stand, how can you have access to God? Only through the
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Lord Jesus Christ he is our mediator. I am the way the truth the life no one comes to the
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Father but through me First Timothy there's only one God and one mediator between God and man the man
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Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all So I ask you the question
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How are you trying to get to heaven? And if the answer is I get to heaven by doing certain things civil things moral things
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Religious things I get to heaven by not doing certain things that is a ladder of Genesis 11 trying to build your own staircase to heaven
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May I say since I started off the sermon with the song I maybe end with a song You are trying to buy yourself a what?
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The most number one requested song in all the 1970s more requested on FM radio stations than any other song
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Even though it was never a single before I didn't have any your attention now. Everybody's locked in I know that song he quoted a
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Queen song two weeks ago. We couldn't hardly forgive him and now he's going to say Led Zeppelin He's buying me.
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She's buying me a stairway to what? You cannot buy it. That's the deceitful thing of mankind.
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I think I can be good on my own If I just do these religious things if I just go often enough
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If I just go to mass every day If I just eat this kind of food if I just do these kind of things
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I will get to heaven on my own What does that say about the Sun's work? It's not enough
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My father was a big guy six four to forty. He was a boxer He had these big tattoos like a snake on this arm on this forearm and he had like this dragon on this forearm and I knew that Don't mess with my dad.
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We go see these Golden Glove fights together and stuff. I Said dad,
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I don't believe you. I don't take you at your word. Your word means nothing to me
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And my dad never hit me with his fists at least closed Sometimes when he would hit us on our legs, it'd just be like for five hours
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You'd see a handprint on your leg. You think hey, I can draw a turkey with that like at school. I Would imagine he would clobber me you don't take me at my word.
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You don't trust me It's a slap in my father's face And see that's what unbelief is
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That's what trying to get to heaven on your own is God has said you can't get to heaven on your own. I Must rescue you and I will send my son to rescue you and he he's a perfect rescuer.
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He's a Savior He's a deliverer and just like it says in John chapter 3
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Son of man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness So must the
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Son of Man be lifted up that whoever believes in him takes him at his word may have eternal life grace plus works is works
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Grace plus works is I don't believe you grace plus works is
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I don't trust you grace plus works is I'll do it My own way grace plus works is the
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Tower of Babel but the grace alone that God gives I Save I choose
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I deliver I rescue and at the end of the day you are forgiven You're my child and I get all the glory
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Who is the latter the latter is Jesus? Christ And you can't buy yourself a stairway to heaven
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Heaven has come down and Glory has indeed filled our souls. Let's pray father.
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I thank you for this text I thank you for the good reminder. We want to be involved.
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We want to do something. It's like the American way It's though it's the way of every fallen sinner
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But as Paul would say Jesus was manifest in the flesh He existed before he was born and then he took on human flesh
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That he might be our representative that he might be our substitute that he might make you
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Satisfied We're thankful that your son appeared to take away sins and In him there's no sin
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So today during our week that we're thinking about the Lord's birth father. I would ask that you would just remind us again
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There's only one way to get to heaven if there's anyone here today That is not going to heaven is not born again has not been graced by your son's wonderful forgiveness through faith alone
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I pray that you'd grant them that today. I pray that you'd give them repentance and faith and that they would follow
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The Son by faith and father for those of us who are Christians. We just rejoice one more time
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Jesus paid it all all to him Sin has left a crimson stain, but he washed it white as snow.