Participants: Pastor Stephen Bohr
Series Code: CGC
Program Code: CGC000036S
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01:13 Shall we bow our heads for prayer?
01:14 Our Father in heaven, we thank You for the privilege of being 01:19 here today to study Your Holy Word; to study about 01:25 the ladder and the tower. 01:27 We ask that Your Holy Spirit will teach us the lessons 01:30 which will help us in our personal walk with Jesus. 01:34 And we thank You for hearing our prayer, for we ask it in 01:37 Jesus' name, Amen. 01:40 I'd like to invite you to open your Bibles with me to the book 01:45 of Genesis, chapter 28, and we will begin reading at verse 10. 01:52 However, before we start reading, I need to give you 01:57 a little bit of background; the background to 02:00 this particular passage. 02:02 We probably all know the story of Jacob, and how Jacob lied 02:09 to his father, deceived his father, stole the birthright 02:15 from his brother, and as a result of this he had to 02:20 flee from his home. 02:22 The Bible tells us that as he was fleeing from home, he felt a 02:29 deep burden of guilt, because of the sin that he had committed. 02:35 And after traveling for many, many hours, Jacob arrived 02:42 in a place which later would be called Bethel, 02:46 which means the house of God. 02:49 And this is where I want to pick up our reading in Genesis 28:10. 03:42 And then it continues saying: 03:59 Very interesting dream that God gave to Jacob. 04:04 This has become known as the story of Jacob's ladder, 04:09 which is certainly a misnomer, because this is not Jacob's 04:15 ladder, this is the Lord's ladder. 04:17 It's kind of like saying Noah's flood. 04:20 You know, it wasn't Noah's flood, it was the Lord's flood. 04:24 And so, really, this is the Lord's ladder. 04:28 Now the question is, what does this dream symbolize? 04:35 You see, every story in Genesis is not only a story 04:41 but a prophecy. And so this story must have some prophetic 04:46 significance. And the question is, what is 04:50 its prophetic significance? 04:52 You notice you have a ladder. 04:54 The top of the ladder reaches unto the highest heaven. 04:58 The bottom of the ladder is firmly rooted on earth. 05:03 And between the two points there are angels ascending 05:09 and descending upon the ladder. 05:12 What could be meant by this dream? 05:14 Well, the fact is that we don't have to guess. 05:18 Turn in your Bibles with me to the gospel of John 1:51, 05:24 the gospel of John 1:51. 05:30 Here Jesus is speaking to Nathaniel, who would become 05:34 one of the disciples of Jesus. 05:37 And notice what he says: 05:59 Isn't that an interesting verse? 06:03 You will see the angels of God ascending and descending 06:08 upon the Son of man. 06:10 Now if they're ascending and descending upon the Son of man, 06:13 what must the ladder of Genesis 28 represent? 06:17 It must represent Jesus, because in Genesis 28 the angels are 06:24 ascending and descending upon the ladder. 06:27 In John 1 it says that they're ascending and descending 06:31 upon the Son of man; upon Jesus. 06:34 In other words, Jesus is that ladder. 06:38 Now if I were to ask you how many key 06:43 parts does a ladder have? 06:45 Probably many of you would answer three: 06:49 the bottom, the top, and the middle. 06:53 But really a ladder has only two key parts: the bottom, 06:59 and the top, and, of course, the middle is automatic 07:03 if you have the bottom and the top. 07:05 Now why would Jesus be compared with a ladder? 07:09 Well, let's talk a little bit about this. 07:14 What would the top of the ladder represent 07:17 if the ladder represents Jesus? 07:20 Well, turn with me in your Bibles to John 1:1, 3. 07:25 We almost don't even have to look up those verses. 07:29 It says there in John 1:1, 3: 07:40 And then verse 3 says that He made all things... 07:50 Notice that these verses describe Jesus before 07:54 He came to this world. 07:56 Jesus, according to John 1, before He became man, was God. 08:04 He was the Creator. 08:06 Now I also want you to notice Matthew 1:23, Matthew 1:23. 08:16 This is speaking about the birth of Christ. 08:19 And the angel speaks these words which are very 08:24 well known, incidentally, by us. 08:45 These two verses clearly teach that Jesus is God. 08:51 That is the top of the ladder. 08:54 It represents the deity of Jesus, the divinity of Christ. 08:59 He is one with God. 09:00 In the beginning He was with the Father; 09:03 equal with the Father. 09:05 In fact, Jesus said, I and the Father are One; 09:10 that is in unity, in character, and in purpose. 09:14 So the top of the ladder represents the deity, 09:18 or the divinity of Jesus Christ. 09:21 But now we must ask, what does the bottom represent? 09:25 Now the top reached all the way to heaven where the Father 09:30 was standing at the top of the ladder. 09:33 What would the bottom represent if it's rooted 09:37 firmly upon the earth? 09:39 It must represent the humanity of Jesus, the manhood of Christ. 09:46 Notice what we find in John 1: 14, also a verse which is very, 09:52 very well known. We probably could recite it from memory. 09:56 It says there in John 1:14: 10:01 That is the Word who was God. 10:15 Now you notice that Word, who was God, in eternity, 10:19 who created this world; John tells us that He became flesh. 10:25 In other words, He became a human being. 10:28 He was rooted on this earth with a nature which is common 10:33 to ours. Notice also what we find in Matthew 1:1, 10:39 on the humanity of Christ, the bottom of the ladder; 10:42 His manhood, if we could speak in those terms. 10:46 It says there in Matthew 1:1, the beginning of the genealogy 10:50 of Christ. It says: 11:00 So we notice here that Jesus has two characteristics 11:05 when it comes to His self identity, and that is that Jesus 11:11 in eternity was God, and He came to earth and He became man 11:16 without ceasing to be God. 11:18 The top of the ladder is His deity, and the bottom 11:23 of the ladder represents his humanity. 11:26 His divinity unites Him with His Father, 11:29 His humanity unites Him with us. 11:32 Thus heaven and earth are united through the God man. 11:38 You know, there are texts in scripture that indicate 11:41 that Jesus is both God and man besides the ones 11:45 that we just read. 11:46 For example, in Revelation 22:16 Jesus says that He has sent 11:53 His angel to testify unto them the things 11:57 which were written to the churches. 11:59 And then He goes on to say that He is the root 12:04 and the offspring of David. 12:08 Now I've mentioned this in a previous lecture, 12:11 but this is an extremely interesting verse, 12:13 because it says that Jesus is the root of David, 12:16 and He is also the offspring of David. 12:19 Now how is it possible to be the root of David, 12:22 and the offspring of David? 12:24 The fact is that Jesus is David's father, 12:29 and He is also David's son. 12:31 He is David's father, because when He created Adam, 12:35 and David descended from Adam, David was created by Christ. 12:40 But Jesus is the son of David as a man, because He comes from 12:46 the lineage of David. 12:48 Notice also John 8:58, John 8: 58. 12:55 You know Jesus said something very revolutionary to the Jews 12:59 who were listening to Him. 13:00 You know, we just read in Matthew 1 that Jesus was the son 13:05 of Abraham, and the son of David. 13:07 So, in other words, Jesus was the son of Abraham. 13:10 But in John 8:58 Jesus said something revolutionary, 13:15 and it made the Jews very angry. 13:17 They picked up stones to throw them at Him 13:19 after He said these words. He said: 13:30 Now notice, He doesn't say, before Abraham was I was, 13:33 He says, before Abraham was I Am. 13:36 In other words, I never had a beginning. 13:39 So once again we find that Jesus is the seed of Abraham, 13:43 He's the son of Abraham, but He says that before 13:47 Abraham was, I Am. 13:48 That means that Jesus is both God and man. 13:53 The top of the ladder is His deity, and the bottom of 13:57 the ladder is His humanity, and those two characteristics 14:01 unite God with man. 14:03 Notice also in the book of Philippians 2. 14:08 Here the apostle Paul is going to weigh in on this 14:11 particular subject, the book of Philippians 2, and I would like 14:16 to begin reading at verse 5. It says here: 14:35 A better translation would be: He did not consider equality 14:39 with God as something to be hung onto, 14:41 as something to be grasped. And so it says: 14:49 A better translation would be that He emptied Himself,... 15:11 Notice that He was in the form of God, but He took the form 15:15 of a servant, and became a man and suffered death on a cross. 15:21 Clearly the apostle Paul, in this passage, indicates that 15:25 Jesus is both God and man in one person. 15:30 He has two natures in one person. 15:33 But now we need to ask the question, 15:36 How far down did Jesus come? 15:41 This is a big point of debate in Christendom today, 15:47 and more specifically within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 15:51 For decades we have had this discussion. 15:53 How far down did Jesus come? 15:56 Did Jesus take the nature of Adam before Adam sinned? 16:03 Did Jesus take the nature of the unfallen Adam, as a human being? 16:09 Or did Jesus take our sinful nature? 16:14 You know, I'm not sure that on this earth this issue 16:18 will ever be resolved. 16:19 I've resolved that in my own mind, and I'm going to share 16:23 with you some evidence to the effect that Jesus Christ 16:27 came all the way down to where we are. 16:33 Not to where Adam was before he sinned, but to where we are; 16:39 needy sinners. Go with me to the book of Hebrews 2:14-17, 16:48 Hebrews 2:14-17. Here the apostle is very, very clear 16:55 on this point, I believe. 16:57 Once again, Hebrews 2 and beginning with verse 14. 17:41 Did Jesus take the nature of an angel? 17:45 No, He took upon Himself the seed of Abraham. 17:50 Now notice verse 17; very important. 17:52 Wherefore in some things it behooved Him to be made like 17:57 unto His brethren. 17:59 Let's try it again. 18:04 Wherefore in most things it... 18:08 Okay, you're protesting. 18:10 You won't even let me continue reading. It says there: 18:31 He was made in all things like unto His brethren. 18:35 Now I need to explain something to you about the word brethren 18:39 in the New Testament as it applies 18:42 to the followers of Christ. 18:43 The word brethren in the New Testament is a technical term 18:48 which means those who have been converted, 18:53 and belong to Jesus Christ. 18:56 They've been engrafted into the family of God by conversion. 19:00 You remember once Jesus said, Who is my brother? 19:04 Who is my sister? 19:06 Who is my mother? 19:07 He says, He who does the will of God, that is my brother, 19:13 and my sister, and my father, and my mother. 19:17 The word brethren does not mean unregenerate sinners. 19:20 The word brethren refers to those who have gone through 19:24 the experience of conversion. 19:26 Their human nature has been regenerated. 19:29 They have been born again, in other words. 19:33 This is very, very important. 19:34 So Jesus was made like unto His converted brethren, 19:38 His born again brethren. 19:40 In other words, Jesus, when He was born, 19:42 He never had to be born again, because He was born again. 19:51 Are you catching my point? 19:53 Now let's go to Hebrews 4:14, 15, Hebrews 4:14, 15. 20:03 Remember that Jesus had to come all the way down. 20:06 Hebrews 4:14, 15. 20:09 These are marvelous verses. 20:11 They fill us with hope. It says there: 20:22 Whose infirmities? 20:35 What does that verse say? 20:38 Is the verse clear? 20:41 It is crystal clear. It says: 20:55 Now some people say, Well, Pastor, if He was tempted in all 20:59 points like we are, but He never sinned, 21:03 how can He understand us? 21:05 I like to use this illustration. 21:08 If you were sinking in quick sand, and you were all the way 21:14 up to your neck, and your head was about to go under, 21:18 what would you rather have? 21:20 Would you rather have someone in the quicksand sympathizing 21:26 with you, or would you rather have someone on solid ground 21:30 who can pull you out? 21:32 I think I don't even have to answer my own question, 21:37 because the answer is obvious. 21:38 If Jesus had jumped into the quicksand along with us, 21:44 and He had become a sinner, He took a sinful nature, 21:49 but He didn't sin, but if He had become a sinner, He would have 21:52 needed a what? He would have needed a Savior. 21:55 He would have needed a Redeemer. 21:57 But we're being told here that He was tempted in all things, 22:01 yet without sin. He took our nature, and for 33 years 22:07 He lived a perfect, sinless life; never acted out one sin. 22:15 That's amazing! 22:17 Now, if Jesus did not come with our nature, we have serious 22:24 theological problems. 22:28 I don't want you to assume that I'm being sacrilegious here, 22:30 but I want to give you an illustration, because I want 22:32 you to understand what I'm saying. 22:34 Let's imagine that Superman really existed. 22:38 Now I know that Superman doesn't exist. 22:40 Let's suppose that Superman really did exist. 22:43 And Superman comes to that door and he says 22:48 to those gathered here today, he says, Folks, come outside 22:54 with me. And so we all step out the door; we go outside. 22:57 And then Superman flies off into the air and he says, 23:02 Follow me! What would you say? 23:10 Superman, you're crazy! 23:13 You see, you have powers that I don't have. 23:17 You have a different nature than I have. 23:20 You see, if Jesus had a human nature different than we do, 23:28 on what basis could God ask us to follow His example? 23:32 If Jesus was superior to us, if Jesus had advantages over us, 23:38 on what basis could He tell us to follow His example? 23:43 On what basis could we even follow His example? 23:47 Are you understanding what I am saying? 23:49 And so Jesus came all the way down. 23:52 Now, if you look at the genealogy of Christ, 23:57 in Matthew 1, you'll discover some very interesting things. 24:02 He had quite the list of ancestors. 24:05 Let me just mention some of them to you. 24:09 You have Abraham the liar, more than once. 24:14 You have Jacob the supplanter. 24:18 You have David the murderer, and the adulterer. 24:24 You have Rahab the harlot. 24:27 You have Ruth, who was not even an Israelite. 24:31 She was a Moabite. 24:32 And you have Amon who was so idolatrous, and so wicked, 24:39 that he filled the streets of Jerusalem with the innocent 24:43 blood of his own people. 24:45 That was the ancestry of Christ, because Jesus descended from 24:53 Abraham, and He descended from David. 24:56 Now you might say, Well, God spared Him that inheritance. 25:01 Listen folks, A. T. Jones, a very famous preacher back in 25:06 the 1888 Minneapolis Conference, wrote a book titled, 25:11 The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection. 25:14 And he used this argument: He said, if Jesus did not come 25:20 to this world with our sinful nature... 25:24 By the way, the sinful nature never sinned. 25:27 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 25:28 If Jesus did not come to this world with our sinful nature, 25:32 then Mary, His mother, must have been 25:37 immaculately conceived. 25:39 Have you ever heard the doctrine of the immaculate conception? 25:44 You know, many people assume that the doctrine of the 25:46 immaculate conception means that the Catholic Church teaches 25:50 that Jesus was born immaculate. 25:52 That's not the doctrine. 25:54 The doctrine of the immaculate conception is that Mary was born 25:59 without sinful human nature, because how could she give birth 26:06 to Jesus with a perfect and sinless nature, 26:10 if Jesus inherited a sinful nature from her? 26:15 And so they spare Mary from having a sinful nature, 26:19 and therefore they say Jesus could be born without 26:22 a sinful nature. This creates huge problems, because if you 26:27 believe that Mary was born without the sinful nature, 26:31 you would have to assume that her mother also was born without 26:34 a sinful nature. And her mother must have been born without 26:38 a sinful nature, and so on. 26:40 The fact is that Jesus descended from Mary, who was from the 26:45 line that is mentioned in Matthew 1, the line of Abraham, 26:49 and Jacob, and David, and all of these individuals 26:53 that are mentioned in the genealogy of Christ. 26:56 He truly inherited the sinful human nature. 27:02 You're probably saying, this probably is a unique 27:06 Adventist view. I want to read a statement from, 27:09 perhaps arguably, the greatest theologian 27:13 of the twentieth century. 27:15 You've probably never heard of him. 27:17 His name is Karl Barth. 27:19 He wrote in his Church Dogmatics, Volume 1, 27:24 part 2, page 153, the following words: 27:48 Do you notice this? 27:51 By the way, he was a reformed theologian. 27:54 He continues saying: 28:27 So Karl Barth himself, and I have other statements from other 28:31 non-Adventist theologians, who teach the same truth that Jesus 28:36 assumed our sinful nature, and He did not allow that sinful 28:42 nature to manifest itself in acts of sin. 28:46 In other words, Jesus had a sinful nature, but He developed 28:52 a holy character. 28:54 Jesus had, in other words, sinful flesh. 28:58 He did not have holy flesh. 29:01 He had sinful flesh, like we have sinful flesh. 29:05 And yet Jesus never allowed the sinful flesh to manifest 29:10 itself in acts of sin. 29:12 The instant the temptation came to Christ, Jesus resisted it. 29:19 He never for a momentary instant had an inclination, 29:23 or a tendency to commit sin, because the moment the 29:27 temptation arrived, even before He would have a tendency or an 29:31 inclination to commit the sin, He would say, It is written! 29:35 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 29:38 He had no inclination, He never played with temptation and said, 29:42 Should I, or shouldn't I? 29:44 Never did Jesus have that feeling. 29:47 He never had a tendency, or an inclination to commit 29:50 an act of sin, even though He had our nature. 29:53 Now is that comforting truth for us? 29:56 Is that encouraging truth for us? 29:58 I'll tell you, that is very encouraging to me, 30:00 because I need to know that there is power to overcome. 30:05 There is power to conquer. 30:07 Notice Romans 8:3, 4, Romans 8: 3, 4. 30:17 Here we find very clearly this same idea 30:20 expressed by the apostle Paul. It says there: 30:30 In other words, the law can't save us. 30:40 In the likeness of what? 30:42 In other words, He came in the likeness of our flesh, 30:46 the likeness of our flesh. 30:48 His flesh was like our flesh, sinful flesh. And so it says: 31:02 How did Jesus condemn sin? in sinful flesh, 31:08 according to this. 31:16 The apostle Paul is saying that we can follow 31:18 the example of Jesus. 31:19 We can walk not according to the flesh, 31:22 but according to the Spirit. 31:24 I would like to read several statements also from 31:29 the Spirit of Prophecy. 31:31 The first of these is in The Desire of Ages, pages 311, 312. 31:37 Very meaningful statements. 31:39 And she's speaking in the context of the Lord's ladder. 31:45 I almost said Jacob's ladder. 31:46 The Lord's ladder. 31:47 See, we are climbing Jacob's ladder. 31:49 We're not climbing Jacob's ladder. Be real! 31:51 We're climbing the Lord's ladder. Notice: 32:19 How far did the ladder come down? 32:22 All the way down. She continues saying: 32:30 Where does Christ reach? Adam before he fell? No. 32:37 He reaches us where we are. 32:53 Imagine that: living in sinful flesh, 32:56 and yet living a sinless life. 33:04 That's the top of the ladder. 33:21 Well, after all, you do know that text of the apostle Paul 33:25 where he says, I can do most things through Christ 33:28 who strengthens me. 33:29 I can do some things through Christ who strengthens me. 33:34 Is that what the text says? 33:36 The text says, I can do all things except overcome sin, 33:40 through Christ who strengthens me. 33:41 The last I knew, all means all. 33:45 If I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, 33:50 it means that I can also overcome sin through the 33:54 power of Jesus, like Jesus overcame sin through 33:57 the power of the Spirit that dwelt in His life. 34:01 Allow me to read just a few more statements here. 34:04 This one is from Signs of the Times, October 17, 1900. 34:09 She says: 34:19 In other words, Adam had no indwelling sin. 34:21 That's not what led him to yield. 34:40 Now here comes the contrast. 34:50 See the contrast between Adam and Jesus? 35:14 In another statement that we find in The Desire of Ages, 35:17 page 49, Ellen White says this: 35:33 Did you catch that? 35:36 It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for Jesus 35:40 to take the human nature of Adam before his sins, she's saying. 35:49 Notice the word "but" again. 36:06 That's Matthew, chapter 1. 36:28 Allow me to read just a few more. 36:31 The Adventist Review and Sabbath Herald, February 24, 1874. 36:37 Ellen White says: 36:50 Did you catch that? 36:52 Taking the place of whom? fallen Adam. 36:56 General Conference Bulletin, April 23, 1901, she says this: 37:13 Perhaps one more; Youth's Instructor, December 20, 1900. 37:18 By the way, do you notice that most of these statements are 37:20 from the early 1900's, right after the Congress of 37:24 Minneapolis in 1888. She says this: 37:37 Did you catch that? 37:39 I'm going to read that again. 37:58 Folks there is no excuse for sin. 38:02 We can't say, the devil made me do it. 38:05 The world made me do it. 38:07 The flesh made me do it. 38:09 After all I have sinful flesh. 38:10 Do you know what you're really saying when you say that you 38:13 can't overcome sin? 38:14 You're not saying that the flesh is weak, what you're saying is 38:17 that God is not powerful enough. 38:20 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 38:22 When you say, I can't overcome. 38:24 It's impossible to overcome sin, because I have a 38:27 sinful human nature. 38:28 You're saying that even God cannot give you power 38:31 to overcome that sinful nature. 38:33 You're limiting the power of God by saying 38:36 that it's not possible. 38:37 Now, so we have this ladder. 38:43 By the way, do you know what's interesting? 38:45 This ladder is not, first of all, set up on earth, 38:49 and then it reaches the top. 38:50 You know, that's the way we set up ladders? 38:52 You know, you take it out from the garage, and then you take it 38:55 and you put it on the ground, and you put it up to the roof? 38:59 No, with God's ladder it's different. 39:01 See with God's ladder, the ladder is let down 39:05 from heaven to earth. 39:06 It's up there first and then it comes down to earth, 39:09 and it bridges heaven and earth. 39:12 It reminds me of what happened several years ago in Texas. 39:15 You might remember this story; a little girl 39:17 who fell into a cistern. 39:18 Remember that? She was deep down in this narrow cistern. 39:22 And when the fire department came they were trying to figure 39:26 out how they could get her out. 39:28 She was too little, she was injured, 39:29 she couldn't take the rope. 39:31 They couldn't say, Take the rope and we'll pull you out. 39:34 So what happened is that one of the fire fighters actually 39:38 got in that real narrow cistern, and he was let down on the rope, 39:43 all the way to the level where she was. 39:46 He took her in his arms and lifted her up. 39:51 You see, the idea of this ladder is not that the ladder is set up 39:56 on earth, and we climb up to heaven, the idea is that the 40:00 ladder is let down from heaven to earth, 40:02 and then we can climb up. 40:04 The honor and the glory belongs to Him. 40:07 Now Jesus is the ladder that bridges heaven and earth. 40:11 You see, as God He unites us with God. 40:14 As man, He is united with us. 40:18 He is the God man. 40:21 Do you know that we're closer to God now 40:24 than if we'd never sinned? 40:25 Because if we'd sinned, Jesus would only be God, 40:28 but as a result of sin, now God is one of us 40:33 through Jesus Christ. 40:35 He's closer to us than if we had never sinned. 40:38 The ladder is Jesus. 40:40 The ladder, in fact, represents the intercessions 40:43 of Jesus for us. 40:45 Notice what we find in 1 Timothy 2:5, 1 Timothy 2:5. It says: 41:01 Who is the only mediator between heaven and earth? 41:03 The only mediator, the only one who can represent us 41:07 before the Father is Jesus, because He's one of us. 41:10 And He can represent us to His Father, 41:13 because He's one with His Father as well. 41:15 In other words, Jesus is the bridge 41:18 between heaven and earth. 41:19 You know what saddens me? 41:22 What saddens me is that there's a church in this world 41:25 that teaches that you need priests, human priests, 41:29 to unite you with heaven. 41:31 They say that, you know, you come to the priest, 41:35 and the priest, he represents you before God. 41:38 He presents your sins before God, and he forgives you. 41:41 There are two problems with that idea. 41:44 Problem number one is that according to Hebrews 7:25, 26, 41:50 if you'd go with me there, Hebrews 7:25, 26. 41:54 The only priest that can represent us is a priest 41:58 who is perfectly undefiled by sin. 42:01 It says there in Hebrews 7: 25, 26; 42:13 Did you notice that? We come unto God by whom? 42:15 We come unto God by Him. 42:23 See, He represents us before God. 42:25 And who is the only one who can do that? Notice verse 26: 42:38 In order to be a priest he has to be what? 42:41 He has to be perfect. 42:43 I don't know a single human priest who is perfect. 42:47 And so human priests cannot bridge the gap 42:52 between us and God. 42:53 But there's another reason why human priests can't do it, 42:56 and that is because in order for the ladder to bridge the heaven 43:01 and the earth, the person who bridges it must be God, 43:04 and must be man. 43:05 And I don't know the first priest on earth who is God. 43:09 They are men, but they are not God. 43:12 They have the bottom of the ladder, but they have no 43:14 way of getting to the top, because the mediator 43:17 has to be man and he has to be God, and he has to be perfect. 43:22 And so a human priesthood representing us before God 43:26 is simply false theology, and dangerous theology, 43:30 because it gives us the impression that our hope 43:33 rests upon the arm of man. 43:36 Do you know what the ladder represents is the 43:41 intercession of Jesus for us. 43:42 You know, if we do sin 1 John 2:1 says, These things I write 43:49 to you so that you sin not, but if anyone sins we have what? 43:55 We have an advocate with the Father, 43:57 Jesus Christ the righteous. 44:00 So, in other words, Jesus represents us before the Father. 44:03 And let me say this, folks, in order for Jesus to bridge 44:07 the gap between us and heaven, we must be truly repentant, 44:12 and we must confess our sins without excuse. 44:18 We must be sorry for sin. 44:21 You know, Proverbs 28:13 says that we must not only confess 44:26 our sin, but we must forsake our sins 44:30 through the power of Jesus. 44:32 But the good news is that if we blow it, if we sin, Jesus Christ 44:36 represents us before the Father when there is true repentance, 44:40 and when there is confession of sin. 44:42 You know, once we've knelt at the foot of our bed at night, 44:45 and we do an inventory of our lives, we say, 44:47 Oh, I blew it here, and I did this wrong today, 44:50 and I just lost my temper. 44:51 You know, when we think about what we did throughout the day, 44:55 we can kneel and we pray, Jesus, you know, I'm really sorry 44:58 about all of these things that I did. 45:00 And we're supposed to confess our sins specifically, 45:03 not just a general, please forgive me my sins, 45:06 but we're supposed to think on our sins individually. 45:09 And that those sins led Jesus to the cross, 45:12 and when we do them we feel sorrow for sin because 45:15 we recognize what sin did to Jesus. 45:18 We say, Oh, Jesus, please forgive me for what I've done. 45:22 And then Jesus is the ladder that bridges us with heaven. 45:26 Isn't that good news? 45:28 So He not only gives us power, but He also gives us 45:33 forgiveness, because we are on a road that leads us to growth. 45:40 Now, upon the ladder there were angels ascending and descending. 45:47 You know, we don't give enough of a role to angels. 45:51 Angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man. 45:55 What could that possibly mean? 45:58 Well, let me talk to you a moment about the 46:01 veil of the temple. 46:02 Go with me to Exodus 26:31, Exodus 26:31. 46:10 I want you to notice that between the holy and 46:12 the most holy place, right in front of the alter of incense, 46:17 or the golden altar, there was a veil. 46:20 And I want you to notice the interesting characteristic about 46:23 that veil. Exodus 26:31. It says here: 46:42 And there were cherubim's ascending and descending 46:46 upon the veil. The book of Hebrews says that the veil 46:50 represents the flesh of Jesus Christ. 46:53 And, by the way, when incense was offered on that altar, 46:58 the incense would ascend where the curtain was, and it would go 47:05 into the presence of God. 47:06 Do you know what that represents? 47:08 It represents the fact that when we pray our prayers are borne 47:14 by the angels to the courts of heaven. 47:17 And when God answers our prayers, He sends His angels 47:25 to this earth to fulfill that which we are requesting in 47:31 harmony with His will. 47:32 You know we have biblical examples of this. 47:35 For example, in Daniel 9:22, 23, we find Daniel praying for light 47:44 about the prophecy of the 2300 days. 47:47 And while he's praying, suddenly appears before him the angel 47:54 Gabriel, and Gabriel actually says, Before you even 47:58 finished your prayer, I was on my way with the Lord's answer. 48:03 So, in other words, the angels are ministering spirits 48:07 between heaven and earth. 48:08 They are the emissaries of Jesus. 48:12 They take our prayers to heaven, they bring God's answers back. 48:15 This church that I was mentioning a little while ago, 48:19 they teach that individuals who died and went to heaven 48:23 are our intercessors. 48:26 And, of course, the greatest intercessor, in their mind, 48:29 is Mary. So if Mary and all of these heroes, so to speak, 48:36 are our intercessors between heaven and earth, 48:38 that means that the angels must fold their wings, 48:41 and fold their hands, and they're left unemployed. 48:45 But really the connection between heaven and earth 48:50 is close indeed. This world is filled with emissaries of God. 48:56 It's filled with angels just waiting to do the biddings 49:00 of God when we ask. 49:03 Matthew 4:11 describes Jesus in the wilderness. 49:11 And when Jesus was in the wilderness we are told 49:15 that angels from heaven came down and ministered unto Christ. 49:22 So the angels even ministered unto Jesus while Jesus was here. 49:29 And when Jesus goes back to heaven He's still the commander 49:32 of the angels. The angels still fulfill His biddings. 49:36 In that sense the angels ascend and descend on the Son of man, 49:42 because they are the instruments of Jesus to fulfill His will 49:46 throughout the universe. 49:48 Do you know, there's another story in the book of Genesis. 49:54 It's in Genesis 11, the story of the tower. 49:58 Have you ever read that story? 50:02 You know, that's just the opposite of 50:04 what we studied tonight. 50:05 In our study we've noticed that the ladder, which bridges heaven 50:10 and earth, is let down from heaven and set up on earth 50:14 so that we can go up. 50:16 But in Genesis 11 the builders of the tower, this is after 50:21 the flood, they want to save themselves from another flood. 50:26 And so they build the tower from the bottom up. 50:30 You see, salvation comes from up down, not from down up. 50:35 We do not save ourselves by our works. 50:39 We do not save ourselves by our towers. 50:42 We do not save ourselves by what we do. 50:44 They said, Let us make a name for ourselves, 50:50 and so they tried to ascend to the highest heavens 50:54 on their tower to save themselves from another flood. 50:57 And God said, You're going about it the wrong way. 51:00 You can never reach up to heaven. 51:02 Heaven reaches unto you. 51:05 Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve sinned. 51:10 We don't find Adam saying, Oh Lord, please forgive me. 51:15 We don't see that. 51:16 God comes down to the garden and He says, Adam, where are you? 51:23 Adam isn't seeking after God. 51:26 God is seeking Adam. 51:28 In Romans 3:11, it says there is no one who seeketh after God. 51:34 In other words, God comes down and seeks us, in Jesus, 51:39 the ladder, so that we can then climb up. 51:42 We don't build our ladder so that we can get up there. 51:45 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 51:47 Babel represents the human attempt to save itself, 51:52 whereas the ladder represents God saving us. 51:56 Now somebody might be saying, Well, Pastor Bohr, 51:58 but what about that text that says, You shall seek me, 52:01 and you shall find me, when you seek me with all your heart? 52:04 See man does seek after God, but do you know what? 52:08 God implants in our hearts the desire to seek Him. 52:11 Do you know, we don't even repent. 52:14 God gives us repentance, according to scripture. 52:19 And when He plants the Spirit of repentance in our hearts, 52:23 we repent. God gives us a spirit of confession. 52:26 In other words, all salvation originates with God, whether 52:30 it be repentance, whether it be confession, 52:32 no matter what it is, whether it's a seeking God, it's because 52:36 God has planted it first in the human heart. 52:38 And that's what the ladder is trying to teach. 52:42 God has let down the ladder to save us. 52:47 Now we are climbing the Lord's ladder. 52:52 We're not there yet, but we're climbing the ladder. 52:55 Do you know what climbing the ladder represents? 52:59 It represents the fact that every day we are growing 53:03 in our Christian experience. 53:05 We are gaining victories in our Christian life. 53:09 And do you know how we do it? 53:10 Go with me to the book of Hebrews 12, Hebrews 12. 53:16 Now if you're on a ladder is it very safe to look down? 53:21 Where do you usually look when you're climbing a ladder? 53:26 I'll tell you what, I look up. 53:29 Notice Hebrews 12:1. 53:32 Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great 53:38 a cloud of witnesses,... 53:51 How can we run with patience the race that is set before us? 53:54 How can we lay aside, according to this, every weight, 53:57 and the sin which besets us so easily? 54:00 How can we do it? Verse 2. 54:20 The word consider means to concentrate upon. 54:35 How is it that we're not weary or faint? 54:37 By keeping our eyes where? on Jesus. 54:44 When I was going to school before I got married, 54:48 before I met my wife in Columbia, we went to visit this 54:51 great big rock that sticks out of the ground. 54:54 The name of the rock is El Penol. 54:56 Huge, I mean it's, Oh, several hundred feet tall. 55:01 And when we went to that place with the school, 55:05 we went on an outing, they had a ladder made out of wood 55:11 that went like a maze up one side of that rock. 55:17 And the interesting thing is it was a hanging ladder. 55:21 It had ropes on the side, and many of the boards of the ladder 55:26 were missing. It was actually not a ladder, it was a walkway 55:30 that would go up, you know, up and up and up. 55:33 You didn't have steps. 55:34 You had to grab onto the ropes, and you had to step over the 55:38 boards that were missing. 55:39 And I'll tell you, when I got up there that wind started whipping 55:44 back and forth, and you know, I peeked one time through one of 55:48 those boards, and it was a long ways down there. 55:51 But they had told us before we got on that ladder, 55:56 or that walkway up to the top of the rock, 55:59 and I've been to the top. 56:01 Now, also, they have a cement stairs that go all the way to 56:05 the top, Praise the Lord. 56:06 It's a lot easier now, although it takes a lot of stamina 56:09 stamina to get out there. 56:10 But, anyway, they said two things to us 56:14 when we were about to go up: 1. Hang on for dear life. 56:20 2. Don't look down. 56:24 And I must admit I did disobey once, because I looked down, 56:29 and I was sorry I did. 56:31 Do you know, that's the way that we can overcome sin. 56:35 1. Don't look down. 56:42 Look unto Jesus. Keep your eyes on the ladder. 56:47 From bottom to top as we ascend, let's keep our eyes 56:52 on the holy city, on Jesus, the author and finisher 56:57 of our faith. If we did that, and watch less television, 56:59 listen to less worldly music, and were less concerned 57:02 about our own riches, and our own money, we would have victory 57:05 in our Christian life. 57:06 But we have a tendency to look down instead of looking up. 57:10 And folks, for everything in the world, 57:15 let's hang on to Jesus, the author 57:21 and finisher of our faith. |
Revised 2023-11-10