Genesis 28:12

Genesis 28:12.

I. Jesus, the Ladder, connects earth with heaven.

II. This ladder comes to sinners.

III. God is at the top, speaking kind words down the ladder.

IV. Advice to climbers: (1) Be sure to get the right ladder; there are plenty of shams. (2) Take firm hold; you will want both hands. (3) Don't look down or you will be giddy. (4) Don't come down to fetch any one else up. If your friends will not follow you, leave them behind.

T. Champness, New Coins from Old Gold,p. 91.

I. The ancient heathens told in their fables how the gods had all left the earth one by one; how one lingered in pity, loath to desert the once happy world; how even that one at last departed. Jacob's dream showed something better, truer than this; it showed him God above him, God's angels all about him.

II. The intercourse between God and man has been enlarged and made perpetual in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son.

III. When Jacob awoke he consecrated a pillar, and vowed to build a sanctuary there and give tithes. We cannot altogether commend the spirit in which he made his vow. He tried to make a good bargain with the Almighty; yet God accepted him. The place was holy to him, because he knew that God was there.

R. Winterbotham, Sermons and Expositions,p. 31.

References: Genesis 28:12. M. Nicholson, Communion with Heaven,p. 77; J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes,2nd series, p. 66; W. Meller, Village Homilies,p. 86; R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons,3rd series, p. 53; Bishop Woodford, Occasional Sermons,p. 242.Genesis 28:12. Homiletic Quarterly,vol. i., p. 272; Clergyman's Magazine,vol. vi., p. 99. Genesis 28:13. Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxvii., p. 129.