That Ladder a Dream
IllustrationStory★★★★A man dreamed that he built a ladder from earth to heaven; and when he did a good deed, up went his ladder a few feet. When he did a very good deed, his ladder went higher; and when he gave away large sums of money to the poor, up it went further still.
By and by it went out of sight; and as years rolled on, it went up, he thought, past the clouds, clear into heaven. When he died he thought he would step off his ladder into heaven; but he heard a voice roll out from paradise— “He that climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.”
Down he came, ladder and all, and he awoke. He saw that if he wanted to get salvation, he must get it in another way than by good deeds; and he took the other way, which is by Jesus Christ.
D. L. Moody, Anecdotes and Illustrations (©1898, public domain)
The point
A dream of a ladder to heaven built by good deeds collapses when a voice declares that climbing up any other way makes one a thief and a robber, teaching that salvation is through Christ alone, not works.