The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1893-04-07
A DISCOURSE ON DREAMS.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage on Wis.,
ions of the Night
The Scriptures Full OF Revelations from
God I'm the Form OF Dreams
All Dreams Have nm I'm
portant Mission.

The following discourse on the sub
ject of Dreams" was delivered by
Rev. 7. Dewitt Talmage in the Brook
lyn tabernacle, from the text:
He took OF the stones OF that place and put
them for his pillows, and lay down in that place
20 sleep and he acknowledgements xviii, IL.
Asleep on a pillow-case filled with
hens feathers, it is not strange one
should have pleasant dreams But here
is pillow of rock, and Jacob with his
head on it. and lol q dream of angels,
two professions, those coming down the
stairs met by those going up the stairs.
1t is the first dream of Bible record.
You may say of dream that it is noe
turnal fantasia. or that it is the absurd
combination of waking thoughts, and
with n slur of intonation you may say:
ut is only a dream;" but God has hon.
ored the dream by making it the avenue
through which again and again He has
marched upon the human soul, decided
the fate of nations and changed the
course of the worlds history. God ap-
peared in dream to A bimelech, warn
ing him against an unlawful
marriage; in a dream TO Joseph,
foretellinR his coming power under
the figure of all the sheaves
of the harvest bowling down to his
sheaf; to the chief butler, foretelling
his disimprisonment; to the chief
baker, announcing his decapitation; to
Pharaoh, showing him first the seven
plenty years, and then the seven fam
ine-struck years, under the figure of
the seven fat cows devouring the
seven lean cows; to Solomon, giving
him the choice between wisdom and
riches and honor; to the warrior, un-
der the figure of barley cake smit-
ing down a tent, encouraging Gideon
in his battle against the AmaleKites;
to Ncbuchadnezzar, under the figure
of broken image and a hewn-down
tree, foretelling his overthrow of
power; to Joseph, of the New Testa-
ment. announcing the birth of Christ
in his own households; to Mary, bidding
her fly from Herodic prosecutions; to
Pilates wife, warning him not to be-
come complicated with the judicial
overthrow of Christ.
We all admit that God in ancient
times and under Bible dispensation ad-
dressed the people through dreams. The
question now is, does God appear in our
day and reveal himself through dreams?
This is the question everybody asks,
and that question this morning / shall
try to answer You ask me if believe
in dreams. My answer is, do believe
in dreams, but all have to say will be
under five heads.
Remark the first: The Scriptures are
so full of revelation from God, that if
we get no communication from him in
dreams, we ought, nevertheless, to be
satisfied.
With twenty guide books to tell you
how to get to Boston or Pittsburgh, or
London or Glasgow, or Manchester, do
you want night vision to tell you
how to make the Journey We have in
this Scripture full direction in regard
to the journey of this life, and how to
get to the celestial city, and with this
grand guide book, this magnificent di-
rectory, we ought to be satisfied. I
have more faith in decision to which
come when / am wide-awake than
when 1 am sound asleep. / have no.
ticed that those who give a great deal
of their time to studying dreams get
their brains added. They are very anx-
ious to remember what they dreamed
about the first night they slept in
new house. If in their dream they
take the hand of a corpse, they are GO
ing to die. If they dream of garden,
it means a sepulcher. If something
turns out according to a night vision,
they say: "Wen, am not surprised.
dreamed it." If it turns out different
from the night vision, they say: "Well,
dreams go by contraries." In their ef-
forts to put their dreams into rhythm,
they put their waking thoughts into
discord. Now. the Bible is SO full of
revelation that we ought to be salts
fed if we get no further revelation.
Sound sleep received great honor
when Adam slept so extraordinarily
that the surgical incision which gave
him Eve did not wake him; but there
Is no such need for extraordinary slum-
Der now, and he who catches an Eve
must needs be wide awake! No need
of such a dream as Jacob had with
ladder against the sky, when ten thou
sand times it had been demonstrated
that earth and Heaven are in eommuni-
cation. No such dream needed as that
him against an unlawful marriage,
when we have the records of the county
clerks Office. No need of such dream
as was given to Pharaoh about the
seven years of famine, for now the
seasons march in regular procession,
and steamer and rail train carry bread
stuffs to every famine. stricken nation.
No need of dream like that which en-
couraged Gideon, for all through
Christendom it is announced and ac-
knowledged and demonstrated that
Righteousness sooner or later will get
the victory.
II there should come about a crisis
In your life upon which the Bible does
not seem to be sufficiently specific, 90
to God in prayer and you will get espe-
ninety-nine times out of hundred. in
directions given you with the Bible in
your lap and your thoughts uplifted in
prayer to God. than in all the informa-
ton you viii get unconscious on your
pillow. / can very easily understand
why the Babylonians and the Egyp-
tians, with no Bible, should put SO
much stress on dreams; and the Chi
nese, in their holy book, Chow King,
should think their emperor gets his di-
rections through dreams from God;
and that Homer should think that all
dreams came from Jove, and that i'm
ancient times dreams were classified
into science; but why do You and
put so much stress upon dreams when
we have a supernatural book of infinite
wisdom on 81 subiestsG Why should