The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-04-01
At THE TABERNACLE.
DR.. Talmage on Biblical and Modern
Variations Of Dreams.

For Common Life, God Very Rarely
Speaks to Man NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. on
Occasion the Dream Is Employed.
BROOKLYN, March ga remarkable
sermon was preached by Rev. DR.. Tai
mage in the Tabernacle today, the sub
ject being psychological and religious
study of the phenomena of the mind
during sleep and the significance of
dreams as evidence of Immortality The
text chosen was Genesis xvii, II, 'He
took of the stones of that place and put
them for his r,ialews and lay down in
that place to asp, and he dreamed"
Asleep on pillowcase filled with hens
feathers it is--not strange one should
have pleasant dreams, but here is a pill
low of rock, and Jacob with his head on
it, and, lol a dream of angels, two pro-
cessions, those coming down the stairs
metfby those going up the stairs. 1t is
the first dream of Bible record. You
may say of a dream that it is nocturnal
fantasia, or that it is the absurd combina-
ton Of waking thoughts, and with
slur of information you may say, .'It is
only dream" but God has honored 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 appeared in q dream to Abime-
lech. warning him against an unlawful
marriage; in dream to Joseph, foretell-
ing his coming power under the figure
of all the sheaves of the harvest bowling
down to his sheaf: to the chief butler,
foretelling his Imprisonment; to the
chief baker, announcing his decapitation;
to Pharaoh, showing him first the seven
plenty years and then the seven famine
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. under the figure of bar
ley cake shifting down tent, encourage
ing Gideon in his battle against the
Amelekites; to ACKNOWLEDGMENT, under
down tree, foretelling his overthrow of
power; to Joseph OF the New Testament,
announcing the birth of Christ in his own
household: to Mary, bidding her fly from
Herodic prosecutions: to Pilates wife,
warning him not to become complicated
with the judicial overthrow of Christ.
SUFFICIENT IS GIVEN TO ALL.
I'll fi,o+ God in, oyopin11f
times and under Bible dispensation adj
dressed the people through dreams. The
question now is. Does God appear in our
day and reveal himself through dreams?
That 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
der 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 sat
isfied
With 20 guidebooks to tell you how
to get to Boston or Pittsburg or London
or Glasgow or Manchester, do you want
a 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 guidebook,
this magnificent directory, we ought to
be satisfied. have more faith in a de-
cision to which come when I am wide
awake than when am sound asleep.
have noticed that those who give great
deal of their time to studying dreams
get their brains added. They are very
anxious to remember what they dreamed
about the first night they slept in a new
house.
II in their dream they take the hand
of a corpse, they are going to die. IF
they dream of garden, it means a sep
ulcher. IF something turns out accord
ing to night vision, they say: "Well,
am not surprised dreamed it," If
it turns out different from the night vi
sion, they say, ''Well, dreams go by
contraries" In their efforts 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 satisfied if we get no fur
Their revelation.
THE DEEP SLEEP OF ADAM.
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 slumber 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 10000 times it had been dem
onstrated that earth and heaven are in
communication. No such dream needed
as that which was given to Abimelech,
warning him against an unlawful mar
rage. when we have the records of the
county clerks office. No need of such a
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 breadstuffs
to every famine struck nation. No need
of dream like that which encouraged
C1.doo,, eoy. oil %J,-o11 oh CIri ION dom II