The Penn's Grove record., 1893-03-31
REV. DR.. MAG
THE BROOkLYN DIv4seEs SUM-
DAY SERMON.
subiect:- biblical and Modern Mar
rations of Dreams"

rations of Dreams"
TEXT: "He took OF the stones of thaI
place and put them for his piHot0s and tdt
doDn IN that place to sleep, and he dream
sd"-Genesis xviii, II.
Asleep on a pillowcase filed with hens
feathers 1t is not strange one should have
pleasant dreams. but here is a pillow Ct
rock. and Jacob with bis head ON IL. and 10
a 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 a dream that 1t IL
nocturnal fantasia, or that it is the absurd
combination of waking thoughts. and with
a slur of information yon may say, ut is only
a DREAM" bu. 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 chs aged the course OF the worlds his
tory.
God appeared in a dream. to Abimelech,
warning him against an unlawful marriage;
in a Dream to Joseph, foretelling His com
ing power under the figure Of all the
sheaves of the harvest bowling down to his
sheaf; to the chief butler, foretelling his
dis~imprisonment; to the chief baker, an
~nouncing his decapitation, to Pharaoh,
showing him first the seven plenty years
and then the seven famine struck years, un-
der the figure OF the seven fat cows devour-
Ing the seven lean cows; to Solomon, giving
h'n the choice between wisdom and riches
and honor; to the warrior, under the figure
OF a barley cake shifting down a tent, en-
C. uraging Gideon in his battle against the
Amelekites; to Ne~buchadnezzar, under the
n ure OF a broken image and a hewn down
uep, foretelling his overthrow of power, to
Joseph of the New Testament, announcing
flta hirth. nf lNbrtaf 10, I'D, ayu. haa.aahpId. Tn
Mary, bidding her fly from Herodic perse-
c%utions; to Pilates wife, warning hin not
tn become complicated with the judicial
overthrow OF Christ.
We all admit that God in ancient times
and under Bible d~ispensation addressed the
people through dreams. Ths question now
is, Does God appear in our day and reveal
Himself through dreamsf That is the ques-
ton everybody asks, and that question this
morning | shall try to answer. You ask me
If | believe in dreams. MY answer is l do
believe in dreams, but all l nave to say will
be under five heads.
Remark the Flrst-The Scriptures are so
full OF revelation from God that IL We get
no communication from Him in dreams we
ought nevertheless to be satisfied.
With 20 guiiebooks to tell you how to get
to Boston or Pittshurg or London or Glas-
gov 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 lite ami how to
get to the celestial city, and with this grand
guiiebook, this magnificent directory. we
GU ht to be satisfied. 1 have more faith in
a decision to which | come when l am wide
awake than when | am sound asleep. have
noticed that those who gave a 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 housa.
II in their dream they take the hand of a
corpse, they are going to die. If they dream
OF a garden, it means a s%epulcher. 1t some
thing turns out according to a night vision,
they say, Well, | am not surprised. 1
the night vision. they say, well, dreams
go by contraries." In their efforts to put
their dreams into rhythm they put theIf
waking thoughts into discord. Now the
Bible is so full Of revelation that we ought
10 be satisfied if we get no further revela'
ton.
Sound sleep received great honor when
Adam slept SO extraordinarily that the sur
gical incision which gave him Eve did not
wake him, but there IS no such need for ex-
trsordinary slumber now, n he who
catches an Eve must needs be wide awakei
Noneed of such q dream as Jacob ha l with
a ladder against the sky, when 10000 times
It had been demonstr tied that earth and
heaven are in communication. NJ such
dream needed as that which was given to
Abimelech, warning him against an unlawful
marriage, when we have the records OF the
county clerks office. No need OF such q
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 breeistuffs to every
famine struck Nation. No need of a dream
like that which encouraged Gideon, for all
through Christendom it is announced and
acknowledged and demonstrated that right
sousness sooner or later will get the victory.
IL there should come about a crisis in
your life upon which the Bible does not
seem to be sufficient y specific, go to dol in
prayer, and you will get especial direction.
have more faith 80 times out of 100 in d.
rections gwen you with the Bible IN your
Ian and your thoughts uplifted in prayer TO
God than in ali the information you viii
get unc onscious on your pillow.
/ can very easily understand why the
Babylonians and the Egyptians, with no
Bible, should put 50 much stress on dreams,
and the Chinese, in their holy book. Chow
King. should think their emperor gets his
directions through dreams from God, n
that Homer should thin that all dreams
came from Jove, and that in ancient tunes
dreams were classified into a science. But
why do you inc 1 put 50 much stress upon
dreams when we have a supernal book OF IN
finite wisdom on all subjectsg Why should
we harry ourselves with dreamsr Why
should Eddystone an | Barnegat lighthouses
question a summer hrefy.
Remark the Second-All dreams have an
important meaning.
fbey prove that the soul Is comparatively
inlspendent of the body. The eyes are
closed, the senses are dull, the entire body
goes into a iethargy which In all languages
Is used as a type OF death, and then the sool
Spreads its wing and never sleeps. 1t leaps
the Atlantic Ocean and mingles In scenes
800 miles away. 1t travels greatreaches Of
time, flashes back eighty years, and the
octogenarian is a boy again in his ia; hers
house. II the soul before 1t has entirely
broken its chains OF flesh can do all this, o
far can 1t leap, what circles can 1t cut. wheD
it is fully liberated.
Every dream, whether agreeable or har-
assinc. whether sunshiny or tempestuous,
means so much that rising from your couch
YOU ought TO kneel down and say; - God,
am 1 immortals Whences Whitherf Two
natures. My soul caged now-what when
the door of the cage is openeds II my soul
can Az so tar in the few hours in which my
body is asleep in the night, how far Can it
hy when my body sleeps the long sleep OF
the praye!' On, this power to dream, o
startling. 10 YER helmingi IL prepared
for the after death flight. what an e~nchant
ment! Ii not prepared for the after death
flight, what a crushing agoayi immortal
Immortal!
Remark the Third-The vast majority
of dreams are merely the result Of disturbed
physical condition and are not a supernatural
message.
job ha l ~carbuncles, and he was scared in
the night. He says, "fhou scarest me with
dreams and terrifiest me with visions" Solo
mon had an overweight brain, over
wrought with public business, and he suf-
fered from erratic s.umber, and he writes In
Ecclesiastes, "a dream cometh through the
multitude OF business" DIR. Gregory, in ex-
perimenting with dreams found that a bottle
OF hot water put to his feet while In slumbsr
made him think that he was going up the
hot side Of Mount Etns.
Another morbid physician, experimenting
with dreams, his feet uncovered through
slesp thought he was riding In Alpine dill
eence. But a great many dreams are mere
" narcarcotic disturbances. Anything thai
You see while under the influence OF chiosai
or pranuv or ~''nasueesn" or udanu is no
a revelation from God. The Learned II,
Quincy did not sscribe TO divine conmuni
cation what be saw in sleep opium saVu
rated. dreams which he after ward described
in the following WORKS:
81 was worshipei. l was sacrificed. Idao