The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1901-12-05
"DREAMS"
DR.. TaImage Snys They Are the Avenue
Through Which God Has Marched
Upon the Human Soul.
Proof of Immortality Warned by God.

WASHINGTON, d. C.-In this discourse
Dr. Talmage discusses much talked of
SUBJECT, and one in which all are inter-
out My spirit upon all flesh Your old
men shall dream drears, your young men
shall see visions"
In this photograph Of the millennium
the dream is lifted into great conspicuity.
You may say of a dream that it is a noe
turnal fantasia, or that it is the absurd
combination of waking thoughts, and with
slur of intonation 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 dream
to Abimelech, warning him against an un-
lawful marriage; in a dream to Jacob, an
nouncing by the ladder set against the
sky full OF angels, the communication be-
tween earth and heaven; in a dream TO
Joseph, foretelling his coming power under
the figure of all the sheaves Of the harvest
!bowing down to his sheaf; to the chief
butler, foretelling his disimprisonment to
the chief baker, announcing his decapita-
tlon; to Pharaoh, showing him first the
seven famine struck years, under the
figure of the seven lean cows devouring
the seven fat COWS; TO Solomon giving
him the choice between wisdom and
riches and honor: to warrior, under the
figure of barley cake shifting down a
tent, encouraging Gideon in his battle
against the Midianites; to Nebuchadnez-
Ear, under the figure of broken image
and hewn down tree, foretelling the over
throw of his power; to Joseph, of the
New Testament, announcing the birth of
Christ in his own household, and again
bidding him fly from Herodic prosecutions;
to Pilates wife, warning him not to be-
come complicated with the judicial over
throw of Christ.
We all admit that God in ancient times
and under Bible dispensation addressed
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 / will try to answer. You ask me
il I believe in dreams. Ny answer is, 1
do, but all have to say will be under five
heads
Remark the First-The Scriptures are
so full of revelation from Cod that if we
get no communication from Him in dreams
we ought, nevertheless, to he satisfied.
With twenty guideboolls to tell you how
to get to New York or Pittsburg or Lon
don or Glasgow or Manchester do you
want a night vision to tell you how to
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 directory, we
ought to be satisfied. | have more faith
in a decision to which ] come when ! am
wide awake than when | am sound asleep.
] have noticed 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 going to die.
If they dream of a garden it means a sep
ulcher. If something turns out according
to a night vision, they say; well, | am
not surprised; l dreamed it." If it turns
out different from the night vision, they
say, well, dreams go by eontraries." In
their efforts to put their. dreams into
rhythm they put their DIIg waking thoughts G Is
revelation that we ought to be satisfied
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
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 thousand times it has been DEM
onstrated that earth and heaven are in
communication. No such dream needed as
that which was given to Abimelech, warn
ing him against an unlawful marriage,
when we have the records of the county
clerks office. No need of such dream as
was given to Pharoah 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 Gideon, for all
through Christendom it is announced and
acknowledged and demonstrated that
righteousness sooner or later will get the
victory. =.
If there should come about crisis in
your life upon which the Bible does not
seem to be sufficiently specific go to God
in prayer, and you will get especial direc-
ton. / have more faith 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 information you will get uncon-
scious on your pillow.
/ can very easily understand why the
Babylonians and the Egyptians, with no
Bible, should put so much stress on dreams,
and the Chinese in their holy book, Chow
King, should think their emperor gets his
directions through dreams from God, and
that Homer should think that all dreams
came from Jove, and that in ancient times
dreams were classified into a science, but
why do you and | put so much stress upon
dreams when we have a supernal book of
infinite wisdom on all subjects? Why
should we harry ourselves with dreams?
Why should Eddystone and Barnegat
lighthouses question a summer frehy?
Remark the Second-All dreams have an
important meaning. They prove that the
soul is comparatively independent of the
body The eyes are closed, the senses are
dull, the entire body goes into lethargy
which in all languages is used as a type Of
death, and then the soul spreads its wing
and never sleeps. 1t leaps the Atlantic
Ocean and mingles in scenes 5000 miles
away. 1t travels great reaches of time,
flashes back eighty years, and the octoge-
marian is n boy again in his fathers house.
If the soul before it has entirely broken its
chain of flesh can do all this, how far can
it leap, what circles can it cut when it is
fully liberated? Every dream, whether
agreeable or harassing, whether sunshiny
or tempestuous, means SO much that, ris-
ing from your couch. you ought to kneel
down and saw: 80 God. am | immortal?
Whence? Whittier? Two natures. My
soul Gagged now-what when the door Of
the cage is opened? If my soul can fly so
far in the few hours In which my body is
asleep in the night, how far can it fly
when my body sleeps the long sleep of the
grave?"' Oh, this power TO dream, how
startling, how overwhelming! lmmortall
immortal
Remark the Third vast majority