Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-12-04


- one in which all are Interested. The
text is Joel H., 90 90, - viii pour out my
spirit upon all flesh! your old men shall
dream dreams. your young men shall see
visions.
In this photograph of the millennium
the dream is lifted into great conspicuity.
You may say of dream that 1t is noe
turnaI fantasia or that it is the absurd
combination of waking thoughts and
with slur of information you nay say,
st is only dream" but God has hon
ored the dream by making it the avenue
through which again and agail4 he has
marched upon the human soul, decided
the fate of nations and changed the
course nf the worlds history. God APP
peared dream TO Abimeiech, warning
him against an unlawful marriage; IN a
dream to Jacob, announcing by the ladder
set against the sky full of angels the
communication between earth and heav-
en- in a dream to Joseph, foretelllng MS
coming power under the figure of al. the
sheayes of the harvest bowling down 10
his sheaf; to the chief butler, fore'elllng
his dsmprisonment: 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 lean COWS
deyouring the seven fat cows; to Solo
mon, giving him the choice between Wis
dom and riches and honor; to a warrior
under the figure of barley cake shifting
down a tent, encouraging Gideon IN his
battle against the Midianites; to Neb-
uchadnezzar, under the figure of a broken
image and a hewn down tree, foreteiling
the overthrow of his power; to Joseph or
the New Testament, announcing the birth
of Christ in his own household, and again
bidding him fly from Herodic persecu-
tons; to Pilates wife. warning him not
to become complicated with the judicial
overthrow of Christ.
We all admit that God in ancient times
and under Bible dispensation addressed
the people through dreams. The ques-
ton now is, does God appear in our day
and reveal himself through dreams? That
is the question everybody asks, and that
question 1 will try TO answer. You ask
me if believe in dreams. My answer is,
/ do, but all have to say will be under
five heads.
Remark the First-The Scriptures are
so full of revelations from God that if
we get no communication from him in
dreams we ought, nevertheless, TO be sat
isfed
With twenty guidebooks 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
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 decision to which 1 come when l am
wide awake than when l am sound
asleep. l have noticed that those who
give 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 n 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 sepulcher. If something turns
out according to night vision, they say:
"Well, l am not surprised. l dreamed
it." If it turns out different from the
night vision, they say, "Well, dreams go
by contraries." In their efforts to put
their dreams into rhythm they put their
waning ALOuSulS ihtO AIStVIh. ANohs tbt
Bible is. so full of revelation that we
ought to be satisfied if we get no further
revelation.
Adams Sound Sleep.
Sound sleep received great honor when
Adam slept so extraorG inarily that the
surgical incision which gave him Eve did
not wake him, but there is no such need
for extraordinary slup.ber now. and he
who catches an Eve must needs be wide
awake, No need o such a dream as Ja-
cob had, with ladder against the sky
when ten thousand mes it has been DEM
onstrated that eartl and heaven are in
communication. No such dream needed
as that which was given to Abmelech,
warning him against an unlawful mar
riage, 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 sea-
sons march in regular procession and
steamer and rail train carry breadstnffs
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 demon
strated thai righteousness, sooner or lat
or, will get the victory.
Ii there should come about n crisis ia
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
time out of a hundred, in directions Civ
en- you with the Bible in y0ur lap and
your thoughts uplifted in prayer to God
than in all the information you will get
unconscious OF 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 Kign. should think their
emperor gets his directions through
dreams from God. and that r ,iner should
think that all dreams come from .Ioye,
and that in ancient times dreams were
classified into a science. hut why do you
and | pa: so much stress upon dreams
when we .tave q supernaI book of il ante
wisdom on al subjects! Why shoul, We
harry ourselves with dreams2 Why
ghould Eddystone aad Barnegat light
houses question 4 summer FREELY?
Remark the Sec0nd.--All dreams have
an Important meaning. They prove that
the soui is comparatively independent Of
the body. The eyes are closed. the senses
are dnll, the entire body goes into q lath-
argy which in ali languages IS used as
type Of death, and then tie soul spreads
its wing and never sleeps IL leaps the At