Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1901-12-06
DREAMS"
DR.. Talmage Says 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
/ DIR. Talmage discusses a much talked Of
subject, and one in which all are inter-
ested. The text is Joel ii, %: 81 will 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 it is a noe
turnal fantasia, or that it is the absurd
com animation of waking thoughts, and with
a SUR OF intonation you may, say, 1T 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 UNI
lawful marriage; in 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
| bowling down to his sbeaf; to the chief
butler, foretelling his disimprisonment; to
the chief baker, announcing his decapita-
ton; 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. aud that
question / will try to answer. You as! me
if | believe in dreams. My Gnswer Is, L
do, but all have to say will be under five
heads.
Remark the First--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 twenty guidiebooks to tell you how
don 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 directory, we
ought to be satisfied. / have more faith
in a decision to which / come when ! am
wide awake than when l am sound asleep.
| have noticed that those who give 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 a 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 sep
ulcher. If something turns out according
to night vision, they say: well, | am
not surprised; 1 dreamed it." If it turns
out different from the night vision, they
say, ''Well, dreams 60 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 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 siumber 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 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 a 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 60 to God
in PRAYER, and YOU will get especial Glrec-
ton. I 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 geC uhcoH-
scious on your pillow.
I 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 tunes
dreams were classified into a science, but
why do you and put so much stress upon.
dreams when we have supernal book OF
infinite wisdom on all SUBJECTS! Why
should we harry ourselves with dreams:
WHY should EddystOne and BarneGat
lighthouses question summer FREELY!
Remark the Second-All dreams have an
imnortant meaning. They prove that the
soul is comparatively independent OF the
body. The ewes 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 IT'S wing
and never sleeps. 1t leaps the 9tlantlc
Ocean and mingles in scenes 5000 miles
away II travels great reaches of time,
flashes back eighty years, and the octoge-
marian is a boy again in his fathers house.
IF the soul before it has entirely broken It's
chain of flesh can do all this, how far can
II lean. what circles can it cut when IL Is
fully liberated? Every dream, whether
agreeable or harassng, whether sunshlny
or tempestuous, means so much that, rls,
inc from your couch. you ought to knecl
down and say: 20 God, am immortal!
Whence? Whittier? Two natures. My
soul Gagged now-what when the door of
far in the few hours in which my body is
asleep in the night, how far can 1t fly
when my body sleeps the long sleep Of, the
grave?" Oh, this power to dream, how
Startling. how overwhelming! immortal!
immortal! g.,
Remark the Third-The vast majority
of dreams are merely the result of dis
turbed physical condition, and arc not
supernatural message. JOB mao carpuncles