I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn back with me to the book of Genesis chapter
28. Genesis 28. Last time we considered how Jacob,
a vessel of God's mercy, had gone out from Beersheba and started
on his journey to Haran, and the scripture says in Genesis
chapter 28 verse 11, he lighted upon a certain place, a place
of God's providential direction, leadership. He lighted there,
tarried there all night because the sun was set. And he took
the stones that were there for pillows and lay down in that
place to sleep. I thought of that which would
be so, humanly speaking, uncomfortable. How comfortable and settled are
those that are directed love, kept, taught by the Lord. We know that the Lord shall order
all things for his people, for their good. And therefore, knowing
that, stand settled at the peace of God, which passeth all understanding. How can you be settled? How can
a believer be settled? when things are not seemingly
going our way, the peace of God that passeth all understanding
shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ, Christ
Jesus, Philippians 4.7. And it's comforting to behold
the marvelous grace God that shows us, he delights. He delights
to have mercy. That's a comfort to me. He delighteth
to show mercy. Mercy, compassion to the most
unworthy, undeserving sinners. Well, here's Jacob. He's asleep. That's what the
scripture says. Lay down in that place to sleep. Lay down in that place where
the Lord had been pleased to bring him. We rest wherever we are. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy
ways, in all thy ways, in all thy ways, whatever we're going
through, whatever providentially he's led us to, in all thy ways,
Lord, help us here, right here, acknowledge him. Lord, you led
me here. Lord, you directed me here. all
thy ways, acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Isn't it comforting to know that
the steps of a good man, and obviously we know not good in
ourselves, loved, chosen, redeemed, called, robed in his righteousness,
washed in his blood. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord. Oh, how often we're brought aside
to experience our need of him. The Lord knows where to put us. The Lord knows how to teach us.
and he's going to put us in that place where we will cast all
of our care upon him, for he careth for us. You know, he knows how to cause us,
Fred, cast all of our care, doesn't he? He knows how. He knows how
to make it. He knows how to direct. Jacob
has been placed where man's comfort and strength in himself is removed,
that God's all-sufficiency might be known. The Lord knows. He knows. By the grace of God, scripture
says Jacob lays down in that place to sleep. And as I considered reading that,
I had Preached on that last time and I was getting ready to go
on into the next part concerning the ladder that was set on the
earth. Top of it reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending,
descending on it. They'd written out that message. And I got up this morning. Just
getting ready to go over my notes. Seek the Lord's direction, guidance.
And my eyes fell on the next three words after what I preached
on. First three words of verse 12. And it says this, verse 11. He put them for his pillows and
laid down in that place to sleep and he dreamed. And he dreamed. And I kept looking
at those words. My heart was drawn to those three
words. Now I know that all scripture
is given by inspiration of God. And that the Spirit of God would
give us this truth. this fact, this nugget of grace,
all scripture. There's no revelation given of
God that is insignificant. And therefore looking at that
first part of that 12th verse, and he dreamed. I want us to look for just a
few minutes. at the glory of the Lord and
his good pleasure to keep and to teach and to comfort his sheep. Now, I looked up the word dream. And he dreamed and there's there's
three different ways that it was three different ways that
it's used. Let me say that three different
ways. The first way that it's used, it's said to be an ordinary
dream, a dream. It's just a dream, a dream. A dream, hold your place and
turn with me to Isaiah 29. It's a, that's what it said,
an ordinary dream. And he gave this passage of scripture
for a reference, Isaiah 29. And I want to read verses 7 and
8. Isaiah 29, 7 and 8. And it says,
the prophet says, and the multitude of all the nations that fight
against Ariel. I looked it up. What does that
mean? Jerusalem. Jerusalem. That word right there
means a lion. Let's see, the lion of God or
the lioness of God. Ariel. But it means Jerusalem. And the multitude of all the
nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her
and her munition. What does that mean? Her walls,
her fortification. Christ is our wall. He is our hedge. He is our protection. He surrounds us. That's what
Satan told the Lord. And the Lord said, if you consider
my servant Job, Not nothing like him. Just man.
Just man. Satan said, yeah, but you got
him hedged about. I can't get to him. You let me get to him.
You got him hedged about. All that fight against Ariel. Even all that fight against her
and her munition, her walls, her fortifications. All that
fight against her God. That's what he's talking about.
All that resist him. him. And that distress her shall
be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when an hungry
man dreameth, and behold, he eateth in his dream. That's what
he's talking about. But he's awakened and his soul
is empty. Or as when a thirsty man dreameth,
and behold, he drinketh, but he awaketh, and behold, he faint,
and his soul hath appetite, so shall the multitude of all the
nations that be a fight against Mount Zion. So it's just a dream. It means just a regular dream. Gives nothing. They dreamed that
they ate, and they get up, they're hungry. They dreamed that they
were thirsty. They got up, they were still
thirsty. Then secondly, there was another meaning and it was
talking about the dream of a false prophet. Hold your place again,
Deuteronomy 13. Deuteronomy chapter 13. Deuteronomy 13, verses one to
five. If there arise among you a prophet
or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and
the sign or the wonder come to pass," or what this means is,
if the sign or the wonder is stated in this manner, is what
he's saying. If it comes to pass, whereof
he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which
thou hast not known, and let us serve them. Thou shalt not
hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams,
For the Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep
his commandments and obey his voice and you shall serve him
and cleave unto him. And that prophet or that dreamer
of dreams shall be put to death because he has spoken to turn
you away from the Lord your God which brought you out of the
land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage.
to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded
thee to walk in, so shalt thou put the evil away from the midst
of thee. So the word is used as an ordinary
dream, or it's used as the dream of a false prophet. But then
the third definition of that word dream was this. It said,
dream with prophetic meaning. And back in Genesis chapter 28,
that's the way that word right there is used, dream. And he
dreamed, he dreamed a dream with prophetic meaning. And what had
Jacob done to merit and deserve this wondrous privilege to dream
like that? What had he done? Nothing, nothing. He was a supplanter. It was by
the grace of God that the Lord gave, permitted this sinner to
dream a dream. A dream, Lord, that we'll look
at next time. What it was. What the dream was.
But that the Lord gave him this glorious dream. A revelation
of the will of Almighty God to rescue a people. A people of
His choosing. from the bondage of sin and unbelief. Joseph, turn over to Genesis
37, five. Genesis 37. Joseph had a dream
like this. He dreamed, and the scripture
says, Genesis 37, five and six. Joseph dreamed a dream, and he
told it his brethren, and they hated him yet the more. He said
unto them, here, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed. And he told them of the dream.
I won't go into it. It was a dream of the shocks
and how they hated him. Then they decided they'd kill
him. But God had given him a dream. So we see that we find that the
Lord would speak to his people in dreams. He would relate his will, but
scripture also bears out the good pleasure of the Lord to
warn even the wise men. The scripture turned over to
Matthew 2, 11 and 12. Matthew 2, 11 and 12. This was the way that the Lord
was pleased to speak. Matthew 2. 11 and 12, these wise men, and when
they were come into the house, they saw the young child with
Mary, his mother, fell down and worshiped him. And when they
had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold
and frankincense and myrrh, and being warned of God in a dream
that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their
own country another way. But not only did the Lord speak
to them, in a dream, the scripture also bears out that it was the
Lord's good pleasure to speak also to Joseph, concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ, just the next few verses, right where we were.
And when, verse 13, when they were departed, behold, the angel
of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, arise and
take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt and
be thou there until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the
young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young
child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt and there
until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled, which
was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, out of Egypt
have I called my son. So while the Lord was pleased
to speak and make known to his people through the means of dreams,
not just an ordinary dream, not just a dream that there was no
no significance to it, it was just a dream like we know, or
not the dream of a false prophet, but it was a dream of prophetic
significance. Though the Lord was pleased at
times to speak and make known to his people through the means
of dreams, it's always the good pleasure of the Lord to also
warn his people concerning the false dreams. and false visions,
just like false preachers. Now, I want you to turn to Jeremiah
23. Lord was pleased, he did speak.
He did speak through dreams. But he told them, he said, I
want you to be careful when somebody comes to you. And they said,
I've got a message from the Lord. The Lord sent me a dream. How
you gonna know the difference? Here we go, right here. Jeremiah
23, verse 24. How are we gonna know the difference
if we listen to a false preacher? It's gonna be right here. Just
listen to this too. Jeremiah 23, verse 24. Can any hide himself
in secret places that I shall not see him, saith the Lord?
Do not I feel heaven and earth, saith the Lord? I have heard
what the prophets say, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have
dreamed, I have dreamed, How long shall this be in the heart
of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, they're prophets of
the deceit of their own heart, which think to cause my people
to forget my name by their dreams, which they tell every man to
his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. That prophet that hath a dream
Let him tell a dream, and he that hath my word, let him speak
my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat,
saith the Lord? Is not my word like as a fire,
saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh a rock in pieces?
Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord,
that steal my words, every one from his neighbor. Behold, I'm
against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues
and say, he saith, behold, I'm against them that prophesy false
dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them and cause my people
to err by their lies and by their likeness. Yet I sent them not,
nor commanded them, nor therefore, and therefore they shall not
profit this people at all, saith the Lord. You know, we would
certainly be remiss for us to say that the Lord would never
now be pleased to speak to someone through the means of a dream.
I wouldn't want to say that. God never does that anymore.
Well, he's God in heaven and earth and he rules and reigns
and he does as he will among the inhabitants of the earth.
He even gave scriptural authority to say that it was prophesied
that dreams would certainly remain after the Lord's ascension into
glory. It says in Joel 2.28, and it shall come to pass afterward,
I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams,
your young men shall see visions, a prophecy that was fulfilled
on the day of Pentecost. And so to say that the Lord's
will to use the means of dreams according to its good pleasure
has been completely done away with. To say that would be to
presume or attempt to be wise above that which is written.
And so we don't do that. We're not gonna say that. I'm
not gonna say it. Somebody say, you think the Lord would ever
do that? Well, if he wanted to, he would. But I would say this. Knowing the open revelation of
these holy scriptures, we would do well, turn to Isaiah 8, Isaiah
chapter 8, verse 19. Knowing the open revelation that
we have of these scriptures, Isaiah 8, we would do well to remember
the Lord's direction to those that sought God's will after
these familiar spirits in the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter
8, in verse 19 and 20. And when they shall say unto
you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto wizards
that peep and that mutter, should not a people seek unto their
God for the living, to the dead, to the law, and to the testimony? You listen to this right here.
Somebody said, Lord spoke to me. If they speak not, According
to this word, right here, it is because there is no light
in them. Again, somebody said, you think
God would ever speak to someone in their dream? My answer would
be, if he wanted to, he would. I'll leave it there. But I can
tell you this, if somebody comes to me and said, Lord spoke to
me in a dream, And this is what he said, if it's not consistent
with these scriptures right here, don't believe it. To the law
and to the prophets right here. If it's not according to my word,
it's because there's no light in them. And you can take that
one to the bank right there. Oh, what a joy to behold the
Lord's good pleasure to communicate to his people. This is really,
this is where I want to end this message and he dreamed and the
Lord was pleased to tell us what kind of dream it was. It wasn't
an ordinary dream, it wasn't a false dream, it was a dream
of prophecy, prophetic significance. The Lord was pleased to speak
to Adam and Eve. Here's what, I went back to look
to see how he spoke. God spoke and said to Adam, Adam,
ye be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth. When he spoke to Moses, he spoke
to Moses out of the midst of a burning bush. Moses, Moses, take off your shoes. The place you're standing is
holy ground. God spoke to him out of a burning bush. You know
the significance of that. Here's the beauty of the Messiah,
the fire and the glory of God in a bramble bush that was not
consumed, a picture of the humanity of Christ. Saul of Tarsus was
on his way to Damascus to take them who were of the way. How
did God speak to him? The scripture says, suddenly
there shined round about him a light from heaven, Spotlight. And he fell to the earth, and
he heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? God spoke. The scripture says
that God gave Jacob a dream. He revealed himself in a dream. And therefore, in closing, I
know three things. I know this. Our God speaks. Our God speaks. The Lord said,
my sheep, hear my voice. How does he speak? Well, he spoke
to this one this way. He spoke to this one this way. He spoke to this. But I know
this. I know he's going to speak to
his people through preachers. Paul said, we beseech you in
Christ's name. This word, this is the word of
God. We are messengers. We're messengers. That's what we do. We don't,
we don't, we take and seek the sense, the sense of the word,
the sense of the passage. that we find Christ in the word. He said, these are they, these
scriptures, these are they that speak of me. A preacher is to
look for him, find him. You look, find the ruin of man. Find redemption by the blood.
Find regeneration by the spirit. You look for Christ in there,
and you find him, you find the right, you find it right. So
I know first, he speaks. I know that. Secondly, I know
that the Lord is present. Psalm 139, seven and eight. David said, whether shall I go
from thy spirit, or whether shall I flee from thy presence? If
I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in
hell, Behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. So I know
that the Lord speaks. I know that he's present. Where
two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst of you. And thirdly, I know that he's
faithful. Turn with me in closing to Joshua
1, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua. Joshua 1. Joshua 1, verses 1 to 5. After the death of Moses, the
servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto
Joshua, son of none, Moses' minister, saying, Moses, my servant is
dead. Now therefore arise and go over
this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I
do give to thee, even to the children of Israel. Every place
that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given
unto you, as I said unto Moses, from the wilderness in this Lebanon,
even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land
of the Hittites and unto the great sea toward the going down
of the sun shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able
to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with
Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake
thee." I know that the Lord speaks. I know that he's here, and I
know he's faithful. And I pray that he bless this
word to our heart. Scripture says, Jacob laid down
to sleep, and he dreamed. And Lord willing, we'll look
next time at what he dreamed.