DREAMS AND VISIONS

Text: Acts 2:17

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:

And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”

INTRODUCTION:

Usually, the difference between dreams and visions is the way in which they are directed. This prophecy of Joel 2:23 was at least initially fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the waiting New Testament Church. The Holy Spirit was poured out like rain for all to benefit in different ways, the just and the unjust.

As all vegetation does not benefit in the same way from the rain, so mankind does not benefit in the same way from God’s moving in the world. It is not because there is no blessing for them. It is rather that they refuse to reach out and take what God provides for them. The blame is placed directly upon the shoulders of mankind. The main purpose of God’s blessing however is always toward His elect.

Most of us here today have been Christians for many years. I myself was saved on October 8th 1956. The question is really, not, how long we have been saved? The question I want us to answer today is, How well have we benefited in Spirit growth from the abundance of God’s provision for us?

There is a little chorus that goes like this:

“Has our eyes caught the vision? Has our hearts felt the thrill?

'Tis the call of the Master, have we answered I will?

T’s the conflict of the ages, taught by prophets and by sages,

In it’s fury it’s upon us; it’s upon us today!”

Today, we do not have to wait, or to call, to plead for God’s Spirit in our midst.

He is here within the people of Christ, and the New Testament Church. All we need to do is open our eyes and see, to submit, and to drink.

I wish to look at our subject today from three perspectives:

1. The People of the Past

2. The People of the Present

3. The People of Practice.

1. THE PEOPLE OF THE PAST:

A. Foundation:

1. Is our house built upon the Rock?

Jesus showed the importance of building upon a proper foundation in a parable:

Matthew 7:24-27

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

2. Is our history proper?

Matthew 16:18

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”.

The New Testament Church began on the shores of Galilee, was instituted by Jesus Christ Himself. Good men may have started other churches but the New Testament Church was started by Christ Himself and has been in existence in every age since.

3. Is our doctrine orthodox?

By orthodox we mean is it fundamentally correct as to the Word of God.

Acts 2:41-42

“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

Galatians 1:8

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”

2 Timothy 4:3

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears”.

The basis of the gospel is:

1 Corinthians 15:1-6

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”

B. Failures:

1. Anything that stops has failed.

2. A dream is a vision without wheels.

Take the wheels off of a wagon and it is useless.

Dreams look back, a vision looks ahead.

A dream is veiled memory; a vision is the seed of action.

3. A proper foundation is really of little use if we do not build thereon-

1 Corinthians 3:10-11

“According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Our life must be built upon the Person of Jesus Christ.

Our Church must be built upon the foundation of the New Testament Church that Christ instituted.

2. THE PEOPLE OF THE PRESENT:

A. Positionally:

1. Where are you?

People often get so taken up as to where everyone else is, that they have no time to examine their own position.

Israel is a prime example to us:

Isaiah 22:7

“And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.”

They trusted in their army, their own strength.

They had an attitude void of vision.

Israel forgot about God.

2. Will you stay where you are?

2 Kings 7:3

“And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?”

These four men were lepers; they were starving to death in a city besieged by the enemy.

The question was, would they remain where they were dying or move on to the prospects of at least dying with dignity.

Many have no vision beyond their own history. This is where my ancestors all died, and so will I.

The thing about it is, they did not have to remain as they were.

B. Propriety:

The four leprous men were at least men of propriety. They were able to weigh over the situation and come to an honest conclusion.

2 Kings 7:4-8

“If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

5 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.

6 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.

7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.

8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.”

Notice that when they acted, when they went forward they found an answer to their need.

Notice also that when they were so greatly blessed, “they went and hid it”.

The Bible says, “The fear of man bringeth a snare.”

3. THE PEOPLE OF PRACTICE:

Our text reads, “young men see visions”.

It also reads, “old men dream dreams”.

Have you ever been around a group of old-timers? Listen to them talk, and it is all of the past, the glory days, the good old days. Do you remember when...? On and on they go and if they have some youth in their midst they will really dig up the past.

I suggest to you that you are just as old as the direction in which you are looking.

Old men dream dreams, but the young see VISIONS!

Have your eyes caught the vision?

One cannot sit still, and do nothing or practice anything.

Only practicing people have a future. God uses practicing Christians.

It is not enough to have faith, if we do not use it. We can believe all of the right and proper doctrines of Scripture, but they are meaningless if we do not practice them.

Personally I have more respect for practicing Presbyterians than for Bible believing Baptists who do not practice their faith.

So the question we need to ask is, “what should we then do?”

There are three things I think are needful:

A. Reason it Out:

1. God wants us to think. That is why He created mankind with a brain.

Isaiah 1:18

“Come let us reason together saith the Lord...........”

The four leprous men went into a Bible conference.

2 Kings 7:9

“Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some

mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household.”

I would say that they came to a most reasonable conclusion.

2. What have you accomplished with your life?

You may not be able to reach the king’s household, but you have a

neighbor, a relative, a Church, with a vision for missions.

You can make your life count for Jesus Christ.

3. Where will you go from here?

Will you continue to go on as you have in the past? Will you remain content with the status quo?

B. React Upon the Truth:

1. Face the facts - do not excuse failures.

We waste too much time trying to find someone else to blame for our failures. The bottom line is: If we have failed, confess it and move on.

(And ignore the unforgiving faultfinders who would drag you back into bondage.)

Get involved; get busy in Christ’s work.

2. The reaction of the four leprous men was to go share the good news!

3. The reaction of the remnant of Jews in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem-

Nehemiah 4:1-2 and 18-23

“But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.

2 And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish, which are burned?

18-23

“18 For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.

19 And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another.

20 In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.

21 So we labored in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.

22 Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labor on the day.

23 So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.”

4. Faith not expressed is not real faith....

James 2:14-26

“14 ¶ What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

“Faith without corresponding actions is useless”.

C. Realize the Blessing:

1. The vision is fulfilled only when it is acted upon.

God is most certainly a sovereign God, but He does not bless the “whatever will be, will be, of fatalism”.

The hyper-Calvinist leaves everything to God, but God says go.

The elect are brought to Christ through the preaching of the cross.

Missions is still the first business of the Church.

2. Look at the blessing that resulted when the four leprous men acted upon their faith.

2 Kings 7:16

“And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.”

3. Look at the blessing of the first Church when they acted upon the vision:

Acts 2:47

“Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

The Bible is filled with Scriptures such as this. Every seemingly negative situation was responded to and received positive results.

Will we allow the Holy Spirit to so work in our hearts and lives, that our eyes may be opened to catch the vision God would give to us in these difficult times?

CONCLUSION:

When Moses (Numbers 13) sent 12 men to spy out the land of Canaan, they returned after forty days.

Only one man reported back in a positive way - (vs 25-33).

We express his words in a little chorus....

“We are able to go up and take the country;

To possess the land from Jordan to the sea.

Though the giants will be there the way to hinder,

God will surely give us victory.”

Again, we sing....

“I want that mountain, I want that mountain.

Where the milk and honey flow, where the grapes of Eshcol grow;

I want that mountain; I want that mountain.

The mountain that the Lord has promised me.”

Have you possessed your possessions?

Sermon preached by Dr. D. Paul Tuck Sr.

(Scarborough, Ontario, in 1986)

Preached to Landmark Baptist Church, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada

Sunday morning, April 25 1999; and Sunday morning April 10^th 2005.