Divine Guidance: Dreams and Visions Explained [Matthew 1:18-21]

Dec 16

Sermon Summary

This Sunday, we examined the pivotal role that dreams and visions play in the biblical narrative and how they remain relevant in our lives today. We reviewed the Christmas story, highlighting how dreams were pivotal in guiding Joseph and others in the Nativity Story. Joseph's dreams were crucial in protecting Jesus and fulfilling God's plan, demonstrating the importance of being receptive to divine guidance through dreams.

Throughout the Bible, dreams and visions have been instrumental in revealing God's will, from Abraham's covenant to Joseph's dreams in Genesis and Daniel's interpretations to the visions of the Apostle John in Revelation. These instances underscore the significance of dreams as a means for God to communicate with His people, especially when other avenues are unavailable.

In the New Testament, dreams and visions continue to play a vital role, as seen in the lives of figures like Saul of Tarsus and Cornelius. The early church experienced a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit, marked by dreams and visions, as prophesied by Joel and affirmed by Peter on the day of Pentecost.

However, it's essential to approach dreams with discernment. Not every dream is from God, and we must weigh them against the truth of Scripture. While dreams can be subjective, they can also be a powerful tool for divine guidance when aligned with God's Word.

In our lives today, God may still use dreams and visions to guide us, especially when His Word is not readily available. We must remain open to His leading, ensuring we do not ignore or dismiss the dreams He gives us. As we seek God's will, let us be faithful to the revelations we have received and trust Him to guide us to His purposes.

Watch/Listen

Message Study Guide

Youtube chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[44:15] - Offering and Building Fund
[45:52] - Story of the Persian Migrant
[48:24] - Dreams in the Christmas Story
[51:52] - Joseph's Dreams
[53:32] - Wise Men's Dream
[55:44] - Joseph's Role in the Nativity
[57:46] - Biblical Examples of Dreams
[01:01:45] - New Testament Visions
[01:03:23] - Pentecostal Blessing of Dreams
[01:08:47] - Discernment in Dreams
[01:12:39] - Warnings Against False Dreams
[01:15:09] - Modern Examples of Dreams
[01:18:44] - Responding to God's Dreams
[01:20:44] - Invitation to Salvation
[01:23:42] - Altar Call and Prayer
[01:24:48] - Closing Prayer and Encouragement

Key Takeaways

The Role of Dreams in the Christmas Story: Dreams were crucial in guiding Joseph and others in the nativity narrative, demonstrating the importance of being receptive to divine guidance. Joseph's obedience to his dreams protected Jesus and fulfilled God's plan. [48:24]
Biblical Precedent for Dreams and Visions: Throughout the Bible, dreams and visions have been instrumental in revealing God's will, from Abraham's covenant to the visions of the Apostle John. These instances underscore the significance of dreams as a means for God to communicate with His people. [57:46]
New Testament Examples: In the New Testament, dreams and visions continue to play a vital role, as seen in the lives of figures like Saul of Tarsus and Cornelius. The early church experienced a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit, marked by dreams and visions. [01:03:23]
Discernment in Dreams: Not every dream is from God, and we must weigh them against the truth of Scripture. While dreams can be subjective, they can also be a powerful tool for divine guidance when aligned with God's Word. [01:12:39]
Openness to Divine Guidance: In our lives today, God may still use dreams and visions to guide us, especially in situations where His Word is not readily available. We must remain open to His leading, ensuring that we do not ignore or dismiss the dreams He gives us. [01:18:44]

Bible Reading

Mat 1:18-25 NKJV - 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just [man], and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." 24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.
Gen 37:5-11 NKJV - 5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told [it] to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 6 So he said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 "There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf." 8 And his brothers said to him, "Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, "Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me." 10 So he told [it] to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What [is] this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?" 11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter [in mind].
Act 2:17-18 NKJV - 17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.

Observation Questions

In the Christmas story, how did Joseph respond to the dreams he received, and what were the consequences of his actions? [48:24]
What role did dreams play in the lives of biblical figures like Joseph in Genesis and Daniel? How did these dreams impact their lives and the lives of others? [57:46]
How did the early church experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit through dreams and visions, as prophesied by Joel and affirmed by Peter? [01:04:51]
What warnings does the Bible give about false dreams and visions, and how should believers discern the truth? [01:12:39]

Interpretation Questions

Why might God choose to communicate through dreams and visions, especially in situations where His Word is not readily available? [01:10:20]
How can believers discern whether a dream is from God or just a product of their subconscious mind? What role does Scripture play in this discernment process? [01:08:47]
In what ways did Joseph's obedience to his dreams protect Jesus and fulfill God's plan? How does this illustrate the importance of being receptive to divine guidance? [51:52]
How does the prophecy from Joel about dreams and visions in the last days challenge or encourage believers today? [01:04:51]

Application Questions

Reflect on a time when you felt God was speaking to you through a dream or vision. How did you respond, and what was the outcome? [01:18:44]
How can you ensure that you are open to divine guidance in your life, especially when it comes in unexpected forms like dreams or visions? [01:19:39]
What steps can you take to weigh your dreams against the truth of Scripture to discern if they are from God? [01:12:39]
In what ways can you cultivate a heart that is receptive to God's leading, even when it challenges your current plans or comfort zone? [01:16:51]
How can you support others in your community who may be experiencing dreams or visions from God, ensuring they feel encouraged and guided in their spiritual journey? [01:15:09]
Consider the role of dreams and visions in the early church. How can your small group or church community create an environment that is open to the Holy Spirit's leading in similar ways? [01:03:23]
Identify a specific area in your life where you feel God might be leading you through a dream or vision. What practical steps can you take this week to explore and act on this guidance? [01:18:44]

Matthew chapter 1. And again, the pastor's challenge with the Christmas season every year is to mine the depths of the Word of God and to bring forth some truth from the Christmas story.

I'm grateful this morning that the Word of God is an unsearchable resource of truth and righteousness and wisdom and understanding.

And every time we turn our attention to it, we find incredible resources and things that we need from God.

So if you join me together, Matthew chapter 1, turning back to the Christmas story.

I want to tell you, first of all, a story of a Persian migrant.

This story is told by a pastor.

And he speaks about this Persian migrant who came to a refugee center at 6 a.m. one day, visibly shaken and upset.

He told this story to the pastor. He said, during the night, I saw someone dressed in white raise up his hand and say to me, "Stand up and follow me."

The Persian man said, "Who are you?"

The man in white clothing replied, "I am the Alpha and the Omega. I'm the way to heaven. No one can go to the Father except through me."

Now this Persian man, of course, being of Islamic background, had never heard those words before, was not familiar with the Scripture.

And he began to ask this Persian pastor, "Who is this man? What am I going to do? Why did he ask me to follow? How shall I go? Please tell me what this means."

In response, the pastor held out his Bible and asked, "Have you ever read this book before?"

He said, "No, I've never read this book. Do you know what it is?"

He said, "No."

The pastor then opened the Scripture to the book of Revelation and showed him the Scripture where it said, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end."

The man instantly began to cry and said, "How can I accept him? How can I follow him?"

The pastor led him in prayer. Peace came over his life.

The pastor gave that man a Bible, told him to hide it because Muslims in the camps could cause him trouble.

The man replied, "This Jesus that I met today, he's more powerful than the Muslims in the camp."

In one hour, the man returned with ten more of his friends and told the pastor, "All of these people want a Bible too."

No one had trained him how to be an evangelist.

And yet there he was, bringing people to Jesus because he had had a powerful vision of the resurrected Savior.

I want to preach this morning a message about dreams and visions and a message titled, "When Dreams Are Necessary."

Because when I approached the Christmas story, once again, the story of Mary and Joseph and how Jesus was born into this situation, the wise men, all of the things that we celebrate during this time of year, I was struck at how often in the Christmas narrative are the occasions, the appearances of dreams and visions and why it was necessary for men and for women to follow the dreams and the visions that God gave to them.

And I want to preach a message titled, "When Dreams Are Necessary."

Let's begin in Matthew 1, verse 18.

The Bible says these words: "Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.'"

Let's pray.

Father, we come by the precious blood of Jesus, and as your word is spoken over our lives, God, that we be able to hear.

Lord, I believe that there are people here who have received dreams and visions of your will for their life, God, your purpose of decisions that must be made.

And I'm praying, God, that we would not just throw these things away, but God, that we would consider your will and your purpose as it is revealed, even through dreams and through visions.

I'm praying, God, give us wisdom and discernment in these things, and we give you glory in Jesus' mighty name.

God's people would say, amen.

When God speaks through dreams.

And let's look, first of all, at the role of dreams and visions in the Bible.

We certainly cannot ignore the very pivotal and important role that dreams played, especially in this Christmas story.

It's very difficult for us to overstate how important it was that these men, especially Joseph, would listen and obey the dreams that they received.

No fewer than five absolutely critical dreams are recorded by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God.

And I want you to think about these dreams.

There are five of them that are recorded for us.

And as I remind you of each one of these dreams, I want you to think about two things.

Number one, what if these dreams were ignored or excused?

Number two, I want you to think, what if these dreams were not taken seriously enough to make an impact in their waking life?

These are very crucial and critical.

First of all, we read about Joseph in our scripture that we read.

The message that Joseph received in a dream was this: "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. Do not put her away, but you take her to yourself, and you protect her, you watch over her, because that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit."

What if Joseph said to himself, "I had some bad pizza last night? That's a crazy dream. Going to ignore that one."

He would have missed his role and purpose as protector and provider to Mary.

Also, in the Christmas story, we read a second important dream in Matthew 2, verse 12.

This is a dream that the wise men had.

When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

So we have these wise men recorded.

We don't know whether it was only one who dreamed or all three who had a dream at the same time, but they were divinely warned by God not to return to King Herod.

God was keeping them.

What if they had just thrown that away?

What if they had just thrown it in their back pocket?

What if they had just thrown it in their back pocket and said, "Well, don't pay attention?"

No, they did pay attention, and it was for their good.

We also read about Joseph who had a second dream in Matthew chapter two, verse 13.

After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.

"Get up and flee to Egypt with the child and his mother," the angel said.

"Stay there till I tell you to return because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."

Now this was a message from God given to Joseph in his second dream.

And the outcome of this dream is that God is going to protect Jesus from death.

Like, that's pretty important.

And as I mentioned in one of my previous messages, there is a whole generation of baby boys that were killed by King Herod.

Jesus is the only one of his particular age in all of Israel, in all of Judea, because God divinely warned Joseph in a dream to flee down to Egypt.

The third dream that Joseph had is also in Matthew 2, verse 19.

When Herod finally died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph.

"Get up," the angel said.

"Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel because those who were trying to kill the child are dead."

So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel.

And finally, the fourth dream we read about from Joseph is in Matthew 2, verse 22.

When he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod's son, he was afraid to go there.

Then after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee.

And the Bible records, so the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth.

This fulfilled what the prophets had said, saying, "He will be called a Nazarene."

And with this final dream that is recorded in the scripture from Joseph, God spoke to him in this fourth and final dream that you need to go up to Galilee to dwell in the city of Nazareth.

Because this, as Matthew records it, he says, this will fulfill the scriptures, a prophecy from the Old Testament, which says he shall be called a Nazarene.

Now, you cannot say that Joseph was able to figure all this stuff out on his own.

Joseph was not that smart.

But what Joseph was able to do was to allow God to speak to him in his dreams.

Each and every one of these plays a crucial role in guiding the events of the nativity story, protecting Jesus and putting him into the place exactly where he needs to be.

You might even say that the primary role of Joseph in the Christmas story is this: responding to the dreams that God gave him.

And that is a powerful way to interpret the story.

Joseph as protector, provider.

Yes, I'm actually going to be preaching on marriage tonight, so come back ready to hear from that, hear from the Word of God, from the story of Joseph and Mary, some powerful truths about marriage.

So a little sneak preview for our evening service.

But Joseph, I believe his primary ministry was this: being a faithful responder to dreams and visions.

And the Bible does have a prominent record of people responding to dreams and visions all throughout the Bible.

Please allow me some patience this morning as I remind you of how many stories there are of God's speaking to important moments in time through dreams and through vision.

It starts with the founder, the father of our faith, Abraham, in Genesis 15, verse 1, that God spoke to Abram in a vision to reinstate the covenant, reminding him that he would have a son and be the father of many nations.

Then in Genesis chapter 28, we read about Jacob.

Jacob, we know, had angered his brother by taking the rights of the firstborn.

And the Bible says as he is traveling through the wilderness, he lays down his head on a rock in the middle of the desert.

And the Bible says he has a dream.

You remember?

And in this dream, he sees a ladder which stretches into heaven on which the angels were ascending and descending.

It was during that dream that he had a wrestling match with the angel of the Lord and received God's promise that day that Abraham's blessing would be carried through his life.

A powerful vision, a dream from God.

Joseph, of course.

Joseph in Genesis.

It's no accident that Joseph in the Bible, husband of Mary, is a dreamer because his namesake from the Old Testament, Joseph, was also one of the Bible's most famous dreamers and a dream interpreter.

He first recorded his dreams in Genesis chapter 37.

We know the dreams that he dreamed actually got him into trouble with his family.

He dreamed that he saw a dream.

He saw a dream.

He saw a dream.

He saw a dream.

He saw a dream.

He saw a dream.

He saw a sheaf, a gathering of grains in the center, and around this gathering of grains were 12 other gatherings.

These sheaves, as they're called, and all of the sheaves were bowing down, and he interpreted this dream that he himself was that central group of grain and the other groups of grain were his older brothers, and they were all bowing down before him, and even the sun and the moon, which represented his mother, his father, bowing down to him.

And he's explaining this dream, and at the time sounded totally crazy, and they all wanted to kill him.

And yet through this dream, God was predicting the future of Joseph's life, an incredible story.

We have young Samuel in 1 Samuel chapter 3.

God spoke to him through a vision and told him that judgment was coming on the sons of Samuel's mentor, the priest, Eli.

And young Samuel was faithful to relay that information.

God spoke to Samuel throughout the rest of his life.

King Solomon, if you'll remember, King Solomon had a powerful dream in 1 Kings chapter 3, verse 5, the famous dream where God spoke to Solomon and asked him, "Ask what you wish me to give you."

God appeared to Solomon, and Solomon replied in his dream and chose, "Lord, that you would grant me wisdom to lead your people."

And God gave him that incredible wisdom.

Daniel, of course, Daniel chapter 2 and chapter 4.

God put Daniel in a position of great power and influence by being able to interpret the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar.

Powerful revelation.

Then as we turn to the New Testament, there is also a great record there of dreams and visions.

We've looked in the last weeks about Zacharias, the priest.

God used a vision to tell Zacharias that he would soon have a son.

Not long after that, they had John the Baptist.

Joseph, of course, the four dreams that he had, I've already spoken about.

Then we have in Matthew chapter 27, we have the record of the wife of Pontius Pilate.

Pontius Pilate, of course, is the governor that is going to condemn Jesus.

He's going to condemn Jesus.

He's going to condemn Jesus.

He's going to condemn Jesus to the cross.

But the Bible records that his wife sent him an urgent message during the trial, and she was encouraging her husband to let Jesus go.

Why did she send him this message?

Because she had had a dream, maybe more like a nightmare, that had convinced her Jesus was innocent.

Pilate should have nothing to do.

So here's a case when Pilate ignored the dream.

He said, "I'm not listening to that. I'm wise. You're foolish. Whatever your dream is, not listening to that."

And Pilate condemns Jesus to death.

What a powerful picture.

We have Saul of Tarsus.

How do you explain a man who is persecuting the church, who is driving men and women into prison?

How do you explain the fact that in a moment of time, the direction of his life changes?

Where he no longer is persecuting the church, but becomes an apostle and a church planter.

How can you explain?

The reason is because he saw a vision.

He had a vision of the resurrected Jesus where Jesus spoke to him in Acts chapter 9.

Then we have the record of Ananias.

Ananias, of course, is the one that God has selected to pray for Saul, the persecutor.

How do you explain someone who is the enemy or who has been targeted by Saul?

All of a sudden now Ananias wants to help him.

Why?

Because in Acts chapter 9, verse 10, Ananias had a vision from God.

And God spoke to him to pray for Saul that his eyes would be opened.

In Acts chapter 10, listen, I'm telling you, the story of the new church is filled with visions and dreams.

Cornelius, who's not even a Jew, he is a Gentile.

And yet here is a man, the Bible says in Acts chapter 10, that he feared the God of the Jews, and God gave him a vision.

And in this vision, he saw an angel.

And this angel told him to go and find Simon Peter and send for him to listen to that message.

Cornelius obeyed the vision.

Peter preached to him, and his household full of non-Jewish believers were saved by the grace of God.

Of course, Peter, during his ministry, the early ministry of the church was pronounced specifically to the Jews.

Jesus said, "I came first for my brethren, the Jewish people."

But how many know that the will of God was for more than just the Jews?

God wanted to save all people, Jews and Gentiles alike.

But Peter, he was so focused on the Jewish ministry, God had to open his eyes to begin ministering outside of Jewish circles.

To do that, God gave Peter a vision.

And the Bible says he was not asleep; he was awake, a waking vision.

And in this vision, there was a net being lowered from heaven, a net full of animals that were specifically animals that were not allowed to be eaten under the laws of Moses.

And in this vision, God spoke to Peter and said, "Take, Peter, and eat these things."

Peter said, "No, I don't want to do that. Lord, I've never eaten such things."

And the point was, God told Peter, "Do not call unclean what I have called clean."

This is the vision that opened up the ministry of the church through Peter to the Gentile believers.

How many times did Paul have visions in his missionary career?

One vision sent him to preach the gospel in Macedonia.

Another vision, Acts chapter 18, encouraged him to stay in the city of Corinth.

Also, he speaks of a man who had a vision even of the third heaven.

Many people say it's probably Paul himself in 2 Corinthians 12 who had a vision of heaven itself, things which could not be uttered, things that I cannot explain to you, he says, but they were seen in a vision.

In fact, we have a whole book of the Bible that is essentially one long vision.

Vision from God, and that is the book of Revelation.

The Apostle John, the Bible says that as he was praying and as he was worshiping, God began to show him things which were to come in the future.

We study the book of Revelation because a man was faithful to record the vision that God gave him.

Okay, so that was a pretty exhaustive list in the Bible, and I appreciate your patience to allow me to remind you of how many times God uses dreams and visions to speak to and to lead God's people in the biblical narrative.

We can only conclude that these things are very prominent.

These things are very pivotal, that as these people in the Bible responded to those dreams and visions, that God began to pour out His Spirit.

In fact, dreams and visions are recorded as part of the Pentecostal blessing on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2.

We know the story that the church is gathered in prayer in the upper room, and there as they're praying, they hear the sound of a rushing mighty wind.

The tongues, as of fire, come and gather upon each and every one of them.

They begin speaking out new languages, which the crowd is able to hear the gospel being preached in their own language.

They thought, "It's nine o'clock in the morning. These people are crazy. They're drunk."

The crowd that was gathered for the harvest there that day.

But Peter, the Bible says, Peter stepped forward on that day, filled with the Holy Spirit, and he said, "Listen carefully, all fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem.

These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o'clock in the morning is too early for that.

No, what you see is predicted long ago by the prophet Joel."

And now he is quoting the prophet Joel, and this is what he says: "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men, listen, will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams."

And this is part of the last day.

This is the last day's blessing that God is pouring out His Spirit on the church, so that men and women alike, old and young alike, will see the visions and will dream dreams, and God will begin to move in this particular way.

Now, this prophecy from the prophet Joel is fantastic because it is opposite from the pattern that we see in the Bible.

Usually, it's young men who are dreaming the dreams, and it is old men who are seeing the visions.

But in this prophecy, it's young men who are dreaming the dreams, and it is old men seeing visions.

But in this prophecy, it is reversed.

Young men seeing visions, old men dreaming dreams.

Now, having said all of that, we have to understand that there is also a balance.

Dreams must be kept in their place.

Let me first of all say, not every dream that you have is from God.

How many of y'all had some crazy, wacky dreams?

Okay, some of those are just your subconscious.

You know, the people who understand and study the brain, they've been figuring this out over the last 20 to 30 years, is that sleep is so important for your brain because it is while you're sleeping, your REM sleep, they say, that your memories of the day are being compiled and set aside into your long-term memory.

And sometimes dreams are a byproduct of that, which is an amazing thing.

But I want to say that not every dream is from God.

I mean, y'all, I've had some crazy, crazy, insane, psycho, crazy dreams.

And not everything is from the Lord, okay?

I've woken up and, you know, and been in a frantic state and tell my wife, you know, I dreamed this and that and crazy, and she's looking at me like I was from another planet.

Okay, so let me just say, personally, in my own life, probably 80, 90% of the dreams that I dream, I don't count them as being from the Lord.

They're probably just my brain activity in my night, okay?

But does God speak through dreams?

There is no indication in the Bible that God has stopped using dreams as an avenue to speak to His people.

The simple answer is yes, God does speak through dreams, but we have to be careful how we apply this.

Every dream that God speaks to, we have to remember that we have a mirror to which to weigh it against.

This is how I know my dreams are crazy often and not from God, is because they don't agree with Scripture.

They're not confirmed by Scripture.

So we have to understand that the Bible has been completed.

We have a gift now that people in the Bible didn't have, which is we have His revelation.

And so primarily the way that God uses dreams is when there is no other avenue for God to speak.

If someone doesn't read the Bible, or if someone lives in a Muslim nation, we've been reading for the last 10 or 15 years incredible accounts of how God is saving people in Muslim countries by appearing in dreams and in visions.

The reason is because missionaries cannot get to those nations, because the Bible is not common in those places.

And so Jesus can still save people through dreams and visions.

And so yes, we being people of the book, we being people of God's revelation, we have a gift that others might not have, so we are not as dependent on dreams and visions from God.

There are a few problems that we have to be reminded of.

First of all, dreams and visions are subjective.

What I mean by that is that if you have a dream, and you come and say to me, "Pastor, I've had a dream from the Lord," like, how am I supposed to contradict that?

If you say it's from the Lord, I have to believe you, right?

Somebody says, "I've heard from God," how am I supposed to counteract that?

The only way I can say is if something is obviously in your dream that goes against Scripture, but dreams and visions are subjective.

The Bible warns about this, Deuteronomy 13, verse 1: "Suppose there are prophets among you, or those who dream dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles, and those signs or miracles occur, then say, 'Come, let us worship other gods, gods you've not known.' Do not listen to them. The Lord God is testing you."

He's saying, "Watch out for those who say they've dreamed dreams, but then they're saying, 'Worship other gods.' That's not from God."

Jeremiah warned about this in his time.

He says, "I'm against, I'm against false prophets," Jeremiah 23, verse 32.

"Their imaginary dreams are flagrant lies that lead my people into sin. I did not send or appoint them, and they have no message at all for my people. I, the Lord, have spoken."

So there are warnings, obviously.

People can use dreams to abuse the people of God, and we should not obviously just receive every dream as if it's from the Lord.

Zechariah 10, 2: "Household gods give worthless advice. Fortune tellers predict lies. Interpreters of dreams pronounce falsehoods that give no comfort."

Not every dream is from the Lord, and not everyone who says, "I've had a dream from the Lord," should be accepted, okay?

Are we, everybody clear on that?

The issue is that people in the Bible, they did not have the revelation of God's word like we do, but we have a great gift.

And so, where do dreams and visions fall in our lives today?

How much credence, how much faith, how much response should we give to dreams and visions?

Well, I believe that in the absence of clear direction, God is able to use dreams and visions to guide us into His will.

And this is the point of this scripture today.

There are always two opposing dangers that we need to balance.

Danger number one is this: taking the Lord's name in vain and causing confusion by falsely claiming dreams and visions when you actually haven't had them from the Lord, okay?

It is easy for you to make up a story, "I had a dream about this and that," and abuse that for your own personal will.

That is danger number one.

But there's also, on the opposite side, a second danger, which I believe is also common, unfortunately, in the world, and that is when God does give us a dream or a vision and it's clear and God has spoken to you, but we often ignore it or diminish it or run away from it or say, "That's not important to me."

And we don't receive God's direction.

Let me share with you another example of a powerful dream.

There was a husband of a woman who became a Christian.

He was a Christian.

He had traveled to Greece, but she lived in Iran.

He would call her from the refugee camp nearly every day to share the gospel with her.

She decided that she needed to get a divorce because she could not be married to a Christian and remain a faithful Muslim.

So she decided, "I'm going to look up all the verses in the Quran about Jesus."

And she was shocked that Jesus was in the Quran, which led her then to find a Bible to do further study.

One day as she was reading the Bible, she recounted, "I was by myself alone in my room. In one moment, the whole room became white, and I felt completely clean. At that moment, by trusting in Jesus, I became a Christian."

God moved through a vision.

One more story.

There was a family on a boat traveling from Turkey to Athens.

And this family, on their way, they lost their seven-year-old daughter who had fallen into the water.

Everyone on that crowded boat was searching for her, couldn't find her.

Suddenly, she appeared on the other side of the boat where no one expected her, and she was repeating the same words over and over.

She said, "A man who walked on the water brought me to the other side of the boat."

Everyone heard her saying these words and dismissed her as silly or imagining things.

And when they arrived at their destination, they met a Christian who made a fire and wanted to speak with them.

That day, without knowing what happened, he asked if they would like to know about a God who walked on water.

He said, "I had never used that illustration as I evangelized to people before. But somehow God led me to say those specific words, a God who walked on water."

And they asked him, "Who are you?"

He said, "I'm a Christian. What do you mean by walking on water?"

He opened up the Bible and read the story of Jesus walking on the water.

They all began to cry and say, "Our daughter fell off the boat. We thought she was crazy because she was dry on the other side. We had no understanding."

She kept saying these words, "It was a man who walked on the water that took me to the other side."

God speaks through visions and dreams.

Listen, I believe the reason I'm preaching this sermon this morning is because I believe I have experienced it myself when God has spoken to me through a dream.

But because it does not fit into my idea for my life, I want to crumple it up and throw it away and forget about it.

I have had times that I knew God was leading me to step forward into a new level, a new destiny, a new purpose, a new future.

But because it was difficult or uncomfortable or outside of what I thought was normal.

Listen, this goes exactly with my message from last week when they named their son John instead of naming him Zechariah.

That was the normal, the course of life.

But they had to step outside of the boundaries in order to obey the Spirit of God.

I want to ask you today.

What has God led you to do?

Has God given you a dream? A purpose?

Have you begun to excuse or rationalize the vision God has put in your life?

Maybe God has given you a dream, a vision for a future ministry.

Maybe a pastoral ministry.

Maybe for a vocation, a job that God would lead you to.

Maybe it's for a family, a future.

Maybe it's for a ministry in the church.

But I'm telling you, I believe that there are so many people God would put a dream or a vision on your heart.

But we often crumple that up and throw it away thinking it doesn't mean anything.

I recognize not every dream is from God.

This does take discernment and wisdom.

It does take filtering through the revelation of God's Word.

But I want to encourage you today.

I want to warn you.

Don't ignore the dreams from God.

Don't ignore the visions that God would give.

If Joseph would have thrown away those visions, it would have cost Jesus his life.

I want to ask you, how many things, how many dreams have died in the church of Jesus because people did not respond?

This is a mark of a Pentecostal faith, is that old men will dream dreams, young men will see visions.

That this is a mark of God moving in the last days.

That people begin to have incredible experiences with God.

And I want to encourage you, let's believe God.

Let's contend that God would bring these dreams into reality.

That as we believe God's Word, I want to encourage you this morning.

Be open to the dreams from the Lord.

Let's bow our heads.

We're going to bring this service to a close, and I thank you for your attention this morning.

Thank God we don't need a dream and we don't need a vision to know God's will.

God's will is for you to be saved.

God is not willing that any would perish, but that all would come to a life-changing knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We know that for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that whoever would believe on Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.

We don't need a dream.

We don't need a vision.

We don't need a message painted in the clouds to know that God loves us.

He loves you.

He died.

He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for you.

Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God, the Father.

To know Him is to know God.

And I wonder if you've come here this morning, your heart not right with God.

You be honest for a moment.

Say, "Pastor, I'm not living right. I'm living in sin. I need to repent of my sins. I need to trust in Jesus to save me."

Before we do anything else, we need to get our hearts right.

If that's you, take a moment right now and ask, if I die today, what would happen to me?

Would I be in the presence of God for all eternity, or would I be separated from Him?

Listen, it is not God's will to be separated from Him.

God's will is that you would be saved and sanctified and set free from sin so that you could serve the living God.

If you need that today, please don't miss this opportunity.

The good news is that the Lord Jesus Christ wants to save you.

Because of His death on the cross, His resurrection on the third day, you can be miraculously saved.

If that's you this morning, don't miss this opportunity.

Can I pray with you?

Is there someone here?

With an uplifted hand, you'd say, "Pastor, please pray for me. I need Jesus. I need His mercy. I need His grace. I need His love. I'm tired of running from God. I'm tired of carrying the weight of my sins."

Would you respond by faith today, with an uplifted hand right now?

I want to pray with somebody.

Is that you, quickly, unsaved, or maybe backslidden in your heart, maybe like the prodigal son?

You're one of those who has run from God, spent all of His inheritance on riotous living, and He was separated from His Father in a far country.

It is possible for us to know the goodness of living for Jesus, but to be separated from Him because of our sins.

Is that you today?

It's time to come home.

The Father is waiting for you.

Don't miss this opportunity.

Is there anyone at all?

Quickly, you'd slip up your hand.

Unsaved or prodigals, would you lift up your hand right now?

I want to pray with you.

Is there someone here?

You're believing God to set you free.

Is that you?

Can I pray with you?

Anyone here?

Quickly, you'd lift up your hand.

Say, "Pastor, please pray for me. I need Jesus. I need His love and mercy in my life."

Thank God.

We're going to open up this altar for prayer.

And you've heard the word that I preached.

I'm preaching about dreams and visions from God.

Not every dream is from God.

Sometimes it's just the byproducts of your brain while you're sleeping.

I understand that.

But I believe God is still able to speak through dreams and visions.

And I believe by faith that the reason God would turn my attention to the dreams of the Christmas story is because someone is here listening to my voice.

God has given you a very specific dream.

You've been wrestling.

You've been questioning.

"Lord, is this from you?"

And with discernment, with wisdom, but with the word of God in one hand and with a dream in your mind, you'd say, "I believe God is leading me."

I want to encourage you to respond to those dreams and those visions.

We're going to stand up together.

We're going to open this altar for prayer.

If the Lord is leading you, please, would you come and join us?

Maybe you want to pray for someone else here.

But let's stand up to our feet together as we open up this altar for prayer.

God's leading you.

Would you come?

Would you come together?

We need those who would respond to dreams and visions.

We need God to speak in these last days.

We need God to lead us.

We need God to help us.

We need God to show us His will.

Church, would you come as we pray?

Let's pour out our hearts.

Prayer means words.

Let's lift up these needs before the Lord.

Let's respond with faith and with expectation this morning.

Let's believe God to help us for a few moments while we worship together.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

You, you, you are...

Can we stand together?

We want to pray.

We want to believe God.

Listen, none of this is scripted.

The will of God is often mysterious to seek His will.

But listen, there's also some parts of this that are not mysterious.

There are some parts that are obvious.

Now often, God is waiting for us to respond to the things that we know before He reveals things that we do not know.

What I mean by that is we know God's will is for us to be saved.

We know God's will is for us to pursue holiness and righteousness.

We know God's will is for us to be free from sexual perversion.

We know these things.

We know that we're supposed to love one another.

Like, the Bible is filled with things that we already know.

But what we're talking about is the next step.

When we're faithful to the things that we know, then God is able to lead and to bring direction for things that we don't know.

And I'm believing that God would bring guidance and leadership to your heart this morning.

Can we lift up our hands together as a sign of surrender to God's will?

And we're going to believe God just as He led Joseph through dreams and visions, just as He gave direction to the Apostle Paul and Ananias in the early church, that God would lead us and give us divine direction as well.

Let's lift up our voices.

Say, "God in heaven, I thank you for the blood of Jesus that washes me clean and gives me a place in your kingdom, in your family, and in your will.

Lord, I'm asking you today to break all selfishness.

God, I want to follow your will, your purpose for my life.

I'm asking you to help me to be faithful with things you've already revealed.

And as I am seeking your will, that you would help me to hear your word in visions and dreams.

Give me discernment and wisdom according to your word by the Holy Spirit who lives in me.

I'm asking you now to lead my life and guide my steps in Jesus' mighty name."

Amen.

Come on, let's pray.

Let's give Him praise right now, Lord.

Amen.

Allow God to activate His will and His vision for your life.

Amen.

We're going to close in prayer this morning.

Again, as I mentioned during the message tonight, I'm going to be preaching a message on marriage from the example of Joseph and Mary.

There are some powerful truths in their relationship that I want to relay to married and single people here.

And so please come back tonight ready to hear from God, whether you are married or preparing for marriage or never want to get married.

Wherever you are, it's okay.

We're going to hear something powerful tonight.

I want to encourage you to come back.

6 p.m. is prayer, and 7 p.m. the service will begin.

Amen.

Let God lead our lives as we close in prayer this morning.

Brother Saban, will you close us off for the sake of this prayer?

Amen.