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Okay.
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From Marvin,
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"Over the past year or so,
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I've been experiencing very weird dreams.
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I've seen angelic figures
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and demonic ones as well.
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I can hardly understand it.
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Lately, I've seen very large snakes
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in my dreams too.
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What's your say on these?
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Should I be worried?
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Am I getting some sort of message
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from the supernatural world?
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What exactly is this
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and what should I do besides pray?"
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Now, this one almost seems like
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maybe we should just deal with Marvin
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as to where he's at spiritually.
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And I wouldn't argue with that,
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but because the subject is dreams,
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and I know that in the church realm,
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dreams come up.
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People talk about dreams
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and people have dreams.
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I've been asked or I've heard
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somebody say that
they had a certain dream.
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There are people in our church
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that will talk about dreams.
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And so let's just think scripturally.
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Does God ever give a dream?
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It's from Him - not satanic,
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it's God giving the dream
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because God means to communicate
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something to an individual.
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Does that ever happen?
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Old Testament?
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Old Testament and New Testament?
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Okay.
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So all through the Bible,
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we can find examples of God giving dreams.
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It's a God-given dream
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that communicates some kind of prophecy,
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some kind of warning,
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some kind of message.
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Give me some examples.
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Good - by good,
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I don't mean that when interpreted
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it actually sounded like great news,
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but they're good in the sense
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that they're God-given.
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Give me some examples.
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Old and New.
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(unintelligible)
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Pharaoh.
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Joseph interpreted for him.
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Yes, you had the cows,
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you had the corn stalks or wheat stalks,
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seven years, seven years.
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There's two Joseph's actually
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in the Bible that were pretty prominent
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with dreams.
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You had Joseph in the Old Testament
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and Joseph the husband of Mary
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in the New Testament.
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Very often, the Joseph
in the New Testament
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was receiving dreams
concerning what he should do
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as far as escaping Herod
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by going down to Egypt,
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when to come back,
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even taking Mary for his wife.
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God was very consistently speaking
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to Joseph the husband of Mary
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by way of dreams.
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Can anybody think of any other place
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in the Old Testament
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where dreams are fairly significant?
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(unintelligible)
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Jacob's ladder actually is a dream.
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And it says so specifically.
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Somebody said Daniel.
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Daniel was interpreting.
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He interpreted two dreams
for Nebuchadnezzar.
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Can you think of any other dreams?
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You were talking about Jacob.
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Whoever mentioned Jacob,
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I don't know if that was exactly
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talking about Jacob's ladder.
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You know he had another dream.
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He had a dream about you remember
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when he made the deal with Laban
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that he would only take the striped
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and the spotted and the
mottled sheep and goats?
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And God actually gave him a dream.
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And maybe that's how he knew
that he should choose those.
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But you remember what he did.
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He took those sticks
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and he put stripes in them
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and he kind of held them up.
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But other dreams -
can you think of others?
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What's that?
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(unintelligible)
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God said don't say
anything to him good or bad.
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Don't do any harm to him.
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Abimelech - do you remember
the guy Abimelech?
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He was like a Philistine king
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and he had taken Sarah.
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And he had a dream
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that said you're a dead man.
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And he said, "Lord, I did this
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in the innocence of my heart."
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And he had another dream
and God came to him
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and said, "I know you did."
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Anyway, okay, good dreams.
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Yes, there are God-given dreams.
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There are good dreams.
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Can you think of anywhere else
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in the New Testament specifically,
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maybe not where you have
specific examples of dreams,
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but where dreams
themselves are talked about
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in a good way?
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(unintelligible)
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Pentecost.
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Basically, the fulfillment of Joel 2.
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Who is going to dream dreams?
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(from the room) young men?
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The who?
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Doesn't it say the old men?
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James: The old men shall dream dreams.
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Tim: Yeah, the old men are
going to dream dreams.
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So, that's good.
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The Spirit moves - good dreams.
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How about examples of bad dreams?
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And by bad dreams, I mean people
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that refer to their dreams
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as having come from God,
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but the reality is they
don't come from God,
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and the only reason they're saying
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that they had dreams from God
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is so they can set forth their lies.
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(unintelligible)
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(from the room)
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When Job's first friend
is talking to him...
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(unintelligible)
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Tim: (incomplete thought)
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I think that that is not
necessarily a dream.
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I think that may be something demonic.
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(unintelligible)
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Yeah, I'm not sure that's a dream.
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(unintelligible)
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Jude.
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(from the room)
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These people were false prophets.
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It gives a long description,
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but it says they're
relying on their dreams.
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Tim: They're relying on their dreams.
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Right.
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Can you think of some place
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that talks about them relying
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on their visions?
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(from the room)
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Like when that man went to go confront
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King Jeroboam.
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(unintelligible)
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He preached against it
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and God said go back the way you came.
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The old prophet said an angel told me
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that you can come back with me.
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Tim: Well, I don't think
that's a good example
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because he just basically made it up
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(incomplete thought).
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But I mean in the New Testament,
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is there some place you can think of
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where it talks about relying on visions?
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Being associated with false religion.
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(from the room): Revelation, right?
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Tim: I'm thinking
specifically of Colossians.
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(unintelligible)
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But okay, let's look at something here.
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Deuteronomy 13.
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Let's all go here.
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Fifth book in the Bible.
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Deuteronomy 13:1,
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"If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams
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arises among you and gives you
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a sign or a wonder..."
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So, here's the thing.
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God Himself is actually saying,
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when He says dreamer of dreams,
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you know what's interesting about this?
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Is He's not saying somebody
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that simply claims to have had a dream.
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He's actually saying a dreamer of dreams.
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My point here is this,
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you can actually have a dream
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and be able to do some supernatural things
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and it not be from God.
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"He does a sign or a wonder
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that he tells you comes to pass,
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and if he says 'let
us go after other gods,'
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which you have not known,
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'and let us serve them,'
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you shall not listen to the words
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of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams,
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for the Lord your God is testing you
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to know whether you love the Lord your God
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with all your heart, with all your soul."
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So you see that reality.
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Go to Jeremiah 23.
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Jeremiah deals with
this fairly extensively.
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Jeremiah 23.
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Go down to verse 25.
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I like this because notice
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the direct comparison between dreams
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and the Word of God.
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Really today, that's
what we're dealing with.
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People can talk about their dreams,
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but it's the Word of God that is firm.
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And in fact, it's the Word of God
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whereby those dreams
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need to be tested
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and the fruit of the individual
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claiming to have the dream
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is to be tested.
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If you go to 23:25,
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"I have heard what the prophets have said
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who prophesy lies in my name
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saying 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed.'"
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These guys are just liars.
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"How long shall there be lies
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in the hearts of the prophets
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who prophesy lies and who prophesy
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the deceit of their own heart,
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who think to make My people forget My name
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by their dreams that they tell one another
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even as their fathers
forgot My name for Baal?"
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"Let the prophet who has a dream
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tell the dream.
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But let him who has My Word,
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speak My Word faithfully."
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Isn't that interesting?
There's the comparison.
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"What has straw in common with wheat?"
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It's like the difference between
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the dreamer and the man that has His Word.
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Verse 29, "Is not My Word like fire
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declares the Lord, and like a hammer
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that breaks the rock in pieces?"
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Go down to v. 32,
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"Behold, I am against those who prophesy
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lying dreams declares the Lord,
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and who tell them and
lead My people astray
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by their lies and their recklessness
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that I did not send them or charge them
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so they do not profit this people at all
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declares the Lord."
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Now, Kevin referenced the text in Jude,
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so I think maybe we'll finish on this one
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here in Jude,
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because I want to make some points.
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Jude. Right before Revelation.
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In verse 5,
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"I want to remind you
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although you once fully knew it,
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that Jesus who saved a people
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out of the land of Egypt
afterward destroyed
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those who did not believe.
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The angels who did not stay within
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their own position of authority,
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but left their proper dwelling,
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He has kept in eternal chains
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under gloomy darkness
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until the judgment of the great day."
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So he's talking about judgment here
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and those who have
come under His judgment.
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"Just as Sodom and Gomorrah
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and the surrounding cities
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which likewise indulged
in sexual immorality
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and pursued unnatural desires
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serve as an example..."
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An example to who? To us.
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"By undergoing a
punishment of eternal fire."
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Look, sexual immorality -
this is an example to us
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of what God will do to us
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if we are involved in sexual immorality.
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"Yet in like manner (notice this)...
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in like manner..."
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These people are like Sodom and Gomorrah.
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"In like manner, these people also
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relying on their dreams,
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they defile the flesh, reject authority,
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blaspheme the glorious ones."
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And I got to thinking about this
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that Marvin - he's experiencing dreams.
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I think what I would ask
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a young man like this
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is Jude is making a connection
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between the people
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who rely on their dreams
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and he's talking about Sodom and Gomorrah
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who's an example.
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And then he says "in like manner,
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these people also
relying on their dreams..."
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It's like he's weaving this together.
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A despising of authority
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and sexual immorality
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and relying on dreams
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and defiling the flesh.
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He's weaving this together -
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these people.
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And he says in v. 10,
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"They blaspheme all
they do not understand.
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They're destroyed by all that they
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like unreasoning animals
understand instinctively.
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Woe to them."
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I can tell you this.
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When you find Joseph having dreams,
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what does Scripture say
about Joseph's character?
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What sort of man was he?
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What does Scripture say about Daniel?
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What kind of man was he?
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What does Scripture say
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about the New Testament Joseph?
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The husband of Mary.
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What kind of man was he?
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You know, I think you want
to tie these together.
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I would ask Marvin
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about the connection
with sexual immorality.
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I would ask him about his purity.
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See, he's wanting to talk about dreams.
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"Should I be afraid?"
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I would say this,
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if there's sexual immorality in your life,
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it's because of that the
wrath of God is coming
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and that's what you ought to be afraid of.
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Having a dream of snakes?
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Dreams - should we put stock in dreams?
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Should we guide our lives by dreams?
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I think you want to be
very careful of dreams.
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Could God speak to a person through them?
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There's biblical examples,
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but I'll tell you this,
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just as much as there's biblical examples
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of God-given dreams
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directing righteous men,
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there's also a lot of warnings
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concerning rotten people
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and false prophets and evil people
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that have dreams, rely on dreams,
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want to talk about their dreams.
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Dreams - where can they come from?
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I mean, some people will tell you
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if they eat right before they go to bed,
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they have all sorts of horrible dreams
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or crazy dreams.
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That could be one thing.
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There could be natural
causes as to why you dream.
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We're dreaming all the time,
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but why sometimes we
remember more dreams,
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maybe it's got to do with
whether we're in deep sleep
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or not so deep sleep.
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Could some dreams come
from satanic causes?
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Undoubtedly.
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Could you have dreams about snakes?
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If you sat and watched a movie
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like one of these cannibal movies
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or zombie movies or something,
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would you think it might
affect your dreams?
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You know, just an illicit lifestyle
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could affect your dreams.
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What you read or think about
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or watch right before you go to bed
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may have a tremendous effect.
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I think the thing to ask
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with regards to these things
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is looking at the lifestyle.
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I think the question is
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concerning a young man and his life.
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Whether you're saved or not
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is the real issue.
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Not: should I be afraid
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because I have a dream about snakes?
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Well, the truth is I should be afraid
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if I'm lost.
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I should fear Him who can throw
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body and soul into hell.
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That's what I should fear.
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I mean, if I'm a Christian,
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and I have some crazy dream about snakes
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and it's a nightmare, I'm safe.
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If I'm lost and I have
dreams about angels -
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when I was lost, I had a dream about Mary.
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Very comforting.
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I have a feeling that had
devilishness about it.
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It gave me such thoughts
of Mary that I never had -
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I was a nominal Catholic my whole life,
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but it gave me such thoughts about Mary
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that were warm.
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I felt something from that.
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But you know, you can have
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all sorts of nice feeling dreams
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and be lost and go to hell.
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You could have dreams about snakes
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and horrible things and go to Heaven.
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The nature of the dream isn't the thing.
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It's the character of the man
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that's the issue.
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Anything else?
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Anything anybody want to say about dreams?
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I would just say this,
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look, if you have somebody in the church
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that tells you that they had a premonition
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or an impression or a vision
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or a dream,
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I would just say this,
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be extremely careful
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that you not let somebody else's dream -
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here's one of the problems that I have.
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If God wants to communicate to me
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to take my son down to Egypt,
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I don't think He's going
to give you a dream
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about me taking my son down to Egypt.
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He's going to give me a dream
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warning me that Herod
wants to kill my child
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and so I should take him down to Egypt.
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I get very suspicious
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when you get third person people
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telling me they had a dream
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that I'm supposed to marry so-and-so.
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I would be extremely suspect
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of that kind of thing.
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Don't put weight in it.
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You will go wrong.
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What you want to put weight in
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is in the Word of God.
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You go to Proverbs 31.
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Study it out.
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Look at the character of a woman.
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Use that as your reference point.
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Just be very careful
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because there are people
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who even in good churches,
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people who will say:
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I had this dream.
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It was about you.
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It's almost like there's
some meaning here.
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There's something you're supposed to know
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that's going to affect decisions
you make in your life.
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(incomplete thought)
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Your antennas ought to go up
-
and red flags ought to be waving all over
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when people tell you that.
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What time do we have?
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Okay, we've got time for one more.
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Anybody want to say
anything about dreams?
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(from the room)
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(unintelligible)
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Matthew 24:24 -
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it says, "For there shall
arise false christs
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and false prophets
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and shall show great signs and wonders,
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so much that if it were possible,
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they shall deceive the very elect."
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Tim: Right.
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If possible, they would
deceive the very elect.
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But it's not possible for
the elect to be deceived.
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At least, not deceived damnably.