Dreams and Visions

DREAMS AND VISIONS

As Carl Trueman has observed, “We are deep in a culture of expressive individualism with the rise of the therapeutic self, whereby the good is identified with what makes one feel happy. Inner personal happiness and a sense of well-being resides at the heart of the modern age. There is no transcendent framework, it is dead.”

 

Subjectivity is equal to objective truth. Subjectivity and emotionalism are evidenced in the way many churches approach solid biblical doctrines, and they don’t even realize it’s happening. We can clearly see a drift from biblical teaching on homosexuality, feminism, the authority of Scripture, and a host of similar cultural and theological dynamics as well as lesser controversial issues.

 

I was in a Bible Study Class and the issue of Dreams and Visions was a pop-up discussion. This class has a solid biblical foundation and loves the Word of God and His people. However, the discussion at hand was that God is at work with Muslims. They are experiencing Dreams. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, we are deep in an emotive, therapeutic culture and it is evident in the way many churches face nearly every solid biblical doctrine, and they don’t even realize it’s happening. We need each other to stand vigilant guard for the other in all things in these evil days. We have been subconsciously moving toward an emotive interpretation of spiritual events. The class eagerly wanted what they perceived to be God doing something. Yet, no one in the class knew if these dreams were verified, salvific, or tested within biblical boundaries. No one knew of whom these dreams were about, nor what was the desired outcome of these Dreams. No one knew of the content of these dreams. No one thought to ask. All that mattered is that someone claimed to have had a vision or dream of divine origin. Almost everyone threw in as though it was a normal, wonderful thing. Perhaps Jesus is visiting Muslims in dreams, perhaps not. Perhaps an “angel of light” of some other origin than divine is visiting Muslims. I don’t know. But it was unsettling to see how easily most of the class was all-in to accept this claim without scrutiny. And I can’t help but ask, “why only Muslims?”

Additionally, the “Afghanistan” edition of the IMB (International Mission Board) "Connecting" publication pushed out a wonderful and insightful look at the Afghan people and how to pray for them. Of course, there is a “however”, since the publication is mentioned in this article. See the following inserts from the magazine:

Note the circled text on the next two pages from the IMB publication. You will see that the IMB is requesting prayer for the Afghans to receive Dreams and Visions. I think it is astounding how the institution that represents the apex of how missions is supposed to be done is fancying the unknown and flirting with clandestine authority outside biblical boundaries.

We have been given the model prayer to conduct missions and it goes like this:

Matt 9.37-38

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 

“Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

 

The Bible does not say, “Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out dreams and visions.” It just doesn’t. 

 

And we know what answer we are to give the Lord of the harvest:

Isa 6.8

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me'”

So, with a little help from Geisler and Nix and Philip Schaff, I’d like to throw in a caution to be discerning about dreams and visions without falling so quickly to emotional bait that may mislead the one who hopes all things. When one hopes all things, one must be sure of the things in which one hopes.

 

See the acronym “DREAMS” as a guide to discernment.

 

D istraction and Deception

R ead the Bible

E xperiential

A compass to Christ only

M issionaries

S eek Not, Forbid Not

 

D istraction

Dreams are a distraction from the authoritative Word of God. And it is a Distraction from solid, foundational, doctrinal discipline. It is not a study to show oneself approved. (2 Tim 2.15)

I might add one more D. Dreams and visions can be very Deceptive. There is no proof whatsoever of its origin, nor limits or boundaries other than one’s imagination.

 

R ead the Bible

There is no place in Scripture that tells us to follow our heart or our dreams. This world is not Disneyworld. If there should be an actual, valid dream or vision from God directly to an unsaved person then by all rights, it should be scrutinized and subject to the boundaries of the written Word of God. Dreams and Visions are not the Rule of Faith. 

 

Should, if ever, one comes face to face with an unsaved individual in the context of Muslims having dreams, one must meticulously detail every narrative of the dream against Scripture.

Be sure it is biblically pure and sound. Read the Bible:

 

2 Cor 13.8

For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.

Rom 15.4 

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

 

Nothing spiritual happens in real life in some ethereal, willy-nilly manner. And in the New Testament narrative, we observe that nothing happens in real life unless it is framed in a biblical footprint. Scripture is our model to discern everything. Every valid spiritual event is according to Scripture.

 

Examples:

 

Luke 24 Jesus not only opened to the disciples “the Scriptures” (v.32), but the Scriptures are described as everything written about Christ “in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” (v.44). Earlier in this same chapter, while relating Christ’s exposition of the Old Testament law and prophets, Luke called these “all the Scriptures” (v.27).

 

Even greater, John 2:22 states that after Jesus was raised from the dead, the disciples “believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had spoken.”

 

The disciples were not swayed toward Jesus because He was raised from the dead, WHICH IS GREATER THAN A DREAM, rather, when they saw the resurrection, they believed the Scripture. Again, Scripture is the framework for real life and spiritual reality.

 

Further, Jesus did not say believe me because I say so…In John 5:39 Jesus says of the Jews: “You search the Scriptures … it is these that bear witness to Me.”

 

We can see the significance of Scripture in identifying the Messiah. In view of Jesus deferring to Scripture to validate His person, how could anyone think to verify the person of Jesus based on an unsaved Muslim’s dream? We have drifted so very far from the biblical model of knowing God.

 

There is no apologetic, polemic, or gospel message that promotes personal experience, e.g., dreams and visions over a Scriptural presentation. 

 

In Acts, the words Scripture and Scriptures are used in the same manner as they were by Jesus. The apostle Paul “reasoned with them [the Jews] from the Scriptures” (Acts 17:2). The Bereans “examined the Scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11). 

Apollos, who was called “an elegant man … mighty in the Scriptures,” ministered to the Jews, “demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ” (Acts 18:24, 28).

 

Every gospel moment in Scripture was a Scriptural moment – there were no lose ends to interpret. Everything was according to Scripture:

 

Paul repeatedly used the word Scripture(s) to refer to the entire authoritative canon of the Old Testament. In Romans he wrote that God had promised the gospel “through His prophets in the holy Scriptures” (Rom. 1:2). The expression “What does the Scripture say?” occurs several times in that same epistle (e.g., 4:3; 9:17; 10:11; 11:12). 

 

In Romans 15:4 Paul says that whatever was written in former days in the Scriptures was for the believer’s admonition. He also spoke of “the Scriptures of the prophets” (16:26). In his other epistles the apostle Paul said that Christ had died and arisen “according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3–4); that the “Scripture” foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles (Gal. 3:8); that “the Scripture has shut up all men under sin” (Gal. 3:22). He also asked, “What does the Scripture say?” (Gal. 4:30); made the statement, “The Scripture says” (1 Tim. 5:18); and declared that “all Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Tim. 3:16).

 

In Eph 2.19-20 we may infer that the household of God is not built upon dreams and visions:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone…”

 

Every Church Creed acknowledges the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments in the original Hebrew and Greek, as the only perfect rule of faith, containing all that is necessary for our salvation.

 

Westminster Standard:

The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments shall be acknowledged to be the inspired Word of God, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice; the Confession of Faith shall continue to be sincerely received and adopted, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures.

 

E xperiential - Experiences are only to one recipient. Dreams are an individual experience. It cannot be transmitted to anyone else as a standard for evangelism. We do not promote anything based on experience. Experience can’t be the navigator to God for oneself, nor for others, nor the tutor under God. The Bible alone is the rule for The Faith.

 

Even so, greater than a vision, when someone opens the Word of God, he also must be Examined to see if his interpretation is true to the text.

 

There is no gospel without the foundation of Scripture.

 

Rom 1.1-2

Paul, a bondservant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.

 

“Finally, any final authority for faith and practice on earth outside Scripture isn’t in the Bible:

‘…so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, ‘do not go beyond what is written” … (1 Cor 4.6b) (Tom Buck)

 

Additionally, salvation is not something that meets a “felt need”. Salvation is the redemptive re-creation that God does in us and is non-experiential. It is a divine transaction. It is not something we experience. It is what we refer to as Justification. When one is saved or justified, there was not a real death, and a real burial, and a real resurrection that one experiences. It spiritually occurred. Its foundation, though, was the historical death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus in the past. It is a faith fact. You can’t experience dying in Christ, actually. You can’t experience your burial. You can’t experience being raised. You must take it by faith. And that “faith” is a gift of God. Justification is not an experience that takes place inside oneself.

 

In its theological sense, justification is a forensic, purely legal term. It describes what God declares about the believer, not what He does to change the believer. In fact, justification affects no actual change whatsoever in the sinner’s nature or character. Justification is a divine judicial edict. IT IS NOT A FEELING. Salvation does not come from an experiential Dream.

Justification changes our status only, but it carries ramifications that guarantee other changes will follow. Forensic decrees like this are common in everyday life. (Marriage Ceremony, Jury Foreman, etc.)

 

In biblical terms, justification is a divine verdict of “not guilty-fully righteous”; from wrath to blessing.  It is not just a pardon; pardon alone would still leave the sinner without merit before God. So, when God justifies, He imputes (credits) divine righteousness to the sinner (Rom 4.22-25).

 

A Compass to Christ only. If dreams and visions are experienced by an unsaved person, the dreams cannot be salvific in themselves. They can only be a compass to point one further to the Truth. And it is Scripture that points to Christ.

 

Eph 4.20

You did not so learn Christ! – assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the Truth is in Jesus.

 

2 Tim 3.14-15

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. (Salvation is derived through faith in Christ, from wisdom derived from the sacred writings.)

 

M issionaries. If Dreams and Visions to the unsaved are a “new thing”, then they impede any commission to evangelize the unsaved. There is no longer the need to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matt 28.19

 

Romans 10.14-17

“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

 

How can any Christian justify any compulsion to share Christ in part or in whole…God will just take care of it Himself in a dream or vision.

 

S eek Not, Forbid Not

If God has not given one a special revelation of Himself through a dream or a vision, then SEEK NOT. Don’t expect it, ask for it, or wish for it. 

 

If God has intervened in the life of someone outside the faith with a dream or a vision, then don’t forbid it…as long as there is Scriptural grounds for such a thing to take place. Who am I to judge over God; however, I can and must discern the content and outcome according to the final canon of Scripture. 

 

ON the other hand, one must not SEEK it for the unsaved and one must FORBID that the one having received this dream attempts to duplicate it in another person. One cannot evangelize with a dream or an experience. Personal experiences cannot be duplicated in someone else. And personal experiences are not authoritative.

 

Scriptures are the utterances of the Holy Spirit, and All “Scripture” is inspired, and ONLY Scripture is Inspired. Since the canon of Scripture was closed, no dream has any authority and is subject to heresy and error.

 

It is the claim of the classical texts that the writings are inspired:

 

2 Tim 3.16

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

(This means DREAMS ARE NOT profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work)

 

Gal 1.8-9

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

(This means DREAMS ARE NOT the gospel nor are they used to teach the gospel)

 

Heb 4.12

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

(This means DREAMS ARE NOT living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.)

 

Rev 22.18-19

I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

(This means that DREAMS better be totally and completely scrubbed to be sure that nothing contradicts or competes with anything in the last book of the Bible)

 

Misc. verses on Scriptural authority:

(When reading the following verses, read them considering their self-stated authority and understand that DREAMS have no authority in any sense)

 

Scripture is irrevocable. It cannot be usurped by any vision or dream.

Matt 5.18

“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Lk 16.17

“But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

 

Scripture alone has final authority (The following verse refutes the spontaneous act of Dreams and Visions)

2 Pet 1.20-21

But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

 

Scripture has complete inerrancy, dreams do not.

Jn 17.17

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

PS 19.7

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

PS 119.160

The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

1 Jn 4.1

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

 

2 Cor 13.5.   (A Dream does not make one born again)

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?

 

Finally, in Luke 16.19-31, Jesus told us a parable of Lazarus and a rich man. The rich man died and was ushered into Hades and Lazarus died and was carried to Abraham’s Bosom. In the narrative, the rich man begged that someone from Abraham’s Bosom come from the dead to warn his family not to come to his place of torment. 

Abraham told the rich man, “…If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.” (v31)

We do not need miracles, revelations, and dreams to persuade the unsaved to repent and turn to Christ; we have the Word of God and the Holy Spirit Who illumines it, and, not least of all, those who are sent… “Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”. (Rom 10.15)

.

 

 

These “dreams” have no relevance to Joel 2.28-32 or Acts 2.16f