MEN and women in all ages and countries have been dreamers. Most of their dreams have been forgotten at the dawn of day, and have proved to be what Shakespeare calls them, the “children of an idle brain.” It would be indeed foolish to dwell much upon them, and a fatal mistake to build our faith on such a sandy foundation.
Still, now and then, there are dreams which leave a very deep and lasting impression upon the soul, and have been used by the Holy Spirit to mold the dreamer’s heart and life. As Elihu said to Job, “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men; in slumbering upon the bed; then He openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction.” That it has been so in ancient times the Bible plainly declares, and we can hardly doubt that it is sometimes so in this present day.
Such a dream a very near and dear relation of the writer had on several occasions. She wrote it down in the following striking form.
“I dreamed,” she said, “that I was rambling along a firm and narrow slip of a sandy beach on the brink of a vast ocean. The scene that lay before me was one of surpassing beauty. The waves dashed furiously in, and the white foam crests glistened with dazzling brilliance in the glowing sunshine. Men, women, and children were diving beneath the surging billows in search of gold and precious gems. Their life seemed so full of glee and delight that I often essayed to join them; but ever and anon, as I did so, I felt the strong though gentle hand of an invisible Being restraining me, and I heard a voice whispering in my ear, Love not the world... for the world passeth away.’
“But I petulantly would reply, ‘They are not yet in any danger.’
“Ah!” my Guide would solemnly respond, ‘there is always danger: when the great wave comes they will all he swept away and perish.’
“I could not see my Friend’s face, although I was conscious in my dream of a great longing to see it. However, I thought I left the beach to snatch one bright red jewel, more brilliant than the rest, which sparkled on the brink of the ocean. But I had not time to grasp it before the Unseen One had shattered it into fragments, which grew black as I looked at them. Then suddenly, whilst the sun shone out as brightly as ever, and the giddy crowd pursued their search, the great wave came at last, and all was changed into blackness and desolation.
“At the same moment I felt my feet set firmly on a high rock. Upon that I knew that my Guide was near me.
“At last I saw His glorious face, and behind Him I could discern lofty mountains, peak towering above peak; and as the rosy light of early morning illumined the faint shadowy outlines of the scene, I heard Him say, ‘The day dawns, and the shadows flee away,’ and I awoke.”
Such was the bright and described by my late dear wife. Very beautifully does it illustrate great spiritual truths. These, however, she did not learn from her dreams, but directly from God’s Word; although they served to fix the truth more deeply on her mind and heart.
How true is this picture of our own position in this changing world. We are, indeed, traveling day by day along the shores of the vast ocean of eternity, living on its brink, and liable at any moment to be swept into its measureless depths. How little do the most serious and thoughtful realize the fact.
“Stand,” said someone, “on the margin of the ocean of eternity, and listen to the murmur of eternity’s waters, till you are deaf to every other sound.” But this is a view of life which few can attain to, and is perhaps hardly desirable for any amidst the many interests and occupations of daily life.
Far more practical and healthy was the resolution found after his death in a note-book of David Sandeman, a singularly devoted and earnest missionary to the Chinese. He had written in, large letters the words, “Eternity! Eternity!” at the head of a page, and underneath had added, “Let me act more as if I were now in the next world, looking back to see how I might have acted for the glory of my Saviour.” This was a bright example which all would do well to imitate, if we would not lose sight of the chief end of our existence, and find at last that we have lived in vain.
A good man on his deathbed is reported to have said, “As I look back upon my past life, I have both a great joy and a great grief. Great joy because my Saviour has done so much for me. Great grief because I have done so little for Him.” That joy will be greatly deepened, and that grief diminished, in proportion as we try to realize the value of our present opportunities, and remember that “the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” The world may appear, as it seemed at one time to this lady in her dream, bright and smooth as a summer sea. It may be well that it should be so for a time, for the true Christian should certainly not be a pessimist in his views of life. But far be it from us to join the giddy throng of those who are ever hoping to find treasures, or gain, or pleasure, or distinction under the world’s glittering waters. For sooner or later such hopes must prove delusive. Storms of trial and suffering from time to time will sweep across the scene, and overwhelm the careless and unready.
At any moment, too, the great waves of death and judgment may burst over them, and they may have to stand trembling and unpardoned before the great white throne.
And yet now there is the invisible but all-powerful hand of the merciful Saviour restraining them from their folly and sin, and the still small voice of His Spirit in His Word and other means of grace is ever crying, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:15-1715Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1 John 2:15‑17)).
It is not, indeed, the natural world, which the Creator pronounced to be very good, nor altogether the social world where our duty lies, that we are called to renounce or forsake. It is rather the evil system that is intermingled with the present order of things, and in various forms attracts and allures, that we are bound to fight against and withdraw from.
Too many are like the rapacious vulture, of which we have read that, during a hard frost, it had espied a fallen prey, and had so firmly fixed its talons in the carcass that it could not dislodge them, and so perished as the victim of its own greed. So will it be with those that allow the love of this world to engross their thoughts and affections, that at last they share the awful doom of the world.
But as with the lady in her dream, there stands the unseen Guide ever waiting to draw us away from the world by the attraction of His great love, to set our feet on the Rock of Ages beside Himself, where alone we shall be safe forever.
We cannot see Him now, but He is revealed to the eye of faith, and ere long, if we abide in Him like that true and loving servant of God, we shall behold Him face to face in His own immediate presence, and the bright home that He has prepared for them that love Him. Then we shall find that full satisfaction which the world can never afford. So shall the day dawn come at last and the shadows flee away forever.
W. B—T.