_VISIONS AND DREAMS_
JOEL ii. 21-32.
And this old-world promise is good for me to-day. It is like some
weather-stained well, whose waters have continued flowing throughout the
generations, right down to my own time. Let me drink!
Holy inspiration will give me insight into the mind of my God. "_Your sons
and your daughters shall prophesy._" The breath of God creates an
atmosphere in which spiritual realities are clearly seen. It is like the
Sabbath air in some busy city, when the fumes and smoke of commerce have
been blown away. "Thou shalt behold the land that is very far off."
And so in my younger days holy inspiration will give me visions. "Your
young men shall see visions." I shall be an idealist, and I shall see
things as they exist in God's idea, even though at present they be maimed
and imperfect. I shall see them "according to the pattern on the Mount."
And in my later days holy inspiration will give me dreams. "_Your old men
shall dream dreams._" And what shall they dream about? Not like the
Chinese, of a golden age in a distant past, but of a golden age to be.
Their dreams shall have a "forward-looking eye." They shall see "the new
Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God."