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"WHEN YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE"
I. GOD HAD GIVEN TO JOSEPH A DREAM WHEN HE WAS LIVING AT HOME WITH HIS BROTHERS.
A. His brothers were very jealous of Joseph because of their father's preferential treatment towards him.
B. The Bible gives us the story.
GEN 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors.
GEN 37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
GEN 37:5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told [it] his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
GEN 37:6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
GEN 37:7 For, behold, we [were] binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
GEN 37:8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
1. They mocked at the dream of Joseph.
2. They made fun of him.
3. It is interesting how some people mock at the idea of heaven.
4. They think that you are perhaps not fully mentally competent if you believe in heaven.
5. It is interesting, however, that almost everyone that I meet want to go to heaven when they die.
6. Or if a loved one has died, no matter how wicked they were, they want to feel that they have gone to a better place.
C. When Joseph's brothers saw Joseph coming to them far from the security of home they said:
GEN 37:20 Come let us kill him, and cast his body into some pit and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will come of his dreams.
D. When they sold Joseph to some merchants headed for Egypt, they no doubt thought that they would never see Joseph again, and that they had crushed his dreams.
E. It is now 20 years later, and because of a famine in the land, and because they heard that there was a supply of grain in Egypt, ten of his brothers were sent to Egypt to buy supplies.
F. Little did they know that their brother Joseph was in charge of all of the grain in Egypt and that they would have to deal with him in order to buy grain.
G. When they came to Joseph, he recognized them, however they did not recognize him. He was only 17 the last time they saw him, and he is now 37.
H. It is here that we read in our text that they bowed down before him on their faces to the earth.
1. We read that Joseph then remembered his dream.
2. He no doubt thought, "My dream has come true."
3. Dreams do come true if the dream has come from God.
II. SOMETIMES THE THINGS THAT GOD HAS PROMISED TO US ARE SO GLORIOUS THAT THEY SEEM LIKE A DREAM.
A. When we read in the Bible about heaven, it seems like a wonderful dream.
1. Streets paved with Gold.
2. The walls made of precious gems.
3. Trees of life that bear a different fruit each month.
4. No tears, no sorrow. no pain, no suffering.
5. Supernal joy.
6. We are told that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy.
B. Paul was given a visit to heaven by God.
1. He said that the things that he heard were so beautiful, that to try to describe them in language would be a crime. No vocabulary has been formed that could convey the glories. They surpass anything that has been see or heard on this earth.
2. Paul wrote, "Eye has not seen, nor has the ear heard, nor has it even entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.
C. Can you imagine the joy and glory when our dream becomes a reality?
1. When we actually meet our Lord?
2. Peter says of Jesus, "Whom having not seen, yet we love, and though we do not see Him now, yet we rejoice with a joy that is indescribable and full of glory."
D. This blessed hope surely takes the sting out of death.
1. As Paul cried, "Oh death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?"
2. Having once visited heaven he wrote to the Philippians, that he found himself with mixed emotions, having a desire to depart and be with with Christ, which is far better.
a. Far better than what?
b. Far better than staying on this sin cursed earth, with all of it's pain sorrow and pressures.
3. Why do we sorrow at the death of our loved ones?
a. It would be foolish to sorrow for them.
b. We sorrow for ourselves, the fact that they meant so much to us and we are now going to miss all of their input into our lives.
4. Paul tells us that to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord. What could be better than that?
E. I have dreamed of heaven, seeing the throne of God, seeing my Lord, Jesus Christ. Seeing my Dad and brother, and my mother.
1. One day my dream will come true, I have the promise of God for that fact.
2. I have the Lord Jesus Christ to thank for making it possible.
a. He died for me in order that I might make it through heaven's gates. It is only through Him that it is possible for man to make it into heaven. He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man can come to the Father but by Me."
c. At the end of his life Paul wrote, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord our righteous judge shall give to me, but not to me only, but to all those who love His appearing."
3. One day, even as Joseph, we will find that our dreams given to us by God have come true.
4. Even though his brothers had mocked and scoffed at his dream, they could not keep it from becoming a reality the promises of God shall be fulfilled.
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
Abbreviate Books
Use SBL Abbrev.
