Obs. 1. From thatJUthi/ dreamers ; note, that the erroneous thoughts of wicked men are but a dream. It is but friai-like to follow an illu- sion too far ; only a little for illustration. Wicked men are dreamers — (1.) In regard of their state and condition, every carnal man is in a state of a ' deep sleep,' Isa. xxix. 10 ; snorting upon the bed of ease, without any sense of the danger of their condition, as Jonah in the ship was found asleep when the storm arose. They sleep, but ' their dam- nation sieepeth not,' 2 Peter ii. 3. (2.) In regard of the suitableness between their vain thoughts and a dream. A dream, you know, tickleth with a false delight, and deceiveth with a vain hope.
1. Tickleth with a false delight : they hug a cloud, as we say, instead of Juno, and embrace the contentments and pleasures of the world in- stead of the true riches ; a carnal man's running from pleasure to pleasure is but a sweet dream, a fit of mirth and pleasure while con- science is asleep : ' They walk in a vain show,' Ps. xxxix. 6 ; they imagine a great deal of felicity and contentment in their condition ; but when they come to ' warm themselves by their own sparks, they lie down in sorrow,' Isa. 1. 11.
2. Deceiveth with a vain hope, as where the prophet compareth the dream of the enemies of the church to the dream of a night vision, Isa. xxix. 7, 8, ' And it shall be as an hungry man dreameth, and be- hold he eateth, but he awaketh and his soul is empty ; or when as a thirsty man dreameth, and behold he drinketh, but he awaketh, and behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite.' So it is with them, all their hopes are dashed in an instant. The foolish virgins slept. Mat. XXV., and when they slept they dreamed that the door of grace would still be open to them, but they found it shut. Many flatter themselves with fair hopes till they awake in flames, but then all is gone.
Take heed, then, of^being deceived by your own dreams, and the fictions of your own brain ; there are no dreams so foolish as those we dream waking, as Epiphanus saith of the Gnostics ; it was not ivvir- vta<ji<i rov vTTvov, a sleeping dream that they were guilty of, but Xrjpo- Xoyia "^('XV^ ^? ^^' vttvov \eyofxevr}<;, the dotage of their minds, putting' them upon fancies as monstrous and incoherent as men's thoughts in a dream. Waking dreams are most pernicious. There are two sorts of these dreams — (1.) Dreams in point of opinion, when we hug error instead of truth. (2.) Dreams iu point of hope, when we cherish pre- sumption instead of faith.
1, Dreams in opinion, which are very rife now ; the old world is apt
232 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [VeR. 8.
to dote.l Idle and ungrounded notions, how plausible soever, are but the dreams of a misty sleepy brain. To prevent these take these rules — (1.) If you would beware of dreams, beware of a blind mind. Men sleep in the dark, and in sleep fancy gets the start of reason ; indistinct . thoughts do easily dispose to error, and a half light will certainly abuse you: ' The simple believeth every word,' Prov. xiv. 15. (2.) Suffer not yourselves to be blinded, First, Not by vile affections : men would fain have that true which is pleasing, and most accommodate to their own interests. Vile affection taketh away the light of reason, and leaveth us only the pride of reason ; and therefore none so confident and touchy in their opinions as they that are misled by lusts and interests. How easily do we exasperate our minds, and invent prejudices against a hated truth ! If the weights be equal, yet if the balances be not equal, wrong will be done. When the heart is biassed before the search, and swayed with some carnal desire or interest, the judgment is obscured and cannot consider of the weight of what is alleged ; there is an idol in the heart. Secondly, By vulgar prejudice. That the devil may keep the world asleep,it is his usual trick to burden the ways of God with clamour and vulgar prejudice. A dream or lie daretli not combat with truth in open field, and therefore fortifieth against it with popu- lar arguments, that the ways of God may be suspected rather than tried ; and usually it falleth that error is more specious at the first blush, God's providence suffering his own ways to be under the cross and the world's displeasure. Now, in such a case, men keep at a dis- tance, and are loath to search lest they meet with trouble of conscience for not obeying the truth, or trouble from the world for crossing their customs and fashions. Thirdly, By personal administration in spiritual things ; we learn to dream from one another, Deut. xiii. 3, Zech. x. 2. No man must be set up in God's chair, and their dictates followed as if they were infallible.
Study the word, else there is no light in what is brought to you, Isa. viii. 20 ; it is but only a dream and dotage of men's brains, and the closer you keep to the letter of the word the better. Many are perverted by mystical interpretations, when men bring that to the word which they do do not find there ; the letter must not be receded from as long as it is capable of any commodious interpretation. Now this word must be ' hidden in the heart,' Ps. cxix. 9, and ' dwell in us richly,' Col. iii. 16.