I Dreamed A Dream | Rev Jason Varnum
by Jason Varnum
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 2 Peter 3:3-4, Matthew 24:36, 2 Timothy 1:12, 2 Timothy 1:18, 2 Timothy 4:8, John 1:45, John 14:3, Acts 1:11

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/jason-varnum--i-dreamed-a-dream
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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it is a great privilege stand here and to be among God's people the Maryville church has known far and wide and uh long before y'all got in this wonderful magnificent building I watched some of y'all services online and the choir may be bigger but it didn't look like it because that choir was spilling off the platform y'all were packed in there and y'all were having a move of God and uh and so it has been seen and uh as brother Carpenter just mentioned I first got to know him and see him now he's talking about Mama whistling and Mama does whistle matter of fact the first time brother Carpenter this has nothing to do y'all sit down because I'll start talking help me Jesus the first time my my mom and dad was trying to have a hundred people in the church they came to mama she was teaching a class and we had 99 and mama said oh no it ain't going to be that close and just that's going to be it so Mama walks outside with her keys she was going to go find somebody because we were going to break a hundred that day and uh so when she walked outside there were these two boys that were walking down the road with pop bombs and Mama whistled at him and mama can whistle loud and them boys turned around and looked and she said waved him over there and those boys didn't know what to do you know they just come walking over and she said what are you boys doing they're like we're just taking our pop bottles down to the store said on a Sunday you know you should be in church you put those bottles down right there and you get in that church and we had 101 that day so don't mess with Mama's whistle not only that that boy those boys came in and and we had 101 and then life went on and about about 10 15 years later uh one night we were having church and this young man walked in the back door walked up to Mom and said I know you don't remember me and Mom said I'm sorry I don't he said you remember whistling at two boys and she he was yeah I remember that she said well he said I went home that day after that service and my mom and dad got a divorce said and we move somewhere up north and said when we moved there I told Mama I want to find a church that I felt what I felt in that little church he went to an Apostolic Church became an Apostolic preacher come on somebody you just got to do something you just got to reach somehow someway so at that West Monroe young ministers conference brother Carpenter heard Mama whistle but I heard by the carpenter preach an amazing message off of the back of a Betty Crocker cake box and I never forgot it and through the years as he said we have had the opportunity to connect Nolan and his wife came and preached for us in Bellevue a couple of years ago now and the whole Carpenter family the Eric everybody I'm so thankful for this church and the leadership are you thankful for your leadership aren't you thankful for godly people thank you Lord Jesus and last but certainly not least my amazing beautiful wife oh I just felt the Holy Ghost in This Place is here right now I have four amazing children and uh should I I should okay so we're praying we're in prayer I was taking care of my my kids um my wife was redoing their their restroom and so we were decorating and I was putting my kids you know their letters on their all of them on the wall together and I just stepped back and I was like oh my so I called by the Carpenter and I said brother Carpenter I'm in prayer I think I might be in the wrong organization and he said brother you're probably in the Holy Ghost tell me what you mean and I said I just realized that my kid's name in order Andrew Lydia Joshua Chloe a-l-jc on my wall and I'm like sweet Mercy what can I do about that we'll let God speak tonight how about that thank you Lord I I am preaching here for the first time but it's not my first time preaching and I know what you're supposed to do and not supposed to do and one of the things you're supposed to do is preach something comfortable something you preached before and um and I I've done my best to do that but then I started praying and as one man said God doesn't change my tune so I had a message ready to go but something happened to me this week and I cannot just preach a message I honestly I don't know exactly I've never preached this before I don't even have a title I just titled it my experience because I didn't know what to title it so I'm going to be preaching I Dreamed a Dream let's ask the Lord to speak to us for the next few moments Lord in the name of Jesus I pray that you are anoint me to preach your word God let me speak what you put inside of me and let each and every one of us leave this place different than what we came let us leave God different God let us leave change by the power of almighty God In The Name Of The Lord Jesus the church said amen as brother Carpenter brother Carpenter and I were talking today he talked about a dream that kind of helped him make a decision that a brother had and I took that as a confirmation because I normally don't just preach about dreams but I'm going to preach about a dream this past Wednesday night I Dreamed a Dream now I don't have lots of dreams and I know when dreams are crazy and when dreams are from the Lord there are Pizza dreams you know as a matter of fact we were at Chick-fil-A up here on Saturday morning yesterday morning and while we sat there someone behind us we heard them saying bro I dreamed last night that Peyton Manning came to me and told me how they were going to win that game now that that just might be a pizza dream I don't know he might be a prophet I have no idea but I know those kinds of dreams but I know that the older I get brother Carpenter the Bible says old men shall drain dreams I don't feel like an old man but God's been speaking to me we had some dreams interesting you know we need to we need to talk about what God is saying and doing I got up and preached about a dream that was my first time this is my second time at my church just a little while back and after I got done I was talking because the Lord showed me there were bears that were roaming our people and our kids and the Holy Ghost came and the Holy Ghost began to do things and what I did not know is once I said it people began to come I'm talking about prayer warriors and the church said I had that same dream I had that same dream God's trying to speak to us we're not just in this thing on our own we're not just trying to get through this thing we are laborers together with God this past Wednesday I was sleeping in the early morning hours and I went into a business meeting in this dream and it was a beautiful house and there was a lot of deals going on a lot of a lot of work that was happening and people were networking and people were talking and there was meetings going on in different places and I was there with everyone and we were going just through the process of of this business meeting and this get-together and I I walked outside and when I walked outside I was just kind of looking up and it was beginning to get about Dusk and there were a few clouds around and all of a sudden I saw something began to come through these clouds and I kept looking and I realized it was angels and when I saw them it dawned on me it's happening it's happening and I began to say it's the rapture it's the Rapture and I'm telling y'all I I felt my feet come off the floor I can feel the Holy Ghost right now talking about it my feet started slowly coming off the floor and here I went up in the air and I was shouting this is it this is it this is the rapture and as we begin to go up in the sky my son don't even know this I didn't tell him yet but I looked over and Andrew was right beside me and we were there ain't no feeling like that in the world I can't tell you the excitement that came inside of me watching my boy here we go we begin to climb up into the air we begin to move up into the clouds I'll never forget it my son he does what he does all the time he always gets way ahead of me and he started going through that cloud before I did it so I started I don't know I was trying to swim in the air I had my arms out I was just trying to get up through that cloud but as soon as I did I was standing back on the ground in front of that house and I knew that God had sent me back to tell people it's time and so I started going back in the house and I would find someone I'd bring them out and what had happened you know what this right here is a good way to explain it LED wall all these little lights the entire sky had filled with angels they were so thick they covered the sky as far as you could see and their bodies were Illuminating like a LED wall individually and they began to make letters and words and Chinese and languages I don't know what they were and symbols and all these things so I was bringing people out and I said you see it the Lord's calling we're about to leave this place and they would look up at every one of them where they were amazed and then they began to explain oh that's probably some government thing that they've got going on here boy that's amazing and they walked back in and I go find someone else and I say hey come in here I got I gotta show you this and we walked out again and we looked up in the sky and these images and these these things were all so beautiful all over the sky it was so obvious something was happening and they would look and they would reason it away one person after another just kept coming out and explaining why it was happening and why they needed to go back to their business meeting to have business as usual I had a dream but this is not just something I've had in the dream I've had a feeling in my spirit and I I don't believe that I am the only one I believe that there are people in this place today that you have been filling the pool of Eternity you have been feeling something over the past few weeks months maybe even years something has gotten into your spirit that the Lord is coming you can feel it it's different than it was a year ago it's it's different than it was a last decade there's something in the atmosphere it's exciting to think about Maybe it happened in a service when the pastor began to preach and something stirred your spirit something began to stir you and move you it's time it's time I know that it's real I want you to know another confirmation is what Pastor Carpenter said today it's real we've got so many people acting like Heaven's not real and hell's not real I'm here to tell you hell is real and Heaven Is Real there is a hell for you to avoid and there is Heaven for you to claim it's real it's real the day is getting closer what day first Thessalonians 4 16 for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shelter with the voice of the Archangel with the Trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together in the cloud in the clouds Andrew we're going to the clouds together buddy we're gonna beat him in the air it's coming it's coming I know there are Voices All Around that want to make you think about something else just like in the Bible times first second Peter 3 3 knowing this verse that there shall come in the last days scoffers oh Pastor Jason how cute you think that's really happened don't you know it was just a dream I do but I know there was purpose in that dream because the word backs that dream up it's going to happen but there's going to be scoffers that as soon as you start talking about it they start laughing about it as soon as you bring it up they're going to be scoffing why because they're walking after their own lust the reason we don't think about heaven anymore is because we're walking after our own lust and saying where where promise of his coming for since our fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation but I'm here to tell you I don't care what the world says it's real it's coming it's closer now than when you first believed I don't care what the naysayers say don't let them discourage you it's going to happen let not your heart be troubled keep believing God believe also in me for in my father's house there are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I'd go to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also he's coming he's coming he's coming we can't just talk about heaven anymore Pie in the Sky preacher the problem is we get stirred up with a story something gets our attention the preacher preaches and it stirs us but just like in my dream we find reasons to explain it we reason it away and we go back to business as usual I feel like I've come with a mission from the Lord I wish I had a better laid out sermon but I feel like God has sent me here to this church in Maryville to remind you to get your eyes back on Heaven Again to get your eyes back on that place again to get your eyes off of the world and all the junk that's going on and remember there is a place I believe the biggest difference between the first century church and the 21st century Church because they thought more about heaven than we do as a matter of fact they talked about it so much that they didn't even have to explain it all they would have to say is that day they didn't have to lay it all out they heard Jesus in the Olivet Discord when his disciples asked him when shall the End come what shall be the sign of your coming Jesus began to give them things to look for wars and rumors of wars we're hearing about it every day the Beast is rising up nuclear warfare is now once again at the top of the news earthquakes in diverse places the Earth is groaning in places like it's never been before the Earth is groaning preparing to give birth to the Prophecies of the word of God pestilence by definition of pestilence could be called the Coronavirus and there's other things that are coming remember it says this is the beginning of Sorrows famines we are hearing more in the news about famines than we've ever heard before but when Jesus had prophesied all these things to look for he said this in Matthew 24 36. but of that day and hour knoweth no man no not the angels in heaven but my father only that day that day the day of all days the day that we've been looking for the disciples got a hold of that statement II Timothy 1 and 12 for this which cause I also suffer many things nevertheless I am not ashamed for I know in whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I committed unto him against that day that day first second Timothy 1 18 the Lord grant unto thee the five Mercy in the Lord in that day second Timothy 4 8 heads forth is laid up a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not only not to me only but to all them that love his appearance that day they just walked up to people and said that day that day they didn't have to say well you know the day that that your Feet's going to come off the ground the day that the Trump is going to sound and the day that the Lord they didn't have to say any of that because it was on their lips all the time they just said hey I'm looking for it that day and they said that day I can't wait for that day that's the day I've been waiting for that's the day I'm looking for it was the day they preached about it was the day they preached about it was a day they preached about it was a day they talked about it was a day they thought about yeah it was such a part of the New Testament Church God help me to preach it was such a part of the New Testament Church that my studies I realized the early church would greet each other with a word to remind them of that day here in America if you greet someone you say hello my sister has been in Asia Thailand when you greet someone there you say Swati cop the Jewish people would say shalom but they said the early Christians when they greeted each other they said Maranatha they didn't say hello they said Maranatha maranathas to Aramaic words that relate to each other in their meaning first is the Lord Has Come the second is the Lord is coming the Lord Has Come the Lord is coming whenever they greet is somebody it was on their lips because they believed the Lord had come that's why John 1 45 Philip findeth Nathanael and send to him we have found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets did right Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph they knew when Jesus stepped on the scene it wasn't just another man but God himself had rode himself in the flesh they realized he was the one true and living God they realized this is the King of Kings and the Lord of lords of all things were made by him and for him and without him was not anything me that was made they believed the Lord had come but they didn't just believe the Lord had come they believed the Lord is coming they believed it because Jesus told them in John 14 and 3 and if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again the Lord has come and the Lord is coming acts 1 and 11. which also said ye men of Galilee well I stand you here gazing into heaven the same Jesus which was taken up from you unto Heaven shall so come again in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven I'm here to tell you a Maranatha the Lord Has Come A Maranatha the Lord is coming again I want to remind you what you're living for it's not for this world it's not for this church it's not for this building thank God for it but I'm going to get out of this place I'm going to leave this world behind me foreign that's back in the Bible they are the ones that had their eyes on heaven Abraham had his eyes on heaven for he looked for a city that had foundations whose Builder her maker was God the truth of the matter is is it wasn't all that long ago that the songs we sing in church have more to do with that world than this world oh when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus we will sing and shout the victory that's the songs that we used to sing it was always about heaven oh we used to sing it oh I'm getting ready to leave this world I'm getting ready for those Gates of pearl I'm keeping up my record white watching both day and night I'm getting ready to leave this that was the mind everything they did if anybody asked me up where I'm going where I'm going soon I'm going up yondera that's where I'm going that's what I'm gonna see I can't wait till I see him oh my parents my grandparents got the Holy Ghost in Missouri 1929. they said the Revival I'm happy it's not a concrete floor I can make some noise if I damage something I'll pray for you one preacher broke someone's Pulpit said I'll buy you another one didn't know how many thousands of dollars it would be so I'll just pray for you they were in such Revival in 1929. to the little town they lived in still had Dusty streets and didn't have concrete sidewalks they had orb walks and they said they will be walking across the street or at Sea on the other side the other Boardwalk someone from the church and they say whoa what not a good service and they say oh yeah are you going to be there tonight oh I'm gonna be there tonight and they would say something like I'll see you there or in the air and that's all they had to say grandpa said they start shouting he said it sounded like thunder that whole Cydia stopped and looked at what's going on what happened to them they got to thinking about heaven and when you think about heaven you can't just sit there any longer when you start thinking about where you're going now you can't just sit there there's something about that place oh somebody go ahead and praise Him somebody just imagine dancing on streets of gold oh you're going to heaven I'm going to heaven this world is not my home I'm going to heaven grandma grandma when Grandma got saved she was at home by herself read Acts 2 38 . I said God if this is real I want it and right there in her living room the Holy Ghost fell and she began to speak in other tongues no one taught her you're supposed to be quiet when you speak in tongues no one taught her how proper you're supposed to be grandma would go I'm sorry if I woke someone up just there I I took my kids to California where she was from I got the address from my mom and I took a picture I said is this the tree she said oh yeah it's still standing I wish I could talk to that tree because Grandma shouted around that tree just about every day she didn't care if she was at church or in her front yard all she knew is God have been good to her and she's going to heaven thank you my mom my mama she wasn't always saved and I wish she learned to whistle at church but she learned to whistle other places she told my grandma first of all my mom's the baby of 14 kids that's a lot of kids I don't care who you are that's a lot of kids so Grandma was 50 when she had my mom so Mom just thought church was for old people but she knew about mama she knew about her mama what she would do and she had told her mother my grandmother I want to go to hell with the Beatles mama was in and out of juvenile detention centers until God got a hold of her and I ain't got time to tell that story tonight but she knew when Grandma was about to have a holy ghost fit she would be in the bus one of her friends one of mama's friends came to her one day and she was a Mexican boy that he was in California all moms closest friends were all Mexicans but he said he said Naomi your mother almost killed me last night she said what do you mean said I was staying up late watching this Horror Show and right before the monster got him your mama screamed and I thought he got me but mama would be mad at Grandma because they would be in the grocery store and Mama Said she would hear us start humming um and Mom said stop it and my grandma said swing low Sweet Chariot Coming For To Carry Me let me tell you when you get excited about heaven and the fact that Jesus is coming again you can't just sit any longer you can't just say oh bless them Jesus something gets on the inside of you something rises from the depths of your soul I've got to praise him I've got to shelter I've got to lift him up it's real I had a dream I had a dream it's real I'm halfway done remain standing here's the problem is right now I'm taking you out of the house I'm saying the question is laughs are you gonna go whoa well probably just it's just politics it don't mean nothing back it's a business as usual Church as usual oh help me sit back down a second what's wrong with us here we've come to this place where a man of God is preaching and the music is so beautiful and if we're not careful you say didn't you just see what happened I did I saw a few things happening I'm not your pastor I had a sweet message to preach but God says too many people going back to business as usual after they've seen the signs I'm sorry sound man after they've seen the signs in the heavens after they seen God working and moving back to usual how is it that we're coming to ordinary Church how is it that we yep had another good service what changed nothing changed same as it was last week same as it was last month same as I've been doing for years what's wrong with us I promise you you don't have your eye on Heaven if you can't lift your hands every now and then and say I love you Jesus you ain't got your eye on Heaven if you can't say hallelujah ever now and then there's something wrong because this whole thing is not about here it's about there I'm on the stop remain standing I'm sorry last thing God told me after all this happened I started praying God I want to hear you say well done well how good and faithful sir enter thou unto the joys of the Lord I was praying that with Ernestine and God spoke to me and said I can't say it to you that day if I can't say it to you today I just stopped and stopped talking in that prayer and started listening God began to speak to me he said Jason every day every night that you lay your head down you need to ask the question can God today say Well done thou good and faithful servant we've got this fantasy moment somewhere in the distance but if he can't say it to me today he can't say it on that day if he can't look at you today foreign if he can't look at me today and say Jason well done you didn't pass that Soul well done you didn't just go about business as usual well done you didn't see that family going to hell and just go about your Merry way well done if he can't say it today that day I feel conviction lift your hands all over this place music I can't get away from this I can't get away from this dream I've been trying to preach other things and God just keeps bringing me back to it I don't know what's going on in your life I don't know what's happening in this church I know it's a good church I know it's a powerful church I know it's a strong church but it's a church that's got its mind on heaven why don't you invite someone to come with you and fill this altar right now ask someone would you like to go pray somebody get your mind on Heaven someone needs to repent you know you're living in sin you know there's things in your life that are not right you know there are things going on in your family that should not be happening you know if you lay your head down tonight and God came he would not be able to say Well done that's it you're in the aisle come all the way to the front there's people behind you come all the way to the front there's people behind you ministers begin to move in the Holy Ghost all two workers begin to move in the Holy Ghost someone needs to ask God give us some more dreams speak to me again God speak to me again God speak to my heart God don't let me just merrily go to hell don't let me just ignore the signs don't just let me ignore and reason away what you're trying to tell the church Jesus keep praying I can't get over the dream I can't get over the people were looking at the same thing I was looking at but was going back into the business meetings I can't get over it I can't let you go through this service and you're not saved and you haven't prayed through you need to pray today operate in the Holy Ghost operate in the Holy Ghost operate in the Holy Ghost come on get your eye on Heaven Again come on get the spirit of Abraham who looked for a city there's a flow starting to happen right now sir God loves you he sent me here to stir you up he sent me here to preach he sent me here to wake you up I know it's just a dream but God gave it to me and God put it in my spirit to tell you it's time to stop having church as usual it's time to stop having business as usual the Lord is about to come flow in the Holy Ghost come on Sir obey God lift your hands and cry out to God cry out to God Here I Am Lord Here I Am Lord let it get back to the old song it seems like everybody's talking about heaven seems like everybody's talking about heaven Maranatha the Lord Has Come the Lord is coming oh there's a great anointing flowing right now I wish some Elders would lay hands on some of the young people come on Elder lay hands on that young lady that young man come on Elder get in here amongst them we've got a good right here in Maryville we got a good in Souls Harbor but this is not heaven this is not heaven this is wonderful Heaven comes down but it's not heaven there is a place go ahead come on Minister move around here and Minister come on altar worker move in the Holy Ghost right now Lydia move and pray Andrew move and pray here come on that's it it's real it's real it's real it's real it's real it's gonna happen it's gonna happen it's gonna happen and I want to be ready oh that's it come on ma'am nothing's worth missing Heaven Come on Sir nothing's worth missing heaven nothing nothing come on help your brother pray help your sister pray we're going to heaven together we're going to heaven together hallelujah we're going to heaven together thank you we're going to heaven oh God pray through pray through pray through we'll just pray pray through pray until there's a change