Seeing Spiritual Experience and Church Life through the Principle of the Dream

 

Seeing Spiritual Experience and Church Life through the Principle of the Dream

Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossible for God.

Luke 18:27 Jesus said to him, “What is impossible for man is possible for God.”

Psalm 126:1 We were like dreamers when the Lord brought the captives back to Zion.

Jeremiah 32:27 “I am the Lord, God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me?”

Genesis 28:11 When he came to a place, because the sun had set, he spent the night there. He took a stone from that place and put it under his head, and lay down there and slept.

Genesis 28:12 And he dreamed of a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reaching into heaven, and the angels of God going up on it and coming down.

John 1:51 And he said to him, “Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”

I. Overview of the Principle of the Dream

Item	Content	Scripture Reference
The principle of the dream	In a dream, things that are impossible come upon us	Luke 1:37; 18:27; Job 42:2-3; Psalm 126:1; Jer. 32:27
The nature of God	With God nothing is impossible; what is impossible with men is possible with God	Luke 1:37; Luke 18:27
The human condition	Before God’s works, we can only say, “Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know,” and we are like those who dream	Job 42:3; Psalm 126:1
God’s sovereignty	God’s purpose cannot be thwarted; nothing is too difficult for Him	Job 42:2; Jer. 32:27
When the dream comes	Mostly in times of suffering, when we are cut off from human things and can only trust in divine things	Gen. 28:10-12
The center of the dream	Christ is the ladder, the One who brings heaven to earth and joins earth to heaven	Gen. 28:12; John 1:51

II. Integrated Comparison Table

Aspect	Spiritual Vision, Experience, and Life	Knowing, Entering into, and Practicing the Church Life
Nature of the dream	Every spiritual vision is a dream, and every spiritual experience is a dream.	Entering into the church life is a dream, and knowing the practice of the church is also a dream.
Where the “impossible” lies	By ourselves we cannot see God’s revelation, nor experience God or gain His life. All of this is God’s doing and is impossible for man.	By human organization, talent, or effort, the church life cannot be produced. The church life is God’s work, something impossible with man but possible with God.
Starting point	The first dream is salvation, in which God brings the impossible upon us.	Entering the church life is a further dream after salvation, also arising from God’s leading.
Background of its coming	Mostly in suffering. We are cut off from human things and can only turn to trust in God (Jacob fleeing and sleeping with a stone for a pillow).	The reality of the church life often comes when we lose our natural, religious, and traditional supports and are brought in through the dealing of the cross.
Human response	As in Job 42:3, “too wonderful for me, which I did not know”; as in Psalm 126:1, like those who dream.	Our knowledge and practice of the church is likewise one of amazement and awe: it was not devised by man but revealed and accomplished by God.
Center	Christ is the ladder; the center of every dream is Him.	The center of the church life is also Christ; the church is the Body of Christ, His fullness (Eph. 1:23).
Joining of heaven and earth	In Christ, heaven is opened to us (John 1:51). Personal experience is the communication of heaven and earth.	The church is the house of God (corresponding to Gen. 28:17, “This is the house of God”), the place where heaven and earth communicate.
Three stages	Vision (seeing) → Experience (tasting) → Life (becoming ours).	Knowing (seeing) → Entering (receiving and being brought in) → Practicing (living it out and doing it).
Required attitude	Trusting in God, not relying on ourselves, and not being disobedient to the heavenly vision (Acts 26:19).	In the church life, likewise relying on God and obeying the vision, not using natural methods.
Result	Growth in life; God’s nature is constituted into us.	The building up of the church; the Body of Christ is expressed.

III. Corresponding Relationships

Spiritual Life (Individual)	→	Church Life (Corporate)
Vision (seeing)	→	Knowing (having a view of the revelation concerning the church)
Experience (entering into God’s work)	→	Entering (being brought into the church life)
Life (becoming ours)	→	Practicing (the church life lived out on earth)

Overall relationship:

Personal spiritual experience is the foundation of the church life, and the church life is the enlargement and expression of personal experience. Both have God as their cause (the impossible comes upon us), Christ as their content (the ladder), and trust as their path (being cut off from human things in suffering).

 

*Please refer to the 2026 Autumn Training for Elders and Responsible Brothers, General Topic: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Part Six: The Dream of Bethel