I too have had dreams of preaching to people, but I attribute that to the fact that I preach to people on a regular basis (at nursing homes, Bible conferences, etc.) and thus it is something that is on my mind frequently. Dreams can be triggered by things that you do, or by things that you have read or seen. Yet at times, you can have a dream that makes little or no sense to you.

You may be asking, “Is the Lord trying to speak to me in these dreams and if so, is He leading me to preach to people?” Dreams are not the normal way that the Lord speaks to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ during the present age. In Old Testament times God did indeed speak to His children through dreams. Joseph and Daniel are prime examples of this (see Genesis 37:5-9 and Daniel chapter 7). God will also speak to His earthly people through dreams in the last days, as we see in Joel 2:28, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall DREAM DREAMS, Your young men shall see visions” (NKJV). But in New Testament times God speaks to believers in Christ, primarily, through the completed Word of God.

Regarding your dreams, there are definite scriptures which command the believer to preach the gospel. In Mark 16:15 we read, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” The Lord had just risen from the dead and was about to ascend back to heaven when He gave His apostles that commission. In Acts 1:8 Jesus added these words, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be WITNESSES to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” So, the Lord Jesus had given to all believers the blessed good news of salvation to proclaim to the entire world and He has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to do it.

You may be thinking, “But weren’t those words meant only for the apostles?” No, for as we read on in the book of Acts we see many other believers preaching the gospel. In Acts 8:1 & 4 we read, “At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles…those who were scattered went everywhere PREACHING THE WORD.” This passage clearly teaches us that ALL BELIEVERS are to be “preaching the word,” not just apostles. Some are especially gifted to do this, as we see in the next verse, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and PREACHED CHRIST to them.” We call this the gift of “evangelism” and thus in Acts 21:8 we read of “Philip the evangelist.” But evangelism is NOT limited to those who are gifted (as we saw in Acts 8:1 & 4). Paul’s word to young Timothy in 2nd Timothy 4:5 confirms this, “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, DO THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST, fulfill your ministry.” As you study the life of Timothy it becomes clear that he was a gifted “pastor (shepherd)” and yet he was still to PREACH THE GOSPEL when given the opportunity to do so.

In closing, if you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are commissioned by the Lord Himself to “preach the gospel” and thus to “do the work of an evangelist.” Perhaps the Lord is impressing this on you in the dreams you have had, but I would stress that it is the Word of God that gives you the authority to do it and it is the Holy Spirit who will give you the power to be a witness for Christ. (303.7) (DO)