Acts 22:17-21 And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;… Here is — I. A COMMON THING — a man praying. Prayer is an instinct of the soul. Danger seldom fails to rouse this instinct even in the most depraved (Psalm 107:13). Volney, in a storm at sea, a striking example of this. All worthless prayer may be divided into two classes, prayer addressed — 1. To the wrong god. 2. To the right God in a wrong way.The universal tendency of man to pray implies the soul's innate belief in some of the leading facts of theology, such as the Being, Personality, Presence, and entreatability of God. II. A common thing REACHING THE WONDERFUL. The trance is the state in which a man has passed out of the usual order of his life, beyond the usual limits of consciousness and volition. To an "ecstasy" in Paul we owe the starting point of the Church, the command which bade him "depart far hence unto the Gentiles." It is supposed by some that it is to this trance Paul refers (2 Corinthians 12:1-5) when he speaks of being caught up to the third heaven. Conclusion: Learn — 1. The sublime possibilities of the human soul. By a mysterious power of abstraction it can shut out the external universe, and transport itself into a world where there are scenes too grand for description and communications surpassing utterance. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, John, as well as Paul, were often transported to these supernal states. 2. The incomparable worth of true prayer. Prayer is the road into the celestial (Daniel 9:21-23; Acts 10:9). (D. Thomas, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; |
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