The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1892-02-05
SILENCE In HEAVEN.
1T LASTED BUT THE SPACE OF
THIRTY MINUTES.


the Only Intermission Ever known Ia
Paradise-The sermon In Fun.
BROOKLYN, Jan. 81. DIR. Talmagt
has of late been preaching ON texts
Of Scripture that seem TO have beer
neglected, and here is a sermon ON Q
beautiful text which probably was
never before selected for IA discourse
Revelation viii, /, There was silence
IN heaven about the space of half an
hour,
The busiest place in the universe Is
heaven. 1t is the center from which
all good influences start; it is the goal
AT which all good results arrive. The
Bible represents it as active with
wheels and wings and orchestras and
professions mounted or charioted.
But my text describes a space when
the wheels ceased to roll, and the
trumpets to sound, and the voices to
chant The riders on the white
horses refined in their chargers. The
doxologies were hushed and the pro
cessions halted The hand of arrest
was put upon all the splendors.
Stop, heavenl" cried an omnipotent
voice, and it stopped, For thirty
minutes everything celestial stood
still. There was silence in heaven
/ for half an hour"
HEAVENS ONLY INTERAIIssIoN.
From all we can learn it is the only
time heaven ever stopped, 1t does
not stop as other cities, for the night,
for there is no night there. 1t does
not stop for plague, for the inhab
liant never says II am sick" 1t does
not stop for bankruptcies, for its in
habitants never fail 1t does not stop
for impossible streets, for there are
no fallen SHOWS nor sweeping fresh
cts What, then, stopped it for thirty
minutes2 Grotius and Professor Stu
art think that it was at the time of
the destruction Of Jerusalem. MIR.
Lord thinks it was in the year 81,
between the close of the Diocletian
persecution and the beginning of the
wars by which Constantine gained
the throne. But that was all guess,
though learned and brilliant guess.
| do not know when it was and | do
not care when it was, but of the fact
that such an interregnum of sound
took place | am certain. There was
silence in heaven for half an hour"
And first of all, we may learn that
God and all heaven honored silence.
The longest and widest dominion that
ever existed is that over which still.
ness was queen For an eternity there
had not been a sound. World making
was a later day occupation. For un.
imaginable ages it was a mute uni
verse God was the only being, and
as there was no one to speak to there
was no utterance. But that silence
has been all broken up into worlds,
and it has become a noisy universe.
Worlds in upheavel, worlds in con
gelation, worlds in confagration,
worlds in revolution.
If biologists are right land | be-
lieve they are) there has not been a
moment Of silence since this world
began its travels. and the crashings,
and the spllttings, and the uproar,
and the hubbub are ever in progress
But when among the supernals a
voice cried, Hush ~ and for half an
hour heaven was still, silence was
honored. The full power of silence
many Of us have yet to learn. We
are told that when Christ was ar
raigned He answered not a word"
That silence was louder than any
thunder that ever shook the world.
Outlines, when we are assailed
and misrepresented, the mightiest
thing to say is to say nothing, and
the mightiest thing to do is to do
nothing. Those people who are al
ways rushing into print to get them
selves set right accomplish nothing
but their own chagrin Silencel Do
right and leave the results with God.
Among the grandest lessons the
world has ever learned are the les
sons of patience taught by those who
endured uncomplainingly personal
or domestic or social or political in;
justice, Stronger than any bitter or
or revengeful answer was
the patient silence.
Thu fa n,
sea, accomplished as much by his
silent patience as by his pen and
tongue, He had asthma that for
twenty five years brought him out of
his couch at two clock each morning.
His four sons and daughters dead.
The remaining child by sunstroke
made insane The afflicted man
said, AT this moment there is not
an inch of my body that is not filed
with agony Yet he was cheerful,
triumphant, silent Those who were
in his presence said they felt as
Though they were in the gates of
heaven
Oh the power of patient silence
Eschylus, the immortal poet, was
condemned to death for writing
something that offended the people.
All the pleas in his behalf were of
no avail until his brother uncovered
the arm Of the prisoner and showed
that his hand had been shot off at
Salamis. That silent plea liberated
him. The loudest thing on earth is
silence if it be Of the right kind and
a. the right time. There was a quaint
old hymn, spelled in the old style,
and once sung in the churches
The race is not forever got
Br him who fastest runs.
Nor the Battel by those peopell
That shoot with the longest guns.
My friends, the tossing Sea of Cali
lee seemed most to offend Christ by
t'2n amount of noise it made. for he
said BE stiIlr' Heaven has been
:rowning kings and queens unto God
'or many centuries, yet heaven
never stopped a moment for any
such occurrence, but it stopped thirty
minutes for the coronation of Silence.
There was silence in heaven for