Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1898-08-12
MIGHTY HALF HOURS.
HEAVENLY TINE BY EARTHLY YEAS.
URE-TALMAcE's SERMON.

'-sIi~nce In Heaven the Subjert-Ths
Mighty Import of the Cessation De.
ssrib-d lea ErVrIatians-ItaIf Hour.
which HaNr Determined Dsstini-..
TrNr Their was silence in heaven
about the sPar" oi half an hour. '-R-ye.
latious. Will, !.
Take this watch and keep Il. said a
diving Christian a. h- picked IL mn from
the stand al his pillow, Il have NJ morp
need Of It, ] am going where time shall
be uo luagrr. But it seems from mytrNt
that heaven was az leas. once. measured
ly an earthly tip"-pirre
The busiest place In the universe i
HEAVIER. Il s the center from which All
good influences start; Il Is the goal al
which oil good results arrive The Bible
represents q a. active, with wheels and
wings aud urrhr>tras aud PROFESSIONS.
mounted ur chariotrd. But NV text de-
scrlhe- ,lace when the wheels ceased to
roll aud the trumpets to sound aud the
voices To chant. The riders ON the white
horses refined In their chargers. Tn. doX-
Olngips we're hushed aud the professions
halted. The hand Of arrest was nut upon
all the slIendors. stop. Heaven" cried
an omuipotent voice, aud il stoned For
thirty minutes everything celestial stood
still. There was silence in heaven for
the space Of half an hour"
From all We can learn il is the only time
heaven ever stopped. u does not stop, ~
other cities, for the night. for there Is no
night th"r". II does not stop for a plague
for tine inhubitant never saws, IL Hm
sick. II does not stop for bankruptcies.
for its inhabitants never fail. Ii does not
stop Tor impossible streets for there are
no fallen SHOWS or sweeping frcshets.
What, then. stopped 1t for thirty minutes?
GrOtius and Professor stuart think II was
at the time of the destruction OF Jrrusa-
lem. Mr. Lord thinks 1t was in the year
3ll. near the close OF the Diocletian perse.
cution and the beginning of the wars bv
which Constantine gained the throne. But
that was all guess, though learned and
brilliant guess. | do not know when il
was, ard 10 not care when II was, but OF
the fact that such an interregnum of sound
took place ! am certain. There was
silence in heaven for the space of half an
hour"
And, first of all, we may learn that God
and all heaven then honored silence. The
full power of silence many of US have vet
to learn. We are told that when Christ
was arraigned He answered not 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 moth.
ing. Those people who are always rush.
ing into print to get themselves set right,
accomplish nothing but their own chHgrn.
Silence! Do right and leave the results
with God. Among the grandest lessons
the world has ever learned are the LESSONS
of patience taught by those who endured
accomplishments personal or domestic or
political injustice. Oh, the power ct
patient sience' 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, uu-
til his brother uncovered the arm of the
prisoner and showed that his wrist had
been sacrificed for his country at the battle
of Saamis. That silent plea liberated
him. The lOudest thing on earth is silence
if it be of the right kind and at the right
time. There was a quaint old hymn,
spelled in the old style, once sung in the
churches: