Love Came Down by Christopher L. Webber

Author:Christopher L. Webber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Church Publishing Incorporated

DECEMBER 19

A reading from The Face of the Deep by Christina Rossetti. on the text: “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” Revelation 8:1

There seems to be a sense in which heaven waits on earth; in which (if I dare say so) God waits on us. Thus heaven now keeps silence as a prelude to earthly events, portents, vicissitudes. Yet this celestial silence need not convey to us (I conjecture) any notion of interruption in the day and night harmony of worship before the throne, any more than time interrupts eternity. For because we dare not think of God who “inhabits eternity” as changing to a habitation of time, we perceive that time and eternity co-exist, are simultaneous: if, that is, they are not instead different aspects of one and the same continuity.

If from the songs of heaven we learn to sing and make melody to the Lord with both voice and understanding, equally from the silence of heaven we may learn something. While heaven kept silence it appears that it may have been looking or preparing to look earthwards. And of old David declared: “I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good” (Psalm 39:2). Thus from angels above and from a saint below, I may study that meekness of righteous indignation, that discretion of holy zeal, which brings not railing accusations nor risks doing harm even by good words.

Silence seems unnatural, incongruous, in heaven. On this occasion and remotely we may surmise it to be a result of the Fall, for when earth first saw the light in panoply of beauty, the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy: sinless earth, for sinless it then seems to have been whether or not inhabited, called forth instead of silencing an outburst of celestial music.

I think one may view this “silence” as a figure of suspense. Reversing which proposition, I perceive that a Christian's suspense ought to present a figure of that silence. And if so, suspense should sustain my heart in heavenly peace even while fluttering over some spot of earth; and should become my method of worship, when other modes fail me; and should be adopted by my free will, whenever by God's will it befalls me; and should not hinder heaven from appearing heaven to me, or divorce me from fellowship with angels, or make me speak unadvisedly with my lips. Faithful, hopeful, loving suspense would be rich in evidence of things not seen and not heard; and would neither lag nor hurry, but would contentedly maintain silence during its imposed “half hour.” A shorter time? no, on pain of rashness: a longer time? no, on pain of sullenness.

“About half an hour.” Not finally, not for long. “Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.