This sermon brings us back to the book of Revelation, and in it Greg calls our attention to a singular verse, one that speaks of silence in the throne room.
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Silence Is Golden
• Greg Boyd
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This sermon brings us back to the book of Revelation, and in it Greg calls our attention to a singular verse, one that speaks of silence in the throne room. To this point in the book, the throne room has been full of loud and exuberant praise. In addition, the opening of the previous six seals was followed by worldwide death and destruction as demonic agents were unleashed on the world. At this point in Revelation, with the opening of the seventh seal, we might expect another blast of demonic agents, death and destruction. Instead, there is silence for thirty minutes. What does this signify?
This silence is a prime example of John relying on the Old Testament, as it seems to be connected to the Song of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah. In it we read:
Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. As many were astonished at him— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of men— So shall he startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
God’s servant is raised up and highly exalted, yet at the same time he has an appalling appearance. This is a prophetic announcement of the crucifixion. Jesus, identified as the suffering servant in the New Testament, was whipped and beaten beyond recognition. This “lifting up” is called “the hour of glorification,” when he most perfectly puts on display the true character and glory of the Father.
Through this lifting up, he will startle the power brokers of the world and amaze the nations, driving them to speechless awe. Silence is their only possible response. What looks like weakness is actually the power of truth that will save with the world. What appears to be defeat is actually the glory that will overcome death and destruction.
God’s suffering servant was lifted up and exalted by becoming appalling in his appearance. At some point in the future, when the world is freed from deception and the revelation of this suffering servant is known throughout the world, this vision of the crucified lamb will shock the nations and leave rulers in stunned silence.
This point about silence has poignant relevance to life in today’s world in three ways. First, we need to be a people who seek to be awed by God. The God who is infinite, unbounded in time and space, and who holds the whole cosmos in the palm of his hand is the God who loves us and invites us to walk with him. If we’re not in awe at this God, it is simply because we aren’t yet seeing and understanding the transcendent beauty of this revelation.
Secondly, listen in silence. We need to create space in our lives to block out the noise and listen to God’s still small voice. God’s voice communicates at the frequency of love and therefore it will not force itself upon us to overcome the screams that bombard our lives. A passage that illustrates this is 1 Kings 19:11-13.
Finally, know when silence is golden. Remaining silent is a spiritual practice. “There is a time for everything, a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:1,7). When the way of the culture is to scream at one another to be heard, sometimes the wisest thing to do is to remain silent. We must learn to follow the guidance of the Spirit to know when we should and should not speak.
Hide Extended SummaryTopics: Presence of God, Worship
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Focus Scripture:
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Revelation 8:1
When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
3 thoughts on “Silence Is Golden”
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“Time to be silent and a time to speak…” I believe it’s time we as Big C church need to speak up, loud and clear. How do you feel about the Trump administration sending unwanted troops into Los Angeles? Do you believe our nation is being too one-sided on the Gaza war? Tell me y’all are at least praying on these things, because my parents are considering joining demonstrations against Christian-Nationalism-influenced corruption affecting our entire communities. Time to move into the right direction now instead of waiting for God’s imminent return.
I also made a comment on Greg’s sermon Maranatha that applies here as well.
Google, from that comment, Fundamental Asymmetry and you will find that it aliens well with my five comment responses to Graeme’s on Greg’s sermon on “Hearing His Voice” with one exception Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry.
Google baryogenesis, a hypothetical process in cosmology, stating while theoretical models predict equal amounts of matter and antimatter – observations reveal a vast excess of matter – leaving a major puzzle in cosmology.
Again from Taleb’s book “ANTIFRAGILE” – chapter 11 – When two things are not the same thing or [Fat Tony Ting] – Where we look for the arrow of DISCOVERY
Note the word DISCOVERY from NATURE, a Mandelbrot fractal based on a small number of rules of repetition of nested patterns, the arrow pointing to a cup half full on the road to getting better versus EUCLIDIAN geometry, figure it out ourselves, the arrow pointing to a cup half empty, top-down (that is un-fractal) feeling dead, only getting worse.
From my “Maranatha” comment as an extension of via negativa and Fat Tony’s don’t-be-a-sucker rule the EUCLIDIAN non-natural needs to prove its benefits, NOT the natural according to statistical principal that NATURE is to be considered much less of a sucker than humans in a complex domain that time – a long time – is evidence.
I think Fat Tony would consider the one sidedness of the left-right political process a sucker game pointing a finger at what we think we have figured out as the problem – beyond our paygrade – rather than with God’s help moving in the right direction by dealing ONLY with our own planks, leaving the rest to God.
Again from prior comments:
People all over the world – outside the church and in – are looking for an escape, a way out from under the crushing weight of [BUBBLE] life THIS SIDE OF EDEN. But there is no escaping it. The best the world can offer is a temporary distraction to delay the inevitable or deny the inescapable.
That’s why Jesus doesn’t offer us an escape. He offers us something far better: ‘EQUIPMENT’. He offers his APPRENTICES a whole new way to bare the weight of our humanity with ease at his side. Like two oxen in a field, tied shoulder to shoulder with Jesus doing all the lifting at his pace, slow, unhurried, present in the moment, full of love, joy, and peace”.
Your SOUL is best when you come to rest in Jesus. When your surrender your life you also surrender your load and just walk with Jesus. No longer striving alone, working alone, navigating the complexity of life alone, or betting on any way of living to lead you to the fulfillment you desire other than what Jesus can offer by following.
You will be YOKED to something so if you DON’T YOKE with JESUS, while you are still on the road WAY, what might be the future condition of your NEURON APPRENTICE HABIT TRAINED SOUL?
“Our opportunity to live like Jesus, [to give our life away], the WAY of the Cross, while we’re still on the road is slipping away, and anything other than TRUTH following on this narrow path of wisdom, in the fruit of the spirit, LIES must one day be left at the gate and as Dan Kent said NOT a lobotomy someday, by God, but our own willingness to suffer the loss.”
1 Peter 2:24-25 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might DIE to sins LIES and LIVE for righteousness TRUTH; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your NEURON APPRENTICE HABIT TRAINED souls.
From my prior comment above a one sentence explanation of Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry.
In COSMOLOGY, SYMMETRY, the study of the universe: [including its origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate is a field that draws on physics and astronomy to understand the universe as a whole also including the Big Bang theory, dark matter, dark energy, and the large-scale structure of the cosmos] is from an early perspective a highly symmetric observation however ASYMMETRY adds the now observable universe exhibits significant asymmetrical imbalances, such as the matter-antimatter imbalance: these asymmetries, like parity and charge conjugation SYMMETRY violation, suggest that the laws of physics were different in the early universe and now changed are the key to explaining the universe’s current state as left handed using the right hemisphere, while often overlooked, is naturally [NATURE] as the “MASTER” hemisphere, providing context, intuition, and broad understanding, while the left hemisphere, though clever and detail-oriented [UN Fractal], acts as an “EMISSARY” or tool:
ASYMMETRY Fractal [anti-fragile] versus SYMMETRY UN fractal [fragile] is a Nassim Nicholas Taleb idea..
Translating that to scripture:
Galatians 5:17-25 For the FLESH desires what is CONTRARY to the SPIRIT and the SPIRIT what is CONTRARY to the FLESH. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are APPRENTICE led by THE SPIRIT WAY, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious LIES: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit TRUTH is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in JESUS APPRENTICE WAY step with the Spirit.
From science how this works:
FLESH: DESIRE => SIN => DEATH
Proverbs 14:12 There is a WAY that SEEMS RIGHT to a man, But its end is the WAY of DEATH.
SPIRIT: WORD => FREEDOM => BLESSING
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the WAY and the TRUTH and the LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Cognitive Dissonance Reduction: Your MIND & HEART teaming up – to negotiate with, [to beat down your WILL], coming up with something slightly less, [compromising [manipulate the TRUTH] with conventional wisdom and cultural], than GOD’S WILL and gives you a dopamine hit for the compromise and the more propensity you have to get further off course the bigger the hit dragging you away, with false reasoning, from your BLESSING [HEAVEN coming down to earth].
James 1:22-24 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.
We spend a fortune on potions, lotions, masks, treatments and surgeries for our flesh.
James 1:25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
Again: This book helped me see this. Bob Merritt – 7 Simple Choices for a Better Tomorrow
To state the essence of the book in a sentence: [Bob loves to fish]
In order to have a Hog Hole Heaven on earth you need to understand indiscretions are habitual in that the little stuff leads to the big stuff so, if you want a little more Heaven to come down to earth, you need not cut corners, manipulate the truth or allow yourself these little indiscretions for if you do God’s wrath will be, not to punish you but, to remove his protective presence, letting you have your own way, so you now become liable for your own troubles.