Silence as a Symbol of Majesty

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Let's take a look at the last point of Paul S. Rees's sermon on The Service of Silence. He notes here that silence is a symbol of majesty.

Jesus' Example of Noble Silence

Sometimes silence is the most dignified response to a problem. Rees points out how Jesus was silent, in key moments in His life. When Pilate grilled Him and tried to get Him to say certain things, Jesus kept silent. He did the same with Herod, who questioned Him with many words but didn't get a peep out of Him. As Rees says, "our Lord met him with majestic silence".

Think of Jesus too, on the cross, a mob of mad people taunting and hurling insults at Him, and mockingly suggesting He save Himself by coming off the cross. His reply? Rees calls it "a silence so noble and so noteworthy that the centuries have had to reckon with it."

The Call to Dignified Silence

Now, let me end by quoting the last part of Rees's sermon to you. His words convicted me greatly:

"In company with the Saviour we too can hardly escape occasions when the best weapon of moral dignity is silence. There are times when the hurtful, gossipy word against the fair name of another is best rebuked by silence. There are times when some proposal of dishonesty or dishonour is best flung back in the face of the proposer in silence, with a wordless look and with lips from which no syllable escapes.

Silence! Let no one imagine that it is useless. Whether as an aid to memory, a response to mystery, a form of ministry, or a sign of moral majesty, the soul has need of silence. Give it, then, I beg you, a larger and a more significant place in the life of your soul.

And whatever you do, don't treat Jesus Christ with such carelessness and flippancy that He can return you nothing but His awful and dooming silence. The fear of such a thing once laid hold of the Psalmist, resulting in a cry that more than one of you should make your own: 'Do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit.' (Psalm 28:1).

His silence unto you can be terribly fatal. Your silence unto Him can be tremendously fruitful."

I hope you have been blessed by Paul S. Rees's words this week my friends, may you be silent at all the right times, and speak up at all the right times.

And may Christ speak words of blessing over you, and not remain silent because you never took the time to give yourself to Him.