Silver Cord

Last week in church, I spoke on the "Silver Cord". I do this once in a couple of years to remind church of the mercies of God and that we are not to judge the living nor the "dead". On the same week, an assistant pastor from a mega church in California, USA  committed suicide, leaving behind a wife and two little boys. The pastor was only thirty years old and was a mental health advocate. It's kinda hard to understand and I am sure there are many that had extended help and compassion to the surviving family while there are others who would have judged and condemned even though none actually have the relevant facts. Mental illness has become or is becoming a disease and many has succumbed to it. I suspect the internet age has contributed significantly  to this. I sometimes wonder too  for those that succumb to euthanasia. Can they be looked upon the same as in the case of this young pastor? What happen to their souls? This is why I preached on the Silver Cord once a while in church to remind us of the mercies of God and that God, and only God alone, can rightly judge.. Here's the gist of it.

Death, according to the Bible, is not when the heart stopped beating or when the brain ceased to function. Death, in the eyes of God is when the spirit of man is separated from the physical body (James 2:26). UNTIL that happens, like in the case of Lazarus, the person is not dead but "asleep". Because Lazarus  was "asleep", Jesus was able to "wake him up" (John 11:11). Otherwise Lazarus couldn't have been raised from the dead for God has appointed: "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment," (Heb. 9:27). Lazarus would have died twice in his life time then if God had raised him from the dead. So death, according to God, is not when the heart stopped beating and when the brain ceased to function. Death occur ONLY when the silver cord is severed (Ecc. 12:6-7). The silver cord is that which attached the spirit of a man to his physical body giving life to it (think of it like the umbilical cord). As long as the silver cord is not broken, even when the person is being dead for up to four days like in Lazarus case, in the eyes of God  that person is not dead but asleep and can be saved or raise from the dead if God chooses to. Here's a scenario.  When that young pastor committed suicide, his physical body perished but the silver cord may not  yet have broken. The Lord could have appeared to him and got things right with him. Then when the silver cord breaks, he's with Jesus in heaven. That's why I say even for a person who has never heard of Jesus prior to death can still be saved. After all, Jesus is the good Shepherd who brings His lost sheep back to the sheep pen. Salvation belongs to God.

God is indeed merciful. I won't be surprised at all to meet people in heaven whom I never thought I'd see. An uncle or aunty, grandpa, grandma, brother, buddies, people who had never received Christ while alive on earth or heard about Jesus. God has His way of revealing Himself to his lost sheep. After all, many are praying for their love ones and friends. In answer to prayers, the Lord could have revealed Himself to that person prior to the breaking of the silver cord and do that which we cannot but can only hope and pray for. Is there anything too hard for our God? Amen.