HEAVEN'S GATE : IS SUICIDE THE RIGHT WAY TO GO?
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
Aliens, UFO's, UFOs, UFOlogy, New Age Thought, Deception,
Strong Delusion, Jim Jones, People's Temple, Jonestown,
Guayana, David Koresh, Branch Davidians, Waco, Texas,
Heaven's Gate, Hale-Bopp, Marshall Applewhite, Chuck
Shramek, Art Bell, SLO, Nibiru, Zecharia Sitchin, Suicide,
False Prophets, Free Will, Brainwashing, Selfishness,
Martyr Syndrome, Discipleship, Cross Of Christ, Second
Coming
As I stated in my article, 'The Age Of Deception,' as we draw
closer to the year 2,000 by the western calendar, we should
expect to see an increasing interest in the ideas, dogmas
and philosophies espoused by New Age thought advocates,
political analysts, economical forecasters, the scientific
community, environmentalists, self-styled prophets and holy
men, and churches and organizations across the religious
spectrum. With the advent of the Information Society and the
rising popularity of and easier access to the Internet and
the World Wide Web, the dissemination of this information
has already begun. All one has to do is connect to his local
ISP (Internet Service Provider), to experience the
mind-boggling number of newsgroups, web sites and mailing
lists which have already become available to the casual
user. Regardless of the topic, using one of the popular
search engines, one can easily and quickly find the
information ones seeks, whether it is the latest version of
a popular software, information on another person using the
Internet, or a web site geared towards the user's specific
interests. It can easily become an overwhelming experience,
something akin to a data overload...or even an unsatiable
addiction!
In the case of futuristic prognosticators as listed above,
depending upon the orientation and background of the
supplier of the information, we will either be given a very
positive optimistic view of the world's future, or we may be
asked to accept a dark pessimistic picture of things to
come, or we may be told that, yes, things will get worse,
but there is a light at the end of the tunnel if we just
hang in there. In the case of the negative scenarios, the
purpose of the information is not only to educate and inform
us, but also to hopefully motivate us to do something about
it so that we can either avoid it, neutralize it, or perhaps
better prepare ourselves for the events which await us as
described by the bearer of the information.
Unfortunately, the world is full of naive gullible people
who have a tendency to innocently accept things without
researching the matter for themselves. Sometimes this is due
to spiritual or mental laziness, or to a lack of sufficient
time to do the necessary research, or simply to a lack of
the proper resources or know-how to verify the information
we have been given.
More often than not however, I suspect it can be attributed
to the fact that, deep within ourselves, we all yearn for
something better, something more than what this physical
materialistic world has to offer, and the older we get, the
stronger this desire seems to grow. And because of these
inner desires, we sometimes blow caution to the wind, let
our guards down, and accept things without proper
validation, which we might not be willing to accept under
normal conditions.
Let's face it. Despite our current state of affluence,
particularly in the developed world, many people are feeling
spiritually destitute and empty inside. They are also
feeling stressed by the pressures and expectations of
modern-day living. They are dissatisfied with their current
existence and lifestyles. They are questioning if this is
all there is to life. They are looking for anything to
remove the hidden pain and lonliness they often feel inside.
In spite of the fact that rapid transportation and
international communication systems have greatly reduced the
physical barriers which have long existed between different
countries around the world, we have still become an
alienated society; alienated from ourselves, (a loss of
self-identity), alienated from our next-door-neighbors, and
alienated from our God. We are each seeking to find our own
small oasis in the vast spiritual desert of the world.
Unfortunately, some, when they cannot find it, in a moment
of desperation or hopelessness, contemplate or even opt for
more drastic measures to resolve their problems, or at least
to relieve the pressure. We will discuss various examples of
this shortly.
For some, the answer is found in booze or drugs. For others,
religion appears to hold the key. Others resort to anarchy
and acts of rebellion against established norms and
authority. And yet others fall into unbridled lifestyles.
For the past four decades, in the Western world, a new
alternative has been offered in the form of individuals and
groups of varying sizes which embrace everything from
Eastern religions, to aliens, UFO's and the paranormal, to
occult practices, to more ancient forms of Christianity, to
a variety of socio-political ideologies. Whatever our
reasons, and whatever our choices, failure on our part to
test the reliability and veracity of information provided by
these groups or individuals before fully accepting them and
their particular dogma as truth, can oft times lead to
tragic results. Sadly, in the past two decades, this has
particularly proven to be true with what have now been
labelled 'fringe groups' by the rest of the 'sane' world.
Take, for example, the 1978 case of the Rev. Jim Jones and
the followers of the People's Temple. Most of us had never
even heard of them until their decaying bodies were
discovered in a remote compound in the steamy jungles of
Guayana, South America. According to carefully meted out
news reports at the time, they took their lives by drinking
cyanide-tainted lemonade. Those who refused to go along with
the mass suicide are said to have been shot in the head. As
to what motivated them to take such drastic measures, we may
never know in full. As I recall, there were reports of
purported government harassment and coverup of the facts.
This included investigations by a U.S. Congressman who lost
his life before it was all over. No matter how you look at
it, the untimely suicidal death of over 900 people is
something which should never have happened for any reason
whatsoever. Had those unfortunate people taken the time to
more carefully scrutinize the teachings of their leader
before selling their possessions and flying off to South
America with him, perhaps they would still be alive today.
As pointed out above, these people were apparently not
satisfied with their lives or their country and were looking
for something better. The Reverend Jim Jones apparently
offered them what they sought, or at least they thought he
did. Now, either through an act of desperation, or some
other unknown factor, they are dead.
The shock of Jonestown lingered with us for a while, but
being the humans that we are, we tend to prioritize things,
and with the passage of time, issues which are not important
to our immediate survival are eventually pushed into the
back of our minds where they are either ignored or
forgotten...until something else happens to dredge them up
again.
Our reality was again shaken 15 years later in 1993 by the
televised confrontation between David Koresh and his Branch
Davidians, and the BATF in the south Texas town of Waco, not
far from the Mexican border. Here again the picture was
muddled for us so that we were only allowed to see what the
mass media was permitted to show us. For almost two months
the standoff continued while Koresh, locked up in his
compound with his faithful followers, worked on his
interpretation of the seven seals of the book of Revelation.
Then, as I recall, just prior to Easter, the tragedy
occurred at the sieged site.
As with Jonestown, we may never know the full truth of the
matter. Did the BATF jump the gun and initiate an armed
conflict against the Branch Davidians? Were David Koresh and
his followers storing up and selling fire arms as was
reported by the news media? If they truly were a Christian
group, then they must have been a misguided one, as this
practice would seem to be contrary to the teachings of
Christ. But one thing is certain, whether it was from the
un-necessary use of deadly force by the BATF, or from the
Branch Davidians taking their own lives after seeing the
futility of their situation, no one should have died that
day in Waco. As with Jonestown, in my view, it appears that
the Branch Davidians made the mistake of putting their faith
in the teachings of one man instead of relying upon God's
spirit to reveal the truth to them directly through His
Word.
In the above two cases, and in incidents before and since
then, (such as the suicidal deaths of members of the Solar
Temple), the words 'cult' and 'sect' have been freely used
by the mass media to quickly villainize and cast a negative
shadow upon those who adhere to some form of belief or way
of life which falls outside the norm of what is deemed to be
acceptable human behavior and practice. In the Jonestown and
Waco incidents, both parties claimed to be following a truer
purer form of Christianity lead by an inspired 'prophet' of
God who received revelations from the Lord. Whether or not
they actually were cults is not the focus of this
article...their blindly following the spiritual teachings of
one man without doing their own personal research, is.
After Jonestown and Waco, who would have guessed that in
March of 1997 we would witness the most bizarre mass suicide
case ever recorded in the history of the continental United
States. The neat, calculated death of thirty-nine members of
a small group of web page designers known as 'Heaven's Gate'
left many shocked and stunned. What is almost unbelievable,
is that prior to their actual demise, they used their web
page of the same name to make their intentions publicly
known before they actually carried them out! Like the
People's Temple and the Branch Davidians, the members of
Heaven's Gate claimed to follow a unique form of
Christianity, but in addition, they were also New Age/UFO
advocates who were convinced that the comet Hale-Bopp
signified the time of their deliverance from this earthly
life into an ascended existence in the Kingdom of God. All
they had to do was leave their earthly shells/bodies behind
by voluntarily taking their own lives...which, according to
news reports and video tapes made available to the public,
they gladly did. Their belief was that they would be
immediately transported to a huge spacecraft which was
trailing the now famous comet Hale-Bopp.
While the Heaven's Gate incident came as a shock to some, to
those of us who have been following New Age thought and
UFOlogy for a while, it came as less of a surprise. For
years the Ascension Movement, of which Heaven's Gate was
only one manifestation, has been advocating the
transformation of planet Earth and her inhabitants into a
higher plane of existence, what is referred to as the
'Ascension.' Talk of UFO's, extraterrestrial beings,
channeling entities from outer space, the photon belt, etc.
is the norm for those who adhere to these beliefs.
The arrival of comet Hale-Bopp and its perceived 'odd'
behaviour caused an immediate stir within the New Age
community, particularly after the purported discovery by
amateur astronomer Chuck Shramek, of a large
self-illuminated object trailing the history-making comet.
Within days of Shramek publishing an image of the purported
object on the Art Bell web site, the Internet was abuzz with
all kinds of rumors regarding the nature and purpose of the
object, what was later to become known as the SLO, or
'Saturn-Like Object.' In fact, after a contest carried out
across the Internet, the purported companion object was
eventually given the name 'Hail Mary'! Within the UFO/New
Age community, the SLO was believed to be either a large
alien spacecraft, or the fabled planet Nibiru, as espoused
by Zecharia Sitchin in his writings regarding the ancient
Sumerian culture.
One thing all new-comers to the Internet/Web must learn
sooner or later, is to take everything with a grain of salt,
particularly in messages posted in newsgroups, on IRC
channels, at web sites, etc. While good information can be
found if one goes to the right places, we must also
constantly remind ourselves that the Internet/Web is the
largest electronic rumor-mill in the world! Whether
something is true or false has little bearing. Information
travels so fast across the Internet, that half the world is
already talking about it before it has even been properly
verified or refuted!
Amidst this vast electronic world of the Internet/Web, the
Heaven's Gate web site was just a small speck. Prior to the
story hitting the mass media, few people had even heard of
it outside of their New Age & UFO followers. Perhaps if more
attention had been drawn to it sooner, the tragic events at
Rancho Santa Fe could have been avoided. What is alarming
about the Heaven's Gate tragedy is that what motivated them
to take their lives is symptomatic of our world society.
They fit perfectly into the mold described in previous
paragraphs. They were a disaster just waiting to happen,
and yet no one saw it coming, in spite of the clear signs
they left at their web site.
In the case of Heaven's Gate, their deaths were a collective
action brought about by a false illusion. The members of
Heaven's Gate found 'salvation' and solace in a man named
Marshall Applewhite, a self-proclaimed prophet who for some
twenty years promised deliverance to those who would put
utter faith in his words and ultimately accept his
invitation to the stars. Like others before him, Applewhite
preyed upon the weaknesses and private yearnings of those
who followed him. When he said it was time to go, as far as
we know, his flock blindly followed him without question or
hesitation. Today, Marshall Applewhite and 38 of his
followers are dead...poisoned and suffocated by their own
hands...and I seriously doubt that they are now buzzing
around on some spaceship enjoying their new-found spiritual
freedom in the Kingdom of God as Marshall Applewhite claimed
they would.
Having now read quite a bit of material available at the
Heaven's Gate web site, I can say without hesitation that
Marshall Applewhite was more than just a false prophet; he
was a false messiah, an antichrist! Through his own
writings and video tapes, he claimed to be Jesus Christ
returned in the flesh, a second incarnation of the Son of
God! For a Christian such as myself, this is nothing short
of blasphemy! The man and his followers were under extremely
strong delusion, and this is exactly what we are told would
happen in the last days when people rejected God's truth:
"...because they received not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:" (2
Thessalonians 2:10b-11)
From reading their material, it is plainly evident that
Marshall Applewhite took verses from the Bible and gave them
his own New Age meaning. The Bible refers to this as
wresting the Scriptures to their own destruction, and this
is EXACTLY what the members of Heaven's Gate did. Wrest is
an Old English word which means to twist or change the
meaning of. Through their misinterpretation of the
Scriptures, they destroyed their very lives:
"As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these
things; in which are some things hard to be understood,
which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do
also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction." (2
Peter 3:16)
Almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus clearly warned us that in the
last days there would come many false prophets and false
messiahs who would deceive many. He said that they would be
so subtle in their doctrine that if it were possible, they
would even deceive God's very elect. Consider Matthew
24:23-26.
"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or
there; believe it not."
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets,
and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it
were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
"Behold, I have told you before."
"Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the
desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers;
believe it not."
So Jesus' warning was very clear, and we would do well to
remember it as the year 2,000 draws closer. Marshall
Applewhite is only one of many false prophets which have
already come, and we haven't seen the end of them yet. In
fact, according the above verses, as we draw closer to the
end, these false prophets will manifest amazing abilities
which even Marshall Applewhite was not able to perform! But
one thing we can be sure of, Heaven's Gate was NOT what it
claimed to be! Consider Jesus' words in Matthew 7:13-14:
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and
broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many
there be which go in thereat:"
"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
Clearly, Heaven's Gate was NOT the gate to Heaven, but
rather the gate to Hell guarded by one of Satan's demonic
false prophets!
Many of us have asked ourselves, 'How could this have
happened? What could possibly cause people to so blindly
follow a man and his doctrine, whether it be Jim Jones,
David Koresh, Marshall Applewhite, or any other, to the
point where they are willing to give up their very lives at
his behest?' For most people, the idea of dying or killing
themselves because someone tells them to is totally
inconceivable. It would be viewed as complete lunacy and an
act of desperation. It would be assumed that one had lost
all sense of reason, reality and free will...and that, my
friends, is partially what is at the heart of the matter and
a central point of this article.
It is a known fact that in order for one to become a
successful productive member of any type of regimented
society, group or organization such as the above-mentioned
groups were, he must first be willing, or be induced to give
up his own free will for the good of the whole. In other
words, he must become just another obedient part of the
collective whole. One of the initial stages in this process
is to convince the new member or recruit that his former
values and/or frame of reference are wrong. To accomplish
this, the new recruit is first made to doubt the validity of
his old way of thinking by showing him the flaws and
weaknesses in it. To prove this point, the recruiter might
point to the current dismal state of society due to those
who follow the old way of thinking. Much of what the
recruiter says will be true, and the new member will find
himself readily agreeing with the recruiter.
At the same time, the new member is made to question his own
self worth. He is constantly reminded of his own human
imperfections to further weaken his resistance. The
recruiter paints himself as a friend who is here to save the
new member from the error of his old ways of thinking and
doing things, and thus invokes appreciation from the new
member. In short, a power struggle is going on in which the
recruiter is slowly seeking to dominate the will of the new
member. At the same time, the new recruit is slowly
bombarded with the new doctrine, so that the old frame of
reference is forgotten and replaced by the new. It is
similar to a form of mental rewiring. Any manifestation of
doubt or resistance by the new recruit is looked upon as
potential disobedience and disloyalty and is brought to the
attention of the new recruit, usually in a subtle
intimidating manner. Wanting to please his new masters and
show his worthiness, the new member amends his ways, thus
further diminishing his ability to think on his own. So that
the new member doesn't become overly discouraged by the
constant reprimands during the initial stages of this
process, he is also constantly reminded that he is chosen
and special, part of a small elite called either by God, his
country or the superiors of his organization.
Eventually, the process is completed, and the member loses
all free will and becomes totally dependent on the recruiter
for both his spiritual and material needs. He has
acknowledged his own lowly state and is thankful to even be
a part of the movement, society or organization. He is aware
that his continued participation in the group is conditional
upon his willingness to remain submissive. At the same
time, a double-psychology is brought into play whereby the
new member is made to feel that inspite of the physical
privations or psychological hardships he may have to endure,
(even though the leaders may actually live quite well off in
some cases), to leave the group would be equivalent to total
failure on his part. In the case of religious organizations,
the new member is made to feel that failing the group or
group leader is equivalent to failing God...and living with
the conscience of having failed God is difficult for anyone
to bear. So, the new member becomes just another part of the
collective whole and would never doubt that his superiors
have his best interests at heart. From this point on, his
whole objective is to be an obedient submissive member who
will do his best to please his new masters and carry on the
work of the organization. After all, he doesn't want to
acquire the reputation of being a troublemaker and face the
danger of excommunication. If he is fortunate, with time, he
may even find himself moving up in the ranks and becoming
responsible for others below him.
Given enough time, this desire to please the leader or
masters can become excessive. It may involve performing
special deeds or heroic acts, being willing to die for the
belief system of the group, or even to die to protect the
master himself. This is what has become known as the 'martyr
syndrome'...being willing to die for a cause or person to
show ones worthiness, or even to convince oneself that one
is worthy. In some cases, it stems from self-doubt, an
inferiority complex which has been slowly instilled in the
new member over the years by those seeking to dominate him.
Sad to say, even some dominating parents, either knowingly
or unknowingly, do this with their children, and some
children never get over it, even in adulthood. They live
their entire lives feeling inferior and inadequate from
being put down so often when they were young, being told
that they never did anything right, that they were a
failure.
In the case of the Heaven's Gate members, videos shown on
nationwide television seem to indicate that they had passed
the point of no return...and that they had done it joyfully.
As odd and bizarre as it may seem to some of us, these
people wanted to die, they anticipated it and yearned for it
with each passing day. They were firmly convinced that it
was God's will, and that this was the way He had chosen for
them to exit this world for a better one...aboard a
spaceship trailing comet Hale-Bopp.
As a Christian who is somewhat familiar with the Bible, it
is very obvious to me that the unfortunate members of
Heaven's Gate had greatly erred in their understanding of
the Word and will of God. For whatever their reasons, they
had traded in the teachings of the true frame of reference,
the Bible, for those of a man whom they allowed to totally
dominate their lives. They had given up their God-given free
will, to become the servants of Satan through their
charismatic leader who, according to news reports, lied
about his own health condition.
Had those people taken the time to study the Word of God on
their own, instead of relying upon the New Age
interpretation given to them by their leader, they would
have known that what he was teaching was totally contrary to
Scriptures. Committing suicide is not condoned anywhere in
the Bible that I am aware of. If anything, it was considered
an act of human pride or cowardice. Consider how King Saul
was wounded in battle and then asked his servant to kill him
so that his enemies wouldn't have the pleasure of killing
him all the way:
"And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit
him; and he was sore wounded of the archers." (1 Samuel
31:3)
"Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and
thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come
and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer
would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a
sword, and fell upon it." (1 Samuel 31:4)
"And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell
likewise upon his sword, and died with him." (1 Samuel 31:5)
"So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and
all his men, that same day together." (1 Samuel 31:6)
In the classic example of Abimelech, the man who wanted to
be the first king of Israel, he was defeated by a woman who
dropped a piece of millstone upon his head. He was so
concerned for his reputation, consider what he did:
"And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it,
and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with
fire." (Judges 9:52)
"And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon
Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull." (Judges 9:53)
"Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer,
and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say
not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him
through, and he died." (Judges 9:54)
In the New Testament, we find some very interesting verses
which could easily be misconstrued or misunderstood by those
who do not have the spirit of God. Consider Jesus'
following words in Luke 9:23-24:
"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow
me." (Luke 9:23)
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but
whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall
save it." (Luke 9:24)
In the above verses, Jesus is not requiring of His disciples
that they die for Him in a physical sense or purposely kill
themselves to reap the benefits of eternal life. He is
referring to giving up their own wills and plans for their
lives to do the will of God, the same as He asks Christians
to do today. In the case of His immediate disciples, that
meant leaving their earthly professions and becoming fishers
of men, preaching the gospel and winning souls to the
Kingdom of God through teaching faith in Jesus Christ as the
long-awaited Messiah. Consider the calling of Simon Peter
and Andrew his brother in Matthew 4:19-20:
"And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you
fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19)
"And they straightway left their nets, and followed him."
(Matthew 4:20)
This is what Jesus meant by taking up their cross daily, not
killing themselves physically. Yes, Jesus knew that most of
His disciples would eventually die a martyr's death, but not
once did He ever ask them to kill themselves on the spot to
prove their faith and loyalty to Him. Quite to the contrary.
Consider what He said to the Jews:
"Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall
seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot
come." (John 8:21)
Obviously, the reason they couldn't follow Him into eternal
life is because they didn't even believe in Him as the Son
of God to begin with.
"Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith,
Whither I go, ye cannot come." (John 8:22)
In their carnal thinking, the Jews thought Jesus was going
to kill himself, but we know this is NOT what He meant. He
was referring to His own soon-coming death on the cross, not
by His own hands, but by the Jewish elders and the Romans.
Later on, Jesus said the very same thing to His disciples:
"Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall
seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye
cannot come; so now I say to you." (John 13:33)
Notice, in both of these verses, we don't find Jesus telling
them to kill themselves so they can make it to Heaven
quicker ahead of everyone else. Suicide to gain our heavenly
reward is NOT a part of God's current plan, and never has
been. God does not need dead Christians, He needs live ones
to preach the gospel to those who are not yet saved. By
taking our lives, we may be cutting our ministry short and
denying others the opportunity of hearing the gospel. Of
course, God can and probably will send someone else in our
stead, but we will be denied the blessing of having won more
souls to Christ.
The above verses are followed a chapter later by:
"And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." (John 14:4)
"Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou
goest; and how can we know the way?" (John 14:5)
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)
This is the only way to eternal life, by believing in Jesus
and accepting His sacrifice on the cross, and NOT by killing
ourselves to board some fictitious spacecraft trailing a
comet as the members of Heaven's Gate believed.
After Jesus had informed His disciples that one of them
would betray Him, Peter, probably in his own pride,
exclaimed that he would never deny Jesus, that in fact, he
would even be willing to die with Him. The rest of the
disciples also agreed with Peter. To Peter's surprise, Jesus
quickly corrected him and told him that he would deny Jesus
three times before the cock crowed:
"Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended
because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite
the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered
abroad." (Matthew 26:31)
"But after I am risen again, I will go before you into
Galilee." (Matthew 26:32)
"Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be
offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended."
(Matthew 26:33)
"Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this
night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice."
(Matthew 26:34)
"Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet
will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples."
(Matthew 26:35)
Even though the willingness was there, this was not what
Jesus expected or required of His first disciples. He knew
that most of them would die a martyr's death anyway, but in
the meantime, He wanted them to stay alive as long as
possible to get Christianity off to a strong start. Later,
Jesus said in Matthew 26:41:
"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the
spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Even though the disciples thought themselves strong enough
to stand up for Jesus even in the face of death, to their
bitter disappointment, the Lord soon proved them wrong when
they fled at the time of His arrest. It wouldn't be until
some time later, after the Lord's resurrection and ascension
into Heaven that they would receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost and with it, the boldness to preach the gospel, loving
their lives not unto the death:
"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the
word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto
the death." (Revelation 12:11)
Thus far, through scriptural research, I have shown that it
is NOT God's will for any of us to try to hasten our deaths
so that we can reap the benefits of eternal life. If we are
God-fearing Christians, the Lord needs us here for as long
as possible to get the job done, and the closer we get to
the end of all things, the more difficult it will become to
do it. But, according to the prophecies of Daniel, in the
final years of the Antichrist, some of us will have a great
ministry as many seek the truth in the last dark dying days
of the current worldly systems:
"And they that understand among the people shall instruct
many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by
captivity, and by spoil, many days." (Daniel 11:33)
"Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a
little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries."
(Daniel 11:34)
"And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them,
and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of
the end: because it is yet for a time appointed." (Daniel
11:35)
The above verses are just one example to show what God will
require of those of us who know the truth. Some of us will
indeed fall, and like the first disciples, we may even deny
the faith, but as with them, the Lord will not cast us
aside, for we have His promises:
"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."
(John 10:28)
"If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny
himself." (2 Timothy 2:13)
When Peter and the rest of the disciples abandoned Jesus,
and then cowardly hid out from their Jewish and Roman
persecutors, it was a sobering lesson to them of how weak
they really were in the flesh, and how much they really had
to depend upon God's Spirit for their faith and strength.
Once they learned this lesson, the Lord poured out His Holy
Spirit upon them in Acts chapter two and they became bold
witnesses for the Lord.
In the beginning of this article, I pointed out that one of
the primary reasons people in these obscure groups go
astray, is because they depend upon others to tell them what
the truth is instead of looking for it themselves. Of
course, if from the very beginning they reject the Bible as
the true frame of reference in their lives, then they will
be even worse off. The leaders of these groups will have an
even easier time to deceive them because the lost sheep
don't even know what the truth is to begin with. In the case
of New Age/UFO groups like Heaven's Gate, they have been
deluded by a false religion which is an odd blend of
Christianity, New Age thought, and Eastern religions. This
is indeed a deadly deceptive mixture.
Thus far I have shown how committing suicide to receive our
eternal reward early, is wrong. It is selfishness. But if we
are not to commit suicide, then how should we expect to
fully experience the gift of eternal life? Again, if we look
to the Bible for our answers, it becomes abundantly clear.
Before doing so, however, let's just mention a few things
which should already be obvious to everyone: Some of us will
die peaceful natural deaths. Others may face tragic deaths
either through chronic health problems, accidents, acts of
violence or whatever the Lord has planned for us. As evil
times progress, some of us will indeed experience martyrs'
deaths as shown through the verses in Daniel and other
places. The main thing we need to remember is that the Lord
is in control of our lives, and we should leave it that way.
He put us here, and He knows when He wants us to leave.
Consider what it says in Ecclestiastes 3: 1-2
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every
purpose under the heaven:"
"A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and
a time to pluck up that which is planted;"
Consider also Matthew 10:29-31:
"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them
shall not fall on the ground without your Father."
"But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."
"Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many
sparrows."
So then, the final issue I would like to address in this
article is: If we shouldn't expect to hitchhike a ride on
some flying saucer trailing a comet, exactly what should we
expect? I think the following verses will make it abundantly
clear to everyone:
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the
sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and
the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken:" (Matthew 24:29)
"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:
and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they
shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory." (Matthew 24:30)
"And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a
trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matthew
24:31)
As the above verses clearly indicate, the Second Coming of
Christ is going to be an Earth-shaking Heaven-shaking event.
It is not going to be some man like Marshall Applewhite who
for the most part, secretly and quietly trains a small group
of followers for some twenty years, and then suddenly
resurfaces only to kill themselves. This is precisely what
Jesus warned us against.
-----
"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed," (1 Corinthians 15:51)
'In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Corinthians
15:52)
Notice that it is the dead in Christ who are raised up and
changed first, then those of us who are still alive will
likewise be transformed and given our new heavenly bodies.
-----
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even
as others which have no hope." (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." (1
Thessalonians 4:14)
"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we
which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall
not prevent them which are asleep." (1 Thessalonians 4:15)
[Note: In Old English, 'prevent' means to preceed or go
before]
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump
of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:" (1
Thessalonians 4:16)
"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1
Thessalonians 4:17)
"Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1
Thessalonians 4:18)
Notice, it says that ALL living believers in Christ will be
caught up into the clouds, and NOT just some small hidden
group like the members of Heaven's Gate believed. Exactly
how the Lord is going to do this, I have absolutely no idea.
All I do know is that when Jesus ascended up into Heaven
after His resurrection, this is the same thing that
happened. Whether this is implying some kind of celestial
metaphysical craft, like the visions of Ezekiel and others,
I really don't know. I guess we will just have to wait to
find out.
And just as Jesus ascended into the clouds when He departed,
we are told in the following verses that He will return at
the end of the world in the same manner. What is interesting
here though is that it doesn't say that He will come IN the
clouds, but rather that He will come WITH clouds. Could this
be implying something else? See my article 'Clouds, UFO's &
The Holy Bible.'
-----
"Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him,
and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the
earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." (Revelation
1:7)
"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come
quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation
22:20)
If you are interested in Paul's more in-depth description of
the resurrection of the dead, please read I Corinthians 15
in its entirety.
In conclusion, as you can see, there is absolutely no
indication in the Scriptures that we are supposed to
prematurely end our lives by our own hand in order to be
promoted to the heavenly realm as the members of Heaven's
Gate erroneously believed. The Lord knows the time and the
means He has chosen for each of us to return unto Him. As
Christians, He wants us to stick around as long as possible,
for He promises a great harvest in the final years of
Earth's history. Someone is going to have to be here in
order to tell people the truth in the midst of Satan's Grand
Deception. By cowardly taking our lives, we may be cutting
short the very ministry the Lord has reserved for us.
I hope this article has been a blessing and an inspiration
to you. Your comments are welcomed.