Heaven's Gate, Suicide and Other Death Cults

Heaven's Gate, Suicide And Other Death Cults : Part 3

Copyright 1994 - 2009 Endtime Prophecy Net

Published On : May 4, 1997

Last Updated : January 3, 2009

Second Coming Of Jesus Christ And The Rapture, Modern False
Christs, Resurrection Of The Dead In Christ, Heavenly Bodies,
Christ's Ascension And Promise Of Return, Heavenly Saucers?,
Every Eye Shall See Jesus Coming In The Clouds Of Heaven, A
Wonderful Future In Heaven, Our Daily Challenges & Problems,
God Sees Our Trials And Desires To Help Us, Closing Remarks

So as I concluded in part two, God is not only aware of each
of our existences, but He's likewise chosen a specific time,
place and method for our eventual departure from this world;
and we have absolutely no right to interfere with His plans.
Well then, if we shouldn't expect to hitchhike a ride on some
flying saucer trailing a comet; and if drinking a lethal brew
is also out of the question, as well as other ghastly methods
of suicide and self-destruction, exactly what can we expect?
While I obviously cannot answer that question for any person,
as I explain in such series as "The Great Tribulation And The
Rapture", "Chariots Of Fire: A Voluntary Voyage Home?", "The
Triumphant Touchdown Of Jesus Christ", etc., the Scriptures
do offer us an exciting picture of what lies ahead for Bible-
believing Christians. For example, consider the following
verses that are taken from the Gospel of Matthew:

"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: 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. 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 24:29-31, KJV

As the previous 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 trained a small group
of followers for twenty years, and then suddenly resurfaced,
only to kill themselves. The idea of Jesus secretly returning
and making Himself known only to a select group of followers
is a false doctrine which has apparently pervaded a number of
these modern cults. If we stop to consider how many of these
cult leaders have claimed to be Jesus Christ incarnate, it is
easy to see how ludicrous such a claim really is. Obviously,
they are all lying, because they cannot all be Jesus Christ;
unless you are foolish enough to believe that Jesus Christ
has decided to inhabit multiple human bodies simultaneously.

But returning to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the
blessed future of the Saints, the Bible clearly informs us
what is going to Christian believers at Christ's Return. As
an example, please consider the following verses which are
found in the Apostle Paul's first Epistle to Corinth:

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed, 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 15:51-52, KJV

If you are interested in learning more about the Apostle
Paul's in-depth description of the Resurrection of the Dead,
please consider reading the entire fifteenth chapter of the
Apostle Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians; but for now,
notice that the previous verses inform us that the dead in
Christ shall be raised up and changed first; then those of
us who are still alive upon the Earth will be transformed
and given our new Heavenly Bodies. This fact is confirmed by
the following verses as well, which are found in the Apostle
Paul's first Epistle to the brethren at Thessalonika. Please
note that in these verses, the Old English word "prevent"
actually means to precede or to go before:

"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. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him. 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. 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: 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. Wherefore comfort one
another with these words."
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, KJV

Notice that these verses state that all living believers in
Christ will be caught up into the clouds, and not just some
small hidden group of believers, like the misguided members
of the Heaven's Gate cult believed. Exactly how the Lord is
going to accomplish this task, I am not really certain. What
I can tell you is that when the Lord ascended up into Heaven
following His Resurrection, after a period during which He
revealed Himself to His Disciples, a similar event occurred.
Consider what we find in the first chapter of the Book of
the Acts of the Apostles:

"Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he
through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the
apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself
alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being
seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things
pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled
together with them, commanded them that they should not
depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the
Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly
baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy
Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come
together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this
time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto
them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons,
which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall
receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of
the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they
beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of
their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven
as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white
apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye
gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up
from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye
have seen him go into heaven."
Acts 1:2-11, KJV

Whether or not the event described in the previous verses is
implying some kind of celestial, metaphysical craft, such as
appears to be described in the visions of Ezekiel and other
Old Testament Prophets, I am not certain. I have given some
serious thought to this matter, and you will find my current
musings expressed in the three-part series called "Chariots
Of Fire: A Voluntary Voyage To Heaven?". I encourage you to
read it. It may challenge your thinking.

Just as Jesus Christ ascended into the clouds when He made
His last departure from the planet Earth, as with the verses
we just read in the Book of Acts, the following verses also
confirm that the Lord will return at the end of the world in
the same manner. What I find particularly interesting in the
following verses, is that they don't state that He will come
IN the clouds, but rather they say that He will come WITH
clouds. Could this possibly be implying something even more
dramatic than what we have come to believe? Again, please
refer to the aforementioned series, as well as the rather
challenging series "Under The Cloud: UFO's And 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, KJV

"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come
quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
Revelation 22:20, KJV

In light of all of these exciting events which are going to
happen in the future, possibly even during our lifetimes, is
it truly wise to even consider committing an act of suicide? I
think not. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have so
much to look forward to; so please don't throw it all away by
listening to a deceptive, misguided cult leader. I'm reminded
of another verse which is found in the Apostle Paul's first
Epistle to the Corinthians. It says:

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him."
1 Corinthians 2:9, KJV

On a more personal note, please understand that God never
promised any of us a "bed of roses" in this life. Let's face
it. The fact is that every single one of us has problems and
faces different challenges throughout our lives, some people
more than others. Sometimes our problems may seem like more
than we are able to handle, and we feel like just giving up
and ending it all through suicide; but this is not what the
Lord desires for us. As I point out in such articles as "The
Battle Is Not Yours Alone" and "The Lord Will Lift You Up",
God is always there to help us when we reach out to Him. His
ear is always turned to us when we are trying to please Him.
As the Prophet Isaiah once declared:

"Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot
save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:"
Isaiah 59:1, KJV

So rather than throw our lives away through suicide, isn't it
much better to turn them over to God and let Him use them for
His Glory? The Bible tells us to cast our burdens upon the
Lord, and He will sustain us. Consider these verses:

"Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he
shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."
Psalms 55:22, KJV

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto
your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30, KJV

Jesus can not only take upon Himself the burden of our sins,
as He did almost two thousand years ago, but He can also help
us with the burden of our daily problems in this life; so
please give Him a chance.

In conclusion, as you should be able to see by now, there is
absolutely no indication in the Scriptures whatsoever, that
we are supposed to prematurely terminate our lives by our own
hand through an act of suicide, so that we can be promoted to
the Heavenly Realm, as the misguided members of the Heaven's
Gate cult, the Peoples Temple, the Order of the Solar Temple,
and possibly the Branch Davidians, erroneously believed. The
Lord knows the time and the means that He has chosen for each
of us to return to Him. As Christians, and representatives of
our faith, it is His Will for us to stick around as long as
possible; because His Word promises us a Great Harvest in the
final years of the 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 own lives
through an act of suicide, we may in fact be cutting short
the very ministry that the Lord has reserved for us, so just
don't do it, okay?

Please give serious consideration to my words. And if you are
someone who is currently trapped in a cult of any kind, and
if you have opportunity to read this series, I pray that your
eyes will be opened, and that you will be able to find a way
to escape your current situation soon. My hope is that this
series has been a blessing and an inspiration to many.