A Beatles final agony

George Harrison

The newspapers on Sunday, 2 December 2001 were full of
information regarding the death of George Harrison, one of the original Beatles
group.

Poor George had a Hare Krishna next to his bed, chanting and
praying, as Harrison succumbed to brain, throat and lung cancer. The horror of
such a thing happening to a man made in the image of God, is almost enough to
make this writer physically sick. From the Sunday Star Times, we quote
herewith in part:

"Goswami met Harrison in London in the late 1960's, when
the Beatles lead guitarist embraced the Hare Krishna movement. They had been
close friends since and produced an album of Hare Krishna music...

Krishna devotees were by his side and he left his body to the
sounds of the Hare Krishna mantra." Horrific! It is bad enough to die without
Christ, but to have to die to those sounds must have been an unbelievably
torturous experience as it led on to something, which was far worse.

This writer was interested to read in another article, the
following:

"For a man who once got 2% in an English test at school,
Harrison could be lyrical -– and not just with music.

"For every human there is a quest to find the answer to
why I am here, who am I, where did I come from, where am I going," he once
said. "For me, that became the most important thing in my life, everything
else is secondary." (emphasis added).

It leaves us wondering of course, whether George ever found
the answer to his questions, as in the book of Revelation 4:11, we read the
answer:

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and
power; for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were
created."

It is also clear that God in His wisdom, very kindly sent
down His Son in human flesh, to take the punishment for our sin, and thus, as He
became a sacrifice on our behalf, He fulfilled the justice of a righteous God
and left the way clear for us to go to Heaven through simply trusting in His
wonderful sacrifice.

It is not the place of any human being to judge another as to
where they have gone, yet it would appear that to anybody who could be in such a
state as to die listening to Hare Krishna music, things were not looking very
bright, spiritually speaking.

It is possible that he did have the Gospel presented to him
at one stage in his life and yet it could be possible also that he rejected it
and for that reason, he received the lie of the Hare Krishna movement.

We find this very clearly in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11,
referring to the Anti-Christ who would arise shortly.

"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them
that perish; 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." (emphasis added).

You may ask, how do we know what is the truth? The answer was
given by Jesus himself in the book of John 14:6.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto
the Father, but by me."

Many years ago I remember walking down Symonds Street in
Auckland, where I met my old Bible Class teacher, whose name was Selwyn
Cunnyham. He asked me what I was doing, and when I told him I was at Bible
College, he then asked me a very interesting question.

"Barry, why do people go to hell?" To which I replied,
"Because they are sinners."

He then said, "People do not go to hell because they are
sinners, but because they bypass God's provision for sin, which was the
sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and His blood shed on the cross, on our
behalf. Barry, that is why people go to hell."

My word to every reader is this: "Make sure that you do not
go there, for hell was not created for men made in the image of God, but for the
devil and his angels.

Heaven is for us and is not that far away. Should we humble
ourselves at the foot of the cross and pray the sinner's prayer, which
involves repentance from sin, belief in the power of the blood of Jesus to
forgive our sins, and the receiving of Christ into our hearts. Pray that prayer
and experience the Peace of God right away."