Remorse ?!

Have you ever experienced anything "bittersweet" -- something that was simultaneously tragic yet relieving, disasterous yet fortunate? An irritating or enraging negative inconvenience but which positively turned out to not only save you significant money but even your own life?

I suppose that those wanted-to-be would-have-been passengers on the Titanic who were too late in arriving to board the ship, or arrived after the ship-capacity quota was filled, and had to stay on shore, were very disheartened and possibly quite angry at the time. But after the ship hit the iceberg (not vice-versa) and its massive magnificence slowly sank into the icy ocean waters of the Atlantic that dark night, the would-have-beens were both shocked but extremely grateful to have at least retained their own life in safety.

In one sense, parts of the following Scripture verses are somewhat perplexing:

Matthew 8:11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,
Matthew 8:12 while the "sons" of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 13:37 He answered, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;
38 the field is the world, and the good seed means the "sons" of the kingdom; the weeds are the "sons" of The Evil One,
39 and the enemy who sowed them is The Devil; the harvest is The Close of the Age, and the reapers are angels.
40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age.
41 The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, [the persons themselves - not simply their evil doings or consequences thereof]
42 and throw them into The Furnace of Fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then the righteous will shine like the Sun in the kingdom of their Father. He/she who has ears, let him (or her) hear.

Matthew 13:47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind;
48 when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad.
49 So it will be at The Close of the Age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous,
50 and throw them into The Furnace of Fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 22:8 Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy.
9 Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.'
10 And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a "man" who had no wedding garment;
12 and he said to "him," 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And "he" was speechless [assuming that he was not a deaf mute].
13 Then the king said to the attendants: "Bind him [or her] hand and foot, and throw "him" into The Outer Darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth;
14 For many are called, but few are chosen."

Matthew 24:36 "But of that [post-Millennial Last] Day and Hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
37 As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, [fornicating and sodomizing, urinating and defecating, breathing and walking, whatever] until the day when Noah entered The Ark,
39 and they did not know until The Flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
40 Then [at the post-Millennial Rapture, when the heavens and Earth are incinerated with a loud noise] two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. [as the field is dissolved in fervent fiery heat]
41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left [as the mill is dissolved in fervent fiery heat].
42 Watch therefore, for you do not know on what Day your Lord is coming.
43 But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of The Night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into.
44 Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an Hour you do not expect.
45 Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom "his" Master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?
46 Blessed is that servant whom his Master when He comes will find so doing.
47 Truthfully I say to you, He will set "him" over all His possessions.
48 But if that wicked servant says to "himself," 'My Master is delayed,'
49 and begins to beat "his" fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken,
50 the Master of that servant will come on a Day when "he" does not expect him and at an Hour "he" does not know,
51 and will punish "him," and put "him" with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 25:30 And throw the worthless servant into The Outer Darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 25:31 "When the Son of Man comes in His [post-Millennial] glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious [white] throne. [refer to the last few verses of Revelation chapter 20]
Matthew 25:32 Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,
Matthew 25:33 and He will place the [resurrected righteous] [proverbial] "sheep" at His right hand, but the [resurrected wicked] [proverbial] "goats" at the left."

Luke 13:23 And some one said to Him, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" And He said to them,
24 "Strive to [narrow-mindedly] squeeze through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
25 When once The Householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, open to us.' He will answer you, 'I do not know where you come from.'
26 Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.'
27 But He will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you come from; leave me, all you [publicly-mopheaded/naked-armed/nude-legged/toes-exposed/etc.] workers of iniquity!'
28 There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out.
29 And [single-back-of-head-ponytailed-or-updo-chignoned] humans will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God."

What is somewhat difficult to understand pertaining to the above-mentioned Bible verses in the Revised Standard Version is the phrase: "there men will weep and gnash their teeth" (and not simply because the RSV, in contrast to most other English translations true to the Greek Text in this passage, erroneously adds the word: "men").

Why will there be weeping and gnashing of teeth by whoever is permanently confined there -- being that God (in His "unconditional?" benevolent love . . . and also hate?) accommodates the wicked with complete non-inclusive non-coexisting zero-tolerance segregation away from those who virulently hate Him, His authority, His Bible and morality thereof, and His Christian saints?

One would think that the damned would be more than glad to be forever removed away from the God they incessantly complain about, disbelieve, disdain, or at least rebelliously ignore . . . and everything/everyone related to Him, yes?

So, why the crying and vocal lamenting of those eternally suspended in the invisibly-flaming Outer Darkness?

I guess the operative word is: deprivation and the more-than-simple-regret remorse resulting from that.

And what are the wicked deprived of?

For one thing, the capacity to express their hatred toward and against a God they hate, and Christians they lividly despise.

That is sort of related to the following:

Second Corinthians 2:2 For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained?

The wicked can never more dishearten nor grieve nor disappoint the God they hate nor pain or harm His saints, nor bother or harass them anymore, nor even get their attention, nor in any way communicate to and/or with them -- to the ages of the ages.

And they, either gradually or overtly, do actually hate God, deep-down and underneath it all:

Revelation 16:8 The fourth angel poured his bowl on the Sun, and it was allowed to scorch humans with fire (especially sun-worshipping short-sleeved or even trees-shaded sleeveless ones [violating RSV's/NASV's II Samuel 13:18] and or imposing air-conditioned legs-baring shorts [violating RSV's/NASV's Isaiah 47:1-4] and/or flaunting warm-weather naked quasi-dirty feet with socksless-toes-exposing noisy-flipflop fake-biblio-religiosity sandals [violating RSV's/NASV's Jeremiah 2:25]);
16:9 humans were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give Him glory.
16:10 The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of The Beast, and hiss kingdom was in darkness; humans gnawed their tongues in anguish
16:11 and cursed the God of Heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their [wicked] works.

Complaining about the weather - again. And, this time, not simply blaming any false-prophet weatherman.

One must understand that the apparent dialogue that has and perhaps yet does occur between those in the temporary hell of Hades and those in the temporary heaven of Paradise, per:

Luke 16:19 There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores,
21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's [spiritual] bosom. The rich man also died and was buried;
23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his [spiritual] eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his [spiritual] bosom.
24 And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his [spiritual] finger in [spiritual] water and cool my [spiritual] tongue; for I am in anguish in this [spiritual] flame.'
25 But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
26 And besides all this, between us and you a Great Chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.'
27 And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house,
28 for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.'
29 But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'
30 And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
31 He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead."

. . . will not ultimately continue at some future time when the damned are relocated into the no-communication-possible-whatsoever-with-Heaven-and-those-therein deep-down-cave-like-lights-out blackness of The Lake of [Invisible] Fire:

Revelation 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. [both faith and faithlessness, good and evil works per Romans 3:28 and Galatians 2:16 paradoxically combined with James 2:24]
Revelation 20:14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into The Lake of Fire. This is The Second Death, The Lake of Fire;
Revelation 20:15 and whoever's name was not found written in The Book of Life was thrown into The Lake of Fire.

[Again, the RSV and a few other mistranslations erroneously add the word: "he" [was thrown into the lake of fire]. No "he" is in the Greek Text in that passage. Nor "she."]

Part of the weeping, wailing, crying, sobbing, and remorseful "gnashing of teeth" will certainly be because of the pain of the torturous flames burning resurrected flesh and excruciatingly consuming such -- only to be constantly regenerated so there is eternally more to burn, forever:

Second Thessalonians 1:9 They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might,
Revelation 20:10 [RSV] and The Devil who had deceived them was thrown into The Lake of Fire and Sulphur ["sulphur" never mentioned in the KJV-type Bibles] where The Beast and The False Prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night [i.e. continuously] forever and ever.
Revelation 21:8 [KJV/MKJV. etc.] But the fearful, and disbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, will be consigned within the Lake burning with fire and brimstone [the word "brimstone" only used in the Old Testament of the RSV], which is The Second Death.

But another component of the suffering and remorse will be deprivation away from absent and missing idols once craved and grabbed previously in their earthly lives, as they selfishly wasted and misused things and devices they themselves never really owned in the first place, grossly and despicably mismanaged in their careless and sloppy godless arrogance and defiance, and completely lost at their physical deathly demise.

For the sexually oriented, no more hugging or kissing or hand-holding or undressing or nudity or erotic massage or gratifying intercourse, though the craving intensifies. No more food for ever-increasing appetites. No toilet to urinate or defecate in, no refreshing air to breathe in the suffocating void. No exercise with sports equipment or even transporting themselves anywhere with no ground to stand or sit upon or hold to push or pull. No beer nor wine for desperately-thirsty drunkards. No money for greedy embezzlers and thieves to steal, possess, and wallow in. No musical instruments nor radio nor TV nor theater nor newsprint nor pencils nor pens nor computers to publicly express creative ideas and ridicule the Lord and His Christians. No music of any kind. No friends to smoke cigarettes with, and no cigarettes - but with overwhelming desire to have a smoke without being able to, driving nicotine-deprived to complete insanity. No eye-pleasing browsing nor shopping for merchandise in stores, and no merchandise around for acquisitive horders to purchase and accumulate and show off. No real estate property nor housing to buy and sell. No guns for hunting and no fishing poles for fishermen. No game to hunt, nor fish to catch. No rain, no wind, no clouds. No sun nor moon nor stars to astronomically study, and so no beautiful sunrises nor gorgeous sunsets. No soil nor plants for gardeners to cultivate. No trees or shrubs to cut, saw, nail, or trim. No lawn mowing nor grass to mow. No leaves to rake and sack. No entertaining snowfall nor snow to shovel or play in. No beach to run barefoot on. No ocean nor lake nor river to swim in. No food to fry or bake or roast or grill. No refreshing showers or baths. No hands-on employment at any job or employment. No shrieking bratty children to feed and change diapers for. No vacationing nor travel for sight-seeing. No cars or trucks or planes to drive or pilot. No mountains or waterfalls. No insects or birds or animal pets. No roads to drive on. No gasoline to fill gas tanks with, and no tanks. No refrigerators nor ovens. No fast foods, and no fast food restaurants - with hunger becoming greater and greater. No landline telephones nor cellphones nor mobile phones. No books nor magazines. No mail. No neighbors or relatives to chat with. No cops around. No doctors to treat diseases and immobilizing injuries, no dentists to alleviate unbearable jaw-ache pain by removing decaying teeth seriously needing root canal work and capping. No church to play the hypocrite within, and no buildings to upkeep or spray paint graffiti on. Nothing but solitary-confinement loneliness forever while flammable flesh is on fire with consumptive searing flames of Divine vengeance and retribution - forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever without any limit or hope of it all ending. No relief - ever. Never even the slightest chance of rest or escape whatsoever -- ETERNALLY.

Consider The Alternative:

Revelation 5:11 Then I looked, and I heard around The Throne and The Living Creatures and The Elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,
Revelation 5:12 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"
Revelation 5:13 And I heard every creature in Heaven and on Earth and under Earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, "To Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!"
Revelation 5:14 And The Four Living Creatures said, "Amen!" and The Elders fell down and worshiped.

Revelation 7:9 After this I looked, and hey, a great throng which no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and proclaiming out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!"
11 And all the angels stood round the throne and round The Elders and The Four Living Creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen."
13 Then one of The Elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?"
14 I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him [in myriad nearly-incredibly-enhanced-and-amplified vocational and occupational ways] day and night [i.e. continuously] within His temple; and He who sits upon the throne will shelter them with His presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the Sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the vicinity of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of Living Water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.
21:18 And the foundation of its wall [that is, The New Jerusalem above] was jasper; and The City was pure gold, like clear glass.
21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls. Respectively, each one of the gates was one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, as transparent glass.
21:25 and its gates shall never be shut by day, and there shall be no night there
21:27 But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Revelation 22:1 Then he showed me The River of The Water of Life, bright as crystal, flowing from The Throne of God and of The Lamb
Revelation 22:2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, The Tree of Life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of The Tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 22:5 And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign to the ages of the ages.

Have we ever been rejected by a close friend? A spouse? Excluded from party invitation? Shunned because of some noble but unpopular stance we took or comment we have made? Turned down for a job promotion, or not even hired at all? Been laid off without getting pension? Failed a driving test? Gotten a flat tire or leaking radiator hose on a deserted highway on a cold dark night? Slipped off an icy road and driven into a cement barrier? Had our windshield shattered by a flying rock or hail damage or baseball bat or hammer? Had our house catch fire or be irreparably flooded? Been sued and lost funds? Been arrested for a traffic violation and amply paid for it? Suddenly lost a dear dad or precious mom, or watch them slowly and grievously pine away into death?

For (or against) the faithless, doubters, disbelievers, and disobedient . . .

Deuteronomy 28:20 The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and frustration, in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly, on account of the evil of your doings, because you have rejected me.
Judges 10:13 Yet you have rejected me and served other gods; therefore I will deliver you no more.
Second Kings 22:17 Because they have rejected me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.
Second Chronicles 34:25 Because they have rejected me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out upon this place and will not be quenched.
Psalm 22:1 To the choirmaster: according to The Hind of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you rejected me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
Psalm 27:10 For my father and my mother have rejected me, but the LORD will take me up.
Isaiah 49:14 But Zion said, "The LORD has rejected me, my Lord has forgotten me."
Jeremiah 2:13 for my people have committed two evils: they have rejected me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Jeremiah 5:7 "How can I pardon you? Your children have rejected me, and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of harlots.
Jeremiah 5:19 And when your people say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' you shall say to them, "As you have rejected me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours."
Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus proclaimed with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you rejected me?"
Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus declared with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you rejected me?"

So, the despise-God's-authority-and-morality damned are finally consigned to be a pathetic oxymoron of insatiable gratitude to completely get away from the Creator God and His own who they lawlessly love to hate or at least disregard, ignore, disobey plus occasionally curse and blaspheme . . . but miserably sob, cry, wail, curse the nothingness, and gnash their rotting teeth in the unspeakable torment of no more chance to repent or recover or be reconciled amidst the ferocious invisible flames of relentless punishment.

What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the mind of mankind conceived, God has prepared for [and against] those who hate Him, and His.

Their belief (and declaration of belief) in such, while they impose their flagrance in this their temporal existence, is not required for them to end up there. Nor is their disbelief. Both are irrelevant. Their sordid dire destiny is immutably assured anyway - no matter what - because they themselves stubbornly and unceasingly set their often-or-always-mopheaded-in-general-public-view or sleevesless or slacksless or soxless and/or pre-Trib-rapcrap sovereign free will against the Lord and His holy and pure non-porno-indecent non-heretically-apostate-infidel ways.