Page 909 … Revelation 21:84
Nearing the end of your list, you next cite “Revelation 21:84”, a verse which actually does not exist in the Bible at all … Of course, you probably meant Revelation 21:8, which reads – “But as for the cowardly, the unbelieving, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Yes, on its face this verse does indeed seem to condemn sinners to eternal torment, and yet what it is actually doing, at least as far as Jesus was concerned, is warning us all of our inevitable Time of Trial. You see, as far as Jesus was concerned, all those who refused to follow his Way of selfless Love (including you & yours!) must be cleansed by fire before being allowed entrance into his Father’s Kingdom of Heaven (see Mark 9:49 + John 15:6 + Matthew 18:3-4). As such, this verse does condemn a slough of sinners to the “lake that burns”, and yet only the reap-what-you-sow purification that will come to us all; heterosexuals & homosexuals alike.
And indeed , this verse itself confirms this fact – seeing as how it warns not only homosexual “fornicators” of this seeming doom, but also “the cowardly” (i.e. those who perpetrate violence upon the innocent – via acts of war, unjust prosecutions, acts of police brutality, &/or the immoral incarceration of the poor), “the unbelieving” (i.e. those – including the Pharisees, and including Paul, and thus including you & yours – who honor any false teachings that violate Jesus’ Way), “murderers” of other sentient beings (human & animal alike), heterosexual “fornicators”, “idolaters” (including those who worship money &/or power &/or popularity as their idols), and “liars” (anyone who has ever told a falsehood) … As such, Revelation 21:8 does not speak to a small, select group of humans who are especially sinful, but rather speaks to and about all of us. For we are all doomed to have our sins purified in “the lake that burns with fire and sulfur” – all of us; each & every one.*
*And yet there is Good News for us all as well, for the “burning” mentioned in this verse (and elsewhere) – a fire we are all destined to feel most acutely, need not be an enduring torment. No, my Friends … Instead, if we choose to walk the humble Way of Christ, we can pierce the painful “veil of selfishness” rather smoothly, and enter the blissful realm of the Kingdom of Heaven immediately thereafter (see Matthew 18:3-4 + Luke 17:20-21) … For it is only those who deny the teachings of Jesus – only those who refuse to pick up their cross and serve others with humble acts of Kindness (see Matthew 16:24 + John 13:34-35) – who will suffer a pain “eternal” on their deathbeds (see Matthew 25:13). For that is the moment when they, at the very latest, will realize that they were here to serve and not be served (see Matthew 16:28 + Matthew 20:28), and that – at the very latest – is the moment when they realize that it is too late for them to ever fulfill that glorious blessing.
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