Section 910
I. The issue, end, punishment, and utter destruction of these sons of Belial
They are said to be thrust away, and at last to he utterly burnt with fire in the same place. They shall be all of them as thorns thrust away. But now thorns, in order to be thrust away, must be rooted up, or cut down, or they cannot be thrust away; they must be rooted up, as wicked men will be. The wicked, says the wise man, shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it (Proverbs 3:22); so David declares, the Lord shall destroy them, and root them up out of the land of the living, as thorns may be rooted up. And these must be cut down as cumberers of the ground; for if a barren fig-tree cumbers the ground, then much more briers and thorns, These are cut down, sooner or later, and they are thrust away with contempt and indignation. Nigh unto cursing: who will be, and are, cursed by the righteous law of God; for cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Thrust away out of time into eternity, suddenly, hastily, in a moment, and in wrath. A tempest shall bear them away; the storm and tempest of divine wrath; for it is God that thrusts them away. He drives the wicked man into darkness, and chases him out of this world. A son of Belial is driven away in his wickedness; while the righteous hath hope in his death. And he will be thrust away in the great day, from the presence of the Lord, as Adam, when he apostatized, was driven out of Eden’s garden; and as Cain, when he had been guilty of that shocking sin of murder, was driven from the presence of God; so wicked men will be driven from his presence. They will hear him say, depart from me, ye cursed, I know you not. Then they will be burned with fire in the same place: with the fire of God’s wrath; for his fiery indignation shall devour the adversaries.
Wicked men, whenever their consciences are awakened, are apprehensive there is nothing but a fearful looking for of judgment, and of fiery indignation: now this will break forth at the last day, and consume them. This indignation is sometimes compared to a furnace of fire, and sometimes to a lake of fire; into each of which, thorns and briars are sometimes cast. Thus, as the tares are bound up in bundles and cast into the fire, so the wicked, the sons of Belial, will be gathered by the angels, and cast into a furnace of fire, where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42). This is also expressed by a lake of fire; a lake which burns with fire and brimstone, into which the sons of Belial will be cast, and where they will be burnt. This is called in Scripture, everlasting fire. Everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels; that will be always burning, and never shall he quenched. And it will be intolerable, so that language imports, Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fires? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? This will be the end, this will be the punishment of those who are the sons of Belial.
You see now from hence, of what account wicked men are with God. They are no other than sons of Belial, children without a yoke, unprofitable, low creatures, and will never rise from that state; and like thorns, are only fit to be burnt. You see what will be the end, the issue of these persons; everlasting destruction. They will be burnt with the fire of God’s wrath, which will endure for ever; the smoke of their torments will ascend up for ever and ever. There is no escaping this, but in, and through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by applying to him for life and salvation. If any of you are seeking to flee from the wrath to come, which is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men; and should be asking, Whither shall we flee? Not to rocks or mountains, whether in a literal or figurative sense. Not in a literal sense; they will do no service. Nor in a figurative sense, your own works of righteousness; these will not screen you. There is no other way of escaping the wrath to come, due to the sons of Belial, but by fleeing for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before you in the everlasting gospel; by fleeing to Christ, turning to him, the strong hold, as prisoners of hope; and, being justified by his blood, you shall be saved from wrath, through him. It is he, and he only, who delivers from wrath to come.