All belly-gods shall at last be found in the belly of hell! – Thomas Brooks
“Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach.” Philippians 3:18-19
Intemperance robs men of everlasting happiness and blessedness. It shuts them out from all the glory of heaven, and tumbles them down to the lowest hell, as you may see in that great instance of luxurious Dives, who was “dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.” The intemperate man’s table proves a snare to his soul.
Intemperant people eat and drink away their Christ; they eat and drink away their souls; they eat and drink away their own salvation! Those who serve their own bellies, serve not the Lord Jesus Christ, and shall never reign with Him in heaven. Certainly that man who makes his belly his god, shall be forever separated from God.
All belly-gods shall at last be found in the belly of hell! The intemperate person has his heaven here; his hell is to come. Now he has his sweet cups, his merry cups, his pleasant cups. Oh, but there is a cup of shame and sorrow to come! “Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.” Psalm 11:6. The intemperate person has been a gulf to devour many mercies, and therefore he shall at last be cast into a gulf of endless miseries.
How many make their belly their god, and their kitchen their altar; whose whole felicity lay in eating and drinking, whose bodies were as sponges, and whose throats were as open sepulchers to take in all precious liquors, and whose bellies were as graves to bury God’s creatures in!
Augustine well observes that God has not given to man: claws to tear in pieces like bears and leopards; nor horns to push like bulls and rams; nor a sting to prick like wasps, and bees, and serpents; nor a bill to strike like eagles and ostriches; nor a wide mouth to devour like dogs and lions; but a little mouth, to show that man should be very temperate both in his eating and drinking.
How applicable these things are to the luxurious people who lived within the walls of London before it was turned into ashes I shall leave the wise in heart to judge.