The mere circumstance of a man being punished for his sins in this
life, has nothing in it to purify his soul, purge his conscience, or
prepare him for the enjoyment of God. The Egyptians, the Antediluvians,
the Sodomites, and the Jews, had a just recompense of reward sent upon
them in this world, but this only sent them down to _tartareous_, to
be reserved, with the angels that sinned, to the judgment of the great
day, where, we are assured, Sodom and Gomorrah shall appear. Some men
appear to think, that if men are punished, to use their own style,
as much as their sins deserve, they must necessarily be happy then.
But men can not be happy—can not enjoy God, without justification,
purification of heart and conscience; and, unless thus prepared for the
enjoyment of God, they can not enjoy the world to come. This is a work
that punishment can not do. The hurling of angels, that sinned, down to
hell, the drowning of antediluvians and Egyptians, the burning of
Sodomites, and slaying of Jews, did not purify one of them. If men
live in unbelief, commit some capital offence, and are executed for
it, though this may be a just recompense of reward, it will not purify
their souls and prepare them to enjoy God. When men pass the boundary
line of life, they pass all the means, in the economy of God, for
preparing them for heaven, and no punishment will ever do what the
grace of God could not do.