The Beatitudes - Thomas Watson
The poor in spirit are enriched with a kingdom
Theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.
Here is high
preferment for the saints. They shall be advanced to a kingdom. There are some
who, aspiring after earthly greatness, talk of a temporal reign here, but then
God's church on earth would not be militant but triumphant. But sure it is the
saints shall reign in a glorious manner: `Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.' A
kingdom is held the acme and top of all worldly felicity, and `this honour have all the saints'; so says our Saviour, `Theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.' All Christ's subjects are
kings. By the kingdom of heaven is meant that state of glory which the saints
shall enjoy when they shall reign with God and the angels for ever; sin, hell
and death being fully subdued. For the illustration of this I shall show first
wherein the saints in heaven are like kings.
Kings have
their insignia or regalia, their ensigns of royalty and majesty.
1. Kings have
their crowns. So the saints after death have their crown-royal. `Be thou
faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life'. {Re
2:10} Believers are not only pardoned but crowned. The crown is an
ensign of honour. A crown is not for every one. It will not fit every
head. It is only for kings and persons of renown to wear. {Ps
21:3} The crown which the poor in spirit shall wear in heaven is an honourable crown. God himself installs them into their honour and sets the crown-royal upon their head. And this
crown that the saints shall wear, which is divinely orient and illustrious,
exceeds all other.
(i) It is more pure. Other crowns,
though they be made of pure gold, yet they are mixed metal; they have their
troubles. A crown of gold cannot be made without thorns. It has so many
vexations belonging to it, that it is apt to make the headache. Which made
Cyrus say, did men but know what cares he sustained under the imperial crown,
he thought they would not stoop to take it up. But the saints' crown is made
without crosses. It is not mingled with care of keeping, or fear of losing.
What Solomon speaks in another sense I may say of the crown of glory, `It adds
no sorrow with it'. {Pr
10:22} This crown, like David's harp, drives away the evil
spirit of sorrow and disquiet. There can be no grief in heaven any more than
there can be joy in hell.
(ii) This
crown of glory does not draw envy to it. David's own son envied him and sought
to take his crown from his head. A princely crown is oftentimes the mark for
envy and ambition to shoot at, but the crown the saints shall wear is free from
envy. One saint shall not envy another, because all are crowned, and though one
crown may be larger than another, yet everyone shall have as big a crown as he
is able to carry.
(iii) This is
a never-fading crown. Tertullian says that this crown is not made
out of either roses or gems. Other crowns quickly wear away and tumble
into the dust: `Doth the crown endure to all generations?'. {Pr 27:24} Henry VI was honoured with the crowns of two kingdoms, France and
England. The first was lost through the faction of his nobles; the other was
twice plucked from his head. The crown has many heirs and successors. The crown
is a withering thing. Death is a worm that feeds in it; but the crown of glory
is immarcescible, `it fadeth
not away'. {1Pe 5:4} It is not like the rose that
loses its gloss and vernancy. This crown cannot be
made to wither, but like the flower we call Everlasting, it keeps always fresh
and splendent. Eternity is a jewel of the saints' crown.
2. Kings have
their Robes. The robe is a garment wherewith Kings are arrayed. `The King of
Israel and the King of Judah sat clothed in their robes'. {2Ch
18:9} The robe was of scarlet or velvet lined with ermine, sometimes
of a purple colour, when it was called `Purpura,; sometimes of an azure brightness. Thus the saints
shall have their robes. `I beheld a great multitude which no man could number
of all nations and kindreds, clothed in white robes'.
{Re 7:9} The saints, robes signify
their glory and splendour; white robes denote their
sanctity. They have no sin to taint or defile their robes. In these robes they
shall shine as the angels.
3. Kings have
their Sceptres in token of rule and greatness. King
Ahasuerus held out to Esther the golden sceptre; {Es 5:2} and the saints in glory have
their sceptre, and `palms in their hands'. {Re 7:9} It was a custom of great
conquerors to have palm branches in their hand in token of victory. So the
saints, those kings have `palms', an emblem of victory and triumph. They are
victors over sin and hell. `They overcame by the blood of the Lamb'. {Re 12:11}
4. Kings have
their Thrones. When Caesar returned from conquering his enemies, there were
granted to him four triumphs in token of honour, and
there was set for him a chair of ivory in the senate and a throne in the
theatre. Thus the saints in heaven returning from their victories over sin
shall have a chair of state set them more rich than
ivory or pearl, and a throne of glory. {Re
3:21} (i) This shall be a high throne. It
is seated above all the kings and princes of the earth. Nay, it is far above
all heavens. {Eph 4:1-32} There is the airy heaven,
which is that space from the earth to the sphere of the moon; the starry
heaven, the place where are the stars and those 'superior planets', as the
philosophers call them, planets of higher elevation, as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars
etc.; the empyrean heaven, which is called the `third heaven'. {2Co 12:2} In this glorious sublime
place shall the throne of the saints be erected. (ii) It is a safe throne.
Other thrones are unsafe; they stand tottering. `Thou hast set them in slippery
places'; {Ps 73:18} but the saints' throne is
sure. `He that overcomes shall sit with me upon my throne'. {Re
3:21} The saints shall sit with Christ. He keeps them safe, that no
hand of violence can pull them from their throne. O ye people of God, think of
this; though now you may be called to the bar, yet shortly you shall sit upon
the throne.
Having shown
wherein the saints in glory are like kings, let us see wherein the kingdom of
heaven excels other kingdoms.
1. It excels
in the Founder and Maker. Other kingdoms have men for their builders, but this
kingdom has God for its builder. {Heb 11:10}
Heaven is said to be `made without hands', {2Co
5:1} to show the excellency of it. Neither man nor angel could ever
lay stone in this building. God erects this kingdom. Its `builder and maker is
God'.
2. This kingdom
excels in the riches of it. Gold does not so much surpass iron as this kingdom
does all other riches. `The gates are of pearl'. {Re
21:21} `And the foundations of the wall of it are garnished with all
precious stones' (verse Re 21:19). It is enough for cabinets
to have pearl; but were `gates of pearl' ever heard of before? It is said that
`Kings shall throw down their crowns and sceptres
before it, {Re 4:10} as counting all their glory
and riches but dust in comparison of it. This kingdom has deity itself to
enrich it, and these riches are such as cannot be weighed in the balance;
neither the heart of man can conceive, nor the tongue of angel express.
3. This
kingdom excels in the perfection of it. Other kingdoms are defective. They have
not all provisions within themselves, nor have they all commodities of their
own growth, but are forced to traffic abroad to supply their wants at home.
King Solomon sent for gold to Ophir, {2Ch
8:18} but there is no defect in the kingdom of heaven; here are all
delights and rarities to be had. `He that overcometh
shall inherit all things'. {Re
21:7} Here is beauty, wisdom, glory and magnificence. Here is the
Tree of Life in the midst of this paradise. All things
are to be found here but sin and sorrow, the absence whereof adds to the
fullness of this kingdom.
4. It excels
in security. Other kingdoms fear either foreign invasions or intestine
divisions. Solomon's kingdom was peaceable awhile but at last he had an alarum
given him by the enemy. {1Ki 11:11,1Ki
11:14} But the kingdom of heaven is so impregnable that it fears no
hostile assaults or inroads. The devils are said to be locked up in chains. {Jude 1:6} The saints in heaven shall no
more need fear them than a man fears that thief's robbings
who is hanged up in chains. The gates of this celestial kingdom `are not shut
at all by day'. {Re 21:25} We shut the gates of the
city in a time of danger, but the gates of that kingdom always stand open to
show that there is no fear of the approach of an enemy. The kingdom has gates
for the magnificence of it, but the gates are not shut because of the security
of it.
5. This
kingdom excels in its stability. Other kingdoms have vanity written upon them.
They cease and are changed; though they may have a head of gold, yet feet of
clay. `I will cause the kingdom to cease'. {Ho
1:4} Kingdoms have their climacteric year. Where is the glory of
Athens? the pomp of Troy? What is become of the Assyrian, Grecian, Persian
monarchy? Those kingdoms are demolished and laid in the dust; but the kingdom
of heaven has eternity written upon it. It is an `everlasting kingdom'. {2Pe 1:11} Other kingdoms may be
lasting but not everlasting. The apostle calls it `a kingdom that cannot be
shaken'. {Heb 12:28} It is fastened upon a
strong basis, the omnipotence of God. It runs parallel with eternity. `They
shall reign for ever and ever'. {Re 22:5}
I shall next
clear the truth of this proposition that the saints shall be possessed of this
kingdom.
1. In regard
of God's free grace, `It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom'. {Lu 12:32} It is not any desert in us
but free grace in God. The papists say we merit the kingdom, but we disclaim
the title of merit. Heaven is a donative.
2. There is a
price paid. Jesus Christ has shed his blood for it. All saints come to the
kingdom through blood. Christ's hanging upon the cross was to bring us to the
crown. As the kingdom of heaven is a gift in regard of the Father, so it is a
purchase in regard of the Song 1:1-17.
It shows us that religion is no unreasonable thing. God does not cut us out
work and give no reward. Godliness enthrones us in a kingdom. When we hear of
the doctrine of repentance, steeping our souls in brinish tears for sin; the
doctrine of mortification, pulling out the right eye, beheading the king-sin;
we are ready to think it is hard to take down this bitter pill, but here is
that in the text may sweeten it. There is a kingdom behind, and that will make
amends for all. This glorious recompense as far exceeds our thoughts as it
surpasses our defects. No one can say without wrong to God that he is a hard
master. God gives double pay. He bestows a kingdom upon those that fear him.
Satan may disparage the ways of God, like those spies that raised an ill report
of the good land. {Nu 13:32} But will Satan mend your
wages if you serve him? He gives damnable pay; instead of a kingdom, `chains of
darkness'. {Jude 1:6}
2. See here
the mercy and bounty of God that has prepared a kingdom for his people. It is a
favour that we poor `worms and no men' {Ps 22:6} should be suffered to live.
But that worms should be made kings, this is divine bounty. It is mercy to
pardon us, but it is rich mercy to crown us. `Behold, what manner of love' is
this! Earthly princes may bestow great gifts and donatives on their subjects,
but they keep the kingdom to themselves. Though Pharaoh advanced Joseph to honour and gave him a ring from his finger, yet he kept the
kingdom to himself. `Only in the throne will I be greater than thou'; {Ge 41:40} but God gives a kingdom to
his people, he sets them upon the throne. How David admires the goodness of God
in bestowing upon him a temporal kingdom! `Then went king David in, and sat
before the Lord and said, Who am I, O Lord God! and
what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?`. {2Sa
7:18} He wondered that God should take him from the sheepfold and
set him on the throne! that God should turn his shepherd's staff into a sceptre! O then how may the saints admire the riches of
grace, that God should give them a kingdom above all the princes of the earth,
nay, far above all heavens! God thinks nothing too good for his children. We
many times think much of a tear, a prayer, or to sacrifice a sin for him, but
he does not think much to bestow a kingdom upon us. How will the saints read
over the lectures of free grace in heaven and trumpet forth the praises of that
God who has crowned them with loving-kindness!
3. It shows
us that Christianity is no disgraceful thing. Wise men measure things by the
end. What is the end of godliness? It brings a kingdom. A man's sin brings him
to shame. {Pr 13:5}
What fruit had ye in those things whereof you are now ashamed? {Ro 6:21} But religion brings to honour. {Pr
4:8} It brings a man to a throne, a crown, it ends in glory.
It is the sinner's folly to reproach a saint. It is just as if Shimei had
reproached David when he was going to be made king. It is a saint's wisdom to
contemn a reproach. Say as David when he danced before the ark, `I will yet be more vile'. {2Sa 6:22}
If to pray and hear and serve my God be to be vile, `I will yet be more vile'. This is my excellency, my glory. I am doing now
that which will bring me to a kingdom. O think it no disgrace to be a
Christian! I speak it chiefly to you who are entering upon the ways of God.
Perhaps you may meet with such as will reproach and censure you. Bind their
reproaches as a crown about your head. Despise their censure as much as their
praise. Remember there is a kingdom entailed upon godliness. Sin draws hell
after it; grace draws a crown after it.
4. See here
that which may make the people of God long for death. Then they shall enter
upon their kingdom. Indeed the wicked may fear death. It will not lead them to
a kingdom but a prison. Hell is the gaol where they
must lie rotting for ever with the devil and his angels. To every Christless person death is the king of terror; but the
godly may long for death. It will raise them to a kingdom. When Scipio's father
had told him of that glory the soul should be invested with in a state of
immortality, why then, says Scipio, do I tarry thus long upon the earth? Why do
I not hasten to die? Believers are not perfectly happy till death. When Croesus
asked Solon whom he thought happy, he told him one Tellus, a man that was dead.
A Christian at death shall be completely installed into his honour.
The anointing oil shall be poured on him, and the crown-royal set upon his
head. The Thracians, in their funerals, used music. The heathens (as
Theocritus' observes) had their funeral banquet, because of that felicity which
they supposed the parties deceased were entered into.
The saints are now `heirs of the kingdom'. {Jas
2:5} Does not the heir desire to be crowned?
Truly there
is enough to wean us and make us willing to be gone from hence. The saints `eat
ashes like bread'. They are here in a suffering condition. `Our bones are
scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth
and cleaveth wood upon the earth'. {Ps
141:7} When a man hews and cuts a tree the chips fly up and down;
here and there a chip. So here a saint wounded, there a saint massacred; our
bones fly like chips up and down. `For thy sake we are killed all the day long'. {Ro
8:36} But there is a kingdom a-coming; when the body is buried the
soul is crowned. Who would not be willing to sail in a storm if he were sure to
be crowned as soon as he came at the shore? How is it that the godly look so
ghastly at thoughts of death, as if they were rather going to their execution
than their coronation? Though we should be willing to stay here awhile to do
service, yet we should with St Paul, `desire to be dissolved and be with
Christ'. The day of a believer's dissolution is the day of his inauguration.
But how shall
we know that this glorious kingdom shall be settled upon us at death?
1. If God has
set up his kingdom within us; `The kingdom of God is within you'. {Lu 17:21} By the kingdom of God there
is meant the kingdom of grace in the heart. Grace may be compared to a kingdom.
It sways the sceptre; it gives out laws. There is the
law of love. Grace beats down the devil's garrisons. It brings the heart into a
sweet subjection to Christ. Now is this kingdom of grace set up in your heart?
Do you rule over your sins? Can you bind those kings in chains? {Ps 149:8} Are you a king over your
pride, passion and unbelief? Is the kingdom of God within you? While others
aspire after earthly greatness and labour for a
kingdom without them, do you labour for a kingdom
within you? Certainly if the kingdom of grace be in your heart, you shall have
the kingdom of glory. If God's kingdom enter into you,
you shall enter into his kingdom. But let not that man ever think to reign in
glory, who lives a slave to his lusts.
2. If you are
a believer, you will go to this blessed kingdom: `Rich in faith, heirs of the
kingdom'. {Jas 2:5} Faith is an
heroic act of the soul. It makes an holy adventure on
God, by a promise. This is the crowning grace. Faith puts us into Christ, and
our title to the crown comes in by Christ. By faith we are born of God, and so
we become children of the blood-royal. By faith our hearts are purified, {Ac 15:9,Ac
15:10} and we are made fit for a kingdom; `rich in faith, heirs of
the kingdom'. Faith paves a causeway to heaven. Believers die heirs to the
crown.
3. He that
has a noble, kingly spirit shall go to the heavenly kingdom. `Set your
affection on things above'. {Col 3:2}
Do you live in the world, above the world? The eagle does not catch flies, she
soars aloft in the air. Do you pant after glory and immortality? Do you have a
brave majestic spirit, an heavenly ambition? Do you
mind the favour of God, the peace of Sion, the
salvation of your soul? Do you abhor that which is sordid and below you?
Alexander would not exercise at the Olympic games. Can you trample upon all
sublunary things? Is heaven in your eye, and Christ in your heart and the world
under your feet? He who has such a kingly spirit that looks no lower than a
crown, `he shall dwell on high', and have his throne mounted far above all
heavens.
The
exhortation has a double aspect.
I It looks
towards the wicked. Is there a kingdom to be had, a kingdom so enamelled and bespangled with glory? Oh then, do not by
your folly make yourselves incapable of this preferment. Do not for the
satisfying of a base lust forfeit a kingdom. Do not drink away a kingdom. Do
not for the lap of pleasure lose the crown of life. If men, before they
committed a sin, would but sit down and rationally consider whether the present
gain and sweetness in sin would countervail the loss of a kingdom, I believe it
would put them into a cold sweat, and give some check to their unbridled
affections. Jacob took Esau by the heel. Look not upon the smiling face of sin,
but `take it by the heel'. Look at the end of it. It will deprive you of a
kingdom, and can anything make amends for that loss? O, is it not madness, for
the unfruitful works of darkness, {Eph 5:11}
to lose a kingdom? How will the devil at the last day reproach and laugh at men,
that they should be so stupidly sottish as for a rattle to forgo a crown! Like
those Indians who for pictures and glass beads will part with their gold.
Surely it will much contribute to the vexation of the damned to think how
foolishly they missed of a kingdom.
2. The
exhortation looks toward the godly, and it exhorts to two things.
(i) Is there a kingdom in reversion? Then let this be a
motive to duty. Do all the service you can for God while you live. `Spend and
be spent.' The reward is honourable. The thoughts of
a kingdom should add wings to prayer, and fire to zeal. `What honour and dignity has been done to Mordecai?' says King
Ahasuerus. {Es 6:3} Inquire what has been done
for God? What love have you shown to his name? What zeal for his glory? Where is the head of that Goliath lust you have slain for his
sake? Methinks we should sometimes go aside into our closets and weep to
consider how little work we have done for God. What a vast disproportion is
there between our service and our reward! What is all our weeping and fasting
compared to a kingdom! Oh improve all your interest for
God. Make seasons of grace, opportunities for service.
And that you
may act more vigorously for God, know and be assured, the more work you do, the
more glory you shall have. Every saint shall have a kingdom, but the more
service any man does for God, the greater will be his kingdom. There are
degrees of glory which I will prove thus: First, because there are degrees of
torment in hell. `They shall receive greater damnation'. {Lu
20:47} They who make religion a cloak for their sin, shall have an hotter place in hell. Now if there be degrees of torment
in hell, then by the rule of contraries there are degrees of glory in the
kingdom of heaven. Again, seeing God in his free grace rewards men according to
their works, therefore, the more service they do the greater shall their reward
be. `Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me,
to give every man according as his work shall be'. {Re
22:12} He that has done more shall receive more. He whose pound
gained ten, was made ruler over ten cities. {Lu
19:16,Lu 19:17} This may very much excite
to eminency in religion. The more the lamp of your grace shines, the more you
shall shine in the heavenly orb. Would you have your crown brighter, your
kingdom larger, your palm-branches more flourishing? Be Christians of degrees.
Do much work in a little time. While you are laying out, God is laying up. The
more glory you bring to God, the more glory you shall have from God.
(ii) Walk
worthy of this kingdom. `That ye would walk worthy of God who hath called you
to his kingdom'. {1Th 2:12} Live as kings. Let the
majesty of holiness appear in your faces. Those who looked on Stephen, 'saw his
face as it had been the face of an angel. {Ac
6:15} A kind of angelic brightness was seen in his visage. When we
shine in zeal, humility, gravity, this beautifies and honours
us in the eyes of others, and makes us look as those
who are heirs apparent to a crown.
Here is
comfort to the people of God in case of poverty. God has provided them a
kingdom: `Theirs is the kingdom of heaven'. A child of God is often so low in
the world that he has not a foot of land to inherit. He is poor in purse as
well as in spirit. But here is a fountain of consolation opened. The poorest
saint who has lost all his golden fleece is heir to a kingdom, a kingdom which
excels all the kingdoms and principalities of the world, more than pearl or
diamond excels brass. It is peerless and endless. The hope of a kingdom, says
Basil, should carry a Christian with courage and cheerfulness through all his
afflictions. And it is a saying of Luther, `The sea of God's mercy, overflowing
in spiritual blessings, should drown all the sufferings of this life'. What
though you go now in rags? You shall have your white robes. What though you are
fed as Daniel with pulse and have coarser fare? You shall feast it when you
come into the kingdom. Here you drink the water of tears, but shortly you shall
drink the wine of paradise. Be comforted with the thoughts of a kingdom.