God Exalted, Man Humbled & Chri
which he hath promised to them that love him?"
The reward of the saints is represented as a kingdom, because the possession of a kingdom is the height of human advancement in this world, and as it is the common opinion that those who have a kingdom have the greatest possible happiness. The happiness of a kingdom, or royal state, for which it is so much admired by mankind, consists in these things:
1. The honor of a kingdom.
2. The possessions of kings.
3. The government or authority of kings.
Now with respect to each of these, the happiness of the saints is far greater than that of the kings and greatest potentates in the world.
1. True Christians will be advanced to honors far above those of earthly kings. They will have a vastly higher dignity than any princes. If these are nobly descended, it is not so great an honor as to be the sons of God. If they are nobly educated, and have their minds formed for government, and have princely qualifications, these qualifications are not so honorable as those with which God endows his saints, whose minds he fills with divine knowledge, and gives them true and perfect holiness. Princes appear honorable from their outward enjoyment of honor and dignity, their royal robes, their stately palaces, and their splendid equipage. But these are not so honorable as those white robes, those inherent ornaments, with which the saints shall appear in heaven, with which they "shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." What is a king's palace to those mansions in heaven, that Christ prepares for his saints? The