With what ardor earthly kingdoms are coveted by men, however fleeting, small, and full of fears and anxieties they may be; so that from this we may gather with how much love the heavenly kingdoms are to be coveted, and with what ardor they are to be sought. The desire of reigning beyond all doubt easily surpasses every other human desire: for a kingdom is not one single good, but a gathering together of all the goods that men seek. There is power, honor, riches, pleasure, as we were saying a little before; there is the freedom of living as one wills, which is naturally sought by all — not only by men but even by beasts; there is excellence, and a certain, as it were, divinity, on account of which kings within their kingdom have no equals, but stand above all, surpass all, and are adored by all. Hence it is that kings, when they wish to promise something, can find nothing greater than half of their kingdom. Thus Ahasuerus to Esther: "What wilt thou?" he says; "what is thy request? Even if thou shouldst ask for half of the kingdom, it shall be given thee" (Esth. 5); and Herod to the daughter of Herodias: "Ask of me," he says, "what thou wilt, and I will give it thee"; and he swore to her, "Whatsoever thou shalt ask I will give thee, though it be the half of my kingdom" (Mark 6). Hence it comes about that men think themselves permitted to overturn every right in order to gain or extend kingdoms, and that nothing is so sacred that it may not be violated for the sake of reigning. The first of all to assail friends and neighbors in war without any just cause was Ninus, that he might extend his empire by right and by wrong (Justin, Bk. 1), as St. Augustine relates from Justin in his book on the City of God. Julius Caesar, in order to reign, first had the commander — from whom he had received very many and very great benefits — slain by his own soldiers, so that he might succeed him in command (City of God, Bk. 4, ch. 6). The same did Philip the Arab to his lord the emperor Gordian — a crime utterly unheard of. Nor has the lust for reigning armed the hands of kindred blood only against neighbors and benefactors, but also against brothers, grandchildren, and even a father. For the sake of reigning, Romulus slew his brother Remus, and Caracalla his brother Geta. Athaliah destroyed all the grandchildren born of her son King Ahaziah, so that she might reign herself, as we read in the fourth book of Kings. Thus the desire of reigning inflames not only men but even women to commit horrendous crimes (2 Kgs. 11). Siroes the Persian had his father Chosroes and his brother Medarses put to death, so that he might reign alone. What of Nero's mother, who, when she had learned from the astrologers that her son would reign but would slay his mother, is reported to have said: "Let him slay me, provided he reign"? Thus did the ambitious woman esteem her son's kingdom so highly that she set even her own life beneath the kingdom of her son. And not only does the love of reigning make injustice seem just, and overcome the love of brothers, grandchildren, and parents; it also decrees that the sacredness of an oath — which has always been held most holy among all nations, and which even the cruelest enemies have judged must be kept, even at the risk of life — should be violated for the sake of reigning. For if we believe Cicero in the third book of On Duties, Julius Caesar always had on his lips those verses of Euripides: "If an oath must be broken, it is for the sake of reigning that it must be broken; in all else, practice piety." I pass over numberless examples which in every age have shown that there is absolutely nothing men esteem more than a kingdom: and yet not only do kings not reign for long, but even the kingdoms themselves will all soon utterly perish, and only the kingdom of the saints will remain forever. Hear the prophet Daniel in the second chapter: "In the days of those kingdoms," he says, "the God of heaven shall raise up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, and his kingdom shall not be delivered to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and itself shall stand forever." This prophecy is to be fulfilled at the consummation of the world: for then not only the greater monarchies, but also the small kingdoms and magistracies and all the power of temporal princes shall vanish; and the kingdom of Christ and of the saints shall be eternal, according to the word of the Angel in Luke 1: "And of his kingdom there shall be no end."
Now if a kingdom that is brief and fleeting, that falls to the lot of few, and that is sprinkled with very many bitternesses, is so ardently loved, sought after, preferred above all things, and acquired through wounds and a great shedding of blood: what is the reason why so few love the heavenly kingdom, and seek it so negligently? And yet we hold it for certain, if we believe the holy Scriptures, that this kingdom lies open to all men, that it can be acquired without wounds and the shedding of blood, and that it surpasses all earthly kingdoms beyond any comparison. If I were to say, "Despise a kingdom so as to acquire a small farm or a vineyard," you would rightly laugh at me or be astonished; but when I say—or rather, when God says—"Despise a vile and petty kingdom, and seek a precious and great one, which, if you are willing, you can obtain with the grace of God, which will never fail you," why do you not rise up to desire it and to procure it? For my part, I cannot grasp what answer could be given, except that the glory of the earthly kingdom lies open before our eyes and can, as it were, be touched with our hands, whereas the heavenly kingdom is neither seen nor touched, and can scarcely be conceived even by faith. And this indeed is true; but if anyone would attentively consider how great is the force of holy Scripture's truthfulness, antiquity, sincerity, and dignity, and how clearly and plainly the same holy Scripture speaks on this point; and how great a cloud of witnesses has now for many ages confirmed it, not only by miracles but also by blood; he surely could not but cry out: "Your testimonies, O Lord, have become exceedingly credible" (Ps. 92). The reason, therefore, why we are not inflamed to seek that heavenly kingdom is not the obscurity of faith; but rather that, occupied with outward things and weighed down by the force of habit, we do not take the time to think and meditate on what is expedient for us; nor, in accordance with the Lord's counsel, do we enter into the chamber of our heart and, with the door closed, most earnestly beg God to be present with us in so great a matter (Matt. 6). For surely, if we sometimes set aside lesser cares and seriously considered what the kingdom of heaven is, and how easily and certainly it can be acquired, and by how great a distance eternal things stand from temporal ones, the greatest from the least, the most weighty from the most trivial—in short, heavenly kingdoms from earthly kingdoms; without doubt so great a contempt for temporal thrones, and crowns, and scepters, and on the other hand so great an ardor for heavenly things, would arise in us, that it would become for us not only not difficult, but even most easy, to devote all our strength to seeking and obtaining the kingdom of God, for which, as for our true and last end, we were created by our supremely good Creator.