“We may not perhaps succeed as the world counts success, for we behave with integrity. We may let many opportunities for gain pass us by. We will willingly accept loss if by our actions we risk offending God. Since, then, we are people of peaceable spirit, and have neither wit nor skill to fish in troubled waters, we are bound to lose out.
We know, however, that while the world may condemn us, we have a recompense which fully satisfies: we will have God to enjoy. For the word ‘see’ in the Scriptures means ‘enjoy.’ When Scriptures says You will not see death, or You will not see the kingdom of heaven, it is the same as saying, ‘you will not possess it.’
Our Lord Jesus Christ is actually telling us that God will be our inheritance, provided we have obtained nothing by crooked dealing, have steered clear of evil, have not pursued destructive schemes or sought maximum advantage for ourselves. He tells us too that we will have no cause to regret what we have done.
And why? Is there not ample reward in the fact that God declares that He is ours, that He desires to be our inheritance and to make us His? Where else is true happiness and blessing to be found if not here?”
–John Calvin, Sermons on the Beatitudes, trans. by Robert White (Carlisle, PA.: Banner of Truth, 1562/2006), pp. 52-53.
