PRIVILEGES AND RESPONSIBILITY
‘Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: for I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.’
The full significance of these words will probably never be understood until the last day.
I. The privilege of the Christian position.—We have probably a most faint idea of the enormous advantages enjoyed by believers who have lived since Christ came into the world, compared to those of believers who died before Christ was born. The difference between the knowledge of an Old Testament saint and a saint in the apostles’ days is far greater than we conceive. It is the difference of twilight and noonday, of winter and summer, of the mind of a child and the mind of a full-grown man. No doubt the Old Testament saints looked to a coming Saviour by faith, and believed in a resurrection and a life to come. But the coming and death of Christ unlocked a hundred scriptures which before were closed, and cleared up scores of doubtful points which before had never been solved. In short, ‘the way into the holiest was not made manifest, while the first tabernacle was standing’ (Hebrews 9:8). The humblest Christian believer understands things which David and Isaiah could never explain.
II. The responsibility of the Christian position.—The passage should impress us with a deep sense of our own debt to God and of our great responsibility for the full light of the Gospel. Let us see that we make a good use of our many privileges. Having a full Gospel, let us beware that we do not neglect it. It is a weighty saying, ‘To whomsoever much is given, of them will much be required’ (Luke 12:48).