There is a flow. Before God, we call it the "flow of the Spirit." In every age God insures that this flow is not interrupted, that it is always progressing. The flow of the Spirit is progressing in the churches today. Some time ago I was reading a compilation of Wesley's messages. I thank God because I can see that the flow of the Spirit has moved onward today. If we look back and examine Wesley, on the one hand, we have to admit that his work before God was tremendous and that perhaps our living cannot match his. On the other hand, however, the flow of the Spirit is moving on progressively today.
Here is a basic principle: If we do what God wants to do in our generation, we will get the flow of the Spirit. If, however, we always hold on to our past and demand that God do according to what we rank as important and desirable, we will not get the flow of the Spirit. It was all right to be a Martin Luther in the sixteenth century, but it would be insufficient just to be a Martin Luther in 1950. It was all right to be a Madame Guyon in the Medieval Age, but it would be insufficient just to be a Madame Guyon in 1950. It was all right to be a Wesley in the eighteenth century, but it is inadequate to be a Wesley in 1950. It was all right to be a Darby in 1828, but it is insufficient to be a Darby in 1950. God is ever pressing onward, and every instrumentality fulfills its function for the church. The flow of the Spirit in the church is always going forward.
Here many people have a basic weakness; that is, they do not recognize the flow of the Spirit in the church. In the church there have been many spiritual giants who have brought about many spiritual things. Today we are heirs to their riches. Saints like Martin Luther, Madame Guyon, John Nelson Darby, Evan Roberts, and Mrs. Penn-Lewis all left us with some spiritual wealth. We cannot thank and praise the Lord enough for this. Yet today even if we should succeed in being a Martin Luther, a Madame Guyon, a Darby, a Roberts, or a Mrs. Penn-Lewis, we would still be a failure because we would not have seen the central point—the flow of the Spirit.
Every age hinges upon a flow. We must admit that the whole trend of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is an onward trend. God has been revealed gradually and even progressively in age after age.
A brother in Hong Kong once asked me the significance of the book of Hebrews. I asked him, "What is the difference between the book of Acts and the book of Hebrews?" The book of Acts is a progressive book. When we get to chapter eight, we cannot go back to chapter two. The Lord had already gone to Samaria. If we go back to Jerusalem, how could we ever get to the uttermost part of the earth? Where the Lord is, there is the way. The Holy Spirit desired to go to Rome, and the Holy Spirit desired to go to the uttermost part of the earth. Going to Samaria was the first step; it was also a preparation for going to the uttermost part of the earth. Producing apostles among the Gentiles was a right and progressive thing to do. After the going out from Jerusalem, it would be wrong to have the desire to stay in Jerusalem. The apostles to the Gentiles kept going until they arrived at Rome.