It is harder for us to speak today than for those who spoke one hundred years ago, and harder still than for those who spoke four or five hundred years ago. It is harder for us to speak than it was for Martin Luther, because the release of God’s word is always advancing onward and upward. The more we speak God’s word, the more profound it becomes and the higher it gets. Today God’s speaking has reached the present stage, and we cannot go back to His former speaking again. We have to go on. The Lord said, “My Father is working until now, and I also am working” (John 5:17). God never stops working. He worked yesterday, and He is working today. His work today is more advanced than His work yesterday, and His work tomorrow will be more advanced than His work today. His work never diminishes; it only increases. His work is forever advancing and never retreating. Martin Luther saw the truth of justification by faith. But what men have seen in the last one hundred years concerning justification by faith is much more than what Luther saw. This is not arrogance. This shows that God’s word is advancing. The best book Luther wrote was his commentary on Galatians. But believers today have seen much more from Galatians than what Luther saw. God’s word has moved on, and it is impossible for anyone to turn back.
We must realize that all the truths are in the Bible. The basis of all our speaking is the Bible. Yet the discovery of biblical truth, the release of God’s word, and the things that the church receives from God are advancing day by day. Every generation of God’s children sees more than the generation before. For example, in the first few centuries, the church interpreted the kingdom to mean heaven, but in the last century, this matter has become very clear. The kingdom is the kingdom, and heaven is heaven; these are two different things. Today we are even clearer: The kingdom is not only a matter of reward but also a matter of spiritual reign and rule. We believe all the biblical truths were clear during the apostolic age. Later they were buried and then recovered little by little. Consider the example of resurrection. Our understanding of it has moved on. For years men spoke about resurrection in a limited way; they understood it only to mean to a certain sphere. But today some have seen what resurrection is. They have surpassed their predecessors in what they have seen. If God is merciful to the church, the word will abound more and more. When God speaks, His word always climbs higher and higher.
God’s word is always advancing. He is always ready to give more to His church. In reading the best homiletics of the second and third centuries and in comparing them with the present ministry of the word, we can see how much progress has been made. The Holy Spirit has not held Himself back. The word is still advancing; it is not retreating. Although the church outwardly faces many obstacles, our God is still going on. God does not stop after He has accomplished one thing. He is still working, and He is still advancing. Therefore, the ministry of the word today should touch more than what was touched by former ministries. We should realize before the Lord that grace is pouring out in unbounded measure. In order for the church to grow to full stature and to touch the fullness of Christ, we believe that the riches of the ministry must increase. Do not speak with contentment and nonchalance. God wants us to touch something high. He wants to give us the high things. Perhaps God has not chosen us to be a pivotal minister, one who is a “joint,” but I hope that we can still have a share among the ministers. Although we cannot build up the framework itself, we can at least fill in the gaps in the existing framework.