Look at Christ, and look at the church. Do not say that the church is poor. No, the church is golden. If you say that the church is poor, sooner or later you will lose the case. If not today, then tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Someday the church will be so golden. I have already spoken of the heathen prophet Balaam, who was hired by Balak to curse the people of God. At that time the people of God were really a mess, and Balak thought that because of their poor situation it was a good opportunity for the prophet Balaam to curse them. Then Balaam tried to curse them, but when he opened his mouth, he said, “He [God] has not beheld iniquity in Jacob” (Num. 23:21). Is that not strange? God said through the mouth of Balaam that He has not seen any sin among the people of Israel. Balak was troubled because he thought the people of Israel were full of sin, yet Balaam said that God did not behold any sin among them. Then Balaam was brought to another point of view and was asked to curse them again. Balak thought that if he gave him more money, he would curse them this time. But Balaam opened his mouth and said, “How fair are your tents, O Jacob” (24:5). Do not say that the people of God are a mess. A thousand years to the Lord are but one day. He will make them golden someday. Do not say that the church in Los Angeles is poor. You must say that the church in Los Angeles is really golden.
At the time the book of Revelation was written, I believe that the apostle John was greatly disappointed. By that time nearly all the local churches were degraded and poor, and he was in exile on the island of Patmos. John must have been disappointed and troubled with the situation in the local churches. But he heard a great voice, and he turned and saw seven golden lampstands. There was nothing impure; every stand was golden. Can you believe that all the local churches are golden? We must believe this. One day, sooner or later, there will be a great voice in the heavens saying that Babylon is fallen, and the Lamb’s wife is ready. The Lord will perform it. We must be fully assured that everything will be so marvelous. Do not be shortsighted. We must learn to have foresight. We need the foresight to see that the local churches will be so golden and transformed. Let us praise the Lord for Christ, and let us also praise Him for the church. We do have something to praise about, and we do have something to praise with.
The more you say that the church is poor, the poorer it becomes in your eyes. But we must forget what we think and what we feel and put our trust in the Lord. We must have the foresight in the Lord that all the local churches in all the localities are good. We must all learn to praise the Lord in this way.
The Word says, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13). It also says, “The same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him” (v. 12). Do not think that to call is to pray. What is it then to call? “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!” It is even something more than this. Suppose your house is on fire. Do you pray? Do you go to your neighbor’s house and ask him to please do something to help you? That is what it means to pray. Then what is it to call? “Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!” Whenever my temper was stirred up, I used to pray, “Lord, help me not to lose my temper.” But eventually, I mostly always lost my temper. But now when my temper is stirred up, I just say, “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah! O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!” and my temper is gone. We must learn to call. This is not a long-distance call; this is a local call, and the line is always open. We must learn to call on the Lord, not just to pray.
We must also learn to praise the Lord. Calling is better than praying, and praising is better than calling. The best call is to praise, and praising is the best calling and the best breathing.
The Lord has turned the age. We should not be old anymore; we must give up the old way. I do not know what the new way is, but the principle is this: in the new way, teaching and preaching are not the main thing. Exercising the spirit is the main thing, either by praising, by praying, or by witnessing. This is why the last book of the Bible is a book of praise. In this last age we must be praising churches, and all our meetings must be praising meetings.