Replaced with shields of brass.

The glory of Solomon’s kingdom was known throughout the earth. He was courted by kings and queens from all over the world. They came to see his glory and to hear of his famed wisdom. Oh the beauty and the splendor of a man who displays the treasures of heaven. Are men not drawn to those who have treasures even greater than the treasures of Solomon? For some perspective from God we can see in Matt 6 that we have to consider the lilies of the field, how they neither toil nor spin and yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed in such splendor. Can I suggest that God’s children are more glorious that the lilies of the field? It's not in our toiling nor in our spinning that makes us glorious, its in the treasures that lie within us. It's in the fact that we are a light in the great darkness of the world because it is no longer us that live but it is Christ who lives in us.

2Ch 9:16 And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

The treasure that lies within us is Christ Himself. He alone is our "exceeding great reward.” To walk in the presence of God is to walk in such a way that the glory of God goes before us much like the glory of Solomon’s shields went before him. This is our calling. We know that Moses face was veiled after his encounter with the almighty God on the mountain, and we know that we walk in a glory that goes beyond this by the Spirit of the living God. Can we honestly say that we walk in such a glory with the treasures of the Lord on display? Are men dazzled by our treasure? Are men drawn to us because of the wisdom of God that is within us?

What are the riches of our dwelling place with the Lord? Out of the beauty of dwelling with Him do we have the finest gold of unconditional love? Are the walls of our dwelling place encrusted with the jewels of forgiveness and mercy? Are the windows of our dwelling places draped with meekness and humility? Do trophies of grace hang on every wall? Are they framed with the finest materials of patience and kindness? Do we pursue the riches and the glories of heaven with the same vigor and single-mindedness that men here on earth pursue gold and silver? And the treasures that we have attained in Christ, do we protect them with all the resources that we have? Do we value the treasures of our heart in the same way men value their wealth? There is a direct correlation between how much we value something to the lengths we will go to protect it. Guard your hearts brothers and sisters in Christ, for we have an enemy who seeks to steal and destroy what we have. Satan knows the value of what we have oftentimes more than we do.

So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass.(2Ch 12:9-10)

What a tragedy when instead of glorious gold that shines brilliantly in the mid day sun, there is only left brass, a pale imitation that pretends to be what it is not. When the world comes and enters into the church, it steals away its treasure. A church that has been overwhelmed by the world is a church that has no treasure, a church that is robbed of its power and worth. That very same church has to reproduce it shields of Gold by making shields of brass. I was visiting a church recently and like a lot of churches, during the worship time the lights were dimmed and out comes the dry ice machine producing smoke that I guess is to help create " an atmosphere." Hard to believe isn't it? Dimmed lights and ice machines-shields of brass. For the Holy Spirit, the treasure of the Church, has fled. The gold has been taken and we are left with poor imitations, it is a sad sight indeed. And so without the treasures of God there is only left the treasures of men. The buildings become more elaborate and the worship teams become more professional. The presence of God that used to fall when an old lady playing an organ tapped on the keys, now is gone even although there be an elaborate orchestra.

The treasure of man and the treasure of the Church is the presence of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. We cannot have the world and God, it is one or the other. For the most part modern Christendom has sold its gold shields and replaced them with brass ones and it hopes no one will notice. Brass shields have only scrap value, there has to be a lot of it to make it worth anything and even then it is not worth much especially in comparison to gold. The presence of God in our lives and in our gatherings is everything, without that we are merely sounding brass.........bro Frank

Thank you bro Marvin...........bro Frank

Hi Todd, the post is about corporate worship. I am glad that you experience the presence of God everywhere you go. I am sure that some people are actually healed at a Benny Hinn conference but that has nothing to do with Benny Hinn. Lets try an experiment, go to a Mormon church next weekend and let us know what happens? ...........bro Frank

You would have to define " show up," Todd. There is Gods manifest presence to his individual children and there is also His corporate presence. And today you would also have to define "the presence," of God. Men like A.B.Simpson would describe it as barely being able to breath, the Holy heaviness would fall in such a manner that a hush would also fall as men and woman would fall to their knees in a holy reverent silence as God moved among them, that silence only being broken as men and woman cried out to Him. The kind of presence that for ever changes men. This is what you are claiming to have experienced in any church that you have been too? You are a very privileged man. I would put it to you Todd that the majority of this generation have not experienced the manifest corporate presence of God. Not only that, they would never even have heard tale of such a presence hence the need for fog machines and dimmed lights. There were certain false prophets on the side of a mountain that jumped up and down all day long in an effort to bring down the presence of their god, they even cut thereself but all to no avail. The thing about living in shades of grey is that you live in it long enough and then raise one generation after another in it, they come to perceive it as light for that is all they have ever known and will argue blind with you that it is light when in fact it is merely diffused darkness...............bro Frank

Todd writes........

"You are correct that very likely the great great majority of Christians have never experienced this."

Better watch Todd, looks like you just got judged for that statement :) Of course you are correct and this was a mainstay of preaching and writing for men like Simpson and Tozer and Ravenhill.

You write...........

"It makes me wonder, however, how often even men like Simpson or Tozer or Ravenhill truly experienced it. I do not believe it is a regular occurrence."

I believe that you are right about it not being a regualr experience or perhaps to use the modern nay saying word "normative." I think you may agree with me that the problem does not lie with God but with men. Let me use an example that Spurgeon wrote about. He said that a young minister came to him one day after the service looking for his opinion. He said to Spurgeon that he was wondering why he was not seeing people saved at his services on a regular basis. Spurgeon said to him " surely sir, you dont expect to see someone saved ever single week," to which the young minister replied " of course not." Spurgeon says to him " aha, that sir, is your problem."

You see Todd, the young minister did not have expectancy, Spurgeon obviously did and obviously that expectancy was rewarded by God. If we believe that the manifest presence of God is not normative, then we should not expect God to show up in a powerful way every week. Yet, the Lord says that He is a rewarder of those who "diligently," seek Him. Perhaps our modern generations problem lies with a lack of expectation and a lack of diligence? ...........bro Frank

I would agree with that Todd. I think 1 Cor 14 is the most accurate and specific instructions in the NT on how we should gather and how we should keep order. If we followed the example and instructions from the Word, and not from tradition, then we would be in much better shape.......bro Frank

Todd writes...........

"and then a season of spontaneous prayer broke out and after the third person or so prayed the Spirit fell. It felt like heavy drapes over my shoulders so heavy I could not straighten. My wife felt the same thing- then tears. I still have a vivid memory of tears splashing off my Bible that was on the floor in front of my chair. It was truly wonderful and it changed me."

Amen brother, what a wonderful testimony and very much in line with 1 Cor 14 and the freedom of the Holy Spirit to be able to have Jesus as preeminent in the gathering. This is the key, but it is also the stumbling block. Will we open the door or will we stumble over this truth? What we see in 1 Cor 14 is simply the freedom to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through who He will, or preach through who He will, or teach through who He will. This terrifies men and it also terrifies power structures of any kind other than the power structure of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

There is no room nor place in almost all of our modern gatherings for spontaneous prayer. And yet if we look to the Welsh revival, there it was, or the Hebridean revial, there it was, or Azusa St, there it was. Time and time again in history, it is when men fall back upon the Word of God as opposed to the traditions of men, that the power of God falls as it fell upon you that day brother, and it changed you and your wife, because that is what a genuine encounter of God does, it changes you starting at your very core and radiates outward................bro Frank

Amen bro Marvin, really appreciate your post. I think we may sum it up with one word "freedom." We cannot, as you say, program the Holy Spirit. This idea, is, and always has been violently opposed. The enemy knows well what would happen if the Lord had free reign among His people and was not quenched by programs and traditions. A mighty fire would break forth and would fundamentally change everything that it touched............bro Frank