When Jesus was a boy, it is very likely that He spent a good deal of time working in His foster father's carpenter shop, but that was not His first involvement with building. His building experience goes back a long way!

The Bible says, speaking of Jesus, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made" and "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:1-3; 14). One glance at the sky, the sea or the earth reveals what a magnificent Builder the Lord is; there is just no end to His creation!

We were made in the image of God (Gen.1:26). Some of His love for building has rubbed off on us. The desire to be creative and build is inbred. It is in the very core of our being; it is ingrained in our soul. You don't need to buy expensive toys for your son. Just give him a few pieces of wood, a hammer and a bunch of nails; then . . . stay out of his way, for he was born to build!

This potential to build is a gift God placed within us while we were being formed in our mother's womb. It is a talent intended to enrich our life and the lives of others and to bring glory to God. However, we must keep our building desire under control and bring it into submission to God, for if it is misused, it will work in reverse, and what we work so hard to build will become a disaster. Look what results came from the out-of-control builders of the tower of Babel! (Gen.11:9).

I remember having a conversation with a man who described to me how shocked he was when he suddenly learned that his building ability had become diverted. He told me that one day, while he and his wife were walking in the street in front of their house, that he stopped for a moment to point out to her some of his accomplishments. She was going to hear a lecture about his "American Dream," which included a house, swimming pool, car, fenced-in back yard, and more; but as he began to speak, something suddenly came over him, and he cried out to his wife, "I hate it . . . I hate it . . . it's evil!"

He went on to explain to me that, at first, he really enjoyed working around the house; he was very thankful and wanted to take good care of what the Lord had given to him and his family. Then, somehow, without realizing it, his attitude changed into trying to keep up with the material possessions of his neighbors.

King Solomon was the most talented builder in the history of the world. He was the one who was chosen to build the most glorious structure ever built on the face of the earth: the Holy Temple. Along with his gifted ability to build, Solomon was given the gift of wisdom. The Bible says, "For he was wiser than all men" (1Ki.4:31). Yet, somewhere along the line, he too switched and allowed his incredible building talent to go out of control and run right off the track!

As a young man, King Solomon was an excellent builder; he remembered what his father, King David, had instructed him regarding the building of the temple: "Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee . . ." (IChr.28:20). He also remembered his father's words to all the congregation: "Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: FOR THE PALACE IS NOT FOR MAN, BUT FOR THE LORD GOD" (1Chr.29:1).

There was great joy in the heart of Solomon as he built the temple and dedicated it to the Lord. He must have had an incredible feeling of accomplishment to have completed the finest building ever to be built by the hands of mankind! Truly, at the time, he could be called the world's greatest builder. That was early in his building career, but, oh, how things can change! Many years later, after much building, this same man cried out: "Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me; for all is vanity and vexation of spirit" (Eccl.2:17). The man who once had such a love for building now said, "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun" (Eccl.2:11). His sweet work had gone sour. (The same thing happens to many servants of the Lord who misuse their talents.)

King Solomon's vexation of spirit began shortly after the completion of the temple when he began to use his building ability for his own glory. He was "on a roll," and he had no intention of applying the brakes. He didn't even slow down enough to become quiet and listen to hear the voice of the Lord. He went on to build his own palace, which was much larger and took almost twice as long to build as the Holy Temple. Then, he built another one the same size for Pharaoh's daughter who was one of his wives. After that, he went on to build palaces and walled cities on all sides of his kingdom. Finally, he ended up building yet another temple and filling it with idols for his heathen wives!

No longer was King Solomon building for the Lord. He said, "I made ME great works; I builded ME houses; I planted ME vineyards: I made ME gardens and orchards . . . I made ME pools of water . . . I gathered ME also silver and gold . . . So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me" (Eccl.2:4-9). Notice that even though he neglected his gift of wisdom, God did not take it away from him. Solomon simply chose not to apply wisdom to the way he built, and his building talent became a negative force in his life.

Compare the misery of Solomon, the builder, who said that the fruit of all his labor was "vanity and vexation of spirit" and caused him to hate life, with the joy of Paul the apostle who stayed right on course and by the grace of God was a "wise masterbuilder" (1Cor.3:10). At the end of his building career here on earth, he said, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (2Tim.4:6-8).

The Scriptures grace Paul with the title of a "wise masterbuilder" because he was building, not for himself or for man, but, for the Master! He was not constructing houses of wood; he was building up, in the Spirit, those spiritual Mansions of Gold that were being built on earth and bound for Heaven! Paul was not trying to create something; he was working in the finished work of Christ! He was even doing more than working for the Lord; he was letting the Lord work through him!

The Holy Temple is often referred to as "Solomon's Temple" because he is the one who built it, but King David played a greater role, for he first had the vision to construct it; he was the architect who drew up the blueprints. One day, in his latter years, David told Nathan about a great desire he had to build a palace for the Ark of God. The prophet's quick reply to him was, "Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee." But later that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, "Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in . . . I took thee from the sheepcote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel. And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked . . . Furthermore I tell thee that THE LORD WILL BUILD THEE AN HOUSE" (1Chr.17:1-10).

The house the Lord said He would build for David is the same house He wants to build for us. It is one that will never perish. It is secured in His Kingdom; it is sealed by the Holy Spirit in the Everlasting Covenant of God. Its foundation is Christ! Really . . . come now . . . think for a moment . . . let's get serious about this . . . do you want to struggle in the flesh to build your own house when you can let the Master build it? It is nice that you want to build a good life for yourself, but don't you think the Lord can do it better? You may end up with a wooden shack instead of the Mansion of Gold that He has in mind.

Picture in your mind a highly skilled carpenter doing the interior finish work of his own house that he had been building with great care for a long time. There he is, making some miter cuts on the oak doors of the kitchen cabinets, when he turns around to see his five-year-old son with a big hammer in his hand and hears those famous words, "Daddy, I want to help!" Most likely he doesn't want to just help; once he gets working, he will want to take over the whole job.

There is a building work of the Heavenly Father that is so precious to Him that only He can do it. He wants to let His children help, but He simply cannot until they are ready to learn to stay close to Him and do the work His way. This work the Father is doing is the greatest of all the building work in the Kingdom of God. It pertains to the interior building of His own Holy House, which is made up of you and me and all others who belong to Jesus--the many Mansions of Gold!

We will not have the unspeakable privilege of building with the Father if we will not let go of having to do things our own way, or if we insist on being trained by men for the work of God. There are many evangelists, apostles, prophets, teachers, and workers of miracles who have never heard the Father say, "Come, see the work that I am doing; you may help Me."

The Father's building work is not seen by those who appraise buildings, count member-ships or record miracles. It is a work that cannot be seen by just anyone, but only by the Lord, His holy angels, and those who are willing to let the Lord be the Builder. Would you rather be able to say, "I am doing a great work for the Lord" or "He is doing a great work within me?"

To hear the Father say, "You may work with Me" is too great an experience to put into words. Imagine it . . . being right there beside Him, watching Him, learning more and more about how He works in our own lives and in the lives of others. Who cares if people cannot understand why we are not caught up in the outward works that can be seen by men when we have the joy of seeing, first hand, the inward work of the Heavenly Father!?

However, the undeserved privilege of helping the Father build is not mainly given to us so that we can learn to be good builders; it is for us to learn about Him! It is for us to get to know how wonderful He really is! Think, for a moment, of the joy King David must have had, spending all that time with the Father in preparing the plans--right down to the finest detail--for the Holy Temple that was to be built by Solomon.

Even though Solomon's temple was built by the hands of men, it was a magnificent structure that the Lord had him make to use as a model to show us, through a physical building on earth, a spiritual building that He is constructing within us. The building material in Solomon's temple is highly symbolic. The amount of gold used in the construction of it baffles the mind. Everything in the inner room--the Holy of Holies--including the floor, ceiling, and walls was overlaid with fine gold.

As we build with the Father, we see that the building material He uses in our inner lives is more precious to Him than all the gold in Solomon's temple would be to us. Some Christians think that when they go through a trial they are being punished; others know that the trial is just the vehicle that brings more gold into the temple! Job said, ". . . when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10). Our faith, like gold, must be refined to be pure.

Not only was the building material in Solomon's temple symbolic of what is being built into our lives, but the manner in which it was built shows how our Mansion of Gold for the Lord is to be constructed. The Bible tells that ". . . there was neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building" (1Ki.6:7). Have you ever seen or heard of anything like this take place at a building site?

Satan will use every device he can come up with to keep you from entering into quietness. The whole world is geared to keep you from being quiet. Even your church can hinder you from entering into it. But if you want to build with the Father, you must take quietness very seriously, because when He is at work in His Holy Temple within you, there must be a quietness in your soul that exceeds the quietness in which the temple of Solomon was built. The Bible defines a quiet spirit as being "in the sight of God of great price" (1Pet 3:4).

The reason your being in quietness is so loved by God and hated by Satan is because that is where you hear the voice of God; and hearing His voice brings life to your soul as surely as it brought the body of Lazarus from the grave! (John 11:43, 44).

The choice is yours: you may choose to block out the word of God with the noise of the world, or you may enter into quietness of the soul and hear the voice of the Lord. If you knew of the wonderful words He has for you, you would want to make the right choice.

Building in quietness is not just blocking out the noise; it is entering into the righteousness of Christ, letting His righteousness work in us. The word of God says, "And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places" (Isa.32:17, 18), and "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength" (Isa.30:15). Righteousness, as well as faith, is the gold in the Mansions!

It is in the spiritual area of our lives where we really need to realize the value of using our building ability the right way. When our priorities are set in the proper order, physical and material building projects will still have a place of importance, but they will be placed on the back burner.

Being invited by the Master into His vineyard to do the work of the gospel is a mighty privilege, indeed, but there is even a greater calling than that. It is an invitation to a building work so precious in the sight of God that it is almost beyond description. The preparation to enter into this work requires a refinement that few Christian workers are willing to go through: it is having their self image utterly destroyed by the hand of God.

There are many evangelists and other great workers for God doing much work in the Lord's vineyard who are permitted to work without being required to let go of an image of themselves, which they have come to enjoy. Even though they may be greatly respected by the whole family of God, they still are paying a high price for not being willing to let go of their image; for it is keeping them from entering into that highest work of building where no image is allowed.

It is amazing why we Christians think we need to relate to others with a self image when God has made us new creatures in Christ. Do we have to be identified with a spiritual gift? Do we have to have a ministry of our own for recognition? Isn't it enough to be a child of God? Can't we rejoice that our names are written in Heaven (Luke 10:20)? Do we need to add to that? Why do we need a self image instead of being who we are in Christ?

The calling to this ultimate building work can only come directly from the Holy Spirit. It is the greatest call, other than the call to salvation. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you were privileged to be one of the three disciples who was in the inner circle with Jesus! This of what I am about to speak is a comparable calling! It is hearing the Father say: "COME, YOU MAY BUILD WITH ME!!" There is a great difference between working for the Lord and working with the Lord!

Oh, what a joy it is . . . just to watch the skillful hands of the Father in the building of His Holy Temple and to see Him overlaying the interior of His House with the gold of faith, building everything in the righteousness of Christ, and flooding the whole house with His grace. Oh, what a glorious sight it is!

How can anyone get excited about building in the flesh after watching the Father at work building His spiritual house? How can anyone get enthused about building a ministry or putting up another church building when the Father is building glorious Mansions of Gold--those spiritual houses that are being built on earth and bound for Heaven. The Bible speaks about them as the fellow citizens of the household of God being "fitly framed together" and growing into "a holy temple in the Lord," ones who are being builded together for a "habitation of God through the Spirit" (Eph.2:19-22).

How tragic that there are many of God's children so caught up in the works of men that they miss the privilege of working with the Father and viewing the greater work He is doing in the building of His Holy House! That is the building work He is trying to do right within them! What a difference it would make if they got close enough to the Father to view His blueprints for their lives!

Christians are running in great numbers to other human beings to be psychoanalyzed to see what is wrong with their lives, when it is only the Father trying to sweep the images out of His temple. He is casting them out, rather than bringing up all the rotten memories of that old dead man that was crucified on the cross with Christ. He is getting rid of that love of money, which has been clinging to the inner walls of His house.

When some Christians sense the nearness of the broom of the Father, they cry out, "Oh God . . . please don't touch my nice image that I and others have worked a lifetime to build," while others say, "Lord, please get that wicked thing out of my life, for it is coming between You and me!" Why does the Father use a broom? He uses it to sweep up with, because when He breaks our self image, He grinds it to dust so that it will not be built up again! We know that we cannot fellowship with God with our image because He sees right into the heart.

Merchants spend millions to create images to help sell their products; that is the way the world functions. And we Christians have tried to bring all that imagery right into the Holy Temple of God; it has become lodged in our hearts and needs to be pried out. That is why there is so much division in the family of God. It has gotten so bad that we cannot communicate one with another with anything other than surface talk without fighting. How can we have an honest conversation without denting one another's image? How can we fellowship one with another when it is image to image rather than person to person? An image is not real; it cannot walk in the Light!

Jesus said, "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you" (John 15:12). That does not mean we must love one another as much as Jesus loves us, for that is an impossibility! We would have to be God to have that much love! Jesus loves us as we really are; He does not love our image!!! We should love others the same way.

For example, don't love a person because he is a gifted evangelist; love him for who he really is apart from his gift. The reason we have such difficulty loving others, loving ourselves and loving God as we should is because of our worship of images.

The greatest image we have allowed in the temple is a false concept of God. We have not listened to the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, testify of Jesus to reveal to us the true nature of God. We have heard the devil tell us that God has lied to us. We have actually given our attention to the legalists as they tell us that our Heavenly Father will cast His children into hell if they do not obey the law. We have listened to our own deceitful hearts tell us that God is not big enough to love us as we are, because we cannot love ourselves. (That is when we view ourselves other than through the sacrifice of Christ.)

The good news is that the broom of God not only sweeps away the false images of ourselves, but, also, our false concepts of God! Hallelujah!

Consider, for a moment, this scene that took place at the dedication of Solomon's temple. Just after the ark of the covenant of the Lord was brought into the most holy place and set under the wings of the cherubim, the musicians, singers and all the people lifted their voices in praise and thanksgiving, declaring that the Lord is good and that "His mercy endureth forever." Then the glory of the Lord filled the House of God so greatly that the priest could not stand to minister (2Chr.5:13, 14).

Now, if an edifice built in the physical realm by the hands of man, in Old Covenant times, can shine with such a glory of God, think of what it will be like when the Spiritual House of the Lord, the one built by the hand of God, is completed! When all the Mansions of Gold are formed together as one and the presence of the Lord fills His Holy Temple! It really isn't the glory from the Temple that shines; it is the glory from the Presence of the Lord.

If we hear and respond to the voice of the Father when He says, "COME, YOU MAY BUILD WITH ME," we will have a privileged view of His Holy Temple as it is being formed in His hands. It is a wonderful sight to see the healing and the freedom that takes place in our life and in the lives of others after the images are swept from the temple and are replaced with the gold of the Lord's faith and righteousness. However, when we are close enough to our Heavenly Father to be working with Him, we look beyond all of that and behold the glory of the Masterbuilder Himself. And when we do that, we forget about building anything, or even working with Him, and simply want to rest in His love!