This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

This is day four together of our first week of looking through the book of First
Kings. And as we get to chapters five to seven, which we're going to look at the
next couple of days, we're going to see Solomon begin to build a house for God.
You might remember that David had asked to build a temple, the tabernacle, the
tent where people of God went to worship God, where there was the Holy of Holies
and all that we read about in the Old Testament that was built.

David had said, "I want to take that tent. I want to make it into a building.
Could I do that?

" God said, "No, David, you're not going to do that. You've been a man of war
too much, but your son will do that. The next king will do that.

" And in these chapters, we see Solomon doing exactly what God had said would
happen. And as you see what happens in these chapters, you see how you build,
how you build a house for God. This was the question that Solomon faced.

And the directions that you see that are given in the actions that he takes,
they teach you how to build. Now I first discovered these principles in these
verses when I was leading a church in a building program 30 years ago. But it's
not just for building a building.

These are principles for building a ministry, a company, a family, a life. We're
going to see 10 principles together these next couple of days. Let me share with
you how it begins.

2 Kings 5 verses 1 to 4. So here he is. Solomon is ready.

He's ready to build. He's telling his friend Hiram, "I'm going to do this. " In
fact, he's going to depend on Hiram for some of these things to happen.

And as he begins this process of building, we learn these 10 principles of how
you build for God, how you build anything that you want to build for God. And
the first principle is this. Principle number one is you build what God wants
built.

Verse 5 of chapter 5. "I intend therefore to build a temple for the name of the
Lord my God. As the Lord told my father David when he said, 'Your son, whom I
will put on the throne in your place, will build the temple for my name.

'" God wanted it built, so Solomon was going to build it. Now, this may sound
like a very obvious principle, but I can't tell you how many times people try to
build what they want built in God's name, and it's not what God wants built. God
wants me to build this career.

That's not what God wants you to do. God wants me to build this company. That's
not what God wants you to do.

You want to build it so you can make millions of dollars. But God wants you over
here serving these hungry people. That's what God wants you to do.

He wants you to use your building abilities to be able to serve those people.
I'm not saying that he may not want you to build a company that makes millions
so that that money can be used for God's glory. Maybe you want to serve hungry
people, but he's telling you, "No, I want you in that world.

" What does God want you to build? That's the key question. Instead of God being
on your team building what you want built, when you decide I'm going to get on
God's team and I'm going to build what he wants built, that's the most important
question of all.

That's where you start. God wanted this temple built, Solomon's going to build
it. Question number one.

Now, you have to make a commitment for that to happen. God does it through
people. Without commitment to build it, it's not even going to get started.

So you have to commit to build what God wants built. But if it's something that
God does not want built, you might even be able to build it. You might have the
skills to build it, but it's not going to last.

It's not going to make the difference that it could make in this world. So
principle one is you build what God wants built. Principle number two.

In verse six, you build with quality materials. Verse six and seven say this,
"So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with
yours and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set.

You know that we have no one who is skilled in felling timber as the Sedonians.
" When Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was greatly pleased and he said,
"Praise be to the Lord today, for he's given David a wise son to rule over this
great nation. " Solomon decides I'm going to build this temple.

The underlayment of the temple is going to be wood, cedar. And he goes and he
gets the cedars of Lebanon. These were trees that were legendary for their
quality.

And he says, "I'll pay whatever it takes. Whatever your wage is, I'm going to
pay it. " He could have tried to cut corners and tried to find cedars that were
closer.

He could have tried to find workers that would come cheaper, but he doesn't. He
builds with quality materials. Now the truth is sometimes we can waste money and
we can go above quality to extravagance in order to impress people with what
we're building.

That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about using the best quality for
God's kingdom. Because while the ornate is a waste of money, so is the cheap,
something that comes too cheap.

It doesn't last. And many times in God's name we do things in cheap ways. Let's
just be honest about that.

Sometimes we want to be good stewards, we say, because we don't want to waste
money. But sometimes it's because we don't want to give or sacrifice as much. We
have to admit that.

And if I'm going to build a company, if I'm going to build a ministry, if I'm
going to build a building, if I'm going to build a family for God's glory, I
have to build with quality materials, get the best learning, get the best
people, get the best materials in place. That's the second principle that we
learn. So if you're in a company, you want to build a company for God, you get
the best training that you possibly can for your workers.

You want them to be the best workers they can. And you give them the best tools
that you can possibly give them in order to do the work. Build with quality
materials.

That's one of the principles we learn from God about building. Principle number
three is you build bridges while you build whatever you're building. You build
bridges to people while you're building the thing that God wants you to build.

So while you're building a ministry, a company you're building, you're building
a bridge into people's hearts. 1 Kings 5 verse 12, "The Lord gave Solomon
wisdom, just as he promised him. And there were peaceful relations between Hyrum
and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

" Solomon used this time of building as an opportunity to build bridges of peace
towards Hyrum. Now how are you going to use the building of whatever you're
building as an opportunity to build bridges towards other people? Because in
every one of our lives as followers of Christ, we build bridges of love and
faith into other people's lives.

As they see our example, as they interact with us, we build bridges of love and
faith that Jesus can then walk across into people's hearts. I don't know who
it's going to be in your life. Maybe you're building a building and it's some
plumber.

And the way that you treat that plumber, the way that you're fair with that
plumber, or even the way that you treat them in a mistake that they made, they
see Christ in that. And in that, you are building a bridge. It might be a
building inspector, it might be in a business that you're building, it might be
a business partner in the building of a family, it might be a school teacher who
is a partner with you in the building of your kids, and the way that you treat
that school teacher who doesn't yet know Christ.

But the way you treat them lets them know that Jesus is real. How are you
building a bridge into people's hearts as you're building whatever you're
building? Some people, they get so focused on what they're building that they
treat everybody who's helping them like dirt.

They treat people in a way that actually pushes them away from Jesus because
they're so intent on getting the building built, or the church built, or the
ministry built. If you're building a ministry and you're treating people in
hateful ways to build that ministry, you got to know something's wrong,
something's missing. Because the thing that's going to last the longest is that
person.

The thing that's going to last the longest is that person's faith in Christ. So
how do you build bridges into people's hearts as you build whatever you're
building? It's one of the key principles in building God's way.

Fourth principle we learn is you build together with others. Never do it alone.
You always build together with others.

Verses 13 to 16. King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel, 30,000 men.
He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000 a month so that they spent one
month in Lebanon and two months at home.

Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. Solomon had 70,000 carriers and
80,000 stonecutters in the hills, as well as 3,300 foremen who supervised the
project and directed the workmen. We wonder how they were able to build such
great wonders as were built in the ancient times.

It's simple. There were a lot of workers. Here, when you add up all the numbers
I just said, there were 183,300 workers involved in this project.

This one project to build this temple for God. Now, Solomon is a king, and as a
king, he has these forced laborers. He is able to conscript people to do this
labor.

But you and I, we don't have that opportunity. Instead, we have to choose. We
have to choose to build together with others.

We have to choose to volunteer together with other people. We have to choose to
get the right people into our company. We can't force them to stay, so we have
to treat them in the right kind of way.

A few workers, if you've got a big job to do for God, a few workers are not
going to get that job done. They're not going to have the knowledge or the
energy to get it done all by themselves. Now, in any kind of building project,
whether it's a building or a company or a family or whatever you're building, a
ministry, in any kind of building project, you're going to be able to find
plenty of things that you cannot do, either because of your lack of skill or
just because of your lack of time.

You can't do it all. And the secret to success is don't let that discourage you.
See that as an opportunity.

Instead, look carefully for the thing that God has called you to do that you can
do better than anyone else, but also look to involve others in doing what only
they can do, because that's how God builds. The church is a body. It's the body
of Christ.

Very clearly in the New Testament, the church and what we're doing in this
world, we do it together. No single person can do it by themselves. No one has
all the gifts, all the abilities.

It takes all of us to build together for God. So number four, you build together
with others. And then number five, the last principle for today, and then we're
going to pick up five other principles tomorrow when we get back together.

Number five is the principle that you build best when you take time to rest. You
build best when you take time to rest. Remember, he sent them off to Lebanon in
shifts of 10,000 a month, 30,000.

So they were one month in Lebanon and two months back at home. He didn't send
them off and just make them stay there until the job was done. He knew they
would get worn out.

So Solomon was wise enough to have them work in these shifts. One month away,
two months back at home. One month away, two months back at home.

If you have too few workers, there's not enough time to rest for those few
workers. They burn out. And if they don't quit, they get sick.

They're not able to think well. The work suffers. Now, there's a very clear
principle about you build best when you take time to rest in the scripture, and
it's the Sabbath day principle.

God says in every week, you take one day off as a Sabbath. You take time to
rest. He said, "There's so much work to be done.

" Well, then it's even more important than you take time to rest. If there's so
much work to be done, if you don't take the time to rest, you're going to burn
out. And you say, "No, I won't.

It won't happen to me. " It may not happen physically, but it'll happen
emotionally, or it'll happen relationally, or it'll happen spiritually. Now, how
do I know that?

It's not because I know you personally. It's because the Lord knows us all so
personally. And He's the one who said, "I want you to take one day out of seven
to rest.

" He knows us. And He knows what He wants to build through your life, how great
it is. But He knows in order for that to happen, you have to take the time to
rest and depend on Him.

That's part of building for Him. So you want to build something for God? God
begins to teach us in these verses exactly how that happens.

Now, you and I, it begins with our heart for Him and our desire for Him. So
let's give that to Him as we pray at the end of this study today. Lord, we bring
to you right now whatever we're building, whether it is a church or a ministry
or a building or a family or a company or a business or a career or whatever it
happens to be that you're building into our lives right now, what we're building
for in the future.

And God, we begin with what we talked about today. We bring it to you. And we
say, "God, we want to build what You want built.

If what we're building isn't what You want built, would You show us what to
build? And then would You show us how to do it with quality and with others and,
Lord, how to take the time to rest as we're building it. But at the beginning,
Lord, we want to build what You want built.

And so we ask for Your wisdom in that. We ask for it in Jesus' name. Amen.