The Work of the Hammer-Bishop Tim Hill

0:03 there's a passage of scripture in uh Isaiah chapter 44 verse 12 and I'm going to do my best to link it to another passage in the book of Exodus in just a few moments but to give you some background Isaiah chapter 44 basically is a word of conviction it's a word of condemnation it is a word of warning there's water and Gatorade anytime you see that that's a signal that's an hour's worth right

0:51 there I'm telling you it's an hour's worth but it is a word of conviction and warning to those who make and worship Idols but there is by definition something that draws my attention that I think is worthy that even in the midst of the kind of Passage this is the very definition of the individual who makes things out of gold or bronze or silver is worth our attention tonight in order for me to link it to where I want to go in the book of Exodus so I want you to do your best to Pardon Me and Overlook the fact that I'm

1:38 drawing from a chapter of such heaviness and conviction and condemnation to those who would create or worship idols just so that I could draw from the context of this the definition that I'm looking for here and here it is in verse 12 the Smith the Smith with the tongs does two things he works in the coals stirring moving

2:24 about the hot coals that have created a flame and [Music] then he takes a hammer in his hand and he fashion the type of metal he may be working with whether that be bronze silver most of the time it was gold and he works it with the strength of his arms the word strength there is not to be interpreted as strength without purpose or or blind strength or strength on the loose it is strength in a harness strength with

3:11 vision strength with a purpose what it's talking about there is an individual known as a Smith you might remember the phrase blacksmith copper Smith but in this case it would be a silver smith bronze Smith gold smith one who works with precious medals to create an image but in order to create that image he has already seen something in his Mind's Eye oh I feel like preaching now and what he has seen in his Mind's Eye somehow is transferred into the talent and the gift and the skill set that he has in his arms and in his fingertips to ultimately create the

3:58 image that he's already perceived in his mind he has hammers it and forms it and fashion it until he can set it on display so with that in mind let me read it again the Smith with the tongs both stirs the coals to create a flame that melts down the elements gold silver bronze whatever it may be and then he fashion it with hammers and sets it on display for all to

4:43 see with that in mind let's go back now to the Book of Exodus in Exodus chapter 25 God is giving Moses the very intricate meticulous details of how to make the Ark of the Covenant the Ark of the Covenant symbolic of God's presence to the children of Israel and here's what he says beginning in verse 17 and thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold two cubits and a half shall be the lint thereof and a cubit and a half the bread thereof and thou shalt make two cherubim of gold of beaten work shalt thou make them in the two ends of the mercy

5:31 seat and make one cherub on the one end and the other cherub on the other end even of The Mercy Seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof and the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high covering the mercy seat with their wings and their faces shall look one to another toward The Mercy Seat shall the faces of the cherubims be and thou shalt Put The Mercy Seat above upon the ark and in the ark Thou shalt put the testimony that I will give give thee and there everybody say there there I will meet with thee and I will commune with thee from Above The Mercy Seat from between the two cherubims which are upon the Ark of the testimony of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the

6:19 children of Israel just one more reference in verse 18 let me point it out to you again God said to Moses whoever you employ to do this whoever you enlist to create this whoever you hire to do this this will be made out of beaten work the use of the hammer in the hand of a man of skill when God was ready to be revealing of himself to the children of Israel concerning

7:06 his ways and his Holiness he gave to them the Ten Commandments somewhat of a calling card by which God said here allow me to introduce myself this is who I am this is what you can expect when God was ready to be more revealing to the children of Israel concerning things of the Tabernacle and the priesthood order how to enter into his presence he gave them that entire system that seemed to orbit around his Holiness and his

7:51 character and out of that came the levitical priesthood and even back in those days things were set in motion that even to this day under a New Covenant some of those things are still recognizable but when God was ready to reveal himself in worship and in the Holiness of his pure presence he gave Moses these delicate instructions concerning the Ark of the Covenant the Ark of the Covenant hundreds even

8:38 millenniums of years before Jesus was born pointed toward the Christ it was not just a piece of furniture it was not just an artifact it was not just a spoil of War it actually served as something that pointed toward bethlehem's manger and everything about Christ can be seen in some way in this Arc of the Covenant in the way it was made and what was inside and How They Carried carried it around everything about it spoke of Christ let's look at how it was made

9:24 first of all it was made out of wood overlaid in Gold the wood speaks of his Humanity the gold speaks of his deity the wood reminds us that he's every bit man but the gold reminds us that he's also every bit God not half and half not 50% and 50% but all man and all God at the same time the Wood reminds us that when he went without water he got thirsty and when he went without food he got hungry but the gold reminds us he's the living water and he's the living

10:10 bread the wood reminds us that when he stood at the tomb of a friend he wept but the gold reminds us that at the same tomb the godness of who he was allowed him to lean his Galilean head back and from deep down in his belly he cried Lazarus come forth and the power power of His Voice penetrated the caverns of the deep and Lazarus came forth by the voice of the God who called him forth the wood reminds us that he was a Man of Sorrows acquainted with grief that he understood tears and he understood pain and he understood suffering but the gold reminds us that

10:58 he was all God who takes away suffering who takes away pain and who dries the tears and that Ark of the Covenant being made of wood overlaid with pure gold points to the manness and yet the godness of who Jesus Christ is but then let's look at what was inside that Ark the book of Hebrews chapter N I believe it is tells us that inside the ark there was a golden pot of Mana that speaks of provision in his presence also inside the ark was Aaron's Rod that

11:44 budded that speaks of life in his presence David said in his presence there is fullness of joy at his right hand there are Pleasures forever more they took that dead dried up severed stick cut away from its original root system and they leaned it up against the wall one night where the Ark of the Covenant was and they came in the next morning and discovered that it had grown fully ripened almonds not just leafy foliage but fully ripened almonds that says that if we stay in his presence long enough there is a maturing that comes by being in his

12:30 presence but there was the golden pot of Mana there was Aaron's Rod that buddy but there was also the decalog The Ten Commandments the stone tablets etched out by the fiery Finger of God for Moses and the children of Israel on top of Mount Si the word of God was inside the Ark of the Covenant and it's interesting to me that it seems to occupy a very central place it's not an add-on it's not an old by the way it's not just an afterthought but it's there intentionally the word of God is Central to the presence of God and let me just use that opportunity to say this and move on you cannot be more

13:18 spiritual than you are scriptural that's tweetable put that on Facebook and tell them I said so because in this day and time in which we live there's a lot of stuff floating around out there that you can't validate in the book yeah but I heard him preaching and he's pretty popular I don't care if it's not in the book it has no place yeah but it's spreading like fire I'm telling you it's the hot doctr I don't care if it's the hot Doctrine if it's not found in the book it has no place you cannot be more spiritual than you are scriptural but then let's look at how they

14:04 transported the Ark of the Covenant God provided a Mobility for the ark a moving of the Ark and it was moved by the four rings that were at every corner and through those four golden rings they would pass golden poles or golden staves and the priests that bear the ark they would lean down and hoist that Ark upon their shoulders by those golden poles and they would walk it from place to place David got in trouble one time when he tried to move it on the carts driven by oxen and it hit a bump in the road and it stumbled and a man lost his life because he tried to steady the ark and

14:50 Aza died as a breach against God that speaks to me of God's moving presence in this earth God did not allow that Ark to be stationary he did not permit that Ark to be made in a stationary way so that it remained in one place all the time where people had to travel from everywhere to find that place but he allowed that in the creation of the Ark of the Covenant it could go and move with Israel as they moved about and it was always at the front so that Israel could see it ahead and wherever they saw the glory they followed the glory wherever they could see the Ark of

15:35 the Covenant they marched in step with the Ark of the Covenant following the glory careful to follow the presence of God can I tell you tonight there is not one place you have to go to find him nobody has to travel to Cleveland Tennessee the Church of God international offices to find God nobody has to travel to Springfield Missouri to the Assembly of God international offices to find God nobody has to travel to Tulsa Oklahoma to Oru to find God I'm telling you he's wherever you are oh I'm going to preach before this is over I'm feeling better now I don't care who says God is over here God is over there no I want to tell you I brought him with me tonight when I entered into his gates with Thanksgiving and came into these

16:22 courts with praise I felt his presence abiding right here he said where two or three are gathered in my name there will I be in their midst also he's here here hallelujah his presence is moving in the earth don't let anybody tell you God's not moving now his presence is moving in the Earth the Ark of the Covenant became a treasured thing for the children of Israel and rightfully so but primarily because of what happened at a specific place on top of that Ark a place called The Mercy Seat now something's happening to me

17:07 here while I'm preaching the more I preach the more I want to you better pray hard it's interesting that Mercy becomes the cover of this thing now you take the lid of Mercy off of it it becomes an instrument of death because there were some men on one occasion of bethus that decided to take that lid off and look inside and when they did they died by the thousands but isn't it amazing what Mercy does when they covered it with the mercy seat that which killed some brought life

17:54 to others you know if you just took this place and remove the mercy covering from it then we're no different than any other organization in town Mercy makes the difference here without the lid of Mercy on this place without the covering of Mercy then what's different from us than any other group or organization anywhere else we're imperfect people we have our problems our Hang-Ups our habit our issues but when we come in here and we're covered by the blood of Jesus and the covering of Mercy envelops

18:42 us it changes the whole scenario and God said to Moses we're going to call this a mercy seat on purpose it's not a judgment seat there's another place for that it's not a condemnation seat there's another place for that it's not a critical seat there's another place for that this is a mercy seat and here's the deal Moses we are going to create on top of this Mercy Seat a visual illustration of something that's real something that's

19:28 animate we're going to create inanimate objects made out of of gold but they represent something that's animated and living and active right now all the time throughout eternity I'm about to shout cuz I know what I'm going to say next rest of you are just sitting there in suspense Moses here's the deal while I'm conversing with you while I'm giving you these instructions in the heavenlies there are winged creatures of Praise winged creatures of worship that fly around in tandem two by two facing one

20:15 another always in the presence of God and one cries out toward the other about God saying this he's holy the other oh you got that right he's holy oh yeah I told you he's holy absolutely he's holy and they just reverberate that and verify that and validate that with one's witness and one's testimony to the other here's how it really goes holy holy holy Lord God Almighty who was and is to come while we're sitting here right now there are Wing creatures seraphim and cherubim six wi creatures Isaiah saw them and said their feet were covered with wings they had wings around their shoulders they had w six wi creatures flying around in the presence of God crying holy is the Lord

21:01 now when Isaiah described it he said they created such an atmosphere such a glory smoke such a shakina that a haze a smoke of all of this filled the house and it got so thick that the doorposts begin to sway now Ezekiel Saw a version of it one time but Ezekiel didn't see it as smoke Ezekiel Saw it as rising currents and tides of water help me Jesus if I was 10 years younger I'd jump this stage and run that aisle right there but the last time I did that I promised Paula and God both I'd never do it again when Ezekiel saw it coming from under the altar he said the first time I

21:47 looked in it was ankle deep the next time I looked in it was Knee Deep the next time I looked in it was Waist Deep the next time I looked in it it got so deep that it just swept people away when they stepped out into the presence and the glory and the of God's presence I'm telling you there is an atmosphere that's created by those who praise and those who worship and God said to Moses we're going to create an inanimate object here of something that's animated and Alive going on even as I stand here and preach to you tonight I love this season I'm in in my life right now I just stand up here and sache and Sway

22:39 and talk and let these young guys jump up and down in sweat and here's how we're going to do it Moses you are going to create these Angelic beings but you got to have a Smith to do it one who works with precious metal and he's going to stir the coals to create an atmosphere to create a heat that makes those Metals melt pliable flexible and workable so that when the cooling process begins he can take that

23:25 hammer and out of beaten work he forms and he fashions those cherub them on other either side but the coals have got to be stirred the heat has got to be turned up in order to get the metals flexible enough to work with you see it's that cold stirring process that we're not fond of when the elements of our life get to

24:12 a temperature that make us uncomfortable raising family working a job doing Ministry there are those occasions when the joy of that seems to be outweighed by the burden of that but it's the Smith stirring the coals help me Jesus when things aren't going quite like you would prefer them to go the doctor report was not what you

25:00 wanted yeah the school counselor gave you a report about Junior at high school that was not at all positive stirring the coals but that's necessary in order to get the end result that God wants and now God says to Moses once the coals are stirred we've got to start melting down the elements don't ever sit close to the front when I preach will you help me preach

25:48 this come on up here you don't have to say a thing I'll take and will you help me yes sir come on up here guys Robert and Jimmy which one's Robert so that makes you Jimmy all right Jimmy you stand right over here you're going to be my two angels tonight did I pick the right guys now you can't stand there with your hands in your blue jeans okay you got it you got to work with me here okay it's Jimmy right oh that's Jimmy you're Robert Jimmy Robert oh Robert Jimmy Jimmy who are are you Robert you're Robert

26:35 gotcha Jimmy the angel Robert the angel so here's what we get we get golden blobs it's kind of kind of play Like a Block no structure just loose flexible because the elements have made you that way I mean you're going through life and everything's going well and and you're walking upright and you've got structure and you've got backbone and you've got

27:22 courage and you've got boldness but one day of the elements just sort of melt you down but when you get in that molten state of being that's where the Smith comes in with a hammer and out of beaten work he's got something in his mind that he's trying to create that God's already put there and he's trying to bring it out through the end of his hands and the strength the discipline strength of his arms it's not strength on the loose it's not strength that's going to wound you or hurt you it's disp strength that has a vision and purpose and with that hammer he starts

28:17 working because he's trying to create a place where he can dwell and he wants an angel on this side and an angel on this side and he says if I ever get it right I'm going to dwell in the middle so I'm going to use the elements to melt you down but then I'm going to use the hammer to Fashion you so move up here a little bit closer the hammer blows of Life The Hammer blows of misunderstanding you're about the most stubborn Angel I've ever worked with

29:02 the hammer blows of criticism the hammer blows of disorientation among family members and he just is always looking at his work and he steps back and he observes and he steps back in he oh I see something here I need to work on work on that attitude a little bit right there let's work on that sharp tongue you've got and he pulls them closer together

29:48 because at the end their their wing tips have got a touch see there you go because right here we're going to perform a sacrifice right here we're going to sprinkle blood and so the the heads of the worshippers have got to be looking down upon the sacrifice there you go oh my goodness I'm preaching better than I thought I could tonight and he steps back and he looks he oh I'm almost there I'm almost there me fold that a little bit more let's Pras that a little bit more and back you up just a little bit cause the fat guy preaching's got to get in the middle of that in a minute and there you

30:34 go God says with a hammer I'm creating a place where I can meet with you with the beaten work of your life circumstances with the beaten work of what you're going through on the job with the beaten work of what somebody said with a beaten work of where you've been with a beaten work of what got you from there to he God says I'm using all things that work together for good to them that love God and to them who the called according to his purpose and it's the hammer blows of trial and it's the hammer blows of circumstance it's the hammer blows of what's going on in my kids at Lee University it's the hammer blows of what's going on in my Ministry it's I'm preaching better than you're shouting it's the hammer blows of what's going on in my marriage but when

31:19 God perfects it he says that's what I've been waiting on right here and my promise to you was when I got you shaped up and when I got you in perfect alignment I will come and and dwell in the midst of what I formed and in the midst of what I've created I came by to tell somebody God has been working on you all this time God has been working on your family all this time and he says when I get your praise right when I get your worship right when I get your posture right I'm going to dwell in the midst of what I created with the hammer blows of Life circumstance somebody Praise Him in this house hallelujah hallelujah oh praise him again somebody praise him

32:04 again somebody thank you give Robert and Jeffrey a God bless you [Applause] tonight oh Jimmy I'm sorry it was Jimmy is this all right you'll give me five more minutes raise your hand that's about 45 Worth right there now let's deal with something before I stop let's deal with what

32:56 happens when the Hammer's in in the wrong hand there is a story in the Book of Genesis about Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers and there came a time after all of that heartache and after all that trial when Joseph was elevated to prominence in Egypt that he finally had the

33:41 opportunity to stand above his brothers who had thrown him into the pit who one day stood above him now he's looking down on them where they once made him look up to them and when all of this transpires when all of this is revealed as to who he is and who they are and what they did and how God's brought it all around Joseph makes a statement that you can't lose he said you meant this for evil but God meant it for good

34:31 so who meant what you meant it to do me harm but God allowed it to enable me to walk the pathway that brought me to this place of prominence in Egypt you meant it to destroy me but God permitted it so that I could become second in command had I not gone through that I couldn't have gotten here so what the devil may have intended for your destruction God said let him do whatever he's going to

35:17 do the last word is with me let him take off on whatever Trail he wants to take off on but I'm going to get in the middle of this somewhere so that I can bring about my greater glory and my greater good out of your for life so when Joseph said you meant it for evil but God meant it for good he's actually using a term there that comes from the old practice of weaving weaving as in tapestry materials cloth rugs I used to Pastor in a Mill Village Danville Virginia before all the Tex style industry went to other

36:04 countries and I learned this there when Joseph said you meant it he was using really a visual illustration that his brothers understood you weaved a tapestry of evil against me you carefully selected the colors you carefully selected the the texture you meticulously selected the threads that weave together for my destruction and you draped it around me to try to shroud me in it and bury me in it because you were jealous of me and you didn't like the fact that I was your little brother and I was moving on in

36:49 life quicker than you were so you weave something threw me in a pit sold me into slavery and told my daddy I was dead yeah but while you turned your back and weren't were not looking let me tell you what God did God started weaving and the true picture of it is this God actually saw a loose thread in what you had done yeah study it out you weave this thing you draped it around me but God got to looking one day and he saw one loose thread in your

37:35 strategy one loose thread in your plan and he started pulling that thing and the whole thing unraveled the whole thing fell apart your scheme and your plot and your plan did not work because God found the loose thread in your strategy he pulled it and unraveled and it fell at his feet and let me tell you what he did he picked up the same threads he didn't go looking for new threads he picked up the same threads of my life only this time he put it through his own weaves this time he put it through his own material this time he put it through his own machinery and he started weaving and he moved that shuttle back and forth and now he has draped around me a new robe my God I had a robe of Many Colors but you stole that

38:21 off of me but let me tell you what I got now I got a robe of royalty because God pulled the loose thread and he draped around me a new plan and a new purpose I need to tell somebody the hammer is about to get out of the devil's hand tonight he's been beating your brains out with it long enough God said give me that thing I've got a better plan I've got a better purpose I've got a better design and the threads of your garment have been unraveled and God is putting them through his looms of Grace and his looms of mercy and the shuttle is going back and forth and he's draping around you a robe of righteousness and a robe of glory and I feel like preaching better and you feel like shouting a robe

39:08 of gladness tonight put on the Garment of Praise for the spirit of heaviness oh you better stand up if you don't stand up I'll preach another 10 minutes that which he meant for evil God said give me that hammer put those threads through my looms and watch what I do same colors same texture but a different pattern and he has dressed

39:59 you in a robe of victory tonight father for just a few moments here allow your Holy Spirit to settle Upon Us Lord you've just answered some questions for some folks tonight you have just settled some things deep in the hearts of your children oh somebody raise your hands and receive what God's doing right now raise your hands and just receive what the the Lord is doing right now uh thank you holy spirit thank you Holy Spirit Come on raise your hands high move into his presence the lord gave us

40:45 Revelation here tonight some of you been trying to figure out what this trial has been about God's just bringing you to a place of Victory Your Best Is Yet To Come your best is yet to come [Laughter] what you're about to encounter is greater than anything you've ever encountered where God is about to take you is beyond anything you've ever imagined in your life the better the better the better the better the greater the greater the greater Hallelujah the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the glory of the former I'm going to say that again Pastor somebody here needs to hear that this is for somebody's home this is for

41:32 somebody's marriage God said the glory of the latter the glory of your last state the glory of your last stage the glory of this season you're going into is going to outshine what you've been through before you thought you had good days earlier no you haven't seen anything yet you thought you knew Victory before no you you just now come into a season of grand Victory come on raise your hands and praise Him somebody just take that as your word tonight take that as your your word hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah bless the Lord bless the Lord I'm telling you the holy spirit is in this house God is speaking into somebody's finances tonight God is speaking into somebody's

42:17 family relationships [Music] tonight Lord do your work do your work do your work I subject my s to the Hammer tonight I I relinquish my will to the Hammer break me where you need to break me mold me where you need to mold me fold me where you need to fold me crease me where you need to crease me fashion me where you need to Fashion me I I give myself to the work of the hammer I give myself to the work of the hammer in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus let the elements melt me down let the elements do their work but as you cool the elements Lord I subject myself I give my up to the work of the hammer the Greater is Coming the greater

43:03 good is coming [Music]