Tonight, as we look at the Word of God, I would call your attention to three passages that I wish to read for us. To begin with, we want to read in Genesis chapter 3, beginning to read verses 21 and then through 24, the very end of Genesis 3. And we shall read from 2 Chronicles 3 and from Matthew 27. I would love to bring the word of God to you tonight, and I do so on the topic, Pass the Cherubim. We begin reading God's word at verse 21 in Genesis 3. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God said, the man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. So the Lord God banished him from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. This is the text for tonight. And he drove the man out. He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. Turn in your Bibles also to 2 Chronicles chapter 3. 2 Chronicles chapter 3. And we read just a couple of verses there, beginning at verse 8. And we shall read through verse 14. He, that is Solomon, built the most holy place, its length, corresponding to the width of the temple, 20 cupids long and 20 cupids wide. He overlaid the inside with 600 talents of fine gold. The gold nails weighed 50 shekels. He also overlaid the upper parts with gold. In the most holy place, he made a pair of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold. The total wingspan of the cherubim was 20 cupids. One wing of the first cherub was 5 cupids long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also 5 cupids long, touched the wing of the other cherub. Similarly, one wing of the second cherub was five cupids long and touched the other temple wall and its other wing, also five cupids long, touched the wing of the first cherub. The wings of these cherubim extended 20 cupids. They stood on their feet facing the main hall. He made the curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen with cherubim worked into it. We'll stop there in the reading of God's word in 2 Chronicles and turn to Matthew chapter 27. Matthew 27, we want to read the verses 45 to 53, 45 to 53. From the sixth hour until the ninth hour, darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabathini, which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? When some of those standing there heard this, they said, He's calling Elijah. Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him. And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs and after Jesus' resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and exclaimed, surely, he was the Son of God. Let's bow our heads in prayer to ask God's favor on his word tonight. Gracious God, we stand in awe of your holiness. You, O God, have created us to live in fellowship with you, and yet our sins separate us from you. We thank you for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, because in him we have a new and living relationship that you have given to us in grace. Tonight we pray that you will bless your word, And your servant who brings it, that all of us may fall upon our faces in gratitude for that grace of Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. It was one of the saddest moments in all of history. The Garden of Eden was the only place that Adam and Eve knew. It was their world. It was their joy to be living there. It was their source of food. It was a place of peace. It was a place of perfection. And even more important, it was a place where Adam and Eve had perfect fellowship with their God. But now, something was radically different. Adam and Eve had eaten of the fruit, the forbidden fruit of that garden. They had sinned against God. They had disobeyed God and they had obeyed the voice of the devil. And now because of their disobedience, because of their sin, they were being driven out from that garden, driven out of the very presence of God, so that now holy guards stood there at the entrance of that garden to prevent them ever from entering again. Sadness fills our hearts as this picture is seared upon our minds and our hearts. And yet, congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, God would have us pay attention to something else other than that picture. Our God would have us understand something of the mercy and the grace of Christ Jesus because the very God who chased Adam and Eve out of this garden, this perfect, this beautiful garden, the same God who closed the garden's gates, so to speak, seeks a people for himself. He calls a church out of the fallen human race and he sent the Lord Jesus Christ in order to redeem a people for himself. That's the picture that our God would have us place in our hearts tonight. That is the picture that is painted for us tonight in our scripture lesson. Past the cherubim. I would like for us to look at the Word of God tonight and to see, in the first place, the blocked garden, secondly, the holy ark, and then, in the third place, the torn curtain. When we think about Adam and Eve falling into sin, and we think about that sad picture of them leaving that beautiful and perfect garden, shut out of Eden's presence forever, we must understand two very important things about sin. First of all, sin separates us from life. And secondly, sin separates us from God. You see, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve rightly anticipated eternity of life with God. But now, having sinned, they were driven out into the world to earn their living by the sweat of their brow, to bear children in pain, and at last to die and their bodies would return to the dust from which they had been made. They had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And as a result, they became evil. It was a real tree. It was a real tree with real fruit on it. Because if it wasn't a real tree, it would not have provided for them a real temptation. Nor could they have eaten of its fruit. And just as real was another tree in that garden, the tree of life. The fruit of that tree stood for life. Now, we don't know exactly what's all going on here in this text, but what makes sense to me is this, that if they had eaten of that tree of life, they would have lived forever in a state of sin. E.J. Young puts it well when he says that if they would have eaten of that tree of life, they would have been confirmed in a state of sin in which they would have existed forever and from which there would have been no deliverance. But the point of this passage is this, that because of sin, this beautiful garden, this symbol of life, has now become a place of death. Because they have been cut off from God. Once it was a very beautiful, life-giving place. And now it has become a place of dying. A place that reminds them of their sin. A place where they can no longer return because of their sin and trespasses before God. so that now Adam and Eve can only be set free from their sin if they obtained life through the perfect obedience and death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. They had obeyed the voice of Satan and they lost life. And really when you stop and think of it, that's a picture of you and me, isn't it, by nature. Adam and Eve in this death is really a picture of all mankind apart from Jesus Christ. And if we insist upon not walking in the ways of God, we will not have life. We will experience eternal death. Remember that. When sin beckons at the door of your heart and your mind, Remember that picture of Adam and Eve leaving the garden in shame, slowly walking out of that place of life, having experienced the consequences of death. Remember this, people of God, when Satan comes to you in temptation and he says, Come away with me for a while. Sin will not hurt. It's not going to damage you. Come with me for a while and I will show you some of life's real pleasures. It's fun to be with me. Nothing will come of it. No harm will be done. When you hear the voice of temptation, remember that tragic picture of Adam and Eve being driven out of the garden in shame. You see, Satan was a liar from the beginning and he still is to this very day. Don't forget that. But sin also keeps us from God. God is the source of life. And because one is cut off from God, one is also cut off from life. That's what God clearly displays as he places cherubim there at the entrance of the garden. He places that flaming sword to block the garden. In order for us to understand this well, we need to take a few moments to think about this heavenly guard, these cherubim placed there at the entrance of the garden. What are cherubim? The Bible refers to cherubim 65 times, primarily in the Old Testament. In Ezekiel chapter 10 the Bible describes them as having four wings and they are always associated with the holy presence and the glory of God Almighty. They are not regular angels. They are apparently special angels, not regular angels who are sent to give messages to people from time to time on the pages of scripture. But they are particularly special angels in that they have been given the task to guard the holiness, to guard the very righteous presence of Almighty God. And now they drive Adam and Eve from the garden and block that garden. Really it is God who drives them from the garden. Sin bars the way to God. And so God places them outside of that garden. And this is the greatest tragedy of all. Because you see, man was created to live close to God. Mankind was created to take pleasure in God. To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. But now they are being driven out, banished forever. from the very presence of the living God. You see, the devil was wrong. Sin does hurt. Sin has tremendous consequences. Sin disrupts the most basic of all relationships, and that is a relationship that we as creatures have with Almighty God. The way to God is blocked. And yet throughout history, whenever we read about the cherubim in those various places in the scripture, we also see something of the mercy and the grace of our God. And that becomes especially pointed as we look at the Holy Ark. I know that most, if not all of you, are familiar with that relatively small box. You realize that the Ark of the Covenant was less than four feet long and about two feet wide. It was a relatively small box. It was a box made out of special wood covered entirely with gold. A very special box because it represented the very presence of God among the people. You could not touch the Ark of the Covenant lest you die. It was carried on long poles. It was not to be carried in a cart, as David discovered. It must be respected because that box represented to the people the very presence of God. And there on top of the Ark were two cherubim. With their wings outspread, facing each other on the top of that ark, they were really figures or representations of chariot being made out of gold, facing each other, overshadowing the top of that ark, which is called the mercy seat. You see, that ark was really a symbol of the living presence of God among his people. And no one must look upon the holy presence of God. This was a scene of wrath. It was a scene of judgment. Because, you see, sin cuts us off from God. Nobody can live in the presence of God Almighty. His holiness is too great for us as sinners. And even that veil between the Holy of Holies and the holy place was decorated with cherubim to guard the holy presence of God. You know, this becomes even more clear when we look at Solomon's beautiful temple that he made. We read a little bit about that in 2 Chronicles chapter 3. What an awesome place this really was. It took Solomon, the Bible tells us, seven years to build the temple. And then you think about the Holy of Holies. That's where the Ark was kept. That Holy of Holies was a magnificent place. Just an absolutely beautiful place. It was a cube, 30 feet tall, 30 feet wide, 30 feet long. and the inside of that cubicle was overlaid with pure gold. And the Bible tells us that the gold in that cubicle alone weighed 23 tons. A most magnificent place, and you guessed it. Inside of that Holy of Holies, there were cherubim. Certainly the smaller cherubim on top of the ark. But Solomon made two huge cherubim and placed them in the Holy of Holies. The Bible tells us that they were made of olive wood and they were plated completely in gold. They were of tremendous size. Those two cherubim were 15 feet high. They had outstretched wings that were 15 feet across. They were golden cherubim with the total wingspan when they stood side by side of 30 feet across. So that the wing of the one cherub had his wing touching that wall over there. And then his left wing touched the other wing of the cherub on this side. And this cherub, his wing touching the one to my right, Had his left wing touching the other wall of the Holy of Holies, 30 feet across. That's the distance from your organ almost to that wall. Huge cherubs, wings outspread with their backs to the Holy Ark of God. Facing the veil, facing the holy place, guarding, as it were, with outstretched wings, the holy objects behind them, protecting, as it were, the very presence of God. Protecting God's holiness from sinful man. Protecting the sinner from God. Lest God's holiness reach out and destroy the sinner. And yet, in that awesome place, God's mercy is also evident. Because you see, on top of that ark, there was the mercy seat. That mercy seat of God. Blood was placed there once a year by the high priest. A sign, of course, that a substitute had died for the people. A substitute lamb had died. That's why the high priest only once a year could come into the Holy of Holies. He had to come with the smoke of incense to cover God's face, as it were, so that his holiness would not see the sin of man. and he had to come with blood indicating that something had died in the place of the sinful man there and the sinful people that he represented but you and I know that that lamb could never save anybody of all the thousands of lambs and bulls and goats that were slaughtered in the Old Testament, not one of them could ever save anybody. So that though the temple was very beautiful, the temple, all of its sacrifices, all of its ceremonies, could not save one single person. They all pointed ahead to the Lord Jesus Christ. They all pointed to the real thing still to come. They pointed ahead to the Messiah. You see, the veil was still up. The veil still stood between the sinner and the holy God. Something better was still needed. that's why tonight in the third place I wish to take you for a few moments to Jerusalem I wish to take you for a few moments to Matthew 27 you see now we have moved hundreds of years ahead since Solomon's temple and even further along in history from the time of the Garden of Eden And yet, there in Jerusalem are the guarding cherubim. You will see them if you come with me for a few moments on that afternoon to Jerusalem. It's about three o'clock in the afternoon now. Oh, it's been a very strange day in Jerusalem. During the night, a man called Jesus has been arrested by the priests. And he doesn't resist. He goes to the slaughter like a lamb. This Jesus, they want to kill. They hate him because he claims to be the Son of God. He claims to be the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. He claims to be the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of the people. They want to kill him. But the angel of God had said about him in his birth at Bethlehem, he shall sit on his father David's throne forever. They want to kill him. But he has healed the sick. He has given sight to the blind. He has given hearing to the deaf. He has even raised people from the dead. And yet the scribes and Pharisees hate this rabbi. They have now delivered him over to the Roman ruler, Pontius Pilate. They want him to be killed because he claims to be the way to God. He claims to be the truth of God. He claims to give people eternal life who place their faith in him. He calls himself the very son of God. Blasphemy! Kill him! Crucify him! This man cannot live. He has introduced a way to God by faith in himself. And it cannot be. No, the curtain must stay up. The sacrificial system must stay, they said. And now it's about three o'clock in the afternoon. I suppose that the priests were probably working in the temple, busy with the impending sacrifice. Oh, it's a good thing that this menace of a rabbi, dare we say his name, Jesus, Yahweh saves. So good that this menace of a rabbi has been condemned and crucified. Strange things this afternoon. Strange. It's been very, very dark. Since noon, you need lights. Strange thing. The earth shakes with a tremendous earthquake. Rocks are split and tombs are opened. Many bodies of the saints who had died were raised to life and they're coming into Jerusalem. What's happening? At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the man on the middle cross cries out, It is finished. It is finished. And he bows his head. And he dies. And then it happened. That's when it happened. The curtain of the temple, that very beautiful veil between the holy place and the holy of holies, made of white linen fabric, interwoven with strands of blue and purple and scarlet in such a way that those colors made a very beautiful mass of cherubim, those guardian angels of God's holiness, symbolically guarding the way to God, that veil was torn from the top to the bottom, split, as it were, by the finger of God, So that now, the way into God's holiness is open. The way to God has been reopened. Heaven is open to all who place their faith in this Savior who hangs upon Calvary's cross. That's why Hebrews 10 says, we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way open for us through the curtain that is his body. My fellow believers, do you see the glory of the grace of Christ tonight? This isn't just a picture of God's grace. Jesus Christ is the Savior. This Jesus, this second Adam, doesn't simply come to renew the Garden of Eden. No, this is something much greater. Jesus opens up eternal life for us that we possess now as believers and will be consummated for us when we reach the glories of heaven where we will eat of the tree of life forever and ever. We, by the grace of Jesus, have access to the very presence of the living God. That's why, next Sunday, you can come to the table of the Lord. You dare not come on your own. In ourselves, we are unrighteous. but you can come because of Jesus Christ. This is why our prayers do not bounce off the ceiling when we pray, in the depths of our sorrow, in the depths of the struggles of life. But they go directly to our Heavenly Father, because, you see, we have access to God through Jesus Christ. This is why none of you should say, my sins are far too great, and God is far too holy for me. No, God says in my Son, Jesus Christ, I forgive you completely, because the curtain has been torn from the top to the bottom. Let us tremble. Let us tremble in faith, in praise, in thanksgiving to God. Because he has opened the way for you and me to stand in his very presence. And we're not destroyed, people of God. We're not destroyed. But we are fully accepted in Jesus. All because of the perfect work of the Lamb of God, our Savior. Amen. Oh, what a marvelous God you are. We magnify your name tonight, Heavenly Father, for sending your precious Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, into this world. By nature we are full of sin and unrighteousness. We are unworthy. We cannot even possibly stand in your holy presence. But tonight in faith, we lay hold upon that promise that you have clothed us with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And you look upon us, not as unworthy, not as sinful, but as cleansed pure and holy in Jesus our Savior. That is what we celebrate as we go into this new week. I pray, Father in heaven, that you would bless this congregation with the power of your spirit to bring to the mind of every member every person within the hearing of my voice the glorious message of the gospel of Jesus that though in and of ourselves we are unworthy to come you have made us worthy by uniting us to Jesus Christ who is worthy thank you heavenly father for your holiness Thank you for accepting us in Jesus Christ into your holy presence forever. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Will you join me in singing number 204? It's part of that marvelous psalm, Psalm 103. It speaks of how our soul blesses the Lord for his almighty mercy. We're going to sing the first four stanzas, the first four stanzas of number 204. Let's rise to sing. O Christ, my soul, bless the Lord our neighbor. And all in Him, He bless His holy name. As the Lord forgiven all his mercy, his working grace and saving love proclaims. As in the angels, fathers in life, Rest in His service, and in His will divine. Good is the Lord, and full of kind of passion. Go so to any perfectness in love. Which is raised to all that have been shaken. How blessed and endless has God upon us. Blessing the angels of worship high. That's in His service, that in His will be mine. This one is like a father's service, children. Tender and nice to all who fear His name. Lord, how do we know our agents and our family? We know that we are, last we know that we are praying. Blessing the angels, one blessing light. Rest in His servants, standing with mercy on us. Keep me and I, like blocks that grow with beauty, like tender grass, that children shall be. Amen, O Lord, held upon God's angels, Trilled shone to those who looked to Him in fear. Bless you, the angels, one blessing heart. Blessing His servants, and in His will be mine. Praise God, the Lord of blessings, Lord. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, all of the heavenly hosts. Praise Mother, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. And now, people of God, depart with the rich blessing of your God. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Amen. Amen. Amen.