======================================================================== CHERUBIMS： A TYPE OF THE REDEEMED by Keith Malcomson ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon delves into the symbolism of the cherubims in Ezekiel chapter 1, highlighting their characteristics that reflect a true Christian life. The sermon emphasizes the importance of living a heavenly life, being filled with the Holy Spirit, continual praise and worship, walking in holiness and trials, and being led by the Spirit of God. Topics: "Symbolism of Cherubims", "Living a Heavenly Life" Scripture References: Ezekiel 1:7, Ezekiel 1:7, Ezekiel 1:7, Revelation 4:8, Revelation 1:15, Acts 6:3, Hebrews 4:16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon delves into the symbolism of the cherubims in Ezekiel chapter 1, highlighting their characteristics that reflect a true Christian life. The sermon emphasizes the importance of living a heavenly life, being filled with the Holy Spirit, continual praise and worship, walking in holiness and trials, and being led by the Spirit of God. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I want you to turn in your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 1. A good way to find Ezekiel is to find Isaiah, Jeremiah, and I know lamentation goes in there, but then you have Ezekiel. That's a good way to find it. We're going to start on a new series here this morning. I definitely don't know how long it is going to last for. At the minute I've got five messages, and you know it's a bit like dough. It keeps growing, these sermon series at times. So I don't know where this goes. I don't direct sermons. I don't decide. I pray, I listen, I wait on God, and then I try to do the will of God. But we're going to turn to Ezekiel chapter 1 at the beginning of this new series. I've called this a certain title, a series. And I just want to say I preached on this Ezekiel 1 twice before. I preached on it 18 years ago, twice. Once in a certain service was the first time I ever preached on it. Then later I preached twice on it in a different church, 18 years ago. 18 years ago when I had this message from the Lord, it was New Year's Day, or it was the 2nd of January. I think it was just after. It was the New Year's weekend, 2005. And I got in my car. I'm going to drive 30 minutes to preach it to a church. I'm invited to preach. And that church, through meetings we've been having over a short period of time, a move of God came to that church. But I didn't know the pastor in charge of that church is about to kill the move of God. I didn't know that. I didn't know what was going to happen over the next several months. So I get in my car, utterly oblivious. I've got a word of God. It's an encouraging message. And I begin to drive to church. And as I left my mother's house, I was praising God and singing in the car. I'm very happy in my soul. And as I drove closer to Belfast, 30 minutes, I began to get heavy and began to sorrow and a great burden came on me. Then I began to grieve deeply in my heart, like for someone dead. And I want to tell you, I know what I'm saying. I can only identify what I felt in the past two months to that time concerning the church. And as I drove into the church, I am broken. I'm suffocating. I don't know what's happened in 30 minutes. I don't understand. Since we need to get sensitivity to the Holy Spirit again, back in the church, in the pulpit, in every area of our church life, evangelism, in the worship, the burden of God, the guidance of God. We've got to get it back in the church again. We've lost it. We grieved the Holy Spirit away. And you know what? I parked the car, walked in, walked into the prayer meeting. I can't even pray. I am there. I want to burst out crying. I walked into the church and they began to sing the first song. I forced myself to stand, to sing with joy, to clap my hands. I barely made it to the end of the first song. And I fell on my knees, turned around at my seat, and I began to weep and weep and weep. I don't know what's going on. And for 30 minutes, they worship God with their happy songs while I am broken. I don't know what's going on. My spirit is utterly grieving and sorrowful. And I went, I'm going to preach. They had the Lord's table. I barely managed to sit in the seat to break bread, barely. And I went, how am I going to preach this morning? I went, I felt like I wanted to prophesy. It was New Year's Sunday. And you know what? Preachers from that city had gathered. There were more preachers than normal there. And I knew God had them there. And I went, I can't even begin preaching until I deliver a real word from the Lord direct to those men. I didn't know what was going to happen several months later, that they would destroy and kill a move of God. You'd be very glad that isn't the spirit I'm coming here this morning with that. But I want you to be aware we're dealing with spiritual things, spiritual movements. I don't play games with this. I am a servant of God. I don't tell him what I'm going to preach. I want the mind of God. We as a church, we want God to move in our midst. And if he begins moving, like I believe he wants to move, God help us if we hinder that or are ignorant of what God is doing or kill it at that hour. You'll never recover from that. You only get one chance usually. God help us. And so I'm coming. What I preached 18 years ago, it's more refined now, more substance now. It'll be more clear, but it won't have any more unction. I wish I had the unction of that day. It was unusual. And so we're going to, this is the title. Did I give you the title yet? No, I didn't. The title of my new series in this part one, and there's only one person online that's going to remember this message. Only one that I know of. It's called The Four Seasons of Life. What I put in one message, I'm going to at least put into five messages and I'm barely scraping this or touching it. The Four Seasons of Life, and you're going to understand where I'm going. Part one, this is my message this morning, very unusual title. Cherubims, a type of the redeemed. I'm going to take you to Ezekiel 1 and show you nine things about cherubims. Most of you don't know what a cherubim is, or you think of a cherub, a little tubby, small angel. That's got nothing to do with what I'm going to deal with. I'm going to show you. But cherubims are very prominent in this chapter, and I'm going to show you nine things about cherubims that are a message for what a Christian ought to be. You want to know what a real Christian is? I'll tell you this morning. Anything else is way off God's scale and scope. It doesn't even get in. This is the real. Let's read together Ezekiel 1 verse 4. And I looked and behold a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud and a fire enfolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures, and this was their appearance. They had the likeness of a man, and every one had four faces. Every one had four wings. Feet were straight feet, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot, and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides, and they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to another, and they turned not when they went. They went every one straight forward. As for the likeness of their face, they four had the face of a man, the face of a lion on the right side, and they four had the face of an ox on the left side. They four also had the face of the eagle, four faces. That's why I've called this the four seasons of life. Thus were their faces and their wings were stretched upward. Two wings of every one was joined one to another, and two covered their bodies, and they went every one straight forward. Whether the spirit was to go, they went, and they turned not when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps. It went up and down among the living creatures, and the fire was bright. And out of the fire went forth lightnings, and the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you, God, that we're not dealing with man or religion or churchianity or custom or any other thing. We're dealing with a living God, a God of fire, a God of flame, a God who is a spirit, a God who is eternal, a God who created all things, a God who is everlasting in nature, a God who is loving and kind and gracious, a God of wrath, a God of judgment, a God who is real, a God who speaks, a God who changes, a God who touches our life, a God who even comes to indwell us and inhabit us, a God who comes and walks in the midst of the aisles of the church. And, O God, I pray, nor, God, will you save, will you sanctify, will you heal, will you deliver, will you change, nor, God, will you allow your voice to be heard amidst the wings of these cherubims, nor, God, we're praying, O God, nor, God, stir us with a heavenly vision, stir us, O God, with knowing your desire. O God, let your Holy Spirit come on individuals in this room, nor, God, the like of which they have never experienced before, the dealings of the real Holy Spirit, nor, God, to feel your heart, to feel your power, to know the intents of your mind. In Jesus' mighty name. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. And so my message, part one here, cherubims, a type of the redeemed. These creatures that we have just read about in Ezekiel chapter one are cherubims. In Ezekiel one it doesn't say they're cherubims, it calls them living creatures. But if you went over to Ezekiel chapter 10 and 15, listen to what Ezekiel writes. And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creatures that I saw by the river Jabar. Then in verse 20 he says, this is the living creation that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Jabar. And I knew that they were the cherubim. So what he saw in chapter one, he says in chapter 10, I knew these were cherubim. These living creatures that I saw, he calls them cherubims. You know, in the Bible you have much talk of angels, hundreds, thousands, hundreds, millions of angels. A few of them we get their name. Angels don't have wings. Seraphims have wings. Cherubims have wings. And in the Bible we only read of four cherubims in the entire Bible distinctly. We never see more than four together at a time. But angels are distinct from cherubims. Cherubims are an angelic creature. And you're going to see it here in Ezekiel chapter one from verse 14, we're going to deal with these cherubims. You've got a remarkable picture of these cherubims. Then after those verses from verses 15 to 25, listen to what else you have. Not only a vision of these four cherubims, but from verse 15 to the end of the chapter, you have a vision of the chariots of the cherubims or the throne chariots of God. Do you know there's chariots of fire the Bible talks about? The Bible talks about the cherubim riding on chariots. This is a very, very real thing that we're looking at here. We actually see here something very real. And I believe as we look at these cherubims, they are real creatures. They are angelic creatures. They are supernatural creatures that worship in the presence of God, that abide in his glory. Can you imagine abiding in the glory? Do you know why there's so little reality in the church is because there's very little glory. You know, when someone has the glory upon them, there's weeping and brokenness and a sensitivity. Show me a Christian, no sensitivity. There's no glory. They have no awareness of the moving of God or the voice of the spirit of God. They're utterly oblivious and they're trying to live their Christian life. That's horrendous. That is not the will of God. Listen to what Jesus says. You might say, why use cherubims to preach? Why do that? Well, Jesus done it. In Matthew chapter 22, Jesus was asked a question about the resurrection. Seven brothers, a silly parable, a story to catch them out about seven brothers. The seven brothers marrying the same lady, they each kept time. Whose wife will she be in the resurrection? They're trying to catch them out. Religious people play silly religious games with their words. You don't want to do that. If it gets in your spirit, it'll destroy you. Listen to what Jesus said. Matthew 22, 30. For in the resurrection, talking about the angels, they neither, sorry, talking about men, redeem men who die. They neither marry nor are given in marriage. Sorry, ladies. But are as the angels of God in heaven. So when Jesus tries to explain what we are going to be like in the future state, what does he do? He said, it's like being like the angels. Let me show you what the angels are like, because I want to show you how we're going to live. Do you know what I'm going to do here in nine points? I want you to see the cherubims. Cherubims are real creatures. They're in the presence of God right now. They're real. But I want to use them as a picture so you can understand these nine things about a real Christian, because Jesus uses them as an example. Or look at Ezekiel here in chapter 1, verse 5. It says, and this was their appearance. What did the cherubims look like? What was their appearance to the human eye? They had the likeness of a man. So the cherubims, when you look at them, they are like the man. They're definitely like men. There's certain things about these cherubim. They've got wings. They've got strange faces. They've got strange feet. And yet, when you look at them, they definitely, you can see a man in these cherubims. So Jesus used the angels in heaven to teach you. Also here, we see the cherubims. When you look, you see a man. And I want to show you the man, a Christian in the cherubims. They have the appearance of a man when you look at them. Yet there's many strange things that are hard to describe and to define. In this chapter, Ezekiel 1, we read the word appearance. It talks about their appearance. That word is used 15 times. It talks about their likeness 10 times. So look at this, 25 times in a few verses, it talks about their appearance, their likeness. When you look at them, what do you see? This is very important. He uses two different Hebrew words, appearance and likeness, so you understand the shape of them, the form of them, how they appear. This is very important. He has a message for you. God doesn't waste anything. If he shows us a vision of the cherubims, there is a message for you. It's not just some spiritual thing out there. There's something for you to learn and understand and to hear from God himself. So look at these four creatures. They're called four beasts or four living creatures. Do you know what they represent? This is for our series. I'm really going to start getting into this next week. I'm only laying a foundation here this morning. The four beasts represent four different, distinct, totally different seasons of life. This is my series. Winter, spring, summer, and autumn. God has set the seasons in our world. He has absolute sovereignty. He has a purpose. Why did God give four seasons in creation? And even with all that man has done, we still have four semi-distinct seasons these days. They are clear. They are there. Four seasons. God set them in place. You know why? Each season has a different purpose. You may like to stay in summer. It would destroy you and destroy our country. You may like winter. You don't want to stay there always or we're going to have serious problems in our culture. So God has a purpose. Notice as well with these four creatures, in verse 6 there's four faces. There's the lion, there's the ox or a calf, man, and eagle. Four different faces representing four different seasons of life. And we're going to deal with them in the four coming weeks. One for each of these. But here I want to bring you to these cherubims of a type of Christian. A born-again Christian. Someone who really knows God. I mean a real Christian. Not a wannabe. Not a duck that's barking. Not strange creatures of the night. I'm talking about a Christian who's a real Christian. Let's define it. There's nine things here I want to give you about these creatures. Number one, they're called living creatures. These cherubims, this is the mark of them. And this is what the Bible wants to emphasize. When you look at these cherubims, they're living creatures. Some people call themselves Christians. When I look at them, they're dead. Their faith is dead. There's no good works. There's no obedience. No holiness. You know what? They claim it. They have head knowledge. They have testimonies. But they're dead. When I look at them, they're spiritual death. Not when you look at a cherubim. I assure you, you're not going to think a cherubim if it appeared to you tonight or this morning. You will be scared out of your wits. You're going to go, I just encountered a living creature. There's nothing dead about it. It's moving, speaking, active. It's alive. Are you alive? Are you spiritually alive? Are you dead in your sin? If you're dead in your sin, you can't even live this Christian life. You can't even know this God. You can play religion, but you do not know this God. The first thing about them is they're living creatures. And a Christian is a living creature, I want to tell you. In Ezekiel 1 verse 5, it calls them, out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. This was their appearance. And they had a likeness of a man. I'm looking for Christian men and women who have the appearance of life. When you look at them, you see life, spiritual life, real life. The word used there for living creatures, it means to be alive, to be alive. It means to be fresh. You're not old. Some Christians are worn out. Oh, it's been so hard, so long. I'm so weary. I'm barely going to make it. You used to have life. Where is the life? You see, when I look at these cherubim, it's not only that they were alive, they are alive. They are fresh. This life is fresh. Is your spiritual life fresh or has it grown stale and dead? These cherubims have a message for you. You're to be alive this morning, Christian. You're born again, washed in the blood, forgiven. Christ liveth in you. You should be alive. Alive in Christ Jesus. Alive unto God. It's a terrible testimony. When we see a Christian who is dead, their testimony is dead. No life, nothing to speak about. When after church, you get a bunch, in most churches, thank God we never allowed it here. You get a bunch of Christians after service, you close the service and they're talking about sport. You know why? They're dead. They'll talk about everything. They can talk an hour about anything. Suddenly you bring it on to spiritual subjects. They're silent. They've got nothing to say. No personal testimony. What did Jesus do in your life this week? Don't know. What did God speak to you this morning when you were alone with Him, preparing to come into the house of God? What did He speak to you? What did He speak to you this week? What did He deal with in your heart? Oh, I don't know. Then your God is dead. I want to tell you these cherubims are a burning flame of fire. They have a voice. They have movement. They have purpose. It not only means to be alive and to be fresh. It also means to be strong. That's what life is. You have a strength within you. It is very vibrant, very real. It says in Revelation 4 and 6, speaking about these four creatures again, and in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes, four and behind. When you go over to Revelation, see you find them at the gate of Eden. When man is put out of Eden, two cherubims are put there with a flaming sword to stop man going in there. When you get to Ezekiel, you see them. When you go through the Bible to Revelation and you see the throne of God, you see these four same beasts there in the presence of God. You know what? They are alive. In Revelation 4, they're called four beasts, which is four living creatures. The word beast there for cherubims is different than the beast talking about Antichrist or the man of sin, the beast that rises up out of the sea or the beast that rises up out of the land. That is a ferocious animal. But the word beast used for these creatures means something alive. It is burning with spiritual life. So you've got to make sure that you draw a distinction. It says in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creature. You don't learn Christianity. You don't get educated into it. You don't ease your way in. You become a new creature through being born again. Have you been born again? Are you in your sin? You know, some people go, today I live for Christ, tomorrow for the world. Today I'm a Christian. Saturday night, I live for the devil. Then Monday morning, I'm back in the world. You're confused. You can't be that. If any man is in Christ, he's a new creature. I am not that old person. I am not the sinner I used to be. I'm not the blasphemer and the liar. I'm not the rebel against God. I am a new creature, an entire new creature. You know what you are? You're a living creature. I know a Christian when I meet them, and I know someone who likes to think of themselves as a Christian, and they're not. The mark of them is real spiritual life. There's a new nature, a new desire. There's a different person. They're not acting and thinking and doing like a sinner. If you quack, waddle, flutter around, you're a duck. A lion doesn't waddle around quacking. I want to tell you, I've never seen a lion quack, never in my entire life. It's utterly impossible. And you know what? A Christian without a new nature and without life, it is utterly impossible. If you're in Christ, you are a new creature. All things have passed away. Behold, all things are become new. The drunken state has gone. The drugs have gone. The immorality has gone. Oh, you're not perfect. No one is. I'm dealing with issues in my heart, I want to tell you. But you can't be lion drunk and call yourself a Christian. That's utterly impossible. This is the first mark of the cherubims. They're living creatures. So is a real Christian. You're either alive or you're dead. There's no in between. Are you alive in Christ or are you dead? If I saw a cherubim, I'm going to get scared. I go, I saw something alive, vibrant. It's living. I'm not confused over it. When you meet a Christian, I know their spiritual life. They want to talk about the Lord. They want to seek after the Lord. They're inquiring after the Lord. Number two, found at the throne of God. It says over in Revelation, I'm going to go back and forth between Ezekiel 1 and Revelation, because Revelation 4, 5, 6 talks about these same creatures, cherubims. Revelation 4 and 6. And before the throne, there was a sea of glass like on the crystal. And in the midst of the throne, or right at the heart of the throne, or in the middle of the throne, and round about the throne, there were four beasts. Notice where you see these four beasts, right at the heart of the throne of God. They are familiar. They want to be central at the throne of God. This is where they live. They dwell. They abide. This is their home. This is where they're familiar with. It's not a place they go to once in a year. It's not a place that they're bored standing around. You can't do that at the throne of God. These creatures, these living creatures are right in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, they're gathered there. You know what? The throne is the center, not them, not their ministry, not anything about them, not their needs. As they gather together, they surround the throne of God. It's all about God's throne. That is their entire focus. You know what this represents? Kingdom life, or a life of prayer. They are in the presence of God. They desire to be in the presence of God. A Christian who doesn't desire. I'm not talking about being in church or singing songs. You desire to be in the presence of God. We could have a meeting and not have the presence of God. You could sit in church, two people, two Christians in church. One of them's met with God this morning. The other one hasn't. I wonder why. One gets touched of God, the other doesn't. One gets filled with the Spirit, the other one doesn't. I wonder why. It's because someone pressed into the presence of God. They're in the same building. Listen, are you familiar with the throne of God? Is the throne of God in your Christian life what is central? Or do you think God's throne is there to serve you? That God's throne surrounds you? That God is going to focus on your life? All you are is a person, a Christian, saved by the grace of God. You know what? Your entire focus ought to be the throne of God. It is the place of prayer. Listen to what it says in Hebrews 4.16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace and help to help us in time of need. Are you in trouble? Do you need help? Do you need God's grace? Are you facing temptation? Are you going through trials? Are you discouraged? Do you feel like your heart's getting cold? When's the last time you went to the throne of grace? When's the last time you pushed everything aside and for one hour you got in a room, no mobile, no Facebook, no face chat, no checking your phone every five minutes, and you locked the door. This would be a nightmare for some people. You know what you could be? You know like you'll get a heroin addict or a weed addict or a food addict. Now for the first generation we've got mobile online addicts. Do you know how I know if you're an addict or not? You can't help yourself. You keep looking, checking. Nobody's messaged you in five minutes. Just checking. Check a month. They might have. Five minutes later, check. Uh-oh. Some addicts look at your faces. Better watch it. Can't even pray. You're more familiar with your online presence which centers around you than the throne of God. That's dangerous. Alarm bells. No wonder you don't have grace of God. You know why? You've got to go to the throne of grace to find mercy and grace in time of trouble to help you. And you're there going, I'm struggling in my Christian life. I wonder why. When's the last time you fasted for three days? When's the last time you locked yourself into prayer? I'm going to pray for an hour. That would kill some people. You know what? You're an addict. You're utterly distracted. These cherubims live there. The throne is at the center. They abide around the throne of God. In Hebrews 12 verse 2, it says, but ye as a Christian are come to Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You don't go there physically. You don't see it with your eyes. But it's talking about prayer. As you approach God, you come to the new Jerusalem. When's the last time you're at the new Jerusalem? I hope you were during this meeting. I hope you were this morning. Have you come right into the presence of God through the blood of Jesus, a blood-sprinkled way? Have you come into the new Jerusalem? And listen to what it says, where there is an innumerable company of angels. You may say, I've never seen an angel. Neither have I. Only in my dreams when God sent a message to me. But you can literally enter into a place where there are so many angels, you couldn't count them if you've seen them with your eye. To the general assembly and church of the firstborn. I belong to this church. Make sure you're a member of this church. Not LCC. You could end up in hell from LCC. But there's a church you come onto at the throne of God. Only those that abide at the throne of God, who are familiar with God in prayer, are members of this church. It's the church of the firstborn. You're born again. You're in Christ Jesus. Are you a member of that church? Some people aren't even members of churches down here. God help them. They're so confused. And to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant. Third of all, these cherubim are full of eyes. It says in Revelation 4 and 8, and the four beasts were full of eyes within them. Wonder what that symbolizes. They are filled with, are you filled with eyes? These creatures were filled with eyes. Not outwardly, inside they were filled with eyes. What point is there in having eyes filling you inside? Again, in Ezekiel 1 verse 18, it talks about that they were full of eyes round about the four of them. So not only in them, inside them were they filled with eyes, but in around the four of them, they are surrounded with eyes. Both of these things. What do eyes represent in the Bible? What are they symbolic of? According to Zechariah chapter four and verse 10, eyes represent the spirit. When it talks about the seven eyes, it means the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And so here, these living creatures, they are filled with eyes. They have eyes in around them. You know what it's talking about? Being full of the Holy Spirit of God. When you go to the Bible, all you find constantly with the early church, the preachers, the deacons, the members, the leaders, they're all filled with the Holy Spirit. Not that they once got filled back there. They're full of the Holy Ghost. One filling of the Holy Ghost is never enough. Remember on the day of Pentecost, 120 men, it was the first church. It was made up of young children, older believers, some preachers, some who were very fragile, very weak, not called to ministry. They worked in the fields. An entire church in one day, in Acts chapter two, were filled with the Holy Ghost. Where are the spirit filled churches in these days? Where every member is filled with the spirit. You could be here and say, oh, it's okay for Keith. It's okay for someone else. It was okay for Candace Malcolmson. She was filled with the spirit. Why do you think she done some of the things she done? It came out of being filled. You see, if you're not filled, it's going to come out of your mind, your intellect, your thought process, your knowledge, and it'll stink. It'll actually have a ding, ding, because there's no spirit. It's just going through the motions. You know what? You need to be filled with the spirit. There's times where I know the spirit of God comes. I don't even know what's going to happen next. I don't know what's going to get said next. I know that the spirit of God is here. The early church was filled with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 6, choose you out seven men, set them aside. Why? Hand out bread to the widows. We don't want bickering and fighting. Jimmy, it's your job. You're going to feed the widows. What's the qualification? Smart aleck talk? A bit of banter with the ladies? No, you've got to be full. Oh yes, it was on the day of Pentecost. Oh no, you better be full now. Are you full of the Holy Ghost? When's the last time you were filled with the Holy Spirit of God? Are you excusing yourself saying, oh, it's not for me. God hasn't chosen to fill me yet. Your theology is really messed up. You didn't get it in the Bible. You see, these cherubim are full of eyes. So is the real church. It is full of eyes. It is filled with the Holy Spirit. We need a moving of the Holy Spirit. Look at Barnabas, a man full of the Holy Ghost. Look at Peter, a man full of the Holy Ghost. Look at Paul, a man full of the Holy Ghost. If you begin to follow that term in the book of Acts, every time you find someone full of the Holy Ghost, something happens. God speaks, someone gets saved. Someone actually does the will of God. Someone gets stoned. You know you need to be filled with the Holy Ghost to get stoned and left on a highway dead, takes the power of the Holy Ghost. Fourth of all, these cherubims have wings. What do the wings represent? Ezekiel 1, verse 6, and everyone had four faces and everyone had four wings. Each cherubim had four wings, not only four faces, four wings. Ezekiel 1, verse 8, and they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides. In Ezekiel 10, 21, everyone had four faces apiece and everyone had four wings and the likeness of the hands of a man were under the wings. Now what do the four wings of a cherubim represent for you? What's it saying to you here this morning? The wings represent, remember what wings do, it's going to lift you off the earth. You walk with two legs on the earth, you're earthbound unless you get in a plane, jump off a cliff, be in a hand glider or some other crazy thing. Do you know what it represents? The heavenly life. When you have four wings, you're not earthbound anymore, you're not fixed on this earth. And notice these four wings, they began to ascend into the presence of God. These wings represent Christians who can ascend into the presence of God. They are not earthbound, it's talking about a heavenly life. Is the life you're living, is it very carnal, very worldly, very natural, very unsatisfying, very religious, very traditionally bound? Are you living out a heavenly life? I want to see your four wings today. You see, if you've got four wings, you are not bound by this earth. You know what this world says, you're just a man, you can't get free of sin, you can't get free of lust, you can't run beyond other men, you're a man, you're a sinner. If you were a sinner, you'll always be a sinner. That's not true. These four wings show that a real Christian can have a heavenly life, not bound by this world or tradition. Notice the hands, under each wing they have a hand, it looks like man's hand. What does a man's hand do? It works, it does things. But notice these hands are hidden under each of the wings. So it means that the work of these cherubims, the work of their hands is submitted to or underneath the wings, the heavenly life. Those wings are supreme, it's a heavenly life, it's a spiritual life, it is God's life. You are living a heavenly life here on earth. But you know what, it's not your hand, it's not your power. There's something about spiritual people, they get a power to live a spiritual life. There's something about it, it's not the work of their hands. Remember what it says in the New Testament, in Philippians chapter 3 and 20, for our conversation, it means our lifestyle, how we live our life as Christians. How do you live your life as a Christian? Our conversation, our lifestyle is in heaven. Can I ask you, do you have four wings? Do you have a heavenly life? Is your lifestyle lived in heaven or is it in your own living room? There's something about a Christian that suddenly they live their life, their lifestyle, their talk, their decisions, how they operate here is actually a heavenly life. It's not earthbound, it's not carnal, it's not fleshly, but it's actually empowered by the spirit of God that they can dwell in heaven, yet they're walking on earth, they're speaking on earth, but really it's in heaven. Are you conscious of heaven? Are you conscious that every conversation you have with other Christians who fear God gets recorded in heaven? Do you know that? Every single, it says it Malachi, a book of remembrance is being written by an angel. Do you know your conversation together at lunchtime today, as we sit and eat together, is so important that if two men or women or a man and a woman sit at this table and talk about the things of God, there's an angel standing by recording the words. Does your conversations get wrapped up in the bin? Here's a big cherubim, another wasted hour. Or is the angel standing there going, boy, what conversations? It's either recorded or it's in a scrap heap for eternity. And so we see these wings. We're to have a life lived in heaven. You know, I grew up with a statement, some older dried up prunes of Christians. You know those ones, they're backslidden, but they stock up everything in the church. They'll be there for the next 30 years. They're backslidden, they're nowhere with God. I used to hear them when I was young, young Christian, this is what they would say. You can be too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good. Do you know what I used to say? I've never met them. Never met the people who are so spiritually minded that I've never met them. But I've met a lot of Christians who are so earthly minded, they have no spiritual good. God can't use them. Do you know those old dried up prunes, I'd meet them in that time and they'd come along and they're an elder in a church, fully qualified, 22 qualifications, I'm sure. No restriction on their talk or their eating habits or their fellowship. What an example to a young Christian like me. And this dried up prune of an elder, do you know what they'd say? I used to be like you once. You'll soon be like me, you'll soon lose that. They're in the church, they'll never be here. God help, you better tell me if that ever happened. Ezekiel chapter 1, 11, thus were their faces and their wings were stretched upward, two wings, every one were joined one to another and two covered their bodies. What did they do with this heavenly life? Two wings cover their bodies. They don't want to be seen. That's the mark of the heavenly life. Not me, Christ being seen in all of his glory. What happened to the other two wings? They joined up with the other cherubims. In other words, these wings were joined with others in a very real way. Here's another interesting thing about these wings. In Ezekiel 1, look at it, verse 24. And when they went, when they moved, when they went somewhere, when they were on a mission, I heard the noise of their wings. Notice the wings, the heavenly life has a noise. What is the noise of their wings? When their wings begin to move, when their heavenly life, when they're moving in the heavenly life, what is the noise? Like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of a host. When they stood, they let down their wings and then there was a voice from heaven. If you realize those who are spiritual, who move in a spiritual life, walk in a spiritual life, when you look at them, you hear a voice, their wings create a voice. You know what voice it is? It is God speaking to you. Have you ever listened to an audio of a man on fire for God? Or you read a book or you watch someone in the church or someone passes through and you see a heavenly life? Do you realize God speaks to you in the midst of that? I've listened to old audio cassettes and I'm telling you, God spoke to me as I listened to that man or that woman. I went, there is a heavenly life. It convicts me. It makes me to cry out to God. Oh God, fill me afresh. There's something about the moving of the wings of a heavenly life, where the voice of God resounds out of it. I'm against dead spirituality, where there's no voice of God. No voice of God. You know what? We need a heavenly life in this church, where people come and they go, I hear God speaking to me. Do you know when they stand still then? They're just there at home. They're not moving. There's no voice coming out of the wings. And when they just stand silent, it says then the heaven's open and there's a voice from heaven. God's speaking. Those who walk in the heavenly life, when they get quiet, utterly quiet, God speaks to them. Number five, continual praise and worship. The cherubims never stop worshiping. We read of these four creatures over in Revelation chapter four and six, and they rest not day and night. How do they worship and praise God? Saying, holy, holy, holy. You know there's a lot of Christians now don't like holiness in the church. A lot of preachers don't preach holiness. A lot of worship teams, they don't dress holy. Why would I think their songs mention the word holy? Young girls with their tight clothes, flashing lights, their loud, eccentric music, and they're going to sing to me about holiness? No way. I tell you, just like a preacher has to be what he preaches, a worship leader better be. If those young ladies on the platform aren't modest, don't tell me you're worshiping God. You're not. You're not even scared to cover your body. Or should I say you're not scared enough to cover your body. You're in the presence of God. Is there no awareness of modesty? See these creatures, these cherubim, they constantly, day and night, do you praise God? Or is it a Sunday morning thing? You go, I'm not much of a singer, so I don't sing or praise or worship. You're a dead duck. Give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. You're a leech. I just want God to give me, make me happy, make sure I get to heaven, make sure I get the right job, the right boyfriend, girlfriend, the right pay rise, the right house, have no problems, have no heartache, remove all problems. I'm not going to worship him day and night. That's too, who can live like that? What, in your day, is there no place to stop and say, thank you, Jesus. I've lost my wife and buried her, and I can drive along in that car. I'm heartbroken. I go, thank you, Lord. I worship you. You saw me from within 30 minutes of her leaving her body. I'm here worshipping the Lord. At her bedside, I fell and worshipped. Worship is not an emotion. It's not a habit. Worship is a submission to God. That's the difference between praise is vocal, visible, outward. Worship is simply saying, I'm submitted to you. This is worship. Not flesh and light, not atmosphere. Worship is submission to the most high God. These living creatures constantly, notice what they have in their songs. First of all, his holiness is in their praise. You're holy, holy, holy. Your praise should be dominated, our singing should be dominated by the holiness of God. Not just his love, not his grace, holiness. You know, if we really sing God was holy, we would run to his love and we had run to his grace. Someone who emphasizes love and grace, but not holiness, they're lopsided. Make sure you see him in his holiness, then you'll have all the love that you need. Also, what they say here is, he also sings the Lord God almighty, the almightyness of God. He's got all power. Also his unchangeableness, who is and which is to come. He's always there. He's the eternal God. If you go to Revelation 5, you see these four creatures constantly praising, singing about worthy is the lamb. In Revelation chapter 7, again, we read about the four beasts falling on their face to worship God. Have you ever done that? Got down on your face? Maybe it was in a meeting or an altar call or at home. It's okay if you're embarrassed and maybe a bit shy, that's fine. So when have you done that at home where you're so in awe? So I want to know, do you worship or merely sing songs? Do you praise him and adore him? Are you merely doing something on a Sunday morning? Do you ever get down on your face, submitted before him and said, I worship you, I love you, I adore you. My entire life is yours. Or would that be mere words? Do you know all through the Bible we're told, shout aloud when you praise God, clap your hands, lift your hands. Some churches you're not allowed to do anything. It's not the church of the firstborn. There's a freedom. Do you know if you've never lifted your hands in church, you need to. If you're so shy that you feel embarrassed doing that. Well, why are you embarrassed? Why? Because it's all of you. You're self-conscious. You're not God conscious. I was the most self-conscious person you would ever meet. Remember, I was shy. Don't know where that went. Timid, fearful. Really, I'm all these things still, very innately. But somewhere you go, he has to take predominance. The sixth thing, their walk. Look at verse seven of Ezekiel chapter one. This is very important. There's three things it says about their walk here. And their feet were straight feet. That's the first thing. Straight feet. Look at their walk. Their feet are straight feet. Are your feet straight feet? The word straight there, when you look it up, it means to be right or upright. I love the German language and certain aspects. And this is something I picked up from many years ago. The Germans, when they talk about someone walking wholly or walking right, they say they walk straight. I love that. I love it. It's Ezekiel chapter one. So someone, if you walk straight, you're walking right. You're walking wholly. When it said the cherubim have straight feet, it's saying they've got wholly feet. Where they put their feet, how they walk is right. It is upright. It is a wholly walk. How they live their life in this world. Also, it says something else. And the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot. Isn't that strange? Not only straight feet. What's a calf's foot like? Have any of you seen a calf's foot? It's split. A calf, a cow, it's actually split. Now this is very, very important. I want you to listen for a second. So it's not only straight, it is actually split. Their walk is split. The sole of their foot is like a calf's foot. Do you know in Leviticus, you go into the Old Testament, you've got a whole long list of clean and unclean animals. You know, some people in the church say we have to keep the food laws. They're scared of eating a ham sandwich. And they think if they ate a ham sandwich, they're breaking the food laws and they're disobeying God. And if it's good for a Jew, it would be good for you. Pig rashers aren't good for you. Bacon isn't good for you. Sausages, I love sausages. They're not good for you. They bring you out in spots and other things. I want to tell you, they're not good for you. What's good for a Jewish body is good for yours. But if you think all that teaching is about you not eating a ham sandwich, you don't know what this is about. Do you know when it talks about clean and unclean animals, it's talking about people. Remember Peter on the day of Pentecost, there's a blanket let down with all of these animals, unclean animals. He says, eat them. I'm not going to eat them. They're all unclean animals. No, no, no, no, no. I'm talking about the Gentiles. I'm talking about people. All these are unclean. There's a message within it. And so what does a split hoof actually mean? What is a clean animal? Because it's talking about your walk being clean. It's split. That hoof is split. What's a clean animal? Two things with a clean animal. How do you identify a clean animal? It's got a split hoof and it chews the cud. In other words, what you eat is connected to how you walk. If you don't chew the cud but you have a split hoof, you're an unclean animal. In other words, if you eat good preaching but live wrong, you're unclean. Oh, I only listen the best of preaching. I eat good food. I come here. Amen, Brother Keith. But you don't live it. You're unclean. Or the other way, you don't chew the cud. You don't regurgitate it. And that's what chewing the cud is. You take the meal Sunday and you bring it back up and you begin to chew it. Clean animals do that. An unclean animal. Do you remember what I preached this morning? Give me a clue. A week's time, you haven't got a clue what the series is about. You need to be careful. Are you chewing the cud in this church? Is it a part of your life where you're just listening to messages? This is a way to tell. Are you regurgitating or is it all gone? Bring us another sermon. Bring us another meal. What about the others? Oh, I haven't got a clue. I hope everyone's listening how to judge biblically. Candice told you enough times. And even when she came back to check, you hadn't got time to do it. I know your time's very precious and all of you are doing so many important things, you couldn't do that. Using a touch of sarcasm. Their walk. So the split hoof. You regurgitate the food, you chew the cud and your hoof is split. Also, look what else it says here in verse 7 about their walk. And they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. Their walk was right. Their feet was like burnished brass as if it'd been in a fire. Remember Revelation chapter 1 talking about Jesus and his feet like onto fine brass as if they burnt in a furnace. You know how you know a real Christian? Look at their feet. You know, when Candice first met me, her dad had taught her. You know, a man, when you meet him, if you want to know what kind of man he is, look at his shoes. She looked at my shoes and I had well-polished shoes. Thank God. I wasn't aware of her looking at my shoes. She had a daddy who taught her. That guy looks after his shoes. You're on to something good. Boy, some of you are coming under conviction here. Jason is hiding his shoes under his seat right now. Shona is going to look at the shoes right after this service. Sorry, I should have told you this before. But you know what? These feet have been in fire. They've been in trials. They've come through many troubles. I look at a Christian. They've come through trials and temptation and tests. They're not a one-week wonder. They're at church. You won't see them for 10 weeks. Who are you? Oh, I'm a member of the church. What's your name again? Boy, I'm going for everyone here, so don't you worry about it. All of you will get dealt with before the end here. But these are real Christians, so they walk straight. They have a split hoof and their feet are sparkling. There's a testimony. I've walked through trials with Jesus. I've walked through troubles. I'm not a one-day wonder. I'm in this for the long term. Number seven, they're led of the Spirit. They're led of the Spirit. You know what? I'm going to stop here because I don't want to rush over and I don't want to lose. We're just going to continue next week. We're dealing with cherubims. And saints of God, I know there is a message. Cherubims, a type or a picture of the redeemed of the Lord. We need an awareness that these cherubims that appear to Ezekiel, God had a message of what a real Christian is, what the church is to be. And I want to tell you, when you see these creatures, these are not earthbound creatures. These are creatures of fire. They are alive and vibrant. They have the mark of God on them. I'm tired of the dead Christianity. I'm tired of preachers who are apostates. I'm tired of churches that don't even have basic order in place. I'm tired of worship and praise that is a million miles off God. And I want to tell you, we need to pray the heavens down for real worship to come down. It's not singing songs. You need to pray for, brother Suf, for a move of the Spirit of God as we sing and worship. We're not just putting a few songs together. We need a move of the Spirit of God. That's why when you get revival, you get new songs, you get inspiration, you get things happening. We need a move of God. We need the fire of God to ascend in our prayer meetings. We need to wrestle with God to say, it won't be a dead meeting. You need to pray like you have over this couple of days for brother Keith. Oh God, anoint him, help him. If he is overcome by his own thoughts and emotions, he's hindered. Saints, I know you prayed over these days. I know you prayed coming here for this preacher or else I wouldn't be preaching like this. I'd be hindered. I'd be heavy. It'd be hard. But you know what? There's an openness here because the Spirit of God is here. Are you satisfied where you are? Have you become stale? Have you become static? Have you become cold in heart? Have you forgot the fire, the life? Have you become satisfied in saying, I once had, I once was, I once knew. Is there a move of the Spirit of God? As brother Soph comes here, we're going to seek the Lord. Saints of God, this altar is open for a few moments. We're just going to pray together. If you need prayer, just come, kneel, stand in this hall. I want to pray for you here this morning. We want to see a move of the Spirit of God here this morning. Father, I pray, Lord God, in these few short moments, so God bring us to a standstill where we'd set aside everything that hinders and just worship you and praise you and adore you. Lord God, don't let us leave here the same. Let fire come upon us. Let the power of the Holy Spirit come upon us. Let fresh oil come upon us. Let an unction from heaven come upon us. My God, break in our prayer life and our worship and our lifestyle and how we function, how we fellowship together. Bring fire on this church, O God. Bring fire upon us as we drive our cars. Bring fire upon us as we walk in the high street, in the workplace, in our families, in our own homes, O God. O God, create such a longing this morning. We must have fire. The need of the hour is fire. O God, don't leave us as we are. Don't leave this preacher as he is. My God, I need a baptism of fire. I need a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit of God. O God, we need a sensitivity to your Spirit. We need a moving and a manifestation of the genuine gifts of the Spirit. O God, we look for your Holy Spirit to speak and to lead us and to guide us and to move in our midst. Lord, God, to change lives and to set people free in the name of Jesus. Amen. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/vE6gLGEsTHk.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/keith-malcomson/cherubims-a-type-of-the-redeemed/ ========================================================================