THE VEIL OF THE
AND THE VEIL OF THE MIND
Now faith is being sure of things hoped for, certain of things not seen.
For by it the men of old received divine approval. By faith we understand that
the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of
things which do not appear.
Hebrews 11:1-3
Faith is being able to see what cannot be seen with
the natural eye. God cannot be seen with the natural eye ... God is spirit ...
yet Jesus says,
"Blessed are the pure in heart for
they shall see God."
To have faith is to see the unseen God.....
....my soul thirsteth
for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and
thirsty land, where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have
seen thee in the sanctuary.
Psalm 63
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may
dwell in the house of the Lard all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of
the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
Psalm 27
So for the second time they called the man who
had been blind, and said to him, "Give God the praise; we know that this
man is a sinner." He answered, "Whether he is a sinner, I do not
know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see." They said to
him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered
them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want
to hear it again? Do you too want to become his disciples?" And they
reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where
he comes from."
The man answered, "Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where he
comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to
sinners, but if any one is a worshiper of God and
does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been
heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born
blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." They answered
him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they
cast him out.
Jesus heard that they had cast him out,
and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of man?" He
answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said
to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you." He said,
"Lord, I believe"; and he worshiped him. Jesus said, "For
judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that
those who see may become blind:" John 9:24-39
Jesus did more than
remove the blindness from this man's eyes. He did that indeed.
The man could now see
the sky,
the trees,
the grass,
a human face. But Jesus did more:
He tore away the veil that blinded this
man to God. Now this man has faith....
- he can see God,
- he can hear God speak,
- he can know God ... his life has been radically and
eternally changed.
For this man faith is not just
assenting to a set of doctrines, or conforming to a religious routine. Faith is
being sure of things hoped for, certain of things not seen. Because when he
looks into the face of Jesus, he sees God, he sees glory. And that vision puts
his feet on a new road.
And the thing that brought this man to
faith was that Jesus tore the veil off his mind and the light of God came
pouring in.
..."You have seen
him, and
it
is he who speaks to you."
Every person who has ever come to faith from that day
to this, has had the veil lifted from their mind.
But Saul, still breathing threats and
murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him
for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to
the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Acts 9:1-2
Why was Saul breathing threats
and murder against the disciples? Because a veil was over his mind. He was a
religious man but he did not know God ... he was blind
to God.
Now as he journeyed he approached
The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice
but seeing no one. Saul arose from the ground; and when his eyes were opened,
he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and
brought him into
Now Saul's eyes are blind, but the veil
is being lifted from his mind. His heart is humbled ... he is coming to
repentance.
Now
there was a disciple at
Ananias has faith .... no veil
covers his mind. He can see the unseen. He can hear God speak.
And the Lord said to him, "Rise and
go to the street called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for a man
of Tarsus named Saul; for behold, he is praying, and he has seen a man named
Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his
sight." But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about
this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at
But the Lord said to him, "Go, for
he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and
kings and the sons of
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying
his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to
you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight
and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales
fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized,
and took food and was strengthened.
Acts 9:11-19
Now Saul has the veil removed
from his mind as well as the scales from his eyes. He is sure of things hoped
for ... certain of things not seen. He has faith. He can see God, and he walks
a new road.
The biggest issue in each of our lives is the issue of
faith. Even if we have been following Jesus for years....
- we know that
there are changes that need to be made in our lives, clutter that needs to be
swept out of our hearts,
- we know there is
a need for cleansing,
fire,
zeal,
vision,
power.....
and all
this hinges on faith.
There is a veil that lies over our
minds that clouds our certainty. That veil needs to be removed so that we can
see without any shadows that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world .... that Jesus is risen from the dead the First-born of the new
creation .... that Jesus is Lord, and that all people, all nations, will not
only have to bow the knee and
confess his lordship, but will have to give an account of themselves to him.
How do we get rid of the veil over our minds so that
we can see clearly?
When Moses
came down from
Israel saw
Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near
him. Exodus 34:29-30
Moses had no veil over his mind
... he saw the unseen. So powerful was the glory into which Moses looked that
it was still shining on his face when he came down from Sinai, and the people
were afraid and turned away.
But Moses
called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to
him, and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the people of
This veil that Moses wore over his face
until the glory faded from it was a symbol of the veil that lies over our minds.
There is something in us that shrinks back and turns
away from glory ... unless the veil is there to hide it from our sight. But to
have faith, to see the unseen God, the veil must be torn away. Is it safe to
tear that veil away? Can we dare to let it be removed?
Since we have such a hope, we are very
bold, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might
not see the end of the fading splendor. But their minds were hardened; for to
this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.
Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when a man turns to the Lord the veil is
removed.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face,
beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one
degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the
Spirit.
II Corinthians 3:12-18
… When a man or woman turns to the Lord the veil is
removed ... when the heart turns, the eyes open. It happens without fail,
because God has already torn away the veil from his side.
Now from the
sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about
the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lamasabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?" And some of the bystanders hearing it, said,
"This man is calling Elijah." And one of them at once ran and took a
sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to him to
drink. But the others said, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to
save him." And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his
spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to
bottom.
Matthew 27:45-51a
The guilt
that caused the Israelites to cringe when they saw the glory on Moses' face
.... the guilt that causes us to shrink back when the light of God starts coming
near to us ... that guilt has been paid for by the Lamb's death. In Jesus'
death God takes our guilt and washes it away with his own blood ... dies in our
place ... so now, as we repent, we can be bold and let the veil that covers our
minds come off and look into the face of Jesus.
Yes, to this day
whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their minds; but when a man turns to
the Lord the veil is removed.
When a man, a woman, turns to the
Lord the veil is removed.
- Who removes it?
- God removes it.
- We turn,
- God gives faith.
- We turn,
- God opens our eyes.
So
what does it mean to turn to the Lord? (When a man turns to the Lord the veil is
removed.) To turn to the Lord means three things.
1. To confess.
2. To commit.
3. To
continue.
1. To turn to the Lord is to
confess the sin His light reveals.
- When Moses saw the holy, he took off his shoes ... a confession of
sin.
- When Isaiah saw
the holy, he confessed that he was a man of unclean lips.
- When Peter saw
the holy, he cried, "I am a sinful man, 0 Lord!"
Turning to the Lord begins with confessing what the
light reveals. But many of us, when the light comes to us and searches our
hearts, remain as stone ... we don't budge.
The search light of heaven has come in and uncovered
the sin, and we keep pretending it isn't there. God isn't trying to embarrass
you, he's trying to heal you, help you, remove the veil. When you say,
"Yes, Lord,
I am stubborn,
I am
self-righteous,
I am full of
vanity,
I am unclean,
I am addicted. 0 Lord, help me!"
Then the veil comes off and we begin to see God's
glory.
2. To turn to the Lord is to
commit our life to Him.
When they had brought their boat-
to land, they forsook everything and followed him.
They surrendered ... they put themselves into his
hands ... they turned themselves over to him.
It's not just your face that
needs to turn.. It's
your life ... Repentance means a break from the past --- abandonment to the
Lord.
"Here am I, send me!" says Isaiah.
"Behold, the handmaid of the
Lord," says Mary. "Let
it be to me according to your word."
Can you honestly say you've committed your life to the
Lord? Your body? Your mind? Your fears and dreams? Turn it all over. Lay it all at his feet, and the veil will
come off, and you will see God's glory.
3. To turn to the Lord is to
continue in His ways.
If you continue in my word you are truly
my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.
When you turn to the Lord, you don't just give him the
present moment.....
- you give him your future,
- you continue with him,
- you take some
oil in your vessel with your lamp, so it will keep burning,
- you set your mind and heart for the
long haul.
And when you find your first love
slipping away ... when you feel your heart growing lukewarm ... you turn again,
and continue.
- You stir up the gift. You come back
to your first love ... and the veil is removed and you
see God's glory.
Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read
a veil lies over their minds; but when a man turns to the Lord the veil is
removed.
There is no excuse for any of us to walk around with
that veil over our minds.
- We can be sure of things hoped for.
- We can be certain of things not seen.
- We can see the unseen God.
- We can behold
the glory of the living God in the face of Jesus,
if we confess
what his light reveals......
if we commit
our lives.....
if we continue......
.....we with unveiled face,
beholding the glory of the Lord, will be changed into his likeness from one
degree of glory to another......
and we will walk the new road with a sure and certain
step.