Veil of the Temple and the Veil of the Mind 1986

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.

Faith is being sure of things hoped for, certain of things not seen. 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 our Lord says, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see 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.

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold, to see the beauty of the Lord, the glory of the Lord, and to seek him in his temple, to see. From John chapter 9, verse 24 and following. 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 Jesus 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? How did he open your eyes? He answered, 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. 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, yet he opened my eyes.

We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone 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 you would teach us. He was born in utter sin because he was born blind, from their point of view. And they cast him out of the synagogue.

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 worshipped 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.

Jesus did more than remove the blindness from that man's eyes. Although he did that, the man could now see the trees, the sky, the grass, the human face. But Jesus did more.

The most significant thing that Jesus did in this was that he removed the veil that was lying over the man's mind so that the man could also see God. He made it possible for this man to have faith, to be sure of things hoped for, certain of things not seen, to hear God speak, to know God. And this faith absolutely and eternally transformed this man's life.

For this man, faith was not a matter of subscribing to certain doctrines or adhering to a religious routine. For this man, faith was a personal thing. It was being sure of things hoped for, certain of things not seen, because when this man looked into the face of Jesus, he saw the glory of God.

And the thing which made it possible for this to happen to this man was that Jesus tore the veil off his mind. Light poured in, and he heard this man say, you have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you. From that day to this, every person who has ever come to faith has come to faith because the veil lying over the mind was torn away.

Example, reading from Acts chapter 9, verse 1, 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 of Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now why was Saul breathing out threats against the disciples of the Lord? Because there was a veil lying over his mind. Saul was a religious man, an extremely religious man, but he did not know God.

He was blind to God. That's so often true of religious people. Now as he journeyed, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him.

And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what to do. 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 to Damascus, and for three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank. Now Saul is blind, can't see a thing.

He's in darkness. But in that darkness, the veil that lies over his mind starts to lift. His heart begins to become tender.

He starts moving toward repentance. There is a change going on inside his heart where all faith begins. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias.

The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias? And he said, here am I, Lord. Now this man has no veil lying over his mind. He can see the unseen.

He hears the voice of God. He listens and he understands. And he is led.

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. Here's the guy, all is blind right now, but he sees in his prayer a man named Ananias coming in, laying 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 Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy name. 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 Israel, for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.

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, and he arose and was baptized. The biggest issue in every one of our lives is the issue of faith.

Even if we've been following Jesus for years, this is still the issue. For every one of us, no matter how long we've been following Jesus, we know that there are some changes that must be made, that there is clutter which must come out of our hearts if we are to see, blessed are the pure in heart, though uncluttered in heart, but they shall see God. There is a need for cleansing, fire, zeal, vision, power, discipline.

All these things hinge on faith. There is a veil which lies over our minds, clouding our vision. That veil must be removed if we are to see without shadow and know without a doubt that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, that he is risen from the dead, the firstborn of the new creation, that he is indeed Lord, and that all men, women, and nations will not only have to bow the knee and confess his Lordship, but will give an account, as we will give an account, of our lives.

So how do we get rid of the veil? Reading from Exodus chapter 34, verse 29. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in his hand, as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he was talking with God. And when Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come near him.

See, Moses had no veil. Moses was able to look into the face of glory. So powerful was the glory into which this man looked that his own face shone with that glory as he came down from Mount Sinai.

And the people were afraid and turned away. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned. They must have been running.

And Moses talked with them. And afterward, all the people of Israel came near, and he gave them the commandment, in commandment, all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.

But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the veil off until he came out. When he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone, and then Moses would put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with God. Now this veil that Moses put over his face to make it easier for the people is a symbol, is a sign of the veil which lies over our minds.

See, there's something in us that draws back and that turns away from the glory of God. We're afraid of it, unless there's a veil to somehow make it easier, make it more comfortable. But in order to have faith, the veil must be removed.

And inwardly we often say, but is it safe? Can I dare to let that veil be removed? And there is in all of us, even in this age where we are so ignorant of the meaning of the holy, there is still a dread of the holy. And the answer is that the veil can be removed. In 2 Corinthians 3.12, 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. But to this day, when they read the Old Covenant, the 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 or woman turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the spirit to which we turn. The Lord to which we turn 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 changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another by the spirit of the Lord. When we turn to the Lord, the veil is removed.

Our eyes open every single time. And that is because God has already removed the veil from his side. There is a counterpart to this veil that lies over our minds.

And that counterpart was the veil in the temple separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place, which was like a symbol of the angel with a flaming sword guarding the way to the tree of life, guarding the doorway to paradise. But when Jesus died, that veil was torn away from God's side. Now from the sixth hour, Matthew 27, 45, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.

About the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, that is, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of the bystanders hearing it said, this man's calling Elijah. One of them at once ran and took a sponge and filled it with vinegar, put it on a wreath and gave it to him to drink. But others said, wait, let's see whether Elijah will come to save him.

Jesus cried again with a loud voice and healed it up his spirit. And when he died, behold, the curtain of the temple, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The guilt that caused the people to draw back when they saw the glory of God on the face of Moses, the guilt that causes us to turn away and make all kinds of excuses and close all kinds of doors when the light of God begins to come in and search our hearts.

That guilt was removed from God's side when Jesus died. He took our guilt, laid it on himself, ripped out his own heart in his son and washed our guilt away in his blood, died our death in our place. Now, with boldness, we can indeed, if we will be open, come to the presence of God.

We can. And we can look into that glory and be transformed by that glory. To this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies over the mind.

When a man turns to the Lord, that veil is removed. When a man or woman turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Who removes it? God removes it.

We turn, God takes the veil away. We turn to the Lord, God opens our eyes. We turn to the Lord, God gives us faith.

So what does it mean to turn? When a man turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. It means three things. Easy to remember.

It means to confess, to commit, and to continue. Confess, commit, continue. First of all, to turn to the Lord means that we confess the sin that his light uncovers and reveals.

When Moses met God at the burning bush, he was instructed to take off his shoes. And the taking off of his shoes was a confession of sin. When Elijah saw the glory of God, he cried out, Woe is me, I'm undone.

I'm going to die. I'm a man of unclean lips. And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.

Instantly, the man confessed his sin. Peter does the same thing. Get out of here.

Get away from me. I'm a sinful man, oh Lord. He confessed his sin.

The beginning of turning to the Lord is always confession of the sin that his light reveals. See, but what happens with most of us? And the more religious we become, the harder it seems to be for us. We, when the light comes in and begins to touch us and show the sin right there in our hearts, we harden.

We don't budge. In his mercy, the searchlight of God comes in and shows us what's there. And we pretend there's nothing there.

And go on about our business. Blind. God isn't coming in there to embarrass you.

He wants to save you. He wants to heal you. He wants to take the veil off your mind.

When you say, yes, Lord, I am an egotist. Yes, Lord, my heart is unclean. I'm phony.

I'm devious. I'm full of self-pity. I want everything to go my way.

God help me. God help me. Then the veil is lifted and the light of the glory of God begins to shine.

And we begin to seek. To turn to the Lord, secondly, means commitment. There's no way around it.

When they brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed them. To turn to the Lord is more than turning your face toward your TV set and watching The Evangelist. To turn to the Lord is to turn your whole life over to him.

Here am I. Send me, says Isaiah. Behold the handmaid of the Lord, says Mary. Let it be to me according to your will, according to your word.

Can you honestly say that you have committed your life, your mind, your body, your possessions? When they left everything and followed Jesus, that meant they put it at his feet. That meant they surrendered it. They gave it up.

They turned it over. Today. Today.

Don't wait until tomorrow. Do it today. Give it all to him.

If it means coming down to the altar rail, don't be ashamed. Do it. You don't want to do it in the service? Come after the service and let somebody pray with you.

But give your life over. Turn it over. The whole thing.

Everything. Give it to him. Give it to him.

Commitment. Finally, to turn to the Lord means to continue. If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.

When you give your life to the Lord, you don't just give in the present moment, you give in your future. You continue with him. You put some oil in your vessel with your lamp so that it will keep burning.

You set the mind and the heart for the long haul. Amazing how many people make the commitment and never make it over the long haul because either they don't understand or weren't taught or don't want to do it. They don't understand what it means to continue.

If you find your first love growing cold, if you find your heart beginning to feel lukewarm, you turn again. You get back to that first love. You stir up the gift that is within you.

And when you do this, the veil is lifted and you see the glory of God. Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, everybody's minds, apart from Jesus. But when a man turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

There is no excuse for us, any of us, to be walking around with a veil over our heads. We can be sure of things hoped for. We can be certain of things unseen.

We can see the unseen God. We can hear the voice of the living God. We can walk with him and talk with him and we can be his servants, his sons and daughters.

If we will turn. If we will confess the sin he's putting his finger on right now. If we will commit everything we are and have to him now.

And if we will continue with him. Then we, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, will be transformed into his likeness. In behavior, in thought, in deed.

From one degree of glory to another by the Spirit of the Lord. And we will walk that new road with a sure, a certain step. Sure of things hoped for.

Certain things not seen. Okay, let's just take time alone, just in silence and prayer. Just silence, silence.

Should there be anybody that needs the altar rail, come on up and somebody will pray with you. Let's just let the Spirit of God speak to us. Let the light of God search us.