THE NATURE OF SPIRITUAL LIFE -- Tomorrow:
"But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor 3:15-18, KJV)
Devotion 11 of 33
THE VEIL SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY
" . . . the veil shall be taken away."
Other versions read, "the veil is taken away" (NKJV), "the veil is removed" (NRSV), "the veil will be taken away" (BBE), "then the veil is taken away" (LIVING), "the covering is removed" (IE), "the veil will be withdrawn" (Weymouth), "the veil is stripped away" (Montgomery), and "the veil is stripped off and taken away" (AMPLIFIED).
Here is a most precious promise – an "exceeding great and precious promise" (2 Pet 1:4). When the heart is turned to the Lord, the obscuring veil "shall be taken away." There is no chance that this will not happen! A person cannot turn to the "Sun of righteousness" and remain in ignorance. When the heart is turned toward Him who is "the Light of the world," darkness can no longer prevail. The "veil" that keeps men from looking intently and steadfastly upon the Lord cannot remain over the heart when it is "turned to the Lord."
The "veil" does not simply fall off of the heart. It is not melted, so to speak, by the glory of the Lord. That is, it is not eliminated by some spiritually automated process. It is "taken away," deliberately "removed," OR "withdrawn," by the Lord Himself. Settle it in your mind, when a person turns to the Lord, this will surely take place – the obscuring veil will be removed! If the veil remains, the person has not turned to the Lord. I hardly see how this can be denied.
If the veil can remain upon the heart after the individual has turned to the Lord, then this promise is not true, and the Spirit of truth has lied. Such a thought is blasphemous, and is to be thrown down with our spiritual weaponry (1 Cor 10:4-5).
The seriousness of this matter is seen in the ignorance that prevails in the average American church. Scarcely a place can be found where there is a significant measure of "the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" – even though salvation provides for us to be "filled" with them! The "things of the Spirit of God" (Rom 8:5; 1 Cor 2:14) are not well known – in fact, there is altogether too little familiarity with them. It can be said of the modern church as it was of Israel, "I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing" (Hosea 8:12).
If it is true that when the heart is turned to the Lord "the veil shall be taken away," then the contemporary condition is totally unacceptable. An institutionalized church may be accommodating to such a condition, but God will not! It is a reproach to Christ when those who wear His name are fundamentally ignorant of His objectives and ways.
A veiled heart is one that cannot comprehend the things of God. It is one that cannot gaze steadfastly at the glory of the Lord – the glory by which we are transformed. It is a heart that has not been turned to the Lord, regardless of its profession. However, that very veil is removed when one turns to the Lord, and there are no exceptions to this rule!
THE EXPERIENCE OF THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH
If it is someone like the Ethiopian eunuch, perceiving in Scripture something that ought to be understood, yet is not, the person will say to a man of God, "How can I [understand], except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him" (Acts 8:31). He was turning to the Lord! Before the day had passed, the veil was lifted from his heart!
THE EXPERIENCE OF SAUL OF TARSUS
Who can forget the experience of Saul of Tarsus! When he was in the process of "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord," he encountered the very One to whom he had been blinded. He was seeking to find men or women who were Christians in Damascus, and "bring them bound to Jerusalem." Although he was an avid student of Scripture, a veil was upon his heart.
As he journeyed, "suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven." Falling to the ground, and smitten with blindness, he heard a penetrating voice cry out, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" Knowing this was no ordinary voice, Saul replied, "Who art thou, Lord?" The answer came back with crystal-clear clarity, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." Immediately, trembling and astonished, Saul responded, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:1-6). He was turning to the Lord, and in faithfulness, the Lord took away the veil from his heart. Within a few days, Saul was using the very Scriptures with which he was so familiar, preaching Christ "in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God" (Acts 9:20). It is said of this former Pharisee, "But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ" (Acts 9:22). The veil had been taken away from his heart!
MY OWN EXPERIENCE
I can vividly remember my own experience in this regard – when I began to see the Lord and His Christ in every page of Scripture. Suddenly the Bible was transformed from a reference book to food for the soul! I was no longer satisfied with the dull and lifeless analyses of men, ands the theological drivel that flows form the modern pulpit. Their canned explanations of Scripture seemed so dry. Now I was enthralled with the Scriptures themselves. There were precious morsels on every page. I saw correlations of Scripture I could never see before. Jesus was clearly seen in many types and shadows that were formerly seen only as imposed and cumbersome ordinances. The veil was being taken away.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for deliverance from an ignorance of You!