BRIDAL VEIL
When a bride meets her bridegroom on their wedding day she usually wears a veil, and at the wedding ceremony the veil is removed.

This means that:
· She is prepared and ready to meet the groom
· The time has finally come for her to spend the rest of her life with the groom
· She gives herself to him
· She places her trust in her bridegroom to care and provide for her

Has your veil been removed to meet your bridegroom, Jesus Christ?

A VEIL IS…
.. something that is suspended in front of something else to wholly or partially block the view
It covers and hides something.

2COR 3:12-18
We are not like Moses. He kept covering his face with a veil. He didn't want the people of Israel to see the glory fading away.
However, their minds became closed. In fact, to this day the same veil is still there when they read the Old Testament. It isn't removed, because only Christ can remove it. Yet, even today,
when they read the books of Moses, a veil covers their minds. But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. This Lord is the Spirit. Wherever the Lord's Spirit is, there is freedom. As all of us reflect the Lord's glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

SELF-EXAMINING
Let's ask ourselves this question: Is there a veil over my heart or over my face (my spiritual eyes) or over my mind today?

1. If you reject Jesus Christ, and the message of the Bible that He is the Saviour, the way, the truth and the life, or you have never accepted Him as your Lord into your life, there is a veil that is covering your heart.
2. There can also be a veil blinding the eyes of many believers. They read God's clear directions in Scripture, they hear them preached in church , yet they are not affected or changed by them. In fact, they continue doing the very things they know that is against God's Word.

BEHIND A VEIL THERE CAN BE:
· Darkness
· Blindness
· Fear
· Aimlessness
· Hopelessness
· Loneliness
· Self-centeredness
· Emptiness

WHAT CAN DRAW A VEIL OVER OUR HEARTS?
Let's look at a few things that can blind us, that can draw a veil like a curtain over our hearts and eyes:

· Unforgiveness
If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done. (Mat 6:14-15)

We are usually unwilling or slow to forgive people who offended or hurt us, who said bad things about us, who used or abused us, who stole our belongings or our ideas, who didn't pay us for our services. We like to keep a list of others' wrongs, we keep grudges; maybe we will forgive, but we say that we will never forget!

Jesus says in Luke 6:37: do not judge … do not condemn … forgive others - even seventy times seven!

If you keep a grudge, or are unwilling to forgive, it can pull a veil over your heart and blind your eyes to God's forgiveness.

· Hatred
When we do not love the people around us as the Bible tells us to do, it is as if you are walking around with a blind fold over your eyes. You will loose perspective, you will miss your purpose in life.

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God. (1John 4:7)

· Pride & self-righteousness
Pride can blind us to God's love and mercy. Pride turns our focus towards ourselves and not towards Jesus and the people around us.

And all of you must put on the apron of humility, to serve one another; for the scripture says, "God resists the proud, but shows favour to the humble." (1Pet 5:5)

· Worries and troubles
Worries can burden and bind you, so that you do not see that God is in control and that He knows all your needs and He cares for you.

So do not start worrying: 'Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?' (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. (Mat 6:31-32)

· Lies
Honesty can keep you safe, but if you can't be trusted, you trap yourself. (Prov 11:6)
Dishonesty does you no good, and telling lies will get you in trouble. (Prov 17:20)

Lies can be the veil that can put you into darkness, but the Bible says in John 8:32 that the truth will set you free.

IF THERE IS A VEIL …
· it binds you and hardens your heart
· it must be removed
· only Christ can remove it (Only Christ can take away the covering that keeps them from seeing - see 2 Cor 3:14)

WHENEVER A PERSON TURNS TO THE LORD, THE VEIL IS TAKEN AWAY
· Turn!
To turn to the Lord, means that you must "reverse course" - there must be a complete change in direction. There is always an open and serious invitation from God to turn to Him:

Turn to the LORD! He can still be found. Call out to God! He is near. (Isa 55:6)
When someone falls down, doesn't he get back up? If someone misses the road, doesn't
he turn back? (Jer 8:4-5)
Come near to God, and He will come near to you. (James 4:8)

· Only through the Holy Spirit
It is through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that the veil is removed. Let us make this our prayer: "God, I do such dumb things. I make such awful mistakes, get myself into terrible messes. Please, Lord -- clear them all up for me. I can't do it. Only you can."

Only the Holy Spirit can break down our lifelong way of seeing things through a veil. Only the Holy Spirit can turn us around and set us on God's course. We must also turn away from our own ideas and plans, and call on the Holy Spirit alone to lead and guide us.

· Be changed into His image
When the veil is taken away we will start to reflect the glory of God, we will be changed to be like Jesus. As a mirror, our faces will reflect a picture of Jesus .
But we all, with unveiled face giving back as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory.. (2Cor 3:18)

· Little by little
This change into Christ-likeness will be little by little. This process doesn't simply happen overnight. It takes place slowly... step by step... as we seek him and obey his Word, and as we constantly cry out to Him: "Change my heart, O God … may I be like You"
And the Lord-who is the Spirit-makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. (2 Cor 3:18)

WHEN THE VEIL HAS BEEN REMOVED …
· There is freedom
Now we can come freely into the presence of God, the Almighty, we can face Him in prayer.
We have, then, my friends, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus. He opened for us a new way, a living way, through the curtain---that is, through his own body. (Heb 10:19-20)

· There is light
We can now see God clearly, face to face. We have light and sight to move forward.

· We are transformed
The freedom and light that we receive when the veil is taken away, transform us into the image of Christ. Our face will shine with God's glory.