Veils that prohibit us from seeing the glory of God

Verse 5 of Second Corinthians Chapter 3, please state here: 'not that we are competent by ourselves to think of anything as ourselves, but that our competence comes from God, who likewise made us competent ministers of a new pact, not of the letter, but of the spirit; because the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. And we're going to skip to the last two verses. Verse 17 and verse 18.

'Because the Lord is the Spirit'. If you, by the way, those who knock on your door and those who try to convince you that Jesus Christ is something less than God and that Jesus Christ is something less than divine; this verse is final. The Lord is THE Spirit. With a capital "E". Mystery, Trinity, perhaps, but true, incontrovertible. And there it is in your hands, my brothers. Here when the spirit of God ministers, the Lord is ministering through his spirit. Amen. The Lord is the Spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Therefore we all looking with unveiled face as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, we are transformed.

We are transformed from Glory to Glory into the same image as by the spirit of the Lord. My brothers, recently, on Good Friday, the Pastor brought a message and he has repeated this theme from time to time about the need for the Sacrifice of the Cross. The need for Jesus Christ, why did the Father allow Jesus to be the sheep broken for our sins? And the scene before Jesus is a sad humanity, trying to reach the presence of the Lord.

Because the Word declares "in the presence of the Lord there is fullness of joy", that the presence of the Lord is the source of life, that He is the bread of life, that He is the root, and these people tried to reach the presence of the Lord through their own works and by their own means and this was an imperfect pact. This was an era that broke the heart of the Lord. Seeing a town that needed it. Imagine, my brothers, the eyes that yearn to see what you saw tonight. Souls who desired the freedom to be able to approach the full presence of the Lord, touch his glory and receive freedom and healing.

Trying to do it by his own works, when the Lord had a more perfect covenant: once and for all, access to the throne of God. Now, know something, my brothers, even in the Old Testament, that was… notice how these two covenants came about, these two worlds. The difference between direct access to the presence of the Lord and others trying to do it on their own, trying to understand this God, trying to live by the rules, trying to appear a holiness that eluded them and others perhaps having access to the throne of God.

Do you know that the principles of this are seen even in the Old Testament? Even in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, believe it or not, these people chose distance. These people chose not to be witnesses of the Glory of God but distant second-hand hearers of the presence of God. This takes time. This that we read there, verse five again: "not that we are competent by ourselves to think something as of ourselves, but that our competence comes from God, who also made us competent ministers of a new covenant, not from the letter".

Here are those two covenants, these two ways of living. “Not of the letter, but of the spirit; because the letter kills, but the spirit gives life”. And now I invite you to jump to verse twelve: “So, having such a hope, we used great frankness, and not like Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the children of Israel would not fix their eyes on the end of that which was to be abolished." What is he referring to there?

Don't lose your place in Second Corinthians but let's run to Exodus Chapter 34. Verse 33. Moses just spent forty days in the presence of the Lord. The Lord gives him the law to share it with this people and when he came down, his face shone with the presence of the Lord. And the Word declares here in verse 33 of Exodus 34: “And when Moses finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. When Moses came before Jehovah to speak with him, he took off his veil until he came out; and going out, he told the children of Israel what was commanded him.

I mean, these people lived secondhand. They preferred not to be in the presence of the Lord. The Lord tried, the Glory of the Lord came down on Mount Oré, they saw the glory of the Lord, they heard the voice of the Lord and they were so frightened that they said to Moses 'No, you better present yourself before the Lord. If we continue before the presence of the Lord, we will die here. But Moses intentionally stayed in the presence of the Lord. Verse 35: 'And when the children of Israel looked at the face of Moses, they saw that the skin of his face was resplendent; and Moses put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with God.”

Brethren, there is a simple reference here and I am not going to extend this point. The difference between the letter, between a religion, between trying to reach God; merely understanding it in an academic way. Understanding it with your five senses, when the Lord wants more for you. That is the difference between someone who lives in the presence of the Lord and someone who is hearing from God from afar. Keep declaring the word, let's go to Second Corinthians again. Verse 14: "But their understanding was dulled."

The problem was not so much the veil of Moses, because to this day when they read the old covenant they still have the same veil, not uncovered. Which by Christ is removed and even to this day when Moses is read the veil is placed over their hearts. And my brothers, tonight the Lord wants to give you freedom, but freedom in a very specific way. 'Pastor Samuel, I want to participate in this, in the supernatural life.' This is the theme that the Lord gave to the Pastor for this church, for this era. In this we are in Move.

My brothers, each one of you, without exception – I declare it in the name of Jesus – each one of you are candidates for a supernatural life. Each one of you, the Lord longs to move in your lives in a transforming way. But I want to save you some time. If you try to do it on your own, if you try to do it by your own means, if you try to dictate the means to the Holy Spirit, sooner or later you are going to get frustrated. Sooner or later the letter is going to wrap itself up. Moses came down from the mountain and the people said to him: “So Moses, what does God want? What does He want? How can we be blessed?

Many of you until today ask this question 'Pastor, what does God want? How can I see the hand of God, me in my life? How can I experience blessing? What I do? What secret is there? What are the magic words? What is the formula to unleash the glory of God in my life? And the Lord tells you tonight, brother, there is no formula. There is no formula. This is not magic, there is no trick here. There is a spirit that wants to quicken the spirit in you. Because sooner or later, brothers, doing it on your own we are going to find ourselves with veils.

There are veils. All of us have veils that prohibit us from seeing. There is no way, in our hearts we all have veils that prohibit us from seeing the glory of God. For some of us -without pointing out- this is the human condition, brothers, do not be scandalized. For some the veil will be a sin that they are attached to in their lives, a home sin that is part of your way of life. And the roots of this sin are as deep as the roots of an oak that are still tied around the concrete of the house of your life.

And that veil is there. Maybe it's a veil of disobedience that's a little different. You know that God.. You see the word. The word reassures us, we know that the Lord is waiting for us. Lord, what do you want from me? The Lord answers you as he answered the rich young man 'sell everything you have and follow me. You know what you have to do. But the price is too much, that obedience costs you too much and as long as that disobedience is in your life, that is a veil. That is a veil that prohibits you from enjoying the glory of God in its fullness. It forbids you access to the beauty within God.

For others it is unforgiveness for one thing or the other. This afternoon I had a conversation with a brother that I love dearly. And he was explaining to me that someone hurt him and someone seems to... and I'm not going to imagine if it was right or not. But someone hurt him. That's what's true. That is the point. And by hurting him this has been like a poison that is running through his life and has robbed him of peace. But look, at that moment I was listening to her story and hearing the pain but at the same time a resistance to forgive. But at that moment, look at the end I asked the Lord for wisdom and what the Lord gave me was: "let's pray brother."

And the prayer went something like this: “Give him back your face, give him back the joy of your presence. Father that he sees you, that he sees your glory. Bring it back, Lord. Those times alone with you. Lord, that fresh word, renew it”. And you know what? We feel a freedom, a relief, something precious. Did you know? By your own effort you will never be able to tear off the veil. By your effort you will not be able to tear off the veil. I can't do it. Thank God you don't need your own effort and thank God for the Holy Spirit. It says: “but when they turn to the Lord, the veil will be removed because the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

On this night the message is very simple. And the Lord says to you: “Look stop fighting. You will not be able to free yourself from this or that on your own. Come closer. Just come closer, come to me, let me try. Look at me – says the Lord”. Know? We often focus so much, perhaps even in our times of prayer, we focus so much on our need, on our faults, on our brokenness, on our failure, on how small we are. I invite you, brothers, in those times direct your gaze to the throne of grace. The Lord invites you there. And while you are there contemplating it.

The Word of the Lord says: “We all looking with unveiled face like a mirror at the Glory of the Lord – let us stand up – we are transformed into glory. In the same image as by the spirit of the Lord." Brothers, I do not know what the veil that has dulled your mind is, that has robbed you of joy, that has limited the scope of the flow of the Spirit of God in you, but I guarantee you this: it is not with a sword, it is not with an army. . You know, there is a God who loves you very much, so much. While you are contemplating the Lord. If you are going to study the word, study it not to be a scholar so that you know this God. To look at it, so that you know its beauty.

To be able to communicate with your heart. Brothers, while we are contemplating the glory of God, you will say "If I am not within reach of its beauty but do not worry", while you contemplate Him, He is contemplating you. While your gaze is fixed on Him, on His perfection, on His beauty, on the precious work on the cross of Calvary, those eyes of fire are fixed on your soul and little by little the Lord is coupling you. Little by little without you realizing there is no way you are in the presence of the Lord, contemplating his beauty and letting God be the Lord.

Having love with Him, taking your time with Him. The Lord throughout, you know? Welcome you are a Christian. Christian is Greek for a little Christ. Esteban, on the day that they were going to stone him in front of the Sanhedrin, all of them commented on this. And the reason why it is in the Bible? Because the people who stoned him were the ones who saw him. They saw that the face of that man was like that of an angel. Brethren, that is what I want. And that's what God has for you. Father in the name of Jesus we know that there are veils that we struggle with that do not allow us to see your glory. But thank you, Lord, that this does not depend on us. Thank you for your Holy Spirit, thank you for your work in our lives. Lord we come close to you, we come close to you.

While we get lost in the beauty of your presence, work in our lives, perfect us in the fire of your presence. Purify us through the fire that leaps from your eyes. Tear off the veil so that we may see your beauty, so that we may be transformed from glory to glory. Until that day when there will never be a separation between your creatures and your throne. I ask you in the name of Jesus.