Tearing the Veil:
Exposing Religion and Embracing Relationship with the One True God
(Isaiah 29:13 | Matthew 15:8-9 | John 17:3 | Deuteronomy 6:4)
Saturday Evening Truth Message 5/10/25
Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, the Only Wise and Eternal God, we come before You with reverence and awe. We ask You now to open our understanding, tear away the traditions of man, and remove the veil of religion from our eyes. Let the light of Your truth shine brightly through Your Word today. Help us to see You as You truly are—One God, not three. Draw us into deeper relationship, not bound by ritual, but empowered by intimacy with You. Speak, Lord, for Your servants are listening. In Your holy and matchless Name, we pray. Amen.
Introduction: Why We Are Studying Eschatology
Why eschatology? There are several reasons why, but among them are these.
Unaccepted by the main stream religious groups today, the first is one that they have, over the centuries, created because of their dastardly desire to control those that listen to them, or give them patronage, or blind following. Because this world is not spiraling randomly out of control—contrary to their teaching and preaching. It is groaning toward a divine conclusion. The unfolding of last things is not a collection of chaotic symbols, nor is it reserved only for scholars or prophets. It is a message to the Church, to the Bride, to the faithful, that the Author of time is also the Finisher of our faith.
But here’s the challenge:
The study of eschatology has too often been hijacked by fear, confusion, and even manipulation. Religion has packaged the book of the Revelation into spectacle—focusing on beasts, judgments, timelines, and terror. Understand something, that letter was never God’s intention to be used for the propagandization that many over the centuries have used it for. In fact, if you have been a part of that type of manipulation, or was given a spirit of fear through any end time study, or preaching, know THAT WAS NOT COMING FROM GOD! God has given us a spirit of fear.
“I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayer’s night and day. Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands, for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:3–7)
Revelation is not about dread. It’s about unveiling.
The Greek word apokalypsis literally means “uncovering,” “revealing”—and it begins with these words, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.”
It does not begin with. it is not a system. Moreover, what many want to force you to believe so many things, and one of them is a trinity. It begins with a Person. Who was that, you might say? Simple, the One True God made visible.
Another reason why we study eschatology is because God wants us to be informed, obviously, or He would not have given it to us. He certainly does not desire us to be intimidated. He wants us prepared, not paranoid. He wants a people to be in relationship with Him, who can discern the times and recognize His voice—especially in a world filled with counterfeit gospels and religious confusion.
As we dig into the study of eschatology, we will tear down false interpretations built on mistranslations and misunderstood traditions. We will unearth truth through for example etymology. We will look at what Scripture actually says—not what religion has taught it to say. And above all, we will align ourselves with the One who holds the scroll, opens the seals, and reigns over history with unmatched authority.
Eschatology matters because eternity matters. And the clearer we see Christ, the more ready we are—not just to escape wrath, but mainly to reflect glory.
Let us begin this journey not with fear, but with faith. As we press forward, we are going to be tearing the veil, we are going to be exposing religion and embrace relationship with the One True God. Let’
An Analogy to better understand, would be the vending machine analogy.
Imagine standing before a vending machine. You’re hungry, desperate for nourishment. The machine is full of options, colors, and buttons. You insert your money, press the right code, but nothing happens. You try again. Still nothing. Finally, you bang on the machine, frustrated. Why? Because although the machine appears full and functional, it is disconnected from the power source.
This is what religion without relationship looks like. Imagine standing in front of a vending machine. It appears full, bright, promising, yet no matter what you press, nothing comes out. Why? Because it is disconnected from power. Religion is like that machine—structured, appealing, and filled with promises, but without connection to the true power source: a relationship with the One True God.
Religion operates on display and duty. Relationship thrives on devotion and intimacy. And this same dynamic sets the stage for understanding what is unfolding in the Book of Revelation: the exposing of false systems and the revealing of the Living God.
It has the appearance of godliness—rituals, routines, and recitations—but no power. It promises nourishment but delivers nothing. It looks alive, but it’s dead. Just like a vending machine without power.
But God didn’t call us to a vending machine religion. He called us to a living relationship—where we are not customers but children, not buyers but believers, not beggars but beloved.
- Religion Imitates Relationship but Lacks Intimacy
“These people draw near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” (Matthew 15:8)
Religious systems say:
Do this. Don’t do that. Earn your way to God. Follow traditions. Recite creeds.
But relationship with God says: “Come to Me. Know Me. Walk with Me. Trust Me.”
Religion gives you a rulebook. God gives you Himself.
Religion is an echo of man’s voice. Relationship is the sound of God’s breath in your soul.
And most dangerously, religion has painted God as divided—as if He were three separate beings holding council over your soul. But that’s not what Jesus revealed.
As Matthew 15:8-9 tells us, we can see the correlation, because religion speaks in rehearsed tones. Relationship speaks with raw honesty. Religion honors God with lips; relationship honors Him with life.
As we begin to understand the judgments in Revelation, we must realize that God is judging not just nations, but false systems of worship—religions that claim to represent Him but deny His name, His oneness, and His authority.
- Jesus Did Not Reveal a Religion of Three Persons—He Revealed the ONE True God
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3)
Jesus never introduced a Trinity. He revealed One God, His Father—and declared that He was in the Father and the Father in Him (John 14:10-11). In fact, He was the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15), not a second person, but the very expression of God in flesh (1 Tim. 3:16).
When we relate to God as three separate figures, we fall back into religion—we divide what God has made One. That’s confusion, not communion. That’s doctrine, not deity.
“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4)
This foundational truth is the power cord religion has yanked from the wall. No wonder there’s no power in many churches. The relationship gets distorted when the nature of God gets distorted. Again, John 17:3: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
Jesus never said, “Know the three of Us.” He said, “Know You.” One. Singular. The Spirit of the One God was in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19), reconciling the world to Himself. That means that Jesus was a method to the means of establishing salvation to the human race that every man woman and child could escape a total destruction. Yet, how may push their agendas, ideologies, renditions, and religious philosophies, not to forget their denominational and religious and traditional structures.
This understanding of who God is, without a doubt is essential to approaching eschatology. When we study Revelation, we must interpret it through the lens of biblical monotheism. Babylon falls not merely as a political system but as a false religious entity—a counterfeit form of worship that replaces the true God with idols, images, and pluralities.
- The Veil Was Torn to Expose Religion and Invite Relationship
“And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Mark 15:38)
The veil represented the religious barrier between God and man. Only priests could go beyond it. Only rituals could access it. But when Jesus gave His life, God ripped that veil apart.
Why?
Because religion was over, and real relationship had begun.
The presence of God was no longer locked behind systems—it was now within reach of every believer.
Not because of ritual.
Not because of hierarchy.
Not because of creeds.
But because God Himself came near.
What Mark 15:38 teaches, “Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom”, it says to us that religion says, “Stay outside.” While relationship says, “Come near.”
God tore the veil for a reason, and that was to expose the system that excluded people from His presence. God doesn’t need a man-made system, a human, or any other religious leader to establish His covenant. That He did ALL BY HIMSELF! Therefore, the revelation of Christ exposes the methodologies, the vanity of those man-made doctrines from the ones who try to stitch the veil back together. Why? Because it pulls back the covers of those false systems and doctrines that didn’t come from God. Understand, the Lamb has already opened the way.
- The Relationship is Rooted in Oneness
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)
When we understand that God is One, not fragmented into co-equal parts, but One Eternal Being who manifested Himself in Christ and now dwells in us by His Spirit—it births solidarity in our faith.
There’s no confusion.
There’s no hierarchy in heaven.
There’s One throne and One God upon it (Revelation 4:2).
This is not just a doctrinal debate. This is the difference between being tangled in theology and being entwined in intimacy.
The root if relationship is in Oneness. When we read John 4:24: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” We discover that the ONLY One True God is worthy of worship. Revelation emphasizes this over and over: “Worthy is the Lamb!” “Salvation belongs to our God!”
Yet Babylon, the great harlot, will rise in opposition to this truth, promoting a religious merger of confusion. But God is not the author of confusion. He is One.
- Bringing the Analogy Back: The Reconnected Machine
Let’s go back to that vending machine.
It once stood powerless, just like religion without God’s presence.
But now, imagine someone comes and plugs it into the source. Lights flicker. The machine hums. Now, when you press the button, it responds. It serves. It fulfills.
That’s what happens when we move from religion to relationship.
When we reconnect to the One True God, everything comes alive. We receive what was once unreachable. We hear His voice. We sense His nearness. We walk in purpose.
No more banging on dead machinery.
No more guessing which Person to pray to.
No more routines without reality.
We are plugged into the source—the One God who created us, redeemed us, and now indwells us!
When we reconnect with the true nature and identity of God—One, not Three—everything begins to operate as designed. Revelation is a book about systems failing because they were built without power. But the people of God, rooted in true relationship, will stand.
Conclusion: Exposing the Illusion, Embracing the Invitation
Religion is the illusion.
Relationship is the invitation.
And that invitation comes from One God, not three persons. The Father who is Spirit (John 4:24), became flesh in Jesus (John 1:14), and now indwells us as the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11). One God—revealed, not divided.
And He is calling you—not to perform, but to participate.
Not to conform to man-made tradition, but to be transformed by divine communion.
Final Challenge:
Tear the veil.
Unplug the machine of dead religion.
And reconnect to the Living God—One, Eternal, Almighty.
“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22)
The invitation is not to religion—but to reunion.
Epilogue: From Relationship to Revelation The world is on the verge of judgment. The seals of Revelation are not arbitrary punishments. They are precise revelations—exposing religious deception, political corruption, and the hearts of men.
Before we examine the seals, we must ask: “Are we sealed?” Sealed by truth? Sealed in covenant? Sealed in relationship with the One True God?
Because only those who know their God shall be strong and do exploits (Daniel 11:32). Religion will not save us in the days ahead. Only the intimate knowledge of the One True God will.
And so, we tear the veil. We unplug the machine of tradition. We reconnect to the One who sits on the throne. For the Lamb who opens the seals is none other than God Himself in flesh—not a second person, but the visible image of the invisible God.
Final Refrain: Why We Must Study Etymology in Eschatology
We cannot afford to approach the end times through the lens of confusion or tradition. What we’ve uncovered today—that God is One, not three, and that religion often stands in the way of relationship—makes it all the more urgent to handle the Scriptures with reverence and precision.
That’s why we must study etymology—the origin of words and how their meanings have shifted over time.
Religion has long twisted the language of Scripture, repackaging spiritual truths into institutional controls. Words like Godhead, person, seal, wrath, and even antichrist have been hijacked by theological systems that serve fear rather than faith, control rather than covenant, manipulation rather than relationship. But when we understand the original meanings—the Hebrew and Greek roots, the cultural context, and the spiritual intent—we pull the veil back further.
This isn’t just about definitions. It’s about destiny.
Etymology equips us to handle prophecy correctly. It keeps us from repeating the errors of those who use Revelation to frighten the flock instead of prepare the bride. It keeps us centered on Who is opening the seals—not as a distant divine committee, but as the One True God made visible in the Lamb.
So next time, as we begin uncovering the seals of Revelation, we will not be led by fear—but by clarity, purpose, and intimacy. We will not be deceived by the echo of man’s religion, because we’ll be tuned into the original voice of the Spirit. And that starts by letting the words say what God intended from the beginning.
Join us as we dive deep—not just into prophecy, but into the power of understanding. The study of etymology isn’t optional. It’s a spiritual weapon. And it will become our lens as we walk through the seals, one by one, with eyes wide open and hearts anchored in truth.
Closing Prayer: O Mighty God, we bless Your Name. Thank You for tearing the veil and inviting us into communion with You. Thank You for Your truth, which exposes all falsehoods. Thank You for revealing Yourself, not as three, but as One. As we now prepare to study the seals of Revelation, let us not do so with fear, but with faith, knowing we are anchored in relationship with You. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand. In the Name of Jesus—the only Name by which we are saved—we pray. Amen.
Dr. John Roberts THD