Someone I read recently used an interesting phrase to describe the voice of the Lord. “God has changed His tone.” What might that mean? For me, from what the person was saying in the article I read, led me to believe that they were talking about how the Lord is speaking to His sons and daughters in this season. It is a sober, serious voice that was speaking to us as believers who have a responsibility to represent Him accurately to those who do not know Him.

I have been a believer long enough to realize we are in times like none of us have ever seen or experienced before. As I have stated in previous columns, this is more than just holding on until Jesus comes back and takes us out of here. I think all of us would prefer that to any other scenario that could happen in the near future.

What if the Lord wants us to be “salt and light”? What if He is about to pour out His Spirit in such a way that millions of people all over the world realize that He is God and that He alone can help them face the dire circumstances that many are already facing even here in the United States? I am very glad I do not live in Seattle or Portland or Austin or New York or Chicago right now. But if I did, I would not go stick my head in the sand, retreat from society and cower in fear. I would want to be so confident of my eternal life that I would be willing to risk my earthly life for the salvation and rescue of others who do not yet know the loving God that I know.

This season of time we have all been through, where most of us very likely had more time at home, could have been used to prepare us for the times we are currently facing. As we are trying to adjust to a “new normal” for now, does that negate our responsibility as a believer? I know people who have encountered the Lord in a powerful way because they have used this time to draw closer to Him — their lives are not the same as they were going into this season in March. They have positioned themselves to hear the Lord’s heart more clearly and so He will be able to use them in significant ways during this great Harvest time.

If you spend any time at all on Facebook or other social media, if you have some favorite ministers you listen to, then you know that the church is very much divided. I wrote on that last week and have addressed that issue a number of times. We are all in different places in our understanding and some of us place more value on the Word of God than others. Some of us are more influenced by our peers than others and some of us do not have a biblical world view, so it is no wonder we are divided over many important issues. 

I have really tried hard not to be too dogmatic in this weekly article. Sometimes I have not done the best at articulating what I wanted to say, offending a few people or at least not being clear enough when stating my own opinions. I am a passionate person by nature and sometimes it just comes across wrong. For that I am sorry.

But there are many things in the scriptures that are very plain and I make no apologies for stating the obvious — from a biblical world view. I realize according to the Word of God that in the latter days, there will be a great divide amongst those who call themselves Christians. So if my “tone of voice” sounds more sober and serious, that is because I do not want anyone who calls on the name of the Lord to be deceived.

There are several lists in the epistles describing the last days. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 gives a general list that reads like the daily news. Another epistle, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 is addressed to the believers from that region. It is very sobering — talking about a great falling away that comes because of not having a love for the truth. Then it says that God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie and that those who did not believe the truth would be condemned. 

Matthew 24 is one of the more familiar end time chapters where Jesus Himself answers His disciples’ questions about the signs of the end of the age. In verse 4 He told them “Take heed that no one deceives you.” In verse 10-12 He says, “And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” Who was Jesus talking about? Verse 13 seems to answer that: “But he that endures to the end shall be saved.” That word endures is an “active, energetic resistance to defeat that allows calm and brave endurance.” “It is to hold one’s ground in conflict, bear up under adversity, hold out under stress, stand firm, persevere under pressure, wait calmly and courageously.” (Strong’s # 5278)

I don’t know about you, but I want to hear clearly what the Lord is saying to His church right now. Then I want to obey any instructions that He is giving to us. I believe that will keep us from being deceived and that will cause us to go through whatever the future holds with the kind of endurance I just described above.