Today the world is filled with voices competing for your attention. As scripture tells us, truth is nowhere to be found but for most, the truth they are looking for is what works best for them and there are plenty of people that will tell you what you want to hear and even what those speaking want you to here. As seen over the last few years, conspiracies are front and center and considered to be truth, even though a simple verification can easily show them to be false, but so many when confronted with truth, will continue down the path of disillusionment. It is not just those outside the church, but the church itself that has chosen a dangerous path. Daniel said Daniel 8:12 “Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.” Jeremiah 7:28 “28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.”

    Jesus said John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Yet most rejected the truth. John 1:11 “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” John 3:19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” Jesus answered the Jews who asked, John 10:24 “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” Many claim that they will never be snatched out of the hand of Jesus but they are following the wrong voice. Paul said, 2 Corinthians 11:4 “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” Ever since Paul said this, the church has put up with a different Jesus and other gospels. Sadly, this is still happening. Jeremiah 5:30 “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” 2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” Ezekiel was told Ezekiel 2:4 “The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ 5 And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them.” Jeremiah 6:17 “I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.’” Jeremiah 7:23 “I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’ 27 “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. 28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.”

    As we saw with Adam and Eve, it is not as though people are not listening at all, they are just listening to the wrong voice. God spoke and gave them a command, but they refused to listen to God’s voice but listened to satan’s voice instead, even though they knew exactly what God had said to them. Genesis 3:2 “The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” Ever since Eve said this, God’s people have not been listening to God’s word. When the people said we will not listen, what that meant is they refused to listen to God but instead listened to their own voice and the voices of others. When the spies came back from the promised land Caleb and Joshua, who listened to God’s voice, said they could take the land just as God had said, but the other ten spies said Numbers 13:31 “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” Numbers 14:1 “That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” They said all this even though God said He would give them the Promised Land. The people chose to listen to the wrong voice and the result was God saying Numbers 14:22 “not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. 28 So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: 29 In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness.” The Numbers 1:46 “total number (of the first census) was 603,550.”

    Listening to the wrong voice isn’t always deliberate as for most they have no idea they need to be looking for a different voice. Paul also said Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” Most do not know they have accepted other gospels. Today, and for generations past, the church is filled with deception and delusion because God’s people refuse to listen to His voice, therefore the abomination that causes desolation was unleashed just as Daniel told us. Daniel 9:27 “He will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” Paul said 2 Thessalonians 2:4 “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” Paul goes on to say, 2 Thessalonians 2:9 “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” This has already happened just as there is already a Amos 8:11 “famine of hearing the words of the Lord.” Most people think they are listening to the right voice (deception and delusion) but at the same time never test the spirits. 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” They have come to equate their doctrines and theology with scripture, yet they do not check with scripture. Someone tells them this is what the bible says or means and the listeners just say oh! okay.

    Also, many stubbornly ignore the voices of truth just as Israel did. Jeremiah 25:2 “Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem: 3 For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. 4 And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. 5 They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. 6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.” 7 “But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves.” 8 Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord.”

    I want to look at a couple of voices that we should be paying attention to. It doesn’t get any clearer than these proclamations by a couple of kings who were not from Israel and Judah. The other voice we only have in scripture as no one heard this voice because it was too late. The kings lifted high the name of God and the other cried out in vain. All three were very wealthy. The first was the king of Babylon. You can read this account in Daniel 4. After God humbled king Nebuchadnezzar, he came to his senses and made this proclamation. Daniel had told him after interpreting his dream Daniel 4:25 “Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.” But then Daniel gave the king this advice. “Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.” He ended up coming to his senses after the seven times passed. Daniel 4:34 “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth     are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” This foreign king after he humbled himself before God, made a proclamation that all should make. As Peter said, 1 Peter 5:5 “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

    The next was the king of Medes, king Darius who was tricked into throwing Daniel to the lions. The king saw firsthand the power of God when he came to the lion’s den. Daniel 6:19 “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions? 21 Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! 22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.” 23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.” You can read what normally happens in the lion’s den – Daniel 6:24. Then king Darius made this proclamation. Daniel 5:25 “Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth: “May you prosper greatly! 26 “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. “For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. 27 He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” For most this is just a story in a book from long ago and most do not believe in this kind of power as proclaimed by these kings when they said “How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth.”

    Yes, people in the church believe this story to be true, but most do not believe this same power is available today even though Jesus gave us power and authority to do as He did and scripture makes it clear that it is. Yes, many have been told that God no longer does signs wonders or miracles and those who say they believe, many have been deceived by satan’s deceptions and God’s delusions. Jesus showed us what the church would do. Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.” The disciples then did as Jesus did. Mark 6:12 “They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” Acts 8:6 “When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.” This is not happened as it was in the early church.

    I believe if you were to ask most people who call themselves Christians, they will say they will spend eternity with God, no questions asked, but actually do not ask the question as to whether that is true. Yes, most want to believe it to be true but there are so many people who call themselves Christians who are following a different Jesus and other / false gospels. We will either hear well done or depart from me and that is not the time to hear those words because it is too late. This last voice is a voice of someone crying out to God, but it was too late. Jesus told this story that could be the story of millions who find out the security they thought they had was not secure. Luke 16:9 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.” He then died and found himself in hell and his words should strike fear in us as we should Matthew 10:28 “be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” This is the voice of one who found out hell was real and wanted to warn others, but it was too late.  The rich man said, “‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’”  He then was told the same information he would have had. “‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’” The rich man then basically said that was not enough and said, “if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’” But the answer to that was, “31 “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

    The Jews had the words of Moses and the prophets but refused to listen to Jesus, the voice of truth. Jesus then died and rose from the dead and they still did not listen and do not listen till this day. That is still happening. The church has the words of the prophets and the words of Jesus and they are not enough nor is the resurrection of Jesus. People still go their own way and still listen to the wrong voices even though we were warned. Deuteronomy 32:5 “They are corrupt and not his children; to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation. 6 Is this the way you repay the Lord, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you? 28 They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. 29 If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!” Jeremiah 4:22 “My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding.”  Matthew 24:4 “Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 24 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Words from the Moses, the prophets and Jesus but still nations are senseless.

    The theory of everything is basically “one theory could explain every aspect of physics.” One writer said “We tend to think it is the job of scientists to discover truths about the universe. Yet, Hawking rendered this an impossible task and came to argue that truth is an illusion. For Hawking, in the end, there was no idea of reality that made any sense.” Stephen Hawking while alive had lots to say like, “before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation,” he said. “What I meant by ‘we would know the mind of God’ is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn’t. I’m an atheist.” Now like the voice of the rich man, Hawking’s voice is not heard, even though he has now met (for the sake of this point) truth, the Theory of Everything, the God he said did not exist but no one yet alive will know that he finally solved the theory of everything. As the rich man said, “‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’” Just as they would not listen then, people are not going to listen now.

    But now is the time to listen because the end is near. This is the time to turn off all the voices of the gurus and listen to God’s word once again. God said Proverbs 8:17 “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.” Proverbs 2:1 “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— 3 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. 9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. 12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, 13 who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. 16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, 17 who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. 18 Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. 19 None who go to her return or attain the paths of life. 20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; 22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.”

    If you die, it is too late to change your mind. It is also too late to warn others as we have already been warned. Because God is a loving and compassionate God, all we have to do is return to Him. Zechariah 1:3 “Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” The voice to listen to has not changed because as king Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed, Daniel 4:3 “His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation,” and king Darius who also proclaimed Daniel 6:26 “For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.” God has not changed, and the command is still to humble ourselves before Him. Jesus said Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Yet people still refuse. Jeremiah 5:2 “Although they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ still they are swearing falsely.” 3 Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.” Jeremiah 2:27 “They have turned their backs to me and not their faces; yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’28 Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble! 32 my people have forgotten me, days without number. 20 “Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, ‘I will not serve you!’ Yet in spite of all this 35 you say, ‘I am innocent; he is not angry with me.’ But I will pass judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’”

    There is still hope. Jeremiah 3:20 “But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,” declares the Lord. 14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.” Psalm 95:6 “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; 7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” Hebrews 3:7 “So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ 12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Test the spirits and make sure the conviction you are holding on to is actually the original conviction, otherwise as Paul said 1 Corinthians 15:2 “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.”