6 Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. 7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? 1 Corinthians 4:6-7
What is written in the Scriptures is more than enough to keep us occupied for a lifetime. Still, there are those who explore extrabiblical ideas and can make their entire theology match what they think is true.
Such is the case with End Times scenarios.
Some people are extremely adamant about certain End Times scenarios to the exclusion of all other possible scenarios. They read it “clearly in black and white,” they say. Except that Joe down the road and Mary up the street read it in black and white too but come to very different conclusions. Then the Adamant Ones begin to live their lives to support that belief. I’m not talking about the crazy folks who think the world ends on September 23rd.
No, these Adamant Ones are mainstream Christians who spend lots of money on End Times survival supplies (sold by End Times preachers at a special price) to be able to live through what they believe will happen. Or they just follow the preachers because they teach what they want to hear.
Sometimes the cure is to sit down and just evaluate what you believe with what the Bible teaches. For some that’s an impossible task because what they believe has become so ingrained in their minds that they believe the Bible actually teaches that.
That old saying is still true: Keep it simple. If it’s not in the Bible, it’s not in the Bible. If it’s not scriptural, it’s not scriptural.