A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about how the Lord built in me a desire to understand the end times. Desire to Understand Bible Prophecy. In that blog I discussed all the ways I had searched for understanding before I realized that the Bible has a whole lot to say, and until I’ve thoroughly exhausted what God said, there’s no reason to look elsewhere for my answers. There is great value in choosing to stick to Scripture.
In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Paul wrote,
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
In order to be thoroughly trained, we need all Scripture! God-breathed, useful Scripture teaches, rebukes, corrects and trains.
A chapter earlier, Paul had written,
14 Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 2 Tim 2:14-18
Verse 15 goes right along with 2 Timothy 3. Since the Word of God is His tool to teach us thoroughly, we must strive for God’s approval by studying the Scriptures. Only by knowing the Scriptures can we correctly handle the word of truth.
Looking at the context of the verse above, we’re towards the end of Paul’s life. There were some false prophets who claimed that the resurrection of the dead had already happened. This is a similar false teaching to the one that had alarmed the Thessalonians years earlier (see 2 Thes 2:1-3). Paul compared arguments about words, foolish talk and evil teaching to spiritual cancer. Such teachings ruin those who listen, lead people further away from God, and destroy the faith of others.
When people get away from the truth of Scripture to formulate theories about the end times, the sequence of end times events often gets distorted. What would happen if we stopped engaging in, or even listening to, religious speculation or doctrinal debates? What if we simply studied the Word of God diligently?
It seems to boil down to faith. If we believe that God is a communicator and revealer of truth, then the Bible should have all the answers. Because God’s Word is all-sufficient, we don’t need to seek outside sources.
It is important to know where your end times beliefs came from – Scripture or somewhere else. If they came from Scripture, we should be able to defend them from Scripture. If they came from some other source, consider how those who teach that support their beliefs.
We should take some time to reflect on whether or not we truly stick to Scripture when it comes to our eschatology. Please spend some time praying through these questions.
- What would happen to your end times belief system if you only could base it on Scripture?
- Where did our end times beliefs come from?
- How aware are you that there are a variety of different beliefs about the end times? Have you ever heard people try to support these beliefs?
- How interested are you in finding out what the Bible actually says about the end times?
Adapted from End Times Preppers Devotionals by Lisa Gallington.
Lisa Gallington has been studying the Word since she was 12 years old, with a special interest in end times prophecy. She has a passion for preparing the Church and everyone she comes in contact with for the return of Christ. She leads women’s ministry at her church and teaches a Bible study, often connecting the studies to end times prophecies and prophetic headlines. She has authored several books including End Times Preppers Devotionals and the accompanying End Times Preppers Bible Study and Foundation of Faith: Hebrews 11.
