Welcome to the For the Gospel Podcast, where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Kosti Hinn, and whether you're listening to this on your favorite podcast platform, maybe Apple or Spotify, or you're watching on our YouTube channel and you're seeing me sit in one of our new studio looks, I'm really grateful that you've joined me for this episode. Want to just say a special thank you to all of our gospel patrons and those of you who support our ministry. We are growing and expanding, and we were able now to secure a regular, consistent space, full disclosure that is not in my house. And so we have this great space now, and I'll be able to record even more content while being an effective local shepherd. And I'm really, really grateful for that. So that's the new look. That's what you're seeing. We got a few more surprises up our sleeves. But overall, this will be the format. I'll be to have my Bible notes. We'll dig in together. It's you and I digging into God's word. So today we begin our series on eschatology, and that is the study of last things. We're gonna explore millennial views. We're gonna explore the tribulation and all those things. But before we do that and get into prophetic symbolism and figure out this, that, and the other, we need to anchor ourselves in the real truth that every real Christian must hold fast to. It is this, that Christ is going to return again, visibly, bodily, and in power. That is essential Christian doctrine, friends. If you don't believe in the visible, bodily return of Jesus Christ, you can't call yourself a Christian. It was Augustine who once said, He who loves the coming of the Lord is not he who affirms it is far off or near, but he who, whether it be far off or near, awaits it with sincere faith, steadfast hope, and fervent love. The bodily visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ is not secondary doctrine. It is a central, essential pillar of our faith. And it's been confessed since the early church, the defenders of the Reformation, preachers like R. C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Charles Spurgeon, Martin Lloyd Jones, Jonathan Edwards, and the like all defended, preached, and proclaimed the visible bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was R. C. Sproul who said the second coming of Christ is not an optional addendum to the Christian faith. It is at the very heart of biblical Christianity. And so in this first episode, before we chart our four main millennial views and get into all of that, I want to lay out six biblical reasons why Christ's return is essential and how it should shape our hearts and lives. Because eschatology is not about timelines, it's about hope and holiness and seeing the King of all kings, our King, Jesus Christ, face to face. Number one, it is a foundational doctrine of the Christian faith. In Acts chapter 1, verse 11, I'm going to be reading these passages from the NASB 95. They also said, talking about the angels, declaring this, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This is when the Lord Jesus ascended. This Jesus, who's been taken up from you into heaven, will come just the same way as you've watched him go into heaven. In that text, you've got angels telling the disciples the same way Jesus left, it's the same way he's going to return. That's an absolute truth. And unless you want to call the Bible a lie or say that those angels were demonic messengers, of course they're not, that's a truth we would believe. Why do we believe the return of Jesus Christ as an essential? Because the Bible teaches it as a foundational truth about him. It's part of God's redemptive story. The same way he left is the same way he came. 1 Thessalonians 4.16, NASB 95 again says, For the Lord himself would descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. In that passage, Paul the Apostle is writing the Thessalonians to encourage them in the faith and was assuring them of the Lord's return and that death is not the end. That's why we as Christians say we don't grieve as those without hope. Though we mourn when our loved ones die, and we who are saved remain here, sad and sorrowful in a sense, we know Christ will return. And the dead in Christ who are saved will rise again to meet him at his glorious return. And so we encourage each other in that truth. Titus chapter 2, verse 13 says, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, in reference to Paul and his encouragement to Titus and the way that they, he and the church, was supposed to be looking forward to that. This is what we're ministering for. This is where we're going. We're looking forward to the Lord's return. He's not a savior who's deserted us. He will return. And if you don't believe that, you don't have faith or belief in Jesus Christ. Second truth, number two, it vindicates God's justice and holiness. The return of Jesus Christ vindicates God's justice and holiness. You've got a Jesus who will judge the living and the dead, or else you don't have a God who's consistent in his holiness and character. The Bible teaches that sin and wickedness and rebellion against God will be punished one day. And the return of Jesus Christ is at the center of all of that judgment. If he doesn't return visibly and bodily to destroy the wicked and to punish them in hell forever, well, he's not the Son of God, and God is not God. I have my Bible turned to Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 to 15. And this will prove the point that if he doesn't return to judge, then the Son of God and God are not God. Revelation chapter 20. And look at this with me. Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Do you see the way that the return of Jesus Christ is central to our faith because it's central to the culmination of judgment? They will be thrown into the lake of fire. If Jesus does not return physically, bodily, in power, you don't have judgment, you don't have righteousness, justice, and truth upheld, you have an incomplete storyline by way of God's character in that regard. Number three, it completes God's redemptive plan. The return of Jesus Christ completes God's redemptive plan. So of course we got to believe in it. The Bible and its storyline arc through this amazing picture of redemption. That's where it's all going. Across the scriptures, the theme of redemption is clear, and reconciliation of lost sinners to their creator and Father is like when you plug in a destination to your Google map. It's where all of this is going. Well, if you don't have a Jesus who's going to return, and you just have everybody kind of going into heaven with whatever other theory people come up with, or into the utter blackness of eternity forever, or whatever people come up with, you've missed a primary piece of the story in redemption. The new heavens, the new earth, all of this being ushered in by the return of Jesus Christ, the redemption of mankind, the reconciliation of sinners to their God. Right now we're in what I would call the now, but not yet of that. We have assurance of faith through the finished work of Christ, but we're not yet reconciled in the sense that we're with him forever. But one day, we will be because of the return of Christ. Listen to the words of Revelation chapter 21, verses 1 to 4. If you're watching this with me and taking notes and jotting them down, just turn one chapter over from where we just were in chapter 20 to 21. If you're driving or on a jog or doing some housework or digging in somewhere else where you can't read, I'll read this to you. Revelation chapter 21, verses 1 to 4. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, like a bride adorned for her husband. Can you just think of that literally, visually for a second? A giant Jerusalem, a new one, coming down out of heaven, just settling in. Beautiful picture. What authority and power and majesty from God. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be among them, and he'll wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there'll be no longer any death, amen. No longer any mourning, praise God, no crying, no pain, the first things have passed away. All of this because Jesus is coming back. You know, another key part of this redemption point is about the redemption of sinners, yes, but the abolishment of death. I just read it to you. The return of Christ marks the death of death. God's timeline includes the Lord returning, and that triggers the next phase of God's timeline. No return, no new heavens, and no new earth. No return, no redemption, no reconciliation in that sense. No return, no new Jerusalem, no return, no abolishment of death. And so it's essential to the Christian faith. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 24 to 26 says, then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and all power, for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. You don't have the abolishment of death. That last enemy to be abolished will be death. Reason number four that we believe in the visible bodily return of Jesus Christ is it is the blessed hope of the believer. The return of Jesus Christ is essential doctrine. Otherwise, we're the most pitiful, blind, and hopeless people on the planet. The Bible repeatedly calls the Lord's return the believer's blessed hope. He's not left us as orphans. He isn't vague about his return. He hasn't left us to wallow in despair. He's coming back. In Titus 2.13, the passage I mentioned earlier, again, we're looking forward and for the blessed return, the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. That's what we're looking forward to. 1 John chapter 3, verse 2 says, Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him just as he is. John's encouraging the church because on your worst day, like some of the Christians in the New Testament were experiencing, you don't lose perspective, the Lord's coming back. On your best day, you don't get too attached to this world because the Lord Jesus is coming back. When you're in a trial, when you're on the mountaintop, when you're mourning a death, when you're nearing death yourself, this life and death are not the end. The Lord Jesus is coming back. We have that hope. Number five, it motivates holy living and perseverance. I don't know about you, but I can't help but think about the Lord's return and how it relates to my sin and my holiness and my perseverance, or you might say, endurance in running the race of faith. First, I long for that day because I hate sin. It means the end of our war with sin, mine and yours. And second, when you think about the fact that, okay, sin is done with, but also in that moment, we're going to be accountable for every word, every action, every dollar, every hour, all that we've been given. And we will all, the Bible says, appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account for our deeds in the body, whether good or bad. That motivates faithfulness. That motivates stewardship. That motivates repentance of our sin. We want to get right with the Lord. Confession of that sin to Christ, we want to get really honest with Him and have a pure and clean conscience. And then it's a desire to learn from mistakes and to grow in holiness and to pursue purity. If we are driven in life or in ministry, we are driven to please Christ. And so we go hard because we believe we're going to meet him one day. If you think about why we get after it in ministry or why those of you in business or in the medical field or in athletics or as a student, whether you're single, married, as a parent, you moms that stay at home and you're going, how are dishes redeemable? And how is the crazy traffic jams and going back and forth from school? What about you homeschool moms that are in the throngs of it? What about the senior citizen that says, I feel like the world's kind of passed me by? Look, you go hard every day with whatever he's given you, and you pour into what's right in front of you because it will matter one day. I mean that in a good way. Why? Because your hope is fixed on him. First John 3 3 says that. We've got our hope fixed on him. And whoever has his hope fixed on him purifies himself just as he is pure. It motivates holiness. Second Peter 3 10 to 14 says this But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with an intense heat. And then it says, and the earth and its works shall be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people you ought to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat. But according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. And then he says, This, therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, all those end times things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless, and blameless. The return of Jesus Christ motivates our holiness and our desire to be spotless and blameless, even though we'll never be perfect, progressing. And finally, number six, it keeps the church mission focused. And we're going to get more into this as the series unfolds, but no position, I don't care if you're the most rapture-ready Christian, should ever deter, delay, or dampen evangelism and impacting the world for the gospel and the glory of God. The fact that Christ is going to return and he's going to abolish all wickedness and do it should keep us mission-focused to go into all the world and preach the gospel. People need to hear the gospel. It motivates us to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You've got to have some real deficient theology in other areas to allow eschatology to slow down your evangelism. It should drive it. And for many of our convictions, it's part of God's plan for us to reach the entire world with the gospel of the kingdom. Matthew 24, verse 14 says, the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. Well, there you have it, friends. Six reasons why the return of Christ matters. And those six truths are not controversial. They should be totally agreeable if you're a believer, whatever your views of eschatology. We're going to get into those differences and timelines. The visible kingdom, some would say it's not going to be a literal thousand-year reign of Christ. Others would hold the position it is. I'll talk about my views and what we hold to as a ministry with a spirit of charity but still conviction. And I'll tell you this: everything I've just told you are truths that we can be united around while we wait for the glorious return of Jesus Christ. Don't lose sight of that, friend. Thanks for listening. Thanks for watching, for sharing, and a special thanks again to those of you who support our ministry regularly here at For the Gospel. I know there's a great many of you, and I never want to overlook the opportunity to just say thank you. I'm sitting in one of our new studio spaces because of your generous support and our materials being translated into Spanish now. We are reaching an average, this is average of 6.6 million unique individuals per month through downloads, articles, views, and use of our teaching content. That's just in 2025 thus far. And we've seen an abundance of testimonies pour in of how the Lord is using sound doctrine, it's his truth, to change lives. So glory goes to God, but I also want to express gratitude for the part that you're playing and how God is using you. For more information or to partner with us, you can go to for thegospel.org. I'll be back next Monday with another episode. Keep on living for the gospel.