Light on the Hill

Guest (Male): Pastor James Kaddis on what it means to walk worthy of God.

James Kaddis: God has made you worthy. And because he's made you worthy, you should walk as though you're familiar with that worthiness. You're a child of God. You will act a specific way because he made you that way. You were bought by his blood. So, truth be told, walk according to the way he's made you.

Guest (Male): I have found the peace only comes from you. I have found the joy only comes from you. Cuz all I need is you.

Guest (Male): Hello and welcome to Light on the Hill. We're in Pastor James Kaddis's series on the end times called Living in the Last Days. With all that's been going on in the Middle East, many have been wondering if these are the last days. It's becoming clearer to us that they are. How should we be living in them then? That's the question we'll seek to answer today through a study of 1st Thessalonians chapter 2. Here's Pastor James encouraging us to walk according to the call God has placed on our lives.

James Kaddis: People respond nefariously to the message of the gospel, and more so in this country more and more, and it's going to happen. Watch you wait and see, it's going to get worse and worse, and we're going to start getting more and more persecuted for the stands that we take for righteousness. But Paul is reminding them, look, we just came to you, we went bold and we didn't hold back. And he says, for our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile, but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

For neither at any time used we flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness, God is witness. By the way, I I just want to make note of this because I think we have to be careful when we talk about these subjects, and I want to be as sensitive as we possibly can, but I want you to understand, Paul was more than capable of being eloquent. We know that. He was a remarkably articulate person. He didn't have a a a hard time speaking with great eloquence. He more than anything was a gifted orator.

He was not somebody who was incapable of being able to communicate. He was a phenomenal at communicating. He was not somebody who who did not have a mastery of the language. He had a mastery of the language. If you don't believe me, learn how to read Greek and read through the book of Hebrews. You'll go, say what? I mean, the man was remarkably talented. He was gifted. He was gifted in every way, but yet he chose to bring himself to a place where he even in his communication style, it wasn't so that he would edify himself or lift himself up or bring himself up to that place.

He literally bought himself to that place in communication where he just simply chose Now, pay attention to this. Watch this. He simply chose to do whatever was best for the benefit of the people that he addressed. He didn't get up there and the offering in the name of Jesus. He didn't do any of that stuff. And And I hate to say this, and I find out that this is often times so true. And guys, please do not take this as me putting anybody down or or ripping on anybody, but it's it happens way too much, way too much nowadays where I see men get behind the pulpit, and when they don't study or when they don't take the time to do what's necessary to communicate the simple gospel message to people that they need to hear, they put on the theatrics.

You know what I'm talking about when I say the theatrics? And the And the joking and the funniness and the And don't get me wrong, there's there's always a place for a little bit of You know, hey, let's we can be comfortable and we can be enjoyable and we can make somebody laugh every now and then, but it's just amazing to me how there are so many men that will get behind the pulpit and appeal to the fleshly side of people, appeal to their guilt, appeal to their emotion, and manipulate them to try and get their suggested outcome or their desired outcome when in reality they're not being true to the word of God.

You know how many times I had to deal with the idea of going through a passage in the Bible where you look at, you know, a section where we talk about how God is more than capable of providing our needs, right? And the church is going through a difficult time financially. You know how hard it is as a pastor to say God doesn't need your money? Who cares? He'll provide. Or Or maybe one of these things where you say, listen, we're going to live by faith. And as a pastor, and I'm just going to be honest with you, there are times where as a pastor you know for a fact you could get behind the pulpit and you could in a very slick way, right?

Kind of a very like you know, sort of I don't know, kind of a manipulative way, you could bring up a specific need you have, right? Oh, please pray everybody that the Lord would provide a pair of shoes for my son, you know? Then you get up the next morning behind the pulpit and you say, thank you for praying everybody. More than one pair of shoes came for my son. Lots of pairs of shoes came into my son. Well, it wasn't the Lord that answered your prayer, it was you being manipulative to the body of Christ and taking advantage of the flock of God and appealing to their emotions so that they could step in and do something that you know if you kept your mouth shut and trusting in the Lord, he would do, but you didn't have enough faith to recognize that.

See, this is the reality of of how it works. And it's unfortunate because we see this type of a thing all the time. And when I say enough faith, I'm not talking about if you have enough faith, you speak to your wallet and you going to get paid. I'm not talking about that kind of thing. I'm talking about the idea that says, Lord, if you're calling me to this place that I have to trust in the fact that you're going to provide, that you're going to do what you do, that you going to bring things into fruition as you've called those things to come into fruition, and I have to keep my mouth shut and trust you to be able to take care of this, right?

That's the idea. That's what Paul was talking about here. He's saying, look, I didn't manipulate you, I didn't get into any fancy words, we didn't mess around, we just simply gave you the unadulterated truth of the word of God. We just simply gave you the clear message of the gospel. We didn't play games, we didn't shy around, we didn't say things that, you know, other people would normally look at and and respond to. We just simply gave you literally we spoke to you as though or understanding that we are talking before God, knowing the fact that he's the one that's going to try our hearts.

Knowing that we have to answer to him and he's going to judge us. It's that whole thing that we talked about fearing God, right? The fear of the Lord, understanding that it's the Lord that's watching. It's the Lord that's watching. I I remember this like it was yesterday. I was hanging out in the boardroom of Calvary Chapel Downey and this when I first came on staff and they when I first came on staff, I used the boardroom as my office, right? So, I set up a laptop there and kind of did my work in there and I didn't really have an office space, but the boardroom worked out fine and and that was kind of where I worked and that where I met with people and so on and so forth.

And so the boardroom was also the same place where every single week they would count the offering when the offering came in, all the people, the ushers would count the offering and so on and so forth. So, every now and then you'd see like a dollar bill, you know, under the table or you'd see like a quarter or a nickel or a dime. And I remember one day seeing that. Every time I saw it I got paranoid. I didn't even want to pick it up. Like I didn't want to pick it up with my own hands.

I would call my overseer and I would say, hey bro, you need to take care of that. That's money that I think came from the offering. You need to pick that up, you know? Go get it. Come on, no big deal, you know? And I remember the first time going through that with somebody, and praise God it wasn't a pastor, but I remember going to somebody and saying, hey dude, I I don't want to touch that money. I mean, that that's money that came from the offering. And they're like, no big deal man, look I'll get it.

And they take it and put it in their pocket. Like no, you can't do that. No, I'll put it in the offering box over there on the other side or whatever. It's not a big deal. Stop freaking out man, it 's not a big deal. It's only a quarter. Well, in my mind I don't care if it's a a half a penny. That was money that someone worshiping God chose to put in the offering to glorify God, and I don't want to rob God. Why? Because I know God's watching me, right? And And it's that same concept.

It's like the fear of God is what motivated the apostle Paul to bring the gospel clearly, with clarity, to bring the message of the gospel to people who so desperately need it. That was the idea, you guys. That was the the the mindset. That was the picture. That was what was trying to be communicated by them, and they were This was something that they were very good at. They were effective in this message. And it was a good message that they gave, and it was one of these things that was just a very important thing.

So, he says, for neither we at any time we used we flattering words, this is verse 5, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness, God is witness. And he says, nor of men sought we glory, neither of you nor yet of others when we might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ. This is a pretty powerful thing. In other words, we didn't take advantage of you and we had every right in essence to compel you to give, but we didn't do that. We experienced a hardship on our own that you wouldn't have to.

Look what it goes on to say. But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse loves her children. That's a pretty powerful picture, right? They walked in gentleness. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls because you were dear unto us. Let me read that again. So, being affectionately desirous of you, in other words, we intensely desired you, right? We were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls because you were dear unto us.

In other words, what we shared with you was not an intellectual exercise. It was not a a practice in speech. We poured out our whole souls to you. We made ourselves vulnerable to you, and we gave you everything we had. We We literally laid ourselves down. And you know, this is interesting. I deal with this on a regular basis with people involved with ministry, people that I serve with. This happens a lot. And And often times what happens is I let my hair down and I allow them to see exactly the way I am. I even do it when I teach here.

I I do my best to be as transparent as I can, including sometimes when I when I interact with people, I respond with excitement. I don't I don't allow the politically correct side of me to start speaking. I'm like, hey, why are you doing this? Or I'm a very direct, straight forward person. And there is a certain vulnerability that's required to do that. You've got to make yourself vulnerable to be yourself around people, to not be guarded and that kind of thing. And here's the reason why I do it. I behave the way I behave and I act as direct as I do with people because I want them to see my soul.

I want them to understand the work that God is doing in me, that they know that it's real, that it 's not something that is that's fake, that's not something that's contrived. They I want them to see the authenticity of the relationship that I have with God, that they would watch the example and learn from it. Not to be some person who just, oh well, you know what? I'm just going to sort of put on my face and act And by the way, this was a popular thing for pastors to do back in the day, and they're kind of beginning to do it now.

It's becoming I don't know, it's becoming a bit hipsterish now, you know? Where guys are walking around and you know, like like little smoke stacks or something, just you know, walking around bummed and their heads down and they just look like they're depressed and angry and you can't read them and put on the best poker face or whatever. I don't want to be that man. I want to be somebody who you what you see is what you get. You know me. There's There's no difference. Why? Because there's value in people seeing my soul. There's value in that.

There's something special in that of somebody being able to see what's going on in the internal depths of my heart, of my mind. There's something to be said of that type of thing happening. And that's the the idea of what the apostle Paul is saying here. That's the picture that we get. He's saying, look, we didn't just get This wasn't just an intellectual exercise. We allowed you to see the real us. These guys were truly transparent. I'm not talking about like Washington D.C. transparent, right? I'm talking about real transparency. There was real vulnerability, real transparency.

He says for you verse 9, remember brethren our labor and travail for laboring night and day because we would not be chargeable unto any of you. We preached unto you the gospel of God. That's a pretty heavy statement, isn't it? I mean, you think about that. We just went for it. We did not allow ourselves to stop. We wanted to to come to you and give you everything that that we know you needed to be to grow in your walk with God. And he says, you are witnesses, and God also how holy and justly, unblamable we behaved ourselves among you that believe.

And you know, notice this how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father doth his children. These are the things that we're supposed to do, guys. That that's the picture. We're supposed to exhort one another, right? We're supposed to confront things in one another, right? Encourage one another, and we're supposed to comfort one another, and we're also supposed to charge one another. These are very very important things. These are requirements, I believe. I believe these are the types of things that God wants us to do. He wants us to be people who are constantly going to people to exhort them, to comfort them, to charge them.

There's a big difference between these terms, but they're important terms. Would I exhort somebody? It speaks of the idea of of just really going to a person and saying, look, you this is important. This is something we should be doing, right? When I encourage somebody, encouraging them is is is giving them a hope to understand that yes, this can be done. This is This is important. And then charging them is is this idea of I'm taking something, right? I'm giving I'm literally putting a bill in front of you that you must pay. I'm obligating you in essence.

That That's the idea. In other words, I am doing everything I can to make sure that you do this. This is critically important. I'm obligating you to do this for the sake of the gospel, right? It's that kind of idea. And it's you know, it's one of these things that my dad taught me from very long ago. Never take no for an answer. Never give up. Never quit, right? That's why I'm I It's funny me and my wife we have such different personalities, right? I remember the first time I went shopping with my wife, it kind of freaked her out a little bit because you know, we see the price and I think this what maybe when I grocery store, I don't remember, but you know, you see a price on something, you know?

And And And her thing was like, well, that's what it cost. No, babe, it doesn't cost that. Let's go talk and see if we can get a discount, you know? No, this is a regular store. It's a fixed price. Well, what are we supposed to be in Tijuana before we can ask for a deal? You know, who cares where we are? I don't care. Let's just go Let's just do whatever we're going to do, right? So, you know, you just walk in there and you just ask for the world. And if you get a country, then great.

It works out great, you know? But you just there's nothing wrong with saying, I'd like to talk to the manager. Well, how can I help you? Well, are you a decision maker? No. Well, can I talk to a manager, please? Okay, let's talk to the manager. Hey pal, we did this with Toys "R" Us recently. I called up the Toys "R" Us manager and played this game, you know, for my nephew, for the sake of my nephew, right? And But the whole idea is, okay, well look look, this is your price, okay? This is what we want to pay.

I don't want to pay that price. This is what we're going to pay you. Look, you've got a choice. You can make a little bit of money but still make money or you could not sell anything. It's up to you. You can increase your sales. I'll be a customer. What do you want? You want to make a deal? Let's make a deal. Let's do this. What's the big deal, right? And of course, almost every single time that's what happens. It kind of works that way. We did this. We went through this whole thing with the dinner for for the married couples, you know?

They set this big old huge lofty price and and my wife told me, well, we've been trying to negotiate, it doesn't look like they're going to move or whatever. So, you know, well babe, did you ask can we get a better deal? Well, I'm not so sure and Okay, well let me give them a call, you know? Give them a call. Look, here's a deal. Okay, you're probably not going to fill up your tables. As a matter of fact, come on, your your food can be awesome and I know it is, but truth be told, it's Valentine's Day and a lot of people can't afford to go out for Valentine's Day.

So, you know what? This is the price you need to give us. How about you just do that for us? And I'd like you to throw this, this, and this in and let's make it work. What do you say? Well, hold on, let me talk to my boss. Great, thank you, you know? What do they do? They come back. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we'll do that. No problem. Well, let's go for it, right? Well, here's why. Here's Here's why that kind of thing is I guess for lack of a a better way of saying it, that kind of mentality, that's what charging is.

You go to a person and you charge them, you say, hey look, this is what I'd like to see done. Look, this is this is what I you approach without Like put it this way, no shame in the in in your game. You go to somebody, you say, come on, let's do this. I mean, how hard do we Think about this. How hard do we work on a regular basis and everything that we do throughout the day, throughout our lives? How hard do we work to gain the things that we want for ourselves? We work pretty hard, don't we?

We make deals, we talk through things, we interview people, depending what kind of job you're in. Whatever you do, you do all Throughout the day you do all kinds of things to get the expected end that you desire. Why don't we do that for the Lord? Why don't we contend that for the Lord? What's wrong with going to somebody and saying, hey man, do you know Christ? Like do you have a relationship with the Lord? That's what Look, I even at the the first planning meeting that I went to for the funeral for this law enforcement memorial, for this officer, this widow police officer, we're at the planning meeting and there's like 25 guys from all kinds of different law enforcement agencies.

To me, most people walk in a room, they'd be intimidated by that. Look at that. I go Okay, which one, Lord? Which one you want me to talk to? You know? And I zoomed in on one of the guys and just started sharing with him. Pulled them off in a corner. Hey bro, you know, you go to church? Yeah, I'm a Christian. Oh, what church you go to? Well, don't really go to a church. And we just start talking, right? The idea is this. The idea is you don't hold back from doing that which is expedient for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of your own soul, for your call.

You charge people, right? So, we encourage one another, right? We We exhort one another, we encourage one another, we charge one another. And then look at this. It says this. It says in verse 12 and we'll close with this verse. It says that you would walk worthy of God who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. Now, this can be very confusing for people. When he says that you would walk worthy of God, it doesn't mean that what you do is what earns your worthiness of God. In other words, you don't become worthy in God's eyes because of anything you've done.

The Bible says that our works is like a menstrual cloth, right? A dirty menstrual cloth. So, our righteousness doesn't mean anything to God because our righteousness is debunked. It's It's foul. There's a problem with it. God is the one who makes us worthy. That's That's already an established understanding. God is the one that makes us worthy. Paul already spoke about this in chapter 1 of 1st Thessalonians in his greeting. He said it, look, this is my call. God called us to this place. He's the one who put me here, right? So, this is not a question as into your worthiness.

You're You are made worthy by the Lord. The Lord is the one that made you worthy. Your worthiness is not what's being called into question. What's being called into question is, are you going to walk according to that very fact? God made you worthy, so are you going to walk in that way? Or are you just going to simply walk as though you're not? It's a very important thing to understand, isn't it? It's interesting to watch human nature, and I'll close with this thought. I see this a lot. You can tell when people are close to one another because when they're close to one another, their behavior changes around one another.

When there's a closeness, when there's a bond that's developed, it's not formal. It's not this you know, you look up ahead and you're very just, you know, very official and very formal. No. What it is is as you begin to develop a bond with somebody, there's a certain comfort level that's just astounding. It's a type of comfort level that you can't even describe, but you guys know what I'm talking about. Married couples, you understand what that looks like. For parents with your children, you know what that looks like. Or maybe you have a very deep close relationship with somebody.

You're very close to to somebody else. Maybe it's a group of guys that you work with. Whatever it might be, but truth be told, the more and more familiar you become with somebody, the closer you become. Your mannerisms change around and you see them like, what's up? How you doing? Or if you teach When you see somebody you don't know, you go, oh hi, how are you, sir? Right? Big difference. That's this idea that God has made you worthy. And because he's made you worthy, you should walk as though you're familiar with that worthiness. You're a child of God.

You will act a specific way because he made you that way. You were bought by his blood. So, truth be told, walk according to the way he's made you. I I say this a lot. And it's just true. I don't counsel losers typically, and I don't work with losers. But unfortunately, sometimes the people that I counsel or the people that I work with think that they are losers because they forget the worthiness in which God has made them. They forget the value that God has bestowed upon them through what he's done. And you begin to realize that when a man or a woman begins to walk according to that worthiness, the worthiness that's already been established within them, it completely changes what they do.

Notice this. God has what? He's called you unto what? His kingdom and glory, not just to be a part of his kingdom, his own economy, but his glory. In other words, this this beautiful privilege that you get to be a part of God's glorious work. That's the idea that the apostle Paul is talking about here. That's the blessing. Now, why is this important when we talk about living in the last days? Well, it's important living in the last days because when God breeds you to that place, where he breeds that confidence in you and he begins to develop you in that way, there is no stopping you in these last days.

We don't have a lot of time, you guys, and when we learn to walk according to that call that God has placed upon us according to the worth that God has given us, man, it changes everything, doesn't it, guys? Changes everything. God is the one who has made us worthy, and it's time that we all as the body of Christ learn to live and act as such. Amen.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Pastor James Kaddis on Light on the Hill. He'll be right back. Our current series is called Living in the Last Days, an end time study in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. If you missed any part of the series or just want to hear it again, visit lightonthehillradio.com or listen through our app. You'll also find us on oneplace.com and most of the major podcast platforms. Light on the Hill is made possible in part through the generosity of our listeners. If you'd like to support us with either a one-time gift or ongoing donations, please visit lightonthehillradio.com.

Pastor James, it seems like every year around this time predictions are made concerning the day of Jesus's return and the rapture of the church. Some set dates despite Jesus's clear instruction that no one would know the day. Would you share why it's important to stick to what the Bible says rather than entering into speculation or sensationalism?

James Kaddis: Well, perhaps the most consequential reason why we choose not to speculate and we're actually commanded to not speculate is because the Bible emphasizes what we often times refer to as the doctrine of eminence. And it's all about understanding that Christ is not coming at a certain date as we might tell people that it's hugely erroneous to come to that conclusion. The Bible prohibits us. The Bible even tells us that the son of man doesn't even know it. Referring to Jesus, he said that about himself, referring to the second coming. Now, if he doesn't know the date of the second coming, how in the world are we going to know the date of the rapture?

What's hugely consequential here is being able to understand the requirement that God has for us to recognize that Christ could come at any moment. This is what we call the doctrine of eminence, that the return of Christ is eminent and we must treat every single day with the awareness that it could happen at any moment. And this is actually the core of what Thessalonians teaches us. Paul's letter to the church the Thessalonian church speaks about this in both 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, and it's crucial that we recognize it. When you set dates, you take away from the doctrine of eminence, and we know that Christ could come at any moment.

And I believe it's going to happen sooner than later.

Guest (Male): Thanks, Pastor James. Let's finish things up now in prayer.

James Kaddis: All right, let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for your word and thank you for the message that we gained from your word. And may we be people, Lord, whose hearts and minds are turned towards those things, Lord, that we would be real and genuine, Lord, about all that we face and do. So, Lord, we love you, Lord. Give us your heart, give us your mind, keep us seeking you, and keep us looking to you in Jesus's name we pray. Amen.

Guest (Male): There's much more to come in Pastor James Kaddis's series Living in the Last Days. Don't miss it. This program is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.

Guest (Male): I have found the peace only comes from you. I have found the joy only comes from you. Cuz all I need is you.