Light on the Hill

James Kaddis: There's a crossroads that each and every single one of us run into on a regular basis. That crossroads happens when you are confronted by the Lord to give up something that you hold dear that continues to serve as a distraction from doing the thing that God is asking you to do.

For some people, that's going to be money. For other people, it's going to be different things. But the reality of it is each and every single one of us are running out of time, and God is calling us to have focus on what our priority should be and to take away the things that would distract us from achieving those priorities.

Guest (Male): Today on Light on the Hill, we'll eavesdrop on a conversation about eternal life between Jesus and a man of great stature and wealth. It started with a question: what must I do to inherit eternal life? Maybe you've thought about that yourself.

So, what does it take? The answer given by Christ may surprise you. Jesus makes it clear that what is impossible for us is made possible by God. Here's Pastor James Kaddis in Mark chapter 10.

James Kaddis: You know what Jesus is recognizing? Jesus is recognizing two things that this man doesn't recognize. The first thing that Jesus is recognizing is the fact that this man has less time on his hands than he thinks. The second thing that Jesus is recognizing is he has something that he possesses that is distracting him from understanding what it really takes to obtain salvation.

What is Jesus saying in essence? Get rid of all your money. Look what the Bible tells us here: "And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions." Now, what does that mean? A lot of people say that meant that he just walked away from the Lord and completely forsook the Lord for his wealth. I don't know if that's true.

Even reading it in the original language doesn't really give much away. I can just tell you this: his heart was heavy. Was his heart heavy because he realized that he wasn't willing to pay the price to obtain salvation, or was his heart heavy because he was still trying to reconcile in his heart the idea of giving up what was so dear to him?

I would venture to say, by the way, that it is a higher likelihood that his heart was grieved because he was realizing what it was going to take to be able to realign his mind and heart towards salvation. There is a crossroads that each and every single one of us run into on a regular basis. That crossroads takes place when you are confronted by the Lord to give up something that you hold dear that continues to serve as a distraction from doing the thing that God is asking you to do.

For some people, that's going to be money. For other people, it's going to be different things. But the reality of it is each and every single one of us are running out of time, and God is calling us to have focus on what our priority should be and to take away the things that would distract us from achieving those priorities. I think more than ever, I've been in that place in my life.

More than ever, I've been finding myself in a place where I'm looking to reevaluate everything going on in my life right now to understand what it is that's distracting me. What's keeping me from obtaining the prize? What's keeping me from being aware of what God is calling me to be aware of?

I think that more and more, as time goes by, I'm recognizing just how many things are there to distract me. Just how many things are there to cause my focus and my attention to be removed from the main goal, from the mission. I think it's a dangerous spot to be in.

But look what Jesus says. This is so heavy. Verse 23: "And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven!" Now, is he saying that if you're wealthy, you're not going to be saved? You're not going into the kingdom of heaven? You're not going to have eternal life? That's not what he's saying.

He's saying how hard is it for that to happen. Why? Because wealth can be a huge distraction from accomplishing the purposes that God has intended for you to accomplish. Wealth could be a huge distraction from doing that which God has called you to do.

If I sit down and stop to evaluate at any level, one of the things that we never did well in Calvary Chapel, especially the early Calvary Chapel, there were two things we didn't do well. The first thing is we did not teach the older generation to prepare for the future in a whole series of areas, whether it be who's going to come in after you, whether it be discipleship.

There are lots of areas like this: money areas, all kinds of things. We really failed in that area. That was a weakness amongst the older generation of Calvary Chapel guys. The second issue that we've never really ever done well with is we've never taken the time to truly show people what real priorities look like, what it really means.

Let me tell you what's happened as a result. What's happened as a result is the new generation of guys now in ministry, taking over these responsibilities of pastoring churches, don't know what brokenness looks like. They have no awareness of the time and the resources and the blessings that have been given to them. Quite frankly, they're more distracted from the Lord than any other generation that's ever been distracted from the Lord.

They think more about the empires that they want to build and they think more about the friendships and all the things that give them the notoriety that they're seeking, not understanding that the notoriety is a destructive element that will keep them from becoming all that God has called them to become. Even worse, it will be a tool that the enemy will use to stumble everybody they're leading.

If you don't believe me, just observe for a while. Watch what's happening. Take a look at what's taking place. There are a lot of people losing sight of that which is important because of the distractions. Jesus is simply mentioning that money here may very well be one of the greatest distractions.

By the way, I want to point this out because it's really, really important. He says "they that have riches." The idea here is wealth, significant wealth. Again, distractions. Look at what goes on. This is very heavy. Verse 24: "And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!"

There it is. He made it clear: those that trust in their wealth. It's so hard for them to enter the kingdom of God. Why? Because trusting in your wealth isn't going to get you into heaven. Trusting in what you have, trusting in your position, trusting in all the good things you've done—none of that's going to get you into heaven.

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." First of all, how many of you have heard this said? I taught it for a little while until I realized I was dead wrong. But how many of you have heard it said that the eye of a needle is the name of a gate that sits outside Jerusalem?

It's a gate that's really small and the idea behind it is that you have to take the camel and you've got to force him down on his knees, and then you've got to drag him through this gate basically. That's how you get them in. This is only open after hours when the main gates to the city are closed. How many of you have heard that?

You know that's completely not true? Not substantiated. Not a single archaeological artifact gives us any indicator that that's true. It doesn't even fit the original language pattern that you see written here. When it talks about the eye of a needle, it is talking about literally an ancient sewing needle.

It's easier for a camel to enter into the eye of a needle than it is the kingdom of God. By the way, you'll even see study Bibles that will say the eye of the needle is an ancient gate. It's not. No evidence of it. It does not exist.

James, that sounds astonishing then, because what that means is that it's impossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. So if you're rich, you're going to hell. Sure, that's right. If you're poor, you're going to hell. It doesn't matter. The point isn't it's easier for the camel to enter into the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven because you have to be poor to enter the kingdom of heaven.

He says it's impossible for that to be the case because the wealthy, in many cases, have already presupposed themselves to not understand what it does take to get into the kingdom of heaven. That's why Jesus gave us the leading indicator here: those who trust in riches. He didn't say those who have riches, he said those who trust in riches.

How hard is it for them that trust in riches. That's when he invokes a rich man being associated with the camel going through the eye of a needle. This is how I know that Jesus is not simply pointing out the rich and saying they're all going to hell because look at what the disciples ask next.

It is perhaps one of the most significant questions ever imposed to Christ under any circumstances, ever provided in the Scriptures. It might be the most powerful verse you'll ever read in the Bible and not even know that it's powerful. It is the most important question you'll ever ask.

By the way, this is coming from a group of people who are frustrated. Their brains are completely fried. They literally cannot comprehend what they've just seen or heard because look what it says in the King James: "they were astonished out of measure." In other words, they were immeasurably perplexed.

There is no way that you could functionally articulate at any level just how perplexed they were. They were shocked. That's what the Bible tells us. Look what it says. In their astonishment, they're saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?" That's a rhetorical question, at the same time being one that screams out demanding an answer.

When they say, "Who then can be saved?" they're also saying nobody can be saved. Even while they're saying "Who then can be saved?" they want to genuinely know because it's at this moment that they realize it's impossible for them to get saved.

If this rich man, who obeyed God's commands from the very beginning, who is in the best place sociologically speaking, probably one of the cleanest guys in the synagogue who has his act together—if that guy has an easier time going into the kingdom of heaven than a camel going through the eye of a needle, that means it's impossible. It can't be done. Why? Because you can't put a camel through the eye of a needle.

It's impossible. It doesn't work. So in their perplexity, they are making direct reference to the fact that this is completely insurmountable. It's impossible. It cannot be obtained. They just have that realization probably for the first time. Look at Jesus's response.

Verse 27: "And Jesus looking upon them saith..." By the way, "looking upon them" meaning there's a picture here that he's sort of, in a way, kind of gazing on them, almost in a way very emotional by what he's seen. The perplexity in them is not something that's easy for him to watch basically.

He says, "With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." You know what's really funny? I've never talked to Victor Marx about this. He's actually a very good friend. We have talked for hours and hours and I've never talked to him about this.

But knowing him and understanding the way his brain works, see, this is the verse that he uses as a theme for his ministry. I would bet that if I were to go to him and ask him what is the significance of that verse, he would probably say something to this effect: the things we face on a day-to-day basis as a ministry, saving kids' lives and engaging in basically impossible situations, we have confidence can be done.

Is it because of our expertise? Is it because of our skill set? Is it because of our backgrounds? Is it because of what we know? No. Victor said this on multiple occasions: for all intents and purposes, I have no capacity to be able to do half these things, especially with how emotionally wrecked I am.

All the abuse he's gone through, all the nonsense he's seen, subjugation to just the most ridiculous things ever. I'd be willing to bet you that if you asked him, he would say, "I gain confidence in the ability for the impossible to be done when I recognize that the most impossible thing to have ever been done in human history was done for us by God."

Think about that. You have salvation, I have salvation, we all have salvation. You know what? We take it for granted. We take it for granted because we don't realize that if you are a human being and you are told by God it is up to you to obtain salvation, you might as well start grieving now because you're going to hell.

There's no way in the world, there's no situation on earth that you can conceive where you could earn heaven. It's impossible. I think it's heavy what's happening at this moment. I think it's a pretty remarkable thing because what Jesus just did was he caused these men that were surrounding him to drop whatever they thought was the priority to obtain the thing that they thought they wanted to obtain.

Because they realized that all of those things that worked as a distraction kept them from truly understanding not just the complexity, but the impossibility of the salvation that they continue to talk about. It's only then for the first time that they begin to develop a realization of the fact that their dependence upon God must be the most consequential thing they pursue if they ever have hope to be able to experience the very thing they could never do for themselves.

I'll kind of close with a little interesting thought here. I remember none of you were around for this; my family would probably be the only ones around for this that actually saw this. It's funny how over the years you have different generations of people in the church that turn over.

But if you first started coming to Calvary Chapel Signal Hill when I first started the church, you would have remembered seeing a pastor who was right at around 700 pounds. At that size, you would have never seen me ride a mobility scooter. I had my mobility about me. I could be on my feet for 10, 12, 15 hours at a time.

I was miraculously versatile for somebody in that condition. Then it was around the time where God blessed us with this sanctuary that we built that things got so bad that it got to the point where my elders had to walk me from the car to my office and from my office to my car.

On really bad days, they oftentimes had to follow me to my house to help me get around. It was that bad. Not something I really talk about to a lot of people. At the time that all of that was beginning to happen was around the same time that I was beginning to come to grips with the fact that I had a nerve disease that was substantially affecting me.

Even after losing well over 300 pounds, the effects of that disease began to change everything about how I do things every day. No more balance, always looking to people for help, trying to get around, trying to figure things out. It was a very difficult process. God did something spectacularly important for me during that time.

He broke me of the mindset that said, "I've got this," because my whole life I've been better than everybody else in everything else. He broke me of the mindset that says, "Hey, everything will be okay. Listen, if nobody tithes, no big deal. I'll pay the bills myself. I'm in great shape." Really, James?

What happens if I take your health away? What happens if you can no longer earn the money you used to earn? What happens if you have nothing left to your name and the only reason why you're not homeless is because you're still living in mom and dad's house? Now what?

Now you're about to embark upon a series of situations and circumstances that you will deem as impossible to get out of. And the reason why you will be discouraged about what you perceive as the insurmountability of your circumstance, the reason why you'll be discouraged about what you call the impossibility of every moment you're in, is because you never valued the true thing that was impossible, which is your salvation.

You never understood what it really took to get you the thing you could never take for yourself. God had to bring me to a different place to recognize that. God had to bring me to a different place so that when my priorities changed and when things began to get much better and when finances didn't become an issue and many other things didn't become an issue, I would never take for granted the impossibility of every blessing that God has given me.

The impossibility that can only become possible through the finished work of Christ on the cross. Here's the question that I would ask you. Number one: do you realize how precious your time is? Number two: what does that look like in light of eternity to you? It better be serious because every moment you spend in this life will have a dramatic effect on what happens in that life.

The other question is: have you already come to grips with the fact that a camel could go through your sewing needle before you could obtain your own salvation? If you have, maybe you ought to reconsider how you're living your life.

The people that I know that are the closest to the Lord and have extreme wealth to their names are the same people that I know that are completely missionally oriented. They don't ever consider the money that they have outside of the knowledge that it was a tool that God gave them with an expectation to accomplish that which he's called them to accomplish.

And the more they begin to manage that aspect of their life in good stewardship, the more God begins to bless them. And the blessing that they obtain is not in the wealth that they manage; rather, the blessing that they obtain is in the gift of not only God's salvation, but the blessing that comes in the rewards that will be experienced in the life to come.

Guest (Male): This is Light on the Hill with Pastor James Kaddis, and we're currently going through the Gospel of Mark. Listen to this study and more at lightonthehillradio.com. Pastor James's teachings are also available through the Light on the Hill app and at oneplace.com. You can listen to us wherever you get your podcasts as well.

When you have a moment sometime today, send us an email. We'd love it. It's encouraging to hear what the Lord is doing in our listeners' lives, and it's an opportunity to thank the Lord for what he's doing. There's a place to contact us at our website, lightonthehillradio.com.

We've been blessed by the feedback we've received thus far regarding Pastor James's new book, The Last Book. If you haven't ordered a copy yet, we'd encourage you to do so. This guide to Revelation covers the first half of the book, giving you what you need to know about the rapture and the end times in a clear and concise manner. Request your copy today at lightonthehillradio.com or through Amazon.

If God is leading you to support this radio outreach, there's also a place to make a donation at lightonthehillradio.com. Throughout the week, you can watch our live shows and short videos, many of which relate to Bible prophecy and help you to see current events with a biblical worldview. Look for these at jameskaddis.com. Reflecting on today's passage in Mark chapter 10, here again is Pastor James.

James Kaddis: When you have a man or a woman that realizes that they can get a camel through the eye of a needle, I guarantee you that's a man or woman who realizes that it was God that did it for them and they completely absolve themselves of any thought they had of being able to do it using some form of a self-made mechanism.

That's the question I'm going to ask you tonight. Are you looking at it that way? Are you thinking at that level? I hope you are. Because if you are, you'll recognize money is a secondary effect, wealth is a secondary effect, relationships are oftentimes a secondary effect.

The only issue you have to face is the impossibility of your salvation and the grace of God in still granting it to you because he actually did go through the eye of the needle. That changes everything, by the way. Changes the way you think about things, changes the way you live your life, changes the way you look at things, changes the way you interact with people.

I think admittedly it's part of the reason why I have a little bit of a harsh, rough, abrasive personality. It's me as I get older trying to kill the noise and pay more attention to what oftentimes people refer to as the signal because I realize I'm out of time.

I don't know about you, but I hope you all feel the same way. Not only could Christ come at any moment, but you could walk out of this room and be taken into the realm of eternity. What will you say you've done? Will you have been effective as God called you to be, or were you simply just throwing it away because you thought you were sufficient in and of yourself?

Let's pray that we all have the moment like that rich young ruler had. Let's pray we all have that moment like those disciples had because when that moment comes and then you're supernaturally equipped by God to respond the way he intended for you to respond, your life becomes the greatest adventure ever lived. And the effects of that adventure will carry you into eternity. Amen.

Guest (Male): More from the book of Mark coming up next time on Light on the Hill with Pastor James Kaddis. This listener-supported program is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.