Light on the Hill

James Kaddis: Pastor James Kaddis has this to say about the spiritual war we are engaged in every day. Spiritual warfare is best fought. Listen to me good. Listen to me well. Spiritual warfare is best fought when the only thing you give regard for is the God who is fighting it for you.

You will never be able to fight spiritual warfare well unless you give regard to the God of Heaven. Unless you say, Lord, I can't see what's in front of me, but you can. So I will ignore the things that I can see, understanding and knowing that you will defeat the things that I can't.

Those who fight spiritual warfare and do it well understand that what's in the invisible realm is the only thing, literally the only thing that is necessary in order to have victory in every other realm. Christians who don't engage in spiritual warfare become the first casualties of it. It's that simple.

Guest (Male): Today on Light on the Hill, we resume our new series, Prophecies That Changed the World. With Easter coming up this Sunday, the resurrection of Christ is on many of our minds. Today we'd like for you to consider how the resurrection affects you personally. It's more than you may realize. Turn to Luke chapter 24 and let's join Pastor James Kaddis.

James Kaddis: We have a lot to celebrate this morning. And, you know, I've been thinking about this a lot. I've been contemplating it. We really, truly are in one of the most unique times in human history. I've talked about this a lot and it's something that is, has sort of been overwhelming me, especially as a father of young children.

And I think about the fact that we are literally buried in a culture of death. And there's definitely a pun intended in that, right? We live in a world today that is almost to a degree very endowed in this culture. We, we look at liberty being associated with things like abortion.

We look at a world right now that we just think about that it's just so gloom and dark and dim. And yet when we get to this place where we're at Easter morning, we get to celebrate everything that is the opposite of that, right? Everything that's antithetically opposed to it. And I think that there's something spectacular about being able to do it.

And I, I used to say this often times and I think it's something that really means so much more to me than it ever has before, but the spiritual warfare that centers around a day like this is so unbelievably remarkable. It's remarkable because the devil does not want us taking time to contemplate the power of the resurrection.

Because when you contemplate the power of the resurrection, you think completely differently about the way you live your life. You think differently about the way you preserve and fight for life. You think differently about the way you allow yourself to even be heard in society, to a completely different thing.

And so this is a spectacularly important morning. This is very special for us because we're here today gathered to say that we not only believe and put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, but we're putting our faith and trust in and believing in one who was alive today. And that's a thing that we celebrate and it's so spectacularly important.

Well, of course, I think that all around the country and all around the world, the passage that most pastors are going to go to when they do their sunrise services is going to be Luke 24. And the reason why they go to Luke is because Luke has a spectacular way of being able to articulate what happened on that very special morning.

And there's so many important things that he points out that I thought it would be very, very critical for us to listen to and to pay attention to, because I want to encourage you with something. First and foremost, I want to say this. You are here at an extraordinary time. I get it.

You're all bundled up. It's a relatively cold morning, at least for Southern California. It's a cold morning, right? Your dedication is remarkable in that you will come here, you've all shown up here before the sun even came up. And so we're, we're gathered to listen to what I believe is a very important message and something critical.

And I would pray that as you continue to make a concerted effort to allow your walk with God to grow because of the intentionality that you show in in seeking the Lord, it's my prayer that you will benefit richly from that. And I think that that's what's going to happen today when we take a moment to examine what really happened on that spectacular morning.

And there's a lot of very different angles that we can take in talking about this, right? We can talk about the fact that there's more evidence than you can possibly imagine concerning the fact that Christ is indeed alive and he has resurrected. We can talk about some of the fundamentals that God went out of his way to show us in the story of the resurrection to build within us the confidence that we know that we can have concerning this day.

As a matter of fact, we'll talk a little bit about that, but the Bible predicted that this would happen on so many levels that it isn't even funny. And yet when you think about all the different things that you can look at with respect to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there's one angle that I want us to look at today and I believe it's one that God really truly intended for us to look at and one that I believe he wanted us to place the greatest emphasis upon.

And that is how the resurrection affects you personally. How it changes the way you look at things, how it completely transforms how you see life as it's lived day by day. And that's what we're going to talk about. Now, I am tempted to start right away with verse one of chapter 24, but as I've talked about on multiple occasions, these chapters are broken up or were broken up for our convenience.

You hear a passage that really ministers to you. It's a lot easier to say, let's go to Luke 24, verse one, than it is to say right around the story of the resurrection, there's this verse that I heard that really blesses me. And so that's why they did what they did many, many, many, many years ago with the Bible, and that's why we have these chapter and verse designations.

The danger that comes with that, of course, centers around the fact that it's very easy to take out of context a specific story or a narrative that the Lord wants us to understand, and it's even easier to compartmentalize everything based on these chapter designations and it becomes pretty dangerous.

So what I'm going to do is I'm going to rewind things a little bit and I'm going to start a few verses prior to the first verse in chapter 24, because I want everybody to understand that the people in this moment and in this time are going through an extraordinarily difficult time.

You see, the moment that they're going through right now, they have their hopes very highly set on the fact that Christ would, one day, deliver them from the oppressors of the Romans, who are amongst many other oppressors who have existed over the last several thousand years.

They were hoping that Christ would be the one that was going to create the kingdom that had been so articulately described by him. I believe that many of them were hoping in the fact that they would see this world that no longer involved any level of oppression, and that is an appropriate term to use when it comes to the Jewish people even to this day, that had been extended upon them by the Gentiles year after year after year.

And they had their hopes up in in believing and really truly thinking that this was going to be the end of the end for them, that they were going to see the deliverance of God's hand coming in, destroying evil and actually bringing the kingdom into fruition as Jesus had described.

And they were met with intense defeat because what they witnessed was they witnessed the crucifixion of Christ. And if you were not with us on Friday, I would highly advise that you go back and listen to what I shared on Friday because I spoke in very vivid detail what Christ would have gone through during that time and in that period when he went through this immense suffering, not only through crucifixion, but also through the type of mockery and torture and all the other things associated with the what he went through in that moment.

But here's the thing that I think is really remarkable and the thing that's really important and I think the thing that's really critical. In the time where they were at their lowest, in the time that they felt like there was no hope, they were sitting in the midst of what was going to be and what became the greatest time of their lives.

They saw something that they did not expect to see because the overwhelming amount of spiritual warfare that existed, because of the overwhelming amount of pain that they were experiencing with respect to the loss of the one that they called their Messiah. All of those things had become so unbelievably overwhelming that they lost sight of what was really happening.

And I want to say this right off the bat because I think it's really important and I don't think I'm wrong about this. I think we have two major variables that we're dealing with in this present time. Number one, I truly believe this, and I think that I can prove this theologically.

I think I can prove it prophetically and biblically, and I think I can prove it based on the circumstances that we're seeing in this world right now that are unprecedented. I believe that right now we are seeing, we are witnessing as a world, the greatest time of spiritual warfare we have ever seen in human history outside of two other periods of time.

The first period of time, of course, being when Adam chose to disobey God and rebel against him, thus changing the direction of humankind. I think that was one of those times. I think the second time would have been the time period that we're here celebrating and reflecting upon. When Christ was actually murdered and then resurrected from the dead.

The third time is the time that we are approaching, the time that we are currently in right now, which I believe is the very beginning of the end times. No, I'm not a date setter, nor will I ever choose to be a date setter, certainly not a son of a date setter, but the one thing that I will say is that we have mounting evidence that we are rapidly approaching the time that we know the Bible describes as the end.

We're seeing things happen just as predicted. We're watching mankind begin to change in ways we never thought possible. And so many people, including the people that are sitting here with me outdoors, are experiencing spiritual warfare in ways that they have never experienced it before.

And to make things worse, and to make things even more significantly confusing, so many of the men who are supposed to be leading the church through this time of spiritual warfare are teaching the church to not engage in spiritual warfare. And here's the fact that we have to understand.

Those of us who refuse to engage in spiritual warfare, that are believers, will become the first casualties of it. We will be the ones that will be affected the most. And right now we live in a world and in a society where people don't focus on the type of things that we're talking about right now.

They focus upon their outward appearance. They focus upon some of their associations that will bring them prominence. They focus upon doing the things that in essence, Hollywood kind of does in order to win people over. But I can tell you this right now, as we're rapidly approaching the last days, especially the younger generation, they're not having it anymore.

They're actually looking for reality in people. They're actually looking for truth. They're not looking for shows, they're not looking for games. Why? Because they can sense the warfare that we're facing. They can sense the difficulty that we're going through. And I really want to emphasize this point because I want you to be able to relate to what these amazing women were going through in the moment that they were going through this.

And that's why I want to start a few verses prior to chapter 24. That's why I want to actually get into verse 48. Actually we'll start in verse 47. It says this, and this is Luke chapter 23. It says, now when the Centurion saw what was done, he glorified God saying, certainly this was a righteous man.

By the way, it is interesting because Jesus had just finished at this point saying, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. And in essence, that was a fulfillment again of Psalm 22. As a matter of fact, there were several moments that Jesus was going through on the cross that would have been a direct quotation from the Psalms.

At one point Jesus said, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, meaning my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And in that very moment, undoubtedly, the learned men that were there, the people that understand the word of God, knew immediately that he was quoting the very beginning of Psalm 22.

If you were to go to Psalm 22 right now and were to read it in its original language, those are how you, those are the words that you would see. Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani. And it's interesting because even a Gentile Centurion who had no acclimation to the word of God or awareness or understanding or discernment regarding what the truth of God's word had said, was able to recognize that this was truly at the bare minimum a righteous man.

It says in verse 48, and all the people that came together to that site, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts and returned. In other words, they were grieving. They had a very difficult time with what was going on. And all his acquaintance and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off beholding these things.

Remember, Jesus definitely had quite the entourage around him. If you really think about it, and you look at it at the core that was designed to be looked at, you would recognize the fact that Jesus had to have had a support system around him. He had to have people that were there that were cooking.

He had to have people that were there that were sewing. He had to have people that were there that were helping him. And of course, this was part of Jesus's ministry. Jesus ministered to the people that were around him and that were serving with him. And so these women were afar off and they were watching this and they were struck with tragedy.

The Bible actually tells us that there was a preparation that they were already getting ready to make in terms of handling his body and taking care of his body. It was Thursday night. It would have been the night of the special Shabbat when Passover had just finished, and it would have been undoubtedly one of the most confusing and difficult and hard moments of their lives as they're watching their Lord being hung on the cross, literally with a bunch of criminals.

It's a very, very difficult way to watch his life end. Look what it goes on to say. It gets even more interesting from this. Verse 50, and behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counselor, and he was a good man and a just. The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them.

He was of Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. This man went unto pilot and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped it in linen and laid it in a sepulcher that was hewn in stone wherein never a man before was laid. And that day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew on.

I think there's something spectacular to say about Joseph of Arimathea. The one thing that we should note right away was that he was a man and we understand this, of great political stature. He was a man that was respected amongst the Sanhedrin. And we know that he would have been respected amongst the Sanhedrin because the Bible specifically tells us, Luke being the historian and the physician of the group, that Joseph was the person who did not agree to the consent of what the council took to do in destroying Jesus's life.

That he was actually a righteous man and he went so far as into go to pilot, which of course, he had to have tremendous access. He would have had to have had immense reputation in order to do that. Certainly his wealth would have been a big part of that. And when he went to pilot to ask of Jesus's body, it was granted to him.

So we know that he was a man of influence. We know that he was a man that certainly was prominent in society on a whole bunch of levels, not only with the Romans, but he was certainly a man of prominence even amongst the Jews. He would have had to have been. But he goes to pilot and he asks for the body of Jesus that he would be able to take that body and put it in the sepulcher.

By the way, a couple of things that we should probably note here right off the bat. For those of you that might not recognize this, Joseph of Arimathea was willing to put it all on the line. He was willing to put his income on the line. He was willing to put his reputation on the line. He was willing to put everything on the line.

How do I know that? This is how I know that. Back in those days, if you were a person who was prominently for lack of a better term, displayed amongst the Sanhedrin and you actually chose to go against what their norm was and you did not have the reputation of being a prime leader or, for lack of a better term, maybe a teacher that they were all listening to that was setting some kind of a cultural norm, the reality of it is is you would be shunned.

You would not be a part of anything and it would seem as though that Joseph of Arimathea, yes, being a wealthy man, did not care about any of that. It would seem that Joseph of Arimathea was the type of person who wanted to take the body of Jesus and give it the respect that it deserved.

By the way, he may not have even realized this, but he was being used by God to fulfill a prophecy that the Lord himself gave to Isaiah. If you remember that prophecy that we went over on Friday, that he would in essence be executed amongst wicked people, but yet buried amongst the rich.

Very interesting to see that. But here's the thing that I think is extraordinary about this guy Joseph. He didn't care. The only thing that he cared about was he cared about giving Jesus the respect that he knew Jesus deserved. He knew that he was no longer going to be in a position of advantage because Jesus was dead.

He knew that it would actually be met with some level of controversy because it would be taken as an action that stood in direct defiance to the religious group of people that stood there. He knew that it was not going to go well, but yet he chose to do this. There's something very important about this, folks.

I want you to see the pattern of warfare, spiritual warfare that it existed here. By the way, that probably should be one of the first points that I bring up when it comes to the subject of spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is best fought. Listen to me good. Listen to me well. Spiritual warfare is best fought when the only thing you give regard for is the God who is fighting it for you.

You will never be able to fight spiritual warfare well unless you give regard to the God of Heaven. Unless you say, Lord, I can't see what's in front of me, but you can. So I will ignore the things that I can see, understanding and knowing that you will defeat the things that I can't.

Those who fight spiritual warfare and do it well understand that what's in the invisible realm is the only thing, literally the only thing that is necessary in order to have victory in every other realm. Christians who don't engage in spiritual warfare become the first casualties of it. It's that simple.

Look what it goes on to say. It says, and that day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew on. Again, would have been the special Shabbat that had taken place, the special Sabbath. We know that that would have taken place on Thursday. We talked about that at length and explained why that happened.

Look what it says in verse 55. And the women also which came with him from Galilee, followed after and beheld the sepulcher and how his body was laid. And they returned and prepared spices and ointments and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. It is very interesting.

We do find out, and we know this, that these ladies, who were very concerned about Jesus even after his death, were even more concerned about whether or not they could roll away the stone. They were concerned about whether or not the stone could be rolled away. Yet they still went to go do what they knew they needed to do.

And again, that is a beautiful picture of how spiritual warfare is engaged in, right? That no matter how much of an impossibility it may seem in the realm that you can see, no matter how much it can be in terms of the difficulty associated with the things that you have traditionally been unable to accommodate, you still move forward knowing full well, completely full well, that God will handle in the invisible to give you the power that you need in the visible.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Pastor James Kaddis on Light on the Hill and part of our new study, Prophecies That Changed the World Forever. Pastor James will be right back with more. There are a few ways you can listen to today's message or the entire five-part series again.

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Start following James Kaddis on X, Instagram, and YouTube. Throughout the week he shares biblical encouragement and videos that deal with current events and Bible prophecy. Pastor James is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Signal Hill and we'd love to have you join us for our Good Friday and Easter services either in person or online. For more information, visit Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.com.

Pastor James, I want to go back to a comment you made early on. You believe we're witnessing the greatest time of spiritual warfare we've ever seen in human history outside of two other periods of time. As you know, some Christians attempt to run and hide in the battle or acquiesce to the devil's agenda, but where does that lead?

James Kaddis: It always leads to you becoming the first casualties of this spiritual war. And the reality of it is, you only have one option and that option is to find strength in the one who lives in you, rather than he who is in the world. And what we must do is we must put our faith and trust in Christ and then we must go to him using his solutions to find the answers to the problems that are created by this warfare that we engage in. Because for those who do not, when Christians do not engage in that warfare, they become the first casualties of it, literally every time.

Guest (Male): Well said, thanks Pastor James. Now let's listen to the rest of today's message on spiritual warfare and Luke chapter 24.

James Kaddis: Look what it goes on to say. And this is where it becomes really extraordinary. Verse one. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain others with them. By the way, this is so incredibly important to point out.

We're here right now right around the same sort of environment that these people would have met when they went to the garden tomb. Remember, they came in the very in the very early morning because they wanted to be able to take care of Jesus's body, but they couldn't have gone at night, even though they legally according to the law could have come at night.

The problem is that they would not have any visibility to be able to make their way in and through and to do whatever they wanted. So when they came to the stone, when they came to the grave, they would have come in a condition very similar to the one that we're in. It is, by the way, a spectacularly beautiful day here in Southern California, isn't it?

I mean, you look around and you you you see the wonder of the sky. You see all the beauty of it. I don't know if you guys got to see the rocket launch that happened just a little bit before. Obviously, they wouldn't have seen that in Jesus's day, but they, they launched from Vandenberg Air, uh, actually Space Force Base at 5:30.

It was quite a sight. We were all watching it from the parking lot. But it's interesting to think about just standing here or sitting here and looking around and this would have been a very similar, uh, circumstance. In Israel in that climate where they were, it would have looked very much like what we were looking at right now.

Not in terms of an asphalt parking lot, but certainly the temperature, the environment, the way that the sky would have looked, it would have been very, very similar. Uh, outside of the smog, but that's a whole other story, right? I don't want to get too far out of hand. But look what it says in verse two.

It says, and they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher. Isn't that funny? You know, I think it's hilarious because this is something that we don't talk about a lot, but I think it's really important and it's something critical to understanding spiritual warfare and finding victory in the world that we find ourselves in the midst of and that's this.

Spiritual warfare will always be the key to accomplishing what appears to be impossible in the physical. Many times we look at things that are in front of us that appear to be extraordinary difficult to handle. Look at the stone, it can't be rolled away. By the way, for those of you that have ever been with me to Israel, we take you to one of these garden tombs, not the one that we believe Jesus was in, another one.

We take you to a couple of them. And one of the garden tombs that we go to, we take you to a place where there's actually a big massive stone. And we encourage people, hey, try to move it. And most of the time, they can't do it. They cannot move that stone. It's big.

I think if I were to put all my weight into that stone, I may have been able to move it. I don't know. But the reality of it is, it is, it seems virtually impossible. And when you think about the context of this particular circumstance that these women found themselves in the midst of, understand the fact that they did not know how they were going to roll that stone open.

They had no idea how they were going to get back into that grave. Yet they still showed up, knowing that it had to be done. I think there was a hugely spiritual component that drove them to do that. And I think that's one of the things that we have to consider every day, that what appears to be insurmountable in the physical realm is often times designed by enemies in the spiritual to discourage you from engaging.

And I think that we have to ignore those things. I think we have to be people that say, it is not an issue of whether or not I can do the thing. It's an issue of what does God want me to do in the thing. That's the question you have to ask.

Guest (Male): More about how the resurrection affects us personally next time on Light on the Hill, a presentation of Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.