Light on the Hill

James Kaddis: This is something to get excited about if you're a believer in Christ. One day there will be no more sorrow or pain. I have been living with pain in my body and in my life for so long, I do not know what it feels like to not have it. I don't remember what it feels like.

I get emotional when I think about this because there will come a point in time where there won't be any of that. I think about that with my own mom and my own dad. The way that my mom suffered before she went to go be with the Lord. She's not experiencing any of that anymore. And there's going to come a point in time where when we have the new heaven and the new earth, none of us will have it. None of us will experience it. All of us will be living in eternal bliss. Listen, I don't know about you, but I'm excited about that. You should be excited about that too.

Jane: Thank you for joining us today for Light on the Hill. Today we take a tour of a holy city that will come down from heaven and the Apostle John is our guide. What is it going to be like? Let's go to Revelation 21 and find out. Is there really any point to this life if this is all there is?

The truth is the Lord has prepared a place for us, a wonderful place called the New Jerusalem. But we must take the step of faith in Christ to enter it. Here's Pastor James Kaddis in Revelation Chapter 21.

James Kaddis: Now, there are lots of people who will say that a new heaven and a new earth means that God will sort of remodel this one. And I've heard lots of really good Bible teachers say that. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your understanding of the language has to be diminished in order to come to that conclusion, and your understanding of context has to be diminished if you're going to come to that conclusion.

Why? Because if you think about it, when we get to verse four, God is going to say he'll wipe away their tears, there'll be no more death, and all these other things. Well, sorry, one of the primary characteristics of the heaven and the earth that we live in right now is death, even during the thousand-year reign. So even if there's a remodeling that goes on, you're still going to see that element, which is why God has to completely remove it. And by the way, the original language tells us that that's exactly what's happening. It's new, it's from scratch. God is going to destroy the existing one and he's going to create a new one. And I think that's a really important detail to lock in on.

So look what it says in verse two. By the way, this is what God does. He does this the best, right? Verse two: "And I, John, noticed this, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be as his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God.'"

This is pretty important because one of the things that we realize very quickly here is we see this new heaven, right? Jerusalem coming down from heaven. By the way, I want to make this very clear. We see the new heaven, we see the new earth, but then we see this city. This is going to be the main city, right? This is Jerusalem, and it comes down, and as it comes down, it's going to rest in on this new heaven and new earth.

But notice, it comes down from heaven. I actually believe that this city already exists. I think that it exists. I think it's in heaven right now in the place where God abides, in the place where our loved ones are. I believe it's already there. And the idea is it's going to descend down upon this earth, and I think that's the description that's being given here. I think it's a pretty remarkable description.

But I also want something to be noted here that's really important. Did you note, based on the language here, that it's not going to have an actual temple in the city, at least not the way that we understand it? There won't be a temple in the city, that what is actually regarded as the tabernacle or regarded as the temple is going to be God himself. And isn't it interesting to think about the fact that Jesus spoke about this?

Jesus actually spoke about the fact that at some point, he's standing in the courtyard of the temple, right? He just finished overturning all the tables in the temple and he said this: "Destroy this and it will be rebuilt in three days." And all of these people are like, "How in the world? There's no way this temple could be built in three days. And even the idea of it being destroyed is absurd. You're a nut."

That's pretty much how they're treating Jesus. But what they didn't realize was they didn't realize that the temple that Jesus was talking about was the one of his body. Remember? As a matter of fact, the Gospels actually tell us this. But here's one variable that you should remember, and I want it to stay with you.

Let's talk about the ancient phrase "high places." Now, we all have read these words, "high places," everywhere. By the way, where maybe we really explored this word in its most prominent context happened to deal with King Jeroboam. Now, we've talked about the history of this a little bit. Again, your education of the Old Testament is paramount to all of this.

So just humor me here in telling you, we know what happens with the kings of Israel. The first king of Israel was God, of course. And then, of course, they didn't want God as their king. So the first human king was Saul. After Saul, there was King David. After King David, there was King Solomon. After King Solomon was his son, King Rehoboam.

Now, King Rehoboam was the last king to rule over the nation of Israel while being completely unified. During King Rehoboam's reign, there was a person by the name of Jeroboam who comes in and basically says, "Hey, we don't like what's going on." Rehoboam doesn't listen to the counsel of the fathers or the counsel of the men that counled his father, who was the wisest ruler in the whole world. That's being a fool. And as a result, there was a civil war within the nation of Israel and we know that the nation of Israel split up into two kingdoms.

The Northern Kingdom, referred to as the Northern Kingdom of Israel, ten tribes of the north, led by Jeroboam, and then of course there was the Southern Kingdom of Judah that was led at that time by Rehoboam. By the way, one thing I should note per Second Samuel. You should know the prophecy that Nathan gives to King David that basically says, "Hey look, King David, I know you want to build me a house," this is God speaking, "I know you want to build me a temple, but guess what? I'm going to build you a temple and from there you will end up seeing somebody ruling from your bloodline in perpetuity."

What's interesting from King David is every single person that ruled in the Southern Kingdom of Judah was a descendant of King David. As a matter of fact, it's very likely that Daniel himself would have been a descendant of King Judah, of King David, because he came from the Southern Kingdom of Judah. When he was taken away in 605 BC by Nebuchadnezzar, understand that he would have been a member of the royal family, thus probably being a descendant of King David.

We should also probably note in that context, which by the way for those of you that remember the 70-year countdown of the prophecy that was given to Jeremiah with respect to the destruction of the Southern Kingdom of Judah actually started in 605 BC. And if you remember on the 9th of Av, 586 BC, is when the actual temple was completely destroyed and there was a lot of stuff that happened at that point. So it set off into motion a lot of crazy things, this division that took place between Jeroboam and Rehoboam.

Now, here's the problem that Jeroboam had. Really important that you focus in on this. Jeroboam knew that all of the people that were to the north, now the first capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, contrary to a lot of people's belief, was actually Shechem. That was the building or that was the capital that Jeroboam built. Very quickly it became Samaria. That's also a very important thing to be able to note.

But let me just simply say this. Jeroboam knew that he had a problem. He was a very astute political leader. And the problem that he had was he would observe lots of his people coming from the north making their trip to the south because that's what every Jew had to do at least three times a year. So they would make their trip from the north all the way to the south and when they would go to the temple and they would see the beauty of everything in the temple, and they would meet up with all of their old friends and they would go before the priests and they would make sacrifices and they would feel right before the Lord, there was this repatriation that took place in their hearts.

They all of a sudden really began to be attached to what was going on in the Southern Kingdom. Many people moved over there in that area. Some people actually thought about the idea of wanting to create a new rebellion and wanting to be a part of things because there was a significant problem that was being created and that was this: the loyalties of the people in the north were beginning to wean because when they would go to the south, experienced their relationship with God by going to the temple, it was a problem.

So you know what Jeroboam did? He was smart. He was super smart, very inspired by the devil. Jeroboam actually said this: "We can't have people going to the south. We just can't. So you know what we're going to do? We're going to set up high places." High places. What are high places? High places mean this: we're going to set up temples at the highest point of the city. One of the high places he set up was in Shechem. The other one was in a city very close by that covered the whole area of the north.

And the idea behind setting up a high place was if you put a temple up at the highest point of the city, you would always have a place where people could look up to and they could worship. That's why it was called the high place. And this was ancient culture practice. In ancient culture, everybody did this. They put their temples to their gods up at the highest point so that people could worship.

So Jeroboam said, "I'm putting up these high places and then I'm going to tell these people this is the new temple. This is the place where they can worship. They don't have to go to the south." Well, Jeroboam knew something really critical. He knew that the people that he was trying to win over would never do that because they knew what God had called of them and there was only people that they trusted when it came to the worship of God was the actual priests.

So what did Jeroboam do? He actually convinced many of the priests from the Southern Kingdom who were working in the temple and paid them a whole bunch of money to become priests in these high temples. And so when all of these families saw religious leaders that they trusted, you know what they did? They worshipped in those temples.

By the way, this is a tactic that is happening again and again and again. Margaret Sanger did this with the Negro Project when her whole purpose was to eliminate the black race through abortions. What did they know they needed to do? They knew it. We have the internal memos that the only way they could win over black families is by getting to their pastors. Because if their pastors signed off on it, then of course they would sign off on it.

We're watching it happen right now. Do you know the RNC is actually doing this? The Republican National Committee is wanting to make great appeals to pastors, spiritual leaders. I know because I'm one of them that they've tried to appeal to. They want to get pastors to be on board with their program so that people will look at that and accept it because if the spiritual leaders can actually say, "Oh this is okay," then they're going to say it's okay and everything is going to work out.

And by the way, Jeroboam was successful because Jeroboam was able to convince all of these spiritual leaders to do this. So they went to the high places. Now here's the thing that gets really interesting. Believe it or not, I'm going to connect this to Revelation 21. I promise you, okay? One very interesting thing happens when the real temple of God is actually built. At the time that the temple of God is actually built, did you guys notice that it was not built at the highest point of the city of Jerusalem?

Very unusual by the way that the temple would not be built at the highest point of the city of Jerusalem. And the reason why it would be unusual is because if all of these pagan gods had their temples built at the highest point of their cities, how in the world is it that Jerusalem, the most holy city in the world, that the temple of God, the true living God would not be built at the highest point that all might be able to look up? I think God did that by design.

And I'll tell you why. If today you go on an Israel tour with us, which we do this every time and you will, you will go to the Garden Tomb. This is the place where we find a tomb that we believe Jesus may have resurrected from. It's a very interesting picture where this area where Joseph of Arimathea was, very likely, it's a very powerful picture. Well, what happens is there's an area that we take people to at the Garden Tomb where you can look over and you can actually see Golgotha.

You can see the area where Jesus was crucified, basically the hill of the skull that looks like a skull. And what's interesting and what any tour guide worth a bean will actually tell you is they will say, "By the way, when you look over the Temple Mount, that is not the highest point of the city. You know what the highest point of the city actually is? The very place where Jesus was crucified."

And isn't it interesting that as Jesus was crucified, referring to himself as the temple, that he, as he was raised up in being crucified, everybody looked at the high place of the city only to realize that Jesus was the temple? Jesus was the one that they looked to that points us to the true and living God. So when you look at Revelation Chapter 21, this is where we connect it. Isn't it ironic to think, or isn't it powerful to think, that when the new heaven and the new earth is actually created, that there is not a temple that is actually in the city that comes down because the actual temple is defined to us as God himself?

Like I said, you know the Old Testament, you're going to have a better understanding of what we're reading about in the Book of Revelation. And that means God is there. By the way, this is really interesting because when you start talking about the idea of light even existing in this time, there's no real direction that tells us that the light of the city is going to come the way light comes to us today. That light is going to be produced by Almighty God. God is going to be the light.

And people say, "Well, that's impossible. How could that be the case?" Go back to the story of creation. What day was the sun created? Anybody? Can anybody tell me? Not light, not what day was light created. What day was the sun created? Someone look it up and tell me. Day four. But yet light came into play at the very beginning, very early on. Who provided that light?

The existence of light itself was predicated upon God himself. Matter of fact, if you have any questions about that, you can read John's declaration in John 1:1, who refers to Christ as being the light. It's not just metaphorical. There's something very sticky there. There's something very literal in what he's actually saying.

So think about this. The new heaven and the new earth that we're about to experience is going to be so glorious. It's not structured in any way that you thought possible. There's no longer any of these weird ritualistic things that have to happen. There's no animal sacrifice. Of course, that all got eliminated with Christ being crucified and resurrected. There's none of that. All of it centers around the worship of God who saved us, who delivered us.

Look what it goes on to say. This is heavy, right? "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.' Just like we talked about. Verse four: 'And God shall do what? He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.'"

By the way, the former things are passed away go along with the same language as the old things being moved away. In other words, the old heaven, the old earth is gone. The new heaven and the new earth is here. By the way, it is interesting when it talks about God wiping away tears from their eyes. The idea of God wiping away their tears can't just be a metaphorical term that's used to say that nobody will ever cry in heaven. People are actually crying at this point in heaven and God is wiping away their tears.

Now the question that we have to ask is what are they crying over? Are they crying because they're in heaven and they're seeing their loved ones suffering and it's all over and there's all of that going on, or are they crying because they're overwhelmed with joy because they're in a time where they know that for the rest of eternity they're going to be living in bliss? We don't know. I think it's probably the latter more than the former. But yeah, there will be people that will have tears, but God will wipe away those tears.

But look what it says, guys. This is powerful, right? Let me read you the things that they say there's not going to be anymore. No more tears. No more death. No more sorrow. No more crying. No more pain. I don't know about you but for me that one's a big one. Hard for me to not get emotional over that whole idea. I can't imagine what world would be like without pain. Forget the emotional pain that we go through on a regular basis. I cannot imagine. I have been living with pain in my body and in my life for so long I do not know what it feels like to not have it.

I don't remember what it feels like. I was thinking about this the other day. I had a dream the other day where I woke up kind of crying, not kind of, I was crying because I don't even remember what it was like to do some of the things that I did as a child. I don't remember what I don't remember what it feels like to run through the field and enjoy rolling around on the ground.

It's the effect that sin has had on our bodies. And I could lose every last ounce of my body that's over what it should be and there's certain things I'll never be able to do because of the disease that I actually have. That's just the way it is. And I'm telling you this right now, people watching this online, I don't want to hear all your remedies. Don't send them in to me. God wills what he wills and that's just the way it's going to be.

But I want to make myself very, very clear. I get emotional when I think about this because there will come a point in time where there won't be any of that. I think about that with my own mom and my own dad. The way that my mom suffered before she went to go be with the Lord. She's not experiencing any of that anymore. And there's going to come a point in time where when we have the new heaven and the new earth, none of us will have it. None of us will experience it.

All of us will be living in eternal bliss. Listen, I don't know about you, but I'm excited about that. You should be excited about that too. I'm excited about being able to get around and not have to use a mobility scooter to do it. I'm excited about the idea of just being able to just do anything I want to do at any time without any encumbrance. Never having to worry about locking a door. Never worrying about crime. Never ever having these crazy obsessive thoughts in your mind about God, how can I protect my children even more when I read an article about a child dying? None of that. It's all gone because God is faithful.

Look what it goes on to say. "And he that sat upon the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And he said unto me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.' And he said unto me, 'It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son.'"

I think about this as a man who's had the honor and the privilege of adopting three children. I can't wait when my children are of age to be able to tell them about the hell that me and their mom went through to be able to get them to come into our lives. I can't wait. I cannot wait to tell them about the insanity that we went through.

I can't wait to tell my children when they're of adult age of the fact that their dad worked 22-hour days to create an infrastructure for them where they would understand that I am more their father than any human being will ever be in their life. That I care about them and I love them and my whole life got poured into giving them the very best. I can't wait to do that. You want to know why I can't wait to do that? Because that's what my Heavenly Father did for me.

I'm a man who came from a childhood where I was given the best by my parents. They gave me the best spiritual care. They raised me in an incredible, incredible way. I had the best childhood any child could ever have with the most amazing parents. And they pointed me to a Father who loves me with all of his heart. That he died, he gave his son to die for me. I love adoption and I hate abortion. I hate it for this reason because, think about this, God did it for us. He adopted us. If he didn't adopt us, we'd all be in hell. He's going to be my Father. I'm going to be his son. That's what it says for eternity.

Jane: Pastor James is leading us verse by verse through Revelation here on Light on the Hill. To hear this message again, visit lightonthehillradio.com or oneplace.com. It's also available through the Light on the Hill app. Light on the Hill is made possible through the generosity of our listeners. If the Lord is leading you to support this ministry, please visit lightonthehillradio.com to donate or you can give through the Light on the Hill app. Here's Pastor James once again to share something very exciting with all of you.

James Kaddis: Exciting that is, Jane. I gotta tell you, this is a project that has been three years in the making and we are excited to bring it to you. It is called The Last Book. Yes, it is my writing on the Book of Revelation and I'm excited to bring this commentary. I'm going to educate you through the Old Testament, all of the passages that are relevant to understanding this powerful New Testament book. And I can tell you this right now, you're going to be blessed.

In this book we go through the first 11 chapters of the Book of Revelation and about six months from now you will see the other book coming out. We're already working on it. We've been working on it for years and I'm thrilled to give it to you because I know, based on what the Bible says, you will be immensely blessed for studying it. It's the only book in the Bible that actually promises you directly to be blessed for studying it and for doing what it says. And so it is my hope and my prayer that God will be honored and you'll be blessed.

Jane: The Last Book by Pastor James Kaddis is available on Amazon, at lightonthehillradio.com, or jameskaddis.com. If you hunger for more Bible prophecy, you may want to seek out Pastor James's videos live or on-demand. Many of them relate to current events and Bible prophecy. You can access them at jameskaddis.com. You can also send us your questions about Revelation and Bible prophecy through the website lightonthehillradio.com. We hope to hear from you soon. We've been in the Book of Revelation in Chapter 21 today looking at what awaits us in the New Jerusalem. Here's Pastor James with another verse.

James Kaddis: Now, this is really important, verse eight: "But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and the murderers and the whoremongers and the sorcerers and the idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." He's not saying this to threaten people who have chosen to disobey God and not walk with God. There's lots of other verses that you can use to bring those types of threats to people. He's saying it to help you to understand that the people that contributed to the destruction of the world prior will no longer be around. That's what he's saying.

He's saying that the abominable, the fearful, the unbelieving, the murderers, the whoremongers, the sorcerers, the idolaters, the liars won't be around to destroy the world of eternity that we have. In other words, we will have eternity void of all of that and we will live in the greatest security ever known in existence and it will never change. I don't know about you, but that's a lot to look forward to. Amen?

Father in heaven, we thank you, Lord, for the world that we know, Lord, that we're going to come into. Thank you, Father, for what you've done. That's all I can say. And with that, Lord, I just pray that you would allow us to be people who would put our faith and trust in you, because that's all it takes, to put our faith and trust in you to literally receive what you've put in front of us. We thank you, Father, for what you've done. And we thank you for what we have to look forward to. And we ask these things in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.