Light on the Hill

Guest (Male): Pastor James with a very critical point about the unseen war we engage in.

James Kaddis: God has given us an expectation with respect to engagement in the battle and in the war that we are facing every single day. And the expectation of that engagement solely relies upon a one variable and that is our willingness to put our faith and trust in him. It's that simple. And if our faith and trust is in him, then that means our obedience will fall in line. And as we walk in obedience and navigating through a world that we cannot see, clarity comes because although we cannot see the world, we can feel the results. We can see the results.

They become observable and the effects of that obedience not only provides clarity, but it creates a condition by which we are able to provide a real tangible set of results.

Guest (Male): What is the most dangerous lie ever believed by a Christian? What's the biggest mistake a Christian could make? Answers to these questions and more will be provided today on Light on the Hill as we go further into Mark chapter 14. Pastor James Kaddis will unveil two critical lessons from the passage before us. And the first is obedience to God brings clarity that helps us be effective in the spiritual realm.

James Kaddis: Your obedience provides the reward of clarity. And the reward of clarity does something that's very interesting. It sparks controversy in the world around you. Why does it spark controversy? Because what becomes clear to you is still muddy to everybody else. Okay? And here's the thing that I think is really interesting. There is a certain level of mind rot right now that is settling into the online world. With all the crazy things that have happened with my little brother as he was martyred in front of everybody in Utah, with all the crazy accusations of the I think the most recent like literally insane like you're mentally ill, you're a set of accusations is that now they're they're accusing you know Erica of being like some cyborg robot that's I'm like what in the like honestly can I mean that that brings to a whole new level, right?

It's just absolutely crazy. But you know what's really crazy? Not even those assertions. Those assertions to me are not nearly as crazy as the crowd of people that are following him. It's amazing. Look at the of so many of the of the things that are being said and how people blindly follow them. They all have all of a sudden become subject matter experts in things that they have no idea what they're talking about. They wouldn't know the truth if it slapped them in the face. Yet there are people who are gullibly walking according to the things that are being instructed to them.

And they don't know any better. Why? Because they have not learned to adapt the course of their lives down the road of obedience because obedience brings clarity. And once clarity has been obtained, then the foolishness of this world becomes less and less attractive. And you're going to see this. It it look it's it's modeled to us here in the scriptures. Why? Because look what it says in verse 16. And his disciples went forth, notice this, and came into the city just as Jesus said. And notice this, and found as he had said unto them, and they made ready the Passover.

I think it's interesting to understand a very critical point about the war that we engage in. God has given us an expectation with respect to engagement in the battle and in the war that we are facing every single day. And the expectation of that engagement solely relies upon a one variable and that is our willingness to put our faith and trust in him. It's that simple. And if our faith and trust is in him, then that means our obedience will fall in line. And as we walk in obedience and navigating through a world that we cannot see, clarity comes because although we cannot see the world, we can feel the results.

We can see the results. They become observable and the effects of that obedience not only provides clarity, but it creates a condition by which we are able to provide a real tangible set of results. I think that's one of the issues here that I take perhaps the most opposition to is the fact that the lack of desire to walk in obedience not only stops the person from experiencing that all God has for them, but it creates an obstruction for everybody around them. I have said this before and I'll say this again. God has given us the path.

He's given us the roadway. He has shown us the instruction and so few of us are willing to listen. And that's the bigger problem. So verse 17, and in the evening he cometh with the 12. And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said Now listen to this. This gets really crazy. You want to talk about somebody understanding the spiritual battle? This is huge, right? Look at what Jesus says in verse 18. Verily I say unto you, one of you which eateth with me shall betray me. That's kind of heavy, isn't it? There's somebody in this room that's going to betray me.

Now think about this because there's something that has to be understood here. I talked to somebody about this the other day. And I could completely relate. But the first time I ever heard it, I viewed the person who had told me this years and years and years ago as completely cynical and even bitter. You know I had a pastor's wife come to me many many years ago. I was a kid at this time. I may have been 16 17 years old just starting in ministry. Maybe it was 18 right when I graduated out of Bible college.

And they told me I trust you and I love you, which is why I'm being vulnerable to you and I'm telling you this right now because I've been in the ministry for a long time and I've learned to trust nobody. I don't trust anybody. Now I looked at that and I thought ooh. That's a very cynical person. That's a kind of an angry person. Maybe a little bitter of a person. I'm really concerned for her. So I asked her. I said, hey you think I could talk to your husband about this? Sure. I don't care.

So I talked to him. And I say I kind of worried about your wife. Now mind you these are people that have been in ministry longer than I've been alive at this point, you know? So I kind of worried about your wife. She says she can't trust anybody. She feels like she's going to get stabbed in the back at every turn. He says something I'll never forget. He says, James, the reason why you think her belief is so strange is because of two things. Number one, it's because you don't know the word well enough. And I don't think that's the case cuz I think you know it better than me.

Or you haven't been in ministry long enough. The closer you get to the Lord, the more you walk in obedience, the more you begin to develop in awareness of the voice of God in your life and the more you act in obedience to God in those things, the more aware you will become of the betrayers. Why? Because Jesus was betrayed. It's spiritual. How is it you want to be in the ministry? Why do you want to continue on? I'm so glad I had this this type of conversation early on. Over the years I've had these conversations with people.

I'm so glad I've had these conversations because on today's like today for example, we just feel like quitting everything. You know you have that emotion. You you're reminded of the spiritual element tied to all of it. But the statement that he responds with is your righteous failure to trust another person is not the derivative of the ministry that you are called to live. The only person that you're called to trust in is Christ. There's nobody else. You trust in God. You will be betrayed by everybody else. You will. I begin to go down that road when I read a passage like this.

Like man I I I've lost count how many times I've been betrayed. I've lost count how many times false accusations have been made. I've lost count how many times I mean it's so sad. I mean we have times where people leave this church and they leave the church under good terms and it's all good and it happens every now and again. But I've lost count how many times people have left the church and it's been under the most insane crazy like the only explanation as into why those things have happened has been because they're spiritual.

And you leave yourself in a condition where you find yourself being betrayed. Like it's you just so puzzled. Like how like what happened here? Well, it's spiritual. But that 's not the point of this passage. There's a bigger issue here. And the warning isn't for the people who are the betrayers. And the warning isn't for the people who are betrayed. The warning is for the person who says they choose to have a close relationship with God. That's where the real warning comes into play. Well, let's find out what that means. Watch this. Okay? This is super critical.

Okay? Verse 19, and they began to be sorrowful and to say unto him one by one, is it I? And another said, is it I? Okay, one obvious observation I should probably make and it's kind of important to make this observation like really critical. Judas was not this guy who was obviously an evil man. As a matter of fact, every impression that we get about Judas would appear as though he was a prudent man. He was a man that was respected and elevated amongst his peers because if they even had a remote suspicion that Judas would be the betrayer, they would not be saying is it I?

Is it I? Is it I? Is it I? They would be fully aware of the fact that Judas was the was the one who was dirty. Now a lot of people spend time on that. A lot of people spend time on the fact that Judas appeared to be perfect. Yet he was the one who betrayed Jesus in a way that was off the charts. And so I think what ends up happening there is this message, this natural tendency tends to come out where you preach the message that says beware of people like this because this is how the enemy works.

The enemy's an angel of light and people will appear to be wonderful and great and they'll end up stabbing you in the back and you just need to be aware and you can make a pretty good sermon out of that. But I don't think that was the intent of the conversation that was being uh had here. I think the reason why this conversation was being recorded by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was to teach us a much bigger lesson. And the much bigger lesson I think was so much more deeply consequential than the typical lessons that would be taught.

Why? We'll get into it. Let's look at Jesus's answer here. And he answered and said unto them, it is one of the 12 that dippeth with me in the dish. Now a lot of people it's interesting we'll look at this and you know they make the movie scene out of it and at the time that Jesus is saying that that's when Judas is dipping in the dish with him. You know we don't really know how that looked. We we just really we don't know. Some people even argue over the language here. Some people argue whether or not it's Jesus saying it's the one dipping in the dish with me right now or it's one of you one of you 12, you know?

We there's a lot of debate here as to what Jesus is saying here. I I think I'm more inclined to think it's probably um the person who's who's dipping in the dish right now uh because the next verse it's clear that Judas has been identified here. Okay? But look at what happens here. The next thing it says, the Son of man indeed goeth as it is written of him. But woe to the man by whom the Son of man is betrayed. Good were it for that man if he had never been born. Now that's a very a very brutal passage.

Okay? And we're going to get into that a little bit more in depth next week. We'll kind of revisit this last verse next week because there's a there's a whole other message tied to that that we have to get into an Old Testament passage that will help us to better understand this a little bit. But the picture that's being given here is that the level of darkness that this man is reaching into is something that is just so insanely deep. And it 's one that should make us aware of how easy it is to allow the darkness to influence you in a way that can bring you to a place where you are so given to the facade that's being put in front of you that you in essence walk in that evil way.

Now a lot of people will speculate and I have speculated over the years. I've taught it different ways as into why Judas would do what he did. Was he somebody that was just redundantly evil and he he just had this in him? And I've taught that before. You know there may the application here is that there was some level of satanic possession which means he wasn't you know right with God in the first place. And that's probably a lot of that is probably true. There are some who will actually speculate that Judas did what he did in an attempt to accelerate the coming of the kingdom of God.

That that maybe by him doing this that the uh Romans would then uh seek to kill the Messiah. And in doing so then the Messiah would just basically go all mighty powerful and just destroy them all because Judas was incapable of seeing that Christ had to die first. I'm not so sure I buy into that although I believe that at points, right? And I've even discussed that. But I don't think that's the bigger point of discussion here. I think the bigger point of discussion is going back to the statement that I made earlier that centers around the biggest mistake any Christian could ever make.

And that is we develop a false confidence in the belief that we've created in our heart that we're so close to God that everything is well when in reality you can appear to walk the walk, you can go to church, you can do all of these things and be completely far from God. Completely far from God. Now most of you will probably have an alarm in your heart right now when I say this and think well how do I know that that 's not me? Like what you know like what what's And if you are thinking that in your mind that's probably an amazing sign that you're very spiritually healthy.

Why? Because we see the indicator given to us right here. The apostles themselves became extremely insecure when Jesus made that statement. They started asking the Lord, is it me? There's some interesting insight that we can gain from that very mindset. That mindset should be something that should inspire us all. Two things happen that I think were really important here. Okay? Number one, they questioned their own spiritual aptitude and discernment, their own spiritual prowess which I think is something all of us should do. But number two, when they questioned it you guys, they knew who to go to when they questioned it.

Let me say that again. When they questioned it, they knew who to go to when they questioned it. They didn't go to one another and say is it me? Is it me? Is it me? No, they went to the Lord. They said, Lord, is it me? And I think that if there's any lesson that we can learn from the passage that we've gone through together today, it's two super critical lessons. Very critical lessons. Number one, it's this. Only with obedience comes clarity. Only with faith and trust in Christ can you develop what it takes to get to the next step.

That's the first lesson that we learned. It's a big one, right? Obedience brings clarity. Faith and trust is a unique part of that obedience because you can't obey God effectively unless you have put your faith and trust in him. Real simple. Real simple. Number two, and this perhaps becomes the most critical one. And that's this. Where is your objectivity coming from? Are you questioning your own abilities? I hope you are. I sincerely hope you are questioning your own abilities not for the purpose of saying I can't do this or I can never do this, but for the purpose of reminding you that the God of heaven has equipped you to do all things.

And when you're able to question your ability, your consistency in light of God's power in your life, only then will you learn how to fully put your faith and trust in him to be able to develop that life. If you want to be effective in the spiritual realm that you cannot see, you can't do it without obedience. You can't do it without faith and trust. And most importantly, you can't do it without humility. You can't do it without the ability to say, God, is it me? You can't do it without the ability to say, okay, I know we're close.

Have I become contemptuous? Is it our closeness that's caused me to move in this direction where I'm doing something that you don't want of me? When you're able to effectively ask that question and do it objectively, only then do you begin to find real resolution, real understanding, real discernment and being able to know what happens next. Look, I'm in a stage in my life right now. I'm just going to be very straight up with you where the things that God is showing me has been very disagreeable to the mainstream of the Calvary Chapel world in which I come from.

Admittedly, it doesn't stand in opposition to what has been commonly practiced within our culture because it's wrong. But admittedly, it comes against it because we have conceded to a culture that is developed within us very bad habits about what God teaches concerning how we ought to live day to day. There's a lot of things that have inspired me to think differently about a lot of different things as of late. My heart has been breaking as I've been watching some of these amazing men of God, really wonderful men of God who served faithfully their whole lives die.

And their widows have nothing. Don't know where they're going to pay for their next bill. They they I mean none of that. Why is that? Because there were people that chose to believe the lies that the enemy wanted them to know that taught them to think that being living in poverty is actually spiritual when in reality living with the poverty mindset is actually demonically inspired, not necessarily I mean oh it's spiritual, but it's not the right type of spiritual. That's one of many issues by the way. I mean I we could go on and on and on and on about the things that we're learning that the whole thing of you know we as a church have no business engaging in politics.

That's about one of the most satanic things I've ever heard. I mean it can't get more satanic than that. Right? Because politics emanate from the pulpit. The extension of how the church lives is a function of what should be political. And the reason why what is political right now in the world that we're seeing that is actually dirty is because the church is broken. It's not doing what it's supposed to be doing. It's not. It was perhaps one of the the the more interesting conversations I had when I was at the White House with the Vice President.

He had a lot of very interesting questions for me about the church and the church's involvement in in the political arena. And what's interesting to me is that I'm shocked by the fact that there are politicians that are out there that appear to be more aware of the responsibility of the church to be involved in this arena than many pastors are. That's wrong. Shouldn't be that way. Shouldn't be that way. It shouldn't. And I think more than any other time in human history, we have to be willing to walk so consistently in our obedience to God while being aware of the spiritual that we are willing to throw off the things that make us comfortable in the societies in which we live.

We have to be willing to stand up for things that people don't understand. We have to be willing to be the pioneers in the things that we move forward with. And we have to stop placing contingencies upon the reactions of the people that we talk to because there's something much bigger at stake. This story teaches us those lessons.

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. Pastor James, next time on Light on the Hill we'll learn how a desire for comfort can actually destroy our faith. What can we expect?

James Kaddis: Well, this is a very very very good question. The reality of it is when we make a decision to ignore the opportunity to become obedient to the Lord in the name of comfort, we also choose not to engage in the very warfare that God calls us to engage in. And as a result we will become a casualty of it. So we're going to talk about this and and and I think that the lesson that we find in Mark specifically in this area teaches us that we need to learn how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Why? Because our very survival depends on it.

Guest (Male): That's coming up next time when Pastor James Kaddis will be back in Mark chapter 14. Read ahead and plan to join us then. Now let's conclude our Bible study.

James Kaddis: If you have been in a place in your life where you've been lacking clarity, you're going to find it in obedience. You're going to find it in doing the things that cause you to walk uncomfortable. You all should start getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. But more than ever, you're never going to step into the victory that God wants to give you until you use the tools that he's made available to you. And you cannot use the tools that he's been made available to you until you are willing completely one zillion percent willing to shed off whatever it is in you that hesitates in trusting God when he commands you to do what you do.

It's that simple. So we trust him, we obey, and we watch great things happen. Amen. Father in heaven, we just thank you, Lord, for your word. And we thank you, Father, for the exceptional lesson that we gained from your word, Lord, learning and understanding and discerning and knowing, Lord, that your word gives us clarity beyond anything that we could possibly imagine or experience because, Lord, you're good and you're faithful and you are awesome. So, Lord, we love you. We pray, God, more and more for that clarity, Lord, every day, every waking moment that we would experience it and understand it and know it and discern it, Lord, because you're faithful and you're good.

So, Lord, we love you and thank you. We look to you and we ask these things in Jesus's name we pray. Amen.

Guest (Male): This program is listener supported and brought to you by Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.

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