Light on the Hill

James Kaddis: When it comes down to the core of how you choose to live your life, the focus better stop being on the actual words that are shared and it better be upon the condition of your heart that drives those words because the words themselves are not going to have the influence as much as the heart that drove those words.

If your heart is in a bad place and you continue to speak words that are not becoming of that which God has called us to, then those words will become the things that enforce the very condition of your heart. And that applies in virtually any part of your life. That applies in any way.

Guest (Male): Coming up on Light on the Hill. What you're about to see in Mark Chapter 7 is by far one of the most articulate descriptions of how evil is metabolized within mankind and the effect it has on the world. Get ready for a very informative and important study in the Word on Light on the Hill. Here's Pastor James in Mark Chapter 7.

James Kaddis: All right, Mark Chapter 7. Now, I want to say this before we start, and that is this: I used to spend a lot of time doing biblical counseling for people. Now, it's something that I do very rarely. As a matter of fact, when people come in and they want counseling, an overwhelming majority of the time, it's something that I ask other people to handle. We have couples in the church that do that. We have other people in the church that tend to take it on. I still do it on somewhat of a regular basis, but I'm very limited as to the times that I do it.

However, I will simply say this, I think most people that have never done any counseling with me would be very happy over the fact that they aren't doing it with me because I take a very hard, kind of a slap-you-in-the-face approach. I think the reason why I do that is because people need to be dealt with that way. They need to have the truth given to them both barrels. They need to be educated. They need to develop an understanding of what's in front of them.

But let me just simply say that an overwhelming majority of the time when I sit down and do biblical counseling with people, the obligation or responsibility that I have as the person who is kind of controlling the narrative and the discussion is to get people not to understand their obligation biblically to do something. An overwhelming majority of the time, they already understand that obligation, and the reason why they're coming to me is because, if they're sincere, they're looking for practical ways to implement what they know is the right thing to do. Or, in some cases, they're looking to give me a justification for why they're exempt from doing it.

But the real issue and perhaps the more significant issue doesn't center around what is right and what is wrong. Now, there are times where I do that, and there are times where in conversations with people, I will tell them, "No, what you're doing here is actually wrong. It doesn't glorify God, and quite frankly, you're hurting yourself." Or maybe what you're doing might not necessarily be something that's technically unbiblical, but it is, for lack of a better term, what I would call a very bad tactic. It's untactical.

In other words, you're actually doing something that may not necessarily be all that unbeneficial to you in one respect, but in another respect, it'll destroy you if you're not careful. So, I spend time doing that thing, but the overwhelming majority of the time, do you know what I spend conditioning people to do? I spend time conditioning them to recognize what is not obvious because the spiritual war that has ensued in their lives has blinded them from seeing what is obvious.

And what is even more significant than that is teaching them how to identify the things that they can't see that continues to allow them to walk in a condition of blindness that keeps them from recognizing their obligation to do what the right thing is, because how do you fix something you can't see? And this is something that's a significant issue when it relates to Christianity. By the way, I want to just point this out. This perhaps may be one of the most contributory reasons why I appear to be rough around the edges to a lot of people.

I am one of those guys that really doesn't care about the perfuming, so to speak. I'm not really concerned about sort of the fringe things that happen. My deeper concern is about being able to get to a place where I can go right to the point. And sometimes going right to the point does not feel like the greatest or most comfortable or most equitable thing to do. I hate that word, by the way, equitable. It's a ridiculous word. It's been abused so many times.

But my point is, I think that the big issue in front of us is discernment, spiritual discernment, recognizing what real evil looks like, recognizing what's wrong with the things that are wrong and why things are right when people don't perceive them to be. And we live in a world right now where if you don't understand this, if you don't recognize it, if you don't know what real and true evil looks like, you will inadvertently get yourself in a position where you will accept something on the premise that it looks or feels right instead of examining the issues as they are presented, using the tools that God has given you to see through what looks pleasant.

Can I give you one of the examples of a movement that has been going on now for a couple of years that continues to give the picture that it is wonderful, that it preaches the gospel, that it's bringing people more closely to the Lord and it's a great tool? Are these things that were showing up in Super Bowl commercials? They're showing up all over the place, the "He Gets Us" series. So many people look at that and they say it's so beautiful, it's so righteous, it's bringing people into an awareness of who Jesus Christ is.

And I will tell you that those are evil. Like if you look at what they really are, they are not good. Or how about when you see somebody who is a popular talk show person who might run around right now—this is the new phrase, lots of people are saying this right now—they're saying, "Christ is King. Christ is King." Well, the context in which they deploy that phrase is one that is deeply and brutally anti-Semitic, and it is inspired. It is a phrase that is oftentimes inspired by darkness because the context in which it's used is as a tool to justify anti-Semitism, replacement theology, amillennialism that drives to the point that Jews are no longer God's ancestrally chosen people and that God has broken his promise to his people.

And it's funny because if you look at me and you say, "Well, James, how in the world does that work? How does 'Christ is King' calculate to that conclusion?" It does. Believe me. I have no problem saying Christ is King because there will come a point in time where Christ will take on the role of King of kings and Lord of lords. Right now, he is taking on the role of our High Priest, but there will be that time where that takes place.

But by the time when he takes on what we all understand as the possessor of the key of David, when he takes on that promise that was made to him through the prophet, made to David through the prophet concerning the one who will rule in perpetuity, that is going to be in a time to come. That is going to be in what sits into eternity. And when it gets to the point where every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father, when that happens, understand that will be the moment where there will be a change in the role of Christ.

Because the role that he has right now is very different than the role that he will take on. And yes, he is indeed the King of kings and the Lord of lords, but he doesn't own the title deed to this earth right now. He will. We know that. Revelation 4 and 5, we know that that's going to end up taking place. But the reality of it is it has not happened now, but people will use phrases like that that are so nuanced in a way that they look so lovely that they all of a sudden embrace it as though it's a righteous premise when in reality it was built on a premise that was demonically inspired.

Now, how in the world could anybody say that? That's such a harsh thing to say. Like, how in the world, James, could you even come to that conclusion? Because the devil is good at what he does. The devil is good at what he does. Let me just remind you of the fact that when Eve chose to do what she did and Adam chose to do what he did, they looked at the fruit. They saw the pleasant attributes of the fruit. They saw that it was desirable for food. They saw that it looked pleasant and they held on to the lie that it would give them a certain element of wisdom that would be far superior to that of the Lord, and they bought into it.

Did it look pleasant? Did it feel pleasant? Did it seem pleasant in the moment? Absolutely. But it led to the destruction of mankind. So the point here is learning to understand the nuances behind what Jesus is doing here when he communicates this and the rebuke that he offers to the Pharisees in this very moment, because what Jesus is about to do in this moment is he is about to give me and you a powerful tool in being able to discern what real evil looks like. And that is something that you have to hold fast to. You have to remember this, and it's critical.

Look what happens here. This is Verse 14 where we left off. And remember, Jesus is speaking in parables and so on and so forth. Verse 14: "And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear."

This is such a remarkable phrase, "Anyone who has ears to hear, let him hear." It's such a remarkable phrase. It's one that Jesus will deploy oftentimes that we will see in the Book of Revelation. But what Jesus is doing here by saying this phrase, Jesus is saying that what he just said is to be universally understood as a principle of truth to be received and applied to everybody who listens to it. Everybody who hears it.

But what did he say? What is it that he actually said? Let me read the verse again, okay? First of all, he says hearken, listen to me. I want your attention. Make sure you're paying attention to me. Homeschooling children is a challenge. You guys all know that, especially for those of you that had young kids through COVID. If you were sending your kids to public school, which I hope you weren't, but if you were, you had to for a long time sit there with them at home.

But for homeschoolers, you understand how bad it is. You have to deal with kids that don't want to do their work. You have to deal with the typical rebellion that oftentimes comes with a kid who thinks they know better than Mom and Dad. I don't need to read. I don't need to do this. I don't need to do that. And they sometimes don't just say it that way, they just show it. They pretend to not know things. They fight their struggles. There's this, there's that, there's here, there's there. It's such an interesting thing.

And sometimes with our children—and I know for any of you who are homeschooling children, you know this—you have to do this with them. You have to sit down, not that I'm the expert because believe me, I could use some expertise. But this is even in principles of raising your children. You have to stop them for a moment wherever they are and you have to say, "Listen to me. Repeat what I just told you. Listen, what I'm telling you is important. I need to make sure you understood. I need you to understand the sincerity by which I'm communicating this to you, and I need you to acknowledge me, not just with a simple 'Yes, Mama' or 'Yes, Papa.' I need you to acknowledge me with an active demonstration that you understand what I'm saying."

That's the moment that Jesus is in with his disciples here and with the people that are listening. He's saying, "I need you to actively understand what I'm about to tell you. This is critically important. Anybody that can hear this needs to hear this." Let me repeat what he said here. He says, "There is nothing from without a man that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man." Okay, there is such a heavy principle that is involved in what Jesus is communicating here.

First of all, what Jesus is doing is he is addressing a well-known issue to anybody who understood the culture of the religious world at that time. And that was this: they paid a heavy price. They really put a massive premium on things that were externally acclimated. You understand what I mean when I say that? In other words, if you are a man of God, you will not eat pork because it's forbidden in the law. If you are a righteous person, you will not put on this clothing. If you are somebody who is godly, you will not consume these foods.

It's very interesting, by the way, because God told us on multiple levels that that is a lie that was generated by the deprived mind and heart of mankind who was born in a condition of depravity who has no awareness of what it's all about. Did you notice that the more obsessed we have become with what we're eating and putting into our systems, the more sick of a culture we are? Like think about that for a second. In a world today where we have become incessantly worried about polluting our bodies, we have become collectively some of the most unhealthy people in the world.

The United States carries the greatest obsession about eating right, going through the right fads, do this diet, eat that, walk away from this, get away from that. But the reality of it is we place no emphasis on the area that actually matters. And if you place an emphasis on the area that matters, then the areas that don't matter so much don't become so consequential, and when they don't become so consequential, that area tends to correct itself.

For example, I think what's really interesting and something that is oftentimes forgotten or not really recognized is the fact that if you followed God's law in His Word and you understood it through the eyes of that which is not only by the letter, but by the spirit of the law which created the letter of the law, your need to regulate anything would be completely null because you would be regulated by what the Spirit of God tells you. And in that regulation, you would allow yourself to be absolved from the influences that can carry destructive mechanisms that will, in essence, become the end of you.

You understand what I'm saying? So Jesus is basically laying out a direct repudiation amongst the crowd that's listening to him right now in that what he's saying is, "You focus too much on what you're putting into your system when in reality the thing that will defile you is the condition of your very heart that creates a reflection of what's already broken." Now, this is important because in Calvary Chapels, we have trained our people to completely and adamantly walk against this idea that words can have a substantial influence in your life.

We walk away from teaching that because of the dangerous and damaging teachings related to positive confession nonsense, right? There's a health and wealth group of people that are out there that say, "Speak it and it will come to you! Speak to your wallet and your wallet will get fatter than me!" There's a mindset that exists there that comes from people completely, completely misappropriating what the scriptures teach. But the Bible does tell us and the Bible makes it very clear that the words that come from our mouth oftentimes are a reflection of the condition of our heart.

And when we choose to allow ourselves to be given to a certain type of word that we, for whatever reason, allow to become acceptable, then those words become suspect because the damage that it continues to carry to us ends up becoming something that is very, very, very, very much hard to understand because the compounding effects of using language in your everyday life that takes away from your understanding of the scriptures or your understanding what's real is extremely volatile.

And I think it's really important to understand that. So the idea here is what is going on in my heart that would allow words from my mouth to come out that are going to be damaging or destructive? Now, you are talking to the king of brash words, okay? You are talking to a person who probably jokes a little more harshly than he should. I work on that on a regular basis. You're talking to a person who just says some of the most off-the-wall things.

But if there's one thing I want to point out to you that I think is really important, when it comes down to the core of how you choose to live your life, the focus better stop being on the actual words that are shared and it better be upon the condition of your heart that drives those words because the words themselves are not going to have the influence as much as the heart that drove those words. If your heart is in a bad place and you continue to speak words that are not becoming of that which God has called us to, then those words will become the things that enforce the very condition of your heart.

And that applies in virtually any part of your life. That applies in any way. One of the things that I'm so thankful that our dad taught us at a very young age is you never are allowed to say, "I cannot," unless you accompany that with "but God can." You're never allowed to say, "I quit," unless you're willing to say, "I surrender to you, Lord, that you may carry on what I'm choosing to give up." There's a mindset behind that.

There's an understanding. When my mouth begins to speak the language that the world speaks in giving up and stopping what they do at a normal basis, it's a reflection of a heart that has not been yielded enough to God to trust him in recognizing what he's called us to do. And I think that that's something that we saw on full display during the time of COVID. During the time of COVID, there were lots of people who were not willing to say the kind of bold things that they needed to say. Why? Because they didn't believe it in their heart.

There were pastors that were so fearful of death that they were not in any way inclined to want to speak the truth that they needed to speak because they were so fearful in their heart that something would happen in the opposite. They were very scared to tell their fellowship, "We choose to trust in the Lord during this time." They were very scared to sit down with their building owners and to tell them, "We're going to meet our financial obligations" because their heart drove them to not say those words because they didn't believe the words that they were supposed to say.

That's heavy. What comes out of your mouth is a direct reflection of that which God has already done in your heart. And if you want to be somebody who naturally speaks based on the instruction that God has given you, you must learn how to identify what is broken in your mind and in your heart. You must be able to learn how to have an internal dialogue with the Lord that regularly rehearses these issues. I oftentimes find myself in a place where I am sitting in a counseling appointment.

One of the things that I do on a regular basis is rehearse the words I'm about to say in my mind, to the point where I have to oftentimes bring myself to a place where I am going to accept the fact that there is going to be some rhetoric that's going to be spoken by somebody in front of me that I have to ignore, that I have to block out so that I can hear clearly what God wants me to say next. Do you know what I learned that's really interesting?

I don't have to listen to what other people are telling me in a counseling appointment when I am listening to what God is telling me because most of the time when God—or all of the time, I'm listening to God and I hear him, when I do what God is telling me in that situation, I will be able to respond to them without any knowledge of what they just told me, knowing full well that because I'm listening to God, he's going to pierce their hearts. Understand what I'm saying? And I'm not saying that you should be people who just don't listen to one another and that kind of a thing.

But my point is this, you've got to understand that what happens inside is the area that we start. That's the place where we go first. It's the most important place to be. Look what he goes on to say because this really begins to develop for us. It really helps us to recognize what the Lord is communicating because we have the benefit of disciples who are looking at Jesus and going, "What the heck did you just say?" Like, "I got no clue! I got no awareness! Like, what in the world? What does that mean?"

Look at how Jesus responds to them, by the way. I think it's awesome. Verse 17: "And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable." Notice this, right? They don't ask him in front of everybody, right? Because they want everybody to perceive them as being the wise disciples of Jesus, right? But they had no idea what Jesus was saying. And they go to him and they say, "What in the world does this mean?"

By the way, I think you would laugh beyond your capacity to even imagine if you knew how many times I did that to the Lord. How many times I opened something and just said, "Lord, what in the world does this mean? What the heck am I looking at?" Do you know how many times—I mean, there have been so many times. Not a bad habit to get into. I wouldn't condemn these guys for saying they don't know. As a matter of fact, I would actually praise them for going to the Lord and saying, "I do want to know. What is it that you're saying?" I don't think we do that enough. I don't think we say, "What does that mean? I don't understand." There's something about being able to just have the freedom to say, "I don't know. I don't understand, but I'll go to the one that does."

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. Pastor James, outside of Israel becoming a nation, what do you believe is the number one sign that we're living in the last days?

James Kaddis: That's a very difficult question to answer because there's a culmination of issues that we're looking at right now. Perhaps one of the bigger ones that we're seeing is Zechariah Chapter 12, Verses 2 and 3 being fulfilled in that we know that as we approach the last days, we're going to see an increase in anti-Semitism. There's 2nd Timothy Chapter 3, Verse 12, which by the way, the context of that is in the last days.

It tells us that perilous times will come, but specifically Verse 12 says all that choose to walk according to God's commandments—in other words, all who are in Christ Jesus—they're going to suffer persecution. So, the persecution of Christians and Jews is certainly one of those big signs that we're seeing. We're seeing the advent of the wars and rumors of wars.

The reality of it is that one of the greatest signs we're given, praise God, is a sign that happens after the Rapture, and that's a sign in the midway point of the Tribulation. That's why Jesus gave it in Matthew Chapter 24, that is referred to as the abomination that causes desolation or the abomination of desolation referred to by Daniel in Daniel Chapter 9, Verse 27. So, there's plenty of signs and I think we're beginning to see the convergence of many of them.

Guest (Male): Thanks, Pastor James. 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. 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.