The Goodness of God - Part 11 - The Beatitudes, Part I

♪ We're living in victory ♪ ♪ The battle's won in victory ♪ ♪ We've overcome whatever comes our way ♪ ♪ You're worthy to taste the seed ♪ ♪ We're living in victory through our Lord Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ We're living in victory through our Lord Jesus Christ ♪ Hello, brothers and sisters. This is Mike Kennedy with the Living in Victory broadcast. We're gonna continue our series today titled The Goodness of God. He is so good, amen? Well, the series is based on two scriptures. Psalms 34, eight, it says, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. I just had some barbecue. Oh, I tasted it and it was good. Well, God is better than that. Blessed is the man who trusts in him or puts his faith in him. And you know how to tell if somebody's truly putting their trust in him is if they obey him, if they do what he says. The second scripture, John 10, 10. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and they may have it more abundantly. Today, we're gonna talk about a different aspect of the goodness of God.

It's based on Matthew 5, the first 12 verses. I'm gonna read those. These are known by man as the Beatitudes. That's not what Jesus called them, but they've become known, part of the Sermon on the Mount, as the Beatitudes. Matthew 5, 1. In seeing the multitudes, he went up on a mountain, and when he was seated, his disciples came to him. Then he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. These are not random characteristics a Christian should have, but they are progressive. We're gonna get into that.

These things called beatitudes. We're gonna break down what they really mean because whenever you see blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed who mourn, in today's English, that doesn't sound good to me. Blessed are those who mourn. Well, I'm a whiny baby. That's not what it means. These beatitudes are simply attitudes or characteristics of disciples walking in the blessings, and those are in verses three through nine. Verses 10, 11, and 12 are when the character of those walking in the blessing are put to test. We'll break that down. It's about how you respond or deal with issues springing forth. That is what is called character. Proverbs 4.23 says, keep your heart with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life. The New Living Translation, I think is a easier way to explain it today. Guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life. In other words, are you guarding it? Are you bitter? Are you judging? Are you rejoicing in the joy of the Lord? In order to guard our hearts, we must guard our thought life, amen?

This is where the battle is. The battle is really between your ears, which means it's your mind and you can control it, which means you can win, amen? It's your mind. You may say, I've lost my mind. Don't say that. say that. Don't say, I'm out of my mind. No, don't say that. It's your mind. Take control over it. It's yours to run. Amen. Say, mind, you're my mind. I have the mind of Christ and I'm going to choose to think on the things that God chose for me to think on according to his word. Amen. So how do you guard your heart that way? By filling your mind and your heart with God's word. First, you read it out loud. You get it in your mind and then it gets in your heart. You have to hear it over and over and over. Your character is not revealed when everything is going great. Character is shown or revealed and it reveals what's truly in your heart when someone or something puts pressure on you. A lot of times the thoughts that come into your mind from the enemy or desires of the flesh come in when no one else is around. Character is proven when people don't even know that you're choosing right, that you're walking in mercy. Amen. That you're walking in holiness whenever other people don't even know it. God knows it. He sees it. Amen. We must guard our heart to ensure that our thoughts are in agreement with the word of God. Amen. Otherwise we become double minded, unstable. James chapter 1 verse 8. I wasn't going to read that. Hallelujah. Let's just take a look at that. Oh, glory to God. James chapter 1. Bear with me as I get into the word here. James chapter 1 verse 8. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Amen. They're like, if we back up to verse 5 it says, if anyone of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all men liberally and without criticism and it will be given to him. It will be. You ask God for wisdom and he will show you. Now whether or not you get quiet and listen and you obey, that's a different thing. That's up to you. But he will give you wisdom. You just have to get quiet and listen to him. Verse 6. But let him ask in faith without wavering. For he who wavers is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed with the wind, up and down, changing directions, getting bigger, getting smaller,

being tossed forward, backwards. Let not that man think that he will receive anything from the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. In other words, get your mind on the word and keep it on the word. Amen. If you are a Christian, the character of the blessed life is inside you in your born again spirit. The character of the blessed must be developed though. Just because it's in you doesn't mean you let it work in you. Amen. The Sermon on the Mount includes the Beatitudes as I said, but it's not really a sermon. It's more of a teaching about character and dealing with everyday life. The Beatitudes cover nine separate areas. If you want to be blessed, you must allow these spiritual forces to flow through your life. Amen. The sermon is really, or the teaching is really about how to be blessed. Amen. Blessed means to cause to be happy or to be empowered to prosper. Well, I want both. I want happiness in my life, joy, excitement, and I want prosperity in my health, relationships, financial. Amen. It comes from the Greek word eulogy, which is an action word. Amen. Action. The Beatitudes are progressive, just like John 10, 10, the verse that we've been reading. One of the two verses, the series is based on the enemy comes to steal, then to kill, then to destroy. It's progressive. Well, the Beatitudes are as well, but the second part of John 10, 10 says life is abundant and then more abundant. Amen. Hallelujah. They are progressive. The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. He can't destroy until he steals and kills. I have come that they may have life and then progresses to life more abundantly. Glory to God. That's what God has for you and for me. There's more for me to experience. I haven't experienced the abundant life that I can be and that I'm going to be. Amen. What about you? There's more. Amen. Well, the first four characteristics of the Beatitudes are progressive and deal with developing a relationship with God. First, poor in spirit, then you mourn, then meekness, and then hunger and thirst, and then you will be filled. Are you filled? Is there more filling that can happen in your life? See, after you're filled, you progress in loving character towards others, towards man. But there's so much pride in this earth, so much selfishness. Now, we're going to break each one of these down, so stay tuned. After you are filled, you progress through verses 7 through 10, which is where there's mercy, pure in heart, peacemaker, then you get persecuted because of your righteousness,

and then great reward. Glory to God. The final progressive, verses 11 and 12, is great reward. And when God calls it great, oh man, it is huge. Don't think it's just this life. We're talking about eternal rewards and prosperity in heaven, positions in heaven. Amen? You may say, oh, if I get in the door, I get in the pearly gates, that's all that matters. You may say that now, but that's naive. You may say, ah, I'm doing okay, but in back of your mind, you know you'd like something else. Better relationships, better pair of boots, whatever. Amen? More chrome on your Harley. Now, that's what I'm talking about. Let's break down each of these and find out what they truly mean. Let's talk about poor in spirit. The New Living Translation of Matthew 5 3 says, God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. The Amplified says, blessed, happy to be envied, and spiritually prosperous, with life joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions. Are the poor in spirit, the humble, who rate themselves insignificant, for theirs is the kingdom of God. You say, I'm not insignificant, I'm important. We're going to get into what that really means, and if you think you're all that and more, well, there's pride there. Expect to fall. I didn't say it, God said it. Matthew 5 3, the CEV says, God blesses those people who depend only on him. They belong to the kingdom of heaven. You say, well, I'm a self-made man. Well, God gave you the graces. If you think you're self-made, you're deceived. Amen? Being broke financially is not what this is talking about. Being broken down physically, that's not what it's talking about. It's talking about being poor in spirit. This is about humility. Humility is truth. It's reality. Everything you are is because you are dependent upon God, and you've got it because of God's goodness, God's blessings, God's grace, God's mercy. Amen? You may not know it, but God has blessed you and put graces in you. You couldn't even figure out how to get out of a wet paper bag if you didn't have the grace on you. If you didn't have God's ability in you in some form, you couldn't breathe. Amen? You depend totally and completely on God's overwhelming desire to do good. That's the poor in spirit. Totally trusting in God. It does not mean that you're a

beaten-down weak loser saying, oh woe is me. I'm so mistreated. I never win. Well, if you say so, it will be so. There's power of life and death in your words. Say, I'm a winner. I'm coming up. It's not about being a defeated wimp. It's not about being a sissy. It's the sign of a victorious person, a winner, more than an overcomer that makes the enemy eat it and regret that he ever messed with you. Amen? You must be a fighter. Fight the good fight of faith. A lot of people say, oh let go and let God. There's no scripture to support that. It says to fight. That's different than let go and let God. Fight the good fight of faith. You must be a fighter. Amen? You must be willing to get in the ring and fight. Fight for the blessings of God. Fight for the will of God. Fight for the Word of God in your life. Amen? It's truly being like Jesus. He's our example. John 5 30, Jesus, the master, the person who overcame every trial, every tribulation that defeated Satan, brought him the knot, took the keys of hell so that you and I can have eternity. He said, I can do nothing by myself. John 5 30 says, I can of myself do nothing, nothing, amen. That's what it says. It's the truth. Amen. The king of kings, Lord of Lords said, I can't do anything without the father. See pride is a hindrance to being poor in spirit or being humble. You want to be humble. You say, ah, I'm not humble. Yeah, that's pride. Pride's arrogance, man. The new living translation in first Peter five, five says in the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders in the new King James. It says, submit yourselves to them. Submitting takes strength. It takes faith.

Amen. I ain't going to submit to no one. Well then stand on the street corner with a sign. Now if you're going to, even if you own your own business, you're going to do what customers want or you're going to be out of business. Not everything. You have to be wise, not be walked over, but I assure you, everybody has a boss. It doesn't matter who you are. You have a boss. Amen. You may not realize it. It goes on to say, and all of you serve each other in humility. The King James says, put on humility. In other words, it's a choice. You make a choice. It's the name. Pride is the nature of the flesh. We all have to deal with pride. Goes on to say, and all of you serve each other in humility, for God opposes the proud, but favors the humble. In other words, God resists proud. He opposes it. Amen. The Greek word here means God arrays in battle against. You do not want God arrayed in battle against you. You will lose. Amen. You don't want God to oppose you, to resist you. I want the favor, the blessing of God, the goodness of God in my life. Amen.

I want all that he has for me. I want it all. I don't want any of it left out. All the goodness. Amen. I want to experience everything. Verse six says, so humble yourselves under the mighty power of God. And at the right time, he will lift you up in honor. God will honor you. Humility is your protection from deception, lies of the enemy. You think that you can do all this and that. Believing a lie that you are more than what you think you are, more than you really are. Now, I'm not talking about truth, reality. You have done some stuff. You fought. You overcame. Yeah, that's truth. I'm talking about pride. I did it all myself. Ooh, look at me. I'm so good. No, giving God credit. Thank you, Lord, for giving me the grace, for giving me the ability, the strength to overcome it, the wisdom, helping me with it, Father. If you do that, God will promote you. He will bring you up. Amen. Verse seven, give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares for you. See, Satan wants you to reverence fear, disease, debt, but Jesus said marvel not. Why?

Because God is big. He a big God and he's a good God. Amen. I like how Jesse DePlantis says that whenever he got mail from his TV broadcast, he's opened it up. He said, that's a big bill. God, do you have mail? You got a bill. You told me to do this. I trust in you. I trust in you. I cast it over to you. Amen. Have you ever known anybody who's gotten healed from worry, who's paid a debt off from worry? They're so worried about their mortgage or their car payment. Oh, I'm going to sit here and worry all day. I'm sick, sick, sick, sick. I'm worried, sick. Oh, I'm so worried, sick that I don't think I can go to work. Oh, I didn't get paid today. Now I'm in a worse position. No. You don't get out of debt, out of a financial, physical problem, out of a relationship problem, out of worry. It will destroy you. You get focused on the wrong things. But if you focus on the word of God, what he says and let that work in you. it will destroy the schemes of the enemy but if you let worry keep operating in your life it'll destroy your internal organs give you high blood pressure it'll take away your rest it'll tie up your time you won't be productive and you will be in a worse position amen

cast the care of it over on to him asking for wisdom if you open up a door to the enemy and it's because of bad decisions asking for wisdom asking for mercy amen verse 8 says stay alert watch out for your great enemy your great enemy the devil no i don't like that he's an enemy but he's a loser see this is the new living no it just talks about being an enemy oh he's he's something to be contended with you have to fight your flesh but all you have to do is submit to god and the enemy is a defeated foe he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone whom he may devour may devour well he may not devour me because i am a child of god i resist him not bind you i shut you down get out of here be gone you loser that's the way you handle the enemy right shut up get out of here you stand firm against him in other words resist that loser you need to resist getting your way resist your flesh resist him and do it god's way and be strong in your faith to be strong in your faith means you have to get this out faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the anointed word of god in other words you need to hear it hear it again and hear it again and hear it again amen you you don't get up every day and say oh well i had potatoes one time whenever i was about two i had meat when i was three but i've had that before so i don't need to eat it again you're gonna die amen you've got to eat the word daily it's your bread the bread of life amen glory to god let's start on the second item it's about those who mourn matthew 5 4 it says blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted mourn it's not this oh woe is me no it's a godly sorrow it does not mean grief there is no such thing as good grief oh good grief no there is no such thing grief is not of god this is a godly sorrow due to your sin or for you condoning sin what condoning means is to regard or treat as acceptable harmless like it's no big deal to approve of it it's even to suggest something grossly inappropriate as appropriate if someone condones bad behavior behavior that is morally wrong they accept it and allow it to happen that's happening in our nation left and right and we need to resist and stand against schemes of the enemy don't fight against the people that's not what i'm saying we need to fight against the schemes of the enemy don't agree just politely say you don't have to get in arguments don't have to get in fights strife just say i understand but no i do not agree because the bible says god said and because god said i have to agree with him he is my lord he is the creator amen once you become poor in spirit you will begin to once you humble yourself you begin to recognize sin recognize sin in your life and lament over it mourn over it in other words it will bother you the more you humble yourself

you recognize things that you did wrong or other people do wrong and you want to bring it to god ask god for mercy upon them amen ask god to forgive them give them time to get right you know first corinthians 5 5 is a is about a sexual issue where a man was sleeping with his stepmother without the church's correction in other words it was like oh man he's a good drummer so we don't want to lose the drummer so yeah if he's going to sleep with his mother-in-law or his stepmom you know what we just turn our head on that one because we need him in this position no the church needed to deal with it not condone it and so the church was dealt with it's the same type of thing if there is sin in your life or somebody else's life don't condone it don't agree with it second corinthians 7 10 says for godly sorrow produces REPENTANCE. WHENEVER YOU MOURN YOUR SORROW IT PRODUCES REPENTANCE. REPENTANCE LEADING TO SALVATION. IT WILL PROTECT YOU. IT WILL KEEP YOU. AMEN. IT WILL GIVE YOU ETERNAL LIFE AND BLESSINGS. AND IT GOES ON TO SAY FOR GODLY SORROW PRODUCES REPENTANCE LEADING TO SALVATION NOT TO BE REGRETTED BUT THE SORROW OF THE WORLD PRODUCES DEATH. I DON'T WANT DEATH. I WANT LIFE IN THIS LIFE AND THROUGHOUT ETERNITY. I WANT REWARDS IN THIS LIFE AND IN ETERNITY. WHICH MEANS I HAVE TO DO IT GOD'S WAY AND THE BLESSINGS OF GOD, THE GOODNESS OF GOD WILL COME ON OUR LIVES AS WE DO IT. AMEN. WE ARE BLESSED WHEN WE MOURN OVER SIN. WE NEED TO PRAY FOR GOD TO HAVE MERCY ON OUR NATION. AMEN. SEE AS THE NATION HUMBLES ITSELF GOD WILL RESTORE OUR LAND. HE WILL PROTECT IT. HE WILL BLESS IT. HE WILL PROSPER IT. AMEN. THAT STARTS WITH YOU AND ME. IT BOTHERS US WHENEVER THERE IS SIN GOING ON IF WE ARE TRULY MOURNFUL FOR IT. BUT THE PURPOSE OF MOURNING HAS TO BE FOR RESTORATION AND MERCY FOR OTHERS. THE CORRECTION OF THE CHURCH TELLING THIS PERSON THIS YOUNG MAN THAT WAS SLEEPING WITH HIS STEPMOM NO WE DON'T WE DON'T BELIEVE IN THAT. WE DON'T CONDONE IT. WE DON'T APPROVE OF IT. YOU NEED TO REPENT GET RIGHT AND THEN WE'LL PUT YOU BACK IN THERE. OKAY. IT'S ABOUT RESTORATION BUT YOU CAN'T ALLOW SIN TO SLOWLY CREEP IN. AMEN. OUR NATION STARTED YEARS AGO IN THE 60S WITH REBELLION. IT STARTED WITH TAKING OUT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FROM SCHOOL. TAKING OUT PRAYER. AND LOOK WHERE IT IS NOW. NOW YOU CAN HAVE ALL KINDS OF THINGS GOING ON IN SCHOOL AND THROUGHOUT OUR GOVERNMENT AND COUNTRY THAT IS UNGODLY. AMEN. THE PURPOSE HAS TO BE RESTORATION, MERCY FOR OTHERS, ETERNITY SO

THAT THEY DO NOT GO TO HELL BUT HAVE ETERNITY IN HEAVEN. IT IS ABOUT THE GOODNESS OF GOD. ABOUT THEM PROSPERING. AMEN. THAT'S WHAT THE BLESSING IS ABOUT. THAT'S WHAT THE BEATITUDES ARE ABOUT. NOW IN THE NEXT MESSAGE, WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME HERE. THE NEXT MESSAGE WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE GOING ON WITH THE BEATITUDES. WE'VE HANDLED BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT, BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN. THERE'S A LOT MORE TO COVER. AMEN. WELL THIS IS MIKE KENNEDY WITH LIVING IN VICTORY. REMEMBER FAITH IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD. HAVE A BLESSED DAY.