The Goodness of God - Part 12 - The Beatitudes, Part II

We're living in victory, the battle's won in victory, we've overcome whatever comes our way, we're working against the sea, we're living in victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Hello, this is Mike Cannaday with the Living in Victory Broadcast. We're continuing our series titled, The Goodness of God. But in the last message, in this message, and probably the next one, we're going to cover the Beatitudes. And what they are. This series is based on Psalm 34, it says, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him. The second scripture that the series is based on is John 10, 10. The thief means Satan, the evil one, the loser, does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and they may have it more abundantly. Think of this, the Son of God came that you could have life and that you could overcome and resist and fight the enemy that wants to steal from you, that wants to kill from you, that wants to destroy you. But through Him and what He did on the cross, you can live victorious. In this life and for eternity. Amen. Well, if you would join your faith with me, let's turn into prayer. Heavenly Father, we come to you. We ask you for light of your word. For understanding. For revelation of your word, of the truth, that we would walk in it and live in the blessings of God. Live in your goodness, overcoming financially, spiritually, physically, and everything in our lives, Father. Knowing that this is your plan, your will for us. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Glory to God. Well, in the last message, we introduced the Beatitudes. And that they were a declaration of blessings upon a specific group of people. The children of God. You know, I used to read these and barely understand them. I'd be like, what do you mean blessed are the poor? Blessed are those who mourn.

Blessed are those who are meek. I don't want to be poor no more. I don't want to mourn. I don't want to cry. Amen. I remember if I was crying at times, sad, whenever I was a kid, my dad would say, boy, I'll give you something to cry about. Stop that crying. Stop that weeping. That's not what this is talking about. I don't want to be meek is what I thought. I thought that was weakness, timidity. Amen. And then blessed are the peacemakers. Okay, I can see that. That makes sense. But Matthew 11, 12 says, and from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. Well, wait a second. If heaven is suffering violence and the violent take it by force, how is that being blessed as a peacemaker? First Timothy 6, 12 says, fight the good fight of faith. Okay, I'm ready to fight. Amen. How does that, is that not a contradiction with blessed are the peacemakers? We'll see all of these are due to lack of understanding the word of God and what the true meaning is. So that's why we're drilling down into these because for years I would read them, but did not really understand them. And I know that there's a lot more light than what I've got today. Amen. So how are these blessings? Are reasons to be blessed? I'm going to read Matthew chapter five, verse one through 12, which are the Beatitudes as we have come to know them. 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 God. 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 turn 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. This is all part of the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount includes the Beatitudes. There's more to the Sermon on the Mount but the sermon is how to be blessed, how to receive blessings. Amen? See the word blessed means to cause to be happy or empowered to prosper. It comes from the Greek word eulogy which is an action word. These are not just random characteristics of a Christian. Characteristics every Christian should have. They are actually progressive. Man called them Beatitudes. Jesus didn't call them that. Amen? The Beatitudes cover nine areas. Verses 3 through 9 are simply attitudes or characteristics of disciples walking in the blessing. And in verses 10 through 12 our characteristics are put to the test. If you want to be blessed, you must allow these spiritual forces, these spiritual laws to flow through your life and in your life. The first four characteristics are progressive and deal with developing a relationship with God. Poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst. Then you will be filled. After you are filled, you progress in a loving character to man. You're merciful. You have pure heart. You have a you're a peacemaker and you are willing to be persecuted for righteousness sake. These deal with other people, their issues, their attitudes and how do you respond to them.

It shows maturity in God, in the things of God. So after the first eight, you reach the final, the ninth of the progressive items in verses 11 and 12 which is a great reward. And when God calls some reward great, oh my, it is great. So in this series, in the last message, this one, we've been breaking down what each of these truly mean so that we understand them that we can walk in the blessings. Amen? We discuss poor in spirit and those who mourn in the last message. I'm going to briefly touch on those today. Matthew 5.3 in the CEV Bible says, God blesses those people who depend only on Him. They belong to the kingdom of heaven. Being financially broke is not what this is talking about. Being physically broke, spiritually broke, no, it's not what it's talking about. It's talking about humility. Everything you are is dependent on God. You depend totally and completely on God's overwhelming desire to bless you, to do you good, to bring you up, to direct you. Oh, faith without action is dead. You got to get up and do things. But you depend on Him for the direction, the ability, amen, to make it happen. It does not mean to be beaten down, to be weak, to be a loser. Amen? Matthew 5.4 says, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Mourn here is godly sorrow. Does not mean grief. There's nothing good about grief. Oh, good grief. No, there's nothing good about it. It's to be sorrowful for sin or for condoning sin. There's a lot of things going on in the church today where sin is condoned or allowed, ignored. Amen? And then you realize that you have done that and you're supposed to be against it. You're supposed to be sorrowful. I missed it. I shouldn't have allowed that happen in my house, in my church. We should have dealt with that in my life.

Lord, forgive me for that. Blessed are the meek. Matthew 5.5. Blessed are the meek. for they shall inherit the earth." After we mourn, after we have sorrow for sin, it leads us to meekness. This is a very misunderstood word in the Greek. 2nd Chronicles 7 14. We're going to read two scriptures and we're going to see how they come back to this word meekness. 2nd Chronicles 7 14. My people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. I'm expecting that for our nation that as people humble themselves our nation will turn to prosperity. We'll get out of the debt. We'll get out of all the crime and problems we've got. Amen. Humility, that's what we're talking about here. Amen. Matthew 5 5 in the New Living Translation says, God blesses those who are humble for they will inherit the whole earth. Not the pride, not the arrogant, not the criminals. Amen. The New Jewish Bible says those who are gentle, meek, humility, gentleness. They come from the Greek word pros. P-R-A-U-S. That means that you're not quick to explode. You've got a gentle disposition. A rough disposition will lead to strife. A matter of fact, a rough disposition with your kids whenever they're of age they will leave and not want to come back home. They won't want to talk to you. Don't be rough with your children. I didn't say don't correct them. There's a big issue with that. You know when we were younger there was a lot of child abuse. Now they let their kids grow up, no correction, no discipline. They cry because they didn't get a toy so parents give it to them. They aren't teaching them to be strong. They're teaching them oh you cry, you whine, you throw a temper tantrum

and you can get what you want. That's not godly either. Amen. We've got to rightly divide the word. In other words, stay in the middle of the highway with what the word says. Don't get in a ditch on this side of the road or in a ditch on this side of the road. Amen. If family, employees, friends are always walking on eggshells around you, you need to change. Amen. This is the opposite of meekness. You won't get rewards for that. You may look like it in the short term but in the long term, God has great rewards for those who walk in the beatitudes or the blessings and this is one of them. Amen. See gangstas, gangsta man, they want people all around them on eggshells ready to jump at their control in fear. No, that's not of God. Amen. Weak will not possess the earth. The meek will possess the earth. It's not talking about weakness. Amen. Meek care means yielded strength. Not losing it, not exploding, not going off the rails or off the handle. It's controlling your anger, your outburst. Amen. Not being wimpy. You have strength but you have chosen to be gentle, calm about it, yielding to the Lord. Amen. You have strength but you are not just going off, going off on people, yelling at them, cussing at them. Amen. It's power under control, submitting to the authority of God. Meekness is being strong enough in a calm, mild, gentle disposition to stand against the desires of your flesh that just want to lay them out. Give them a piece of your mind. No, you don't need to give anybody a piece of your mind. We need every brain cell we've got. Don't don't give a piece of your mind. Keep your mind. Amen. Some of you need more of it. Okay, moving right along. It's not about being weak. It's about standing against the desires of your flesh, the schemes of the enemy, the attacks of the enemy. It's standing against attacks from other

people when you want to just lay your hand on them with the fivefold ministry. No, it's controlling that. It's not being weak. It's yielded to God the goodness of God. Amen. It's yielded strength. James 1 verse 21 says, Therefore lay aside all filthiness and outflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word of God which is able to save YOUR SOULS. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ETERNITY HERE. AMEN? ANYTIME YOU STUDY THE BIBLE AND RECEIVE THE WORD WITH HUMILITY, YOU EXHIBIT MEAKNESS. MEAKNESS IS BEING CLOSED IN FORGIVENESS. TO WALK IN FORGIVENESS, TO WALK IN LOVE, TO WALK IN MERCY. I KNOW SOME PEOPLE THAT HAVE GOTTEN STABBED IN THE BACK BY THE PRESS, BY NEWS REPORTS. LIES, LIES, LIES, AND YET THEY FORGIVE THEM AND NO MATTER WHAT, THEY KEEP WALKING IN LOVE. AND THEY ARE TREMENDOUSLY BLESSED. BROTHER KENNETH COPLAND SAID, ONE DAY, HE CAME OUT AND HE SAID, HE WAS BEING ATTACKED BY THE PRESS. AND HE SAID, AW MAN, IF I HAD TO STAND UP

AND STAND AGAINST EVERY ATTACK THAT WAS SAID ABOUT ME, EVERY LIE ABOUT ME, ALL I WOULD DO WAS SPEND MY DAY DEFENDING MYSELF. SO HE IGNORES IT, WALKS ON, CASTS THE CARE OF IT ONTO THE LORD AND LIVES IN PEACE AND JOY. AMEN. IT DOES NOT MOVE HIM AND IT SHOULD NOT MOVE YOU. IT SHOULD NOT MOVE ME. THE BLESSING OF THE MEEK INCLUDES GOD LEADING YOU THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH THINGS, THE BEST WAY TO INVEST, THE BEST WAY TO HANDLE ISSUES, THE BEST WAY TO HANDLE FINANCIAL CHALLENGES, PHYSICAL CHALLENGES. PSALMS 25 9 SAYS, THE HUMBLE, THE KING JAMES ACTUALLY SAYS, THE MEEK, BUT THE NEW KING JAMES SAYS, THE HUMBLE, HE GUIDES IN JUSTICE AND THE HUMBLE, HE TEACHES HIS WAY.

WELL HE'S NEVER LOST. AMEN. HE WINS EVERY TIME. THE AMPLIFIED VERSION OF PSALMS 25 9 SAYS, HE LEADS THE HUMBLE IN WHAT IS RIGHT AND THE HUMBLE, HE TEACHES HIS WAY. LEADS THEM IN WHAT IS RIGHT. AMEN. AND KEEP IN MIND, LEADING SOMEBODY IN RIGHT, THE WORD RIGHTEOUSNESS MEANS DOING WHAT IS RIGHT. THAT'S ONE OF THE BEATITUDES WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS. WELL IF YOU'RE HUMBLE, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT AND THEN YOU GET MORE BLESSINGS, MORE REWARDS. GLORY TO GOD. THE LIVING BIBLE SAYS, THE LORD IS GOOD AND GLAD TO TEACH THE PROPER PATH TO ALL WHO GO ASTRAY. HE WILL HELP YOU GET BACK ON PATH. AMEN. HE WILL TEACH YOU THE WAYS THAT ARE RIGHT AND THE BEST TO THOSE WHO HUMBLY TURN TO HIM.

IT'S WISDOM TO HUMBLE YOURSELF BEFORE THE LORD AND RECEIVE HIS MERCY, HIS GOODNESS, HIS HELP. AMEN. HE WANTS TO HELP YOU. THE ANOTHER ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF THE BLESSINGS OF BEING MEEK IS SATISFACTION. KING JAMES VERSION OF PSALMS 22, VERSE 26 SAYS, THE MEAT SHALL EAT AND BE SATISFIED. Ooh, I like to eat and I like to be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord that seek Him. Your heart shall live forever. You know, we are a spirit and we will live forever. We have a soul and live in the body. Those who are children of the most high God, those who are saved. Man, if you didn't receive Jesus, eternal death. But if you receive Jesus, no matter what happens in this life, even if the enemy gets in a sucker punch and takes you out early, you blow this popsicle stand, you're out of here. Glory to God, you're in heaven for eternity. Ooh, I'm ready to go. I'm ready to go today. What about you? You should be ready to go today. I'm not going today because I have a call on my life

and I still have a long life to live. With long life, He will satisfy me and show me His salvation. But we should be ready to go today. But see, the longer we're here and the longer we do His work, tell people about His goodness, the more rewards we will get. I want rewards, amen. You may say, oh, I just want to get in the gate. No, you may say that now, but when you get there, you're gonna look back and say, man, I could have had so much more for eternity. People work all their life just for a car or a piece of property. We're, and this life is short, 120 years approximately max. Eternity is a long time, amen. Another benefit is you get help from God. The King James Version of Psalms 147, six says, the Lord lifted up the meek. He casted the wicked down to the ground. Boom, the wicked are slammed to the ground, amen. That's what we need to do. Thoughts that don't line up with the word. We need to have a bouncer in our mind say, nope, that didn't line up with the word. That's not one of the eights of Philippians 4, 8. Boom, slam them to the ground, amen. Don't let them in. Don't let them control you.

Don't let them rob you of the blessings of God. the goodness of God. Amen. See we don't fight people but spirits. Amen. We resist spirits. Ephesians 6 10 says, Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles, the lies, the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of witnesses in heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. You stand, you fight, you resist the schemes of the enemy. I did a series on this on the armor of God. It's available on our website, YouTube, different platforms, social media. If you want to know more about fighting the good fight of faith and about putting on the armor of God and how to win, win, win, I encourage you to listen to that series. Meekness must be developed. Amen. That's not inherent within the flesh. The flesh, it wants to hit you back harder than you hit me. You come after me, I'm coming after you twice as hard. No, that's not meekness. I didn't say we're supposed to be wimps. Amen. Walked over. You come after my wife, I'm gonna protect her. Amen. Matthew 5 38 says, You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you not to resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. I remember getting corrected for this whenever I was a young kid. My flesh, you know, just like your flesh wants to whoop people that come after you. Well, I heard this in church. So I was at school and a kid took a sucker punch and smacked me. So I said, Right here, baby. Come on. Bring it on. See, I knew I was gonna obey the Word. I turned my other cheek. So he hit me there. Man, I could nail him now, right? I double-dog dare you. Come on, bring it on. All I wanted to do was hit that kid back and I thought this gave me a right. No, that's not what it means. It means to humble yourself. Okay. It means to resist the flesh. That's what it means. Well, let's go on. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst. Matthew 5 6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be

filled. Amen. The amplified version of Matthew 5 6 is blessed and fortunate and happy and spiritually prosperous in that state in which the born-again child of God enjoys his favor and salvation. I want the Lord's favor. I want salvation. Saved from what? Not just eternity, not just hell, but I want saved from physical attacks, mental attacks. Amen. Financial attacks. I want His favor on my life. And it goes on to say, are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, uprightness, and right standing with God, for they shall be completely satisfied. I want completely satisfied as well. Amen. By this step, we've grown into being a strong Christian and we boldly can stand at the throne of grace. At God's throne, boldly, not timid, not in fear because of our sin, but knowing that we have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, by the blood of Jesus. We've been made right like we never sinned. So we can boldly go to God. Amen. Not just salvation, but favor and salvation. That word salvation is a big word. It covers a lot. Amen. Now that is the goodness of God. This is a continual meeting of our needs. Not fully satisfied, but continually satisfied. We don't eat or drink once, get full and never eat again. No, you will be satisfied continually. Always eating, always filling up. Amen. Submitting to the desires of the flesh will affect your hunger and thirst for God, for righteousness. The Amplified says in Romans 16, 18, For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites and base desires, and by ingratiating and flattering speech, they beguile the hearts and the unsuspecting and simple-minded people. In other words, feed me, feed me. I want more. Amen. It's always about the flesh and what we want. Give me some chips and candy bars. Amen. Now we need to feed our mind and our spirit with the Word of God. The Word of God cleanses us, it washes our mind, it keeps us clean before Him. That's why we need daily bread of the Word of God. Amen. It will build you up. Every day we should get into the Word. Amen. Every day we should read a chapter. Read something. You know, if you read a chapter a day, Monday through Friday in the New Testament, you cover the whole New Testament in a year by reading one

chapter a day. What's that take? Five minutes a day? If you want the goodness of God, Matthew 6.33 says, Seek ye first, Matthew 6.33. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you. All these things will be added unto you. I want things added to me. The God kind of way. Amen. God's way of dealing with us. Glory to God. This Bible, it says, But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6.33. That's what we should be going after is His righteousness. Romans 8.5 says, For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Our minds can connect to the spiritual realm and to the flesh. Flesh here means physical or anything natural, all natural things. Verse six, For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life in peace. Life in peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. This word life in verse six is a quickening. Set your mind on the flesh and you will give into the desires of the flesh. Don't lie to yourself, you're not that strong. You need to resist the enemy, control your thoughts. Amen. It is your mind, you can control it. You can beat your body and as one word says in Romans, you can beat it or cause it to be subject to the will of God, to the word of God. We need to beat our flesh, control our flesh. Amen. To do what God has called us to do. Resist our fleshly desires in the enemy. Amen. Well I'm out of time. Again we're going to have to continue with this series on the next message. Remember 1st John 5 verse 4 says, Whatever is born of God

overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world. Our faith, not our flesh, our faith in God. Amen. Well this is Mike Kennedy with Living in Victory. Have a blessed day!