The Goodness of God - Part 14 - The Beatitudes, Part IV

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 Kennedy with the Living in Victory broadcast. We're going to continue our series today on the goodness of God. It's part 14. And in the last few messages we've been talking about the Beatitudes. Everybody should have an attitude about the goodness of God. But a lot of people have a toot, an attitude. No, we should know what the Beatitudes are. Man called them that. That's not what God called them. But the series of the goodness of God is based on Psalms 34 8. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him. Do you trust in God? Then I call you blessed because the Word says you are blessed. And if God says you're blessed, you need to walk in the blessings, live in the blessings. You may say, I don't see it. Well, then you aren't being a doer of the Word, which is why you need to stay with us on this series, understanding how to live in the blessings. John 10 10 says the thief at Sainton, the evil one, does not come except for three reasons. To steal, to kill, and to destroy. So if those three things are going on in your life, the enemy is involved.

Now granted, he was given access to the human race because of man's sin. But Jesus came and gave us authority over that. John 10 10 goes on to say, I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Some versions say life, excessive life to the overflow. Amen. Overflowing with abundance of the goodness of God. In the last couple of messages, we've talked about the Beatitudes and the first four characteristics that were progressive with developing a relationship with God. Poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst. If you didn't listen to the last few messages, I encourage you to go back. Because a lot of people think, oh, mourning is crying, poor in spirit. Oh, I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I'm starving, I'm poor. Meek, I'm a timid little weakling. None of that is true. If you believe that, then you don't know what the word really means. Go back and listen. Amen. And then we talked about after those four, it says, then you will be filled. Amen. You'll be filled as you progress in a loving character, the loving character of God operating in your life towards man. And then after you're filled, you progress through being merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart, the peacemakers. Blessed will you be persecuted for righteousness. These deal with other people and their issues. After you get through all of those, then you reach the final progressive, which is a great reward. The last message we talked about, blessed are the merciful.

We're going to get into that a little bit more. And then we're going to go into the other couple items of the Beatitudes. Join your faith with me. Heavenly Father, we come to you asking you for revelation of your word to understand what the Beatitudes really mean, what they are, how to apply them to our life. Because every one of these has to do with the blessings of God. And we want blessings. We want your blessing, Lord, so help us. We ask you for it. Help me speak properly to share your word, to get it across that we grow and learn and live in your goodness. In the name of Jesus, amen. Well, as I mentioned, the last message we started on, blessed are the merciful. God is a God of mercy and compassion. Yeah, he sent Jesus to the cross, his own son. He sent to the cross for you and for me so that we wouldn't have to go to hell. Oh, he's good to us. He's merciful. Now, Jesus has a crown. Oh, my, he's the King of kings and Lord of lords. He passed the test. And you and I are supposed to be passing tests, amen? Mercy in Hebrew is hesed, H-E-S-E. ED. God has an overwhelming desire to do good, that's the blessing. Amen. He has an overwhelming desire to do good for you and for me. Mercy in Greek means, it comes from the word Aleman and it's actively compassionate. It means to be like God, love and action. Amen. Mercy and compassion come from the same Greek words and they can be interchanged. So we started talking about this last, in the last message at the end of it, that you must fight. You must fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold of it. Amen. First Timothy 6.12 says, fight the good fight of faith.

Lay hold on eternal life to which you are also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. You must be a fighter. Amen. When I was younger, I got in the ring. I was a boxer. Man, my problem was, I didn't like to really hurt people. Well, later on in life, I found out, good position for a boxer, right? Later on, I found out my hands were not to hurt people. They were to lay hands on the sick, to love on people, to minister his goodness. But we're still supposed to be fighters. Amen. It taught me how to block. It taught me how to throw punches. You must take, according to this scripture we just read, fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold. You must take it by fighting by faith. The we says, constantly engaging in the contest of faith. The contest of faith. It's a contest. Are you going to win or are you going to lose? God gives his mercy, but we must possess it. Lay hold of it. Amen. Believe in it. Part of that is casting our cares on God. That's one way we fight the good fight of faith. We give it to God. Most people say, I'm giving it to God, but then they try to pick it back up and take it because God's not doing it as fast as they want, the way they want. They aren't willing to change and do things God's way. Don't do it your way. Seek God his way and you will come up and out. If there's anxiety, if there's worry, then you haven't cast the care of it over onto the Lord. Recently, Sharon and I were dealing with something and man, it was bothering me. I'd wake up at night. I was not being a doer of the word. I was not slamming that thought down, praising the Lord, reminding myself of the word. Well, I repented. Amen. I've taught on this before, but the eights of Philippians 4.8. I was not doing it. I was being a hypocrite. I was telling you to do it, but I didn't do it. Philippians 4.8. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there's any virtue, if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these eight things. Well, what I was dealing with was not true based on the word. It wasn't lovely. I can tell you that. It was not the report of the Lord. It was not something to give God praise on, and I was taking too much of my thought life, and I had to cast it down. Hallelujah. Lord will do that for you, but you have to do your part. You know, a lot of teaching today is, oh, let go and let God. Let go of what? Let God do what? Now, this is not what this word says. It says to lay hold, fight the good fight of faith. Satan wants people to give up, not fight. Let it go so that he can take them out, and they're not even resisting him. Amen. You better fight. Many religious songs and church

messages say, let go and let God. That's not in line with what the word says. I know what they're saying. You know, let God take care of it. Well, then say what the word says. Cast the care of it over onto him. Give it to him. That's not just let go. Let go is, I'm on a rope. I'm on a rope. I'm gonna let go. No, I'm falling. No. Whenever you cast the care of it, slam it down. Cast that thought down, and cast the rest of it over onto God. He cares for you. That means give it to him, amen. And the fight will be to release it to him and not pick it back up. James 2, 14 says, what does it profit my brethren? IF SOMEONE SAYS HE HAS FAITH BUT DOES NOT HAVE WORKS, CAN FAITH SAVE HIM? IN OTHER WORDS, THEY'RE ALL TALK, ALL SHOW AND NO GO, AMEN? PUFFED UP AND BLOWING SMOKE. I HAD A FRIEND THAT HAD A 4-CYLINDER IN HIS CAR WITH A BIG MUFFLER ON IT, MADE IT SOUND LOUD. MY SUV COULD BLOW IT AWAY. IT WAS ALL NOISE, ALL PUFFED UP, AMEN? SEE, I WANT A BIKE, PEOPLE HAVE ASKED ME IN ONE OF MY HARLEY'S, MAN, I TAKE OFF, BOOM, I'M OUT OF HERE, LEAVE THEM BEHIND, THEY'RE EATING MY DUST. THEY'RE LIKE, WHAT'S IN IT? I AIN'T SAYING, I AIN'T TELLING, AMEN? YOU DO NOT NEED TO LET THE ENEMY KNOW EVERYTHING YOU KNOW. YOU NEED TO TAKE AUTHORITY OVER HIM AND SLAM HIM DOWN, AMEN? THE N-C-V IN JAMES 2-14 SAYS, MY BROTHERS, ANCESTORS, IF PEOPLE SAY THEY HAVE FAITH BUT DO NOTHING, THEIR FAITH IS WORTH NOTHING. CAN FAITH LIKE THAT SAVE THEM? NO. WHEN GOD ASKS YOU A QUESTION, WE SHOULD ANSWER IT. VERSE 17, IN THE SAME WAY, FAITH THAT IS ALONE, THAT DOES NOTHING, IS DEAD. IT'S WORTHLESS. AND THEN IN VERSE 26 OF JAMES CHAPTER 2, IT SAYS, JUST AS A PERSON'S BODY THAT DOES NOT HAVE A SPIRIT IS DEAD,

SO FAITH THAT DOES NOTHING IS DEAD. YOU WANT DEAD RESULTS? DO NOTHING, AMEN? THERE'S A DEAD FAITH. NO RESULTS. DOES NOTHING. WORTH NOTHING. NO, YOU NEED TO HAVE FAITH IN ACTION. GET UP AND FIGHT, AMEN? PUT YOUR GLOVES ON, GET IN THE RING AND FIGHT. DON'T JUST LOOK FOR A WAY JUST TO GIVE THEM A BLACK EYE. TAKE THE ENEMY OUT, AMEN? OUTTA HERE. SLAM HIM DOWN. YOU NEED TO BE A FIGHTER, AMEN? GET SOME BACKBONE, AMEN? GET IN THE RING AND TAKE HIM OUT BECAUSE ALL AUTHORITY HAS BEEN GIVEN TO US BY JESUS CHRIST. WE HAVE THE ABILITY. MOST PEOPLE ARE AFRAID, OOH, I MAY GET A SUCKER PUNCH. OOH, I MAY GET HURT. NO, YOU GET IN THERE. IF HE GETS IN A SUCKER PUNCH, WIPE THE BLOOD OFF. SAY, ALRIGHT, THAT'S ALL YOU GOT, BAD BOY? BRING IT ON. WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS. YOUR ANGEL WILL BE RIGHT THERE BEHIND YOU. THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS BEHIND YOU IF YOU FIGHT THE FIGHT OF FAITH, AMEN? ISAIAH 38, VERSE 1 SAYS,

IN THOSE DAYS HEZEKIAH WAS SICK AND NEAR DEATH AND ISAIAH THE PROPHET, THE SON OF AMOS, WENT TO HIM AND SAID TO HIM, THUS SAYS THE LORD. IN OTHER WORDS, WHEN GOD SENDS A PROPHET BECAUSE GOD SAID SOMETHING, YOU BETTER LISTEN, AMEN? SET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER FOR YOU SHALL DIE AND NOT LIVE. GOD SAID THIS, YOU'RE GOING TO DIE. WHEN GOD SAYS YOU'RE GOING TO DIE, YOU'RE GOING TO DIE, AMEN? I HEARD THAT YEARS AGO. I WAS AT, UM, WENT TO ONE OF THE WORLD'S RENOWNED HOSPITALS FOR AN INTERNAL SITUATION. GOD TOLD ME TO GO GET MY HOUSE IN ORDER. BUT THEN ONE OF THE GUYS THAT WAS THE HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT SAID, BUT WE HAVE NOT BEGUN TO FIGHT. ARE YOU WILLING TO FIGHT? HE SAID, IF YOU'RE WILLING TO FIGHT, WE CAN DEFEAT THIS THING. BUT IF YOU'RE NOT, GET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER. THAT'S WHAT GOD IS TELLING US. WE NEED TO FIGHT. ARE THE ENEMY GOING TO TAKE US OUT? AMEN?

YOU'VE GOT TO BE A FIGHTER. VERSE 2 SAYS, THEN HEZEKIAH TURNED HIS FACE TOWARDS THE WALL AND PRAYED TO THE LORD. THAT IMPLIES HE'S FOCUSED ON GOD. SEEING GOD. HE CAN'T SEE ANYTHING ELSE. HIS FACE IS IN THE CORNER IN THE WALL. NOW WHEN I WAS IN GRADE SCHOOL, I HAD TO DO THAT A LOT, BUT IT WAS A CHALKBOARD WITH A WHITE CIRCLE IN IT. I WAS SUPPOSED TO KEEP MY NOSE IN IT AT TIMES. THAT'S BECAUSE I DID SOME THINGS THAT WEREN'T GOOD AND THAT TEACHER SENT ME IN THE WALL. THAT'S NOT WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE. WE'RE SUPPOSED TO GET FOCUSED. KEEP OUR MIND ON HIM. SEEK HIM. KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO. YOU'RE TALKING TO THE CREATOR. THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. DON'T LET YOUR MIND JUST WANDER. TAKE AUTHORITY. IT'S YOUR MIND. TAKE AUTHORITY OVER THOSE THOUGHTS AND FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. AMEN? SOMETIMES THOUGHTS WILL COME IN

AND YOU HAVE TO CAST SOME DOWN. YOU HAVE TO BRING YOUR MIND BACK. NO, I'M FOCUSED ON THIS. THIS IS WHAT I'M DOING. I'M PRAYING ABOUT THIS SITUATION. NO, NOT THOSE THINGS. I'M PRAYING ABOUT THIS. AND YOU SEEK THE LORD ON IT. AMEN? WELL, WHENEVER YOU HEAR SOMETHING THAT GOD SAYS YOU'RE GONNA DIE, YOU MAY WANT TO GET FOCUSED ON THE WORD AND GET ON HIS MERCY. AMEN? VERSE 3. IT GOES ON TO SAY, HE PRAYED TO THE LORD AND SAID, REMEMBER NOW, O LORD, I PRAY HOW I HAVE WALKED BEFORE YOU IN TRUTH AND WITH A LOYAL HEART AND HAVE DONE THIS what is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. He cried out to the Lord in other words, but he also stirred himself up and reminded himself that I have walked before God in truth with a loyal heart. Doesn't mean perfection, it means that he wanted to serve God with honor, with integrity, amen. You need to do that now so when the enemy does come in, gets in a sucker punch, catches you off guard, you can go to the Lord, the King of Kings and get mercy, amen. You don't want to wait till you're backed up into the corner and the ropes to ask for help or to get trained. Go through training now, get in the Word, go to church, amen. That's part of what the going to church is about. It's preparing

us to win and win and win again. This is a prayer of humility. It's a prayer of supplication. It's not a prayer of faith. You say, well I thought that every prayer had to be in faith. This is not part of the prayer of faith. Doesn't mean he didn't pray in faith. He prayed in faith that God is a God of mercy. But if he would have been praying the prayer of faith, it would it would have been, God you said I'm gonna die, so I'm gonna die. No, this here is a prayer of mercy, of supplication, of pleading your case before the Lord. He didn't blame God that he was gonna die. He repented, he built himself up, he made changes, amen. Well with what I was just sharing about, there's some changes I had to go through and make, amen. There's some things that I had to get corrected in my thought life, things that I was eating that I needed to change, different things like that. Yeah, it may apply to you too. Verse 4, And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah saying, Go and tell Hezekiah. In other words, wait a second, the prophet already went and said you're gonna die. Now the prophets being told to go back. Well what is he being sent back to tell Hezekiah? He said, Go and tell Hezekiah. Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Surely I will add to your days 15 years, and I will deliver you in this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city. Look at the mercy, the goodness here. Not only did he get answered from God, God heard him. Oh that's big right there now. God heard him and he got 15 years of more life, but that's not all. God delivered the city from the hand of a king. He brought him from the fact of being taken out in war, being slaved, being killed. God did the fighting for them because he went and prayed. He changed. He got right with God. Amen. You say, well I thought God doesn't change. God didn't change here. Things can change when you change your heart. That's the mercy part. 15 years added after prayer, after repenting, that's mercy. Who changed? Hezekiah changed. Amen. Isaiah 38 20. The Lord was ready to save me, therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. The Lord was ready to save him from the beginning, to deliver him. He just needed Hezekiah to repent, to change, to do some things

right, to come to him and plead with him. Amen. Now verse 21. Listen to this. Now Isaiah had said, let them take lumps of figs and apply it to a poultice on the boil and he shall recover. He was sick. So this here is talking about making a chemical reaction. Okay. He's taking fig leaves. He's mixing them up. He's making it into like a salve, a poultice and putting it on the boils and he shall recover. So people, I've heard people say, oh religious, oh you shouldn't do that. You know, trust God. Yeah, trust God, but if he says to do something, do it. Amen. Don't be prideful. Some people just turn towards doctors and medicine and they never turn towards God. That's unwise. Some people turn towards God and they are unwilling to use some natural things that God gave engineers, scientists, doctors and people like that wisdom of what to do. Amen. Hezekiah was in this situation due to his pride. The doctor and medicine could help. God gave them instructions. He could have done a miracle and healed him right there. then and there, but he told him to go make a chemical compound, put it on it, and he would recover. Amen? If doctors were wrong, if medicine was wrong, God would not have told Hezekiah to do this through the prophet. He wouldn't have had the disciple Luke still be called Dr. Luke. He would have said, nope, that's of the devil. No. Doctors, medicine, they're on our side against the schemes of the enemy who come to kill, steal, and destroy. God is a good God, so He helps us with knowledge, with wisdom on things of that nature. Science, achievements, you know, even things like penicillin that saved millions of people's lives. Eyeglasses, that's from science. X-rays, things of that nature. Amen? Here God told him to mix some chemicals up and take your medicines. Now, I'm not saying all meds are good. Man, sometimes chemo can take somebody out and radiation. I'm not saying everything is good. I'm saying be led by the Spirit of God and be open to do things the way He has said for you to do it. Amen? You know, I've got pins holding my leg together because I missed it in something years ago. My heart was right, but I got pins all up and down my leg. 13 pins and 3 bridges. I'm like the bionic man, but I just don't have the strength of the bionic man, but I got the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen? I got some tooth implants too. You know

that the toothbrush had to be created or designed from Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, someplace of that nature. Otherwise, it had been called a teeth brush, not a toothbrush, right? I better go on. I'm gonna get myself in trouble. I'm joking right there. Hebrews 6 11 and it says, And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Patience. That's an endurance word like running a marathon. Don't quit. If you did quit, go back to where you quit. Pick up the fight. Keep fighting. Fighting for your finances. Fighting for relationships. Fighting for your health. Amen? Stick with it. Then you inherit the blessings of God. That's part of the goodness of God. Now you must resist fear. You cannot possess things if you're in fear. Oh, if you're dealing with it, but you go straight on, that's courage. Amen? You're not moved by the fear. You're not letting it keep you down. I didn't say that there wouldn't be thoughts, but you're not letting it control you. Amen? You cannot possess in fear without courage. Build yourself up. Stir yourself up. Get in the ring and receive the promise of mercy. Amen? We'll get started in Matthew 5 8. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. I want to see God. I want to know God. Amen? Jesus himself spoke of the pure in heart. Pure heart is a reflection of doing what God wants us to do. Our inner being is the root of all of our actions. Amen? From our hearts come our motives, our desires, our goals, and our emotions. The inner self eventually reveals what they are by our outward actions. Amen? If our hearts aren't right, our actions won't be right either. You'll see it. People will be doing things that are not godly. They'll get in the flesh because their heart's not right. Amen? Jesus described the inner man in Mark 7 21. He said, For from within out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornicators, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. Goes on to say, All these things come from within and defile a man. Where do they come from? From within and they defile you. But how do you become pure in heart? How do you keep your heart pure? You stay in the

Word. Amen? You meditate on it day and night. You speak it. We control our mind. No, you didn't lose your mind. Don't speak that over yourself. I'm losing my mind. No, you need every cell you got. Trust me on that one. It's your mind. You have the mind of Christ. Amen. He will renew your mind as you read the Word. Amen. You need to read the Word daily renewing your mind according to what the Word says because the enemy in this world is bringing thoughts to you that don't line up with the Word of God. Amen. You need to watch what you say. The Scripture warns about evil communications that corrupt the mind, off-color jokes, people engaging in immorality simply by the way they talk rather than what the Word of God says. Amen. We can control our whole body just like it's rudder on a ship. We have a control in our thoughts and what do we say? Get in the Word. Amen. Be a fighter. Don't be a weak loser. Be a fighter. Be a winner. Amen. You can control your thought life and keep it in line with the Word. The definition of pure in heart is important in order to understand this beatitude. To be pure in heart is not sinless. No. Every man has fallen and made mistakes. We'll get back into this and with 1st John 1 7 through 9 at the next message. But being pure in heart is having a heart open to God. Amen. Being cleansed by His Word. Being renewed by the Word of God. But you can't be renewed by the Word of God if you don't believe it. I encourage you if you don't know Jesus you can receive Him right now. Let us know. Amen. We rejoice with it. You can say right now, Heavenly Father, I ask you to come into my heart. I ask Jesus to be my Lord, my Savior. I receive Him as my Lord right now. Father, I believe that you sent your son Jesus to hell. He rose from the grave and is seated in heavenly places. Father, I ask you to direct me and guide me and as you do, I will serve you. Father, I thank you for it in the name of Jesus. Amen. And you and I will have eternity together. Glory to God. This is Mike Kennedy with Living in Victory. Have a blessed day. We're going to get more into having a pure heart in the next message. Amen. Glory to God. I call you blessed in the name of Jesus. Amen.