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0:20 Welcome back to day three in our walk through the book of Philippians, Philippians chapter 1, verse 2. 0:26 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 0:32 Okay, so there's two things that Paul is offering here. 0:34 One of the things I want to point out, this is just the greeting that we have been walking through. 0:39 And so I want you to know that every single word of Scripture is God breathed. 0:44 So when you get to things like this in the scripture, don't just skip over them. 0:48 That God has something for us, even in the introductions of these books of the Bible. 0:54 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 0:58 Grace is God's unmerited favor. 1:01 Grace is God's redemption at Christ's expense. 1:04 Grace comes from God through Jesus Christ. 1:08 And you cannot receive the grace of God unless you know Jesus Christ. 1:13 And the way we receive the grace of God is through what we call the gospel, that we, the enemies of God by nature and nurture, are reconciled with Him through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. 1:25 The word grace means that we are receiving what you do not deserve. 1:29 You see, what we do deserve by our own merit, by our own activity, by our own sinful and crooked heart, what we do deserve is we do deserve death. 1:39 We do deserve judgment, we do deserve hell. 1:41 But instead, because of the grace of God, what we actually receive through Christ is we receive life. 1:48 We receive adoption as sons into his family. 1:52 We receive a right standing before God. 1:55 This is called double imputation. 1:58 That when Christ goes to the cross, that God made him who was without sin to be sin for us, that we would be made the righteousness of Christ. 2:05 And for who anyone that would believe that when Christ died on the cross somehow that counted for you, and you confess him as your Lord, then Jesus pays the full penalty for your sin on the cross, and we receive the right standing of God that Jesus earned by living the perfect life. 2:24 But he says, Grace to you and peace from God. 2:28 You see, peace is what we're all actually looking for. 2:31 You know, in our founding documents, when the when the Declaration of Independence, when it says that we are to pursue life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the pursuit of happiness, I I think I know what the founders intended. 2:48 What they meant is that we were on this peace journey. 2:52 And we look for it in all kinds of different places. 2:55 A lot of us look for peace or contentment or happiness. 2:57 We look we look to it in our flesh. 3:01 That means we're we're in the pursuit of positive feelings, we're in the pursuit of positive relationships, we're in the pursuit of fun, we're in the pursuit of of hobbies, we're in the pursuit of fitness, whatever it is. 3:11 Some of us sometimes we look for it through through stuff or success or money. 3:16 Sometimes we look for this kind of peace, this contentment through status and likes. 3:23 But the reality is, is the pursuit of happiness will always let you down. 3:27 Why? 3:28 Because happiness is based in happenings. 3:30 And as long as everything's going okay, then you'll be okay. 3:33 When things are not going okay, you will not be okay. 3:37 And so the pursuit of happiness, it really is a temporary pursuit that will never fully and finally satisfy. 3:44 So what we have been called to understand is peace. 3:49 The word that Paul's going to use in the book of Philippians, more than any other word, is the word joy. 3:54 And what we need is the joy of Jesus. 3:56 And part of the reason, again, he's writing this from prison. 4:00 And if we pursue happiness, then when our happiness change, our happiness is gone. 4:04 But when we know Jesus, then our joy will never end because Jesus never ever changes. 4:10 And again, keep this in mind: from a prison cell that I've actually been able to sit in in Rome, Paul pens these words grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4:22 The reality is this, men, you can make all the money you could make, you could be in the best shape of your life, you could have great relationships, but you will never have the peace of God until you are at peace with God. 4:33 And the only way that you will be at peace with God is through the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, until you receive the free gift of grace that He has offered to you by putting your faith in Him. 4:45 And whoever believes will receive the right to become a child of God. 4:49 And when you become a child of God, what comes along with that is this peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.