Peace. There’s nothing like it. We naturally long for peace because we’re naturally in a war everyday and we seek release, quietness, and calmness.

Last night was anything but calm. But today brings the peace of an early morning after a raging storm. Crisp air. Birds chirping. The sun slowly rising to shed light on a dark world, a hint of orange glow on the trees and an incredible array of pink and  purple beams of light peeking through the clouds. But there will be another storm.

Yesterday, Toby offered us some wonderful encouragement and reminded us of a peace that surpasses all understanding. A peace that is deeper, wider, and more captivating than anything we can imagine. Peace that will never waiver or vanish. Peace that is unmerited, unfathomable, and undeserved. Peace with God.

It goes without saying, but our biggest problem isn’t our health, dirty diapers, sleepless nights, wayward children, a falling stock market, the loss of a job, trouble in our marriage, the loss of a spouse, getting old, or even death. Our biggest problem is the chasm that sin has placed between us and God. But God, being rich in mercy, offers us peace in himself. And his peace is not temporary or conditional. It’s permanent and absolute, given to those who have faith. Romans 5:1 says “... we have peace with God...”

We have it. We don’t have to go looking for it. And we don’t have to long for it. We have it. It belongs to us. He’s given it as a gift. It’s yours. You posses it. And it’s guaranteed. It will always be with you. These things are true because this peace doesn’t come from you or any of your efforts and isn’t based on our circumstances, it comes “...through the Lord Jesus Christ,” His life. His death. His resurrection.

So although it may sometimes feel like it’s not there, it is. No matter what you do, you will not face condemnation from God if you’ve placed your faith in His son. That’s peace that surpasses all understanding. We can’t lose it no matter how hard we try. If we could, we would. We are however naturally prone to think we can. As Toby said, we start thinking about God as a finger pointer who is just trying to catch us messing up, so he can snatch back his good gift from us. This is a mindset we have to shake. We can’t live in fear of messing up and losing God's approval. If we do, it will limit our opportunity to serve Him. Instead, we stand firm in this grace that we have obtained. We rest. We cease striving. We believe Him. We trust Him. We can’t live our Christian life in the fear of messing up or disappointing God. We’ve already done that and he knows. In fact, he knows how we will fail him or disappoint him today. And this didn’t stop him from pouring out His wrath on the most undeserving man to ever walk this created earth so that we, the most undeserving people, might receive his peace.

Storms will come and go. Peace will not. Like a child who holds short accounts of the wrongs they’ve done, live in the peace of God. Confess your sin often and move on, God has replaced his wrath toward you with peace!

A sermon that’s not applied is a waste of time. Satisfying intellectual curiosity, entertaining the saints or just filling the allotted time is ultimately worthless. Sermons must be aimed at salvation and sanctification. Their end result must be information that leads to transformation, better Christian lives of increased faith, holiness, obedience and integrity. Knowledge puffs up. Love in action edifies.

This effort of application is equally shared by both preacher and listener, all dependent on the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Word then comfort, convict and inspire.

With yesterday’s sermon, we have now covered the first eight of ten principles for Christian ministry. We need to apply these principles to our individual lives and we need to apply them corporately to Kerrville Bible Church. If we aren’t growing, changing and ever reforming, then we need to shut the doors and go camping.

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Many people have either a legalistic or licentious relationship to God.
 
The legalist believes that he must give God a good performance to be accepted.
 
The licentious is glad that God loves to forgive, because he loves sinning.
 
The truth however is not somewhere in-between. One does not counter legalism by sprinkling in some lawlessness. Conversely, licentiousness is not remedied by a good dose of law-keeping.