📖Scripture:
“Conduct yourselves with such honor among the pagans… that they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.” – 1 Peter 2:12
🔎Examination:
There’s no way around it; the days are dark, culture is collapsing, and screams of panic and terror echo from every direction. But the WORD of God doesn’t flinch or tremble; it triumphs. The Apostle Peter calls the elect to “conduct yourselves with such honor.” That’s neither a self-help pep rally, nor a polite suggestion for better morality and manners — it’s a wartime battlecry for exiles awaiting our King.
This past Sunday’s sermon put it plainly: The response of legit saints, the elect, is never apathy or anxiety. It’s never obsession with the fleeting vapors of the world. It’s pure and simple faith… our trust in Christ Jesus as the sovereign LORD of all.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7
Apathy says, “Nothing matters.” Anxiety says, “Everything hinges on me.” Both are sin. Both seek to dethrone Christ. The apathetic heart refuses reality and responsibility; the anxious heart rejects the Savior and His sovereignty. But Peter’s command to live honorably — to display kalos (divine goodness) — demolishes both errors (2 Cor 10:5). The saints live by faith because we know our King is on the throne.
Worry arises in control freaks when the delusion of control is shattered.” Philippians 4:6-7 demolishes that delusion. “Be anxious for nothing,” Paul writes. Nothing. Not government decrees, not collapsing morality, not persecution, not invasion, yesterday, today, or tomorrow. Why? God is in control — not you, not me. His peace guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Peace is not the absence of trouble but the presence of the King who commands the storms to be still.
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in You. In God, whose Word I praise—in God I trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” – Psalm 56:3–4
Sunday’s sermon reminded us of the Proverbs 31 woman who “laughs at the days to come” (v.25). That’s not naivety — that’s preparedness through faith. Saints who trust in the LORD and revere His WORD have nothing to fear. David sang the same truth: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in You… I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” That’s the anthem of exiles who know that death itself is gain (Phil 1:21).
And this is where Peter’s teaching comes full circle. The Church does not exist to escape persecution, preserve comfort, or build an earthly utopia. The purpose of the Church is to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. King Jesus promises that when we live according to the WORD, that: 1) He is Immanuel (Matt 28:20), 2) that the very gates of Hell will no prevail against us (Matt 16:18), and 3) ELEVEN TIMES that we will never be put to shame (Ps 25:3, 34:5; Isa 28:16, 45:17, 49:23, 50:7, 54:4; Joel 2:26-27; Rom 9:33, 10:11; 1 Pet 2:6)!
When, as saints, we conduct ourselves with kalos honor, which points to Christ as our Creator and King, we display the reality of that revelation. Our peace becomes a living testimony to His sovereignty. Our steadfastness becomes a sermon about His infinite worth and worthiness.
This is what separates the regenerate Church from the counterfeit. The Judas Iscariot church in America betrayed King Jesus for the silver of community acceptance. It traded conviction for convenience. But the faithful remnant, those who live honorably until He comes, refuse that exchange. Our peace is not passive; it’s a proclamation: “Your grace is enough for me.”
Living honorably until He comes doesn’t mean hiding from the world; it means walking through it as salt & light. It means living with integrity when slandered, speaking truth when silenced, and rejoicing (leaning into God’s grace) when rejected. It means remembering that apathy and anxiety are equally faithless, and that obedience to the WORD is the only faithful response to God’s amazing grace.
The sermon closed with a charge: The elect live unashamed, unentangled, and unafraid… we live not in apathy or anxiety, but to proclaim the excellencies of Christ Jesus, our Savior and King. That’s the posture of holy endurance. That’s the mark of the true Church. That’s how exiles live until our fleeting exile here in this place that is not our forever home comes to an end.
🤺Action:
Test your peace – “Search me, O God.” (Ps 139:23–24) Is your calm rooted in control or in Christ?
Expose apathy – “Let us examine our ways and return to the LORD.” (Lam 3:40) Has weariness made you indifferent to the King and kingdom work?
Reject anxiety – “Be anxious for nothing.” (Phil 4:6) Bring every concern to God with thanksgiving, not complaint.
Test your witness – “Test all things; hold fast to what is good.” (1 Thess 5:21) Does your life boldly testify to the reality of the risen Christ?
🧠Reflection:
Apathy and anxiety are evil twins — one numbs our zeal, the other robs our peace. Both seek to shrink God and enlarge the self. They cause Christ Jesus to become a stumbling block and rock of offense in disobedience to the WORD. But the saints who abide in Christ, who fix our eyes on His return, live differently. We laugh at the days to come because we know the Divine Author of those days… the one who holds us… who holds EVERYTHING in His hands.
When the world panics, let your peace, patience, and perseverance point people to Christ. That’s καλός, truly honorable/good conduct that motivates, inspires, and points people to Christ. When the world scoffs, let the holiness of Christ in you stand and shine. When the world despairs, let your hope defy it. As was shared in the sermon, our Christian duty isn’t control, but to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness… and the LORD promises that all these things will be set before you.
Let us not merely read, memorize, and contemplate Scripture; let us live such honorable lives among those who slander us for our faith that Christ is glorified. Let the light of the immutable and incarnate WORD and the Holy Spirit be the light of humanity’s only hope in the darkness of our fallen world. Refuse to turn to the left or right; reject both apathy and anxiety, for the King is near. With every heartbeat proclaim the excellencies of the ONE who brought you out of darkness into His glorious light… until the day He visits us — when every knee will bow to Him who reigns forever and ever, AMEN!
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Blessings & love,
Kevin M. Kelley
Pastor
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