‘Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts’ – what does it mean? It is the same word that is translated in the Lord's Prayer, ‘Hallowed be thy name.’ Set up apart, often translated make holy.
How do you sanctify him in your heart? You praise him. If we are always asking, and never praising, we’re not sanctifying Christ in our hearts, setting him apart, giving him his place, letting him rule. We’re not strengthening our own faith, and our prayers are not being offered in faith, if we don't see the one in our minds eye to whom we pray. Sanctify, set apart, reflect on, wonder at the Lord God, and Christ in particular in your heart.
Many of the modern hymns do cover Calvary. They do mention what Christ has done for me, but that is their stress. It’s good to do that, of course. Christ has come from heaven for a sinner like me; he has suffered in my place. They are full of that, but it's all about me. It’s what Christ has done for me; what he’s done to change me, what he’s done to make me happy, what he’s done to lift me up and set me on the road to heaven. That all has a place, but what about him? What about directing praise to Christ, not just for what he has done for me, but for who he is? He came to Calvary. What astonishing love! How far he would go for his people! We love to read the Gospels and we keep coming back to them because we see Christ and his ways, his character and power and glory. Think of his holiness. He is the perfect and the holy one; he cannot abide sin; he is indignant against it. He watches us. ‘I must live a holy life. I must control myself. I must control my temper. I must control my pride. I must control my selfishness. I must control my laziness.’ Then he is sovereign; he has authority. I must obey him, his every word. If there is something I do, and it is reproved in the Scripture, I must drop it. I must get rid of that music which is dedicated to the world and the drug culture, and the me, me, me culture. I have Christ; I have everything. He has wisdom and infallibility. What am I worrying about? There is something that alarms me, something that disturbs me, something which offends me. How will it work out? Lay it at his feet. If I esteem his supreme wisdom and knowledge, I can rest in faith and pray to him every time it concerns me, and let it go. He is glorious. He is full of glory and knowledge, and perfection. I am going to study him. Every morning, if you can, promote the Lord in your heart. When you pray, give some time to reflecting on him. Know how to rehearse his attributes and reflect on them, and be astonished at him, and amazed at him, and overawed at him. Love him and adore him, and pledge yourself to him, and then your prayer is full of faith.
The word ‘ready’ means be fit, be prepared. As an athlete you would scarcely enter a competitive race without having trained; you would make a fool of yourself. You have to be ready by being filled with a sense of duty. I am his representative wherever I am all day and every day. I have to be patient and wait my opportunities. I am representing him very much by my life, as well as by the opportunity to speak when it arises. Do you have sympathy for people? Do you pray for them? Do you know what you are going to say? Christians come to the Gospel Service because it's the highest point of worship for them to see Calvary again. But they also want to hear gospel arguments, and sometimes write them down.
We are to give this answer not belligerently, or accusingly, but gently, sympathetically and, Peter says, with meekness and with fear. Witness is not a time for attacking people. It is not a time for telling people the worst about themselves: you are giving something, imparting something freely and graciously. This is a kindly act. We do not speak to them as their judges but as their fellow accused, those who have found mercy and who are no more deserving than they. We cannot boast a greater wisdom or insight into divine things than any other fallen child of Adam, for all that we have was given to us. We do so with fear for we know what infinite consequences hang on their reception of the gospel. How can we do anything to put them off or present Christ in a way other than he would present himself? Humble words and gentle words are calculated to do this and an evident sympathy for the lost. You have to be careful when preaching too. Some preachers can be so hostile, and attack the hearer, and shout too much. Of course we are glad if the preacher gets excited; we don't mind. If the preacher is larger than life, we don't mind that. The preacher must show real concern and enthusiasm and feeling, but the person who seems like a man in a temper, and suddenly seems to have hysterical moments and crazy moments – that's not honouring to the gospel. It is just emotional manipulation.