A practical exposition of the Lord's-Prayer

(2.) More especially God is sanctified, when in Straits, Difficulties, and Dangers, we can bear our selves upon the power and sufficiency of God, and go on resolutely and cheerfully with our Duty, notwithstanding Discouragements. This is to sanctify the Lord God in our Hearts. I shall prove it by two places where the Phrase is used; one is, 1 Pet. 3. 15. Be ready always to give an answer to every Man that asketh you a reason of the Hope that is in you, with Meekness and Fear. Mark, the Christians that did profess the Name of God, which spake of God as their Hope, or Object of their Religion, were in great danger: Now what direction doth he give them, that they might not be afraid, but bear up? For he speaks before, Be not afraid of their Terror, or be troubled: But sanctify the Lord God in your Hearts. See the same Phrase used for the same purpose, Isa. 8. 13. Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your Fear, and let him be your Dread. He opposeth it plainly there, to Carnal Fear, vers. 12. Say ye not a Confederacy, to all them to whom this People shall say a Confederacy; neither fear ye their Fear, nor be afraid: But sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your Fear. How comes this direction to be used in the present Case? Thus, to sanctify is to set apart, and to sanctify God, is to set God apart as the alone Object of ⟨p. 172⟩Fear and Trust, that he alone is to be feared and trusted; so that we can see no match for God among the Creatures: Therefore we are to embolden our selves in the Lord, and go on cheerfully; when we can counter-balance all Fears and Dangers with his surpassing Excellency. To Glorify God, is, to do that which simply and absolutely tendeth to the Manifestation of his Excellency, without any Relation to the Creature: But to Sanctify God, is, to set God above the Creature, to do that which tends to exalt his Greatness and Excellency from and above all Terrors, and all the Discouragements that we can have from the Creature: It is to ascribe that Greatness, that Power and Glory to God alone, which cannot be ascribed to any thing else, and so to go on cheerfully with our Duty, whatever Difficulties we meet with. Thus Moses was chidden, that was amazed with present Difficulty, Numb. 20. 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the Eyes of the Children of Israel;