Acts 7:1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

Stephen was a man who knew where to find peace. The peace he found was not in other people, not in government, not in religion, but in God. This was important because Stephen had been railroaded by those of the Synagogue of the Freedmen, who arranged false witnesses to accuse him before the council. The council was the same as the Sanhedrin. It may have been the case that the High Priest at this time was the same that presided over Jesus’ trial. Perhaps that may have given some men cause for concern about what was going to happen to them, and some men in this situation may have crumbled and recanted all that they believed. But not Stephen. The end of chapter 6 told us that after the false witnesses had spoken, the council looked upon Stephen and found that his “prosopon,” his face or his appearance was that of an angel. In other words, he was at peace in this situation because his eyes were toward His Lord and Savior, Jesus. My friends, there are days coming where Christians in this country, like our Christian brothers and sisters in so many other countries have already encountered, when Christians here will find themselves before tribunals and courts, facing the accusations of false witnesses and placed on trial by those who have set themselves against God. We must be prepared, as Stephen was prepared, to give an answer for the hope that we have in Christ.

Peter wrote in his first epistle that we are to “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you.” But Peter doesn’t leave us hanging, he tells us the secret to being ready to give an answer. In fact, he tells the secret to being ready before he even tells us to be ready. That secret?

1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV) But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts

What does that mean – what does it mean to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts?” Well to sanctify something is to put it in it’s own category from all other things and to elevate it above all other things. When God refers to something as being sanctified to Himself, He means it is dedicated to Himself in distinction and devotion. Christians are sanctified unto God, but Peter flips that around and says that God is to be sanctified in our hearts. God should have a place in our hearts that is dedicated, distinct and devoted to Him above all others. God must be sanctified in our hearts or we will continuously backslide and remain immature in Christ. If God is not sanctified in our hearts, then any attempt we make to give an answer to every man for the reason of the hope that is in us will be tainted by the kind of words and actions that come from a heart where God is not sanctified. The heart in which God is sanctified will desire to do the things of God and desire no longer to do the things of the flesh. In a heart where God is sanctified, there will be fearlessness and peace, preparedness, gentleness, reverence and a good conscience. This is why we see Stephan at peace in the face of this ungodly opposition and this is how we can be at peace when we face ungodly opposition. If you want peace in your life, even in the face of opposition, sanctify God in your heart.