THE ONE THING:MAGNIFY THE LORD IN YOUR BODY!

"For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:19-21)


There is a 1991 movie that many of you have probably seen called "City Slickers." Mitch, played by Billy Crystal ,and his two friends from New York City are middle-aged, middle-class guys trying to rediscover the purpose of their mundane lives. Curley, played by Jack Palance, is a tough-as-leather trail boss who is not particularly reflective or philosophical. In one scene, Curley, the old crusty cow boy, is talking with the city folk about life. They are confused and have made a mess of their lives. One has had an affair with a grocery checker and conceived a child. The other is experiencing a mid-life crisis and ended up being gored in the backside by a bull. The third has multiple relationships that are going nowhere because he is flaky and superficial. They ask Curley for some advice on life.

Curley: “You city folks. -- You spend 50 weeks a year getting knots in your rope and you think two weeks here will work them all out. You just don't get it.” Curley holds up one dirty, black-gloved finger to them. With a squint in his weathered old face and a cigarette dangling from his lips, he says to them, "Life is about one thing." "It’s this," Palance says, holding up a single finger. "The secret of life is your finger?" asks Crystal."It’s one thing," Palance replies. Mitch: “What thing?” Curley: “That's what you have to figure out.”

The Apostle Paul was like that old cowboy Curley, because he too was often asked and spoke of what life was all about. He too lifts up his finger to us and says life is only about one thing. Nobody had a more single-minded vision for his life than Paul had. In Philippians 1:20 we see Paul's single passion in life was"that ... Christ will be MAGNIFIED in my body, whether by life or by death." In life and death Paul’s mission is to magnify Christ-to show that Christ is magnificent, to exalt Christ, to glorify Christ, and to demonstrate that He is great. That is why we live. Life is not about living for ourselves, elevating ourselves, exalting ourselves, promoting ourselves, or drawing attention to ourselves. That kind of living is empty and meaningless. We exist to make Jesus appear in the world as what he really is-magnificent.

The Psalmist said in Psalm 34:3: "0 magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together," Psalm 69:30 "I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving." This was the heart cry of every Old Testament saint. Mary said in Luke 1:46 "My soul magnifies the Lord." And now it is the longing of every true Christian. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Paul said that his aim in life and death was "that ... Christ ... be magnified." The word "magnify" literally means to make large. To magnify or glorify God, in common language means to make God look as He truly is. We may think, “Christ is the Almighty God, Creator of the universe. How can I possibly magnify, exalt or glorify Him?” Magnify has two distinct meanings. In relation to God, one is worship and one is wickedness. You can magnify like a telescope or like a microscope. When you magnify like a microscope, you make something tiny look bigger than it is. A dust mite can look like a monster. It is a delusion to think that we can magnify God like this. In reality pretending to magnify God like that is wickedness. But when you magnify like a telescope, you make something unimaginably great look like what it really is. God has purposed that the believer is to be a telescope to bring the truth about Christ into view for the unbeliever. Through us Christ is magnified to a skeptical, unbelieving world.

The whole duty of the Christian can be summed up in this: feel, think, and act in a way in your life and in your death that will make God look as great as he really is. Be a telescope for the world of the infinite starry wealth of the glory of God. Let us catch this purpose and it will revolutionize the kinds of questions we ask in our daily lives.

Paul’s tells us the way that we magnify God: “in my body” This is incredible! This is your life! Another place Paul said, “You are not your own, you were bought with a price. So glorify God with your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). If you are a Christian you are not your own. Christ has bought you at the price of his death. You now belong doubly to God: He made you (Isaiah 43:7), and he bought you for His glory. His means your life and your body are not your own. It is God’s. Paul knew that Christians are “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). This body of yours is wonderfully chosen by God to be used like a telescope to make Him seen, treasured, and loved to a world that is dark and blind. Therefore, glorify or magnify God in this body”.

So if this world is going to see Christ they will see Him in our lives. This means that we may either magnify Christ or bring shame to His name by our attitudes, our words, and our behavior in our circumstances, relationships, trials, temptations, work, play, decisions; in short every aspect of our life. That is why I will tell people "don't waste your trials", "don't waste your cancer", don't waste your time", "don't waste your church service", and most of all "don't waste your life". A life that does not magnify the Lord is a wasted life.

Every situation, circumstance, trial, test, relationship, decision that you face begs the question "How can I magnify Christ?" How do you use your eyes? How do you use your ears? How do you use your tongue? Your hands? Your feet? Your countenance? How do you use your body? What about your personal appearance? Paul's passion was that his tongue will speak warmly of his Savior. He will exalt his name in testimony, in prayer, and in preaching. His knees will bend before the great, high and holy Lord. His hands will be zealous in serving the cause of such a Friend. His feet will run messages for the Lord. His eyes will see his glories everywhere and his likeness in all his people. His ears will hear his word and in His heart there will be a melody of praise to him. Always in his body he will exalt Christ. Oh reader, be encouraged, be focused, Let Christ be Magnified Through You! “Now! Always!" says Paul.

I pray that you will have a dissatisfaction with any kind of life less than this! May we be stretched to live our best, awakened out of dull moral habits, shaken out of petty, trivial business. Paul counted the cost . He weighed out the options. His voice and life cried out passionately and full of purpose "I WILL MAGNIFY THE LORD IN MY BODY WHETHER I LIVE OR WHETHER I DIE!

Pastor Bill