How to Magnify God

I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. (Psalm 69:30)

There are two kinds of magnifying: microscope magnifying and telescope magnifying. The one makes a small thing look bigger than it is. The other makes a big thing begin to look as big as it really is.

When David says, “I will magnify God with thanksgiving,” he does not mean, “I will make a small God look bigger than he is.” He means, “I will make a big God begin to look as big as he really is.”

We are not called to be microscopes. We are called to be telescopes. Christians are not called to be con-men who magnify their product out of all proportion to reality, when they know the competitor’s product is far superior. There is nothing and nobody superior to God. And so the calling of those who love God is to make his greatness begin to look as great as it really is.

That’s why we exist, why we were saved, as Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

The whole duty of the Christian can be summed up in this: feel, think, and act in a way 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.

This is what it means for a Christian to magnify God. But you can’t magnify what you haven’t seen or what you quickly forget.

Therefore, our first task is to see and to remember the greatness and goodness of God. So we pray to God, “Open the eyes of my heart!” (Ephesians 1:18), and we preach to our souls, “Soul, forget not all his benefits!” (Psalm 103:2).

John Piper 

Bible Study

Proverbs 11:18

    [18] 

    The wicked earns deceptive wages,

        but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.

Hosea 10:12

    [12] 

    Sow for yourselves righteousness;

        reap steadfast love;

        break up your fallow ground,

    for it is the time to seek the LORD,

        that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

Galatians 6:6-8

[6] Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. [7] Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. [8] For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Matthew 5:9

[9] “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Do You Worship God with Joy?

PRAY OVER THIS

“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.” Romans 1:9

 

PONDER THIS

We worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. What does it mean to worship in spirit? You don’t just worship God with your hands and your knees and your eyes and your mouth—that’s involved, but worship needs to come from within. You have to serve God with your spirit. If you don’t enjoy worshiping, the problem is in your heart. If worship seems boring to you, you are not worshiping God in spirit and in truth. You may think a church service is just listening to a sermon or singing songs, but it is more than that!

You have to worship God in spirit! And to worship God in spirit, the Holy Spirit has to be in your spirit! “You received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15). If you don’t enjoy coming to church, if it’s tedious, tasteless, a bore, and a drag to you, remember the joy of your salvation, go to a gathering, and see God work in a powerful way to remind yourself of His Spirit at work!

Do you enjoy worship services? What do you like about them? What is more difficult for you about them?

Have you ever found yourself stuck in the motions, going to church as a routine, but taking no joy in it? How can we turn to the Lord in these moments?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend some time in prayer asking God to restore the joy of your salvation and lead you to worship Him in spirit and truth as He desires.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Jesus Prays for Us

He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

It says that Christ is able to save to the uttermost — forever — since he always lives to make intercession for us. In other words, he would not be able to save us forever if he did not go on interceding for us forever.

This means our salvation is as secure as Christ’s priesthood is indestructible. This is why we needed a priest so much greater than any human priest. Christ’s deity and his resurrection from the dead secure his indestructible priesthood for us.

This means we should not talk about our salvation in static terms the way we often do — as if I did something once in an act of decision, and Christ did something once when he died and rose again, and that’s all there is to it. That’s not all there is to it.

This very day I am being saved by the eternal intercession of Jesus in heaven. Jesus is praying for us and that is essential to our salvation.

We are saved eternally by the eternal prayers (Romans 8:34) and advocacy (1 John 2:1) of Jesus in heaven as our High Priest. He prays for us and his prayers are answered because he prays perfectly on the basis of his perfect sacrifice.

John Piper 

Bible Study

John 14:6

[6] Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Hebrews 9:24

[24] For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

Romans 8:34

[34] Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Hebrews 7:19-24

[19] (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

[20] And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, [21] but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: 

    “The Lord has sworn

        and will not change his mind,

    ‘You are a priest forever.’”

    [22] This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

[23] The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, [24] but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.

Do You Bring Your Worship with You?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.” Hebrews 3:12-14

 

PONDER THIS

Where’s the place of worship? Worship can be any time and any place, but there is something significant about our coming together to worship. However, the significance of coming together is not primarily that we come to worship at church, but that we bring our worship to church. Ideally, we have been with the Lord all week long. And so, when we come together, we don’t come to church to get filled up; we’re already full of God. We gather to celebrate together. We bring our worship.

Do you know what you’re saying when you go to church? Number one, you’re saying, “God is important to me,” and you’re saying, “You people are important to me.” My brothers and sisters in Christ are important to me. That’s why we, “[do] not [forsake] the assembling of ourselves together” (Hebrews 10:25), but we exhort one another. So many in my church bless me when I see them—the choir, the Sunday school teachers, the musicians, the members. As we worship, as I look out there and look at all the people in my church, those who are smiling and nodding and saying, “Amen,” that is a blessing to me.

Who are the people you are encouraged by at your church? How can you let them know?

What kind of attitude do you typically bring to church? Is it an attitude of celebration? Why or why not?

PRACTICE THIS

Share a word or note of encouragement with someone in your church today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Glorify God by Giving Thanks

It is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 4:15)

Gratitude to God is a joyful emotion. We have a sense of joyful indebtedness for his grace. So in a sense in the very emotion of gratitude, we are still the beneficiaries. But by its very nature, gratitude glorifies the giver. When we feel thankful, we acknowledge our need and God’s beneficence, God’s fullness, the riches of his glory.

Just like I humble myself and exalt the server in the restaurant when I say, “Thank you,” so I humble myself and exalt God when I feel gratitude to him. The difference, of course, is that I really am infinitely in debt to God for his grace, and everything he does for me is free and undeserved.

But the point is that gratitude glorifies the giver. It glorifies God. And this is Paul’s final goal in all his labors. Yes, his labors are for the sake of the church — the good of the church. But the church is not the highest goal. Listen again: “It is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” All for your sake — for the glory of God!

The wonderful thing about the gospel is that the response it requires from us for God’s glory is also the response that is most natural and joyful; namely, thankfulness for grace. God’s all-supplying glory in giving and our humble gladness in receiving are not in competition. Joyful thankfulness glorifies God.

A life that gives glory to God for his grace and a life of deepest gladness are the same life. And what makes them one is thankfulness.

John Piper