Come Let Us Magnify the Lord Together

Come Let Us Magnify the Lord Together 

Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

·        I’ve read this verse or heard it possibly hundreds of times, but now it’s like I’m seeing it for the first time “all over again with my heart.” I must connect my heart to this truth! Please listen with your heart today!

·        The great question for all of us is; who is this God that created everything?  Can I personally know Him?

·        This is a question that demands an answer because the “God of creation” created everything with a purpose. I will never understand my own purpose, until I know Him who is behind this.

·        Let your heart attach to this: our God is like a fountain from which all things flow. Without Him there is nothing; no time, no space, no stars, no galaxies…no life. Yes, even all life comes from Him. He is the life-giver.

·        He is infinitely powerful, infinitely present, infinitely knowing, infinitely merciful, loving, kind, and infinitely filled with grace, and He is good, all the time.

·        My perception of who God is will determine my fellowship with Him, and determine the destiny of my life.

Romans 1:20-21: For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

·        Our society has left the research of creation to scientists.  

·        The evidence should lead us directly to God; His fingerprints are all over creation.  But unfortunately most scientists don’t want to know God. Therefore they ignore the truth that is clearly seen.

·        Here’s why: if they acknowledged God as the Creator, they would have to glorify Him as God, repent…and be thankful!

·        The result is a darkened heart that cannot see God, even in nature. They cannot look up at the Milky Way and see the majesty and the splendor that leads us to the truth of Him who is described for us in His Word.

·        They can never find their true purpose, they cannot see the Light. Therefore they will wander in the dark… into oblivion.

Colossians 1:15-17: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

·        There is nothing that exists, that was not created by Him. This is not only too big for my mind, but it’s too wonderful, too. I can be like a child and delight these truths without analyzing them in my mind.

·        These verses tell us that in Him all things consist. He is holding all things together, even at the sub-atomic level!

·        He is before all things; He is from everlasting to everlasting. He is Creator, He is not the created.

·        Unfortunately, our only perspective comes from being a creature, or a created thing. He is the Uncreated One.

·        The creatures cannot understand how something always was, is, and always will be. Since we are time bound, we have difficulty understanding that which is not. We ask questions like, “Who created God?” because our minds are so limited!

·        I am so thankful that God put skin on and dwelt among us so that we could touch Him, see Him, and know Him. We have Jesus, who created all things, and from whom all things were created, and for whom all things were created.

·        There it is: I was created for Him! My heart attaches to this wonderful news.

Revelation 4:11(KJV) Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

·        Why did God create us? We were “created” for His pleasure!  There is my purpose… that is why I was created.

·        When He made the universe, He did what pleased Himself, and since God is perfect, His actions were perfect. He does things that are good…because He is good!

·        God didn’t create us because He needed us. Our infinite God needs nothing, He’s lacking nothing. He wasn’t lonely, so He wasn’t looking for a “friend.” He loves us, but this is not the same as needing us.

·        Being made in the image and likeness of God, He created us for His pleasure and so that we, as His creation, would have the pleasure of knowing Him and fellowshipping with Him! It’s His pleasure to fellowship with you! 

·        Let your heart attach to that!

Psalm 34:1-3: I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.

·        David had a sweet fellowship with the Lord and he has many things to teach us. The Bible says that David was a man after God’s own heart; therefore David’s heart was pleasing to God. Our hearts should also be pleasing to God.

·        David begins this Psalm by saying he will bless the Lord all the time, and praising the Lord with His mouth.

·        The Lord knows our thoughts, but our thankfulness is not to be a silent thing. We praise the Lord with our lips not just for our benefit but for others also.

·        David is a “boaster,” but not about himself, David boasted about His God. Others heard it and it was contagious!

·        We must understand this about our nature…we can ignite what we’re focused on in others, good or bad!

·        David encourages the people to “magnify” the Lord with him! And they did!

To “magnify” is to make something bigger, whether in size or in significance.

·        We cannot make God bigger than He is, but we are to make Him bigger in our perception of Him.

·        If my God is someone that I can understand, He is too small for me to worship. Too many people have a small perception of Him.  They have a small God because their hearts are attached to other things.

·        The more I magnify Him…the more my heart attaches to Him and my fellowship increases!

·        We began our service with magnifying the Lord with music and praise. All speaking from our mouths!

·        I am magnifying the Lord with this message from my mouth.

·        We should be hearing messages that are larger than the messenger. Let’s see this play out practically.

Acts 19:11-20: Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,  so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.  And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”  Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.  So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

·        Paul knew Jesus, His relationship was intimate. Miracles are the natural result of having our hearts attached to God in fellowship.

·        Paul magnified the Lord in his thoughts, words, and deeds. Paul was “connected” to the Lord. Paul knew His God was good and called on His God to do great things and the result was that many people magnified the Lord.

·        These Jewish priests didn’t know Jesus. They only knew about Jesus. Their information was second hand. In court this would be called hearsay, and would be inadmissible evidence.

·        Therefore when these Jewish priests tried to cast out an evil spirit with the name they didn’t know, it was a disaster for them.

·        I believe we are all in debt to Paul… his faith and his life not only affected the people of Ephesus, but our lives as well.

·        Paul also shows me that if I am consistently magnifying the Lord in His majesty, glory, honor and power… I will believe the Lord will do great exploits in my life and through my life.

·        If I am magnifying the Lord in my life I am able to believe for impossible things and the result will be that my life will have meaning when it’s all finished, and I will hear, “God job, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord.”

Luke 1:46-49: And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name.

·        Mary understood it, she was just a “lowly maidservant” but her God was great. She magnified the Lord.

·        The more I magnify the Lord, the more I minimize myself and His grace flows in my life. God was the biggest thing in her life and all nations would call her blessed.

·        Mary magnified the Lord, and after she died, her actions changed the lives of countless people… and they are in her debt today.

·        David magnified the Lord and served his generation of his people and fell asleep. We are still blessed by his psalms and the stories of his life. Our lives are better because of his life.

·        John and Charles Wesley were in debt to their mother and father, and their nurse; all people of strong faith.

·        They went on to change the world. You can hardly attend a church service without singing one of their hymns. I believe the church today is in great debt to the Wesley brothers, but they just magnified the Lord.

Hebrews 11:32-35: And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again.

Hebrews 11:36-38: Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 

They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

Hebrews 11:39-40:  And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

·        These saints in the “great hall of faith” didn’t have the promise of the Holy Spirit as we have… yet they changed their world.

·        These people were “servants of the Lord,” because they had a proper perception of who their Lord is. Maybe they couldn’t fully comprehend their God any more than we can, but they magnified Him in their circumstances.

·        Too many Christians today are just religious sponges, they only absorb without giving back. However the Lord wants us to serve, to do things for others, to put others in our debt!

·         As we magnify the Lord we minimize ourselves, this is a good picture of being crucified with Christ. It’s no longer I, but Christ living in me… all for His glory. Oh, come magnify the Lord with me! Let us exalt His name together.