We can magnify the Lord!

For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance

through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ

according to my earnest expectation and hope

that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness,

as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body,

whether by life or by death.

Philippians 1:19-20 (NKJV)

In the preceding verses we read Paul's initial evaluation of his imprisonment -- in verses 12 and 13 he says that his

trials have served to advance the gospel, even throughout the palace guard...that he is in chains for Christ. 

And in verse 14 he says his boldness to preach the gospel has encouraged other Christians to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

So because of his imprisonment the gospel has been spread and other Christians have been strengthened.

Not only that, in verses 19-20 he declares it is his earnest expectation that Christ will be magnified in his ordeal.

Earnest expectation conveys the meaning of watching for something so intently that one's head is turned away from everything else.

So here he is in prison in Rome, sort of a house arrest, because he is allowed to have visitors. But he is chained, day and night, to the guards, and unable to move about.

His upcoming trial could likely lead to his condemnation as a traitor to Rome and to his execution.

But, because he is single-minded -- desiring only God's glory -- he faces his circumstances fearlessly and joyfully.

Nothing else matters to Paul - except God!

But can we really magnify God?

O magnify the LORD with me, let us exalt His Name together, we read in Psalm 34:3.

Does God need to be magnified? Isn't He already bigger than anything else?

How can we mere human being make God bigger?

Well, what is a telescope? The Latin root word, telescopium,

means seeing from a distance. The instrument we call a telescope is used to make distant objects, such as stars, appear closer, and consequently appear larger.

The stars are huge objects, much larger than our largest telescopes, and yet the tiny instrument makes them look larger because it makes them appear closer!

A believer's body serves this same purpose. We are to be telescopes that bring Jesus Christ close to people.

To most people Jesus is a misty figure who lived many years ago, if they think about Him at all.

But when they watch Christians going through crises, they can see Jesus magnified and brought much closer.

The persecuted Christians  throughout the world today are making Jesus bigger and closer to all of us!

I am wearing a T-shirt from Voice of the Martyrs that has a large read Arabic letter on the front - a letter that stands for "Nazarene." This symbol is today being spray-painted on the homes and businesses of Christians in Iraq to single them out for persecution and death, much as the Jews in Nazi Germany were singled out.

As I wear this T-shirt, I am able to tell people about the plight of the persecuted church all over the world.

And I can focus on their trials and pray for them, and like Paul mentioned, I feel strengthened.

Hopefully, I am able to bring Jesus closer to the people I talk to. I would like to think I am glorifying and magnifying Him.

Anyway we do it, our task is to bring God closer!

Paul was not afraid of life or death. Either way, he wanted to use his body to magnify Christ.