Daniel's Band Part 1

by John Lowe
(Laurens SC, USA)

May 26, 2006
Daniel's Band
Text: "O Daniel, a man greatly beloved."—Daniel 10:11.

It didn’t do Daniel any harm to know that he was loved by God.
Some people are always afraid that, if Christian people are certain that God loves them, they’ll become proud, and conceited.
But I don’t think we should worry about that because I don’t know of any greater blessing that can happen to any man or woman here than to be assured by the Spirit of God that they are greatly loved by the Lord.
Just to know that God loves you will not harm you in any way, in fact, it can be a blessing in many ways.
One of those ways is that you’ll become very humble, and you might say something like this to yourself: "How could God ever love me? What was there in me to deserve His love?"
I think an awareness of God's love is even more humbling than an awareness of our own sin.
A feeling of God's love will also stir up great gratitude.
You might say to yourself, "How can I ever repay the Lord for such a great blessing?"
But, you know that you never can repay Him, and you’ll feel grateful, and a feeling of gratitude leads to obedience.
When we realize how much we owe Him, then we will seek to know God’s will for our life.
Whatever he asks us, we will be happy to do it.
A feeling of God’s love will also set you apart.
I believe that when you are certain of God’s love, you will feel that you can’t live like others do.
You can’t dip into sin.
If you live in the heart of the king, and He lives in your heart, you must be faithful to him, and you will be.
Doesn’t the Bible say, "Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's"
The knowledge that God loves us also strengthens us.
Why is it that when a person falls in love with God and knows for certain that God loves him back, that he becomes bold and will witness to his boss or the stranger he meets on the street.
When faith is side by side with love, it—
"Laughs at impossibilities,
And says, 'It shall be done;'"
And love goes and does it; for there is nothing which the love of God will not enable us to do.
What’s more, this assurance of God's love will make us very courageous.
If you are a man who is greatly loved, and you know it, you will be a brave man.
The love of God can make a hero out of any man or woman.
He will be willing to burn to death for Christ like the early Christians had to do.
He would be willing to burn a thousand times over, once he was assured that he was the object of the love of God.
Love will make a man happy.
If we are loved by God, how can we be miserable and discontented?
You will be happy, even when there’s a lot to depress and discourage you.
The happiest man is the man who has the greatest assurance that he is "a man greatly loved."
Well, to help us think of Christ's great love for us, I am going to talk a little, first, about the case of Daniel, the man greatly loved; secondly, about the case of every believer, because every believer is a man or woman greatly loved; and thirdly, about the case of some special saints, believers who are the best of the best.
We can truly say that they are men and women who are greatly loved.
I. First, then, let’s consider THE CASE OF DANIEL, who was "a man greatly loved.”
Because Daniel was greatly loved by God, he faced trials and troubles early on, and with the Lord’s help, he stood the test.
While he was a child, he was carried into Babylon, and there he refused to eat the king's meat or to drink the king's wine.
Daniel proposed a trial period of ten days during which he would only have vegetables to eat and water to drink.
Now, a relationship with God doesn’t rely on meat and drink; but let me say, it has become very important to many, as to what they eat and what they drink.
Daniel was tested early, and because he was a man loved by God, he stood the test.
He would not yield even in a small point to that which was evil.
If you are greatly loved, you will stand firm, even about so small a thing as what you eat and drink, or something that may be less important than that.
If you can do that, then you are greatly loved.
Afterward, Daniel was envied by the Babylonians.
He was surrounded by envious enemies, who couldn’t bear the thought that he was promoted over them; even though he deserved all the honor he received.
So they met together to decide how to bring him down.
But they were obliged to make this confession, "We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God."
Friends, you are honored, if, when your enemies meet to devise some scheme to cause your downfall, they can’t say anything against you unless they base it upon your religion.
You may have heard about when Daniel was delivered from great danger.
He was thrown into the lions' den because he was a man greatly loved by God.
And the Lord who loved him delivered him from the lions.
The lions couldn’t eat him, because God loved him too much.
The Lord preserved Daniel, and he will preserve you if you belong to "Daniel's band."
It is one thing to sing:—
"Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone;"
But it is quite another thing to be a Daniel, and dare to stand alone, when you are at the mouth of the lion's den.
If you are like Daniel, you won’t have to fear, even then.
If your personal trial is like going into a den of lions, and if you are a man greatly loved by God, you will come out again.
No lion can destroy you; you are perfectly safe.
The love of God is like a wall of fire all around you.
There’s something else; Daniel was a man greatly loved, and therefore he had revelations from God.
Listen to what he says: "I Daniel was early grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me;" and also: "As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me; but I kept the matter in my heart."
The revelations he received actually made him ill.
He said, "I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up and did the king's business, and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it."
When one man said, "You cannot see God and live," another answered, "Then let me see him if I die."
So those who are greatly loved say "Let me see visions of God, whatever it may cost me.
That’s all for Daniel’s case.
II. For the second case, I am going to speak of THE CASE OF EVERY BELIEVER, who is also greatly loved by God.
Every believer has been called out from others.
Friends, think about where you came from.
Like Abraham, you were called out from your family, and away from your father's house.
Maybe, you don’t have a godly family.
It may be that there are some here today who are the only ones in their family that ever knew the Lord, so far as they know.
Are you a man or woman that’s greatly loved?
Then appreciate the grace of God that called you, and your father, and your grandfather, and your brother, and your spouse, and maybe your children too.
Let’s be grateful, and bless the name of the Lord!
Remember, too, that you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.
He took upon himself your nature, and on the cross, he bore your sins in his own body.
He died for you in that special way which obtained your salvation.
If you have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus, then you are "a man or woman greatly loved."
Also, you have been pardoned, and now you’re one of Lord's children.
Think about your sins for a moment, and then forget it, because God has blotted it out.
He has placed all your sins behind His back.
They have all been covered by the blood of Christ; there isn’t one of them left.
There is no way those sins can condemn you.
You are forgiven.