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DANIEL'S BAND

Knowing the Special Love of God

by C H Spurgeon

FROM SWORD & TROWEL 2001 No 2

‘O Daniel, a man greatly beloved’ (Daniel 10.11).

IT DID NOT do Daniel any harm to know that he was greatly loved by God, or else he would not have received that information from Heaven. Some people are always afraid that, if Christians obtain full assurance, and receive a sweet sense of divine love, they will grow proud and be carried away with conceit. Do not have any such fear.

I know of no greater blessing that can happen to any man or woman than to be assured that they are greatly loved by the Lord. Such knowledge might do us the greatest conceivable good.

It has often been said that Daniel is the John of the Old Testament, and John is the Daniel of the New Testament. Those two men, Daniel and John, were choice saints. They rose to the greatest height of spiritual obedience, and then to the greatest height of spiritual enjoyment.

The knowledge that we are greatly loved by God will be a means of blessing in many ways. If we know that we are greatly loved by God we become very humble. We say, ‘How could God ever love me?’ I think a sense of God’s love is even more humbling than a sense of our sin. When the two are blended, they sink the soul very low, not in depression of spirit, but in its estimate of itself.

A sense of God’s love excites in us great gratitude. ‘Oh!’ we say, ‘how can I repay the Lord for such an amazing favour?’ We become conscious that we can never repay Him; and we begin working out all sorts of schemes and plans to try to show how much we value the love of God. We bring out our alabaster box from its hiding-place; willingly break it, and pour the precious ointment upon the dear head of Him Who has loved us so greatly.

I am sure that a certainty of having the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost, is one of the greatest promoters of holy gratitude; and holy gratitude is the mother of obedience. When we feel how much we owe, then we seek to know the will of God, and take a delight in doing it. Whatever He says to us, we are glad to do, as a proof that we really are grateful for ‘love so amazing, so divine’.

This will also consecrate us. I believe that to know certainly that we are greatly loved makes us feel that we cannot live as others do. We cannot trifle with sin. They who live in the heart of the king must be faithful to him. If called to stand in God’s immediate presence as courtiers and favourites, we must take care how we behave ourselves. ‘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.’ To the degree that we are sure of His love, our love to Him burns like coals of juniper, which have a most vehement heat, and everything contrary to the will of God is consumed in that blessed flame.

A sense of divine love will also strengthen us. What is there that a person will not do when in love with another person? But when we get to be in love with God, and know of His love for us, we would cut our way through a lane of devils, and face an army of demons to defeat them all, for love is a conquering grace. When faith is side by side with love, it -

Laughs at impossibilities,
And says, ‘It shall be done!’

This assurance of God’s love will make us very courageous. God makes a hero of the one on whom His love is embossed. That brother or sister will be found in the thick of the fray, defying sin, death and hell. He will burn for Christ once he is assured that he is the object of the peculiar love of God, and like Daniel, can be addressed as ‘a man greatly beloved’.

Awareness also gives unparalleled joy. If we are greatly loved of God, how can we be miserable and discontented? If we are greatly loved, we trip with light feet over the hills of sorrow. We begin the music of Heaven even here, for a sense of God’s love in the soul sets all the strings of the heart singing.

I have said all this as a preface, to show that we need not be afraid of knowing that God loves us. Some seem to think that a state of doubt is a state of discretion. It is a state of folly. Full assurance of the faithfulness and truthfulness of God is nothing but common sense spiritualised. To believe a lie is folly, but to believe the truth is wisdom. If you are a believer in Christ, though the very least and weakest of believers, you are a person greatly loved. Believe it, and be not afraid to rejoice in it. It will have no influence over you but that which is sanctifying and health-giving.

To help us think of Christ’s great love to us, I am going to talk first, about the case of Daniel, the man greatly beloved; secondly, about the case of every believer; and thirdly, about the case of some special saints, believers who are the elect of the elect.

1. First, then, let us consider the case of Daniel, who was ‘a man greatly beloved’.

Because Daniel was greatly loved of God, he was early tried, and enabled to stand. While he was yet a youth he was carried into Babylon, and there he refused to eat the king’s meat, or to drink the king’s wine. He put it to the test whether, if he fed on common pulse, he would not be healthier and better than if he defiled himself with the king’s meat.

Now, religion does not stand in meat and drink, but a good deal of irreligion does, and it may become a very important point with some as to what they eat and what they drink. Daniel was early tested, and he stood the test. He would not yield even in a small point to that which was evil. Young man, if God greatly loves you, He will give you an early test. If you are greatly loved, you will stand firm, even about so small a thing as what you eat and drink, or something even less important than that. You will say, ‘I cannot sin against God. I must stand fast, even in the smallest matter, in keeping to the law of the Lord my God.’ If you are enabled to do that, you are a man greatly loved.

Afterwards, Daniel was greatly envied, but found faultless. He was surrounded by envious enemies, who could not bear that he should be promoted over them. So they met together, and considered how they could pull him down. 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.’

Dear friend, you are greatly loved if, when your enemies meet to devise some scheme for your overthrow, they cannot say anything against you except your religion. If, when they sift you through and through, their eager, evil eyes cannot detect a fault; and they are obliged to fall back upon abusing you for your godliness, calling it hypocrisy, or some other ugly name, you are a person greatly beloved.

Further, Daniel was delivered from great peril. He was cast into the lions’ den because he was a man greatly loved of God. I think I see some shrink back, and I hear them say, ‘We do not want to go into the lions’ den.’ They are poor creatures, but Daniel was worth putting in the lions’ den for he was big enough for the trial. Some people would be out of place among lions. Cats would be more suitable companions for them, or even mice. Even among ourselves in this Tabernacle there are many poor feeble creatures. A man preaches false doctrine and they say, ‘Very good. Was it not well put?’

Another preaches the Gospel, and they say, ‘Very good; very good.’ Oh, yes! it is all alike good to some, because they cannot discern between the true and the false. But Daniel could distinguish between good and evil, and therefore he was thrust into the lions’ den. It was, however, a den out of which he was delivered. The lions could not eat him, for God loved him too well. The Lord preserved Daniel, and He will preserve you, dear friend, if you belong to ‘Daniel’s band’.

Another feature of Daniel as a man greatly beloved was that he had revelations from God. However, do not open your eyes with wonder, and say, ‘I wish that I had all the revelations that Daniel had.’ Listen to what it was like: ‘I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me;’ and again: ‘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 received actually made him ill. ‘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.’ Those whom God loves will see things that astound them, perhaps almost kill them. They will see that which will make them faint and sick well nigh unto death.

Those who are greatly beloved say, ‘Let me see visions of God whatever it may cost me. Let me have communion with Him even though it should break my heart, and crush me in the dust. Though it should fill me with sorrow, yet manifest Thyself to me, my Lord.’ Even those greatly loved, when they deal closely with God, have to find out that they are dust and ashes in His sight. They have to fall down in the presence of His glorious majesty, as the beloved John did when he fell at Christ’s feet as dead.

I will make only one more remark on Daniel’s case, and that is - he stood content in his lot. Because he was a man greatly beloved, he had this promise with which to close his marvellous book, ‘Go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.’ He does not understand all that God has revealed, but he is to rest quite satisfied that, when the end came, he would have his place and his portion, and he would be with his Lord for ever.

The next time you get studying some prophecy of Scripture which you cannot make out, do not be troubled; but hear the voice of God saying, ‘Go thy way. Wait awhile. It will all be plain in due time. God is with thee. There remains a rest for thee, a crown that no head but thine can wear, a harp that no fingers but thine can play upon, and thou shalt stand in thy lot at the end of the days.’

2. In the second place, I am going to speak of the case of every believer, who is also greatly beloved of God. Every believer has been called out from others. Like Abraham, you may have been called out from your family, and possibly, you do not have a converted relative. Many here are the only ones of their kith and kin that ever knew the Lord, so far as they know. See in this the sovereign, electing love of God. Are you not a person greatly beloved? Wonder at the grace of God Who has called you, and be grateful. Adore Him for His matchless mercy and His distinguishing grace.

Remember, too, that God loved you long before He began to deal with you in a way of grace. Before you were born, Christ died for you, and ere this world was made, God loved you with an everlasting love. Your name was in His Book; and your image was on the heart of Christ. Remember His word by the prophet Jeremiah, ‘I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.’ Feed on that precious truth, inwardly digest it, let it enter into your very soul, and say, ‘Surely, I may claim the title of "a man greatly beloved".’

Remember your sin for a moment. Then forget it, for God has blotted it out. He has cast all your sins behind His back, and the depths have covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters of oblivion, and they shall never rise to condemn you. You are forgiven. Whatever your sin, the blood of Jesus has cleansed you, and you are whiter than the snow; and He has covered you with the robe of His perfect righteousness, and you are ‘accepted in the beloved’. Are you not a man greatly loved? I remember one who came creeping to the Saviour’s feet. It was myself, condemned in my own conscience and expecting to be driven to the place where hope could never come. I came to Christ wearing the weeds of mourning; but, in a moment, when I looked to Him, He put on me the garments of salvation. He took away my sin, He placed a fair crown upon my head, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. Blessed be His name! If there is a man in the world who can sing -

Oh, ’twas love, ’twas wondrous love,
The love of God to me!
It brought my Saviour from above,
To die on Calvary . . .

I am that man; and you can sing these words too.

Since the Lord forgave your sin, you have been a praying person, and God has heard your prayers. With the psalmist, you can say, ‘Verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.’ Are you not greatly loved? We have right of entry to the King’s palace at will - are we not therefore greatly loved?

Beside this, remember that the Lord has upheld you until now. In your pilgrim path, how many times your feet have almost gone! How often you have been tempted, and worse, how often have you yielded to temptation. Yet here you are, your character not ruined, your soul not lost, your face still toward Jerusalem, and the enemy’s foot not on your neck. And it never will be, glory to the name of the Lord! When I think of all our experiences in the way in which the Lord has led us, I can truly say of all His people that they are men and women greatly loved.

We are invited to feast with Christ and His church in the communion service, not to come as dogs under the table, but to sit with Him at the royal banquet, with His banner of love waving over us. We are invited to be His companions here, His comrades at this feast. Haman thought himself honoured when he was invited to his king’s banquet; but what shall we say who are bidden to come to this much, much higher festival?

Only one thing more will I say under this heading, but this story is so marvellous, that we may be for ever telling it, and yet it will never all be told. The love of Christ to some of us has been so wonderful, that when we once begin the theme, we seem to forget all about time, and wish there were no fleeting hours to bid us end our narrative! We shall be with Him soon. Some of us sit here heavy at heart; and there are wrinkles on the brow, and there is a weariness in the frame which makes the wheels of life drag heavily. Beloved, it is but the twinkling of an eye, so brief is life, and we shall be with Him where He is, and shall behold His glory. Do you ever try to realise the greatness of that love that will take you to be with Christ, to dwell with Him, and to share His glory for ever?

Can you put the incorruptible crown on your head now in your imagination (or rather, in faith)? Can you, even now, begin to wave the palm of victory, and strike the harp of everlasting praise? Do you feel as if you could, even now, join the sacred throng above, and sing the heavenly hymn of the ages yet to be? As surely as we are in Christ tonight, we shall be with Christ by-and-by. Oh, men and women greatly loved, to have such a future as this before you, ought to make your Heaven begin below!

3. Finally I must speak of the case of special saints, those who are in a peculiar sense people greatly beloved.

There are some who are, as I said at the beginning of my discourse, elect out of the elect. Remember, that Christ had seventy choice men, His disciples, but then He had twelve choicer men, His apostles, and He had three of these who were with Him when the others were not, and out of these three He had one, John, that ‘disciple, whom Jesus loved’.

His love is so sweet, that, while I would be grateful to be even outside the seventy, so long as I might be among the five hundred brethren who saw Him after He rose from the dead, yet I would then have the ambition to get in among the seventy. And not for the honour of it, but for the love it would bring, I would like to be one of the eleven. And for the same reason I would like to be one of the three. And I would be thankful beyond words to be that one whom Jesus loved. Have you not the same holy aspiration?

Well, now, let me tell you that, if you desire to be among the choicer spirits, exceptionally loved of God, you must be people of spotless character. Christ loves great sinners, and even saints that fall and stain their garments He will not cast away; but we will never enjoy the fulness of Christ’s love unless we keep our garments unspotted from the world.

You cannot find a fault in Daniel; and if you want to live on earth so as to be in Heaven while you are here, and to drink the wine of Christ’s love to the bottom of the chalice, you must watch every step, and observe every word; for our Lord is very jealous, and half a word of evil will grieve Him.

If you would walk in the light as He is in the light, and have constant fellowship with God, I beseech you, be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect, and follow after unsullied holiness. The pure in heart shall see God. Oh, that everyone might have this purity! It is those who have not defiled their garments who shall walk with Christ in white.

The next point is, that men who are greatly beloved are men of decision. When Daniel had the lions’ den in prospect, because of his faithfulness to his God, ‘he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.’

There was no compromising in Daniel’s case. If you want to be greatly loved, do not attempt any compromise with sin. Have nothing to do with craftiness, holding with the true and the false at the same time. If God is to use you in His service, you must be like the tribe of Levi, separate from your brethren, and you must ever be ready to stand up bravely for God and for His eternal Truth at any cost. It is my earnest desire that we may have in this church many men and women of this kind, who will be out and out for Christ.

Next, if you would be men greatly beloved of God on whom special shinings of His face shall come, you must be much in communion with Him. Daniel fasted and prayed, and communed with God with cries and tears, and God came and revealed Himself to him. He was greatly beloved, for he lived near to God. He was no far- off follower of his Lord. He dwelt in the full blaze of the Sun of Righteousness.

If a man is to be greatly loved of God, he must live above the world, as Daniel did. Daniel became a prince, a governor, a man of substance and position, but when Belshazzar promised to clothe him with scarlet, and to put a gold chain about his neck, he said to the king, ‘Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another.’ Daniel did not want them.

When he became great in the land, he walked with God as he had done when he was poor. It is a dangerous thing for some people to be made much of in the world. Their heads soon get turned, and they begin to think too much of themselves. He who thinks that he is somebody is nobody, and he whose head begins to swim because of his elevation, will soon have it broken because of his tumbling down from his lofty position. Daniel was a man greatly beloved, and God showed His great love to him by setting him in high places, and keeping him there in safety.

Once more, men who are greatly loved by the Lord live wholly for God and for God’s people. You see nothing of selfishness about Daniel. He neither seeks to be great nor to be rich. He loves his own people, and he pleads with God for the seed of Abraham. Now, if you want to be greatly beloved, give yourselves up to the service of God and His church.

To stand alone for God in such an evil age as this, is a great honour. How few care to swim against the current! A strong stream is running in opposition to the Truth of God. Many say that the Bible is not half inspired. If you are loyal to Christ, show it now. If you love Him, and His infallible Word, prove it now. Then shall you hear Him say to you also, ‘O man greatly beloved, go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.’