Introduction: We continue our series on Becoming like the Master. We are talking about transformation. As a church we are wanting to produce people who are true disciples of Jesus Christ. In order for us to make true disciples we must first be one. We have identified the characteristics of a disciple and called them “Jesus Traits.” Our goal is to be involved in transforming our character and behavior in such a way that we look like Jesus.
Today’s Jesus Traits of focus are – Faith, Hope and Love. Over in I Cor. 13:13 Paul says that when everything else is settled there are three virtues that stand above the rest he says, “13 Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (HCSB)
Jesus own words agree with Paul’s assessment: Love is the greatest of all the characteristics of God and His people. Jesus said that we are to love God with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves. He told his disciples that they would be known as his disciples by the way they loved one another. Our love for people flows out of our love for God and his recognition of his love for us! In all that we have hope because God has proven himself trustworthy and faithful. When I think about God’s love for me even though I am small and insignificant from the perspective of the universe, I am blown away!
God’s love is incredible. It knows no limits. God is love it is part of his nature! The book of Psalms has a phrase that is repeated over and over again – “His faithful love endures forever.” In that one little statement we see these 3 huge Jesus traits: Love, faith and the hope that they endure forever! Because of that faithful love there is hope and that hope spurs us on to be faithful too! It is easy to see how these 3 are so connected. And the bible says we are to imitate him. Turn to Ephesians 5:1-2. Paul says “walk in love”. What does that mean? It means we are to imitate the way he loves us – in our relationships and dealings with other people.
Love is the foundation for our faithfulness and our hope. Out of love for God and love for people faithfulness will flow. And where there is love and faith – there is hope!
We are going to an interesting place to consider the Jesus Traits of faith, hope and love. We are going to the Old Testament book of Daniel.
The story of Daniel gives us a clear picture of a person who loved God and was faithful. That love and faithfulness produced in him a strong sense of hope that he lived out. Please turn to Daniel 6 and read along with me.
I. Faithful
Jerry Bridges in his book, “Practice of Godliness” gives this definition of a faithful person: “The faithful person is one who is dependable, trustworthy and loyal, who can be depended upon in all his relationships, and who is absolutely honest and ethical in all his affairs.” P.179
As we think about Daniel – we see that he was this type of person. Look at vs. 4.
A. The Hebrew word translated ‘trustworthy’ is the word ‘aman’ – it means faithful – to stand firm to
trust or to be certain of something. The people around him saw in him that he was a faithful person. This says to me that our faith cannot be lived out in secret. People around us need to know that we stand for God. Standing firm in our beliefs regardless of the circumstances and what it might cost us. We need to become people who are known by those around us a faithful people. Faithful to what we say we believe.
I am reading a book called, “In light of Eternity” and one of the chapters was on this idea. It says we must recognize our place in the world and use the platform God has given us to make an impact on the world around us. We cannot say we are faithful to God and cheat on our taxes. We cannot claim a close walk with Jesus and at the same time be unfaithful in our business dealings. You see our faithfulness must be visible. That doesn’t mean that we are obnoxious but we must live in such a way that others know where you stand.
This was the case for Daniel, Jesus, the disciples and every other person down through history that make a powerful impact on the world around them.
B. There is another point to this verse related to faithfulness that helps us understand: it says that no
negligence or corruption was found in him.
Bridges again states that the two words negligence and corruption help us by contrast to understand what it means to live faithful lives today: He says – Corrupt is the opposite of being honest or ethical. Being negligent is the opposite of careful, thoughtful and considerate.
So we get this: a faithful person is one who is honest and ethical and is thoughtful, caring and considerate of others. Now tell me, does that sound like the description of someone you would like to know and have as part of your life? Certainly. So if we would like to have that type of person in our life – we need to become that kind of person ourselves.
The trait of faithfulness can only come as we spend time with God regularly and allow Him to be connected with every part of our life. You know, we trust God for salvation for all eternity but we seem to have a hard time trusting him for the seemingly little things in life. We need to learn to trust him- he is faithful and he is calling us to imitate him by living faithful lives too.
The second Jesus trait we see in Daniel is…
II. Love
Daniel had a love for God that was also visible. The other administrators who hated him so much knew that he loved God by the way he lived in obedience to the Law of God (vs.5b). So they set a trap for him knowing that his love for God would trump anything else in this world!
I want you to get this. Are you faithful to things you do not love? Not usually. If a person doesn’t truly love their spouse they will have a hard time being faithful. If a person doesn’t really love being with brothers and sisters in Christ at church – he / she will be unfaithful in attendance. We are faithful to what we love. These two things go hand in hand. Without love faithfulness is next to impossible. These leaders knew that Daniel loved God.
Let me ask you – do people around you know that you love God? Do they see your faithfulness to Him by how you live? Do they know that your love for God comes before anything else? If we are going to become like the Master we must cultivate this type of love for God. For the Christian, all we need to do is remember what God has saved us from! Our love for Him must flow out of deep gratitude for all he has done for us!
Well look what Daniels love for God prompts him to do: vs. 10-11. Don’t you think that part of his prayer was for protection? It says he was found “imploring his God.” He was no dummy! He knew the laws of the land. Disobedience to the king was certain death! But he also knew that God’s law says – “you shall have no other god’s before me”. His obedience was to what he loved the most.
Here was the question: Did he love his position of power and prestige more than he loved God’s word and ways? This same question could be applied to all of us as well. Do you love your position and prestige more than God? Do what others think change how you act or respond in times of trials? For Daniel the decision had already been made: God was first. Nothing would stand in the way of his serving and honoring God. It was how he lived. Notice the verse says, “just as he had done before.”
Application point: If you want to be strong in times of difficulty – you want to be like the master in those trying times - stay true to God’s ways in the good times. For Daniel the situation did not determine his love for God or the place he would give God in his life. He had established that place before this trial. His faith and love for God was unshaken because he had cultivated it prior to this event.
How had he cultivated it? He had spent time with God on a regular basis. I know I say that so much but it is so foundational to our living like Christ. We cannot become like the master unless we spend quality time with him.
So Daniel lived out faithfulness and love in front of the people of his day. He was known for it. But he also had found hope.
III. Hope
He knew that God was big enough and could be trusted. Remember the story of Daniels 3 friends who were taken into exile with him? The three were told to bow before a statue of the King. They refused to do so because of their love and faithfulness to God. In Daniel 5:17-18, they said of God, “He can rescue us from the furnace…and the power of the king. But even if he doesn’t rescue us we will serve no other gods except him!” The king got really ticked off and had them thrown into the furnace that was so hot it killed the guys who had to throw them into it. But what happened? God delivered the three men. And if you read the story you will find that when the king looked into the furnace he saw not three but 4 men walking in the fire! The fourth person was the presence of God. God was with them through the fire!
Daniel knew that God had done this previous act of deliverance. He knew God could be trusted because he had seen him come through not only on that occasion but in his own life as well. (vs 23b)
Again in the book of Psalms we have many references to things God did in the past that gives hope for the present and future. If you read much of the Old Testament, it is obvious that the people of God gained their hope many times by remembering what God had done in the past for them.
There are times when we face a difficult situation and we begin to feel overwhelmed. When those times come one of the practices of those who are becoming like the Master is to remember what God has done already then apply that knowledge to the situation now!
Illustration: You know the NBA playoffs are going right now and there is always talk about the teams having experience in the playoffs. What does that mean? It means they have been there before and know how to work through things. It also means they can remember past victories and actually gain strength for the game at hand from those memories and experiences.
The same is true for us. Hope comes not only when we remember what Jesus, our Master has done but also what he has promised he will do. He has promised that He will never leave us! He has promised that we will never go through anything alone! He has promised that He will supply all our needs according to his riches in glory. He has promised that he will give us strength to withstand the attacks of the enemy. He promises eternal life to all who follow him. On and on I could go.
Our Hope is based not on a passing fad or a person who is not trustworthy. Our hope is build on nothing less that Jesus and his righteousness. We will never stand alone – he is right there by our side – many times actually carrying us. He is our Solid rock like we sang about earlier. We can experience the same hope Daniel did in his time of difficulty.
IV. The Results of Daniel’s faith, love and hope in God: vs. 25-28
>God was made known to the world
>Daniel was blessed by God.
Conclusion: Daniel shows us very clearly how the Jesus traits of Faith, hope and love are played out in our lives. Daniels situation has many elements we find in our own lives. Will we cultivate a love for God through spending time with Him regularly? Will we commit ourselves to being faithful in the good times so that when trouble comes we will have a string pattern of faithfulness to stand on? Realizing if we wait until trouble comes to determine our steps – the trouble will guide what we do!
Finally will we fuel our hope by remembering what God has done and what he has promised he will do in his word so as to withstand the temptations of turning away when things heat up.
You see we are to become like our Master. Faith, hope and love: these three traits need to be visible in our lives. They are made visible one way and one way only – time spent with God, allowing the Holy Spirit to produce these things in you. There are no short cuts!
