Dare to be a Daniel

Product Information

The Life and Struggles of an Agitator and the Fight to Free the Catering Slaves of the West End of London (1910-1914) III. Now, in closing, I want to show you that THERE ARE CERTAIN POINTS WHICH WILL HAVE TO BE PROVED BY EXPERIENCE. I Speak now to you Christian people who hold fast by the old doctrines of the gospel, and who mean to hold fast by the old ways, and will not be led astray by modern temptations. Now what have you to prove? He gave God credit and did not take credit for what God did through him. Daniel was humble and therefore useable to God. Daniel served Almighty God and therefore, when he shared God with others that Almighty nature of God came through. Dan 1:8 Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself in this way.

Now, in our own case, what are the particular temptations to which we, as believing men and believing women, are exposed?There was also another ‘respectable’ trade union in the building, a branch of the Bakers’ Union. Needless to say, they ignored us completely. Now the syndicate realised that it would be better for us if we could get the waiters and other staff on our side, so we asked the Waiters’ Union for a conference with our members, and pointed out that the old way was dead. The waiters had got to realise the class struggle. So as to prove we did not want to smash their union or poach on their preserves, all our members outside the kitchen were prepared to join the Waiters’ Union, if their union would have a working arrangement during activities. Bob Young and his members saw failure staring at them, so he knew he had to accept and act just as the syndicate acted. What the Waiters’ Union did not know was that the staffs outside the kitchen in the syndicate still remained members of the syndicate in case the Waiters’ Union funked the coming battle. I started my apprenticeship in a well-known West End restaurant fifty years ago, already with a ‘purpose firm’, I wanted to know why we were poor, why men and women were under-fed, ill-clothed. I soon got some bitter experiences in this West End kitchen.

Second, to dare to be a Daniel means to be willing to be tested – Daniel 1:12-13 and 20. Daniel was willing to be an instrument by which others could test and see that God’s way is the best way. Daniel invited others to test him: No member of staff to be discharged before proof of the charge was given to the Syndicate. This stopped favouritism, persecution, petty dislike and jealousy.

NEW PIANO

Finally, brethren, what is wanted is that we who hold the old faith should be in a better state of spiritual health. May every grace be developed! May every faculty be consecrated! May your whole lives be spent in walking with God; and may you be such men that, if we want evidences of the truth of our holy religion, we may bring you forward, and say, “See what grace has made them; a belief in the doctrines of grace has fashioned them as they are, and the men themselves are the proof of what they believe.”

All staff required to be obtained from the Syndicate and the Waiters’ Union. This hit the sharks of the hotel agencies, and stopped chefs’ and managers’ surplus incomes. Daniel 1:20 (NKJV) – 20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm. Daniel 2:14–19 (NKJV) – 14 Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; 15 he answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. 16 So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation. 17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. When Wilf’s daughter, before she died some fifteen years ago, asked an anarchist publisher for the pamphlet to be re-printed, the directors of Freedom Press wrote that it was “their” pamphlet and they were about to do it themselves and jealously preserved the right to Orwell’s few words. Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem."

PSALM 100: 1-2

Now, first, look at Daniel’s temptations. In his case, the temptation was very specious. He was bidden to eat the portion of food that, every day, came from the king’s table. Could he want any better? And he was commanded to drink the measure of wine, generally the best in the world, that was sent from the king’s table. He might have fared like a prince. Could he have any objection to that? He had no objection except this, that it would defile him. Do you understand what he meant by that? There were certain foods used by the Babylonians, such as the flesh of swine, the flesh of the hare, and of certain fish, that were unclean, and when these came from the king’s table, if Daniel ate them, he would be breaking the law of Moses as given in the Book of Leviticus, and thus he would be defiled. Remember that the food which was allowed to Israel was to be killed in a certain way. The blood must be effectually drained from the flesh, for he that ate the blood defiled himself thereby. Now, the Babylonians did not kill their beasts in that way, and the eating of flesh which had not been killed according to the law would have defiled Daniel. You know how careful the Jews are to this day with regard to the butchering of the food they eat. More than that, usually such a king as Nebuchadnezzar, before he ate food, dedicated it to his god. Bel-Merodach was greatly venerated by Nebuchadnezzar as god, so that a libation of wine was poured out to Merodach, and a certain portion of food was put aside, so that, in fact, it was offered to idols; and Daniel felt that he would be defiled if he ate of meat which might be unclean, and which was certain to be offered to idols; it would be breaking the law of God, so Daniel would not eat it. In sum, the New Testament has much to say about following the example of those in the Old Testament, whether positively or negatively. Looking at these kinds of texts gives us an appreciation for the variety of ways the Bible urges believers to pursue holiness. Sometimes holiness is urged because of the blessings and true joy found in walking faithfully before the Lord (Psalm 1; Matt 5:3-10); sometimes through warnings of God's future judgment on the unrepentant (1 Cor 6:9; Gal 5:21; Heb 10:26-31); sometimes, as in texts such as Hebrews 11 and 1 Corinthians 10, holiness is commended to God's people through examples that set forth the positive or negative responses of people in the Old Testament to God. The latter of these motivations sometimes gets a bad rap because it is feared that pointing to examples will lead to moralism or a quest for self-salvation. Far from it: God alone saves, and He saves by faith alone. The only faith that saves is true faith, that is, a living and active faith (James 2:17), and this is precisely the kind of faith displayed in Hebrews 11 (and that is absent among the Israelites in the texts Paul recounts in 1 Corinthians 10). And then the test must he boldly put. Daniel showed his faith when he said to Melzar, “Feed me and my three companions on this common fare; give us nothing else. We do not ask you to leave us to our plan for twelve months; try us for a short time. I do not say a day or two; but take as many days as you like. Put us to the test; and if, at the end of the appointed time, we are not all the better for our plain fare, then we will consider further; but, for the present, will you try us?” I think that a Christian man should be willing to be tried; he should be pleased to let his religion be put to the test. “There,” says he, “hammer away if you like.” Do you want to be carried to heaven on a feather bed? Do you want always to be protected from everybody’s sneer and frown; and to go to heaven as if you were riding in the procession on Lord Mayor’s day? Well, if so, you are very much mistaken if you think you are going to have it so. God give you courage, more and more of it, through faith in himself! May you be willing to put your religion to every proper test, the test of life, and the test of death, too!

Sixth, to dare to be a Daniel means to testify to the sovereignty of God – Daniel 2:28 and 44. Daniel testified to the glory of God. He pointed people to God’s sovereignty and His Holy nature. When Daniel spoke of God, he conveyed the superiority and supremacy of God to those he spoke to: New Testament texts citing positive examples from the Old Testament include Romans 4 (Abraham and David); James 2:21-26 (Abraham and Rahab); 5:13-18 (Elijah); 1 Peter 3:5-6 (Sarah). New Testament texts citing negative examples from the Old Testament include Romans 9-11 (Israel); 2 Cor 11:3 (Eve); Hebrews 3:7-4:13 (Israel); 12:15-17 (Esau); 2 Peter 2:6 (Sodom and Gomorrah); 2:15 (Balam). Life isn’t about having it together when everything is rosy – but how you deal with it when things aren’t working right -- when we’re in foreign territory.The fact that most of the captives compromised, and conformed to the ways of Babylon, shouldn’t be surprising. Some Christians do the same thing when they find themselves in non-Christian environments! Think about the Christian teen who leaves his home situation, where he was safe and secure among Christian friends and family, and arrives in the "big city" or on the secular college campus. There will be a strong tendency for that young Christian to hide his faith - or even drop it altogether. The temptation to compromise and conform is very great. Almost unconsciously he may start to make excuses for his attitudes and actions. Daniel 6:10 when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened towards Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Don’t disobey God’s Word! Don't conform to this world's goals and glories and gods. Don't compromise! Live out Romans 12:2. Be faithful! God will bless you, and honor you, and use you for His glory. Dare to be a Daniel! So often we feel good about God and trusting him when everything is going well for us -- when we have good health -- when the people think that we’re brave heros -- when we’ve got a 20 game winning streak. But Daniel shines in foreign territory. Dan 6:10 when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened towards Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.