Dare to be a Daniel

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Thessalonians 5:16-18; Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. The Life and Struggles of an Agitator and the Fight to Free the Catering Slaves of the West End of London (1910-1914) Daniel 2:47–48 (NKJV) – 47 The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” 48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. The AFB set up a publishing division, taking the name of the old Freedom Press (1886-1935). It was infiltrated by many bourgeois literary careerists who gradually, hived off FP as their own, leading to a split.

Daniel was a prophet during a time when God’s people were living in captivity. He served under two world empires, The Babylonian and Medo-Persian. His life is a testimony about how to live in enemy territory or territory that is contrary to God. 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. There were a lot of questions about how they could trust God – after all he had sent them into foreign exile for all those years. And the message of the book of Daniel is a response to these doubts and to these difficult times. If there is any time when the farmer should think, it is surely in the early stages of the ploughing and the sowing. If he does not think then, it will be of small avail for him to think afterwards. 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.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. Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Jesus is the way to heaven, the embodiment of truth, and the way to eternal life. Jesus came proclaiming truth and living truth out for us to see and follow. Being like Jesus involves living out and proclaiming His truth. This is the first thing we should do when we find ourselves in a worldly situation or environment. We should begin with a commitment to holiness. We need to start with a commitment to stay true to God. We need to accept our life purpose from God; to live for Him. How exciting! Why ruin such a future by verbalizing their faith in the one true God? Why risk their lives when a little compromise would eliminate so many problems and so much stress? At the very least they could conform to the king’s commands and eat his top-notch food! And if they were silent now, maybe they could get a word in for God later - after they had established a reputation for good behavior. A little compromise now might even be a subtle way of reaching the Babylonians when the time was right. Why force things? Why go against the flow? Why be outspoken about their faith in the God of Israel? vs. 3 – “Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and princes. Because of his great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.”

Daniel 1:17 (NKJV) – 17 As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. This song summarizes the message of Daniel not just for Sunday School children but also for the ancient Hebrew people– the Jews to whom this book was first read. Eighth, to dare to be a Daniel means to be willing to serve and represent God publicly – Daniel 2:47-48. Daniel’s willingness to be used by God led to being used in a public position. It states: The next thing, dear friends, is that we must prove that the old faith produces much love of our fellow-men. You know that, nowadays, the watchword is, “the enthusiasm of humanity.” It is a curious thing that those churches that have such a wonderful “enthusiasm of humanity” speak of us as if we were always talking of God and forgetting men. Well, well; which of these new-fangled churches has an orphanage? It is very fine to talk about Christian socialism, and what you are going to do for the poor; but what have you done? Much of it is just chatter, chatter, and nothing else. But the godly, who feel that God is all, are, after all, those who care most for men; and those who believe most firmly that the unbelieving sinner will be lost are the men who are most anxious to have him saved. Those who believe that there is no salvation but by the precious blood are determined that Christ shall see of the travail of his soul. Those who believe that salvation is all of grace from first to last are moved to preach it with heart and soul wherever they have the opportunity. And, when God makes up his last account, it shall be found, I trust, that the best lovers of men have been those who were first of all the best lovers of God. By your help, by your kindness, by your benevolence, prove it, so that, when they come to look at you who have eaten nothing but pulse, and who have drunk water, they may find that after all you appear fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children who ate the portion of the king’s meat, and drank his wine. Let our labour for the conversion of souls be incessant. Let us abound and super abound in it. It is extraordinary how some so-called Socialist Parties can perform acrobatic feats of complete change. They used to say Socialism was the only hope of the world’s workers, now (1944) when the government talks about a new world, such as the Beveridge Bubble, Town Planning, improved education, green belt and the Catering Act, these self-styled socialists call it social advance. I want to know what the advance leads to. If it is true that the interests of the capitalist class are absolutely opposed to the interests of the working class, then all reforms of a capitalist state must be in the interests of the state, which is the controlling force of the capitalist system, and can never be in the interests of the working class. Of course, a few sections of workers in various industries may for a period gain a slight improvement in their wage-slave conditions, but they remain wage-slaves.Daniel 1:12–13 (NKJV) – 12 “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.” Hebrews 11: in this chapter the author recounts for us over twenty examples of believers in the Old Testament who had faith in God and thus "received their commendation" (11:2). Genuine faith is what made Abel's sacrifice, rather than Cain's, acceptable to God (11:4); faith led Noah to build, and eventually enter, the ark and thus be saved from God's judgment (11:7); faith taught Abraham to look away from the things of this world and to fix his eyes on "the city that has foundations" (11:10), that is, on the heavenly inheritance that God had prepared for him; faith caused Moses to leave the luxuries of Pharaoh's court, which are described as "the fleeting pleasures of sin" (11:25), because "he considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt" (11:26). The Industrial Workers of the World in the USA drew our attention, as a gang of strikebreakers stopped at nothing to smash the IWW. Several of the most prominent members fled from the USA. George Swassey was one of these. He came to our hall in Little Newport Street and told us of the story of the IWW, the bitter hatred of the ‘respectable’ trade unions, the persecutions, prosecutions and the brutality of gunmen. From George Swassey’s talks, from our own experience of trade union officials in this country, from Tom Mann, Guy Bowman, and above all from our knowledge obtained of the class struggle, we realised there is no other basis but direct action at the point of production for the catering trade workers.

Ninth, to dare to be a Daniel means to include other believers in opportunities God provides – Daniel 2:49 and Daniel 3. Daniel did not hog the spotlight. He involved others and delegated authority to them: Vs. 4 – “Then the other administrators and princes began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling his affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize. He was faithful and honest and always responsible. So they concluded, ‘Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the requirements of his religion.’ But for the world war of 1914-18, the workers of all trades would surely have spurred on by the spirit, courage and class-conscious direct action of the syndicate, and realised that all leaders lead to destruction. They had to free themselves. No other class or body would do it for them, but only betray them. The syndicate would have carried out the light of truth. Soon the whole working class would have seen it burning strong and clear. Then after a stern, bitter struggle, with workers knowing their own strength, would have come the end of all slavery. Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.Then, the temptation seemed the road to honour. To consent to eat of the king’s meat, and to drink of the king’s wine, seemed to be the way to get on in Babylon. They would say to Daniel, “Surely, if you begin by objecting to what the monarch sends you from his table, you will never get on at court. People with a conscience should not go to court.” I do not say that to-day; but I do think that they ought not to be members of Parliament. It must be wonderfully hard for a man with a conscience to go in and out there. But for Daniel to begin with a conscience like this, so particularly tender that it was offended by a glass of the king’s wine, or a morsel of the king’s meat, why, any good old fatherly man would have said, “My boy, you will never get on; your religion will always stand in your way. I am sure you will never come to be much.” That would have been a great mistake, however, for Daniel became a great ruler, and he prospered in the world through that very conscientiousness which it was thought would spoil all his prospects. Craft unions are and must always remain powerless. The boss, the State, the trade union official, have the power. Tom Cann’s union was national, not international. He ignored thousands of foreign catering workers. He had one walk-out strike and failed. The Transport & General Workers’ Union, Catering Section, has not even had that. It just draws the subs of its few members, and does nothing. As with these few unions, so with the whole British trade union movement. 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). And I’m sure that those memories are still fresh in your mind – where you were, what you were doing, how you felt – disbelief, anger, and that sense that things are out of control.