If you have your Bible, I wonder would you open it with me at this sixth chapter of the book of Daniel. I want to speak upon the man who bowed the knee, but did not compromise. The man who bowed the knee, but did not compromise. And my text is the 10th verse of the 6th chapter of Daniel. And I would suggest to the believers in this meeting that it would be a good thing in your personal Bible reading and study to have a fresh look at the great characters of the Old Testament. You know, we live in similar days, in parallel situations, and my soul has been blessed over and over again as I have seen the courage and the strength of these men of God who in a day of apostasy stood true to Jesus Christ. God's looking for us to take a similar stand today. This is a great text, verse 10. It's not the text for one sermon, it's a text for 10 sermons. This text about the man who bowed the knee but wouldn't compromise. And it says this, now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, I want you to notice he didn't go and consult his friend. You know, there's a whole lot of people, and before they make a decision, they go around and have a powwow with their friends. What shall I do? Do you think I should do this? Do you think I should do the other thing? You know, if I do this, this will happen. And I have to be very careful. Don't you believe it, friend? The man that's walking with God makes immediate decisions. He knows what's right. And the man that dithers and sits on the fence and tries to be one thing today and another thing tomorrow, that man's not walking in the will of God. A man like that is a double-minded man, and he's unstable. in all his ways. Not so with that. He waited until the old king signed the decree, and then he did something. What did he do? He went into his house, and his windows being opened, and his timber towards Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knee. He did the very thing that the law said he wasn't to do. You know, there's a lot of jellyfish among the evangelicals today. I'm to tell you that Christians shouldn't break the law. Now let me make it perfectly clear. Where the laws are in keeping with God's law, I have got to honor the law. But when the law says I've not to obey God, then I obey God rather than man and take the consequences. Oh yes, you don't fight against the carrying out of the law's jurisdiction, but you refuse to compromise your spiritual life to any decree of man. He kneeled upon his knees three times and prayed. I like the way he did it. He did it openly. You know, there's a lot of people today and are with us in the battle, but not openly. And to come and say, you know, because of my position, Mr. Paisley, I don't say anything, but I'm really with you, you know, I really believe in what you're doing. But my friend, well, it's good to have them. Thank God for every secret disciple. We're glad to have them all. But let me tell you, the real man comes out into the open and his windows are open. And he kneels down. You know, I know what these old compromisers were saying. They were saying, we have got Daniel now, he'll never carry this out. He would rather have his presidency than God's smile. He would rather obey the king and God, but they didn't know Daniel. Oh no. They had the wrong estimation of this man. This man was going to stand and he prayed. Well, he not only prayed, he gave thanks. Imagine giving thanks knowing you were going into a den of lions. Imagine getting down and thanking God that you were going to be cut asunder in five minutes time. My Daniel had faith, hadn't he? He wasn't one of these unbelieving believers. He was a believing believer, he believed. He prayed and gave thanks. before his God, and don't miss this little word here, as he did aforetime. He was just doing what he always did. If you commence praying when you're in trouble, God will not hear you. But if you have been praying before you ever were in trouble, and you know how to pray, God will hear you then in the time of distress. Dear help the Christian that only prays when things are wrong. Happy is the man that prays all the time. When the sun's shining, I pray. When the winds are howling, I pray. When all is well outwardly, I pray. When all is wrong outwardly, I pray. Prayer should be the habit of the believer, the habit of the believer. So I want you to notice three things about that text. First of all, there's Daniel's devotion. I want to say a little about Daniel's devotion. And secondly, there's Daniel's decision. And thirdly, there's Daniel's determination. And I want to talk about these three things for a little while to you, the smart. First of all, I want you to notice Daniel's devotion. Daniel was one of the three presidents. He had a high position. He had worldly prosperity. But I want you to notice something, that his soul also prospered. You know, sometimes when God elevates his people, they lose the prosperity of their souls. a whole lot of men in this city. I know them. And I remember them 25 years ago before they wear what they are today. And they were on fire for God. And they loved the souls of men. And they were at the prayer meeting. But they've gone prosperity now. Climbed the ladder politically. and socially, and professionally, and in the realm of business. And now they have lost their zeal for God and their fire for the things of God. But not so with Daniel. He was just as much on fire for God as the president as he was when he was a mere courtier in the king's house. And my friend, no matter where God puts you, praise God, the fire can still burn in your soul. But it will only burn there if you keep the fires of prayer and devotion burning in your heart. Old Daniel didn't give up the praying. He prayed. You know, they have prayers at Stormont. They have three chaplains there. and the open storm up with prayer. Of course, they read their prayers. Those fellows couldn't pray anyway. It's well to have something to read. But I go into prayers because I believe that the house of common should acknowledge the God of heaven. And we turn our back on the chaplains at prayer. That's an old Cromwellian institution. Cromwell said you shouldn't worship the minister, so turn your back on him. So we turn our back. I'm quite happy to turn my back on the chaplains at Starment. It suits me very well. But when he's reading the prayers, Willie Beatty and me, we have a prayer meeting between us. I'm sure sometime it'll be recorded, some of the things we're praying. And it's great to say to the Lord, I say to Him every day when I'm in the House of Commons, Lord, give me the spirit Stephen had, the irresistible spirit. My, we need to pray. Never let us be ashamed that we're absolutely dependent on prayer. And a man said to me yesterday down in Oma, he says, do you think that you'll be able if you get to Westminster to deal with all these people that are against us? I said, no, I'm not able at all. But praise God, I'm going with a person that's absolutely able. He is able to deliver thee. We have no power over all. Our power is divine power. We receive it from the Lord. I want you to notice that Daniel prayed much. He prayed much. Three times every day, Daniel publicly prayed. For every hour of every day, Daniel privately prayed. He prayed much. And if ever there was a day when we needed to pray much, it's today. We need to pray. In times like these, God's people need to pray. I want you to notice that he had many reasons to pray. He was in an evil place. And the higher man climbs in the political field, the more evil he knows politics are. And he needs to pray that God will keep him. in every circumstance, that God will preserve them. And old Daniel saw the forces of evil and he prayed. He said, Lord, keep me. Lord, keep me pure when everybody around is impure. Lord, keep me true when all around me there is untruth. Lord, keep me honest when I'm surrounded with dishonesty. He had reasons to pray. He had subjects to pray for. Ah, he opened his windows toward Jerusalem and he remembered Jerusalem was trodden under foot of the Gentiles. He remembered that the city of God was lying in waste. He remembered that the fair city where the temple was was now no more and God's temple was broken down. His heart was sore and the burden was heavy. And if you go on reading in this book, you will find how he prayed for the nation and for the world, and how he carried the burden of the sins of his fathers and the sins of their children before the Lord. Oh, he had reasons and subjects for his prayer. What reasons have we, the people of God, to pray today? There never was a time in the history of Ulster when there was more reason for God's people to fall on their knees and say, oh God, deliver us. And there are so many things we need to pray about. If you're a parent, you need to pray more about your family than you ever prayed before. Because I never saw such an attack on you. as is being mounted today. And the very morality and righteousness of youth are endangered even in the schools of our land today. And the very people that should be training children to walk in the paths of morality are teaching them the basic elements of immorality. What a tragedy. Our families are armed with prayer. I want you to notice something else about his prayer. Look at it. He prayed before God. He got before the Lord. You know, if you don't get before the Lord when you pray, you'll never get anywhere. Some people pray conscious of themselves, and they're only praying to themselves. Some people pray conscious of other people in the prayer meeting. And they only pray before the prayer meeting. But happy is the man that knows what it is to pray before God, to get into God's presence. You know, you don't get into God's presence just when you kneel down and utter a few words. Many a time there's a battle. Many a time there's resistance. Many a time there is a tremendous conflict. Thank God when the break comes. Do you know anything about it, believer? When you touch the very throne of God and heaven meets earth and glory crowns the mercy seat and the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is reflected in your soul. And my, when you pray then, things happen. You are touching God. God is touching you. There is a link between heaven and earth. And the divine blessing pours down upon your soul. That's really praying in the Holy Ghost. It's the sort of praying I'm talking about now. He prayed before God. I want you to notice something else. He prayed before His God. Underline. Oh, he knew God. God wasn't a stranger to Daniel. He knew His God. He knew His God by experience. It's a great thing when you have experience of the Lord. It's a good thing to look back, and I can look back on experiences I've had with the Lord. They give me confidence today. When I'm in a tight place next week, I can say, Lord, I've been in these places before, but You delivered me. You can deliver me not. Mayat gives you great encouragement to read your life story with the Lord and say, look at that chapter. Everything was dark and black. Everything was terrible. And then there came the ray of sunshine. And the Lord stepped in and He did the impossible. When Israel out of bondage came, a sea before them lay. The Lord laid down His mighty hand and rolled the sea away, and God's still rolling away seas for his people. His God. Thank God he's our God today. As that old paper down in Dublin said, the Unionist Party, they have an answer for everything that Paisley has, but they can't stand up to his prayers. Thank God for the power of prayer. God answers prayer. That's why this church is here. That's why you're here. That's why this preacher's here. And that's why we're going to be here for a mighty long time to come. Because God answers prayer. This church, this building, everything is because God answered prayer. Just a lot of nobodies that God took up and used because He answers prayer. I like this about Daniel. He prayed upon His knees. Now sometimes we can't get on our knees, but I believe if you can get on your knees, you should get on. I believe that that is the happy posture in prayer. And I know that when I'm in a battle, I can never get through until I fall upon my knees and put my face down upon the ground and cry to God. And Daniel, the president of this great the leading man, he went down upon his knees and put his head on the floor and he prayed. And there were people watching him. And they were watching him to do him harm. Look what it says, these men assembled and found Daniel praying. You know Daniel made a decision. He made a decision he wasn't going to allow the king to interfere with his religion. You know, the greatest troubles that ever came to the land were when governments interfered with religion. These martyrs bus around the corridor of this church, show you a man that stood for God because governments interfered with religion. And they would like to interfere with our religion today and set up the great ecumenical bill. And that's what this nation's going to do on the 7th of July. They've already the high altar constructed in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral. And on the 7th of July, and I understand there's to be a member of the Royal Horse present, they're going to offer publicly in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral the idolatry of the mass. And when that happens in England, God help this nation. It's going to be a public demonstration that England's going back to potpourri. And I hope to be a British member of Parliament to be there to make my protest in the name of the God of heaven. And I'm glad this election came at this time. And a Bernadette Devlin can get out around to do her skullduggery. Surely a man of God is entitled as a British Member of Parliament to make an effect of protest on such a day as that. You know, God has brought us to the Kingdom for such a time as this. Old Wilson didn't know when he was calling the general election that he did it just right on time. He didn't know that. But God knew! I am glad God does these things in this land, and I'm glad that the orange men of Liverpool are going down in their hundreds to that service, and I hope the orange men of Ulster charter a few flights and go as well. And I trust that they'll be the greatest protestors in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral that ever took place since the day Jenny Geddes threw the stool at the old Massing Bishop in St. Giles Cathedral. My, if ever the nation needed to rise up, and I have been reading in the press about a lot of evangelicals in the Church of England that say we should do nothing. I had a letter from one of them He said, we would like to know what you're going to do, because we're going to have a dignified protest. I said, hallelujah, I'm not among that crowd. Let me tell you this this morning, there's got to be a protest on the 7th of July that will shake England from one end to the other. Daniel made this decision. He didn't need to take long to think about it. He made it. We need to make our decision today as a church. Where are we going to stand? On the side of God? You say, Mr. Paisley, you're going to go back to prison. Well, I want to tell you the honor of the Lord is more important than my liberty. Let's be honest about it. It would be better for Ian Paisley to lie in a prison cell for three years. and having made his protest before God and man that allow the fair name of my Savior to be blasphemed and the finished work of Calvary to be reviled, and for the sake of my own convenience to be outside the prison gates. I have made my decision as far as the 7th of July is concerned. I made it long ago. We have got to make a stand. And thank God we're going to make a stand. I'm going to tell you something else. God's going to stand with us. Don't you think this battle's lost? I believe England's going to the great revival. After all, her spoil is dumped with the blood of the martyrs. And God will hear the cry of vengeance that goes up from the martyr blood that soaks the soil of England. And by God, the candle lit by Latimer shall not go out. And there are still 7,000 that haven't vowed to need a veil and praise God. They never will. God has his people. God has his people. Oh, he made a great decision. I'll tell you something else. He made this decision quietly. He just said, Lord, I'm going to pray. And he made this decision immediately. He didn't wait to consult anybody. And he made it deliberately. You know why? Because he had been praying habitually. And if you're praying habitually, you'll have no trouble. If you're always at prayer when the challenge comes, you'll be there to take it on. And then there's Daniel's determination. Why was he so determined? I'll tell you why. He knew that the Lord delivered his three friends out of the burning fire he furnished. He had read the books of God, and he knew the story of the Red Sea, and the miracles in the wilderness, and the throwing down of Jericho's walls. And he said, Oh God, if you delivered people in the past, you can deliver me today. And that's the way we need to pray this day. Lord, you've delivered Ulster in the past. Deliver her today. God's going to do it. Make no mistake about it. There's revival coming to this land. And I don't want to be in the perimeter. I want to be in the dead center when that revival comes, don't you? God's going to work for us. Oh, may the Lord bless our souls this morning. May we not compromise. May we not take the easy pathway. God forbid that this pulpit should be occupied by a pussy footer, occupied by a man who's lost his zeal and fire for God. God, keep this church true in this age of apostasy. And whatever the cost, and whatever the pay that will be extracted from God's people, Gladly do the will of God. I certainly am delighted this morning to see that in this book, old Daniel gave thanks. My, when I read that, I was studying this, I said hallelujah. Imagine giving thanks that you were going into a den of lions. My, that's faith alright. And he went into the den of lions. And the lions came up and looked at him. And Daniel said, I'm Daniel, and you can't bite me or eat me. Now you just lie down there. I'm going to sleep. And they lay down, and old Daniel put his head on their man. And they went to sleep, for he giveth his beloved sleep. But the old king had the best mattress ever manufactured, but he couldn't sleep. But Daniel slept, and the next morning the king rose up early, and he came to the door. And he says, Daniel, are you there? Daniel says, I'm here. I've had a good night's sleep. He says, well, I haven't none. I've been miserable. And Daniel says, the God. that I trust in, He has delivered me. And someday in this very church, you and I, when every seat is occupied and there's thousands outside, when revival comes, we're going to say our God has delivered Ulster. Friend, it's coming. Let's sharpen our swords in the name of the Lord and get a grip from the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit. and let us know God. For those that know God shall be strong and they shall do exploits. May it be so for Jesus' sake. Let's bow our heads. Father, bless Thy Word. Encourage us in the battle and speed up the day of Ulster's awakening and deliverance and revival for Jesus' sake. And everybody say, Amen.