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you you you Well good morning everyone welcome to Mountain Baptist Church take your songbooks and turn to song 425 Song 425 will sing no room in the end Song 425 and if you would stand there we go No, beautiful chamber no soft cradle pan No place but a manger Nowhere for his head No praises of gladness No thought of their sin And no glory but sadness No room in the end No room no room for Jesus Oh give him welcome free Last you should hear at Heaven's gate there is no room for thee No, sweet consecration No seeking his part No Humiliation no place in the heart No Thought of the Savior No sorrow for sin No prayer for his favor No room in the end No room no room for Jesus Oh give him welcome free Last you should hear at Heaven's gate There is no room for thee No one to receive him no Welcome while here No bomb to relieve him no Staff but a spear No seeking his treasure No weeping for sin No doing his pleasure No No room no room for Jesus Oh give him welcome free Last you should hear at Heaven's gate There is no room for thee All right, let's pray Heavenly Father Lord, we just want to thank you God once again I'm just to be able to gather in your house I pray Lord now that you would just be with us me with us be with our pastor reports in Jesus And we ask all of it. Amen. All right may be seated and in turn your songbooks to song 433 Well, I'm sorry 431, I'm sorry 431 in your songbooks will sing silent night holy night Song 431 Silent night holy night Oh Is calm all is bright round yon Virgin mother and child Holy Infant so tender and mild sleep and heavenly peace Sleep and heavenly peace Silent night Holy night Shepherds quake And the side glory stream from Heaven afar Heavenly hosting Alleluia Christ the Savior is born Is born Christ the Savior is born Silent night Holy night Son of God Loves pure light I Be from thy holy face With Dawn of Redeeming praise Jesus Lord at thy birth Jesus Lord at thy birth Silent night Holy night One dressed star Land I lie With the angels Let us sing Alleluia Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah to our King Christ the Savior is born Christ the Savior is born Amen. Welcome to Mount Baptist Church on this Sunday morning and just some announcements here. Did everybody get enough soup and pie yesterday? I was stuffed after that whole thing. I'm still recovering. But a good time there. We found out that the Racine family is literally the strongest family in the church based off arm wrestling anyway. Anyway, fun time yesterday. Just some general church announcements here. We have the service times. Everything should be normal this week, so there shouldn't be anything out of the ordinary there. And then we have our sowing time at 1 p.m. this afternoon. So be in your places if you want to go out sowing with us today. And we have our regional sowing times there. I do still have the Tuesday time on there just in the chance that Brother Matt can get off work early enough where it's not dark. We'll just keep it on there and just kind of keep up on the WhatsApp there for all these regional sowing times as far as the time, place, and all that. So yeah, we have Brother Charles on Monday, Brother Matt on Tuesday, Brother Richie on Wednesday, and Brother Wade on Saturday. Again, just kind of, and maybe one of those things too where Brother Matt like on Thursday or something like that he can get off early or something like that. You never know. These are just kind of tentative times there. And then the upcoming events, we have the men's prayer meeting on Friday after Thanksgiving. And then we have the sowing marathon. I know that Brother Jim and Brother Matt are kind of leading up there as far as up in the Pittsburgh area. And so if you can make it out to that that'd be great. And then the women's prayer meetings on there, that'd be that next Saturday in December. So yep, we're already getting close to December. Hence the Christmas songs. So are we still doing the children's choir practice after the main service? Is that how you've been doing it or do you want to do it? Kind of feel it out. Yeah, we'll try Yeah, we may try to do a quick one right after the service this morning. As far as the choir practice for the kids. And then like I said, if any men want to kind of join in I was thinking about doing like a song, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen for the men to sing. And so we don't have to do that right after the morning service but maybe before the afternoon service we can try to practice that. Any of the men that want to jump in on that. When I say you have to sing I'm kind of joking. Meaning like no one here can like, okay, I don't want to say that. I don't want to be mean. There's probably people here that can sing well. But I'm not a songbird. But I would consider myself to at least hold a tune here and there. But that being said if you're like, pastor says I need to be able to sing. I can't do it. Listen, I'm more so just talking about the fact that you got to be able to like hit the right note and hold a tune to a certain extent. And most people can do that. But that being said also the ladies if you want to do a song totally up to you. If you guys want to try to get a group of ladies together that want to sing a song you're welcome to do that. As far as our Bible memory for the week, or for the month we have 1 Thessalonians 2 and then for the week we have our memory verse which is Proverbs 3-5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. Birthdays what day is it? There's the 13th, right? Do we have any coming up? I don't think so. Not yet. Not until next week. So did we miss anybody this month? Does anyone want to admit that we missed anybody? So and then pregnancies, my wife's on the list there so be in prayer for my wife pregnancy, delivery, all that. I don't think if there's anything else coming up how many are you thinking about? Just general announcements, we have the offering box in the back there if you want to give a tie to their offering. The mother baby room is for the mothers and babies only. Note also that you need to be in there with your child if you're in the mother baby room because things can get just completely annihilated if you just let your kids go in there. And so I'm more so talking about between services and stuff like that. I'm not usually here anyway so I don't really see it but sometimes things get destroyed and there's not parents in there and stuff like that. So we don't want to just be a playroom where that stuff gets destroyed. There needs to be a mother in there and all that. So besides that I think that's all I got for announcements. Brother Dave's going to sing one more song. Who's this morning? Who's reading this morning? Brother Shane? Or Brother Levi? Brother Levi's going to be reading Daniel chapter 6 for us this morning after we sing one more song. Alright take your song books and turn to song 109. Song 109 we'll sing Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us. Song 109. Savior like a shepherd lead us, much we need thy tender care. In thy pleasant pastures feed us, for our use thy folds prepare. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, thou has bought us, thine we are. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, thou has bought us, thine we are. We are thine, do thou befriend us. Be the guardian of our way. Keep thy flock from sin, defend us. Seek us when we go astray. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, hear oh hear us when we pray. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, hear oh hear us when we pray. Thou has promised to receive us, poor and sinful though we be. Thou has mercy to relieve us, grace to cleanse and power to free. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, early let us turn to thee. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, early let us turn to thee. Early let us seek thy favor. Early let us do thy will. Blessed Lord and only Savior, with thy love our bosoms fail. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, thou has loved us, love us still. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, thou has loved us, love us still. All right, if you would take your Bibles and turn to Daniel chapter number six. Daniel chapter number six in your Bibles. My brother Levi come and read that for us. Daniel chapter number six. Daniel chapter number six. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom in hundred and twenty princes which should be over the whole kingdom, and over these three presidents of whom Daniel was first, that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find none occasion nor fault, for as much as he was faithful neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes, the counselors and the captains have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore, king, Darius signed the writing and the decree. Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, 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. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his god. Then they came near and spake before the king concerning the king's decree. Daniel not signed a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any god or man within thirty days save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. The king answered and said, The thing is true according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Then answered they and said before the king that Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. Then the king, when he had heard these words, was sore displeased with himself and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him, and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men assembled unto the king and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is that no decree nor statute which the king establishth shall be changed, or may be changed. Then the king commanded and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God, whom thou serviced continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords, that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting. Neither were instruments of music brought before him, and his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel. And the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou serviced continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live forever. My God has sent forth his angel, and has shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me. For as much as before him innocently was found in me, and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives. And the lions had the mastery of them, and break all their bones and tears. And the lions had the mastery of them, and break all their bones and pieces, wherever they came at the bottom of the den. Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations and languages, that dwelleth in all the earth, peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, then every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and steadfast forever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He deliverth and rescueth, and you work as signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Let's pray. God, thank you for this morning. God, thank you for another time. We can come together to hear your word. I pray that you would be a pastor. Give him the words to say, and help us to learn. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So you're there in Daniel chapter 6, and I'm going to be doing the story of Daniel and the den of lions. So Daniel and the den of lions. And so this is a very famous story in the Bible. And so a lot of your kids may have like read a story that was even like basically we're going to have kids stories that will basically just tell the story from the Bible. And so a lot of kids might know this story, but it's obviously best to go back to the Bible itself and see exactly what happens. And so I just kind of want to start from the very beginning here as far as how this even happened. How did Daniel get thrown into a den of lions? Now you may have heard it said the lion's den, which doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong, but it's not just one lion, right? The idea here is that it's a den of lions plural. There's more than one lion there, okay? Now you obviously could, if you said a lion's den, it could be plural, right? It could be, but when you say den of lions, and especially the way the Bible states it there, there's no mistake that you're talking about multiple lions that are in this den, okay? And so, and this is something that even the world would say, you know, like, oh, you're casting that person into the lion's den, you know? And they'll state that in the fact of basically you've given them over to the wolves, you've put them into the den of lions, you know, like it's a phrase or basically the state that you basically just sent them to their demise or their doom kind of thing, okay? And so most of the people, most people in the world, I would say, kind of know about this story. Maybe less nowadays just because it seems like people don't even know about Jonah and the whale or Noah and the flood, but it's in so much literature, maybe it's because people don't read, you know, so much of that too, but it's in so much literature, it's referenced in so many different things that it's hard to get away from even if you don't read the Bible. But let's start off here. We are, and Daniel here, this is after Nebuchadnezzar, this is after the Babylonian empire, actually in chapter 5, the Babylonians were taken out by the Medes and the Persians, and Darius is the king of the Medes, and basically, when you read the story, Darius seems like a good guy, like he's not the bad guy, okay? Because you may look at the story and be like, well, you know, the king's bad, he threw him into the dented lines. Actually, Darius doesn't want Daniel to die, he didn't want to put him in the dented lines, but at the same time, he kind of got, he got tricked into making this law, and when I say tricked, meaning this is that he basically wasn't diligent enough to see what was going on, to just write some flippant law into, or decree into law. But in Daniel chapter 6 and verse 1 here, notice what it says. And it pleased Darius to set over the kingdom and 120 princes, which should be over the whole kingdom. So basically, Darius the king is basically going to set over 120 princes throughout the whole kingdom. And if you know the Medes and the Persians, they have kingdoms and when you get down to the, once the Persians really just take over for the Medes, they have like 127 provinces, if you read like in Esther and those places as well. So it kind of makes sense that you'd have like 120 princes, because you need like someone over all these provinces. So we're talking throughout, like all the way to India, the Bible talks about the Persian empire went. And so, basically, they're a world empire, and there's all these princes, these 120 princes. And over these, three presidents. Okay, so basically there's 120 princes, but then there's like three presidents over them. So you imagine that you have King Darius, but then there's these three presidents, and then you have these 120 princes, as far as the authority goes. But keep reading there, it says, of whom Daniel was first, that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Okay, so basically, he's number one, I mean underneath Darius, but then he's basically saying, I'm just going to go ahead and make him like the president of it all. Right, because he kind of had these three presidents, Daniel was just like standing out among those three presidents, and he's basically going to set him above everybody. So where he's not just like a co-president with those other two, he's above them as well. So, you can kind of see that what happens here is that these princes and these presidents are envious of Daniel, and they end up wanting to kill him. That's kind of what happens here, as far as why Daniel's going to be thrown into the den of lions, is because of that. But it says that an excellent spirit was in him. Now, obviously you can think about the spirit of God coming upon Daniel, and Daniel obviously, by the spirit of God, you know, even told Nebuchadnezzar about his dream, and he was an interpreter of dreams and all that. But, good at Ezekiel chapter 14, let's think about Daniel for a second here. You know, what kind of man was Daniel? Because an excellent spirit was in him, well, that could very well be talking about the spirit of God, but that could just be talking about his spirit, meaning he had an excellent spirit. And what I believe this is dealing with is that he was just a very righteous person. And he was very knowledgeable. If you remember, when they went into captivity, the whole reason that they were brought into Babylon is because they understood science and all this stuff, and then basically they wanted to take these young men that were very intelligent and teach them all the ways of the Babylonians and bring them up in that. And so Daniel was one, very intelligent, but he also was just a very righteous person. And you say, well, how righteous was he compared to everybody else in the Bible? Well, look at Ezekiel chapter 14. Ezekiel chapter 14. So Ezekiel's right before Daniel. But in chapter 14 there in verse 12, it says, The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, When the land sinned against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it. Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, said the Lord God. So, you kind of know about Noah. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and him and his family were the only people saved from the whole world when the flood came. And Job obviously, he was the most just man upon the earth. At the time that Job was written, and when that stuff was going on to him, the Bible says that he was the most just man upon the earth at the time. I believe Daniel was that man at his time. Noah obviously wasn't his time. I mean, good night, everybody else died, he had to be, right? I mean, everybody died in the flood, except for him and his family. You know, Job obviously was stated to be that. Daniel, I believe, was as well. So, when Daniel was living, I believe he was the most just man upon the earth at the time, and it just shows you that elevation, and basically he's like, only for Noah, Daniel, and Job. You got to ask yourself, what about Moses? Right? What about Elijah? And, you know, like, there's a lot of righteous people you could think about throughout history, they'd be like, what about them? And he's basically saying, only those three. Would I spare them? And it even states later on that I wouldn't even spare their families, I would just spare them. And for their righteousness. Now obviously, Noah, Daniel, and Job were sinners. They needed saved just like everybody else. They weren't just perfect without sin. Okay? But, they were righteous above everybody in their generation. Okay? So that gives you an idea of who you're dealing with here. You're dealing with a very righteous man. And also, it kind of shows you, too, that if you're righteous and you're a hard worker, that you can get elevated in a nation that's not a Christian nation, right? I mean, think about it, like, how Daniel, would you say Daniel didn't prosper here? Daniel was going to be put in, basically, he was about to be put over the whole realm. Basically, he was just going to be like second to the king. And basically be like the king's right hand man. And he was just going to do everything and the king was going to stand back and just let him do it all. So he's basically like the king, unless the king steps in and says, hey, I got to do something. Okay? And so, get an idea of what you're dealing with here with him. And then, what's going to happen here is that these presidents and princes, they're going to get all upset. And once you have to understand, go to 1 John chapter 3, but I'm going to read to you 2 Timothy chapter 3. Actually, go ahead and go to 2 Timothy chapter 3. And I want this to really resonate that even though Daniel had an excellent spirit in him, he was, you know, by definition, I believe, the most righteous man upon the earth at the time in his day. And, you know, he was being elevated because of obviously, I'm sure, his work ethic and just the intelligence that he had and everything, the wisdom that he had. You know, the Bible even talks about his wise as Daniel, right? And basically, wisdom is described, you know, basically, if you want to be wise, you need to be like Daniel. Okay? And you may ask yourself, well, you know, if I'm righteous and I, you know, I work hard, then you know, everybody's going to like me, right? Actually, in a lot of cases, it's not going to be that, that way. Your boss will probably like you, but your co-workers may not. And people that work around you or that you work with may not because one, they may be envious over your position, but you also may be making them look bad, and then that looks bad on them, right? And so in Second Timothy chapter 3 and verse 1 here, notice what it says. It says, this know also that in the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, notice this, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof from such turn away. So notice that there's people out there that literally despise those that are good. And despise is like the word hate, right? I mean, they hate those that are good. Go to First John chapter 3. The first man that was murdered in the Bible was Abel. And the Bible is going to tell you exactly why his brother murdered him. In First John chapter 3 and verse 11 it says, for this is the message that you heard from the beginning that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother, and wherefore slew he him? Good question, right? Why did he kill him? Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. So why did Cain kill Abel? Because Cain knew that his works were evil and his brother's righteous. You're like, that doesn't make any sense. Why would he kill him just because his brother was good? Because there's people that are despisers of those that are good. There's people that want, that would even kill people just because they're good. And it says right after that, marvel not my brethren if the world hates you. If you remember, Jesus even says that if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. So they hated Jesus. They killed Jesus. Why? Because he was good. Okay. So I want that to be I want that to resonate because you may look at this and be like well as long as you know as long as I do right and everything nothing bad is going to happen. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. If you're living godly, there's going to be persecution because you're living godly. Okay. And that's the way you want it to be. You want it to be because of doing good and not because of doing evil. Okay. You don't want to be buffeted for doing evil. You want to be buffeted for doing good because there's a reward in that. But you can say, well man, what's the point of doing good then? Well, you've got to read the rest of the story. So there's a happy ending to it doesn't mean there's not going to be turmoil persecution you know things that might be frightening that could happen to you. But know this is that if you do right, the Lord will take care of you. And this story just exemplifies that. But go back to Daniel chapter 6 and verse 4. So let's see what's going on here with the presidents and princes. So when you think about this why did they want to kill Daniel? I believe because of envy. I mean if you were to really think about this they were envious. I mean they were princes and they were presidents but they weren't going to be number one, right? Daniel was basically being put number one. And what you have to think about too is that Daniel's like this, I don't know about all the princes and presidents I'm sure some of them come from different countries and maybe aren't Medes or Persians. But I'm sure they're probably looking at Daniel like who's this guy? He's different from us. He believes in this God over here that I'm sure they would not believe in and all that. And so he's kind of like this outcast if you will from them. But yet the king's like he's number one. He's the best. I'm going to put him over everything. And Daniel chapter 6 and verse 4 says then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom but they could find none occasion nor fault for as much as he was faithful neither was there any error or fault found in him. So they're like we're trying to find something. We can't find anything. And know this is that if you're doing right you are a target for people to look at and try to pick you apart. You say you believe the Bible and that you should live a wholly separated life. Just know that there's a target on your back and they're trying to find some fault with you. The way they can accuse you. It's like well we're all sinners. It doesn't matter to them. They're trying to find something to tear you apart. Even though in their closet is a bunch of dead men's bones and wickedness and debauchery and filthiness and vile things that they do they'll point at you and be like oh you call yourself a Christian? You missed church that Sunday. It's like well I had the flu. Practice what you preach. They'll try to find something. They'll dig up something try to find something but with Daniel they couldn't find anything. He's faithful. Everything that he did was right. Notice what they say in verse 5 here. Then said these men we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Here we go. So now they have to try to find something that's in God's law that maybe not a part of the law of the land to where we can accuse him because obviously there's going to be things that are in God's law that are different than just the law of the land and what people do in the world. According to the law of the Medes and the Persians he was perfect. He was doing everything faithfully. They couldn't accuse him on anything. We got to find something against the law of his God. Something that he does that the Bible says that we can accuse him. And there's no new thing under the sun because they still do that today. When it comes to Christianity what are they going to find? They can't fault with you with your job or how you live or what you're doing. You're not like a convict. You're not a felon. You're just trying to live right. Raise your family. But what they're going to do is say well the Bible you know what they do according to the Bible that's what we're going to accuse them on. They go out soul winning we're going to accuse them on that. We're going to try to persecute them on that. They believe this about the Bible. They believe this about the alphabet animal community. We're going to basically come after them and accuse them on that. But the question that you have to ask yourself are you going to be a Daniel when it comes to the fact when they come after you according to the law of God. Okay. And keep reading there in verse 6 it says Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king and said thus unto him king Darius live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom the governors and the princes and the counselors and the captains have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree. Now first of all is it all of them? Because I don't think Daniel was in on this. Daniel number one by the way the one that's above them all was not in the mix on this but they make it sound like oh yeah we're all in agreement you know every single one of us. They want to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man in 30 days save of thee oh king he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now oh king establish a decree and sign the writing that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not. Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. Now Darius doesn't know their motive but at the same time you got to think about like what in the world is the purpose of this? Are we just trying to get people to like fall and it gets them maybe to the pride maybe like they're buttering them up right? Their words were smoother than butter as the bible would say and they're buttering them up you know like oh you know we want to make this decree then in the next 30 days no one can ask any petition but of thee oh king and trying to like build him up like he's like this you know what we just want to honor you and and give you these you know this honor that in 30 days it's only to you and but they he doesn't see the ulterior motive they don't they're not doing it to like honor king Darius they're doing it because they're trying to kill Daniel because they know what Daniel does every day okay? I mean it's specific to the fact that what we're going to see is what Daniel does every day and why they wrote this decree and notice in Daniel chapter 6 and verse 10 Daniel chapter 6 and verse 10 so what does Daniel do? And this is what it really comes down to everybody is that when the laws of the land go against the law of God what do you do? When they're trying to accuse you and trying to take you down by making laws that are against the Bible what do you do in that time? Well let's see what Daniel did. So in Daniel chapter 6 and verse 10 now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed and I want that to be very clear it's not like he didn't know he knew it was signed he knew what the decree was he knew it was signed and what did he do? He went into his house and in his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem he kneeled down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God. Now you may say well he's trying to just be flamboyant about it. No notice what it says as he did a four time. So it's not like he's just like alright I'm going to show everybody that I'm being disobedient under this law. No he's just doing exactly what he did before he knew it was signed but he's going to do exactly what he did before and that's that he prayed to God three times with his windows open. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. So obviously he wasn't he was able to be seen. Now you may say to yourself well the Bible doesn't say chapter and verse you must pray to God three times a day with your windows open. It doesn't say that does it? And the point I'm making here is that when the world comes after you for what you do for your God it doesn't even have to be something that's written explicitly in the Bible. If you do it for your God and it's something maybe above and beyond what you're doing for your God and they're trying to bring it down on you and trying to get you to not do that you be disobedient to that. To that commandment of the world. Cause you know they could say well where does it say you have to do this three times a day with your windows open? And there's not a scripture written that says you have to do that. But here's the thing. Daniel was worshiping his God three times a day a four time and he's not going to stop now that they're making some stupid decree. And you may say well you know give me an example of how that would apply. How about church three times a week? Does the Bible say we have to have church three times a week? What if there's a decree saying you can't worship for the next two weeks. You can't meet in worship for the next two, three weeks. Does it say we have to meet? Or let's say well no you can only do it once a week. Okay. Once a week. You know what we're going to do? We're going to do it three times a week and we might have a special service on top of that. We might just do a whole week. Cause maybe, maybe I just want to put it in their face that they're not going to stop us from worshiping in the Lord. I'll say this we're at least going to do three times a week. We're not going to stop that. You say well you know is that ever going to actually happen? I don't know. I remember there was a COVID time where they were trying to shut us down. Or trying to shut churches down. Obviously we went to live stream only for like a week or two but that was just me personally making that call because I didn't know how deadly this thing was. But it wasn't because the government told me to do it. I'll tell you that. But at the same time if the government said you must do this and I'm like and I believe that we can that it's safe for us to meet together and that there's no problem with that. Guess what? We're going to meet together. And notice what it says here in in actually go to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 and verse 18. Romans chapter 12 and verse 18. Now Daniel if you remember from the very beginning with Daniel remember he didn't want to eat the king's meat. He didn't just go up to the prince of the eunuchs and be like listen bless God I'm not eating meat and I don't care. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. You know he didn't say that. He beseeched him and said you know if it's possible you know basically he had already determined his heart so I can do it. But basically if it's possible can we just eat pulse can we just eat something different than the king's meat and he's basically like you know if we start basically he's given this guy an ultimatum that hey just let us do this we'll be fine and all that he didn't just come in there hot you know. So when it comes to this I don't believe Daniel's just trying to walk to like the palace and just start worshiping God there right and just trying to like make a big show out of it he just did exactly what he did before and he wasn't going to stop what he did before. Okay. But in in Romans chapter 12 verse 18 notice what it says it says if it be possible as much as lieth in you live peaceably with all men. Now that does not say we must live peaceably with all men. It says if it's possible. You know what that means is that sometimes it's not possible. Sometimes it's going to have to be you know there's a time of peace and there's a time of war. And if our government starts coming after our right to worship our God and practice our religion guess what it's not going to be a time of peace. Now as much as life is you know when you think about well let's say they start taxing the churches so what I'm not going to war over taxes Jesus didn't let their money perish with them but there's a line in the sand there will be a line in the sand when they say you can't preach that you can't say that verse guess what we're saying it we're preaching it we're doing it and at some point you know we'll try to you know basically live peaceably with them but at some point we're going to say put that in your pipe and smoke it. There's going to be a time where there's no more trying to appease and trying to live peaceably it's going to be a matter of no thus saith the Lord it's not happening. So I just want to put that out there but then Acts chapter 5 verse 29 Acts chapter 5 verse 29 notice what it says here Acts chapter 5 verse 29 it says then Peter and the apostles answered and said we ought to obey God rather than men and this is a case where Daniel is obeying God rather than men he's choosing you know to worship God over keeping this commandment that was put into you know law for this 30 days and you can say well it was just 30 days maybe he could just let it go for 30 days no Daniel just did exactly what he did every single day he's not going to have a 30 day hiatus of worshipping the Lord just because of some stupid decree that was made okay now go to Daniel chapter 6 Daniel chapter 6 the interesting thing here is that if you remember when Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar about this image right where there's the head of gold and then you had the arms and the chest of silver basically it's stating that you have Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom was like the supreme kingdom if you will but then it started getting inferior and obviously silver is still good so the Medes and the Persians is still a strong kingdom but it's not as good as the gold and what I mean by that is that Nebuchadnezzar I believe could do whatever he wanted to do complete dictatorship Medes and the Persians no not really and this really gets into where the law of the land the king can't go against the law of the land okay and this is kind of the way it is this is the way it should be in America anyway is that the president is not a dictator the governors are not dictators they're supposed to be serving us based off of we're a republic by the way not a democracy okay we elect officials democratically but to a certain extent right because you have the electoral college which isn't complete democracy democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for dinner mob rule okay we live in a republic which is based off laws and we see here with the Persians that it's kind of that system where it's a republic if you will but yet you have this king that has authority to make laws laws into effect and so you can kind of see how it's kind of you can see America a little bit in here when it comes to this where the king wants to reverse it but he can't okay notice what it says here in Daniel chapter 6 verse 12 then they came near and spake before the king concerning the king's decree hast thou not signed a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any god or man within 30 days save of thee, O king shall be cast into the den of lions the king answered and said the thing is true according to the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not you see what they're doing they're setting them up because they're basically they're making him say it yes I did can't be altered what's your point right he doesn't say what's your point but you kind of get the idea of what's being said done here verse 13 then answered they and said before the king that Daniel which is of the children of the captivity of Judah regardeth not thee O king nor the decree that thou hast signed but maketh his petition three times a day then the king when he heard these words was sore displeased with himself he was like what in the world did I do right so he realized he got trapped and that he messed up here and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him so he's trying everything he can to try to basically set this right and even if you remember the story of Esther remember that there was that decree that was made we had you had Haman who basically said they were going to go out and kill all the Jews they couldn't reverse it he couldn't reverse it but what he did is says hey all the Jews you armed yourselves and you had the right to defend yourselves right do you see what he that's what has you eras did to basically combat the law is he made another law that basically countered the other one that was going into effect okay and but here he's trying to figure out how to get around this and he's like laboring all you know night and you know or still the sun going down that is and it says in verse 15 it says then these men assembled unto the king and said unto the king know O king that the law of the Medes and Persians is that no decree nor statute which the king establishes may be changed now I'll say this they are not on the king's good side at the moment we'll see what happens to them later but they're basically saying you can't change it you must abide by the law and Darius is trying everything he can to change this and get this figured out but he's bound by the law okay now in Daniel chapter 6 and verse 16 basically the king's forced to do what he put in this decree verse 16 then the king commanded and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions now the king spake and said unto Daniel that thy God whom thou serviced continually he will deliver thee notice Darius here now you know as far as I know Darius isn't a believer at this point but I think he might actually after this whole event end up becoming a believer just like Nebuchadnezzar I believe Nebuchadnezzar is in heaven right now and I actually believe that king Darius is in heaven and you may say well you know this whole event could have been avoided and what if he would have just not done that for 30 days well you're going to see that because Daniel was steadfast and believing in his lord and did what he was supposed to be doing what good came out of it okay cause sometimes you have to go through some hard persecution to get the reward at the end as far as the good things that will come from it and if he didn't go through that maybe Darius wouldn't have gotten saved maybe other people wouldn't have gotten saved and we'll see what the bible says about that later on but basically notice that he says thy god whom thou serveth continually so it was known to the king that he served him continually just a little bit continually okay and he's saying he will deliver thee and so I believe that Darius had faith that god would deliver him but at the same time he was afraid that he wouldn't notice it says in verse 17 it says a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel verse 18 then the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting neither were instruments of music brought before him and his sleep went from him basically he couldn't sleep all night didn't want to hear any music I mean who's the bad guy here? King Darius is not the bad guy he gets duped into making this law but in the end he's not the bad guy you can obviously see how this could reflect into Jesus being put to death and Pontius Pilate being the leader and then these people that are the leaders are coming up and trying to kill him, kill Daniel and Pontius Pilate doesn't want to do it he's trying to wash his hands from it but Darius here, he's basically losing his sleep and even Pontius Pilate's wife lost sleep and basically had suffered many things in a dream because of Jesus and you can see that parallel there of the den of lions and Jesus obviously going to the tomb and into the sepulcher and all that but so basically all night long he can't sleep he can't eat you can obviously understand that he's saying he's going to deliver you but again that takes faith and even when you have faith there's doubt that's there you're like I hope so you're still wondering is he it kind of happened and in verse 19 it says so haste means like fast okay he was booking it there okay he wanted to know if Daniel was still alive verse 20 it says when he came to the den he cried with a lamentable voice unto David, now what's lamentable mean children if you lament it's talking about basically you're in sorrow you're basically like think about going to a funeral you're going to lament at a funeral, you're sad right? so you imagine that Darius wouldn't sleep all night, wasn't eating wouldn't hear any music, I mean he's in a state of sorrow and probably like just fear and and when he cries out to Daniel you could just read over that but he's like crying out like almost weeping as he's doing it crying, like if Daniel's dead I mean he's going to be distraught he's going to be upset so I mean he's crying out to him and it says the king spake and said to Daniel oh Daniel, servant of the living God is thy God whom thou servest continually able to deliver thee from the lions so he's crying out he's like did he do it? is he able? and verse 21 then said Daniel unto the king oh king live forever my God has sent his angel and has shut the lion's mouths that they have not hurt have not hurt me for as much as before him innocency was found in me and also before thee oh king have I done no hurt then was the king exceeding glad for him so you imagine like the relief he's just like yes it happened you know he's alive and you can obviously see here kind of going back to Jesus and the fact that Jesus was innocent you know Judas even said I betrayed the innocent blood and how these things parallel here but it says the king was the king then was the king exceeding glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den notice the up out of the den ok so get a picture of what this is this is like a pit if you can imagine they cast him into it but then they took him up out of it ok so basically he's thrown into this pit if you will this den of lions that's like down on the ground ok it says so Daniel was taken up out of the den and no manner of hurt was found upon him because he believed in his god so notice the faith that Daniel had I mean think about this just as much as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego they didn't know whether they were going to survive in that burning fiery and same thing with Daniel do you think Daniel knew for sure that he was going to be saved out of this because Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego you could they say our god is able to deliver us like they knew he was able and I guarantee Daniel knew that god was able but the question was was he going to do it and the faith that Daniel had, go to Hebrew chapter 11 Hebrew chapter 11 Hebrew chapter 11 touches on this and Hebrew chapter 11 is the chapter of faith I mean it starts off faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen by faith the elders obtained a good report and it goes on down the line by faith Abel, by faith Enoch and down the line but then after it gets done with this whole list of people that by faith they did this by faith they did this it kind of concludes here that the narrator is kind of like we can keep going but you know, kind of concluding it that we're not going to hit on every single person in the Bible, every single person that had faith in verse 32 there it says and what shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of Samson and of Jephthah of David also and Samuel and of the prophets they're basically saying there's a whole bunch of other people we could hit on and talk about all the things that they did by faith but of the prophets Daniel is a prophet by the way Daniel the prophet, Jesus even says as spoken by Daniel the prophet okay but it says in verse 33 who through faith notice it, through faith subdued kingdoms wrought righteousness, obtained promises stopped the mouths of lions who do you think that's talking about? now this could be talking about other people throughout history that had faith as well but we for sure know that we're talking about Daniel Daniel has to be in that category there it says stopped the mouths of lions quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness was made strong waxed valiant in flight in fight I'm sorry turned to flight the armies of the aliens, women received their dead, raised to life again and others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better direction and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings moreover of bonds and imprisonment they were stoned they were sawn asunder, were tempted were slain with the sword they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute, afflicted, tormented of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and in caves of the earth so when you look at this list here there's a lot of things that people were delivered from it says that others it says that they and I don't want to misquote it here I lost my place not accepting deliverance okay so there's kind of like this list where they were saved right, you can think of like Daniel would be in that list Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would be in that list there would be other people in that list the people that were saved out of being killed or persecutions but then it says others not accepting deliverance this means is that they had a choice okay, all those people in that list where he said sawn asunder and you know, tortured and all these different things that are going on it says that they didn't accept deliverance it was a choice okay that they could either be saved or not accept deliverance and have a better resurrection meaning this is that to be martyred for the Lord you're going to have a better resurrection okay but would anybody say that like Daniel, that story isn't an awesome story and you wouldn't want to be Daniel there when God's delivering you out of that go to go to Revelation chapter 3 Revelation chapter 3 and verse 10 and the thing I want to get across here is that if you serve God continually it doesn't mean that your life is going to be a bed of roses Job's wasn't Daniel's wasn't Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's wasn't Elijah's wasn't Jeremiah's wasn't I mean he was put into a pit where he was just sunk into the mire but with all these prophets and people that had faith weren't they all delivered though? so when it comes to all these that had faith in the Lord that believed in the Lord that believed in the Lord they had a choice whether they were going to be delivered or whether they weren't going to be delivered but in the end it was their choice and it's kind of both sides to what they do would have been good right but in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 10 I want you to know this promise here that what happened with Daniel can also apply to you but it doesn't just apply to just people that are saved okay people that are saved have eternal life they can never lose their salvation they're going to heaven no matter what whether they live for the Lord whether they're like Daniel or not whether they're like any of these faithful prophets and men and women in the Bible they're going to heaven because they have eternal life but what we're talking about is physical deliverance and in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 10 it says because thou has kept the word of my patience I will I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which I've come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth so notice that there's there's this protection if you will on those that keep the word of his patience Matthew chapter 24 says this Matthew chapter 24 and verse 12 it says and because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold but he that endureth unto the end the same shall be saved and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come you know when perilous times come and when the end comes you may say to yourself well I don't want to go out and just live for the Lord and preach the gospel and do all that because I'm going to be killed immediately I don't believe so I believe there's going to be a protection on all those that are actually doing the work of God and you're actually more protected by going out doing what God told you to do in that time than if you didn't the Bible's actually promising that if you keep the word of his patience he's going to keep you from that hour of temptation if you actually go out and preach the gospel to every creature and the Bible talks about his people doing great exploits at the end and then it says some were slain with a sword that they might make some white talking about basically getting people saved but remember those people are those that not accepting deliverance that they might have a better resurrection okay but then there's those that accept the deliverance and 1 Peter 4 in verse 19 says this 1 Peter 4 verse 19 I'm trying to give you an idea of how this applies to us right because you say well that happened with Daniel that's cool would that happen to us I believe that in the end times if we're here for the great tribulation we're here for that time listen that's a time of tribulation such as the world was never seen before how much more do you think God's going to work in that time you say well you know with all that all that stuff that God did in the past that's all done no Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever I'm the Lord I change not the Bible says I actually believe there's going to be greater things that God's going to do to protect his people than probably that we've ever seen in the Bible 1 Peter 4 verse 19 says this it says wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God notice that keep that in mind according to the will of God you're enduring unto the end what are you enduring that you're not letting your love wax cold and that you're actually preaching the gospel here it's saying that wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God you're not just suffering because you're a derelict not doing what you should be doing you're suffering according to the will of God it says wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him and well doing as unto a faithful creator we're talking about committing your souls we're not talking about like well you're not going to go to heaven you know we need him to take care of it we're talking about committing yourself what are we talking about what are we talking about that your soul's not cut off from the land of living meaning this is that you need to trust in the Lord as unto a faithful creator just like Daniel did who believed in his God and even Darius, I mean Darius is like I believe that he's able to deliver to you I believe he's going to, it didn't even say I believe he's able until later on he's like is he able he says he will deliver thee so you even have Darius over here the king, he's like God's going to deliver you out of this and obviously Daniel believed it because it even says that the reason that the lion's mouths were stopped is because Daniel believed in his God so if we're in that time listen just believe that God will deliver you it's a promise Daniel chapter 6 and verse 24 Daniel chapter 6 and verse 24 listen I'm not saying that in the great tribulation you're not going to have hard times or have persecution I'm not saying you're not going to be put in prison you know what I mean like there may be things that are going to happen to you or you're going to go through some hard times but listen God is promising that he's going to deliver us unless we choose and say you know what we don't want that deliverance go ahead and take me out Lord go ahead and let them take me out so they can have that crown of life you know like Antipas you know in Revelation chapter 2 and have that martyr's crown if you will and you say which one's better? I mean it's hard to tell it's hard to say would you rather get would you rather like to get a martyr's crown or would you like to you know lift up your head look up and lift up your head for your redemption draw and you see the Lord coming in the clouds all those things within that great tribulation is going to happen in a pretty quick time right meaning that if you get martyred for Christ it's like you probably got a month or so before like everybody else is meeting you up in the air anyway and listen as a father obviously my consensus at the moment is that I want to be here I want to protect my family and I want the Lord to deliver my family from any harm and that's just how I feel right now okay but at the same time like you see the abomination of desolation you're like I don't have much time you know why as well right anyway just something to think about but the idea here is that when you read these stories don't look at it like oh that's in the past that's not going to happen now no I believe it's actually more so going to happen in the future because all the things in Daniel and everything that happens there is a shadow of things that come in a lot of cases they're a shadow of Jesus Christ coming the first time they're a shadow of Jesus coming the second time how much more is what's he going to do with his people and protect his people when you're actually in the real fulfillment of things that are going to happen in the end and so in Daniel chapter 6 and verse 24 notice what these wicked people get justice when you read these passages sometimes you read the bible and you're just like there's no justice you know just like justice isn't going forth you look at the world there's just justice not going forth this is a chapter of justice you see what happens to Daniel you're just like it's unjust it's not right he was a good guy he was just worshipping God notice in verse 24 here the king commanded and they brought those men which had accused Daniel and they cast them into the den of lions them their children and their wives and the lions had the mastery of them and break all their bones and pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den or ever you know you could look at that as soon as but a lot of times in the bible it's like or ever the world was made I believe it's talking about before so basically the lions were leaping up to them before they even got down to the bottom and it said they broke their bones before they even hit the bottom so he's like Daniel's in there like chilling with the lions that's not in the bible doesn't say he's chilling but it doesn't say he's riding them he's like laying on them or anything like that you'll see some of those things you'll see the book or whatever and Daniel's like petting it we don't know maybe he was I'll tell you what if God was going to stop them out of the lions I'll probably hang out with these lions but we don't really know exactly what he's doing but he's there all night these guys get thrown in before they even hit the bottom they're done here's a verse on that go to Proverbs 26 and verse 27 Proverbs 26 and verse 27 I'm almost done here is that we see that these men that accused Daniel they're getting theirs they're going to reap what they sow and that is a biblical principle in the bible you sow the wind you're going to reap the whirlwind and this is justice here if you think about it in the law of God if you accuse somebody of murder and you lie about it you're put to death eye for eye, tooth for tooth hand for hand, foot for foot wound for wound, burning for burning that's justice so they accused Daniel to put him to death wrongfully now in Proverbs 26 and verse 27 it says who so dig at the pit shall fall therein and he that rolleth stone it will return upon him so people that try to do mischief and harm to other people it's coming back on them it's got to come back on them go to Psalm 7 in verse 11 7 and 11 go to Psalm 7 verse 11 Psalm 7 verse 11 God judgeth the righteous and God is angry with the wicked every day if he turn not he will wet his sword he hath bent his bow and made it ready he hath also prepared for him the instruments of death he hath ordained his arrows against the persecutors behold he travelth with iniquity this is talking about the wicked person behold he travelth with iniquity and hath conceived mischief in his falsehood he made a pit and digged it and has fallen into the ditch which he made his mischief shall return upon his own head and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate pate is kind of thinking about the top of your head kind of the same thing coming on his own head isn't that what happened to these men? it happened that their whole families got thrown into the denim lines on top of that that doesn't just affect you that affects your whole family go to Daniel chapter 6 and the last thing we'll show here is that ultimately this story if it just ended with the fact that God did this miraculous work and saved Daniel you'd be like that's a great story God delivered Daniel out of the dead of lions but I want you to see and there was justice done unto the people that were trying to kill him but in Daniel chapter 6 verse 25 this is what you got to think about when you're dealing with persecution and you're in persecution you say should I keep going? should I give up? I want you to think about a reason why you shouldn't give up one reason is that we know that God is able to deliver us and I believe he will deliver us from every persecution but also think about how God will be glorified if you just stand through that test and that trial notice what it says in verse 25 here then King Darius wrote unto all people nations and languages that dwell on all the earth peace be multiplied unto you who's he talking to? just a few people? everybody I mean this is going throughout the whole world his whole kingdom I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel so he's basically making a decree he's like you need to fear before them you need to tremble remember Nebuchadnezzar says I'm going to make anybody that speaks against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego I'm going to make their house a dung hill right? so when they when they survive that and God delivered them what happened? same type of thing happens here but notice this is that not only is he telling other people that they need to tremble before the God of Daniel notice what Darius is saying here for he is the living God and steadfast forever and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed and his dominion shall be even unto the end he deliverth and rescueth and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth who hath delivered Daniel or who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions so you have Darius saying he's the living God he's the one to deliver Daniel out of the dead that went throughout the whole world that wasn't just like in a corner over here where they just knew about this the whole world heard of this story and if you think about it think about Moses with the parting of the Red Sea and how that affected the world but you also see how this affects the whole world because Daniel served his Lord, he believed in his God he served him continually didn't stop just because some law was made that was even a law that would kill him and what's the outcome from that well one, he was delivered but two, in that deliverance how many more people got saved how many more people heard the word of the Lord and how the Lord was glorified remember we were talking about the Lord's Prayer you know our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name and the idea there is that you want God's name to be glorified don't you, you want it to be holy and hallowed by other people right? how do you do that? obviously going out and preaching the gospel and getting people saved will bring glory to his name enduring tribulation, enduring affliction, enduring persecution to where only God can deliver you out of that brings glory to his name and you never know, there may be a case where you're put into this crazy situation where this crazy persecution and tribulation to where when you come out as fine as gold like Job you come out as fine as gold then maybe the whole world will hear about it and give glory to God because it's not about you it's not about you getting like accolades there's a great Christian over here it's about God getting the glory it's about the gospel being preached, people getting saved and God getting the glory for what he did and that should be our ultimate goal in life is that God gets the glory why do we go out sowing? so God gets the glory for what he did why do we come to church? why do we learn the Bible? because he deserves the glory in everything that we do why do we sing songs and praises to him? because he deserves the glory and when it comes to persecutions you have to think about why do I keep going through this why do I suffer this why do I not just give it up because Jesus deserves the glory and when you think about it, when you're suffering think about how he suffered he despised the shame but he endured the cross but he also saw the joy that was set before him and understood the end game Daniel we're hindsight is 20-20 but we see the end game of what Daniel went through and Daniel and the Den of Lions very famous story but God is able to shut the mouths of the lions he's able to deliver you out of every evil work Paul said that I believe that's still true today it's not just an Old Testament thing it's a New Testament thing as well what did Paul say? that he delivered me out of the mouth of the lion that's what Paul says in the New Testament you don't think that he can still do that? so let's end with a word of prayer we thank you today and just pray that you'd be with us throughout the rest of the day thank you for the story pray that you'd help us to be strong be courageous like Daniel and have faith in you to deliver us from every evil work and persecutions and tribulations just pray that you'd be glorified in everything that we do and Lord we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name amen so before brother Dave comes let's do a few questions for the kids Daniel and the Den of Lions okay let's think here as far as questions do you remember how many times did Daniel pray to his God? three times alright what would you like? cow tail? what is with the cow tails in this church? when he prayed three times what did he open? I think I saw a dog the window? yeah that's right he opened the window what would you like? there's Reese's, there's cow tails yep my man there Reese's let's think here what was the name of the king? in the story you've already gone but I might come back to you do you remember the name of the king? back there I see some hands anybody wants to yell it out they can kid that is not adult Clara? what's that? no that's with Jesus but this is with Daniel different king Darius Darius or Darius I'm just kidding actually I don't know which way everybody else says Darius you want another cow tail? Reese's let's see another question here how many lions were in the den? Josiah? no it's a trick question we don't know it's a good guess though it's very possible I'm not saying you're wrong kid before let me think I just want to do one more here I can't really think of a question what happened to the people that accused Daniel that got him to be thrown into the den of lions what happened to those people those presidents and princes that did that yeah they got thrown in they didn't make it did they what would you like you want a Reese's that's what I'm talking about alright so good job keep listening when we go through these bigger stories here cause you want to know them you want to know these stories but today's going to come and sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed take your song books and turn to song 140 song 140 in your song books and if you would stand we'll sing we have an anchor song 140 will your anchor hold in the storms of life when the clouds unfold their wings of strife when the strong tides lift and the cables strain will your anchor drift or firm remain we have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll fastened to the rock that cannot move grounded firm and deep in the savior's love it is