Youth Service - Continually A Christian - Bro Philip Howell 4-24-2026

Tonight, I don't count at a coincidence at Oh. I

come to preach just for a little while on a

man and his relationship with God.

That's not my title, but that's the gist of it.

Pastor often tells us he don't understand it when people

say they don't have anything to preach.

Amen.

I begin studying this out in depth. Wednesday I was

torn between three different ones, and Wednesday afternoon I felt

like the Lord gave me the go ahead on this.

And then, if you remember Pastor nearing the end of it,

he began to speak of Daniel, and.

I appreciate confirmation.

Amen, we're gonna turn to Daniel, chapter number six while

you're turning there. I appreciate the opportunity. I appreciate my Pastor,

appreciate the opportunity he's given us just to throw a

little seed in his field.

Amen. You ever seen.

People that they don't quite appreciate something because they're not

the one that worked for it. I don't ever want

to be that. I realized he worked a lot for

these souls that are here.

Amen.

Appreciate Brother Nathaniel for extending the opportunity, and I appreciate

your giving here tonight, Daniel. Chapter number six will start

in verse sixteen. Then the King commanded, and they brought

Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. Now

the King spaken, said, unto Daniel, thy God, whom thou

service continually, he will deliver thee. Then verse number twenty.

And when he had come to the den, he cried

with a lamitaful voice unto Daniel. And the King spake

and said to Daniel, Old Daniel, servant of the Lord,

servant of the Living God, is thy God, whom thou

servest continually able to deliver THEE from the Lians. I

want to preach just for a little while on continually

a Christian. Amen, if you would stretch your hands towards Heaven,

ask the Lord to help us tonight.

We need your spirit in this place.

Jesus, God, would you give us the words to say. God,

help your word not to return void. God, send your

anointing down in this place. God, anoint the ears of

your people. God, anoint these words God, that they may

go out Lord and be received. And we'll give you

the praise the honor in Jesus' name. Amen, just for

a little I want to preach for on a title

content annually a Christian. Daniel is absolutely that at its finest,

And that's the word if you paid attention. In verse

sixteen and verse twenty, the King speaks to Daniel twice.

Amen says, now the King spake unto Daniel, thy God,

whom thou service continually, he will deliver thee. Then in

verse number twenty, he said, whom Daniel's servant of the

living God is thy God, whom thou servicet continually able

to deliver thee from the lions. Very familiar scripture. Portion

of scripture. Here King Darius in the beginning of chapter six.

Here he's got one hundred and twenty princes and three

men presidents, and Daniel is the top of the president's

and the president's rule. These one hundred and twenty princes

and King Darius, for that is, he didn't want to

lose anything in the kingdom. It says in these three presidents,

of whom Daniel was first of the princes, might give

account unto them, and the kingdom should have no damage.

And Daniel, he was preferred over the rest of them.

A man.

And why does the Bible say that that Daniel was

preferred above one hundred and twenty two others, Amen, because

of the excellent spirit that he had within him. And

it's easy for us to think it doesn't matter how

we talk or act around family or friends, or co workers,

or perhaps even our boss. But this is the thing

that made Daniel stand out above the rest was his

excellent spirit, no doubt about it. King Darius was a

man a brilliant mind. Otherwise he wouldn't have become king.

He wouldn't just pick, for lack of better word, simple people,

no doubt about it. The other one hundred, the one

hundred and twenty princes, and the other two presidents were

good men. It is so easy to be a good

person in society. I know a lot of people outside

of our church, co workers, the mechanic you use, just

any your waitress, your waiter.

They're good people.

But being a person with an excellent spirit is a

whole another thing, says Then the presidents and the princes

sought out the king looking for a reason. They're looking

for an occasion, an occasion against Daniel, but they couldn't

find one. That's verse number four. Amen, says, Then the

presidents and princes sought occasion against Daniel concerning the Kingdom.

But they could not none occasion nor fault. For as

much as he was faithful, neither was there any air

or fault found in him. They couldn't find one single

thing that Daniel had done wrong concerning the Kingdom. They

had looked for it. They had tried to find fault

with him. They had tried to find a place where

he was then possibly quite honest with Darius, where maybe

he had They tried. They knew what they knew their job,

so they knew what to look. They knew what your

job you know where if you ever become a supervisor,

you know where the shortcuts are, and they knew the

shortcuts they were taken.

And so they began to look for okay, occasion and.

Reason, but they couldn't find one concerning the kingdom because

he was and the reason why thees is because he

was continually a Christian, He was steadfast.

And in the Kingdom he was honest in his work.

Amen, and I hope to God that the world, if

they look for something in us, and they begin to

look high and low to try to find fault with us,

I hope that in our job they can't find it.

Amen.

The only thing that they could find right wrong with

Daniel was they said, they said, find it against him

concerning the.

Law of his God.

That would be such an honor and a privilege that

to this world, when they try to find something wrong

with you, the only thing they can find wrong with

you is the fact that you go to church on Sunday,

the fact that on the job you don't cuss, the.

Fact that all you try to do is live a

life that's pleasing under gone.

They if they look in your life day to day, will.

They see someone that is steadfast.

Someone that is continually a Christian, someone that the thing

that is on their top priority is just the law

of God. Just to be an upstanding citizen. Not only that,

but to be an upstanding Christian.

And that was all they could find.

Wrong with Daniel was the fact was that he was

obedient to the law of his God. So the rest

of these king presidents and princes they begin to they

come up with this big idea. They all get together

and they form a mutiny. Because Daniel was the top

out of the one hundred and twenty three, he was

number one. There was the one hundred and twenty princes

and then three presidents, and he was the top of

the presidents that had ruled over these princes. So they

all come together and it's time to take old Daniel down.

Why Daniel ain't.

Never done any of them wrong.

I can assure you that he was a man with

an excellent spirit, so he had never done anything wrong.

So they get this big idea to to make this

new law, and they come to King Darius and and

they write a decree.

They have him sign a decree.

They're asking him to sign a petition, and this decree

that if any if any man asked a petition of

any god or any man, that they should be cast

into the den of lions.

And then then.

They say, oh, King established the decree and signed the

writing that it that it be, that it may not

be changed. There was laws and things of that nature

that went king had signed a decree or made or

signed a petition that it couldn't be changed. So King

Darius in verse number nine, he goes ahead and signs

that uh, that decree that if any man worships any

other god, or they ask a petition of any man

or any god, that they be cast into the lions.

Then at this point they feel like they have Daniel

right where they need him. They uh there. They they

know that that Daniel is a praying man. But when

the decree was signed, Daniel, when the when the writing

was signed, he went to his house and began to pray.

I began to wonder what his prayer was. He he

knew what the decree was. He was in the top

of the Kingdom of Babylon.

He knew it.

And it's he says in verse number ten. Now, when

Daniel knew that the writing was signed.

He went into his house. So he did know that

the decree was signed. He didn't know that no man.

Is supposed to be petitioning any other. God saved Darius.

I got to wondering if he went in there and

it said his windows were open. It seemed like to

me that his windows just stayed open, because when he

got there, the windows were already open. Or maybe by

chance he had a wife and she knew old Daniel's

about to get home. Let me go ahead and open

up the windows, because I know he's a faithful man

to God. I know every morning, noon, and night he

praised our God. Maybe by chance his wife already had

his prayer rug laid out for it, already opened his

windows up to Jerusalem, because she knew her man would

pray to her God, to their God Amen. So he

knew this decree had been signed. But he still goes

in there, and he begins to pray to God. And

I wish we had his prayer written down. In my imagination.

I begin to imagine he praying, and I wondered if

he didn't pray to God and say, God, you know

these men are after me.

This decree has been signed by King Darius, who you

put there.

And I wonder if he pray and said, God, I

know I'm heading to the lions.

Then I know that is the place where I'm heading.

No questions asked, no offens or but that's where I'm

gonna end up. I just pray that you'll hate me

there because I have been a faithful servant. So when

all these men come together they find old Daniel praying.

I don't believe one bit that this surprised to Amen.

If they thought there was either they were ready to

get Daniel.

If they thought there was any chance that their plan

wouldn't work, they'd have thought of a different scheme. But

they knew with everything within them, that will find Daniel

in their praying and making petition to God? Does our parents?

It amazes me how much a lot of this service

ties in as much as these men knew that they

were gonna find Daniel.

Doing what he always did. Does your parents, does your mama?

Does your daddy? Does your siblings? Does your pastor? Know

that they'll find you steadily and continually.

In the good and the bad.

Being a Christian, they knew it was one hundred percent

chance our plan will work. I don't think there was

one of them.

That said, Hey, I don't know that this plan right

here is gonna work.

Just imagine with me and the kingdom, if they had

to work over time, Daniel would disappear at that morning time. Amen,

at the morning time, it wasn't even in there, if

it wasn't ot for us morning noon.

So at noon they knew, oh Daniel.

Whether it be his office, whether it be the backside

of a pow the palace, they knew that they would

find Daniel there. Then they answered the king that Daniel.

They didn't say that President Daniel. They said Daniel, that Daniel,

the one the captive of Judah when we took Judah

into captivity, that Daniel.

Darius knew good woll who they were talking about.

All they were trying to do was be little Daniel,

the one that shouldn't even have no place in your kingdom,

that one that's nothing more than a captain. When we

brought Judah into captivity, he should be a servant.

All they were trying to do was be little or

Daniel in the eyes of King Darius. Hallylujah. They're just

in their mind, you know, why do you make him?

I'm sure that maybe second maybe second third presidents, maybe

they were from Babylon, maybe they had been in the

kingdom longer than Daniel. And they get all upset, so

they try to believele Daniel. Amenhuah. They all get together

and they go in there to King Darius. Let's just

imagine they go into his courts and they begin to

tell him that that Daniel, he doesn't listen or regard

the law that you signed. Hold up, this was y'all's idea.

Daniel is just the man that you're after. But they

begin to tell him he doesn't listen, don't even take

the time to regard the law you signed.

But yet he's.

Almost second in your kingdom, they say, But he continued,

he continually makes his petition three times a day. Why

he makes those those petitions? He was continually a Christian.

Amen.

Then then King Darius, when he heard these words, he

was sore displeased with himself. He realized in thy moment,

oh God, I've been I've.

Been duped and deceived. He realized they had got the

best of him.

And I don't know, maybe maybe maybe oh Daniel was

in there when he signed that decree, and maybe he

was a man of such integrity that he didn't even

didn't even open his mouth.

He just said, I let her come as she goes.

Why because I know God will stand by me a Manlujah.

It says that he sat his heart to deliver him.

When when we make a mistake, it is our obligation.

It's our obligation to determine and figure out what we've done.

Wrong and do our dead level best to fix.

Itlujah, Thank you Jesus, King King Dariuslujah.

So after King Darius tried everything you could to save.

Yeah, to save Daniel and deliver him because he had

realized the mistake that he had made. Sometimes we're way

too often we make decisions way too fast.

It come across his desk.

Perhaps there was so many of them in there he

got tired of one hundred and twenty two of.

Them harassing and hounded him about it. That he just said,

get it here, let me sign it. Hellelujah Jesus.

So King Darius, after he had done everything he can,

it said, he spent that evening in verse number fifteen.

Then these men assembled under the king and said under

the said under the king, no old king that belonged

the Midians and the Persians. Is that no decree nor

statue which is made which the king established, may be changed.

Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel and cast

him into the den of lions. Now the king's facan said,

under Daniel, thy God, whom thou servicet continually, he will

deliver thee.

He didn't.

He he said, whom thou servicet continually will deliver thee,

not that he might not that he's seen Daniel's relationship,

and he knew that that God could.

He said he will amen.

After King Darius had put Daniel in the den of lions,

he went to.

His palace.

And passed the night with fasting, the Bible says, and

his sleep went from him.

When when we mess up in life, can we, jr.

Do we have a conscious that we can just sleep

on it?

He had enough integrity in him that he couldn't even sleep.

He said he passed the night with fasting, and his

sleep he went from him because he realized he had

put Daniel in this den of lions.

Amen, Darius and Daniel were not young men all growing up.

When you hear somebody preach Daniel a lot of times,

because it's preached in a youth service a lot of times,

naturally your mind you picture Daniel as a young man.

If you read in chapter number five, verse thirty one,

right here, Darius right here says took the kingdom being

about three score and two years, that's sixty two years

from that. He was sixty two years old when he

took the kingdom. Now, when Judah has took captive, they believe,

certain scholars believe that Daniel when he would have been

took captive, just say he was between the age of

fifteen and eighteen, and then they say he served in

the kingdom for sixty five to seventy five years.

So this puts k This puts old.

Daniel somewhere in his eighties to somewhere in his nineties.

So that's even more of a thumbs up to the

man Eluiah. So, and what I.

Get out of him not being a young man is that, Daria,

you have a lot more time from one to fifteen,

there's not as much time to stumble and to following

people see you do wrongdoings as the time frame from

one to the age of possibly in your nineties. Darius

had seen Daniel. Darius, no doubt, had heard about him.

There was years upon years of times for Daniel to

stumble and to fall. But from the time of captivity

or to the time of let's say eighty or ninety,

it says there was not.

A fault found in him.

It's a lot easier to be an upstanding Christian from

the time of our youth than it is from the

time of.

Our youth until we're an outre.

Soir. Darius had seen Daniel from let's say, from his

youth to his old but he still saw that excellent spirit.

Inning that Daniel had from his youth.

He still saw it inning when they grew old together.

I hope to God that when this youth group grows

all together, that we.

Are still just as on fire as you are now.

King Darious, little man Daniel.

When they grew old together, Darius knew when I become to.

Power, Daniel is the man.

I need, and I whip your God, that when we

grow old, that our pastor would have the faith and

the confidence in us to.

Say they're the one I need.

Darius had many times and the opportunities to see Daniel

stumble and fall, but the Bible plainly says there wasn't

a fall founding. So King Darius, after he had lost

all this sleep and and he had fasted, he and

the Bible says, arose very early in the morning and

win in haste to the den of lions. As I've

already said, he had to go check on his mistake.

He wanted to go see is God.

Gonna?

Is God gonna Overlook, let's just say my mistake.

Because he didn't do it on purpose.

He was Mistakes are all right, it's the reaction to them.

And I'm no, hey calling a sin of mistake, all right.

It was a complete, total, unplanned deal to put Daniel

in this king. So he wakes up very very early

in the morning and makes haste to the den, And

when he come to the Din of lines, he cried under.

He cried under Daniel, Oh, Daniel, serving up the Living

God is thy God whom thou service continually able to

deliver thee from the lions.

God honored Daniel's life.

God honored the fact that Daniel, in the midst of Biblin,

he done his best to be a Christian continually.

So when Daniel.

Gets thrown down in the lions, into the den of lions,

God honors that and puts his head of protection around him.

Daniel's response, Daniel says, O, King live forever. Why isn't

Daniel mad at King Darius? How many times do we

find ourselves just a little bit hot under the call

with someone.

Makes a mistake towards us, he says.

And Daniel says, Oh, King live forever. He didn't give

him a piece of his mind. He didn't lose his

temper on um. Why because he still had the excellent

spirit that he had when God throwed him in that test.

And when God throwed him in that trial, he still

had the excellent spirit when Darius had him cast in

there as when Darius come to get him out. God

will say, and test and trials to test if that

excellent spirit that we had when we writ it to it,

if we'll still have it when we come out.

We have to have We have to be a Christian continually.

Daniel could have so easily lost his testimony in that moment.

All them years.

That he is spent with Darius, all them times he

counseled Darius, no doubt, you don't have someone in your

kingdom with an excellent spirit and with the desertment and

the gifts that Daniel had that.

You don't lean on.

So Daniel in a short moment, it's so fast, all

them years that it took to build that reputation in

a moment, he could have lost it in a moment.

The years and all the eyes and all the times

you didn't say a cuss word, and all the times

you walked out on good bye Joe, just in a moment,

just in a short time.

What took you years to.

Build up, what reputation took you years to build, you

couldn't lose in a moment.

Hallelujah.

When when Darius come to that that dinner, and Daniel

didn't start yelling and hollering at him, and the only

thing he heard was all King live forever. He said,

I knew Daniels wasn't just a fascad. I knew Daniel

never fooled me like the rest of them did. I

knew that excellent spirit that I thought I decerned in him.

I knew it was real.

Daniel replies, My God has sent his angel and has

shut the lion's mouth that they have not hurt me.

Why didn't they hurt him? Let's read. I believe it's

verse twenty two.

My God hath sent his angel and have one angel

multiple lions.

Amen.

My God hath sent his angel and has shut the

lion's mouths, that they have.

Not hurt me.

For as much as before him, in innocence was found

in me, and also before thee or King, I have

done no hurt. Daniel didn't even hurt the lions there.

I know it's not worded there, but they were so

tained and docile. Daniel could have been like David if

he felt like him. Daniel could have felt that spirit

rise up hit him and he could have torn him.

He could have when they went to pull him out,

he could to come walking out with the head of

every line, and the idea I ain't got all them

tighter around his belt.

He was a den of lines. I don't think he'd

have had enough hands to carry their heads out.

Hall Elujah, Hell Elujah.

If these two men wouldn't have been innocent, he said,

it's in that latter part of twenty two. Innocence was

found in me, and also before thee if they will,

if if Daniel, what I'm trying to say here is

if God decides to put you in a test, and

if God decides to put you in the trial of

your life, you better hope you're what you told God

you are. And I understand God knows all things. But

Daniel was what he said he was. Daniel had the

spirit that other thought he had. For if he wouldn't

have have that innocence that was found in him, then

when God put him in there, and when God allowed

King Darius to sign that decree, then he would have

been the shine.

So when Daniel comes to that that when he when

Darius comes to that den.

And he hears Old Daniel say, uh, Daniel gives him

that beautiful greeting, then King Darius was exceeding glad for

Daniel Amena. So he tells him to take Daniel up

out of there, out of the dinner lions. It says

that no manner of hurt was found upon him, because

this is verse twenty three, because he believed.

In his God.

Then was the king exceedingly glad for him. He was

glad for his friend. He was glad because God had

fixed his mistake. He was so God, God, when I

was deceived, you made a waut when I didn't have

that discernment to realize that plan.

Was nothing more than I set up. You clean it

all up.

Eliah the Louder of twenty three. So Daniel was taken

up out of the den, and no manner of hurt

was found upon him.

Why because he believed in his.

Godlaha verse number twenty four.

I want to read this.

And the king commanded, and they brought these men which

had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den

of lions, them their children, and their wives, and the

lions and had and the lions had the mastery of them,

and break break all their bones in pieces, or ever

they came at the bottom of the den. I got

to wondering why Darius and I understand things were done

a lot. There's a lot of laws and reasons why

we can't do a lot of things in the Bible.

Pre prophets would take false prophets and hum and cut

them all up into pieces. I got to thinking, why

did why did God have old Darius get it in

his crawl that these men there's a lot of people. Now,

I just thought of that, that Dinner Lions definitely was

an absolute.

Den of lions.

Why in twenty four they cast them into the den,

into the den of lions, them their children and their wives,

and the lions had the mastery of them.

There was one hundred and twenty two.

Men that come against Daniel, and they cast one hundred

and twenty two let's just say they all had a wife,

and let's just say they all had kids, and they

devoured them, crush their bones as they come to the bottom.

That's why the Dinner Lions to eat up that many people.

One little lion, two little lions, stream little lions more

than likely going to fire a few hundred people.

And I got to thinking, why would Darius throw them

all in there? Because nowadays we wouldn't. Nowadays we couldn't.

And I got to thinking that.

Was God's way of disproving and discrediting.

All the dollars You say, why is that people are

are imbeciles.

People are dumb enough to say all the lines weren't

even hungry.

I don't even know the timeframe. Perhaps there was minutes,

perhaps there was hours.

After Daniel gets hoisted up out of that den, just

a short time.

Oh, Darius wouldn't gonna wait too long.

Because he knew what these men could do to his kingdom.

So let's say a few minutes or a few hours

from Daniel and pulled up power to them getting through.

Then they all get devoured, so no one could use

the stupid excuse. So oh, they didn't touch Daniel. They

weren't that hungry. If they were as hungry as they

acted with one hundred and twenty two men plus their

wives and kids, imagine what they'd have done when one

long man got dropped in there. It's like having it's

like having one hundred men that have been fighting in

afghanist stand for a week that ain't a choir, drop

one rabbi in between them and say how.

They act.

God totally in his great power, and that amazing mind,

that He's God took away any excuse or any way

anyone could try to discredit what he had saved Daniel from. Heah,

brother Jesse, if you come get.

Us a song. God honors Daniel.

Because, as Darius states twice, the God whom thou service continually,

and then he says that the God thou service continually

is able, he will deliver thee.

It is so important Daniel.

Daniel was such an example to King Darius of how

steady and how faithful he was to God.

And I gotta come in Darius for the fact that he.

Didn't get married, that Daniel went in direct contradiction of

his ardor.

Darius.

The Bible don't say it, but I believe Darius had

that excellent spirit within him.

And Daniel is.

An absolute extraordinary example to Darius of what a Christian

should act like, what a Christian should talk like. In

the time of pressure, when he was thrown in the

den of lions in there and the very man that

put him there comes up and he says, O, King

live forever. He showed him what it was like to

have a heart of gold.

Amen.

First Chronicle sixteen eleven says seek the Lord and his strength,

seek His face continually. So I'm thirty four and one

says I will bless the Lord at all times. His

praises shall be continual in my mouth.

We must strive. It must be our top priority to

continually strive.

And do our dead level best to be the best Christian.

This side of heaven, A man if we will.

Let's all come around these altars and pray to God

and ask God to set that desire deep in our

heart to continually be an example to our friends, our families,

our siblings, our coworkers, and to continually be a Christian

before this world.

Amen,