Skip to content I Dare You: Speak Out! - Part B Oct 2 · 26 min ...more
I Dare You: Speak Out! - Part B
October 2, 2025 · 26 min
Why should you never be afraid to tell people the truth? Pastor Skip shows you how God’s straight truth is mightier than the enemy’s lies—and how it can change lives.
Series Connect with Skip Heitzig Podcast October 2, 2025 · 26 min · Connect with Skip Heitzig Podcast
Why should you never be afraid to tell people the truth? Pastor Skip shows you how God’s straight truth is mightier than the enemy’s lies—and how it can change lives. ...more Show the full description Show less Why should you never be afraid to tell people the truth? Pastor Skip shows you how God’s straight truth is mightier than the enemy’s lies—and how it can change lives.
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Skip Heitzig ministers to over 15,000 people as senior pastor of Calvary Church in Albuquerque. He reaches out to thousands across the nation and throughout the
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0:01 Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We're so glad you've tuned in today. Here at Connect with Skip, we believe there's no substitute for knowing God through his word, and we wanna help you stay grounded in0:12 his truth no matter what's happening in the world around you. That's why we've created the 30 k 30 day challenge, a free daily email series designed to help you read, understand, and0:24 apply the bible in fresh ways. Every day, you'll receive a big picture overview of a New Testament book along with key bible passages to focus on, a prayer to guide you, and practical0:36 tools to help you put God's truth into action. It's free, it's easy to join, and it can make a lasting impact on your spiritual growth. Sign up now at connect with Skip dot com. That's0:48 connect with Skip dot com. Now here's today's message from pastor Skip.0:54 You, O king, Daniel continues, we're watching. And behold a great or a colossal image. This great image whose splendor was excellent stood before you,1:06 and its form was awesome. So he was a California prophet. This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and1:18 thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron, partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of the iron and the clay1:29 and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, the gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away so that no trace of them1:41 was found, and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Now about this time, Nebuchadnezzar is riveted in his seat with his1:53 mouth partially open as he realizes, bingo, that's exactly what I dreamed. This kid nailed it. That's what I saw in my dream, a polymetallic2:05 image standing in front of me, completely stationary until suddenly out from nowhere like a missile from heaven, like a sci fi movie, this stone hit the bottom of it, destroyed the2:17 image, and in its place was a mountain that filled the whole earth. Earth. Couple of noteworthy things before we continue. Don't you find it interesting that what he saw was a2:28 statue? What's noteworthy about that? Well, they're in Babylon, the capital of idolatry. There are statues everywhere. God speaks to an idolater in a language an2:39 idolater can understand. He would be familiar with the imagery, and so he sees an image. Second, it's an image of a man because we're2:51 dealing with man's rule, man's kingdoms, the times of the Gentiles as Jesus called it. A third thing that is notable about the dream itself is that it's top3:03 heavy. It's heavier on top than on the bottom. The specific gravity of gold is 19. The specific gravity of silver is 11. The specific gravity of bronze is3:15 8.5. Of iron, 7.8. And the specific gravity of clay is around 2. That means this image is unstable. It's top heavy. And that is how every3:27 nation and kingdom of man on the earth is. It's top heavy. It's unstable at best. As you work your way down the statue from the gold from the top down to the toes, the clay,3:39 there's a decrease in value from gold being the most expensive to clay being like worthless. As you decrease in value, however, you increase in3:51 strength, except for the very last 1 that is the clay. The iron is stronger than the bronze, which is stronger than the silver, which is stronger than the gold being the softest. So we have a decrease in4:02 value, a decrease in specific gravity, but an increase in strength. Now let's continue. Verse 36, this is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of4:14 it before the king. You, O King, are a King of kings, for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. And whoever or wherever the4:26 children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, the birds of the heaven, he has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold. But after you shall4:38 arise another kingdom inferior to yours, then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth, And a fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as the iron4:50 breaks in pieces and shatters everything. And like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the5:01 feet and the toes partly of potter's clay, partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay.5:14 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron, partly of clay, so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will5:25 mingle with the seed of men, but they will not adhere to 1 another, just as the iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings, those5:37 final kings as represented by the toes, The God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and the kingdom will not be left to another people. It shall break in5:49 pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and6:01 that a broken pieces, the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, the gold, the great God, Notice, the great God. He's speaking to6:13 a king who worshipped 13 different gods as the chief deities of Babylon. The great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after6:25 this. The dream is certain. The interpretation is sure. Now I need your attention because I'm gonna work quickly through what he sees and what this means and what6:37 has happened with accuracy as Daniel peers into the future from Nebuchadnezzar's time onward. We'll revisit it at other times in Daniel. We'll 'll get a snapshot today. We begin with6:49 the head of gold. Daniel says, that's you, king. You're the head of gold. You're the king tuna. You're the big enchilada. You're the big kahuna. You're the guy. You're the world7:01 governing empire. And he was. He was at his peak of glory at this time. Governed the whole world of a nation and of a city that was7:12 called the City of Gold. About 90 years later, the historian Herodotus visited Babylon and said, this city has more gold than any other city I have ever visited7:24 in my life. Gold leaf on the palaces and on the public buildings. It oozed, he said, out of every pore of Babylon. It was the golden city. And Nebuchadnezzar7:36 had reign over that city until 5 39 B. C. When another coalition of kingdoms came together against it, as represented in verse 39, after you shall7:48 arise another kingdom inferior to yours. Nebuchadnezzar probably bristled at this point. He had built Babylon to last forever. And now this young upstart says, here's your dream. That8:00 was right. Here's what it means. You're going down. Another one's coming up. We're not told who that is here. We will be told who that is in subsequent chapters. It is the Medo8:12 Persian Empire, a coalition of Medes and Persians. Under Darius the Mede who will take the city and oust the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, that's chapter 5,8:24 and Cyrus the Mede -or Cyrus the Persian, excuse me, will reign over the kingdom in a dual capacity. What's interesting is Darius the Mede will establish a new8:36 form of government called the tribute where every 1 of his captives will be demanded that they pay him in silver. Silver was the metal of that empire. It will be much8:47 larger geographically. It will be much inferior or weaker because it will lack central government. And it is that weakness that a young8:59 Greek yuppie named Alexander who thought he was really great will take advantage of. And Alexander the Great will be the next world governing leader, as also mentioned in9:11 verse 39, then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over the earth. Alexander the Great was very ambitious. In 3 34 B. C.9:23 He, through a series of brilliant battles, took over Medo Persia and the world for that matter. It surprised even him how quickly he gained control. What9:35 is noteworthy for us is that the metal that this empire was known for was bronze. In fact, historians call them the brazen coated9:46 Greeks, because the soldiers bore a new amalgam of metal on their chests, their breastplates, their shields, their helmets were bronze. FYI, when Alexander9:58 the Great was pillaging and killing and marshaling his way throughout the world and he was coming against Jerusalem, this is according to Josephus the historian. Anybody here of Flavius Josephus, the Jewish10:10 historian? Josephus says that as he was coming against Jerusalem, Jadua the high priest at the time came out to meet Alexander the Great with a scroll of the book of10:22 Daniel, and opened the scroll of Daniel and showed Alexander the Great where he was predicted, prophesied as 1 who would take over the world.10:33 According to the historian, he dismounted from his horse and Alexander the Great paid homage to the God of the Jews. But the story continues. The bulk of the focus is on the fourth kingdom10:45 mentioned in verse 40, shall be as strong as iron. Again, we're not told who this is, but if we look back history, again, they were looking forward, it was prophecy. To us10:57 it's history. A nation came and the description given befits the kingdom of Rome. The iron legions of11:09 Rome, like a steamroller, slowly but definitely took over the world that these 3 other kingdoms had occupied. Now, if you were to look at the images Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream, you would11:21 notice that the legs formed the longest part of the statue, as Rome would have the longest era of ruling, 1000 years. I mean, Babylon ruled, what, 60, almost 70 years under11:33 Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, then it was over. 1000 years Rome would rule. But even as the image shows a bifurcation, a split, and 2 different legs, the kingdom became11:44 divided into east and west in 3 95 AD. And eventually, as the image would even depict, it weakened and it became brittle and fragmented.11:54 This is connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to pastor Skip's message, think about this. If we really are living in the last days, wouldn't you wanna know? The bible doesn't leave us guessing about the12:06 future. It offers clear prophecies, solid truth, and real hope to anchor your faith in uncertain times. That's why this month, we'd like to send you 2 resources from pastor Skip,12:18 the bible from 30000 feet 2 CD teaching from Daniel and his booklet, are we living in the last days? These explain key end times passages, how they apply today, and how to12:30 live with confidence in Christ. They're yours when you give 25 dollars or more to support connect with Skip Heitzig. Request yours at connect with skip dot com slash offer or call12:41 809 2 2 18 88. Let's return now to today's message.12:47 And at last, there are 10 toes at the bottom of that image. Partly of iron, partly of clay. 10 toes. 10 toes. 10 toes. I want you to remember 10 toes. Can you tell?12:59 I'm not gonna uncover it all now, but keep that in mind because we'll get to chapter 7 and the same truth, but in a different image comes, you'll see a beast with 10 horns. And that13:11 same image will be seen in the book of Revelation chapter 17, a beast with 10 horns, and the angel will tell John who writes these things down, the 10 horns which you saw13:23 are 10 kingdoms. And ever since Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 and Revelation 17, for thousands of years scholars have anticipated some form13:35 of a revived Roman empire. More to say about that later. In the days of those kings, says Daniel, Christ, a stone cut out of heaven will come.13:48 Now here's what's amazing. Here's what's interesting. If we were given the job to depict world history in the form of a statue, we would do exactly the opposite of what is revealed.14:00 We would begin with clay. After all, those were primitive people way back then. But then we became better and more educated and more enlightened, so we'll use iron. And then we became more enlightened and much better and14:12 much smarter and so we'll use silver. But then we became like totally really brilliant gold. And here we are today in the 20 first century, the golden age of technology. And14:24 God would say, now you're really dreaming because he tells you what it's really like. You might begin refined and beautiful, but like every kingdom, like every era, like every epoch, there14:36 is a deterioration. This is how God reveals it. The best part is the last part, the everlasting kingdom. In the days of these kings, the14:48 God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed. Man, here's Nebuchadnezzar wondering what the future holds. He's getting the future given to him in spades. He's getting the full scope14:59 of what is coming. He's being shown that all the kingdoms of men will halt when a stone cut out of heaven comes to the earth. Question, what is that15:11 stone? Who is that stone? It is Christ. In fact, he is even called by that in other portions of scripture. Isaiah chapter 28, God says, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone15:23 for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone. Whoever believes in him will not be ashamed. Jesus' own words, Matthew 21, Whoever falls on this stone will be15:35 broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. Good old King Nebuchadnezzar is getting a history lesson. He's getting schooled by God. He's being shown that God15:47 controls history. And here's King Nebuchadnezzar, he won't last long, there will be others after him. And the kingdoms that are will soon become the kingdoms that were,16:00 as Daniel's vision will unfold throughout history very, very accurately. Now, some in listening to this might have this thought. It's a16:12 predictable thought. Okay, well this is a pretty amazing kind of a thing that he saw all that was coming and okay, I'll grant that. That's pretty fascinating. That's pretty cool. And yes, it could be maybe inferred that16:22 it's Greece and then Rome, etcetera, etcetera. I just say, hold on to your hats. You ain't seen nothing yet. Where do you get through the rest of Daniel? It is so pinpointed in its accuracy. But see, people will look at16:33 the passage like this and go, okay, that happened and that's interesting and that's cool and quaint, but I don't believe that Jesus Christ is literally going to come back to this earth and set up his kingdom.16:46 Well, I feel sorry for you. If you can look at a text of Scripture that predicts things and they actually happen, happen, happen, then there's 1 element that hasn't happened yet, I don't think that's going to happen.16:57 That could never happen. Really? Wouldn't you say that what has happened proves what will happen? Did you know Time Newsweek magazine put out an article sometime back, there's a significant number of Americans that17:09 do not believe we made it to the moon. They don't. They think it's a conspiracy. The article says the reason these people don't believe we made it to the moon because they can't understand the physics of space17:21 travel that would propel a human being from earth to the moon. So because they can't understand it, they won't believe it. I'm sorry if you can't understand the astrophysics of Christ's17:33 return, I can't either. But as I look at prophecy, which is now history that has been fulfilled so accurately, and I look at that last little piece,17:45 I say, yeah, I think that's gonna happen too. It's a matter of time. So here's Daniel, comes before the king, speaks with authority, with humility, and17:57 with accuracy, speaks out. And now what I consider the very best part of the story, the results. And that takes us18:09 to the last couple of verses. Look at verse 46. Daniel spoke out with victory. He achieves his desired result. Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face.18:20 Ouch. It wasn't an accident. It was on purpose. He fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. And the king answered Daniel and18:32 said, truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret. Just let that wash over you. Do you18:44 understand what's happening? Here's a pagan polytheistic king who is making a confession of faith, however deep, however shallow, that all of his gods are wrong, and he believes in18:55 that God, Daniel's God. Because all the 13 gods of Babylon and their priests have remained silent and could not give him the interpretation nor the dream19:07 Daniel and his God have. And he says, Your God is the God. Then the king promoted Daniel, gave him many great gifts, made him a ruler19:19 over the whole province of Babylon and chief administrator over the wise men of Babylon. Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the19:31 province of Babylon, but Daniel sat in the gate of the king. So he is promoted now, which will give him greater influence in the future. All of this19:43 because Daniel dared to speak up God's truth in a pagan culture to a pagan king. Now I want to close this off.19:55 I want to bring it down to its takeaway. You never have to be afraid of truth. If you have truth, why are you afraid to tell20:07 people the truth? God's straight truth is mightier than the devil's crooked lies. Never be afraid of the truth. Hey, can20:19 you echo what Paul said in Romans chapter 1? Here's what he said, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.20:31 Can you echo that? I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Now, I understand not everybody's an initiator, not everybody's vocal, not everybody likes to go up to people and go, hey, can I have a minute of your time? We're not all20:42 wired that way. I get that. I understand that. I had friends who used to go door to door, knock on doors, just cold, open the door, tell them about Jesus. I wasn't20:54 wired that way. I had friends who went along with them 1 time, and when they knocked on the door, they then immediately prayed, God, don't let anybody be home in Jesus' name. They were they were scared stiff.21:05 I'm not trying to force you into a mold that God hasn't put you in, but I do dare you to get out of your comfort zone. And I want you to take away 2 things. I dare you to21:17 care first. I dare you to care. You'll only talk to people if you care. If you really believe the gospel message and you believe that those who trust in Christ will21:29 spend eternity with him in heaven and those who refuse Christ will drop into hell, If you care about that, that's what will motivate you21:41 beyond that point. If you don't care, you won't say anything ever. Jesus, when he looked at the crowd, didn't see an annoyance. He saw sheep21:52 having no shepherd. They were weary and distressed. And the Bible says Jesus, when he saw them, had compassion on them. That's caring. I dare you to care. And22:04 second, I dare you to share because if you care, you will eventually share. That's the hard part. This is the nervous part. This is where we get tongue twisted. You say, how do I do it? Simple.22:17 Not really simple, but the directions are simple. You first pray for boldness, for love, and for boldness.22:29 And then you open your mouth and see if it worked. If it doesn't work, then you can get on the video and say, I'm here to tell you, doesn't work. That's my testimony. It doesn't work. But if you were to dare,22:42 to care, to pray, to ask God for boldness, and then say something, anything to somebody about Jesus. Could be your own personal story. Hey, can I tell you what happened to me? This is just my story. Let me just tell you22:53 what happened to me. Or can I invite you to church? Just just start there. Just invite him. Or give them a Christian music CD, or a book, or a booklet, or something. Just say something. Share the news.23:05 It's good news. It's great news. In 19 49, true story, a man by the name of John Courier was convicted of murder, sentenced to23:17 life in prison. Eventually he was paroled to a work farm near Nashville, Tennessee, and he worked in hard labor. Until 19 68, his case was looked at again and his case23:28 was terminated. He was a free man. A letter was written to John at the work camp, a letter which he never got, the message of freedom that he never23:40 read. He worked on that work camp for another 10 years' hard labor. He's a free man. The letter said so. He didn't know about it.23:52 How would you feel if the most important message that you could ever hear year after year after year failed to be delivered to you? God's come with a24:04 message of freedom. 2000 years ago, his son died on the cross to take away punishment, to open up the doors of heaven, and to give us everlasting life. That's not just good news. That's great news.24:17 And I know we're not all wired the same way, but if you just dare to get out of your comfort zone to care and to share, you will be so far ahead of the game. See, Jesus said, you're24:29 the salt of the earth. And what he implied is by the text itself, you and you only are the salt of the earth. You and you only are the light of the world. The world doesn't see you or hear it from you. They won't get it24:40 from anybody. God is saying, you are my last hope for the people of your generation.24:47 We're so glad you joined us today for connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember to request pastor Skip's 2 CD teaching from Daniel, bible from 30000 feet,24:59 and his booklet, are we living in the last days? They'll give you clarity and confidence about the days ahead. And they're yours when you give 25 dollars or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call25:10 8 9 2 2 18 88 or visit connect with skip dot com slash offer. And while you're there, sign up for the 30 k 30 day challenge and take your bible study deeper.25:22 Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's word here on connect with Skip Heitzig.25:49 Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.
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