Skip to content How to Stand When They Want You to Fall - Part B Dec 25 · 26 min ...more
How to Stand When They Want You to Fall - Part B
December 25, 2025 · 26 min
How can you stand firm when the world pressures you to compromise? Pastor Skip shares why bowing before God gives you strength to stand before anyone.
Series Connect with Skip Heitzig Podcast December 25, 2025 · 26 min · Connect with Skip Heitzig Podcast
How can you stand firm when the world pressures you to compromise? Pastor Skip shares why bowing before God gives you strength to stand before anyone. ...more Show the full description Show less How can you stand firm when the world pressures you to compromise? Pastor Skip shares why bowing before God gives you strength to stand before anyone.
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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. At Connect with Skip, our passion is to help you grow in your relationship with Jesus through solid verse by verse bible teaching that's0:13 both clear and practical. Every message you hear is designed to strengthen your faith and help you live out God's truth wherever he's placed you. But did you know that you can stay connected beyond the0:24 broadcast? When you sign up for pastor Skip's free weekly devotional, you'll receive biblical encouragement, exclusive content, and free resources to help you go deeper in God's word, all0:36 delivered straight to your inbox. It's quick, easy, and completely free, and it's a great way to stay rooted in truth every week. Sign up today at connect with skip dot com. That's0:47 connect with skip dot com. Now here's today's message from pastor Skip Heitzig.0:53 If you think that you're gonna get every Christian to agree on every point of doctrine and style of worship, good luck. Not going to happen. You may not agree with my1:05 view on certain things. You may not agree with my view on eschatology, of the church. You may not agree with my view on spiritual gifts. You may not agree with my view on the election of the believer. And I1:17 always give anybody the privilege to be wrong. You can believe whatever you'd like. Once said, if you find 2 people that agree on everything, 1 of them is not1:29 thinking. So I think vigorous debate can be good, can be healthy, can be helpful, as long as we don't divide over it. Can you imagine if we1:41 could assemble the great Christian minds throughout the centuries and put them in 1 room together? For example, if we were to go back to the fourth century and get Augustine of1:53 Hippo, North Africa, who spiritualized so many texts of the scripture, put him in the room and sit next to him, the tenth century Bernard of Clairvaux. And for fun, let's2:05 add the sixteenth century reformer John Calvin next to him. And then to really spice things up, we'll go to the eighteenth century. We'll get John Wesley, Charles Wesley, and George Whitfield.2:17 Just those 3 in and of themselves would be fireworks. Then let's go to the ninth century and put in Charles Haddon Spurgeon and D. L. Moody. We'll go to the twentieth century. We'll put C. S. Lewis in that room and2:29 Billy Graham. We'll go to the 20 first century and put the likes of N. T. Wright in there. I'm going to tell you something. There is not going to be unanimity on every single point. It'll2:41 be a very, very lively discussion. But at the end of the day, what you will have is unity when it comes to the essential historic Christian gospel.2:53 We're not much different than an athletic team. You've all heard of teams every season. The season starts out where there's bickering between some of the individual players on that team. They're kind of out for their own3:04 glory, out for themselves. But as the season moves on and they near the playoff, they know they need to act together because victory is in sight. If they've made the playoff,3:16 they better give their best parts of who they are to the team so they can win the battle. So unity then doesn't mean uniformity or unanimity. It does, however, mean3:28 harmony. It means harmony. It means we choose to work together. We choose to cooperate over the essentials, the essentials.3:40 I've always loved that little axiom from the Reformation. You've heard it. In essentials, unity. In non essentials, liberty. In all things,3:52 charity. That was Jesus' passion. He prayed for unity. In His high priestly prayer, John 17, Jesus prayed that they all may be 1,4:04 that they also may be 1 in us, that the world may believe that You sent me. Doctor. Martin Lloyd Jones, Dean Martin Lloyd Jones, was a medical doctor4:17 who became a pastor. Very interesting story on a personal level. He was a medical doctor, became an assistant pastor to Doctor. G. Campbell Morgan of Westminster Chapel. When Morgan died, the church was given4:28 to, as the pastor, D. Martin Lloyd Jones. And 1 of the stories that Jones told is that before the Spanish Civil War in the great cities4:40 of Spain, like Barcelona and Madrid, that the psychological clinics treated large numbers of people for what he called little4:52 issues, personal problems, personal anxieties. But then the civil war broke out. And when it did, 1 of the most striking effects the5:04 civil war had on the Spanish population is it virtually emptied the medical clinics overnight. They were suddenly all cured by a greater5:15 anxiety. No longer are they worried about little personal problems. Now they're worried about, will my husband be alive because of this war? Will my son5:27 come home from the battlefield? And says Martin Lloyd Jones, greater anxieties get rid of lesser anxieties. Why am I sharing that with you?5:38 Because just in case you're the type of person who likes to bicker and banter and meddle and gossip and divide, let me just say, get into the real battle. Quit5:50 using your sword against other Christians and realize there's this huge demonic onslaught and world that wants you to fall. So the6:02 team needs to get together. We need to We need to work together and strive together. Unity. Unity will help you stand. Consistency followed by unity. Here's a6:14 third leg on that stool, bravery. Now watch Paul. And again, Paul's a prisoner facing Caesar Nero, and he practiced what6:25 he preached, verse 28, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation and that from6:37 God. The New Living Translation renders it this way, Don't be intimidated by your enemies. Or let's put it this way, Don't let6:49 unbelievers scare you. Don't let unbelievers scare you. Now look at that word terrified in verse 28. That's a word that refers7:00 to horses who easily get spooked and throw their riders off. You know, sometimes a horse will become afraid or terrified by meaningless7:12 things, like a little rabbit jumps out or a person gets too close. And they get all nervous, and they shoot up, and they buck their riders off. And so when that happened, when a horse became terrified, what7:24 they would say in antiquity is the horse is battle shy. Don't take this horse into battle. He's battle shy. Paul is saying, don't be a battle shy believer. Don't be a battle shy. Don't be7:36 afraid of unbelievers. Now, nobody wants to fight unless you're insane. Nobody looks for a fight. Nobody wants to rush into battle. But when the battle comes from the7:47 unbelieving world, Paul is saying, don't be afraid to face the enemy. Don't you love that slogan? Have you seen it? No fear. It's been around a while. No fear. When I first saw7:59 that, I said, hey, that's our slogan. That belongs to the church. We can't be motivated by fear. Why? Because fear controls people. It cripples8:11 people. Fearful people can be manipulated easily. They can be shut down easily. I've told you stories about some of my college professors who wanted to make me a public8:22 example because I was the stupid little Christian guy who believed Jesus, and they would go out of their way to threaten or ridicule or intimidate me. Now, the Philippians, they had some good8:34 reasons to be scared. Because believing in Jesus in Philippi, this colony of Rome well, we saw what happened to Paul there. He got thrown into jail. He got beaten up.8:47 That could happen to them. They could be executed. They had already been ostracized by family members and by society. But here's what Paul says. Here's the gold in this verse.8:59 When that happens, when opposition comes your way for the sake of Christ, it's a sign from God. Look at verse 28,9:11 Which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation and that from God. That's just a way of saying, when that happens, it shows you9:23 which side you're on and which side they're on. If you're getting hassled by unbelievers for the sake of Christ, when that happens, it shows you it's darkness against light.9:35 It proves who I am. It's a badge of honor. It's a sign from God. So can I encourage you? Be a brave nonconformist.9:48 I like nonconformists. I am 1. Be a brave nonconformist. When you are, you will stand out like a diamond against a dark backdrop of this world.10:00 In a world that has rejected God, for you to step forward and bravely announce your allegiance to Christ, you will be a refreshing exception. And you'll make a difference.10:12 Remember when they tried to arrest Jesus? Well, did arrest him, but they came to the garden, soldiers well equipped, like swords and shields. And they come to the Garden of Gethsemane. And Jesus said, who are you looking10:22 for? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. He stood up and said, I am He. They all fell backward. He didn't shrink away and go, no. He10:34 stood up. He presented himself. Or how about Stephen when he is surrounded by hostile people who want to kill him, and they eventually did. And he says he can't keep his mouth10:45 shut. He says, look, I see the heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. Or how about Peter? Now, he was a little skittish.10:57 He denied Christ 3 times to a servant chick in the garden of the High Priest. He couldn't even give a testimony to a woman who'd said, aren't you 1 of the guys that followed him? No,11:08 no, I'm not him. But then we see him filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost after an encounter with the resurrected Christ. And he boldly, bravely preaches. So it says the audience was11:20 cut to the heart. That's bravery. That's bravery. And that courage, verse 28, proves you're saved. And if you don't have it, ask God11:32 for it. And step out and try it. Don't shrink from your world. Stand up to it. 1 person can make a difference and actually change history.11:44 This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. As we reach the end of 20 25, generous support from friends like you is vital to keep Connect with Skip Heitzig strong and sharing God's unchanging truth around the11:56 world. Your year end gift helps more people hear the gospel and find lasting hope in Jesus. And to thank you for your generosity, we'll send you the Daily God Journal, pastor Skip's new year long12:07 prayer journal, together with the digital devotional, the daily God book. These resources will guide you through scripture day by day, helping you align your heart with God and experience his peace.12:19 Request yours when you give a year end gift of 50 dollars or more at connect with Skip dot com slash offer or call 8 0 0 9 2 2 18 88. Let's return now to today's12:31 message.12:32 Have you heard the story of Telemachus? Some of you have. Around 400 AD well, you know what was happening in Rome in 400 AD the Colosseum was filled with12:43 spectators watching bloodsport. They would sit there, and their entertainment was watching people kill other people or animals kill other people. It's not unlike what we like to watch on violent television, but12:55 they just saw it in real life. And they were entertained by it. 1 day, a Syrian monk by the name of Telemachus, this little Syrian monk, was in the crowd, saw what was happening, was repulsed by it.13:08 And so this little Syrian monk runs down, jumps over the balustrade, goes out into the arena floor, waves his little monk arms, and says, in the name of Christ, forbear.13:20 Stop this. This is senseless. This is nonsense. Because he interrupted their entertainment, like somebody switched the channel, they ordered him to be thrust13:32 through with a sword and killed. Some accounts say he was stoned to death. Others say he was cut with a blade. But he died. His blood filled the arena floor, he died13:44 that day. But something happened. Over the next few months, the flow of people to be entertained by that blood spore diminished. And a few months later, it ended altogether because 113:56 person stood bravely and said, that's not right. So here's the point. If you bow before God, you can stand before anyone. If you14:08 bow before God, you can stand before anyone. Remember Jesus said, don't fear people. Don't fear man14:20 who can kill the body. Fear God who can cast both body and soul into hell. Fear Him. If you have a healthy fear of the Lord, a healthy respect for God,14:32 and you bow before Him, that'll give you the power, the ability, the strength to stand. So we have 3 legs on this 4 legged stool. We have consistency, unity, and we14:44 have bravery. Let's finish it off and make it even more stable. You're not going to like this 1, agony, agony. Verse 29, It has been granted14:56 to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. I know you're saying, oh,15:08 boy. Having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me. Now, look at how he phrases that.15:19 It has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe, but to suffer. There's 2 parts of that. And the first part always guarantees15:31 the second part. If you believe in Him, that's the first part, then you'll suffer for Him. That's the second part. Paul said, all those15:43 finish out this verse with me. All those who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You know, we never mention that, do we, to new believers, new15:55 converts? Probably rightfully so, but I think sometimes we give the impression to younger believers or brand new converts in the faith16:07 that, Okay, you've made this decision. Now the birds are just going to sing louder than ever before. The sky is going be bluer. And all your problems are going to go away. All your struggles are going to go away.16:19 It's true that the biggest battle has been won, but you have now invited a whole host of new battles. Because Jesus said, in this world, you shall16:31 have tribulation. Jesus said, they have hated Me. Don't be surprised when they hate you because you align yourself with Me. But please look at how16:43 Paul writes. He says, it's been granted to you. It's been given to you the privilege. He's saying, God's doing you a favor. Oh, good. What16:54 is it? He's going to let you suffer. You're going, can I not have that favor, please? Could God give that gift to somebody else but not me? I like God's other gifts. I wish health and wealth17:06 preachers would study these verses more carefully. Because Paul sees suffering far differently than Americans see suffering. We think it's just the evil of all evils to suffer anything.17:18 Paul says, if you suffer well and you suffer for the right reason, it's a privilege. In fact, the word he uses granted comes from the word grace.17:30 Just as God has given you the grace to believe, God has given you the grace to suffer, the grace to suffer. Listen, I know you don't see it as a gift, but I'll tell17:42 you, this gift will do more to build up your life and make you strong and bless you than just about anything else. It will. My challenge is that you become like17:53 popcorn. What I mean is, most grains, when you heat them up, shrivel up and get hard. Not so with popcorn, right? You put 400 degrees Fahrenheit to that18:05 kernel of popcorn, and a gas is emitted on the inside of that kernel that pushes out that hard exterior and cracks it, and it becomes enlarged. And it becomes a18:17 blessing, a delight to people. Know, suffering will do that for you. It will enlarge your life. It'll make you a delight to other people as you are tempered18:29 by that suffering and you become more valuable by that experience if you do it well and you do it for the right reason. In fact, in Philippians chapter18:40 3, if by God's grace we ever get there, and we will, here's Paul's prayer. Listen to this. That I may know Him and the power18:52 of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering and even be shaped by death. That's his prayer. I want a fellowship with the19:04 sufferings of Christ so that when I suffer for the reason that I'm attuned to and following Christ, I'm entering into a certain kind of fellowship. I've19:16 done many studies on the value of suffering. Let me just shoot out a few little truths. When you suffer on earth, it makes you long for heaven. It does. I mean, you're19:28 a citizen of heaven, so the more you suffer because of Christ on this Earth, you're thinking, man, I can't wait to get home and get a reward for this. It looks pretty good. Second, when you19:40 suffer on this Earth, it produces patience in you. It's very productive. It's like the young preacher that went to the old preacher, and he said to the old man, could you pray for me? I'm an impatient young man.19:52 You ever have that problem? You're impatient. This guy said, pray for patience. So the old preacher said, I'd love to. He bowed his head and he prayed, Father, give this young man tribulation and suffering. The young guy20:03 said, woah, preacher, I didn't ask for that. I want patience. And the old man quoted to him the scripture, tribulation worketh patience. This is how you get20:15 patience. You don't get it from reading the latest Christian book on it. You get it from going through the suffering that produces it. So it'll orient you toward heaven. It'll give you20:27 patience on the earth. And the third thing suffering will do is make you sensitive to other believers who are suffering, at least it ought to. Do you know that right20:39 now over in the Middle East, there is a genocide going on of Christians who have been crucified, who have been beheaded, who have been ostracized? Thousands, millions of brothers and sisters for the20:51 cause of Christ. Our suffering here, if people laugh at our bumper sticker or get mad that we are a bold Christian, is nothing compared to the sacrifice that they21:02 have. So what that does is it orients us to heaven. It brings us patience here. But it also gives us a sensitivity toward others who are suffering. However,21:15 as I already mentioned, make sure when you suffer that you suffer for the right reason. Look at the words. Look at how Paul writes. He doesn't do it by accident.21:26 It has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. When you suffer, it should21:38 be on His behalf for His sake. Isn't that exactly what our Lord said? Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. You21:50 know Jesus never said, blessed are the persecuted. It's not a blessing to be persecuted if you're just being persecuted for no good reason. Because some people22:02 get persecuted because they're weird. They're just weird they're obnoxious. Their personality invites persecution. Jesus said, make sure that when22:14 you get persecuted, you get persecuted for righteousness' sake. I know people who try to represent the Lord in such a caustic manner. Listen, if you yell at a group of unbelievers, you uncircumcised Philistine,22:27 how does hell sound? You probably won't win their hearts, and you probably will get persecuted. It will not be for righteousness' sake.22:39 It will just be because you're weird. Jesus said, in the world, we need to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Why have some of us turned22:51 that around? Some of us are as wise as doves, which aren't too bright and harmless as serpents, which are deadly. I think when it comes to our witness23:02 for the world that God is looking for sharpshooters, not machine gunners. When you launch that arrow of truth, when you speak that truth, when you pull that trigger of gospel23:14 truth, make sure it's well placed and well timed. As Paul said, let your speech always be filled with grace, seasoned with salt.23:26 So these 4 qualities are like the 4 legs on a chair or a stool. They will add stability to your life when the world wants you to fall, and they do.23:38 So my encouragement to you is don't fall. Stand. Stand tall, stand strong, stand together, even if it hurts. Do you remember those23:50 toys? I don't if they still make them, but it used to be like this vinyl doll that was weighted at the bottom. You know, it had like a face painted on it. And no matter what you do to that doll, it always comes up24:01 upright because it's weighted. So you can punch it. It'll fall down, but it comes right back up. You can kick it. It'll fall down, come right back up. You can do it repeatedly. It keeps coming back up. I picture Paul24:11 like that. Lock him up in prison. Okay, I'll preach to the guards. Comes back up. Okay, get them out of prison. Okay, I'll go visit the Philippian church and encourage them. Comes back up.24:23 Okay, well, kill them. Okay, kill me. But before you do, let me tell you about Jesus. He's like the doll that keeps coming back up. May God make us like that.24:35 Stand. Stand together. Stand strong for His glory.24:42 We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. And remember, before you go, your generosity today makes a real difference. As this year ends, your24:54 gift of 50 dollars or more helps more people hear God's word and find lasting hope in Jesus. And to thank you, we'll send you the daily God journal along with the companion digital devotional, the25:05 daily God book. These resources will help you start the new year aligned with God's heart and growing in faith each day. Give your year end gift now at connect with Skip dot com slash25:17 offer or call 809 2 2 18 88. 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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