You and I have a great high priest who is 24-7 sitting on the right hand of God whose job it is to help a brother out. Dr. Tony Evans talking about the God who gets you. In spite of the trials, in spite of the failure, he says, don't quit, I'm here. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr.
Tony Evans. Believing God has a purpose for your life is one thing, but pressing toward it when life gets hard is another. Today, Dr. Evans explains how God goes before us and meets us right where we are, offering exactly what we need to keep moving forward. Let's listen.
The backdrop to the concept of rest is Numbers 13 and 14, when Israel was on the precipice of entering the promised land. And he calls the promised land his rest. Because God had already set it up for them. By letting The Ites, Hittites, Amorites, Jebusites, Canaanites. Dig wells, build buildings, build houses, build cities.
He said, I've done all of this. to set it up for you when you arrive. And he calls it his rest. Because he pre-did it. Yeah.
Before they got there. Just like he says he did in creation when he created man after he created everything else to make it ready for man. Man was getting the result of what he had previously done.
So, when it talks about entering his rest, it is entering in what God has already preset up for you. Yeah. And therefore, you don't have to make it happen. He set it up for it to happen. You just have to arrive there.
So it's called entering his rest. But he says in verse 11: be diligent to enter his rest. Because To enter God's rest, you often have to overcome things that will keep you from moving forward. You have to overcome your own background sometimes. You have to overcome your own history, your own.
People group, your own racial group, your own education, your own professors, your own media, the culture that you are part of. You have to labor through that because that will try to block you from continuing on to enter what God has set up. His rest. In Israel's case, they listened to the majority. The 10 spies said it's too big, it's too difficult.
They're giants in the land, and because they listened to the wrong word. They did not enter his rest. That's why he comes in verses 12 and 13 and says, The word of God is alive, is living. And it is sharper than any two-edged sword. It is active.
He says, God's word does stuff. Yeah. But to keep with God's word, you often have to labor. to reject man's word. Because there are only two words.
God's word and man's word. And let God be true and every man a liar. Romans 3.4.
So, to enter God's rest, you have to hang on to God's word in spite of the things that want to keep you from God's word. in favor of man's word.
So God's rest is what He has preset up. He now comes. to verses 14 and 15. He says Since we have A great High priest. The reason You can keep going.
And not quit. When life has become too weighty. Trials have become too deep. Pain has become too great. Failures have become too discouraging.
The reason. that you should not give up. To entering in to what God has already preset up for you is because we have. A great High priest.
So let's rewind and understand the priesthood.
So we can understand the great high priest. In the Old Testament. The priest had to pass through. In other words, when he went... To offer sacrifices.
On the Day of Atonement. Only the high priest could do that. The general priest couldn't do that. You had to be the high priest. And he had to pass through three areas.
He had to pass through the outer court. Then he had to pass through the holy place. And then he went into the... Real serious place, the Holy of Holies. where God's presence was.
Shit If he went from place one to place two. And was it right when he got into place three, he would drop dead. Yeah. Because he would be in the very presence of God. He could only do that.
Once a year. The Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement? Was a big day for Israel because it was the day. When sacrifice would be offered.
For God to remove judgment for one year and bring blessing.
So, God would remove judgment and would. Bring blessing when the high priest passed through one, two, and entered into the holiest of all, which is the presence of God, in that third compartment of the temple. And when he entered into that, Judgment was withheld. Mercy was granted. Blessing was restored.
We have A great high priest. But he hasn't passed through. An earthly temple. We're told he passed through the heavens. The Bible says there are three heavens.
Paul went to the third heaven. Heaven number one is the atmospheric heaven, where the clouds are. Heaven number two, the stellar heaven, where the planets and the stars are. Heaven number three is where the throne room of God is. We have a high priest.
Who has not passed through an earthly Process. He's passed through the heavens. In other words, he's not tied to planet Earth. He's not tied to the limitations of history. He has.
Gone through the atmospheric stellar heavens, and he now sits in the very presence of God. Yeah. We have a high priest. Now the high priest. Yeah.
Was the official approved representative of the people before God. He was a mediator. He stood between the people and he stood between God in order to connect the two. Because there's a sinful people, but there's a holy God. And since God is holy, he can't fellowship with sin.
But you had this priest who was an annual mediator. We have a super priest, a great high priest, who now. Stands between us and God to mediate on our behalf. The difference is, He doesn't do it annually, He does it daily. In other words, it's a full-time job.
I call this The theology of the ascension.
Now we got the theology of the cross, Jesus died on Friday. We got the theology of the resurrection, Jesus rose on Sunday. But 40 days later, there is the theology of the ascension when he stepped on a cloud and he ascended up to heaven. On that day, when he ascended up to the third heaven, on that day, he sat, the Bible says, on the right hand of his father to make intercession or to mediate or to act. On our behalf, so that we can enter our rest.
So you have somebody. Who's a great high priest? Whose job it is to keep working on your behalf to get you across the finish line of your rest.
Now, he's already writing the Christians.
So he's not talking about. Just your eternal rest. He's talking about getting to your place that God has pre-prepared for you in history, which He calls entering rest. When Israel went to the promised land, they weren't entering heaven because remember, the ites were there. The Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Jebusites.
So there were enemies in the promised land.
So when he says entering your rest, he's talking about even in the opposition of life, God has pre-set up stuff there for where he's taking you.
Now. He says the high priest. The question is, which priesthood? The number one priesthood in Israel is called the Aaronic priesthood, Aaron. Aaron and his legacy.
Was the priesthood to represent the people before God? That was Aaron. And they offered these sacrifices. to keep people in contact with God. But that's not Jesus' priesthood.
Chapter 5, verse 10 puts it this way. Being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Oh not according to the order of Aaron. Yeah. but according to the order, the line of Melchizedek.
He says, if you want to understand what Jesus is doing right now. Having passed through the heavens, seated on the right-hand side of the Father, don't look at Aaron. You got to look at Melchizedek. Which means if you don't understand Melchizedek, you won't understand Jesus' priesthood. And if you don't understand Jesus' priesthood, then you won't benefit from the job he's doing for you right now to keep you going to enter your predesigned destiny.
Dr. Evans will share an example of how God goes before us when He continues our message in just a moment. Stay with us. Hey, ladies, it's time to gather your friends, small group, or all the women of your church for a soul-fulfilling, faith-awakening time with the Lord. Join us virtually for the Desperate for Jesus Conference this July 25th and 26th.
Get ready to worship and hear powerful teaching from Crystal Hearst, Priscilla Shire, and their special guests. Don't miss this chance to be refreshed as you grow spiritually. Hurry over to DFJConference.com to register for the live simulcast. That's DFJConference.com. If life has left you feeling misunderstood or alone, today's message offers a needed reminder.
God sees, He knows, and He gets you. It's part of Tony's series, Ready, Set, Rest, and as a reminder of the compassion and understanding we find in Jesus. If this message has spoken to you, we'd love to send you the complete four-part series as our thank-you gift when you support the work of the alternative. And there's more, you'll also receive a copy of Tony's book, Kingdom Stewardship, a practical, powerful guide to managing God's blessings in every area of life, not just finances. This limited-time package is a great way to go deeper, so make a request today at tonyevans.org or by calling 1-800-800-32-22.
I'll repeat that contact information for you after the second part of today's lesson. In Genesis chapter 14. We're told that Abraham is coming from a batter. Abraham has been fighting. A battle.
And as he's fought this battle, he's coming back bruised, weary, and tired. In chapter 14, he says. In verse 17, after he returned from the defeat. Many of you have come here today from a battle. From some conflict, from some difficulty, from some challenge, and you find yourself here today coming out of a battle.
Only You find out. When church is over, you head it to a new battle. That's going to be a new challenge this week.
Something that will either continue from last week or be brand new on top of last week. Abraham is coming from one battle. He's getting ready to go into another battle, but he meets a priest. Name Melchizedek. Melchizedek gives him bread and wine to refresh him.
to recover from the battle he's had. And to be Equipped. with new energy for the battle he's about to face.
So the priesthood of Melchizedek. Is a priesthood of overruling most high God. when you're coming out of something and when you're headed towards something. It is the ministry. of refreshing in order to recover and in order to overcome.
Yeah. Jesus' full-time job as our great high priest after the order of Melchizedek is to make sure that the stuff that comes against you does not have the final say because he represents a God who overrules. That's the order of Melchizedek. And guess what? You have your own high priest.
He says he's Jesus. The Son of God. Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus is his human name. He was named at his birth Jesus.
That is his human name. But then he goes on to say this human name. is the Son of God.
Now, he is totally like us in that he is fully human. But he is not like us because It says yet without sin.
So he's fully human in what came at him. He's not like us because he's never yielded to it. He's never given in to it.
So he is the perfect high priest. He can not only say, I know what you're going through, but I also know how you can get out of it because I never got in it. But I know what you're dealing with. The show. And so he says.
We have this great high priest. Who has passed through the heavens? And this great high priest who has passed through the heavens, I love the way chapter 2 of Hebrews puts it, verse 17. He had to be made like his brethren in all things.
So that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those. Who are tempted. Yeah. Now we found something else.
The reason he became Human Was so he could come to the aid. He could assist. You and I have a great high priest. Who is 24-7 sitting on the right hand of God? Whose job it is?
to help a brother out. To help a sister out, to come alongside so that you keep going.
So that you don't throw in the towel, so that you don't quit. In spite of the trials, in spite of the failures. In spite of the past, in spite of what you're going through, he says, Don't quit, I'm here. But you don't get the living word if you skip the written word. That's why he says, therefore, the word of God is living and active.
In order to get the living word to help, you must be committed to the written word to govern. See, a lot of people call on Jesus who skip the word. And they wonder why the high priest is not helping them. The high priest is not going to go against. The word of God, but once you choose God's word over man's word, you have activated the high priest to do his intercessory role to keep you going so that you enter God's rest.
How many of us have spent so much time?
So much time trying to. To make our way.
Well, the whole point of the rest is: I've already gone before you and set it up. But if you don't enter it, it's set up and you never see it. Yeah. You never realize it and you never experience it because you've been so hooked on your word or man's word and not the word that you didn't get help from the priest. The high priest.
And so. Jesus understands our earthly pilgrimage. And he says. We do not have a high priest, verse 15, who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. But one who's been tempted in all things.
as we are yet without sin. He says I need you to do one thing. He says it at the end of verse 14. Let us hold fast. Our confession.
Mm. He says that in a number of places in this book. For example, chapter 3, verse 1. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus the apostle and high priest. of our confession.
He says it in chapter 10. Verse 23. He says Let us hold fast the confession of our hope. without wavering. For he who promised is faithful.
He says Hold on. to your confession. What does that mean?
Okay. These believers who are being written to in the book of Hebrews We're getting ready to regress, go back on their confession. In other words. They no longer wanted to publicly identify with Jesus Christ. To hold on to your confession.
is to acknowledge Public identification with Jesus Christ. Let me say that again. If you are a secret Asian Christian. If you are a spiritual CIA saint, If you are a covert operative. And you do not have identification with Jesus Christ, you have nullified his work as your high priest.
Hold on to your identification with Jesus Christ. Matthew chapter 10, verse 32 and 33. If you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father. But if you confess me before men, I will confess you before my father. Believing in God does not get you the benefit of the high priest.
You can thank God all day long. Jesus is the high priest, not the Father. In order to get the benefit of the father, you've got to have confession of the son. When Jesus Christ is ignored, kicked to the curb, or marginalized so that you're so vague, nobody knows which God you're talking about. What you have done is nullified the work of your high priest.
Don't be ashamed to be publicly associated with Jesus Christ. In St. John chapter 2, verses 23 to 25, it says, many believed in Jesus. Many got saved. But he says he would not commit himself to them because he knew what was in them.
See, you can get saved private. In your closet, with nobody knowing but you and God that you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior. You can do that in private. But once you get baptized, that says, I'm willing now to be publicly associated with Jesus Christ. I'm willing now to be publicly known as a follower of Christ.
You and I have a high priest. Who's seated on the right hand of the Father? Who does not lose, he comes to the aid. of all of those who call upon him. You have got to be identified with Jesus Christ.
Like a quarterback who's being attacked. And he hands off the ball. He hands it off so that somebody else is running with it. As the problems of life come at you. Try to sack you.
Try to knock you down. Jesus says, I'm here for a handoff. And if you'll hand it off to me. I will be there to keep you going. If you hand it off to me, I'll be there to keep you rolling.
So don't you give up. Don't you throw in the towel. Don't you quit. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back.
No turning back. Dr. Tony Evans, encouraging us to press on with the God who walks with us every step of the way. Be sure to request your copy of Tony's current series, Ready, Set, Rest, which includes the full-length version of the message we just heard: The God Who Gets You. Along with the complete four-part audio collection, we'll also send along Tony's powerful book, Kingdom Stewardship: a practical guide to living with clarity and confidence by managing what God has entrusted to you.
Both of these resources are yours with our thanks when you support the Ministry of the Alternative. Just visit TonyEvans.org today or call our 24-hour resource request line. at 1-800-800-3222. That's online at tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. Yeah.
When life feels overwhelming, it's tempting to give up and retreat. But tomorrow, Dr. Evans tells us about the Help Desk in Heaven. Where we can connect with the one who understands our struggles and can give us the strength we need. Be sure to join us.
