Our temptation is to go back to the world because it can be troubling following Christ. But Dr. Tony Evans says the Lord's presence is the key to overcoming. So don't give up on Jesus, because He's there to help during the difficult times when you're tempted to go back. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. There's a powerful societal current that persistently tries to pull us from the truth found in the Word of God. In today's message, Dr. Evans examines how Christ's dual nature—both divine and human—gives us a solid anchor, providing hope, redemption, and victory even when we struggle against the cultural flow.
Let's listen in as he explains. Hebrews was written to Hebrews, to Jewish Christians, Christians who had come out of the old system of Judaism, had accepted Jesus Christ, and were now in the Christian world and living under the faith in their new Savior. This created problems. It created problems with their families. It created problems inside the culture that was steeped with Judaism. It created problems in their personal relationships. It created problems when they became Christians.
And so, they were tempted to throw in the towel, give up, walk away, quit, stop, and say, my faith is not worth this much headache. This is too difficult. Too much trouble. I was back there in my old way. I didn't have all this. I didn't have all this trouble. I didn't have all this difficulty. I didn't have all this frustration.
I could just live my life and, you know, let things be. But now that I've become a Christian and people know I'm a Christian, it's become a problem. So they were tempted to give up. So the author of Hebrews writes this book to tell them don't ever give up.
In spite of—I know it's tough, difficult, and challenging, but don't you quit. And the reason he doesn't want them to quit is because he wants them to reach their destiny in time and receive their rewards in eternity. He wants them to become part of a unique class of people known as the companions or partakers.
Chapter 3, verse 1, Therefore holy brethren—so they're Christians—holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling. The partaker, the metachoi, being the Greek word, meant to be a partner with someone. So if you got a partner in business, he would become a partaker.
The Bible talks about Peter having partners who fished with him. So it was a joint venture, a partnership. Marriage is a metachoi. It's a partner.
So he calls them partners. You are called to be God's partner or companion. Now this idea of partner or companion is more than just that you're saved.
It means that you are a joint participant in God's plan and what He is preparing for you, some of which is in time, other is in eternity, and that is this partnership. Our temptation is to go back to the world because it can be troubling following Christ. Now if you've not run into trouble yet for following Christ, there's only one reason for that, and that is you're not following Him closely.
You're like a long-distance follower, okay? And Christ has long-distance followers who are not His companions. That is, they haven't partnered with Him. In a law firm, you have lawyers, but then you have partners.
You can be a lawyer but not be a partner in the firm. See, to be a partner, you've had to demonstrate excellence, you've had to demonstrate ability, you have to demonstrate success, you have to demonstrate something to be a partner. You can be a Christian but not a partner that is a person who is in this companionship relationship with Christ. So you are saved to become a partner. God wants you to become a partner in this firm, but He wants you to become a partner because you are a serious Christian, and He doesn't want you to lose your partnership. That's not your salvation. You can never lose your salvation, but He doesn't want you to lose your partnership.
That is the calling that He has on your life. So He tells these Jews that He's writing to, don't go back. And so the argument is why you shouldn't go back and how to keep you from going back, and if you start back, how to turn around and start moving forward again, because He doesn't want you to lose what you gain.
So then, He comes to the first warning in the book, or you could call it the first exhortation in the book, chapter 2. For this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it. His concern is them drifting backwards. To drift is to slowly move away. You know, you don't become an alcoholic with that first drink, but it can set the stage.
You don't become a drug addict with that first hit, but it can set the stage. So He's concerned that they are drifting away because they're looking back, they're looking over their shoulder because the Christian faith has become a little rough for them. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, God didn't change what He said when He used angels to reveal His word in the Old Testament, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles, by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. He said, now if God gave angels, let angels bring the word, and God held tightly to that word that came by angels, how tightly do you think He's going to hold to the word coming by His Son?
In other words, that's even a higher word because it's coming from a greater source. What is His concern? His concern is drifting, and how do you drift? He says you drift by neglect, verse 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
Now if you don't see salvation as great, then you're not going to pay close attention to it, and if you don't pay close attention to it, you're going to drift from it. He then goes back to the angel part, for He did not subject to angels the world to come concerning which we're speaking, but one who testified somewhere saying, what is man that you remember him or the son of man that you're concerned about him? He says, you've made man a little lower than the angels. That means constitutionally inferior. We can't fly around like angels, we don't have the intellect as angels, we don't get invisible like angels.
Angels are real, but they can do stuff we can't do because they're spirit beings. Why did God make man a lower, constitutionally inferior person to angels? For the purpose of demonstrating what he could do with less when less would depend on him than he could do with more when more was in rebellion against him. But he says in verse 8, right now we do not see all things subject to him. Now he's won the victory, but we have not yet seen all the results yet of the victory. He's like a person winning an election, but you don't see the results yet of their presidency.
You don't see what the winning has produced fully yet. He says Jesus Christ is in the victor's chair, but we do not yet see all things coming under him even though he's positionally over them. Now the important point for you to know is that's where you and I come in, because we're his companions.
You and I are the ones who are going to join with him to bring everything under him. And so he has a role for all of you to play, all of us to play, portion of it in time, the rest of it in eternity, where we as his partners, you know, when a person is elected, they pick the cabinet. They pick who they're gonna partner with to help run the country or the nation or the city or the state. They got some partners. Now there's a whole slew of people they can choose from, but guess who they choose? People they can trust. You know? Now they may find out after they chose them, they can't trust them, but on the front line, they took people they're gonna trust and people who know or have skill in the area that they were chosen to be responsible for.
And so they partner with that group. So you were saved to become one of God's meta-choi partners, one of his companions, but he wants to know he can trust you. He wants to know when the going gets tough, you ain't gonna leave him. You're not gonna go back on him, okay?
They were thinking about going back. Have you ever had anybody who leaves you when the going gets tough, but love you when everything is going up? Everybody love God when he blessing him. The question is, do you love me when you're not seeing a blessing?
Okay? Are you committed to me, all right? Because he's made us part of this inheritance of meta-choi. Dr. Evans will have the ultimate example of staying the course through tough times when he continues our study in the book of Hebrews in just a moment.
Don't go away. The thing about serving an infinite God is that no matter how much you know about Him, there's always more to learn. So whether you're brand new to Scripture or an experienced ministry professional, there's something for you at the Tony Evans Training Center. You'll find online courses covering core concepts of the faith. Working at your own pace and schedule, you'll dig deep into the historical context of the book, uncover the key teachings, and learn how to apply them in real world situations. There's lots of exclusive content from Dr. Evans to keep you interested and motivated, and an online forum where you can ask questions, get answers, and collaborate with other students. The more you learn, the more you'll want to learn. Give it a try. The Tony Evans Training Center, a world of discovery anytime, anywhere.
You can find out more about the Tony Evans Training Center when you visit our website at tonyevans.org. When we feel that the pressures and problems in our lives are dragging us away from our faith, it can lead us to a pretty tough question. Can God be trusted in our trials?
Well, Dr. Evans has a book by that name where he addresses the question and gives us the answer we need for the strength to stand firm. This study on how to handle adversity will help you sense how close the Lord really is and remind you that He knows what He's doing. You can get this powerful paperback right now along with our current two-volume, 13-message sermon collection on the book of Hebrews called Don't Ever Give Up. These lessons will deepen your knowledge of how God has worked through history, give you a greater appreciation and understanding of Christ's sacrifice for you, and offer practical insights on how to live a victorious life. We'd like to send you both of these resources as a thank you gift when you make a contribution to help continue the alternative broadcast ministry.
Get all the details at tonyevans.org or call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222. Well, right now, let's return to Dr. Evans for the second part of today's lesson from Hebrews chapter 2. We do not, verse 9, see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for every man. So on the cross, Jesus Christ tasted death, died as a substitute for every man, woman, boy, and girl in order to offer salvation.
Why? For it was fitting, verse 10, for Him for whom all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through suffering. Now watch this. When did Jesus get glory? He got glory on Sunday after He got through Friday. He did not get a crown without a cross. Remember what Satan tried to do?
Satan tried to get Him to all these kingdoms I will give you. I'm going to give you a crown and we'll skip the cross. God in taking you to your place of honor, whatever that place is in this life, and ultimately, which is the big prize, the life to come, will always involve enduring something.
He wants to change you so He's not ashamed to call you brother. But He can't change you without carrying you and me through a process of sanctification. And every process of sanctification includes varying levels of inconvenience, which He calls suffering.
The suffering is not designed to hurt, although suffering always hurts, but like a doctor who performs surgery as opposed to a criminal who cuts you, both have cut you, but their purposes are very different. Okay, now stay with me here. We talk about the power of the devil, okay? But what you have to understand is, his power over you and me today can only be exercised by our permission.
It can only be exercised by my permission. And that's why he operates in deception, because he's got to get our permission. So to get our permission, he knows that if he just comes up and says, why don't you cuss God out, we're probably not going to do that, okay? But if he can trick us and dupe us so that we wind up doing what he wants done, he's exercised power not because he's overpowered us, but because he's tricked us into giving him permission to exercise what he has over us. And that's why the Bible talks about the deceit of the evil one. That's why the Bible calls him the father of lies. And what he says is Jesus Christ has rendered him powerless, verse 15, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. The reason you don't have to fear death is because it's never going to happen.
Let's get this straight. Quicker than you can move your eyeball to one side or another, you enter into eternity. So faster than a blink, you enter into the presence of God, okay? So you don't get to be dead long enough to know you died, all right? So there's fear of something that's never going to happen because he defeated the worst foe.
So he wants you to know that. Now, he says, for assuredly he does not give help to angels, but he gives help to the descendants of Abraham. That's you and me, okay, to those who have the faith of Abraham. He gives help. In other words, the angels that rebelled against God, they have no help, okay?
They can't even ask for it. But those who are the children of Abraham, because we're flesh and blood and didn't have that constitutional privilege, that he's here to help us. Therefore, he had to be made like his brethren in all things. So Jesus had to become like you and me in all spheres of life 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 suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
Okay, let's get something straight. Temptation is not a sin. Temptation is not a sin. Tempting on the temptation is the sin. Being tempted is not a sin. If being tempted was a sin, Jesus would be a sinner, because it's just said he was tempted in all ways, just like us. So everything that can come at us to tempt us to disobey God came at Jesus during his earthly life to tempt him to disobey God. But of course, he never succumbed. Now, why was he tempted?
It tells you, chapter 2, it tells you, for since he himself was tempted in that which he suffered, he is also able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. So he went through temptation to know what it feels like. When a man delivers a baby, he can academically understand what it feels like, but he can't functionally understand what it feels like, because he hasn't been there. But when a woman doctor, who is a mother, has a baby, and the woman is making noises in the labor, ooh and aah and all that, and she says, girl, I know what you're feeling. The doctor saying, I know what you're feeling, you just say, shut up, shut up, shut up, for I hurt you up in here.
All right? Because he don't know, no. He just knows from a distance. But this female doctor, who's a mother, knows what she feels like, but here's the deal.
Because she's also a doctor, she can not only feel it, she can help you through it. So guess what? In Jesus Christ, you have a merciful and faithful high priest, who when you say, God, this is a rough one. He says, I heard that. You say, I know what you're talking about. Been there, done that, but guess what? Because you included me, we gonna get through this. You just hang in there, because I know where you is.
I know where you ain't, and I'm gonna be that right, right there with you. So don't give up on Jesus, because He's there to help during the difficult times when you're tempted to go back. God wants to be there for each of us, but there's a rather obvious requirement on our part. It begins with acknowledging and receiving Christ's sacrifice for us in the first place.
Dr. Evans is here with a word about how to do that. If you've been listening to the broadcast and you have yet to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, we can resolve that right now. I'm going to say a little prayer. I want you to pray it after me, but you've got to mean it for yourself. Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner, and I know I need a Savior, because I can't save myself. So right now, I trust You alone, because You died for me and arose for me to be my sin-bearer. You are now my substitute, and I'm believing You to forgive my sin and to give me eternal life. Thank You for the free gift of salvation that You have given to me. Help me to live a life to please You, in Jesus' name, amen. Welcome to the family, and we'll keep ministering to you for your spiritual growth through our broadcast. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer right now, let me encourage you to visit tonyevans.org and follow the link at the top of the home page that says Jesus.
There you can download some free follow-up resources that will help you move your new life in the right direction. Well today's lesson was the second in Tony's study of Hebrews called Don't Ever Give Up. As I mentioned earlier, all 13 full-length messages in this sermon collection can be yours with our thanks if you'll make a donation to help us keep presenting these life-changing messages to a world in need of good news.
You'll receive the complete two-volume series on CD or downloadable MP3s. And as a special bonus, you'll also receive Tony's popular paperback, Can God Be Trusted in Our Trials. Take advantage of this limited-time offer by calling for details 1-800-800-3222. Resource team members are on hand 24-7 to help you.
That's 1-800-800-3222. Or make the arrangements and get your digital downloads right away at tonyevans.org. Again that's tonyevans.org. In the Stories from the Storyteller animated series, everyday moments in the lives of the Evans family turn into perfect opportunities to uncover meaningful biblical truths.
And a new episode is coming this week. In Hidden Treasure, Jonathan recounts how the family got their pet dog Tyson. And through the telling of that story, the incomparable value of a relationship with God and the pursuit of his kingdom are revealed. Check out Stories from the Storyteller at tonyevanstv.com.
That's tonyevanstv.com. Have you ever found yourself alone in an unfamiliar area with no cell phone, no GPS, and no map to guide you? Navigating life without God's direction is much like that. Sooner or later, you'll find yourself lost and nowhere near where you intended to be. Tomorrow we'll see how staying true to Christ can keep us headed in the right direction. Be sure to join us.
