The Great High Priest

There will never be a time when obedience will be harder than when you're hurting. But Dr. Tony Evans says that's not the time to draw away, it's the time to draw near. Jesus is a delivering Savior. He is the source of deliverance.

So if you're hurting, if you are struggling, if you are weak, draw near. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. A lot of people can point you toward God, but today Dr. Evans explains that only one person can connect you with Him. Let's join him as he explores what it means to draw near to the one with that life-changing connection power. We've come to chapter 5.

We've concluded chapter 4 by being told we have this great high priest, verse 14, who's passed through the heavens. Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Don't quit. Don't walk away from your identification with Jesus Christ.

Why? Because we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. So the fact that you and I are tempted to sin was certainly equally true of Jesus Christ. Yet He did not sin, that is, He did not acquiesce, He did not yield to it, He did not succumb to it, but He faced it. He can not only relate to what it feels like, He also can relate to overcoming it because it's yet without sin. Then it concludes, Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. The throne is where a sovereign lives, a king, but it's a throne that dispenses grace, that is, God's unmerited favor. When you and I are struggling, that is not the time to draw away, that is the time to draw near.

Okay? Now, you don't always feel like drawing near, but that is the time to draw near. He says in verse 16, Let us draw near in time of need.

So if you're hurting, if you are struggling, if you are tempted, if you are weak, whatever the category is, He says, draw near. Don't shy away because you have a high priest. He comes in chapter 5 and he wants you to know Jesus is qualified for the task. For every high priest, chapter 5, taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sin. So the high priest, referring to the high priest of the Old Testament, had to go in, they had to represent the people, but they also had to represent themselves because they were one of the persons who needed forgiveness as well. And no one takes the honor to himself but receives it when he is called by God even as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify himself so as to become a high priest, but he who said to him, You are my son.

Today I have begotten you, just as he says also in another passage, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. In the days of his flesh he offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying to the one able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his piety. So Jesus as a man struggled. Tears, crying, pain, and he wanted to escape death. So when you're in the hospital and you don't want to die, you're okay.

You were Jesus. He didn't want to die either. He wanted to live.

Why? Because he's a man. In his humanity, he went through the tears, the crying, the pain, the shame, the struggle that you and I did because a high priest had to be taken from among men. So Jesus had to be able to go through what men go through, even though it was without sin.

How did he handle his struggle? With a loud voice, verse 7 says, crying in tears to the one who is able to save him from death. So he's crying out to God in the same way that we're being told to cry out to God to save. Now what kind of salvation is he talking about? He's not talking about salvation going to heaven. He's talking about deliverance from circumstances.

That's the salvation. You recall, the book of Hebrews, the word saved, is not mainly talking about how we use the word saved, forgiveness of sin, so you go to heaven and escape hell. He's using the word saved in the way of deliverance, because he's talking to Christians.

We've seen that already. He calls them brethren, holy brethren, all of those terms, letting it be known. He's talking to believers. If you don't understand that, then a lot of the book won't make sense to you. But so Jesus does what we're told to do. We were told to draw Nia in chapter 4.

Well, guess what he did? He drew Nia in chapter 5 when he was struggling. So he had to do what he's telling you to do because of the circumstances of life he was facing.

So this is very relevant to where you and I are. Although he was a son, so we're not talking about somebody who didn't belong to God. We're talking about part of the Trinity. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered.

Jesus, as son of God, is perfectly obedient. But Jesus, as son of man, had to learn it. He was born in a crib.

He was born in a manger. He had to grow up like a human being. And so he had to learn some things by experience. And what he had to learn was, watch this, obeying God when it hurts.

Stay with me here. What he had to learn as a man was obeying God when it hurts. Because we just saw it hurts. He's crying. He's crying out to God.

It hurts. He's facing death. He doesn't want to die. And in his humanity, he doesn't want to die. But he had to learn, through the rough times, what it's like to obey God when you don't feel like it. So even though he was a son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. And having been made perfect in his humanity, because he's already perfect in his deity, he became, to all those who obey him, the source of eternal salvation. He is the source of deliverance. But how did he become the source? He is the source of the deliverance because he learned the obedience and having matured as a man, made perfect, mature, as a man, he became, to all those who obey him, the source.

So wait a minute. Notice the word obedience. He obeyed God in a struggle when he didn't want to so that he could become your source because he's the source of all who obey.

When? In a struggle. Because that's the context. Context is a struggle. He's struggling.

You're struggling. Where am I going to get the help? The same way he got the help. He got the help by obeying, crying and obeying. So he's crying and obeying. He's doing both at the same time. There will never be a time when obedience will be harder than when you're hurting. When you're hurting.

He's hurting. But he's the source to all who obey. Being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. So he now brings back Melchizedek. Aaron's priesthood was the priesthood that related to forgiveness.

You know, the priests would go in and offer the sacrifice for the sins of the people so that the wrath of God would pass by and they could be forgiven so that they could maintain fellowship with God. So the issue with Aaron was forgiveness. The issue with Melchizedek is deliverance. Jesus is after the order or according to the priestly line of Melchizedek who was engaged with Abraham and his deliverance from the enemies that he was facing on earth. So when you think about Melchizedek, think about deliverance. Since Jesus is after the order of Melchizedek, Jesus is a delivering savior. But this deliverance wasn't from hell. This deliverance was from people.

Abraham was being attacked in Genesis and he only had a few hundred men and he was being attacked by all these people. And he was delivered and he comes in to meet Melchizedek, the priest of Salem. So when you think about Melchizedek, think about deliverance. Jesus is after the order or according to the priesthood of Melchizedek so you not only have a forgiving savior, you have a delivering savior.

But before I go any further, let me go back a minute. Jesus cried, we just read, because he wanted to be delivered from what? From death, it says. He wanted to be delivered from death. Or did he die? Yeah, on the cross he died. On the cross he died.

However, he rose. Dr. Evans will return shortly with the two options God presents to us when we cry out to him. First though, I want to let you know that today's lesson is part of the 13-message collection from Tony called Don't Ever Give Up. This sermon series is a deep dive into the theologically rich New Testament book of Hebrews that clarifies so much about the central teachings of Jesus Christ, the foundations of our faith, and the victorious Christian life. Through these lessons, you'll be encouraged to remain steadfast in your faith as you trust more deeply in Christ's perfect sacrifice for you.

You can get the complete series on CD or digital download as our gift. When you make a donation to the Ministry of the Alternative. And as a special bonus, we'll also include a copy of Tony's helpful paperback, Can God Be Trusted in Our Trials. It'll give you the courage you need to press on in the face of hard times. But more importantly, you'll get a look behind the scenes at what God is up to in your life. And discover how today's trials prepare you for tomorrow's victories. Just visit us today at tonyevans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222. Make your contribution and let us send to you as a thank you gift the Hebrews audio series, Don't Ever Give Up and Tony's book, Can God Be Trusted in Our Trials.

I'll have our contact information for you again after part two of today's lesson. Here's Dr. Evans. God has a couple of options when you cry out to Him. Option one is to keep you from death. Option two is to raise you up. To let you go through it and then raise you up on the other side of it. Here's after the order of Mount Kesedek, so he's a delivering priest. Concerning him, we have much to say. It's hard to explain since you are mule-headed.

The word dull means stubborn. He says the reason you can't get this is you refuse to grow, which is interfering with them experiencing the high priestly work of Jesus Christ and taking advantage of what He offers as the source to all who obey Him. Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you ought to be helping other folk. You have need again for somebody to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature who, because of practice, have their senses trained to discern good and evil. The only way you grow is through practice. It's the only way you grow. That's true in sports. That's true in academics.

That's true in any area of life. If you're growing in something, you're using it over and over again. You become accustomed to it.

So it becomes second nature to you because you become used to it. It says you're not accustomed to the practice of the word. Now you may be accustomed to listening to it, hearing it, even memorizing it, but you're not used to using it, which leads him to a most troubling scripture, chapter 6. Therefore, leaving elementary teachings about Christ, okay, it's time to leave kindergarten.

Let us press on to maturity. So what is he saying? He's saying now it's time for you to leave. It's time for you to quit this baby Christianity that's only tied to your feelings, your emotions, your wants, or your desires. He says, no, you must press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. In other words, you must decide that you want to now grow up as a Christian.

And then he comes with this case, this situation. In the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. Now here he speaks of people who have experienced salvation. The Bible says, for example, Jesus tasted death for every man. Well, he didn't just nibble at death.

He died physically. So he uses these phrases, and these phrases are found throughout the book, to refer to believers. If you don't understand that, then you'll get confused.

So watch this. And they have fallen away. Fallen away means renege on the faith. Denounce Jesus Christ. You go back to the world. This is a decision made, not a struggle.

This is a decision where you walk away. It is impossible to renew them again to repentance since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and puts him to open shame. What does he mean? He means you have joined those who ridiculed Christ on the cross, and you've become one of the crucifiers. So when God sees you shifting back, going back to the world, and reneging on him because of circumstances you're allowing to keep you from moving forward, and therefore you are falling away, you're going in the wrong direction, and therefore are in a position of putting him to open shame, and the falling away can be so bad that it is as if you have become one of the crucifiers of Jesus Christ because that's how much you are reneging now. People don't even recognize you anymore as a Christian. You don't even recognize you as a Christian because you've crucified him to yourself. And you've heard people who deny the faith even. It says it is impossible to renew him to faith. Now the question is, impossible for who?

It's certainly impossible for people, but the Scripture says nothing is impossible for God. But he says if thorns and thistles are growing out of the ground, nothing productive coming out of their lives, then that ground must be scorched, burnt. The purpose of burning the ground, however, is to make it productive again. That's the only reason you did it. You didn't get rid of the ground.

You got rid of the thorns and thistles. This is where God brings cataclysmic things or allows cataclysmic things in the life as a final wake-up call. Now again, this is for falling away.

This is not for the person struggling. This is for the person denying. Peter did this. Peter fell away. He denied the Lord three times with cursing. God didn't give up on him. He came back. But none of his buddies got him back. Only Jesus himself was able to get Peter back. Now if Peter would have rejected Jesus, you know, the Bible says even some sleep.

He has to take some folk home early. So I believe he's talking about Christians and he's talking about the discipline of God for renewing the faith. Now this leads to something I can only introduce at this time, but beloved. See, he's talking to his fellow saints. But beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you. You've said this to people, you're better than that. You're better than that.

You know? But beloved, so he's come with this harsh word, and I ain't gonna say that, but I love you. He says, but beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, things that accompany salvation, because they're saved, though we are speaking in this way. So I'm speaking a little hard right now, because sometimes you gotta get a little hard to get a wake-up call.

But I'm speaking hard because I love you. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward his name in having ministered and still ministering to the saints. I haven't forgot what you did when you were fully with me. That's good news. It's good news that God has not forgotten when things were going good, you were all on fire, and you were ministering.

I did not forget what you did last year. So yeah, I'm being a little harsh right now, but I know there's still some good in you. I know there's something still worth salvaging in you. Isn't that what you tell your kids?

You tell somebody you know there's something in there. But beloved, there's something there. And then he says, And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end. Keep going. I want to encourage you to keep going so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Dr. Tony Evans sharing important inspiration today from his 13-part series on the book of Hebrews. In today's message, he talked about how Christ is the great high priest, our connection with God. But that connection doesn't happen unless we have a relationship with Jesus.

He's back now to explain. You're not a Christian because you're religious or because you go to church or even because you believe in God. You're a Christian because you've accepted Jesus Christ as your personal sin-bearer. Being religious, doing good works, that's nice, but it's not sufficient when God demands perfection. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, So what God has said is, He placed your sin on the cross, on to Christ, and then judged Christ for your sin. If you will go to Christ, He will take Christ's righteousness, which is perfect, and He will credit it to your account. So you will stand before God as though you've never sinned, not because you're sinless, but because you've got a sinless credit on your account. If you will receive Jesus Christ right now, if you will invite Him into your life believing that He died for you and rose for you personally, He will credit your account with perfection because He's already credited your sin on to Jesus Christ. So go to Christ right now and get this free gift of salvation that He's offering to all who come to Him for it.

Find out more about what it means to be a real Christian. Visit tonyevans.org and follow the link that says Jesus. You'll get a straightforward explanation from Tony and some free resources to get your new life started off right. Again, that's tonyevans.org.

And while you're there, don't miss out on your chance to take advantage of that resource package I mentioned earlier. All 13 messages from both volumes of Tony's current audio series, Hebrews Don't Ever Give Up, along with the insightful paperback, Can God Be Trusted in Our Trials. They're yours with our thanks when you make a donation to help keep this listener-supported program coming your way. Just visit tonyevans.org to make the arrangements or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222 where team members are standing by to assist with your request.

That's 1-800-800-3222 or online at tonyevans.org. With Thanksgiving and the start of the Christmas season just around the corner, we're already seeing holiday specials rolling out to TV and streaming services. Amongst your family viewing choices this year, don't miss the Christ-centered Stories from the Storyteller animated Christmas episode. In The Incredible Christmas Dream, Cam hatches a secret plan to recapture the true meaning of Christmas. With little help from his parents and the friendly caretakers at the local Christmas tree lot, Cam's plan unfolds with more magic and meaning than he could muster on his own. Put The Incredible Christmas Dream on your kid's viewing list this year. Check out Stories from the Storyteller at tonyevanstv.com.

That's tonyevanstv.com. Depending on God isn't that hard when life is sailing along as expected. But when problems pile up to the point where you can't see where you're going, it can be difficult to stay hopeful. Well, next time on The Alternative, Dr. Evans talks about what holding onto hope takes and the benefits we can expect when we attempt to do that. Be sure to join us. ¶¶ ¶¶