Today, if you hear His voice,

do not harden your hearts

as you did at Meribah,

in the day at Massah in the wilderness,

where your fathers tested and tried Me,

though they had seen My work.

For forty years I was angry with that generation,

and I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,

and they have not known My ways.”

So I swore on oath in My anger,

“They shall never enter My rest.”

We will never enter God’s rest by rejecting the gospel! He has shown us the resurrection from the dead, but if we do not believe, then we’ll perish. He says,

So we see that it was because of their unbelief that they were unable to enter. [Heb 3:19]

Unbelief looks God in the face and calls Him a liar. It says, “You will not reign over me.” The coronavirus, however, has shown us that we are not in charge. All along, we should have said, “If the Lord wills,” in our heart. Yet, we plotted and planned like we ruled the world. Men even decreed!

Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil. [James 4:15-16]

Cease you from man whose breadth is in his nostrils. Why were we counting on man and depending on man? This self-confidence is outrageous, and God has stepped in to mock us and warn us.

Put no more trust in man,

who has only the breath in his nostrils.

Of what account is he? [Isa 2:22]

What is man? Who are we, such small creatures, that God should be mindful of us? But, there is One Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, who He pays attention to - who is worthy of His love and affection.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. [Heb 2:9]

Everyone who is saved gets saved by this Man, because of His obedience unto death, and His work on the cross; it is because of Him we’re accepted, or there is no acceptance, and the only acceptance is to obey Him.

And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him [Heb 5:9]

To obey Him is to trust Him. It is to put your faith in Him.

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [Acts 2:38]

Repent. Turn from sin. Be baptized. Identify with Him. Confess Him!

Baptism says that you - the old you - died with our Lord Jesus Christ; it says that you - the new you - have been raised into a new life! You and I cannot partake of His death without His resurrection, and I warn you here: There are some who teach sovereign grace - election, predestination, and justification by faith - who do not teach sanctification! They say it is optional: “We ought to, but we don’t have to!” And this is heresy; it turns God’s grace into a license for sin; it makes acceptable standing everything and acceptable living nothing, which is contrary to God’s word. We must have the life of obedience. Baptism is the first outward step in this life, and you will receive the Holy Spirit.

That’s right! God’s promised to give us everything it takes to live godly because of Christ Jesus. Picture entering a room of expensive items because SOMEONE ELSE has the key, all authority, and he lets you in! This is what Christ did by His death and by our faith: He unlocks every blessing of the new covenant and gives it to us freely. We get sanctification, power over sin, and we get joy on the way to heaven. We get the ability to do God’s will.

Turn and repent. DL Moody talks about his sister’s son. She told him how he’d done something wrong but refused to apologize. The father spoke to him on the way to work and sent him to bed before breakfast. He thought by lunchtime, when he came back, the boy would be playing or learning schoolwork, but he was still in his bed. He spoke to him again but no repentance. That night, the same thing. Father and mother took turns, but the boy refused. In the morning, he thought surely the boy would change, but he turned his face to the wall and would not speak. While at work, the mother spoke to the child again. She said,

“Son, I want you to repeat after me.”

“For,” and he said, “For”.

“Give,” and he said, “Give.”

“Me,” and then he said, “Forgive me! Mommy,” jumping into her arms with tears, “Let me tell Daddy too!”

This is what we must do. Confess your sins - that you have been wrong for sitting on the throne, when it is right for Christ to rule you. Confess your rebellion and disobedience. He’ll forgive you and receive you. He will not cast you out. You will not have to spend eternity in that horrible place, but you will be in heaven. Only confess and enter in!