And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?

“And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?” (Hebrews 3:18)

   If we carefully study the Scriptures we will understand that there are two different ‘Canaan’s. One is earthly and the other is heavenly. Abraham lived for sometime in earthly Canaan and from there waited for the heavenly ‘promised land’ (Hebrews 11:10). We, the New Testament believers must follow Abraham’s example. We must inherit the earthly ‘promised land’ and then wait for the heavenly ‘promised land’.

   What is the earthly ‘promised land’? The Scripture plainly teaches us that the anointing and the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the ‘promised land’ we have to inherit while we are still living on earth. Ephesians 1:14 tells us that the Holy Spirit is the “earnest of our inheritance until the redemption”. If the earnest is paid, it guarantees that the transaction will definitely be completed. In the same way the presence of the Holy Spirit in us guarantees that in due time we will surely enter our eternal promised land.

   We must acknowledge the fact that the Holy Spirit is essentially God and is our Emmanuel in this dispensation. We must believe that every born again Christian believer has the indwelling Holy Spirit. We must also understand and believe that the anointing of the Holy Spirit something more than the simple indwelling Holy Spirit. We must understand that our heavenly Father wants each and every one of His children to be anointed by the Holy Spirit. The anointing of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not meant just for the Pentecostals. The anointing is for every child of God. It is a tragic fact that many denominations are systematically brain washing their members into believing that the anointing of the Holy Spirit is unnecessary and outdated. Apostle Peter declared on the day of Pentecost-“For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call” (Acts 2:39).

   These days every denomination and church is expecting to be caught up into the mid air when our Lord returns and live in the heavenly Canaan for all eternity. Of course it’s good to have such a hope but our hope is justified only if we have inherited the earthly Canaan first. Those who are anointed by the Holy Spirit have a more sure foundation for their hope of Rapture. May God bless each one of us to come to the earthly Canaan which is the precious anointing of the Holy Spirit!