J.A. Matteson
Woe or weal, how you respond to divine truth is determinative of either spiritual progress or squandered opportunity. "Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Mk. 4:24). The depth and richness of the soul of your heart is evidenced by its harvest of fruitfulness. Beware of the three impediments to your progress and contend mightily against them so that your fruitfulness may be overflowing to the praise of God. The devil seeks to deceive to you, "Did God really say....?" (Gen. 3:1), implanting doubt into your heart by blaspheming the faithfulness of God. The world system, under satan's control, will lie to you, "Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, 'The LORD will deliver us'" (2 Kgs. 18:32). Your own sin nature will seduce you to conclude God is not reasonable as you contemplate his directives; this is not sin leading to damnation, but sin retarding spiritual growth, "let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Heb. 12:1). Greeting each day with our spiritual eyes wide open, expecting the continual onslaught from these thee foes will go a long way in preventing us from being caught unawares. We must not leave our bedroom without first putting on the full armour of God. Should we venture out into the day without it we will most certainly fail to stand by applying the spiritual truth the Lord has graciously revealed to us. On the other hand, when we first clothe ourselves with God's armour, with an alert mind of anticipating battle beyond the door, God is able to make us stand, and in our standing He will disclose deeper things into the nature of His person and His kingdom.
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