He that loves pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.
A glass of water with dirt in it is contaminated because it has a foreign substance mixed into it. But if that is impure water, then what is an impure heart? It is the double-minded man who is unstable in all his ways. He seems to have some interest in the kingdom, but he is out for his own interests as well. In his service to the king, this unprincipled man may find some opportunity to make personal gain in a significant way, and then he proceeds to commit an act of treason against the kingdom itself! Perceptive kings or business leaders can usually discern when staff members begin to wane a little in their dedication to the kingdom. It may be that a business group is pressed to work eighteen-hour days for an entire week as they try to make an important deadline. During these critical moments, it is those who are truly dedicated to the project who will stick to the task until it is done. The king’s closest friends will be those who are willing to go to the mat for him and for the cause of the kingdom. Of course, our Lord discerns our own hearts better than anybody. He knows exactly when we become a little cold and disinterested toward His kingdom’s interests (Matt. 6:33).
The second thing that attracts good leaders is gracious, winsome communication. Typically, no leader appreciates a negative, discouraging, dour report. Good leaders do need to hear about the challenges and difficulties their organizations face, but only in the context of optimistic, innovative, and promising solutions. Within organizations, there should be an overall sentiment of positive enthusiasm, an expectation of eventual success, and bright hope concerning the future. In some senses, only a true Christian who believes in the final resurrection can exhibit this kind of solid hope and true optimism.
The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and He overthrows the words of the transgressor.
Falsehood is everywhere. In political races, when the conservative opposes the liberal, does it ever occur to you that both could be equally wrong? Or in the area of economics, when the free market capitalist opposes the communist, what if both parties are committed materialists? As should be obvious from everything you have learned from the book of Proverbs thus far, God’s economic theories are vastly different from those belonging to Karl Marx or John Maynard Keynes! There are thousands of ways to hell, and the hearts of men concoct new heterodoxies every day.
Even those churches that purport to be “Bible” Churches still impose their own theological constructs over Scripture. Occasionally, they will subject the Bible to their own preconceived ideas, and they fail to rightly handle the mysteries of the faith. No systematic theology could ever perfectly comprehend these mysteries.
So if the churches and the conservatives are incapable of preserving knowledge in the deceived and deceiving hearts of men, will the truth be lost forever? Of course not! God will see to it that His truth is preserved from generation to generation. He preserves His written Word. But without humble hearts to receive that Word, in complete reliance on the Spirit of God to open eyes and enlighten minds, we will lose the truth again. If heretics like Arius and Pelagius have misinterpreted His words, then you can count on the fact that the Lord of the Church will destroy their works as the centuries proceed. For example, Thomas Aquinas admitted all of his works to be nothing but straw. Even so, the humanist renaissance would never have proceeded without these works. Aquinas refused to accept the noetic effects of the fall (the depravity and deceitfulness of the mind), and he separated theology from philosophy (separating divine revelation from special revelation). If his conclusions were truly straw, God will destroy it in His time. It may take Him 100 years to destroy it, or 800 years.
1. What is a double-minded man?
2. Describe a winsome employee who would be appreciated by his manager.
3. What will happen to the millions of deceptions that are promulgated today?