My dear readers,

All Hearts are Known to the LORD

Proverbs 15:11: “ Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?”

The secrets of every person’s heart are locked tighter than Fort Knox. The heart is the most private part of every person’s existence. It is hidden from all outsiders and no one must be allowed to enter. If the contents of a person’s heart are exposed, it will surely bring chaos and almost all the relationships of his life would be ruined. The damage done is irreparable. The reason for such sacred secrecy is that the heart is the source of every motive behind every action and word. From the time a person is old enough to understand, his heart begins to fill up with many types of motives, some good but most of them very bad and evil and must never be brought into light. They must all be kept hidden and locked up.

But Proverbs 15:11 reveals that the LORD, the God of the Bible, knows the heart of all mankind, no exception.

I. Do not Hide: It is futile for man to hide from the LORD what is in his heart. The place that mankind who are on earth have no access to are hell and destruction. These are two words that describe one place. It is a place where everyone who dies in his sins will end up. In hell they will suffer great pain and torment. Matthew 13:41-42: “ The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” The LORD says that it is before, or in front of, Him. This means that He has the keys to hell. He is the One who sends sinners to hell and punishes them for the innumerable sins they committed against Him. It is not the devil or any creature but the God of the Bible who is the LORD! He knows all who go to hell. Once the sinner finds himself in hell, the torment begins. There is no escape.

Sinful man rejects the existence of hell. When told that such a place exists and all sinners who die in sin will end up there as their just punishment, some ignore and others even taunt this truth from God by saying that they do not mind going there and they will bring with them their air conditioners! This kind of foolishness is rampant in today’s society of proud and arrogant fools. They think that their “modernising” society and entering into the atomic age have made them the captain of their own destination and they continue to raise their arrogant fist before God. Modern science has enabled spiritually blind men to explain away the revelation of Himself through His handiwork in creation. When God almighty punishes sinful man through His creation, man flippantly and foolishly use science to explain it away, that it is some form of “climate change” and man continues in sin. They refuse to see that God is destroying His world because of their sinful ways. Mankind needs to repent and turn to Christ but they stubbornly refuse. As long as man remains in sin, he will continue to head towards hell and destruction. Hell and destruction are before the LORD!

I. Clean your Heart: If hell and destruction are clearly known to the LORD, how much more the hearts of the children of men! Using that which is impossible to know and yet known clearly by the LORD, He warns every human being that He knows what resides in every man’s heart! The question is: what is sinful man going to do about it? He has only two options.

The first option is to ignore it. He continues to hide all the evil and wicked motives in his heart. He lives and behaves as if all is well with his soul until he dies in his sin. He will face the LORD who knows every evil in his heart. Hell and destruction awaits him. What a sad day it will be to spend eternity in hell when he could have done something about his evil heart.

The second option is to clean his heart of all filth and evil. But he has no ability to clean his heart of its evil. He needs God's help. Cleaning sinful hearts is done through the blood of Jesus Christ. All sinners must be punished. Their innumerable sins against God can only be wiped clean with the blood of Christ. The reason is that Jesus Christ the Son of God came down from heaven to become the perfect Son of man to live and suffer and die for sinful man. This is to satisfy God’s perfect justice. All sinners must be punished. All those who have received Christ Jesus as their Lord and Saviour have been punished by God in Christ. God accepted all that Christ did on earth as fully sufficient to take away the sins of the world when He raised Christ from the dead on the third day after He died for the sins of the world. That is why all the sins of man can be washed away by the blood of Christ. So can their sinful hearts!

This is the only way that the hearts of sinful man can be cleansed; and when the LORD’s omniscient eyes search every nook and corner of the cleansed heart, He will find no sin. Christians must know this truth and apply it for the purpose of sanctification so that their holy witness for Christ will not be tainted. The LORD knows the heart of every child including the child of God. Live in sincerity and no longer in hypocrisy. Guard your heart daily through prayer. Keep it clean daily through the sanctifying power of God's Truth as well. This was what Jesus prayed for His disciples in John 17:17-19: “ Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.”

Therefore be more aware and concerned with what the LORD thinks of your heart rather than what man thinks of your life. The heart is the source that dictates your life. A holy life begins with a holy heart before the LORD. Amen.