Spurgeon Meditations

 

The iniquity of the holy things.

Exo 28 38

What a veil is lifted up by these words and what a disclosure is made! It will be humbling and profitable for us to pause awhile and see this sad sight. The iniquities of our public worship its hypocrisy formality lukewarmness irreverence wandering of heart and forgetfulness of God what a full measure have we there! Our work for the Lord its emulation selfishness carelessness slackness unbelief what a mass of defilement is there! Our private devotions their laxity coldness neglect sleepiness and vanity what a mountain of dead earth is there! If we looked more carefully we should find this iniquity to be far greater than appears at first sight. Dr. Payson writing to his brother says Myparish, as well as my heart, very much resembles the garden ofthe sluggard; and what is worse, I find that very many of mydesires for the melioration of both, proceed either from prideor vanity or indolence. I look at the weeds which overspread mygarden, and breathe out an earnest wish that they wereeradicated. But why? What prompts the wish? It may be that I maywalk out and say to myself, 'In what fine order is my gardenkept!' This is pride. Or, it may be that my neighbours maylook over the wall and say, 'How finely your garden flourishes!'This is vanity. Or I may wish for the destruction of theweeds, because I am weary of pulling them up. This isindolence. So that even our desires after holiness may be polluted by ill motives. Under the greenest sods worms hide themselves; we need not look long to discover them. How cheering is the thought that when the High Priest bore the iniquity of the holy things he wore upon his brow the words HOLINESS TOTHE LORD: and even so while Jesus bears our sin He presents before His Father's face not our unholiness but his own holiness. O for grace to view our great High Priest by the eye of faith!


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