The Iniquity of the Holy Things
The sermon highlights the iniquity that exists in the lives of those who are set apart for God's service, and the importance of seeking grace to view our great High Priest by the eye of faith.
C.H. Spurgeon addresses the profound iniquities present in our worship and devotion, revealing the hypocrisy, formality, and irreverence that often accompany our public and private practices. He emphasizes that even our desires for holiness can be tainted by pride, vanity, or indolence, likening our spiritual state to a neglected garden overrun with weeds. Spurgeon reminds us that despite our shortcomings, Jesus, our High Priest, bears our iniquities and presents His own holiness before God. This revelation calls for a humbling reflection on our spiritual lives and a renewed commitment to genuine worship. He encourages believers to view Christ through the lens of faith, recognizing His role in our redemption.
Text
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, "My parish, as well as my heart, very much resembles the garden of the sluggard; and what is worse, I find that very many of my desires for the melioration of both, proceed either from pride or vanity or indolence. I look at the weeds which overspread my garden, and breathe out an earnest wish that they were eradicated. But why? What prompts the wish?
It may be that I may walk out and say to myself, 'In what fine order is my garden kept!' This is pride. Or, it may be that my neighbours may look over the wall and say, 'How finely your garden flourishes!' This is vanity. Or I may wish for the destruction of the weeds, because I am weary of pulling them up. This is indolence." 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 TO THE 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!
Sermon Outline
- I. The Iniquity of Public Worship
- A. Hypocrisy
- B. Formality
- C. Lukewarmness
- D. Irreverence
- E. Wandering of heart and forgetfulness of God
- II. The Iniquity of Our Work for the Lord
- A. Emulation
- B. Selfishness
- C. Carelessness
- D. Slackness
- E. Unbelief
- III. The Iniquity of Private Devotions
- A. Laxity
- B. Coldness
- C. Neglect
- D. Sleepiness
- E. Vanity
- IV. The Hidden Nature of Iniquity
- A. Even our desires after holiness may be polluted by ill motives
- B. We need not look long to discover the iniquity that hides beneath the surface
Key Quotes
“What a veil is lifted up by these words, and what a disclosure is made!” — C.H. Spurgeon
“Even our desires after holiness may be polluted by ill motives.” — C.H. Spurgeon
“O for grace to view our great High Priest by the eye of faith!” — C.H. Spurgeon
Application Points
- We must examine our lives carefully to identify the iniquity that exists within us.
- Our desires for holiness must be pure and motivated by a genuine desire to serve God, not by pride, vanity, or indolence.
- We must seek grace to view our great High Priest by the eye of faith, and strive to live a life of holiness and devotion to God.