Our Mountain of Dead Earth

The iniquity of the holy things.

Exodus 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 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.

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!"
Charles Spurgeon