We are astonished to discover that even when we are sitting in church on Sabbath morning to worship our God, the iniquity of even our public worship, becomes apparent. Its hypocrisy, formality, lukewarmness, irreverence, wandering of heart and forgetfulness of God, what full measures of iniquity we have there! Our work for the Lord, its emulation, that is to say, our rivalry by imitation, our attempt to equal or surpass our fellow Christians, usually by means of imitating THEM, instead of imitating Christ, our selfishness, carelessness, slackness, and our unbelief, what a mass of defilement we have there!

Our Private Devotions

Our private devotions are certainly a “Holy Thing.” In this day and age it is difficult to even find many who even have them at all. But upon closer examination, is there iniquity in even this “Holy Thing?” Upon deeper self-examination, their laxity, coldness, neglect, sleepiness, and vanity, what a mountain of dead works we find there! If we looked more carefully we should find this iniquity to be far greater than appears at first sight. A Baptist preacher, 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 to make something better 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 neighbors 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.

Ellen White, writing upon this very theme put it this way:

“The religious services, the prayers, the praise, the penitent confession of sin ascend from true believers as incense to the heavenly sanctuary, but passing through the corrupt channels of humanity, they are so defiled that unless purified by blood, they can never be of value with God. They ascend not in spotless purity, and unless the Intercessor, who is at God's right hand, presents and purifies all by His righteousness, it is not acceptable to God. All incense from earthly tabernacles must be moist with the cleansing drops of the blood of Christ. He holds before the Father the censer of His own merits, in which there is no taint of earthly corruption. He gathers into this censer the prayers, the praise, and the confessions of His people, and with these He puts His own spotless righteousness. Then, perfumed with the merits of Christ's propitiation, the incense comes up before God wholly and entirely acceptable. Then gracious answers are returned…

Oh, that all may see that everything in obedience, in penitence, in praise and thanksgiving, must he placed upon the glowing fire of the righteousness of Christ”