For fifteen hundred years man was under the law, and no one was equal
to it. Christ came and showed that the commandments went beyond the
mere letter; and can any one since say that he has been able to keep
them in his own strength? As the plummet is held up, we see how much
we are out of the perpendicular. As we measure ourselves by that holy
standard, we find how much we are lacking. As a child said, when
reproved by her mother and told that she ought to do right: "How can I
do right when there is no 'right' in me?" All have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one.
I do not say that all are equally guilty of gross violations of the
commandments. It needs a certain amount of reckless courage openly to
break a law, human or divine; but it is easy to _crack_ them, as the
child said. It has been remarked that the life of many professors of
religion is full of fractures that result from little sins, little
acts of temper and selfishness. It is possible to crack a costly vase
so finely that it cannot be noticed by the observer; but let this be
done again and again in different directions, and some day the vase
will go to pieces at a touch. When we hear of some one who has had a
lifelong reputation for good character and consistent living, suddenly
falling into some shameful sin, we are shocked and puzzled. If we knew
all, we would find that only the fall has been sudden, that he has
been sliding toward it for years. Away back in his life we should find
numerous _cracked_ commandments. His exposure is only the falling of
the vase to pieces.