In the present state of Christendom, it may be difficult for believers to enter into the full meaning of the cross of Christ, for the cross has been gilded over and its true sense has been lost.
The cross, which represents an ignominious death, has become a glorious ensign in the world. In Constantine's legendary vision, "in hoc signo yinces" ("by this conquer!"), on the standards of the Roman army, and later on the red shields of the Crusaders, the emblem has changed its true meaning. In pretending to honor the cross, the enemy has made it a worldly sign. The struggle between the crescent and the cross became one of earthly politics, and the real import of our Lord's death was ignored.
But, it will be said that the Crusades are all over, and that we are living in different times. [Today the cross is on the banner of Christendom as a sign to withstand the hammer and sickle of communism in the gigantic struggle for men's minds.—Ed.]
It is to this that we must now direct our attention. We are living in the last days, but the lamentation raised by the Apostle, that many were walking in the Christian profession, being all the time enemies of the cross of Christ, sounds mournfully true at this very time. Whatever may be the changes in the aspect of Christendom, the fact remains that we are in it, and that while the cross is its outward symbol, the true cross of Christ is as unpopular as ever. No one, unless he be taught of God, can possibly like the cross of Christ; it cuts at the very root of all human pretension and earthly hopes.