HERALDS OF GOD
and tumult, the watch-tower of Mount Calvary. For there the new perspective is given which makes men more than conquerors. None of our poor human explanations of life's dark mystery can heal the hurt of baffled and tormented souls. Nothing can suffice but this—to see Love Incarnate taking upon itself the very worst that suffering and evil can do upon the earth, God going into action once for all against the powers of darkness, Christ reigning from the deadly tree, and making His victory there the pledge and the assurance for all the sons of men.
Preach the Cross in the context of the world's suffering, and men will learn, not only that Christ is with them in the dark valley, God "afflicted in all their affliction" gathering up their distress and desolation into His own eternal heart—not only that, though that indeed, even if there were no more to be said, would be a mighty reinforcement: they will learn this other great thing, that God in His sovereign love still leads captivity captive, still transforms the wrecking circumstances of life into means of grace, the dark places into a Holy of Holies, and the thorns that pierce into a crown of glory. For the Cross means that even when things are at their worst, even when life does not bear thinking about, God is master of the situation still, and nothing can spoil His final pattern or defeat His purpose of love.
I would point out that this is a Gospel you can preach without any fear of sentimentalism. There is always a danger that the longing to help the troubled and to
78
