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The Reformation
Notwithstanding all the persecution of the saints, living witnesses
for God’s truth were raised up on every hand. Angels of the Lord
were doing the work committed to their trust. They were searching
in the darkest places and selecting out of the darkness men who were
honest in heart. These were all buried up in error, yet God called
them, as He did Saul, to be chosen vessels to bear His truth and
raise their voices against the sins of His professed people. Angels
of God moved upon the hearts of Martin Luther, Melanchthon, and
others in different places, and caused them to thirst for the living
testimony of the Word of God. The enemy had come in like a flood,
and the standard must be raised against him. Luther was the one
chosen to breast the storm, stand up against the ire of a fallen church,
and strengthen the few who were faithful to their holy profession.
He was ever fearful of offending God. He tried through works to
obtain His favor, but was not satisfied until a gleam of light from
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heaven drove the darkness from his mind and led him to trust, not in
works, but in the merits of the blood of Christ. He could then come
to God for himself, not through popes or confessors, but through
Jesus Christ alone.
Oh, how precious to Luther was this new and glorious light
which had dawned upon his dark understanding and driven away his
superstition! He prized it higher than the richest earthly treasure.
The Word of God was new. Everything was changed. The book
he had dreaded because he could not see beauty in it, was now
life, eternal life, to him. It was his joy, his consolation, his blessed
teacher. Nothing could induce him to leave its study. He had feared
death; but as he read the Word of God, all his terrors disappeared,
and he admired the character of God and loved Him. He searched
the Bible for himself and feasted upon the rich treasures it contained;
then he searched it for the church. He was disgusted with the sins
of those in whom he had trusted for salvation, and as he saw many
others enshrouded in the same darkness which had covered him, he
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