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Luther, a Man for His Time
73
rapidly developed. Untiring application soon placed him in the
foremost rank among his associates.
Luther did not fail to begin each day with prayer, his heart con-
tinually breathing a petition for guidance. “To pray well,” he often
said, “is the better half of study.
One day in the library of the university he discovered a Latin
Bible, a book he had never seen. He had heard portions of the
Gospels and Epistles, which he supposed were the entire Bible.
Now, for the first time, he looked upon the whole of God’s Word.
With awe and wonder he turned the sacred pages and read for himself
the words of life, pausing to exclaim, “O that God would give me
such a book for myself!
Angels were by his side. Rays of light
from God revealed treasures of truth to his understanding. The deep
conviction of his condition as a sinner took hold upon him as never
before.
Peace With God
A desire to find peace with God led him to devote himself to a
monastic life. Here he was required to perform the lowest drudgery
and to beg from house to house. He patiently endured this humilia-
tion, believing it necessary because of his sins.
Robbing himself of sleep and grudging even the time spent at his
scanty meals, he delighted in the study of God’s Word. He had found
a Bible chained to the convent wall, and to this he often repaired.
[78]
He led a most rigorous life, endeavoring by fasting, vigils, and
scourgings to subdue the evils of his nature. He afterward said,
“If ever monk could obtain heaven by his monkish works, I should
certainly have been entitled to it. ... If it had continued much longer,
I should have carried my mortifications even to death.
With all his
efforts, his burdened soul found no relief. He was at last driven to
the verge of despair.
When it appeared that all was lost, God raised up a friend for
him. Staupitz opened the Word of God to Luther’s mind and bade
him look away from self and look to Jesus. “Instead of torturing
1
D’Aubigne, bk. 2, ch. 2.
2
Ibid., bk. 2, ch. 2.
3
Ibid., bk. 2, ch. 3.