It was about this time that Luther , reading the works of Huss , found that the great truth of justification by faith , which he himself was seeking to uphold and teach , had been held by the Bohemian Reformer . " We have all ," said Luther , " Paul , Augustine , and myself , been Hussites without knowing it !" " God will surely visit it upon the world ," he continued , " that the truth was preached to it a century ago , and burned !" --Wylie, b . 6 . ch . 1 In an appeal to the emperor and nobility of Germany in behalf of the reformation of Christianity , Luther wrote concerning the pope : " It is a horrible thing to behold the man who styles himself Christ ' s vicegerent , displaying a magnificence that no emperor can equal . Is this being like the poor Jesus , or the humble Peter ? He is , say they , the lord of the world ! But Christ , whose vicar he boasts of being , has said , ' My kingdom is not of this world .' Can the dominions of a vicar extend beyond those of his superior ?" -- D ' Aubigne , b . 6 , ch . 3 .
He wrote thus of the universities : " I am much afraid that the universities will prove to be the great gates of hell , unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures , and engraving them in the hearts of youth . I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount . Every institution in which men are not unceasingly occupied with the word of God must become corrupt ." -- Ibid ., b . 6 , ch . 3 . This appeal was rapidly circulated throughout Germany and exerted a powerful influence upon the people . The whole nation was stirred , and multitudes were roused to rally around the standard of reform . Luther ' s opponents , burning with a desire for revenge , urged the pope to take decisive measures against him . It was decreed that his doctrines should be immediately condemned . Sixty days were granted the Reformer and his adherents , after which , if they did not recant , they were all to be excommunicated .
That was a terrible crisis for the Reformation . For centuries Rome ' s sentence of excommunication had struck terror to powerful monarchs ; it had filled mighty empires with woe and desolation . Those upon whom its condemnation fell were universally regarded with dread and horror ; they were cut off from intercourse with their fellows and treated as outlaws , to be hunted to extermination . Luther was not blind to the tempest about to burst upon him ; but he stood firm , trusting in Christ to be his support and shield . With a martyr ' s faith and courage he wrote : " What is about to happen I know not , nor do I care to know . . . . Let the blow light where it may , I am without fear . Not so much as a leaf falls , without the will of our Father . How much rather will He care for us ! It is a light thing to die for the Word , since the Word which was made flesh hath Himself died . If we die with Him , we shall live with Him ; and passing through that which He has passed through before us , we shall be where He is and dwell with Him forever ." -- Ibid ., 3d London ed ., Walther , 1840 , b . 6 , ch . 9 .
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