error . I despise them during my life ; I shall triumph over them by my death . They are busy at Worms about compelling me to retract ; and this shall be my retraction : I said formerly that the pope was Christ ' s vicar ; now I assert that he is our Lord ' s adversary , and the devil ' s apostle ." - - Ibid ., b . 7 , ch . 6 .
Luther was not to make his perilous journey alone . Besides the imperial messenger , three of his firmest friends determined to accompany him . Melanchthon earnestly desired to join them . His heart was knit to Luther ' s , and he yearned to follow him , if need be , to prison or to death . But his entreaties were denied . Should Luther perish , the hopes of the Reformation must center upon his youthful colaborer . Said the Reformer as he parted from Melanchthon : " If I do not return , and my enemies put me to death , continue to teach , and stand fast in the truth . Labor in my stead . . . . If you survive , my death will be of little consequence ." -- Ibid ., b . 7 , ch . 7 . Students and citizens who had gathered to witness Luther ' s departure were deeply moved . A multitude whose hearts had been touched by the gospel , bade him farewell with weeping . Thus the Reformer and his companions set out from Wittenberg .
On the journey they saw that the minds of the people were oppressed by gloomy forebodings . At some towns no honors were proffered them . As they stopped for the night , a friendly priest expressed his fears by holding up before Luther the portrait of an Italian reformer who had suffered martyrdom . The next day they learned that Luther ' s writings had been condemned at Worms . Imperial messengers were proclaiming the emperor ' s decree and calling upon the people to bring the proscribed works to the magistrates . The herald , fearing for Luther ' s safety at the council , and thinking that already his resolution might be shaken , asked if he still wished to go forward . He answered : " Although interdicted in every city , I shall go on ." -- Ibid ., b . 7 , ch . 7 .
At Erfurt , Luther was received with honor . Surrounded by admiring crowds , he passed through the streets that he had often traversed with his beggar ' s wallet . He visited his convent cell , and thought upon the struggles through which the light now flooding Germany had been shed upon his soul . He was urged to preach . This he had been forbidden to do , but the herald granted him permission , and the friar who had once been made the drudge of the convent , now entered the pulpit . To a crowded assembly he spoke from the words of Christ , " Peace be unto you ." " Philosophers , doctors , and writers ," he said , " have endeavored to teach men the way to obtain everlasting life , and they have not succeeded . I will now tell it to you : . . . God has raised one Man from the dead , the Lord Jesus Christ , that He might destroy death , extirpate sin , and shut the gates of hell . This is the work of salvation . . . . Christ has vanquished ! this is the joyful news ; and we are saved by His work , and not by our own . . . . Our Lord Jesus Christ
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