doctor of divinity proclaimed and heralded to the nations of the earth
the coming deliverance of the enslaved Church. God's chosen servant
had received his commission, and the better day was soon to dawn.

* * * * *

Henceforth Luther's labors and studies went forward with a new impulse
and inspiration. Hebrew and Greek were thoroughly mastered. The
Fathers of the Church, ancient and modern, were carefully read. The
systems of the Schoolmen, the Book of Sentences, the Commentaries, the
Decretals--everything relating to his department as a doctor of
theology--were examined, and brought to the test of Holy Scripture.

In his sermons, lectures, and disquisitions the results of these
incessant studies came out with a depth of penetration, a clearness of
statement, a simplicity of utterance, a devoutness of spirit, and a
convincing power of eloquence which, with the eminent sanctity of his
life, won for him unbounded praise. The common feeling was that the
earth did not contain another such a doctor and had not seen his equal
for many ages. Envy and jealousy themselves, those green-eyed monsters
which gather about the paths of great qualities and successes, seemed
for the time to be paralyzed before a brilliancy which rested on such
humility, conscientiousness, fidelity, and merit.


LUTHER'S LABORS.

Years of fruitful labor passed. The Decalogue was expounded. Paul's
letter to the Romans and the penitential Psalms were explained. The
lectures on the Epistle to the Galatians were nearly completed. But no