3. LUTHER FINDS COMFORT. Staupitz one day found Luther in great distress of spirit and said to him, "Ah, you do not know how salutary and necessary such trials are for you; without them nothing good would become of you. For God does not send them to you in vain. You will see that He will use you for great things." At another time Luther complained, "O my sin, my sin, my sin!" when Staupitz told him, "Christ is the forgiveness for REAL sins. He is a _real_ Savior and you are a _real_ sinner. God has sent His own Son and delivered Him up for us." When, because of great anxiety for his sins, he became sick, an old friar comforted him with these words, "I believe in the forgiveness of sin," and explained these words to mean: "It is not enough that you believe God forgives sins in general, for the devils also believe that. You must believe that your sins, your sins, your sins are forgiven. For man is justified by grace through faith." So, even at that time, a ray of light fell into Luther's soul benighted with the darkness of popery, and from this time on his favorite passage remained Romans 3, 28: "Therefore we conclude, that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law." CHAPTER IX. Luther as Teacher. 1. LUTHER CALLED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF WITTENBERG. After three years spent in this cloister Luther was called upon the stage where his battle with popery was to be fought. In 1502 Elector Frederick of Saxony had founded the University of Wittenberg. He charged Staupitz with the selection of learned and able men for this school. One of those recommended for his learning and piety was the well-known Augustinian monk Luther, who now became professor at Wittenberg. As Staupitz urged him to remove at once to Wittenberg, Luther did not even find time to bid farewell to his friends at Erfurt. Moving caused him little trouble, for a begging friar has few possessions. And thus, on an autumn day of the year 1508, we see the pale and emaciated form of the 25 year old monk traveling the road from Erfurt and entering Wittenberg by the wooden bridge. He hurried through the long street to the Augustinian cloister, where he found shelter and lodging. [Illustration: Elector Frederick the Wise.]