I
kneeled down and prayed. All doubt vanished; I was assured in my own
heart of the grace of God in Christ. Now I know him, not alone as my God
but as my Father. All melancholy and unrest vanished, and I was so
overcome with joy, that from the fullness of my heart I could praise my
Saviour. With great sorrow I had kneeled; but with wonderful ecstacy I
had risen up. It seemed to me as if my whole previous life had been a
deep sleep, as if I had only been dreaming, and now for the first time
had waked up. I was convinced that the whole world, with all its
temporal joy, could not kindle up such pleasure in my breast."
A few days afterwards he preached from the same text as before. The
sermon was the first real one that he had preached. Henceforth his heart
was in the work for which God had chosen him.
He preached in Halle statedly, for, in addition to the duties of the
professor's chair, he was pastor of a church. His ministrations in the
pulpit became extremely popular and attractive. Naturally eloquent, he
won the masses to his ministry; and by his forcible presentation of
truth he molded them into his own methods of faith and thought.
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