gious leaders who are thus praised and
reverenced lose sight of their dependence upon God, and are led to trust
in themselves. As a result, they seek to control the minds and consciences
of the people, who are disposed to look to them for guidance instead of
looking to the word of God. The work of reform is often retarded because
of this spirit indulged by its supporters. From this danger, God would
guard the cause of the Reformation. He desired that work to receive, not
the impress of man, but that of God. The eyes of men had been turned to
Luther as the expounder of the truth; he was removed that all eyes might
be directed to the eternal Author of truth.

9. THE SWISS REFORMER.

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In the choice of instrumentalities for the reforming of the church, the
same divine plan is seen as in that for the planting of the church. The
heavenly Teacher passed by the great men of earth, the titled and wealthy,
who were accustomed to receive praise and homage as leaders of the people.
They were so proud and self-confident in their boasted superiority that
they could not be moulded to sympathize with their fellow-men, and to
become co-laborers with the humble Man of Nazareth. To the unlearned,
toiling fishermen of Galilee was the call addressed, "Follow Me, and I
will make you fishers of men."(241) These disciples were humble and
teachable. The less they had been influenced by the false teaching of
their time, the more successfully could Christ instruct and train them for
His service. So in the days of the Great Reformation. The leading
Reformers were men from humble life,--men who were most free of any of
their time from pride of rank, and from the influence of bigotry and
priestcraft. It is God's plan to employ humble instruments to accomplish
great results. Then the glory will not be given to men, but to Him who
works through them to will and to do of His own good pleasure.

A few weeks after the birth of Luther in a miner's cabin in Saxony, Ulric
Zwingle was born in a herdsman's cottage among the Alps. Zwingle's
surroundings in childhood, and his early training, were such as to prepare
him for his future mission. Reared amid scenes of natural grandeur,
beauty, and awful sublimity, his mind was early impressed with a sense of
the greatness, the power, and the majesty of God. The history of the brave
deeds achieved upon his native mountains, kindled his youthful
aspira