sincere Christian. Christ tells us, that in his Father's house there are many mansions; and it seems contradictory neither to reason nor Scripture to suppose that different persons will hereafter enjoy different degrees of happiness, although they may be all eternal, and certainly all purchased by the precious blood of our blessed Redeemer.

ARTICLE THE NINETEENTH.

Of the Church.

THE VISIBLE CHURCH OF CHRIST IS A CONGREGATION OF FAITHFUL MEN, IN THE WHICH THE PURE WORD OF GOD IS PREACHED, AND THE SACRAMENTS BE DULY MINISTERED ACCORDING TO CHRIST'S ORDINANCE, IN ALL THOSE THINGS THAT OF NECESSITY ARE REQUISITE TO THE SAME. AS THE CHURCH OF HIERUSALEM, ALEXANDRIA, AND ANTIOCH, HAVE ERRED, SO ALSO THE CHURCH OF ROME HATH ERRED, NOT ONLY IN THEIR LIVING AND MANNER OF CEREMONIES, BUT ALSO IN MATTERS OF FAITH.

E

We now enter upon the fourth and last division of the Articles, namely, those which relate to Christians as members of a religious society; and the first point to be settled upon this subject is, the meaning of the word Church.

The expression of "the visible Church of Christ," with which this article begins, seems to be used in contradistinction to the mystical or invisible church of Christ. The mystical Church consists of those persons who have truly believed and

Y 4

[PART III. and obeyed the Gospel, and who are conceived, although they have lived at different periods, to be united into one body (a), which is called mystical or invisible, not only because they are not now all upon earth, but because the qualities and properties, which gave them a claim to be members of this blessed society, were never the objects of sense, and could not be judged of by men from merely external circumstances. The visible Church, in its most extensive sense, may include all persons who are or have been, by outward profession, Christians, whether they have or have not believed all the doctrines, or obeyed all the precepts, of the Gospel. This may be called the visible catholic Church; and our Saviour himself alludes to the mixture of real and nominal Christians in his visible Church, when he compares the kingdom of heaven, or the Christian religion, to a net which was cast into the sea, and was filled both with good and bad fishes (b); and also when he compares it to a field in which the master sowed only good seed, but his enemy sowed tares, and there sprang up both wheat and tares (c). But in this article the "VISIBLE

(a) Thus in the Creed we profess our belief in the holy catholic Church, that is, that Christ has formed all faithful Christians into one Society.

(b) Matt. c. 13. v. 47. (c) Matt. c. 13. v. 24, &c.

66 VISIBLE CHURCH" is used in a more limited sense, and comprehends only the Christians of one country or city, or of one persuasion; thus it mentions the church of Hierusalem, of Alexandria, of Antioch, and of Rome; and in like manner we often speak of the Church of England, of Holland, of Geneva, and of the Lutheran church; and all these different churches are parts of the visible catholic church. It is well known that the church of Rome considers itself as the only Christian Church; but on the other hand, we extend the name to any CON

GREGATION OF FAITHFUL MEN, IN THE WHICH THE PURE WORD OF GOD IS PREACHED, AND THE SACRAMENTS BE DULY MINISTERED ACCORDING TO CHRIST'S ORDINANCE, IN ALL THOSE THINGS THAT OF NECESSITY ARE REQUISITE TO THE SAME. The adherence to the fundamental principles of the Gospel is therefore sufficient to constitute a visible Church, although every doctrine it maintains may not be founded in truth, or all the parts of its public worship agreeable to Scripture. We consider all men as Christians, or as members of the visible Church of Christ, who have been baptized, and profess their belief in the divine mission of Christ, even if their faith be in some respects erroneous, and their lives unworthy of their holy vocation. To

make

make a discrimination, to draw a line of distinction upon these points, would be to deny salvation to those whom we exclude from the Church of Christ, which would be unbecoming and presumptuous in the highest degree; and upon the same principle we forbear to inquire what precise additions or defects in the administration of the sacraments ordained by Christ annul their efficacy. We contend that we follow Scripture in the performance of the public offices of our religion, without passing judgment upon those who appear to us to depart from it. But though we

admit, that to call upon the name of Christ, entitles a person to be denominated a Christian, yet we are aware that, "Not every one that saith unto him, Lord, Lord," will partake of the benefits of his death. Though the Church of Christ here on earth be thus numerous, and consist of persons of such various characters and dispositions, we cannot but remember the solemn assurance that Christ will hereafter "separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats (d);" and that a different sentence will be pronounced upon the real and nominal members of the Church at the great day of final retribution.

We find the word Church used in the New Testament

(d) Matt. c. 25. v. 32.