He seems to be trying to make a distinction between a "visible" and an "invisible" church, in order to further his argument. I have not heard these terms used before. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.
The church
as we see it is called the "visible" church. It is made up of those who claim the Christian religion, and their children.
But God alone knows who among those who
claim faith in Christ and those who genuinely possess it and practice it. The church
as God sees it is called the "invisible" church. Only the true believers are the true church. But the knowledge of men's hearts is God's alone. To us the true church is invisible because only God knows who they are. We are to take men at their word (for the most part) when they confess faith in Christ (thus joining the "visible" church).
Wheat and tares grow together until the harvest (Matthew 13:24-43), when God separates them.
The
visiblechurch has been driven underground and out of sight in many parts of the world at different times in history, but the
invisible church has always prevailed. In fact persecution is known to strengthen and expand the invisible church, purifying it. The "tares" will fall away when things get tough. The wheat will endure - and prevail.
The distinction between "visible and invisible" churches is a common one among us Reformed folk. It simply denotes two points of view - ours (limited, finite, "through a glass darkly") and God's (perfect, infallible, eternal, clear).
None of the Reformers, by the way, had any intention of leaving the Roman Catholic church. They hoped to reform it, restoring it from its corruption and superstition. They only "left" because they were expelled by a corrupted "visible" church that had all too obviously abandoned the gospel. It was the Roman Catholic church that had abandoned the truth and tried to make a liar of Jesus Christ.
