For there are two kinds of churches stretching from the beginning of history to the end, which St. Augustine calls Cain and Abel. The Lord Christ commands us not to embrace the false church; and he himself distinguishes between two churches, a true one and a false one, in Matthew 7 [:15], “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,” etc. Where there are prophets, there are churches in which they teach. If the prophets are false, so also are the churches that believe and follow them. We have been unable up to now to get the papists to willingly prove why they are the true church, but they insist that according to Matthew 18 [:17] one must listen to the church or be lost. Yet Christ does not say there who, where, or what the church is; only that where it is, it ought to be listened to. We confess and say that as well, but we ask where the church of Christ is, and who it is. We are concerned non de nomine, “not with the name” of the church, but with its essence.

It is just as if I asked a drunkard or a fool or someone half-asleep, “Tell me, friend, who or where is the church?” and he answered me, ten times over, nothing but, “One should listen to the church!” But how am I to listen to the church when I do not know who or where the church is? “Well,” they say, “we papists have remained in the ancient and original church ever since the time of the apostles. Therefore we are the true church, for we have come from the ancient church and have remained in it; but you have fallen away from us and have become a new church opposed to us.” Answer: “But what if I prove that we have remained faithful to the true ancient church, indeed, that we are the true ancient church and that you have fallen away from us, that is, the ancient church, and have set up a new church against the ancient one?” Let us hear that! (Luther’s Works, v.41, p.194)

Picture:  The chalice has three scenes depicted on the cup and three on the base.  This one on the base is the Pentecost scene.

Now why should we have the blasphemous, bogus law or government of the pope over and above these three high divine governments, these three divine, natural, and temporal laws of God? It presumes to be everything, yet is in reality nothing. It leads us astray and tears us from these blessed, divine estates and laws. Instead, it dresses us in a mask or cowl, thereby making us the devil’s fools and playthings, who are slothful and no longer know these three divine hierarchies or realms. That is why we no longer want to put up with it, but acting in conformity with St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s, and St. Augustine’s teaching, want to be rid of it and turn the words of Psalm 2 [:3] against them, “Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.” Indeed, we shall sing with St. Paul, “Even if an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to that, let him be accursed” [Gal. 1:8]; and we shall say with St. Peter, “Why do you make trial of God by putting such a yoke upon the neck?” [Acts 15:10]. Thus we shall again be the pope’s masters and tread him underfoot, as Psalm 91 [:13] says, “You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.” And that we shall do by the power and with the help of the woman’s seed, who has crushed and still crushes the serpent’s head, although we must run the risk that he, in turn, will bite us in the heel [Gen. 3:15]. To this blessed seed of the woman be praise and honor, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, to the one true God and Lord in eternity. Amen.  (Luther’s Works, v.41, p.177-178)

Picture:  The chalice has three scenes depicted on the cup and three on the base.  This one on the base is the Annunciation scene.

These are the three hierarchies ordained by God, and we need no more; indeed, we have enough and more than enough to do in living aright and resisting the devil in these three. Just look only at the home and at the duties it alone imposes: parents and landlords must be obeyed; children and servants must be nourished, trained, ruled, and provided for in a godly spirit. The rule of the home alone would give us enough to do, even if there were nothing else. Then the city, that is, the secular government, also gives us enough to do if we show ourselves really obedient, and conversely, if we are to judge, protect, and promote land and people. The devil keeps us busy enough, and with him God gave us the sweat of our brow, thorns and thistles in abundance [Gen. 3:18–19], so that we have more than enough to learn, to live, to do, and to suffer in these two governments. Then there is the third rule and government. If the Holy Spirit reigns there, Christ calls it a comforting, sweet, and light burden [Matt. 11:30]; if not, it is not only a heavy, severe, and terrible task, but also an impossible one, as St. Paul says in Romans 8 [:3], “What the law could not do,” and elsewhere, “The letter kills” [II Cor. 3:6].  (Luther’s Works, v.41, p.177)

Picture:  The chalice has three scenes depicted on the cup and three on the base.  This one on the cup is the Resurrection scene.