Foundation Service 2005

Jesmond Parish Church was founded 144 years ago. It was founded in memory of Richard Clayton. He was a great evangelical leader on Tyneside in the first half of the 19th century and was based at St Thomas' Church in the Haymarket. The church grew and developed into a remarkable centre for the Christian faith. But Clayton died relatively young.

The congregation then wanted his assistant to become the senior pastor, or "Master" as the post was called. This assistant was a man who, like Clayton, preached the gospel clearly in an age of growing theological confusion. But the authorities outside the church opposed this appointment. They wanted a more "liberal" man as Master. The majority of the congregation, however, were sufficiently well-taught to be able to say, "No! The gospel must still be preached." So they decided to plant a new church. The lay leaders then prayed, organized, and raised money. And on 14 January 1861, as you can see on the top of your service sheets:

a church in memory of the late Rev Richard Clayton ... in which evangelical truth shall be declared", which would "form a central point for the maintenance and promulgation of sound scriptural and Evangelical truth in a large and populous town" [was consecrated].

So the church was both to maintain and to promulgate [or promote and spread] biblical and evangelical truth - not either/or but both/and. And what is "sound scriptural and evangelical truth"? Nothing other than what is the foundation of the Church of England. The establishment of the Church of England is for a national church, as the Canon says, and I quote, that is ...

... grounded in the Holy Scriptures and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal.

The Bible is the supreme authority for the Church of England. The Church of England is not grounded in Bishops or in Synods but in the Holy Scriptures. But today, I need not tell you, there are attacks against the plain teaching of the Bible outside and even inside the church. How important, therefore, that we are all faithful to that founding vision of both positively "promulgating" (or promoting) and negatively "maintaining" or defending "sound scriptural and evangelical truth". The word "evangelical" simply underlines the teaching of the Thirty-nine Articles. It qualifies the word "scriptural" to mean the Bible read in the light of that true Biblical tradition.

You say, "But how is this doctrine being attacked?" Well, take the first of those Thirty-nine articles. This past week I heard a man on TV denying the God of the Bible - the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit as Article I tells you. His evidence for God's non-existence, he claimed, was the recent Tsunami. Other people may not be denying but doubting God. "How," they ask, "can this God of the Bible allow such an event with all the death and devastation that has resulted?" They forget (or do not know) that Jesus, the Divine Son, himself warned of such things. He said:

You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains (Matthew 24.6-8).

Of course, there is no easy answer to suffering. But should that make you doubt God? No! Read the Old Testament book of Job that deals with the problem of suffering not by solving it but by showing you how to live with it, while still trusting in God. The secret for Job was a renewed vision of the greatness and majesty of God as the almighty creator of the universe. His problem with suffering was then a secondary issue.

And remember Jesus not only predicted that between his two comings there would be earthquakes and other terrible events. He also predicted that (Matthew 24.10-11):

many will turn away from the faith ... and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

When you find people fundamentally denying not only Article I, but the other seven of those eight Articles I read earlier and indeed other key articles of the Thirty-nine, don't be surprised. There is a spiritual war on. The Christian faith and Christian believers are under attack and always have been. So this morning I want to focus on how you respond to, and what you do in, that war. And I want us to learn from what Paul says about spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6 verses 10-20. And I want us to think, first, about THE ENEMY; and, secondly, about THE WARFARE itself.

First, THE ENEMY

And I want, first, to address who the enemy is not; and then, secondly, who the enemy really is. So first or ...

a) who the enemy is not.

Look at verse 12. Paul is clear:

our struggle is not against flesh and blood.

That is very important. The enemy fundamentally is not all the people who deny or doubt God or teach what is false. So you mustn't think that all that is needed is better preaching, more persuasive arguing; more tight organization and stronger political action. Yes, all those are necessary. You should evangelize and take action to spread and maintain the truth of the gospel. You should write letters and oppose, as you can, offensive broadcasts and immoral legislation. And take other action. But do not think that all your activity will automatically ensure that the spiritual battle will be won. For beneath the surface of things there is a far more strategic spiritual battle raging. With all our preaching, arguing, organizing and politicking it can, sometimes, too easily ignored. And the real enemy, according to Paul, is the devil and certain "powers and spiritual forces" he has at his command. So that brings me to my second sub-heading ...

b) who the enemy really is.

Look at verse 12 again:

our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Paul has already introduced his readers to the enemy in chapter 2 as "the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient" and in chapter 4 as simply "the devil". You say, "you're surely not asking us to believe in the reality of the devil in 2005." Most certainly, I am. The Bible teaches that the evil in the world is more than the sum total of all the sins of all the people that have ever lived. For there is a super-plus of evil. Many non-Christians believe that there is evil over and above the wrong doings of individuals. Experience would suggest that they are right.

The question then is this: "is that extra an 'it' or a 'he'? Is it more convincing to treat that power of evil as an impersonal force or as an evil intelligence?" Jesus and his apostles taught the latter. They taught that you are dealing with a "he" not an "it" - "an evil intelligence" not "an impersonal force". Here in Ephesians Paul doesn't go into great details. Paul's goal is simply to warn us, not to satisfy our curiosity. He wants to help us overcome the devil not spend hours on demonology.

The Bible makes it clear that the devil is a defeated foe - defeated when Christ died on the Cross at Calvary. It also makes it clear that the Holy Spirit in the Christian is greater and stronger than the devil. But it also makes it clear that until the second coming of Christ the devil and his forces are still active. The devil is like a fatally wounded animal. Sometimes a wounded animal is more dangerous than a healthy one. So it seems is the devil in this period before Christ returns and the devil is put down for ever. Listen to the Apostle Peter (1 Peter 5.8-9):

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.

It is important that you take the devil seriously. In the earlier part of this epistle Paul has been teaching how God brings unity among peoples like Jews and Gentiles; how he offers salvation by grace through faith; how he commissions great Christian leaders like Paul, and, we could add, lesser men like Richard Clayton; how he wants the church to be united and to grow; how he wants Christian people to be holy and moral in lifestyle; how he wants loving marriages and families with husbands, wives and children relating as they should; and how he wants good relationships in the secular work-place. But the devil is wanting to disrupt and destroy all of that.

So when you hear of racial hostility; people not being converted; weak Christian leadership; churches disunited and not growing; Christian people being immoral; families and marriages breaking down; and bad relationships in the work place - when you hear any of those things happening, be sure the devil is at work. Of course, there is also human sin and that has to be addressed. But unless you face the hidden and real spiritual battle, you can be like those primitive, stone-age islanders last week. They were on a South Asian island that was devastated by the Tsunami and they were terrified by a relief helicopter. So they tried to attack it with bows and arrows! The devil and his forces are referred to here in verse 12 as "rulers", "authorities", "powers" and "spiritual forces". There is debate as to exactly what is meant by those terms. But what you can say is that the devil and his forces are "powerful". So you need more than the spiritual equivalent of "bows and arrows" to deal with him.

The devil and his forces, of course, are not only powerful. They are supremely wicked. They are described as being "of this dark world" and they are "spiritual forces of evil". And then the devil is "scheming" or cunning. Verse 11 refers to "the devil's schemes." The Bible says that the devil can appear as "an angel of light" (2 Cor 11.14). And you can get "wolves in sheep's clothing" that destroy Christ's flock. Someone has said the Devil is "both the bully and the beguiler". He uses both "force and fraud". So much for the enemy. You mustn't mistake the ultimate enemy for the people he uses. "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood". Our struggle is against the devil and his forces that are powerful, evil and scheming. How, then, should you respond? That brings me to my second main heading this morning. So ....

Secondly, THE WARFARE

Verses 10-20 are not an after-thought to the letter - a kind of "PS." - something Paul has forgotten to say earlier. No! These words are Paul's summons to battle. This is Paul like Henry at Agincourt. And note he is addressing the whole church like an army - not just individuals. He is not just addressing a few super-heroes. He is not like a commander briefing a small S.A.S. team going off on a specialist mission, or briefing an individual special agent. This is for everyone, not just the super-keen. You see, lone soldiers are so easy to pick off. That is why we need one another for this fight. And he says there are to be two strategies, first, you are to "stand firm" and, secondly, you are to pray - so simple but so critical and therefore so liable to attack by the devil. First, or ...

a), you are to "stand firm".

Look at verses 11, 13 and 14:

Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes ... [verse 13] Put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then.

Four times Paul says you must "stand firm". The Bible has so much to say about not "drifting" from Christ - read the epistle to the Hebrews; or to change the metaphor, about "remaining" or "abiding" in Christ. We read about that in John 15 in the Home Groups this past week. So Paul is wanting Christian stability. He is not wanting these Ephesians to go rushing here and there after something new. No! Paul sees the battle as a battle to hold a strong position. He is not telling the Ephesians to be like soldiers making a quick moving attack. It is interesting to note that the key attack weapons of the Roman soldier, the twin javelins, are missing from Paul's list of weapons. Paul is simply telling the Ephesians to stand firm. They, if you like, are to hold the high ground. The enemy has to make an uphill attack and so is at a great disadvantage. And the strong position they hold is detailed in all that has gone before in this letter. It fundamentally springs from their union, by faith, with Christ who is head over all, who is risen and seated at God's ...

... right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come" (1.20-21).

Do you believe that? The good news is that if we trust Christ, chapter 2 verse 6:

God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.

Do you believe that? You need to. That is the basis of this warfare. Believing and knowing that is like knowing Dunkirk is behind you. You are now on the winning side. But there still is a fight ahead. So, verse 10:

be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

You need God's power and his Holy Spirit to strengthen you. And, says Paul, you need God's armour. I won't go into this armour in detail. All I will say is that you need it.

You need, first, says Paul, "truth" (v 14a). That covers both honesty and "the" truth - orthodoxy - nor wishy-washy relativism, a truth for you and a truth for me. What rubbish! Either it is true Newcastle have just signed two new defenders, Jean-Alain Boumsong and Celestine Babayara, or it is false. Either it is true the tomb of Jesus was empty that first Easter morning or it is false. The evidence convinces me it is true. But neither of those propositions can be true for me while not being true for you.

Secondly, you need "righteousness" (v 14b) - that probably means what it means in English - right behaviour and morals. Thirdly, there is to be "the gospel of peace" (v 15) - the gospel that tells of peace with God, peace with others and peace in your own heart.

Then "faith" (v 16) - that genuine and real trust in God as our creator and saviour. Then "salvation" (v 17a) and all that that great word covers regarding the past, the present and the future, or to use theological terms our "justification", "sanctification" and "glorification" and the wonderful assurance that brings. And, finally (v 17b), there is "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

As our founders knew, if you lose the bible which is "God's Word written" (to quote Article XX) you lose everything. For in the Bible you find out both about Jesus, his person and his work, and all you need to know about God's will for the world and for you. So stand firm. How do you do that? You seek God's strength to enable you to live a life or a lifestyle that is concerned for truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the Word of God. But that is not the end. The second point of strategy is that ...

b) you are to pray.

Look at verses 18-20:

pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

That is so comprehensive. Pray at all times. If there is a need, pray. If there is a worry, pray. Pray for other Christians. Pray that they will not drift but stand firm. Pray that you will not drift. And pray for me and others who have to speak publicly that God would give us opportunities and that when we do speak, we speak fearlessly.

I must conclude.

I do so with the following question? Will you be faithful to our founding vision in 2005 by remembering that there is a spiritual war on; that there is a powerful, evil and scheming enemy that is not human but supernatural; and that you need, therefore, God's armour of truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the Word of God?

And will you put prayer as a number one priority? So why not put in your diary now the Day of Prayer - Wednesday 26 January?