A SERMON Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL Ianuary the 30th Being the day of the Martyrdom of King CHARLES the First By the Bishop of St. Asaph Lord Almoner to Their MAJESTIES Published by Her Majesties Command LONDON Printed for Thomas Iones at the White-Horse without Temple-Bar MDCXCI The BISHOP of St. Asaph's SERMON Preach'd before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL A SERMON Preach'd before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL 2 Chron. xxxv 24 25. And all Juda and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah and all the singing-men and the singing-women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day and they made them an Ordinance in Israel and behold they are written in the Lamentations WE are here met this day to humble our selves before God for one of the greatest Sins that ever was committed by any People that profess'd the true Religion except only the Iews rejecting and crucifying their Messias and to bewail the greatest loss I think the greatest that ever befell any Nation in the death of any one Person both which Sin and which Calamity together I would have parallel'd in one Text but I know not where to find it in Scripture For the Example of our Saviour is too high to be brought into comparison with any other And to go lower as it becomes us when we speak of a mere Man a Temporal Prince for so excellent Goodness in Man for such a Blessing in a temporal King to be so wretchedly lost so wickedly destroyed by them that were blessed with it there is no Example of the like to be met with I say not only in Scripture but not in any Story that I know from the beginning of the World to this day In the Age of Gospel-Story while Christ and his Apostles were here there was then no Christian King upon the Earth and if there had been we may guess what Affection what Obedience what Veneration would have been paid him by them that so abounded in their Precepts of those Duties to Heathen Princes to cruel Tyrants to monsters of Men such as Nero under whom two Apostles knowing they were to suffer Death yet commanded every Soul to be subject to the higher Powers the People to submit to them for the Lords sake and their Pastors to put them in mind to obey them They which taught thus and we are sure they liv'd as they taught how glad would they have been to have had those Duties to pay to such a Prince as we have seen by some great Professors of Religion but quite contrary to their Patterns and Rules most contumeliously treated and abused most sacrilegiously and barbarously murther'd Among the Iews who had many Kings of their own Religion some approv'd of God and others tax'd as they justly deserv'd it is observable that their Carriage towards them all as well the evil as the good was generally such as the Gospel requires of us Christians If there were amongst them any Murtherers of Kings the Scripture is careful to let us know what they were wicked Men Sons of Belial and it shews us how they sped they were put to Death for it according to the Law of Moses it is most careful to separate them from the Generation of Gods People to shew their detestation of such Persons and Practices By what we read we cannot but judge they would have trembled to think of that which they that call'd themselves Gods People had the impiety to do they had the prodigious wickedness to do it and yet they had the face to call themselves Gods People I am sure 't is in vain to look for any thing like this in Scripture But to shew how the Iews demean'd themselves toward their Kings and first to evil Kings I ought to take my first measures from their Behaviour towards Saul and especially from the most memorable instance of David whom God himself having declar'd to be a Man after his own heart we have the divine Approbation of what he said and did in this matter But of his excellent behaviour toward Saul besides many other remarkable instances we have one in the Lesson that was read to you this morning There you heard how when one brought David the News of Sauls death by a sure token that he had kill'd him himself which one would have thought should have been welcome News to one that could never be safe while Saul liv'd and that now upon his death was sure to be his Successor for all that David had such a detestation of the Fact and of the impudence of him that boasted of it that first he caus'd him to be put to death he pronounc'd his Sentence in those memorable words 2 Sam. i. 16. Thy Blood be upon thy head for thy mouth hath testifyed against thee saying I have slain the Lords Anointed And having thus aveng'd his Death how he mourn'd for it afterwards we see in his mourning Song that he compos'd and which was read to you out of the same Chapter But we are novv upon the Death of a good King and to shew the Peoples sense of this and their Behaviour upon it you cannot pitch upon an instance more likely than at the Death of Iosiah A most remarkable instance in two respects First Considering their loss of so excellent a Person And Secondly the many harsh Circumstances of his death For the Person a holy and good Man a just and a merciful Prince such a Prince as came not in many Ages in many hundreds of years They had three Kings in whom they gloried above all other they were David and Hezekiah and Iosias And yet David had faults which one would tremble to think of Hezekiah was not free from Faults as appear'd when God left him 2 Chron. xxxii 31. The least Evil we read of any King in Scripture is of Iosiah Some Indiscretion it was perhaps in him to engage in that War against Pharaoh Necho I dare not say it was sin in him for Scripture hath not said it But if that was not sin I am sure we read of none that he had And in this respect we may place him above David and Hezekiah so the Scripture does in general Words saying that like him there was no King before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his Soul and with all his Might according to all the Law of Moses neither after him arose there any like him He was a singular Prince and had a singular mark of it in that Prophesie which named him 300 years before he was born Behold a Child shall be born to the House of David Josiah by Name No small things you may be sure he was to do that God thought worth speaking of and foretelling so many Ages before When Iosias was born and came to be King he did all those things which were foretold of him in that Prophesie He abolisht that Idolatry and Superstition that had grown up under his loose Predecessors He
3. 10. even in those days in the days of King Iosiah as you read in the 6th Verse of that Chapter Yet that hypocritical People was protected by this Religious Prince God's Judgment could not come at them till he was taken out of the way But when he was removed they lay bare to the Vengeance of God Then he would have a full blow at them then wrath was to be poured out upon them to the uttermost Then God's Judgments were to rush in upon them like the breaking in of the Sea Then they were to suffer those things which to hear of were enough to make ones Ears tingle 2 Kings xxi 12. Ier. xix 3. And if they understood this as we are certain they might and Jeremy did understand it we cannot wonder that all Juda and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah and Jeremy especially Since they saw and he saw it especially their Walls and Bulwarks were broken down by that good King Josia's death They had lost that good Prince of whom they were not worthy and were now to expect those things of which they were most worthy They had great cause therefore to lament themselves before God They could not but do it voluntarily that were sensible of their Condition And they did well to make a Law for it to oblige them that were not sensible But beside this Cause which was peculiar to them there was another in Common to them and us and all Nations that is considering their own Sin and God's punishment of it For the death of a good King is a great publick Calamity And such Calamities are always for the sins of the People I begin first with the Punishment for of that we are most apt to be sensible And yet many are not sensible of that not of a publick punishment till it comes home to themselves till it touches their own Persons and Families 't is pity that such should ever want such punishment But for such as have a sense of Publick Affairs they cannot but be deeply sensible of this that the loss of a good King is a great Calamity to a Nation The death of any King is a loss unless God change him for a better But he must be extream bad that is not better then none at all It was never worse with Israel then when there was no King amongst them for then every one did what was good in his own Eyes In the 4 last Chapters of the Book of Judges God says this four times over as fit for more than common Observation But specially there is a great loss of a good King a good Example a good Governour one that makes it his business to do all that can be done for the protecting and uniting of his People for the preserving and advancing of Truth and Peace of Religion and Righteousness among them Such a nursing Father to the Church such a Wise Manager of the State such a Fortress and Bulwark to his Nation when he is taken away from them what can they think of it If they are not lost to all Sense they cannot but be sensible of this A good King being so great a Blessing to a Nation vve have cause to impute the loss of him to our Sins We are taught so in sundry places of Scripture And therefore vve are taught to lament for those Sins both National and Personal for our ovvn sins and the sins of our Nation For our own sins in the first place It should be every ones care when we bewail the Publick Calamities to consider that such are for the sins of the Nation But the Nation is made up of Individual Persons and I am one of those Individuals therefore I am to search into my own sins I speak now as being one that lived and sinned in those times to lay my hand upon my breast to examin my own heart and seriously to consider how far I contributed to that publick Guilt which brought down this publick Judgment upon us And as far as I find I contributed to it to confess and bevvail my ovvn sins before God to ask pardon and that I may be capable of it to mourn deeply and heartily and to shew the proof of it in my real amendment that as I have throvvn in my Talent into the National sin so I may do my part in promoting the National Reformation If I have no sin of my own to mourn for vvhich in strict speaking is impossible but if I have no presumptuous and clamorous sin to answer for or if my sins are of a latter date which is the case of the greatest part of you that hear me yet for such they are all to consider themselves as Members of this Nation and mourn for the sins of the Nation for those Epidemical sins that brought down such a publick Judgment upon us For so doing we have the Examples of Ez. 9. 3. of Neh. 9. 16. of Daniel 10. 1. How did those Holy Men Mourn and humble themselves before God for the sins of Ages past that brought upon them the Babylonian Captivity And yet that Captivity also was past when they poured out their Souls before God in tears for the sins of their Fathers How much more have Holy Men lamented for the sins of their own Age The Prophet David on this account poured out Rivers of Tears Psal. 119. 136. The Prophet Ieremy 9. 1. Wish'd that his head were Water and his Eyes a Fountain of Tears to bewail the sins of his Nation But especially our blessed Saviour himself tho' he had no sin yet he had Tears for them that had Luke 19. 42. He beheld Ierusalem and wept over it saying Oh that thou hadst known even in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine Eyes Tears are of no use without hearty endeavours where endeavours may be used and we have reason to hope they may do good And therefore these also were applied by those Holy Men whom I have mentioned And these also are required of us even our utmost Endeavours every one within the Sphere of his Calling to bring others to a sight and sense of their Sins and to persuade them to join with us every one by his particular to help on the publick Reformation This is the end of all Judgments which are not to final Destruction Isaia 27. 9. This is the fruit of them to take away our sin And this is the end of our Sorrow 2 Cor. 7. 10. Godly Sorrow works Repentance to Salvation not to be repented of And this is the end of our Fast days as God teaches us Ioel 2. 12. Turn you to me with all your hearts with fasting and with weeping and with mourning and rent your hearts and not your Garments and turn you to the Lord your God So Hosea xiv 1 2. O Israel turn unto the Lord thy God for thou hast fallen by thy iniquity take with thee words and turn to the Lord say unto him take away
Lusts for the wrecking of their Revenge for the enriching of themselves and their Friends For them that had no such designs they seem'd to live like Men without any Instead of glorifying God they fell to drinking of Healths Instead of being stricter in Religion they grew looser in their Lives Instead of frequenting God's Worship they fill'd the Play-houses and worse places Instead of adorning the Gospel they expos'd it to the scorn of our Adversaries Instead of composing Differences among our selves they were rather for widening them This was bad enough otherwise but much the worse through their fault that should have mended these things Instead of Reforming they us'd ways to debauch us more and instead of Uniting they us'd ways to inflame our Divisions It was a Riddle that any Government should suffer such things till at last it appear'd they were not only suffer'd but design'd The design of it was plainly this to bring in Popery again And that had certainly return'd It had prevail'd over us e're this time if God had not wonderfully deliver'd us from it It pleas'd God to give us a second Resurrection more wonderful then the former The marks of Gods Hand were so visible in it at first and are so daily more and more that he is blind that doth not see them There is enough one would think to convince even the Atheist to the belief of a Providence But whosoever doth believe it should consider the work of God and whosoever considers cannot but see what it drives at and he that sees that how can he but comply with his Design It is plainly the design of God by this turn to establish the Protestant Religion in these Kingdoms And in order to that to unite us among our selves all that can unite in Worship and the rest in their Interests and Affections And especially to unite us in that common design of driving out all immorality and prophaneness out of this Kingdom It is not sense it is a plain contradiction to call that a Reform'd Religion which hath not the power of reforming Men's Lives It is the purifying and Reforming of these that is the chief business of Religion And this is the chief design of God's Providence in this Revolution That this is Gods design he hath shewn us particularly by giving us such Princes as enjoin us nothing but what they are Patterns of themselves I know not what can be a clearer token of the design of Gods Providence than this But hath this good Providence of God the effect that he designs and may justly expect at our hands We are so far from it yet that it is a shame to say what all Men know We are now as to our Morals perhaps as bad as ever we were I fear I said too much in saying perhaps It is too sure it is notorious to all the World There never was louder Swearing never more open Drunkeness never more impudent Adultery such daily Robbing and Killing not only in Houses but in the open Streets And if this Licentiousness should run on what will it come to in time This is a Lamentation and shall be for a Lamentation We are so far from being fit for those Mercies and Blessings which we had otherwise all the reason in the World to expect and to hope for under their Majesties Government that now on the contrary we have reason to fear that God will have mercy on us no more that having tryed the utmost means to do us good when those fail he should give us over as incorrigible My Principal hope is in the Mercies of God Not his Ordinary Mercies for we seem to be past them but I speak it with respect to those absolute Promises that he hath given to his Church to be fulfilled in this Age. God's Promises will be made good to his Church though we deprive our selves of the benefit of them It was an absolute promise that God made to Abraham that he would bring his Seed out of Egypt and that he would seat them in the promis'd Land And God was as good as his word though of all them that came out of Egypt only two had the full benefit of it all the rest of them died in the Wilderness God will fulfill his Promises to them and only them that are careful to perform the Conditions He preserv'd righteous Lot that was griev'd with the filthy Conversation of them with whom he liv'd in Sodom when that City was destroyed And at the destruction of Ierusalem he did set a mark upon them that mourn'd for the abominations of Jerusalem He will do the like for all them that fear his Name he will preserve them from the common destruction They shaâ—â— be mine saith the Lord of Hosts in the day that â— make up my Iewels I will spare them as a Maâ— spares his own Son that serves him Then shall yâ—â— discern between the righteous and the wicked betweeâ— him that serves God and him that serves him noâ—â— Mal. iii. two last Verses God grant that this may be the lot of all thâ—â— hear me this day God grant this blessing effectâ— our Lamentations that beholding the Judgment of God considering those that are past and dreading those that are to come we may fear to 〈◊〉 against God we may not only keep our selves unspotted from the World but do all we can to save others from Sin and Death snatching them as the Apostle saith like Brands out of the fire At present it would be a greater thing to stop the growing course of wickedness then it will be afterwards to restore Religion and Vertue And restor'd I trust it will be to a greater lustre then ever by their Majesties Zeal and Wisdom and Diligence which will be wholly applyed to this business when God hath well discharg'd them of the other the great burden of War that is now upon their hands God grant a speedy and happy issue of it for his Mercies sake through Iesus Christ our Lord. FINIS Ecclesiasticus xlix 4. 2 Kin. xxiii 25. 1 Kin. xiii 2. Amos viii 8 9. 10. 2 Kings xxiii 27. 2 Chron. xxx 28.
all our Iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render thee the Calves of our Lips This ought to have been the Fruit of their Lamentation for Iosia but for want of this it did them no good their Iniquity was their ruine That ours may not be so to us God grant we may mend that fault in our Lamentation 'T is our business on this day to lament our Iosiah above 40 years after as the Iewish Church did theirs 140 years after his Death I shall first consider the Cause of our Lamentation and then our Duty in consequence of it On both these Heads I have much more to say then I can bring within my time But if I do exceed I hope you will bear with me for I suppose I hinder nothing but what may well be spared on this day Our business on this day is to lament for the Death of our Iosiah that most excellent Prince on whose Name his greatest Adversaries have fastned no more nor indeed no other blame then God hath left upon the Memory of Iosiah But whatsoever good we read of in Iosiah it is known to all that knew him to have been eminently in that Prince whom we lament on this day They were both alike born and bred up in the true Religion But herein the advantage was on our Iosia's side that this was he true Christian Religion which as far excels the Iewish as the clear Sun-shine doth the light of a dark misty day And as we have reason to believe that Josiah had studied his Religion for he as well taught as commanded both his Priests and People their Duties so had our Josia He understood his Religion throughly It was his judgment that indear'd it to his Affection And with both these together like a true Defender of the Faith he maintain'd it all ways against all sorts of Adversaries Especially he was a most zealous observer and assertor of God's Worship as was Josia He was an heroick Pattern of all Virtues as was Josia He was like Iosias in all the Divine Perfections of his Life and for our Sins he was too like him in suffering an untimely and violent Death So the Parallel runs quite through between the two Persons and it doth not fall short in any part of that Duty that was paid to their Memories All that my Text saith was done upon the Death of Iosia we have seen and yet see the same done to the Memory of our King All true Servants of God in our Church do and will for ever bewail and lament for him We have a Set Form prescrib'd for it which was read to us upon this day And it is to be read yearly upon this day for as my Text saith it is made an Ordinance throughout Israel But in the Lamentation of the Iews for Iosia there was as I have shewn a just Reflection made by Ieremiah especially upon those Sins of the Nation for which God depriv'd them of that Blessing that they enioy'd in such an excellent Prince The like was made afterwards by Daniel and by Ezra and by Nehemia upon those Sins of their People in those Times which provoked God afresh to send down his Judgments upon them to their utter destruction This is that we have reason to fear and their way to prevent it must be ours Our Reflections upon the Sins of this Nation as well before the Kings Death as since even to this day in order to our Amendment these are the most useful and necessary Ingredients of our Lamentation And this will be more requir'd of Us then it was of the Iews in respect of that much greater Light which God hath given Us. We shall find in our Account that we are the Disciples of Christ and that in the upper Form of his School whatsoever we think of it We have his Religion in as great perfection as ever it was in any Nation This advantage we have had by our Reformation from Popery Ever since God hath given us the free use of the Scriptures and together with it those helps of Learning that never were before in any Age which singular Blessings of God to set forth to you as they deserve would be the business of a Book and not of the end of a Sermon Now what returns to God have we made for all this I must needs say for an Age after the Reformation of Religion there seem'd to be a great Reformation of Mens Lives There was then a zeal for Religion kindled in their hearts by seeing so many holy Men burn for it in Queen Mary's days But when that heat was over their first love I may call it as they cool'd to Religion so they went off by degrees from their Primitive Purity and Holiness It was but too visible in this blessed Monarch's Reign that they that had the Conduct then of Religion had not the same zeal for it that they had whom God made the Instruments of our Reformation They were indeed more concern'd than they for external things but not so much for that which is the Soul and Life of Religion This gave occasion to others to fly out another way They call'd every thing of external Worship Popery They were against all Imposition even in lawful things They made such a noise against it as turn'd Mens heads They so scar'd them with little things made great by false Lights that they run into the greatest Evils to avoid them Into a War the worst sort of it a Civil War a bloody Rebellion that drew a long Train of Calamities after it It came to this at last We lost the best King that God ever gave to this Nation How we lost him I tremble to say and yet we all know it is the saddest part of our Lamentation on this day It soon appeared what a blow this gave to Religion by the general dissolution of Order and of Discipline in the Church And to the Nation likewise by the Confusions that followed which if they had run a little further we should soon have ceas'd to be a Nation In this miserable condition when we lay as it were gasping for Life it pleased God out of the Cloud to look upon us He gave us as it were a New Life a Resurrection from the dead He restor'd us when it was visible that none but he could do it It was such a mercy to this Nation such a heap of Mercies together that all Nations stood amaz'd at it We cannot but be astonish'd our selves if we consider what opportunities God put then into their hands They that were at the Helm needed but ask and have whatsoever they thought fit to settle both Church and State To have secured Truth and Peace and Unity and Love and Holiness in a word all that pleases God and all that makes a People happy We have cause for ever to lament the loss of these Opportunities But how much more the wretched purposes to which they were misapplyed For the gratifying of Mens