The Escape Of Charles Ii

I dressed up as King Charles II and gave this sermon in the first person. PowerPoint slides are available. email jaykaymarsh@yahoo.com to get them

Greetings and Salutations. I am King Charles II. Some of you may know my great great great great great great great great great great great (that’s 11 greats) grandson, Prince Charles. He has had a little trouble with the British public. But his troubles are nothing compared to the trouble my father, Charles I and I had. 1,2

Charles I and his Parliament disagreed on how to govern England and the English Civil War resulted. Parliament’s army defeated Charles I’s army and on January 30, 1649 Charles I was executed. Fortunately I was able to escape to France. Two years later I returned to Scotland and gathered an army to reclaim my throne. By late afternoon on September 3, 1651 my army was defeated . After the battle I fled from my headquarters to my lodgings to gather a few things. I left out the back door as Parliamentary forces entered the front door. 1,2

Lesson #1. I could not reclaim my kingdom by force. I could only be King of England if the people chose me. So it is with God. He does not force His Kingship on us. Behold I stand at the door and knock- Rev 3:20. He waits for us to choose him as our King 3

Lord Wilmot, Lord Derby, and Charles Giffard and I fled to Giffards’s Boscobel estate. We arrived at about 3 AM. Here I met the Pendrell brothers: William, Richard, John, and George. They helped disguise me as a woodsman. I cut my long hair. I put on an old set of cloths. I darkened my skin with charcoal. I put on an old pair of shoes. No shoes could be found to fit me, so I cut the sides out of a pair and forced them on. I hid in a nearby woods the rest of the night and all the next day. It never stopped raining. It was miserable, but no doubt slowed down my pursuers. A kind woman, Francis Yates a relative of the Pendrells gave a me a blanket to the keep the rain off. 1,2

Lesson # 2: Kindness is never forgotten. In all my troubles I remember this kindness. These poor people had done much for me already. They had hid me at risk to their own life. They had given me their own cloths. They did their duty, but beyond that they were kind. I didn’t need a blanket but they gave me one. When we help the poor it is not enough to give them what they need. We need to go the extra mile and be kind. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 3

That night Trusty Dick and I went looking for places to cross the Severn River into Wales where I had more supporters. Along the way we needed to cross a small stream, thw Worth. Rather than get our feet wet we crossed at miller’s bridge. Unfortunately the miller, a grumpy man, challenged us. “Who goes there” he cried. “Neighbors going home,” replied Richard Pendrell. “If you be neighbors, stand close” replied the miller. At this we ran up a long lane and jumped a hedge and listened to see if he had followed.. He had not. 1,2

Lesson #3: Hospitality. Like the Innkeeper of Bethlehem, the miller missed the chance of a lifetime: to harbor a king. Let us always be hospitable to visitors. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:2 3

We proceeded to a town called Madley. While I stayed in the background, Richard approached Francis Wolf and asked him if he would receive a gentlemen of quality who had escaped the battle of Worcester. Mr. Wolf replied that is was to dangerous to harbor anyone known and that he would not venture his neck, unless it were the king himself. Then Richard told Mr. Wolf it was I. Then Mr. Wolf replied that he would venture all he had to save me. I spent the rest of the night and all the next day hiding under the straw in Mr. Wolf’s barn. 1,2

Lesson #4. Although the gift of salvation is free, it compel us to venture all for the King. God has done so much for us. He created us. He sustains us. He redeemed us. He is changing us to be like him. Out of love we serve him. We will venture all for our King. I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ,...one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 3:8,14 3