Amen. Now we're going to read from
God's Word and I'm going to do something different and
something that's unusual, and that will be that we're going to
read 4 passages of Scripture. Three of these passages are just
single verses, and then a fourth passage will be a few verses.
So the first verse I want to read to you is the book of
Hebrews, Hebrews Chapter 11 and the verse 33, Hebrews Chapter
11, verse 33. It reads as follows.
Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness,
obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.
Hebrews 1133 was a text that was dear to the heart of King
William the third Prince of Orange.
If you turn to Romans chapter 8 now, but read in verse 31, here
was another one of those Williamite texts, Romans 831,
Romans 8, verse 31. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? And if you come over to the Old
Testament now to the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 43, we'll read
there just the second verse, Isaiah chapter 43, verse 2.
When thy passes through the waters, I will be with thee, and
through the rivers they shall not overflow thee.
When they walk us through the fire, they shall not be burned,
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
And we come to one final passage now.
Second Samuel, chapter 23. Second Samuel, chapter 23.
We read together the 1st 4 verses.
Let's hear the word of God. Second Samuel 23 verses 1 to 4.
Now these be the last words of David.
David, the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on
high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of
Israel said, the Spirit of the Lord speak by me, and his word
was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the rock
of Israel speak to me. He that ruleth over men must be
just ruling in the fear of God, and he shall be as the light of
the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds,
as the tender grass springeth out of the earth by a clear
shining after reign. Amen.
We do God and stamp with His own approval and blessing the
reading of these precious words in our hearing men.
Now my text tonight is taken from 4 texts of Holy Scripture
that I've read to you. Second Samuel 23 verses one to
four, Isaiah 43 and 2, Romans 8 and 31, and Hebrews 1133.
Now each of these texts are all associated with King William the
third Prince of Orange. They are known as King William's
texts. Each text I'm well aware, as
were they, of a full sermon. But I'm not going to do a
miniseries of four sermons tonight.
So what I want to do is treat them collectively.
You see, in these four texts of scripture, there's a powerful
message on the life of King William.
You're well aware that this Saturday coming marks the climax
of the marching season when 10s of thousands of Orangemen, bands
and supporters all over this province are out in parade
marching to celebrate the 335th anniversary of the famous Battle
of the Boy. Now I wonder tonight if you
heard of the term the hillbillies.
I wonder if you ever describe somebody he's a hillbilly.
You see, the name Hillbillies is a name given to white people who
live in the Hill Country, the mountains of eastern Virginia,
principally in the Apolletian region of the United States of
America. Now did you know that the
original Hillbillies, as we will call them, were Ulster Scots who
emigrated to the United States of America and they settled in
the Hill counties of West Virginia.
And you see at times they would get together as Ulster folk do
here, and they would sing songs and they would sing ballards.
And these ballards of course, were songs about King William
and the famous Battle of the Boyne.
So see the connection. They lived in the hills, They
were from the Hill Country and they remembered King Billy.
So they were called the Hillbillies.
Now I have question. What do we know about King
Billy? You see, the answer is the
truthful answer. Very little.
If I was to go down tonight into Sandy Row or go up the Shankill
Road and ask them, what do you know about King Billy or King
William the Third Prince of Orange?
Some of the young people may tell me, Well King Billy's on
the wall in Sandy Row, or King Billy, well he rode a White
Horse across the Boyne in the 12th of July 1690.
True, but not strictly true. King Billy defeated King James
and the Jacobite army in the 12th of July 1960.
Again, not true. You see, even many Orange men,
men who are on parade, know so little about King William the
third Prince of Orange. Now remember this, the Bible
says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4 and 6. And that was true of the ancient
Israelite in the days of Hosea the prophet.
But it's also, I believe, true of the people of Northern
Ireland today. And so the aim of my sermon
tonight has helped to supply the Ulster people with the knowledge
of their history and therefore hope to educate them in teaching
about one of the most important kings or leaders that's held in
high esteem among the Protestant people today.
So I have entitled the message, Learning from King William's
text. You see, young people, King
William was a godly man. King William was a 16th century
believer. Did you know that he appointed
chaplains over his army? He had those chaplains preach
regularly to his troops about repentance toward God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you know that he often gave
themselves to private seasons of prayer?
And very often he quoted the Bible in correspondence.
He quoted the Bible in private and public conversation.
So that's what we're thinking about tonight, learning from
King William's text. Here's the first thing, King
William and his family tree. Let's go to the last portion of
Scripture that we read, Second Samuel chapter 23 verses 1 to 4.
You see, King William came from the Dutch royal family.
He was born in The Hague in the Dutch Republic on the 4th of
November 1650. He was baptised William Henry.
He was the only child of his mother Mary.
She was known as the Princess Royal and his father the
stradholder William the second Prince of Orange.
Now his mother Mary was the daughter of King Charles the
First of England, Scotland and Ireland.
So the House of Orange into which William was born into was
a ruling family of the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
William's father, William the second Prince of Orange, died
before William the third was born.
Whenever he was born, 10 days after his father died, the room
was draped in black. His father died of smallpox.
And then of course when William was aged 10, his mother Mary
died. So I want you to think of him,
William the 3rd House of Orange, or Prince of Orange, from his
birth. And whenever he was being
baptised, these words were read. Who through faith subdued
kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the
mouths of lions. Now here's an interesting thing.
How did a Dutchman, an Orange Prince of the provinces of the
Netherland, become King of England, Scotland and Ireland?
And there's a simple answer. In 1677, age of 27, it's a good
age to get married, young man. He married James's, the second
eldest daughter, Mary. So James the second of England,
Scotland and Ireland really was his father-in-law.
So when he came to England to fight, he really came to fight
his father-in-law. Let me tell you what happened
when the Dutch Republic was attacked by Louis the 14th of
France 1672, William rose to power and became Louis's
greatest enemy. William made it his life mission
to oppose Louis the 14th Tooth and kneel and waged many
campaigns against the army of this powerful Roman Catholic
French ruler. Now at that time many
Protestants in England heralded William as a champion of their
faith and in 1685 whenever his Roman Catholic father-in-law and
really his uncle as well, James the Duke of York became King of
England, Scotland and Ireland. James's reign was very unpopular
especially among the Protestant not only the religious leaders
but also the political leaders at this time because James the
Second in 1685 was bent on trying to re establish Roman
Catholicism as the protest at the predominant religion in
England. And then in 1688, when news
broke that James had an heir to the throne, a male heir, it's
widely believed that that male heir was the son of a Miller and
his wife. There's a bit of skulduggery
going on. It's believed that the child was
smuggled into the palace in a bed pal, and that's what was at
least alleged. But the male heir would mean a
succession of Roman Catholic kings or Roman Catholic Queens
in the throne of England, and that alarmed the political
establishment. That alarmed the Protestant
Parliament. They remembered the killing
times, the English Civil War, James's attempts to reintroduce
the Roman Catholic faith in the English life.
So in 1688 a letter was sent to King William by the religious
leaders of the day, 7 godly bishops, and he was invited by
them to become the King of England.
When William came, actually he came with his wife Mary in 1688
and he landed in the English port of Brixham on his ship.
Was this message from the Flagstaff the Protestant
religion and the liberties of England?
I will maintain James fled ended up in France, a mate of Louis
the 14th. The Glorious Revolution of 1688
had begun and there was not one shot fired.
There was not one unit of blood spelled, not one person was
killed. It was a bloodless revolution.
William and Mary were jointly crowned as a husband and wife
Titan, the only monarchs to be jointly crowned in the history
of England. They were crowned with equal
power, authority and the status. And of course, after the
coronation, the Williamite settlement, a Bill of Rights was
introduced. Now let me tell you this, the
coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on the 11th of
April 1689. The preacher was the Archbishop
of London. You see in 1689 the Parliament
declared that James had abdicated by deserting his
Kingdom and William Rain from 1689 to 1702 and whenever he had
his coronation jointly along with his wife Mary, you can
picture them being jointly crowned.
This portion of Scripture Second Samuel 23 was read.
Listen to these words in the verse 3.
The God of Israel said the rock of Israel speak to me.
He that ruleth over men must be just ruling in the fear of God,
and he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun rises,
even a morning without clouds, as the tender grass springing
out of the earth by clear shining after rain.
His wife, Mary, she rained from 1689 to 1694.
She was a godly lady. She stood side by side with her
husband. They had a very loving romantic
relationship. They genuinely loved each other.
And of course, that's proven because of the many love letters
that were sent between each other.
Even though life was marked by outward religious controversy
and religious wars, these two were madly in love with each
other. I believe the Bishop's name, the
Archbishop of London at that time was a man called Bishop
Burnett. I wonder if you've heard of the
little nursery rhyme Rockabye, Baby on the tree top.
When the wind blows, the cradle Will Rock.
When the bow breaks, the cradle will fall, down will come, baby,
cradle and all. We've all sung it to our
children, haven't you? But did you know that that's a
nice little rhyme, a lovely little Ballard.
But that's really about the history at that time of the
family tree of trains. The cradle is about the newborn
meal air when the wind blows. It's the Protestant wind that
brought King William from the Netherlands across the English
Channel to land at Brixham. The Protestant religion and the
liberties of England I will maintain.
And of course, by that glorious revolution, down came the
cradle, baby. And all that was the downfall of
the family tree of James the Second.
Now here's William and his family tree.
What a privilege to be born into a royal family.
Would you like to be born into a royal family?
Suppose I said to you, you could be born into the royal family.
Maybe we'll ask a different way. Are you a member of a greater
royal family? Remember the Lord Jesus said
speaking there in John chapter 1 and in the verse 12 He made this
statement. But as many as received him to
them give he power to become the sons of God, even to them which
believe in His name, which were born not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
See, I would urge you tonight to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And if you believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ and are born again of the Holy Spirit, then not new
birth makes you a member of a greater royal family than the
Dutch royal family or the English royal family.
William was a believer, a 16th century believer.
William and his family tree very quickly.
William and his familiar timeline.
You see, the Battle of the Boyne didn't take place in the 12th of
July 1690. I hope you know that.
You know what? Now?
It took place in the 1st of July 1690.
That's 11 days earlier. We know that the Battle of the
Somme took place in the 1st of July 1916, a 109 years ago.
The Bible encourages us to remember the battle.
But why remember the Battle of the Boyne on the 12th of July if
it was fought on the 1st of July?
That's a good question. Well, there's a simple answer.
It's a twofold answer. One, there was a change in the
calendar. Up until 1752 Great Britain
followed the Julian calendar. Then in 1752 Great Britain
adopted the new calendar of Pope Gregory the 13th, known as the
Gregorian calendar. Many European countries were
using it and there was a push to have adopted into English law
and on the 7th of 7th, 2nd of September 1752, it was adopted.
So the 3rd of September 1752 jumped to the 14th of September.
Did you know there was riots? There was protests.
Give us our 11 days back, but like give us our flag back.
The tax year was moved from the 25th of March to the 5th or 6th
of April, the full tax year. So the celebration of the Battle
of the Boyne that was held right up to 1752 was moved from the
1st of July to the 12th of July. And there's a second reason.
The 12th of July, while it was one of the great battles of the
William 8 wars fought in Ireland, a more decisive and
final battle was fought at Okrum known as the Battle of Okrum.
And the Battle of Okrum was fought on the 12th day of July
1691. We sometimes sing the song It
was worn and Derry, Akarim, Enniskillen and the Boyne.
And while the Battle of the Boyne was a very significant
battle, a great victory, it was not the final battle.
The war was not over, it continued almost another full
year. And it was the Battle of Akram,
a most terrible battle when thousands died that ended the
William 8 wars in Ireland. So think tonight of King William
and his familiar timely. See, when you think of King
William, you've got to think of dates and times, because life is
measured by dates and times. Day of our birth, the day of our
birth, the the things that happened in between the various
days on the journey of life. Think of the time of the battle.
William, through victory, delivered us from a tyrannical
enemy. Let me ask this question.
Was there a time in your life when you recounted when you got
converted? A time when you saw yourself as
a slave to sin? He needed to be set free, and
the only one that can set you free is King Jesus.
Do you know him? Are you associated with Him?
Can you remember the battle of Christ on the cross?
Can you associate a date and a time that was a happy day in
your life when you trusted Him to deliver you out of the hands
of the enemy from the power and penalty of sin?
The third thing I want you to think about tonight is this King
William and his focused task. King William only spent 12 days
in Ireland. King William crossed the Irish
Sea from Hoy Lake and Cheshire at the mouth of the River Dee,
accompanied by a fleet of 700 vessels.
He landed at Carrickfergus near Belfast on the 14th of June
1690, and then on the 15th of June he came to Belfast and he
attended worship in the parish church that's at Saint George's
parish at the top of High Street.
The Reverend Joyce George Royce preached one of the royal
chaplains, and he took for his text Hebrews 1133, who through
faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions.
And in the course of his sermon, he made reference to these
words. When thou pass us through the
waters, I'll be with thee, and through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. When they walk us through the
fire, they shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. Now that was prophetic.
King William took comfort from those two verses.
He reminded why he had been born into the Dutch royal family,
because it was through faith he was going to subdue kingdoms.
And he took comfort that God would be with him no matter what
he would face. Isn't it tremendous that in the
15th of June 1690, William was found in the Lord's Day in the
House of God? Was he not set an example?
I believe he was. Why should we thank God for the
coming of King William? Remember the 1641 Irish
rebellion, 100,000 Protestants were murdered, the Reverend
Jonathan Campbell and new buildings.
He called it the Protestant Holocaust.
And if the figures right and we believe it is, then there should
at least be a memorial service at least once a year.
Our Protestant forefathers, men and women and young people were
stabbed, drowned, had their throats cut, burnt to death.
That's all historical. Dungannon, Banbridge, Portadown,
Loch Gall, Newcastle, Enniskillen.
I'm well aware, and thank God for this, that decent Roman
Catholics had their Protestant neighbours just like the
Christians had the Jews during World War 2.
But those were days of awful persecution.
Protestants lived in fear, under an awful plight.
Think of the siege of Londonderry 4000.
Died in that siege. See, we should thank God tonight
for our freedoms. You should thank God for the
William 8 wars. Thank God for the victory of
King William the third Prince of Orange at the point.
Why? Because today we enjoy free
civil and religious liberty. We have the right to free
assembly. We have the right to the open
Bible. We have the right to freedom of
speech, freedom of worship, Free Press, a free judiciary.
You see, I believe there's a great failure today in many
Protestant circles to appreciate our freedoms and where they come
from. Take, for example, freedom of
speech that's under attack. We hear that regularly.
I heard about a man, I believe he was a chaplain and maybe a
vicar, and he went into a building society and he
complained about the LGBT community being advocated in
that bank. And you know what they did?
They closed his bank account down.
See, I believe we can become careless.
I believe we can become cold. And we need to cherish our
freedoms. We, we cannot afford not to look
back to the past. We're to remember our past.
If the Jews were to remember 3500 years of their history from
the Exodus, from Egyptian bondage, surely we can remember
335 years. Did you know that in Saint
George's Parish Church there's a chair?
You can go and see it. You might be able to sit on it.
It's known as King William's Chair.
And as I've said, he heard this text from one of the royal
chaplains, George Royce. When thou passes through the
waters, I'll be with thee. He had already come through the
waters of the English Channel in November 1688.
The Protestant wind brought him whenever King James's Navy was
stuck in the Thames because of a violent storm.
And then, of course, he had saved passage across the North
Sea from Cheshire at the River Dee, right over to Carrick.
We're told here the rivers will not overflow thee.
And across the ban, across the Boeing, maybe tonight you're
here and you're going through trials and difficulty.
You're in trouble right now. You feel out of your depth.
You need help. You feel the fiery darts of the
devil, the enemy's attacking you.
Maybe you feel that they're trying to, to, to kill you and
destroy you. Well, remember, there's one who
provides for US1 who says fear not for I'll be with thee.
But you need to know him. You need to trust him as your
Lord and Saviour. On the 19th of June Williams
army was at Luck Bricklin, Scarva.
General Stromberg was there 36,000 troops.
King James had 3000 troops. The 25th of June there was at
Newry. Monday the 30th of June 1690 he
was at the River Boy. On that very day, the 30th of
June he held a Council of war. A decision was made to tack on
the morning of the 1st of July and in the 1st of July 1690, the
historic battle of the Boeing took place.
And of course, by the end of the day, William won the victory.
800 soldiers had died, including Governor Walker.
But you know, there's another battle scene.
And I bring you from the Boeing to a place called Mount Calvary.
It's only mentioned once in the Bible, Luke 2233.
And it was there that the greatest battle of the world's
history was ever fought, because the one who was on that cross
had come as the only deliverer of his people.
And in that greatest battle, our great leader and deliverer was
wounded. Of course, William was wounded
at the Boyne where the muskets shot.
They stumped in his horse. But our Lord Jesus was not just
wounded. Our Lord Jesus was wounded unto
death. Think of this five bleeding
wounds that he bore. The serpent, of course, bruised
his heel. Could I plead with you tonight?
It's good to go visit the Boyne, but by faith come to the cross.
I plead with you to get to the cross because after the cross
you'll discover the greatest battle ever fought, how that the
Lord Jesus won and overcome sin and hail and the devil and the
grave so he could bring about your deliverance.
Our greatest deliverer is the Lord Jesus.
We'll think forcefully tonight. King William and his famous
triumph. As you think of King William,
his greatest triumph is forever associated at the Boyne.
See, he wasn't at the Battle of Okram.
He only was in Ireland for 12 days.
After the Boyne he went back to England.
But in Hull they have a statue of King William sitting on a
horse and they have a plaque underneath it.
And this is what it says, our great deliverer.
Yes, William had 5000 war troops than James.
Some of them were better trained.
Yes, he had a better military strategy of war, but he had God
on his side. And on that first of July
morning, 1690, when his troops were good out of war, this is
what William said. William took the lead.
He quoted Romans 8 and 31, and he said if God be for us, then
who can be against us? You know the story that James
fled very quickly from the battle scene.
He arrived in Dublin. He complained that his army had
deserted him. When asked how the battle was
going, he said they have ran away.
And an old lady in Dublin supposed to have said, I see
Your Majesty won the race. See, as I've said, a great
deliverer for our nation. William won many great freedoms,
free civil and religious liberty for all the Williamite
settlement guaranteed by Parliament.
But you need a greater deliverer, not just freedom to
live, not just a triumphant victory, but how are you going
to be free from hell for all eternity?
How are you going to be free from eternal punishment?
How are you going to be free from the power of sin?
You need a greater deliverer from sin's penalty, power,
pleasure, and one day from His presence.
That's why I asked you, have you received the gospel?
I asked you tonight? Have you turned to the living
and the true God from idols? I asked you tonight if you turn
to serve the Lord, I asked you tonight, have you turned to God
to wait for a son from heaven? Because that's the deliverance
that you need, William and his triumph.
We're going to think of one last thing, and that's William and
his final trip. Do you know he died in 1702?
He didn't die an old man. He died aged 51.
His final trip was a hunting trip.
He was out hunting at Hampton Court at the palace there, which
is a royal residence, he fell from his horse.
As a result of that fall he took pneumonia.
Do you know to this day that those in the Ancient Order of
Hibernian circles, GAA circles to this day, they tossed the
little man in the black velvet suit.
Who's he? The little man in the black
velvet suit. That was the mole.
Because the result of William's fall from the horse, he took
pneumonia and his last words. Where on earth can this last
long? Now think of William as we
finish. He was a confident rider.
He'd been riding horses from childhood.
He never had a fault. He was accomplished rider.
But he died in the most unexpected way.
He wasn't murdered in his bed. He didn't be killed in the
battlefield. He died as a young man.
He died unexpectedly as a result of a fall from a horse.
Proverbs 27 And one says, most not thyself of tomorrow, for no
man knoweth what a day may bring forth.
Today you're in bloom, tomorrow you're in the tin.
You see, an unexpected tragedy can change your circumstances,
could end your life. Think of this as I finish.
We've witnessed in the past week the death of a Liverpoolian
footballer by the name of Jotter.
Two brothers, 12825-A mother in law's, two sons.
In one day. He was just newly married, a new
wife of 11 days. An accident in the Lamborghini
and they're right in eternity. I was shocked by the death of
this lady called Natalie McLaughlin and her daughter
Ella. They're from Donegal.
An awful Rd tragedy I believe a wheelburst, whether in the van
that collided with them or their wheel.
Natalie was a nurse in her mid 20's, the little girl was age 6.
They're being buried tomorrow. She has an awful tragedy, isn't
it? What about the tragedy in Texas?
The flash flood. 50 confirmed dead. 27 children missing from a
summer camp. See.
You need to be ready. Why can death can come?
An unexpected moment. William's final trip was
hunting. Little did he know that morning,
by the night after a fall, he would take pneumonia to be
asking can this last long? How can you be ready?
I finish with this in Scarva Domain, if you're there in the
14th of July, the Royal Black Preceptory demonstration, you'll
see in Scarva Domain a chestnut tree.
It's a Spanish chestnut tree and when William was camped there in
the 19th of June 1960, he can't under that tree.
He said it was tent under that tree.
He he took shelter under the tree and I point you to what I'm
calling Peter's tree. Peter said this who his own self
bear our sins and his own body in the tree that we being dead
to sin should live on the righteousness by whose stripes
you were healed. Peter never used the word cross.
He only ever used the word tree. And perhaps the cross upon which
the Lord Jesus died was more like a a a long pole rather than
has a a top cross bar. We don't know.
But tonight, for you to be ready for the unexpected end, to be
out into eternity, to be God, I point you to that tree.
I point you to Needle there and think of him who bear your sins
and his own body in the tree, that he might bring you to God,
the just for the unjust. Are you afraid to die?
Are you afraid to cross the river of death?
Are you afraid to meet God in the judgement?
Are you afraid of heaven? Are you afraid of hell?
See, only you can answer those questions, but if you are
tonight, then I urge you to kneel at that tree.
And I assure you, whosoever shall call in the name of the
Lord shall be saved. We're thinking tonight of King
William and his family tree. We're thinking of his familiar
timeline. We're thinking of his focused
task. We're thinking tonight of his
5th familiar triumph. We're thinking tonight of his
final trip. These are the things that we
learn from the Scriptures whenever we think about them.
Williams, Tex. May the Lord bless you tonight.
If I can be of any help, feel free to come and speak to me.
I trust and pray that the Lord will bless this in the gospel
and use it for His glory.