St. Patrick was so much more than shamrocks, corned beef and cabbage, green beer, or a guy who many know as someone chased some snakes out of Ireland. He was so much more than that. He was an amazing man of courage of faith.
We introduced Patrick the slave in part 1 now I would like to talk to you about Patrick, the liberator who served God and if it wasn’t for the conviction, the faith of St. Patrick then you and I would not have an America, a constitution.
Here is a quick recap of what we know so far:
Patrick wasn’t an Irishman but he was from Britain. He was actually a citizen of the Roman Empire in the northern parts of the Empire in Britain. He was kidnapped at 16 years old by child traffickers (evil druid warlord/Irish pirates), and took him off to this god forsaken piece of land that even the Romans were afraid to go into.
So, the first time he went into Ireland he went in as a slave as he was brutally kidnapped and enslaved. He then escaped but we see the second timed he went back to Ireland willingly he did not go back as a slave but rather a liberator to set the people there free. He went back in as a missionary to Ireland because of the revival that God had produced within own his heart. When God placed the call to go back to the land where he was held captive upon Patrick’s heart it changed the face of Ireland and overall, the entire world. In fact, Patrick returning to Ireland was a world changing event.
When Patrick first escaped slavery in Ireland, he could not stop hearing the voices of the people that he left behind. These voices that were still enslaved were calling out to him to please come back. He kept hearing these voices in his sleep. A strong conviction swept over Patrick as he could not forget how God had delivered him and set him free. Something miraculous happened inside of Patrick’s heart that set him free from the bondage of sin.
He felt the call of God upon his heart. He heard the Lord speak to him, “He that laid down his life for you Patrick, it is He that speaks in you.”
God can certainly speak to us through dreams. The Lord was speaking to Patrick in a dream as Patrick wrote:
“And so, I awoke from my dream full of joy.”
His heart was full of joy that he had a purpose in his life as he to prepare to go back to Ireland. History tells us that he prepared himself by studying the scriptures day and night. Patrick would meditate on the Word of God as the supreme authority in his life and the foundation for his Celtic Christian faith.
He actually sold his own inheritance to pay for his own missionary journey. He didn’t have an army to defend him. When he went back to this savage land, they didn’t have a national church to support him, in fact he said that his call as a missionary back to the Irish people came from Jesus Christ himself in his dreams.
This is a man who is relying fully on God. This is a man who hears the voice of God and obeys the commands that he hears.
Ireland was still filled with these Druid priests as Patrick went back to a land filled with pagan altars and human sacrifice.
For example, the Irish sacrificed prisoners to their war gods and newborn babies to the harvest gods. Even the Romans in their encounters with these people were shocked and frightened by them. They seemed possessed by demons and so outrageous was their strength featuring all the terrors of hell itself.
These are the Roman Legion we are talking about. These men had seen some pretty awful things but even these Roman soldiers were frightened and terrified by these crazy, painted warriors who howled and shrieked like wolves and animals.
Now having lived in Ireland as a slave Patrick knew the language and understood their customs. A preacher needs to know his audience. He needs to know the people he is ministering to if he is going to really reach them. He knew that if he was going to reach the people, he was going to have to first reach the kings, the leaders.
So, he set out a plan to reach the most powerful kings in Ireland so that he might reach the people. This would be one of the most dangerous missions he would ever carry out because he was going to be marching directly into the fortresses of the kings themselves who were not going to take his message peacefully. In fact, he knew that he would be risking his own life to carry out this mission.
There is a legendary story about a confrontation with one of the most powerful and influential kings and his name was Leary which required a good amount of courage on the part of Patrick and missionaries to confront this king.
So, the story goes that this King Leary had sent out an edict, a law, as they approached the spring festival that said no one could light a fire until the king first lit a bonfire to signal or mark the beginning of the spring festival and in defiance of the king’s edict, Patrick went on top of a hill and he lit the fire before the king. The king was enraged over Patrick’s defiance so he sent out his soldiers to capture him and to bring him back within the confines of his kingdom but he didn’t have to do that because Patrick walked calmly, right into the king’s court surrounded by the king, the queen along with the king’s inner circle and his soldiers. King Leary had thought that Patrick and his friends would be so overwhelmed that they would just crumble and fall down at their feet under the pressure but what happened was very much the opposite.
It was discovered that in fact those that were overwhelmed were those within in the king’s court as they were overwhelmed with the power of God working in the heart of Patrick and his missionaries.
1 John 4:4 says…Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
What was in Patrick was greater than all the military might and power in all of Ireland.
He preached Christ to the people and won over to God, the queen. The king’s wife was converted to Christianity. She was converted from her pagan faith along with several prominent members of the court. The King however was unshaken in his pagan faith but…..he was won over by Patrick’s actions, and his wife was now a Christian so I am sure his wife had some influence on his actions toward Patrick as all wives do have that influence on their husbands, that he gave him the freedom to preach the Gospel wherever and to whom ever he wished. Everywhere he went he had permission from the King to preach the Gospel.
The King was so inspired by Patrick’s courage, his confidence, his demeanor, along with the message that he preached that won the heart of his queen along respected members of his council that he allowed him to preach about this man they called Jesus.
The King saw the effect it was having on the people. Patrick went from King to King fulfilling the great commission as leaders all over Ireland were being converted from their pagan faith to Christianity.
The Irish had survived the attacks of the Scottish Picts, the Vikings, but yet they were no match for the power and peaceful method of the delivery of the Gospel that came from Patrick and his missionaries.
Patrick was armed only with his scriptures, his love for Christ and the Irish people. He amazed the people with his bravery that no one else could compare to that they had seen. Patrick was able to see tens of thousands of Irish men, women, and children converted to become members of the family of faith just as he had many years before. He brought to the Irish people, the one true and living God, Jesus Christ.
This message radically revolutionized their entire culture and way of life.
Patrick spoke in many open-air audiences as he spoke about His King and of God’s Kingdom telling them of the infinite love of Christ for all of the Irish people. He spoke of his desire to have them know and to enter into and enjoy God’s Kingdom. He preached on the riches of Heaven’s Kingdom that infinitely exceeded all of the Kingdom’s of man. Men, women, children, the vile, the wicked were impressed, moved, inspired and humbled by the Gospel message. We call this a revival.
By the words of Patrick as he communicated the words of God, the message of forgiveness and eternal life, revival broke out across Ireland. Patrick’s message is our message for today. It is a message of hope, it’s a message of love, its lay down your weapons and your pride and turn to the One true King. God has a kingdom that has been prepared for you and He will lovingly welcome you into His Kingdom when you come to Him in REPENTANCE and faith.
Listen to these words of the Irish people:
“The Irish would have said here is a story from Patrick that answers our deepest needs and answers them in a way so good that we could never even dare dream of.”
“We can put away our knives and abandon our pagan altars. These are no longer required to appease angry gods. God does not hate us. God loves us.”
This message of the Gospel is so beautiful, so sufficient, so satisfying that it meets the deepest needs of the human condition.
God is a God of love and He changed them. Patrick knew that only God could transform a pagan Irish culture trapped in false religion. Only God could bring them out of a Kingdom of Darkness into a Kingdom of Light. God brough them personal revival which then turned into a national revival.
That is where the transformation of America is going to start. Revival must begin with the individual. Personal revival must begin within our own hearts, leaving the kingdom of darkness and turning to the Kingdom of Light, doing what Jesus commanded and that is to love one another, to love our neighbor as ourself. We can defeat our enemies by turning them into our friends.
We cannot do this on our own. By faith God will throw open the prison gates and give us new desires and new motivations. These new desires and convictions come with a new mission and purpose.
Once we have personal revival, we are then empowered to take the next step and that is family and government revival. America is divided and the only way to stabilize the ship is to take the Message of the Cross to the four corners of our land and let God transform the men, women, children, the vile, the wicked as well as the good. We need revival now or America will sink.
Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom in America 