March 17, 2025 Show with John Greer on “The True Saint Patrick of History”

2 views

March 18, 2025

March 17, 2025 JOHN GREER,Pastor of the Ballymena FreePresbyterian Church in NorthernIreland, who will address: “The TRUE ST. PATRICK ofHISTORY!!!”& announcing John Greer’s USA& Canadian Preaching Tour!!! Subscribe: Listen:

00:03: Live from historic downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, home of founding father James Wilson, 19th century hymn writer
00:11: George Duffield, 19th century gospel minister George Norcross, and sports legend
00:16: Jim Thorpe. It's Iron Sharpens Iron. This is a radio platform in which pastors,
00:23: Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today.
00:31: Proverbs, chapter 27, verse 17, tells us iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
00:38: Matthew Henry said that in this passage, we are cautioned to take heed with whom we converse and directed to have a view in conversation to make one another wiser and better.
00:50: It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next two hours, and we hope to hear from you, the listener, with your own questions.
00:57: And now, here's your host, Chris Arnzen. Good afternoon,
01:10: Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida, and the rest of humanity living on the planet Earth who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com.
01:21: This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy St. Patrick's Day on this 17th day of March 2025.
01:32: I'm absolutely thrilled to have a first -time guest, and it's hard to believe it is a first -time guest because I've known this dear brother since the 1990s.
01:44: In fact, back in the 1990s, not long after the church where I was a member,
01:53: Race Reform Baptist Church of Long Island in Merrick, was formed after a merger between Calvary Baptist Church of Amityville and First Baptist Church of Merrick, Long Island.
02:10: And not long after that, I was asked by my pastor at that time,
02:17: Mike Adosh, to arrange a Bible conference with a number of different speakers.
02:22: I think we had five speakers, and one of them was John Greer. And I really enjoyed meeting him in person.
02:31: And that was, as I said, back in the 90s. And even though I arranged interviews with Pastor John on WMCA Radio, where I worked,
02:44: I had not yet hosted my own show at that point. So I arranged interviews with the in -house talk show on WMCA, Talk New York with Andy Anderson, which was later renamed
02:59: Andy Anderson Live, and I enjoyed doing that. And Pastor John Greer is pastor of the
03:10: Free Presbyterian Church of Ballymena, Northern Ireland, and he is also going to be speaking in Canada and in the
03:21: United States. First he will be at the Free Presbyterian Church of Toronto, Canada.
03:31: That will be Easter weekend, and then he will be moving on from there to the
03:39: Free Presbyterian Church of Malvern, Pennsylvania. And then after that, he will be preaching at Reformation Bible Church in Darlington, Pennsylvania.
03:56: So I'm going to be giving you all that information so you can make it a point to attend these events.
04:04: Well, first of all, it's my honor and privilege to welcome you for the very first time ever to Ion Trip and Zion Radio, Pastor John Greer.
04:13: Well, Chris, thank you very much indeed, and it's my privilege to be on your show today and have this opportunity of addressing your audience, and I do pray that the
04:24: Lord will be glorified in all that we say. So thank you very much indeed. Amen.
04:29: Well, tell our listeners about the Free Presbyterian Church of Ballymena, Northern Ireland.
04:39: Well, the church has been located in that town for many, many years. I was preceded by the
04:47: Rev. James Beggs, who retired in the year 2000, which was the year that I returned to Northern Ireland from Malvern and took up the ministry there at that time.
04:59: Twenty -four years, almost twenty -five have gone by. I now am in the role of being minister emeritus of that congregation, having retired from the full -time pastorate in June of 2024.
05:14: So I have that link with the church. The present minister is the Rev. Andrew Stewart, and he is faithfully preaching the
05:22: Word week by week. And we thank God for all that the Lord has done in that town of Ballymena in County Ant from Northern Ireland, and the many souls who have been brought to know the
05:34: Lord over the years. Well, praise God. And what is the website of the
05:40: Ballymena Free Presbyterian Church? It is simply ballymenafpc .org,
05:49: and that will get it clearly. Great, man. God willing, we will be repeating that later on.
05:57: And as I always do, I'd like you to give a little bit more detail as far as the theological positions held by the
06:09: Free Presbyterian Church of Ballymena and the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster in general, which would also include their sister church here in North America, the
06:21: Free Presbyterian Church of North America. Tell us about this denomination. Well, the denomination was born actually on St.
06:31: Patrick's Day in the year 1951 in a little village called
06:37: Crossgar in Northern Ireland. And at that time, there was a very well -known preacher in Northern Ireland, the
06:46: Reverend Iain Paisley, who was greatly used of God in the preaching of the
06:51: Word and in the winning of countless souls to the Lord Jesus Christ.
06:58: A mission or a gospel campaign was organized in the village of Crossgar for March 1951.
07:06: And the people of the local mission hall who were organizing this mission were also part of the
07:14: Presbyterian Church in that village, which was part of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, and they arranged to use their own church property for these evangelistic meetings where Iain Paisley would have been the preacher.
07:31: The outcome was that the presbytery over that area banned the use of the building to those who wanted to have these gospel meetings.
07:41: As a consequence of this, elders of that local
07:46: Presbyterian Church began to have a look at their denomination and found that it was greatly involved in ecumenism, in modernistic doctrine, etc.,
08:01: departing from the Bible, from the fundamentals of the faith, and the outcome was that a group of men separated and formed the
08:09: Free Presbyterian Church, and it was born on the 17th of March 1951.
08:16: Wow. I didn't even remember that when arranging this interview with you today.
08:22: Right. Well, those are the details of the formation of the denomination. Praise God.
08:29: And once again, the website for the congregation where Pastor John Greer is the pastor is balamena .org.
08:39: B -A -L -A -M -E -N -A -F -P -C, or freepresbyterianschurch .org.
08:49: Now I want to promote the fact that you are going to be speaking at at least three different congregations closer to where I am now, one being in Toronto, Canada, the
09:08: Free Presbyterian Church of Toronto, Canada, torontofpc .ca,
09:16: and that's going to be Easter weekend. And also, after that, you are going to be speaking at the
09:29: Free Presbyterian Church of Malvern, Pennsylvania, and I intend to attend that meeting.
09:37: And that website is, what is the website for the
09:50: Free Presbyterian Church of Malvern? The malvernfpc .org, I believe.
09:58: And then at the Reformed Bible Church, you are going to be speaking in Darlington, Maryland.
10:08: What would be the dates that you're going to be in Malvern and then in Darlington? Malvern will be on Sunday, the 26th of April, and then the following Sunday in Darlington.
10:26: Great, and for anybody that wants to attend the
10:31: Reformation Bible Church, where Pastor Greer will be speaking, reformationbiblechurch .org,
10:39: reformationbiblechurch .org, and that's in Darlington, Maryland. Well, we have a tradition here on I Interpret Zion Radio, Pastor John, whenever we have a first -time guest, we have that guest give a summary of his or her salvation testimony, which would include any kind of religious atmosphere in which they were raised and the kind of providential circumstances our
11:06: Sovereign Lord raised up in their lives that drew them to Himself and saved them, and I would love to hear your story.
11:14: Well, thank you, and I appreciate the opportunity to give testimony. I am from Northern Ireland, as your listeners will be aware, and grew up in a
11:26: Christian family. My father and mother were both converted people who knew the
11:31: Lord. Our family, in many cases, was comprised of people who were truly saved and who knew
11:39: Jesus Christ. My background was, therefore, of that kind, and in our home, growing up, there was an emphasis upon the things of God, on the
11:52: Bible, on church attendance on Sunday school, all those features that are associated with a
12:01: Christian upbringing, but that did not make me a Christian. Every man is born a sinner, and so I was brought to a consciousness of my sin early in my life as a little boy.
12:15: There always was a God consciousness within my soul, an awareness of my own fallen state and sinful condition, which deeply troubled me, and I was often under the convicting power of the
12:31: Holy Spirit in my boyhood years. So much so that there were occasions
12:37: I would go to my own room in the home and get down on my knees and pray and ask the
12:44: Lord to save me. I had no assurance that such had taken place because it hadn't, but at the same time, the
12:53: Lord was working in my heart and drawing me. That continued into my teenage years, and at the age of 15, in the year 1969,
13:05: I am now 70 years old, heading for 71. But back then, there was a gospel campaign, an evangelistic set of meetings that came to a local village, and I attended there, and it was in the very last meeting of that series of evangelistic services that I was brought to know the
13:29: Lord as my Savior at that age of 15. And there was a change, an immediate change within my heart, peace with God, the awareness that Christ alone had come to save me, coming into this world to give
13:46: Himself as a ransom for sinners. And as I put my trust in Him, according to Scripture, leaning upon His Word, I know that He saved me and forgave my sins.
13:58: And there was that awareness, but also it was followed by a desire for more of the things of God.
14:07: And as a boy of 15, I began to go along with my brother and other family members to the local
14:17: Free Presbyterian Church in the town of Bellomena that we've already mentioned here on this broadcast.
14:24: And the Reverend Beggs was the preacher, and we were drawn to his ministry. He was a very gifted man as a preacher, and he's founder of the
14:35: Word of God, a man with a great burden for souls. And so we were blessed under his ministry.
14:41: I began to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and got involved in the life of that congregation, teaching a
14:48: Sunday school class of little boys, and then feeling the call of God to ministry.
14:56: I began to take part in meetings, open air services, which was and still is a very common feature of Christian life here in Northern Ireland.
15:07: We can go out into the streets and put up our PA system and preach the Word, and I find myself involved in that, and then eventually prepared to go into our seminary, our
15:19: Bible college, which I did in 1974 at the age of 20, and began to study for gospel ministry.
15:27: And so I prepared there for four years of study, and then
15:33: I was placed in charge of a congregation as a student minister in 1975, and that congregation called me to be their pastor once my studies were done, and I was ordained to the gospel ministry in December 1978.
15:51: And then it was the next step in terms of the call to the United States, and that happened in the year 1983, when
16:01: I moved to the Pennsylvania area of Philadelphia, the city of Philadelphia, one of the suburbs there, and began to pioneer for the
16:12: Lord, and the congregation that now meets in Malvern, FPC, was born and grew over those years until the
16:21: Lord took me back to Northern Ireland to pastor my home congregation of Bellarmina.
16:27: So I thank the Lord for saving me and calling me to the gospel ministry. Well, praise
16:33: God, and I thank the Lord for that as well, because you are certainly a blessing to the body of Christ.
16:41: You are one of my favorite preachers of all time, and that is not flattery, that is not hyperbole.
16:48: I always loved hearing you preach, and look forward to other opportunities to hear you preach, in fact, even in Malvern, Pennsylvania, coming up in the not -so -distant future when you are visiting here.
17:05: Well, we have a theme today. Providentially, as you already mentioned, your denomination, where you have served faithfully for many years, the
17:18: Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster was founded on St.
17:23: Patrick's Day, and we are having a tribute to St.
17:31: Patrick's today, and we are going to be discussing the true St. Patrick of history.
17:38: Perhaps you could give us, as far back into history as you are familiar with Patrick, something about this great man of God that many of our listeners may not be aware of.
17:56: Yes, well, thank you for the opportunity to do that, Chris, because it is a very important thing that people are made aware of the true
18:04: Patrick, as you have said. I may say this to begin with. The island of Ireland as a whole has been historically known as the land of saints and scholars due to its reputation as a place of religious instruction and learning.
18:22: From early times, Ireland was known as a country that followed a form of religion and spiritual devotion, even though much of that religious devotion was actually pagan in terms of its nature and its content.
18:39: In the times prior to Patrick's Day, the people of this island of Ireland were immersed in Druidism, a religion that involved a deep focus on the dark world of the occult, spiritism, ritualistic sacrifices to demons, etc.
19:00: In short, there was no knowledge of Christ among the inhabitants of the island of Ireland.
19:08: Now today, it is still very true that this title, the land of saints and scholars, can be very misleading, because Ireland, north and south, is far removed from what those words might lead some to believe.
19:27: The island of Ireland is overcome and overwhelmed by sin. It is marked even this day, which is a public holiday, supposedly in memory of Saint Patrick.
19:38: It's marked by drunkenness, by revelry, rather than by spiritual blessings.
19:45: It's characterized to a great degree by rebellion against God, instead of adherence to his word.
19:52: It's darkened on one hand by false religion, and on the other hand by the dominance of a secularistic spirit that has no place or no time at all for any kind of religion.
20:06: Now today, as we are aware, is the 17th of March. That is the date that is commonly known across the
20:14: Western world, or maybe farther away than that even, as Saint Patrick's Day. But sadly, the celebrations that took place today, which is now the evening with me here, whether in Ireland north or south, were completely contrary to a great degree to the life and message of this man whose name is given to this holiday.
20:41: What takes place on Saint Patrick's Day in 99 .9 % of the so -called celebrations of Patrick has no relevance at all to his life or to his ministry.
20:57: Patrick was an evangelical Christian minister and missionary.
21:04: That fact is conceded to a tremendous degree by the media, by those who promote this holiday.
21:13: It is unmentioned in terms of Patrick's true story.
21:20: It is my privilege just to say a few things about this man, because it's important that people who listen in to this program today will understand something of who
21:32: Patrick actually was. The story of Patrick has actually been mingled with myth and legend, and so sometimes it's difficult to determine what is true or what is false about him.
21:47: But one thing is true, he was a real person, and under God, he made a tremendous impact on the spiritual life of this island.
21:58: The details of his early days are sketchy, but we're very thankful that Patrick himself left certain manuscripts.
22:08: They were originally written in Latin, but they were translated into English, and they are accepted by those who have studied them as being authentic.
22:18: Two of them are very important. Number one, his confession, and number two, his letter.
22:28: Those two manuscripts really form the basis of what I want to say, as time permits us here today, with regard to this man,
22:36: Patrick. A number of details about his upbringing are important.
22:42: His father was a man called Copernicus. He was a deacon in the
22:49: Christian church. He was the son of Potitus, who in turn was a gospel minister.
22:57: As a family, they lived in a little village on the banks of the
23:03: River Clyde in Scotland, and in that home there was a godly heritage.
23:09: The gospel had reached what we call the mainland, England, Scotland, Wales. The gospel had come there early in those centuries after the time of Jesus Christ.
23:22: Because of his godly home and his godly upbringing, Patrick was well -versed in Scripture.
23:29: But something momentous happened in his life when he was only 16 years of age.
23:34: His family homestead was attacked by Irish pirates, and they came and ransacked the village.
23:46: They took Patrick captive at that age. They took him to Northern Ireland, the northeast part of the island of Ireland, and he was sold into slavery.
23:57: As a slave, he had the responsibility of looking after sheep and other animals on the mountains and in the mosses that are such a familiar feature of life in Northern Ireland.
24:13: He looked after those animals, especially on a little mountain called Slemish in County Antrim, near to the town of Bellamena.
24:24: So, where I grew up, I can look out across the valley and see this mountain very clearly and realize in my own soul that that's where Patrick worked as a young fellow at 16 years of age.
24:40: What men meant for evil in terms of capturing this boy, taking him away from his home and selling him as a slave in the northeastern part of Ireland, God meant for good because the
24:55: Lord was working out things after the counsel of his own perfect will.
25:01: That means that I must thank you, therefore, for the fact that Patrick, even though he had a
25:07: Christian upbringing in the sense of a godly home, was not brought to know
25:12: Christ until he was brought here to Northern Ireland as a slave. At that stage, he was thoughtless about his need as a sinner.
25:23: He did not know the Lord. In fact, he said himself in his own confession, I knew not the true
25:31: God. He made the statement, I, Patrick the sinner, departed away from God and kept not his commandments.
25:42: And so, he realized that he was without Christ. He knew his own sinfulness. He did not deny his guilt before a holy
25:51: God. But in the same confession, he went on to say this, the
25:56: Lord opened my understanding that even though late,
26:01: I might call my faults to remembrance and that I might turn with all my heart to the
26:08: Lord, my God. And so, it was as a boy, 16, 17 years of age, herding sheep and cattle on that mountain called
26:19: Slemish, outside the town of Bellomena, all those centuries ago, that God opened the heart of this man whom we today commonly refer to as Saint Patrick.
26:32: Yes, he became a true saint, at the time of his conversion, but in the biblical sense, he was born again.
26:40: He came to know Jesus Christ of whom he had learned as a child and as a boy growing up in his godly home.
26:48: But he came to know him and trust him as his own personal savior. A very well -known
26:55: Presbyterian minister of a former generation and a historian recorded this, and I quote his words, his captivity was the means of bringing him,
27:08: Patrick, the greatest blessing which can come to any man, the conversion of his soul.
27:16: He had been piously brought up, but like too many had neglected the lessons of the father's house.
27:23: And so, he was dead in his sins, but God suddenly awoke him, run under conviction of sin.
27:30: He cried out to the Lord and he said this, before I was humbled, I was like a stone in a deep mire or mud, but he that is mighty came and lifted me up and placed me on the wall.
27:47: And I believe he's thinking there about Psalm 40 very clearly, where the Psalmist David says, he took me from the fearful pit and from the miry clay and on a rock he set my feet, establishing my goings.
28:03: And Patrick could say, I am greatly God's debtor for he has granted me so much grace.
28:12: And immediately Patrick was changed. He began to be very prayerful. He would arise during the nighttime, out in the midst of the snow and the ice during the winter season and commune with God in the woods and upon the hills.
28:29: And during that time, he had a great burning power within his soul as the
28:36: Holy Spirit came upon him. And he knew what it was to feel a sin and come to rest in Christ.
28:44: And the spiritual life that he was given was evidenced by his prayer, by the desire for more knowledge of the
28:52: Lord. Patrick was saved, therefore, not by religion, not by the practices of any church, including the
29:03: Church of Rome, but by the grace of God. And so there's such a background as far as his childhood, as conversion is concerned, that makes wonderful reading.
29:15: And there's more I can bring as the program develops here about the calling of Patrick and all those details about the fact that he became a minister of the gospel upon this island.
29:28: Amen. And we're going to go to our first commercial break right now, and you can continue digging into the history of Patrick when we return.
29:37: The email address, if anybody listening has a question for my dear friend,
29:44: Pastor John Greer, is chrisarnsen at gmail .com, C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com,
29:52: give us your first name at least. City and state of residence and country of residence, if you live outside of the
29:59: USA. And the first of our sponsors, from which you will be hearing during this commercial break, is one of our most recent sponsors, which is
30:13: Lebanon Federal Credit Union in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
30:30: Daniel Wolford, CEO and President of Lebanon Federal Credit Union. And we're excited to be part of the
30:35: Iron Sharpens Iron radio family. At Lebanon Federal Credit Union, we're proud to serve the community with six convenient locations across Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and we're growing.
30:46: We offer competitive rates on everything from loans to savings, and we're dedicated to providing top -notch member service.
30:52: We pride ourselves on the credit union movement of people helping people. We are deeply involved in our community, supporting local events and organizations that help make a difference.
31:02: When you join Lebanon Federal Credit Union, you'll immediately notice the difference. Our focus on meeting your financial needs with personal care and a friendly touch.
31:11: LFCU can also offer you better rates and lower fees than our competitors. To find out more, please visit us online at lebanonfcu .org.
31:22: Membership eligibility is required, federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration. Terms and conditions apply.
31:31: I'm Simon O'Mahony, pastor of Trinity Reformed Baptist Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
31:37: Originally from Cork, Ireland, the Lord in his sovereign providence has called me to shepherd this new and growing congregation here in Cumberland County.
31:46: At TRBC, we joyfully uphold the Second London Baptist Confession, we embrace congregational church government, and we are committed to preaching the full counsel of God's Word for the edification of believers, the salvation of the lost, and the glory of our triune
32:02: God. We are also devoted to living out the one another commands of scripture, loving, encouraging, and serving each other as the body of Christ.
32:10: In our worship, we sing psalms and the great hymns of the faith, and we gather around the Lord's table every
32:16: Sunday. We would love for you to visit and worship with us. You can find our details at trbccarlisle .org.
32:24: That's t -r -b -c -carlisle .org. God willing, we'll see you soon.
32:30: This program is sponsored by Hope PR Ministry. Hope PR Ministry is a podcast produced by Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Michigan.
32:42: We are dedicated to sharing Reformed biblical content every Wednesday and Friday.
32:48: Tune in for sermons, lectures, and interviews exploring distinctive Reformed doctrines.
32:54: If you are looking for Christ -centered content, simply search Hope PR Ministry on your favorite podcast platform to begin listening today.
33:04: Hope PR Ministry also offers Morning Meditations, a daily podcast featuring
33:09: Reformed devotionals designed to nourish your soul. Start your day with these spiritually enriching messages by tuning into Morning Meditations wherever you get your podcasts.
33:27: Greetings, this is Brian McLaughlin, president of the SecureComm Group and supporter of Chris Arnzen's Iron Shopping Zion radio program.
33:38: SecureComm provides the highest level of security systems for residential buildings, municipalities, churches, commercial properties, and much more.
33:49: We can be reached at securecommgroup .com. That's securecommgroup .com.
33:58: But today, I want to introduce you to my senior pastor, Doug McMasters of New High Park Baptist Church on Long Island.
34:11: Doug McMasters here, former director of pastoral correspondence at Grace to You, the radio ministry of John MacArthur.
34:18: In the film Chariots of Fire, the Olympic gold medalist runner Eric Liddell remarked that he felt
34:24: God's pleasure when he ran. He knew his efforts sprang from the gifts and calling of God.
34:30: I sensed that same God -given pleasure when ministering the Word and helping others gain a deeper knowledge and love for God.
34:38: That love starts with the wonderful news that the Lord Jesus Christ is a Savior who died for sinners and that God forgives all who come to Him in repentance, trusting solely in Christ to deliver them.
34:50: I would be delighted to have the honor and privilege of ministering to you if you live in the Long Island area or Queens or Brooklyn or the
34:57: Bronx in New York City. For details on New High Park Baptist Church, visit nhpbc .com.
35:06: That's nhpbc .com. You can also call us at 516 -352 -9672.
35:16: That's 516 -352 -9672. That's New High Park Baptist Church, a congregation in love with each other, passionate for Christ, committed to learning and being shaped by God's Word and delighting in the gospel of God's sovereign grace.
35:34: Good. I'm Pastor Bill Shishko of The Haven, an Orthodox Presbyterian church in Comac, Long Island.
35:42: I hold the Iron Sharpens Iron radio program hosted by my longtime friend and brother
35:48: Chris Arnzen in the highest esteem, and I'm thrilled that you're listening today.
35:53: I'm also delighted that Iron Sharpens Iron is partnering with one of my favorite resources for reformed
35:59: Christian literature for decades now. Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service.
36:06: Well, with the economic nightmare that we're all currently enduring, cvbbs .com,
36:14: I want to enable you to build a wonderful personal library of the best literature that the reformers, the
36:21: Puritans, and the great Christian minds of today have to offer and at affordable prices.
36:28: Not only does cvbbs .com offer up to 50 % off retail prices, but you'll get an added 5 % off orders of $50 or more by using promo code
36:42: IRON, I -R -O -N, an added 5 % off all of your orders of $50 or more from Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service.
36:55: That's cvbbs .com, making the joy of reading the finest in Christian literature more affordable.
37:04: Oh, and make sure that you tell them you heard about them on Iron Sharpens Iron radio.
37:13: Welcome back. This is Chris Arnzen, and by the way, Pastor Greer, I believe earlier on you said you were going to be preaching at the
37:25: Free Presbyterian Church of Melbourne, Pennsylvania on the 26th.
37:31: That's a Saturday. Are you preaching on a Saturday or a Sunday? Actually, on the
37:37: Sunday, but on the Saturday, there's a men's prayer meeting. That's what I was thinking about being held on Darlington and Reformation Bible Church.
37:47: That prayer meeting was started way back when I was still pastoring in Melbourne.
37:53: Dr. John McKnight and I commenced that quarterly men's prayer meeting, and it continues to this day.
38:00: It's on Saturday the 26th down in Darlington, and I will be preaching at that prayer session before we get down to seek the face of the
38:12: Lord. Then on the Sunday, preaching in Melbourne the 27th. So thank you for calling that to my attention.
38:20: Before I go to a listener question, one of the primary misunderstandings, confusions in regard to Patrick is that Roman Catholics claim him as their own, but isn't it true that the
38:40: Roman Catholic Church did not even exist when Patrick was alive?
38:47: At that time, it wasn't established as it later was established in the
38:54: Dark Ages, so to speak, but it was developing. What I plan to say here with regard to some of Patrick's history,
39:05: I'll be able to relate some details on that issue that make it very clear, but it wasn't fully developed.
39:12: It was going forward in its departure from the
39:18: Bible. The bishop of Rome, the church in that city had departed. There was a gradual departure in other parts of Europe.
39:28: Many people still remain true to things of God, to the Word of God, but there was departure developing, and then it came to a head in later centuries when the
39:41: Roman Catholic system was fully developed as the papacy. Yes, and I have frequent disagreements with my
39:50: Roman Catholic friends over this issue. Well, we have a listener who is actually a former member of the
40:04: Malvern Free Presbyterian Church when you were a pastor there, Ernie, and he has a question for you.
40:14: I'm looking for that question now. Let's see.
40:23: While a member of the Free Presbyterian Church of Malvern, Pennsylvania years ago, I had the blessing of God to sit under the teaching ministry of John Greer.
40:34: Prior to my attending there while a New Jersey resident, I used to receive sermon cassette tapes in the mail to refresh my soul each week with Christ -centered preaching.
40:50: It eventually drew me along with my wife and four daughters to make the drive each week to Pennsylvania.
41:03: What stands out in my memory the most is that the gospel of Jesus Christ and the need for sanctification in the life of a
41:16: Christian was never neglected in the pulpit. It caused you to sit up in the pew with conviction and attentiveness.
41:27: God's Word read in abundance was clearly held up as authoritative and inerrant.
41:37: Whatever the doctrinal subject of the sermon, holiness and the gospel were brought forth.
41:46: When any passage of Scripture, be it New Testament or old,
41:52: Christ Jesus was found. John maintained a Bible -centered and Christ -proclaiming ministry, unlike any that I have seen in my spiritual pilgrimage and walk.
42:05: I'm very thankful that the Lord used John as His instrument to bring instructive and edifying truth by the centrality of His pulpit work while on this side of the pond.
42:26: That's all Ernie has to say, but quite a wonderful commendation for you and your ministry, brother.
42:37: Well, it's very nice of Ernie to make that comment that you've read out,
42:44: Chris, and I want to thank him for that. Anything that was done under my ministry anywhere was by the grace of God, and any knowledge
42:55: I was able to impart to the Lord's people, to see them grow in the faith and develop spiritually or become more like Christ was because of my own convictions about these matters brought in me by the
43:13: Holy Spirit. My own eyes opened up to see that this is what the
43:20: Bible teaches about, the marks of a true work of grace. What I'm saying is that I endeavored to preach from my heart what the
43:29: Lord had shown me and what the Lord had done in my own life. I'm glad that Ernie was blessed.
43:35: I know he was, he was there in my time, the latter part of my time in Malvern, and I do trust the
43:43: Lord will bless him and his wife and family. I know like my own family, his girls have grown up and some of them are married and he has grandchildren.
43:53: So may the Lord bless you, Ernie, as you tune in today. Grace, God. Well, please continue on with the most important aspects that we should know about the life and legacy of St.
44:07: Patrick. Well, thank you, Chris. At this point in what we're doing here today,
44:14: I'm still really leaning with something of the history of Patrick. In my opening remarks,
44:20: I covered the matter of his background growing up in a Christian home in Scotland and then coming as a slave to Northern Ireland as it is today to the county of Antrim and there in the mountains and in the forests.
44:39: So long ago, the Lord dealt with Patrick and saved him and made him a new creature in Jesus Christ.
44:46: Now, not long after he was converted to Christ and that work of grace was done in his heart, he managed to escape back to Scotland.
44:56: There is discussion, of course, was he from Scotland or was he not? But the evidence would point to what
45:02: I said, that he was from the banks of the River Clyde and he went back there at the age of 22.
45:11: He was six years working in Northern Ireland until he was able to escape and went back to his own home, as you would imagine, warmly welcomed by his parents and by other family members.
45:26: But shortly after he returned from his time of being a slave in the northeastern part of Ireland, the
45:37: Lord dealt with him during the night, one particular night, and this was the calling of Patrick to be a preacher, a minister of the gospel.
45:48: It was a call that came very dramatically during the night season because God was preparing a man for a very, very powerful ministry that he went on to exercise on this island of Ireland.
46:03: And as God dealt with him that night, he had, as it were, this tremendous awareness of the voice of the
46:14: Irish, that's how he put it himself, as translated from his confession, the voice of the Irish, as if they were saying to him, we entreat thee, holy youth, to come and walk henceforth among us.
46:28: And this was so vivid and so powerful that he knew that it was of God.
46:34: And knowing the scriptures, as he did, he knew that God was dealing with his heart and setting him apart to be a minister of Jesus Christ.
46:44: And he took this as a call from the Lord, and he returned to Ireland to the scene of his boyhood slavery days.
46:55: And yet he didn't go back there as a slave, but as a servant of the
47:00: Most High God. There was no reluctance to go, but a complete willingness.
47:07: He knew that God's will was his will. And of course, that's an important principle for every child of God, that the will of God is what we should want and what we should pursue in our lives.
47:21: And so it wasn't a religious establishment of any kind that initiated a call to Patrick to preach the gospel.
47:29: It was the Lord himself. And that's the way it still must be. There must be a call from God that reaches the heart of the man who's truly a minister of Jesus Christ and will reach the heart of the man who has been identified by God from all eternity to be a preacher like Jeremiah.
47:51: The Lord said to Jeremiah that he knew him before he was even in the womb. And that means that from all eternity,
47:59: God had his eye on Jeremiah. God had his eye on Patrick. And he saved him, then he called him to preach.
48:07: And so Patrick went back to Ireland, believing and knowing that they had a distinct call from God.
48:15: He's deeply concerned for the people of the island of Ireland. He began his work of evangelism.
48:22: He appears to have journeyed on evangelistic tours through the whole country of Ireland.
48:30: And while it's not a huge country, it's certainly sizable in the sense of trying to travel through it, traverse it on foot, as would have been the case or best in the bag of a donkey or a horse or whatever he used.
48:45: But you will find in Ireland many places, the names of which are connected with Patrick.
48:54: There's Temple Patrick, there's Lake Patrick, Sea Patrick, Crow Patrick, and of course,
49:03: Down Patrick, where it is said that his grave is located.
49:09: But the point is, this man began to traverse the length and breadth of the island of Ireland, preaching the gospel, and God attended his ministry with mighty power.
49:21: He sought first the kingdom of God, and he sought with all his power to extend the kingdom of God, and the
49:30: Lord blessed him as he did so. It wasn't very long until he ran into some confrontation
49:39: Patrick returned to Ireland to be a preacher in the year 405
49:45: A .D., 405. And I want to underline that. That is appendicated in the manuscripts that came from his own hand, from his own pen.
49:56: It was the year 405 that he went back as a preacher of the gospel. When he was a young man of his mid -twenties or thereabouts,
50:06: I say this because the Roman Catholic Church puts the date as 432
50:13: A .D., but that is incorrect. Let me explain why the
50:19: Catholic Church mentions that year. In 432, the
50:25: Bishop of Rome, having learned that there were Christian churches by this time located in Ireland, commissioned a man to go to bring these
50:37: Christians to submit to the developing papacy.
50:43: Rome contends that it was Patrick who was sent by the
50:49: Bishop of Rome in 432. But as I've already said, this is incorrect because Patrick, by that time, had been in the country preaching for 27 years, from 405 through to 432.
51:02: The one who was sent by the Bishop of Rome was that infamous heretic called
51:09: Pelagius, who was a British monk. And he was sent by Rome.
51:17: He was a heretic, and that is not being harsh or kind, simply stating the fact.
51:24: It's a well -known fact among all who have studied Reformed theology that Pelagius, who went to Ireland at that time sent by the
51:35: Bishop of Rome, was a man who denied the fall of Adam, who taught that a man was not really a sinner, that he had retained the ability to do sufficient works to earn eternal life.
51:56: So, this was the man that the Bishop of Rome sent, Pelagius. Some of your listeners will know,
52:04: Chris, that from his name, you have the heresy of Pelagianism, and you also have what's called
52:12: Semi -Pelagianism. Those who think that they are perhaps evangelical, and I don't doubt their sincerity, or even the fact that many of them are
52:23: God's people. But Semi -Pelagianism is tainted very, very much with Pelagianism.
52:30: Pelagianism was the out -and -out heresy denying the fall of man, denying the entrance of sin into the human heart, teaching that man retained the ability to do that which pleased
52:42: God. That's all he needed, teaching that man had the ability to make a choice that would please
52:49: God. So, he was sent by the Bishop of Rome to counter the ministry of Patrick.
52:57: What happened was Patrick had been laboring there, as I've said, for 27 years before Pelagius was ever sent, and the
53:06: Christian churches were in existence for quite some time, founded and formed under Patrick's ministry.
53:14: And so, those churches refused the teaching of Pelagius and his overtures to them to commander the papacy as it was developing at that time, and they refused outrightly and claimed, or proclaimed rather, that they were going to stand alongside
53:36: Patrick, which they did. And so, Patrick remained in Ireland, and this is amazing, for the next 60 years preaching the gospel.
53:48: Amen. And we could pick up right where you left off there when we return from our midway break. Don't go away.
53:53: We'll be right back after these messages. A listener in Ireland who wants you to know about a guest on the show he really loves hearing interviewed,
54:19: Dr. Joe Moorcraft. I'm Joe Reilly, a faithful Iron Sharpens Iron radio listener here in Atai in County Kildare, Ireland, going back to 2005.
54:30: One of my very favorite guests on Iron Sharpens Iron is Dr. Joe Moorcraft. If you've been blessed by Iron Sharpens Iron radio,
54:37: Dr. Moorcraft and Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, are largely to thank, since they are one of the program's largest financial supporters.
54:46: Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming is in Forsyth County, a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area.
54:52: Heritage is a thoroughly biblical church, unwaveringly committed to Westminster standards, and Dr.
54:57: Joe Moorcraft is the author of an eight -volume commentary on the larger catechism. Heritage is a member of the
55:03: Hanover Presbytery, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, and tracing its roots and heritage back to the great
55:12: Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Heritage maintains and follows the biblical truth and principles proclaimed by the reformers, scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone,
55:23: Christ alone, and God's glory alone. Their primary goal is the worship of the Triune God that continues in eternity.
55:29: For more details on Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, visit HeritagePresbyterianChurch .com.
55:36: That's HeritagePresbyterianChurch .com, or call 678 -954 -7831.
55:43: That's 678 -954 -7831. If you visit, tell them
55:48: Joe Reilly, an Iron Sharpens Iron radio listener, and a toy in County Kildare, Ireland, sent you.
56:07: Iron Sharpens Iron radio first launched in 2005. The publishers of the
56:12: New American Standard Bible were among my very first sponsors. It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the
56:20: Iron Sharpens Iron radio audience have been sticking with or switching to the
56:25: NASB. I'm Dr. Joseph Piper, President and Professor of Systematic and Homiletical Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Taylors, South Carolina, and the
56:37: NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Chuck White of the
56:42: First Trinity Lutheran Church in Tonawanda, New York, and the NASB is my Bible of choice.
56:48: I'm Pastor Anthony Mathenia of Christ Church in Radford, Virginia, and the NASB is my
56:54: Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Jesse Miller of Damascus Road Christian Church in Gardenville, Nevada, and the
57:01: NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Bruce Bennett of Word of Truth Church in Farmingville, Long Island, New York, and the
57:09: NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Rodney Brown of Metro Bible Church in South Lake, Texas, and the
57:18: NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Jim Harrison of Red Mills Baptist Church in Mayapac Falls, New York, and the
57:26: NASB is my Bible of choice. Here's a great way for your church to help keep
57:31: Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. Pastors, are your pew Bibles tattered and falling apart?
57:38: Consider restocking your pews with the NASB, and tell the publishers you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.
57:47: Go to nasbible .com. That's nasbible .com to place your order.
57:58: Hi, this is John Sampson, Pastor of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona. Taking a moment of your day to talk about Chris Arnzen and the
58:07: Iron Sharpens Iron podcast. I consider Chris a true friend and a man of high integrity. He's a skilled interviewer who's not afraid to ask the big penetrating questions, while always defending the key doctrines of the
58:19: Christian faith. I've always been happy to point people to this podcast, knowing it's one of the very few safe places on the internet where folk won't be led astray.
58:27: I believe this podcast needs to be heard far and wide. This is a day of great spiritual compromise, and yet God has raised
58:34: Chris up for just such a time, and knowing this, it's up to us as members of the body of Christ to stand with such a ministry in prayer and in finances.
58:44: I'm pleased to do so, and would like to ask you to prayerfully consider joining me in supporting
58:49: Iron Sharpens Iron financially. Would you consider sending either a one -time gift or even becoming a regular monthly partner with this ministry?
58:58: I know it would be a huge encouragement to Chris if you would. All the details can be found at ironsharpensironradio .com,
59:05: where you can click support. That's ironsharpensironradio .com. Greetings.
59:26: This is Brian McLaughlin, president of the SecureComm Group, and supporter of Chris Arnzen's Iron Sharpens Iron radio program.
59:36: SecureComm provides the highest level of security systems for residential buildings, municipalities, churches, commercial properties, and much more.
59:47: We can be reached at securecommgroup .com. That's securecommgroup .com.
59:56: But today, I want to introduce you to my senior pastor, Doug McMasters of New High Park Baptist Church on Long Island.
01:00:09: Doug McMasters here, former director of pastoral correspondence at Grace to You, the radio ministry of John MacArthur.
01:00:16: In the film Chariots of Fire, the Olympic gold medalist runner Eric Liddell remarked that he felt
01:00:22: God's pleasure when he ran. He knew his efforts sprang from the gifts and calling of God.
01:00:28: I sensed that same God -given pleasure when ministering the word and helping others gain a deeper knowledge and love for God.
01:00:36: That love starts with the wonderful news that the Lord Jesus Christ is a Savior who died for sinners, and that God forgives all who come to him in repentance, trusting solely in Christ to deliver them.
01:00:48: I would be delighted to have the honor and privilege of ministering to you if you live in the Long Island area or Queens or Brooklyn or the
01:00:55: Bronx in New York City. For details on New High Park Baptist Church, visit nhpbc .com.
01:01:04: That's nhpbc .com. You can also call us at 516 -352 -9672.
01:01:14: That's 516 -352 -9672. That's New High Park Baptist Church, a congregation in love with each other, passionate for Christ, committed to learning and being shaped by God's word, and delighting in the gospel of God's sovereign grace.
01:01:33: Hello, my name is Anthony Uvino, and I'm one of the pastors at Hope Reform Baptist Church in Quorum, New York, and also the host of the reformrookie .com
01:01:42: website. I want you to know that if you enjoy listening to the Iron Sharpens Iron radio show like I do, you can now find it on the
01:01:49: Apple's iTunes app by typing Iron Sharpens Iron radio in the search bar. You no longer have to worry about missing a show or a special guest because you're in your car or still at work.
01:01:59: Just subscribe on the iTunes app and listen to the Iron Sharpens Iron radio show at any time, day or night.
01:02:06: Please be sure to also give it a good review and pass it along to anyone who would benefit from the teaching and the many solidly reformed guests that Chris Arnzen has on the show.
01:02:15: Truth is so hard to come by these days, so don't waste your time with fluff or fake news. Subscribe to the
01:02:21: Iron Sharpens Iron radio podcast right now. And while you're at it, you can also sign up for the reformrookie .com
01:02:27: podcast and visit our website and the YouTube page. We are dedicated to teaching Christian theology from a reformed
01:02:34: Baptist perspective to beginners in the faith as well as seasoned believers. From Keach's Catechism and the
01:02:40: Doctrines of Grace to the Olivet Discourse and the Book of Leviticus, the Reform Rookie podcast and YouTube channel is sure to have something to offer everyone seeking biblical truth.
01:02:50: And finally, if you're looking to worship in a reformed church that holds to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, please join us at Hope Reform Baptist Church in Coram, New York.
01:03:00: Again, I'm Pastor Anthony Ovinio, and thanks for listening. Chris Arnzen of Iron Sharpens Iron radio has had a longtime partnership with our friends at CBBBS, which stands for Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service.
01:03:24: They specialize in supplying reformed and Puritan books and Bibles at discount prices that make them affordable for everyone.
01:03:31: CBBBS has been a family -owned book service since 1987, operating out of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
01:03:38: They seek to bring you the best available Christian books and Bibles at the best possible prices.
01:03:44: And now they're also shipping worldwide. Browse the pages at ease, shop at your leisure and purchase with confidence at Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service.
01:03:55: Order online worldwide at cvbbs .com. That's cvbbs .com.
01:04:03: Or you can order by phone at 717 -249 -0231.
01:04:10: That's 717 -249 -0231. For orders of $50 or more, use promo code iron for an extra 5 % off their already discounted prices.
01:04:23: And please let our friends at CBBBS know that you heard about them on Iron Sharpens Iron radio.
01:04:35: Puritan Reformed is a Bible -believing, kingdom -building, devil -fighting church. We are devoted to upholding the apostolic doctrine and practice preserved in Scripture alone.
01:04:47: Puritan Reformed teaches men to rule and lead as image - bearing prophets, priests, and kings.
01:04:54: We teach families to worship together as families. Puritan is committed to teaching the whole counsel of God so that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea.
01:05:07: We sing the Psalms, teach the law, proclaim the gospel, make disciples, maintain discipline, and exalt
01:05:13: Christ. This is Pastor David Reese of Puritan Reformed in Phoenix, Arizona.
01:05:19: Join us in the glorious cause of advancing Christ's crown and covenant over the kings of the earth.
01:05:27: Puritan Reformed Church. Believe. Build. Fight. PuritanPHX .com.
01:05:35: Welcome back. Before I return to my conversation with Pastor John Greer of the
01:05:41: Balaamena Free Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland, I just have some important reminders for you.
01:05:50: If you love the show and you don't want it to go off the air, please go to IronSharpenZionRadio .com,
01:05:56: click Support, then click Click to Donate Now. You can donate instantly with a debit or credit card in that fashion.
01:06:04: If you prefer snail mail, mailing a physical check to a physical address from your post office the old -fashioned way, there will also be a physical address that appears on your screen when you click
01:06:17: Support at IronSharpenZionRadio .com, where you can mail your checks made payable to IronSharpenZionRadio.
01:06:26: If you want to advertise with us, whether it's your church, parachurch ministry, whether it is your professional private practice like a law firm, a medical firm, your business, or maybe it's just a special event you want to promote, whatever it is, as long as it's compatible with what
01:06:49: I believe, I would love to help you launch an ad campaign as quickly as possible because we're just as much in urgent need of your advertising dollars as we are in your donations.
01:07:06: And so, please, if you want to advertise, send us an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com
01:07:13: and put advertising in the subject line. I also want to remind you folks, please never cut in to the finances that you have set aside for your
01:07:25: Lord's Day giving to your own local church where you're a member in order to bless
01:07:31: IronSharpenZionRadio .com with a gift. Please never do that. And we ask of you if you are really struggling to survive and make ends meet that you wait until you're back on your feet and more financially stable before you send us a financial gift.
01:07:51: The Bible's clear that we are to primarily use the money with which God has blessed us, which is still
01:07:58: God's money. We're primarily to use that money to provide for our church and our family, and providing for IronSharpenZionRadio is obviously not a command of God.
01:08:10: But if you do love this show and you are financially blessed above and beyond your ability to provide for church and family, you have extra money for benevolent, recreational, and trivial purposes, please share some of that money with us if you want us to continue to exist.
01:08:29: Go to IronSharpenZionRadio .com, click support, then click to donate now.
01:08:37: And last but not least, if you're not a member of a biblically faithful,
01:08:43: Christ -honoring, theologically sound, doctrinally solid church like the
01:08:48: Balaamena Free Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland, where my guest is the pastor, I have extensive lists spanning the globe of biblically faithful churches all over the world, and I've helped many people in our audience find churches, sometimes even within just a few minutes from where they live.
01:09:10: And so that would be a wonderful thing for you to do, to look for a biblically faithful church, and I will help you in any way that I can.
01:09:26: So send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com, chrisarnson at gmail .com,
01:09:33: and put I need a church in the subject line. That's also the email address where you can send in a question to Pastor John Greer of the
01:09:41: Balaamena Free Presbyterian Church on the life of St. Patrick. Our email address is chrisarnson at gmail .com.
01:09:48: Give us your first name, at least. City and state and country of residence. We have Joshua in Tempe, Arizona, and he says,
01:09:59: Can I commend Pastor John for his stand against the corruption of God's corporate worship, especially with the influx of modern contemporary psalm?
01:10:12: I have listened to countless sermons in Balaamena Free Presbyterian Church where he has pointed out the fallacies and failures of such worship and showed from the good book how
01:10:27: God must be worshipped. Me and my family circle have been so thankful for his fearlessness in standing for God's way and order.
01:10:42: Thank you, Brother John. We also remember his daughter Joanne in prayer regularly as she labors alongside
01:10:51: Pastor Deccanio in Liberia. May she know
01:10:58: God's help. My question tonight is with regards to St.
01:11:06: Patrick. Do we know how he got a Bible in those days in Ireland? Thank you,
01:11:18: Chris. That question about what
01:11:24: Bible Patrick might have used is one concerning which there really is no knowledge.
01:11:32: Obviously, he had the Scriptures, and I suppose back in those early centuries, the most common version was the
01:11:41: Latin Vulgate version of Scripture, because he wrote his own confession, his own manuscripts in Latin, so obviously he was very familiar with that language.
01:11:54: We would imagine, therefore, it's the only way I can put it, that that was the translation that he would have used as it was the prominent one of those times.
01:12:05: It was only later on that other translations began to emerge, of course, mainly in the time of the
01:12:12: Reformation and onwards. Okay.
01:12:17: Well, thank you, Joshua, and keep listening to Iron Sheriff and Zion Radio and spreading the word about the program in Tempe, Arizona, and beyond.
01:12:29: Well, now, if you could, return to some of the primary things that we should know about Patrick.
01:12:37: Well, thank you. Just before the commercials there, I was kind of winding up the section on the history of Patrick, and we traced it right through until the time when he returned to Ireland at the call of God to be a preacher, and the
01:12:56: Lord was really blessing his ministry over the length and breadth of this island, and many churches were being formed, and there was an effort made to try to bring those churches under the control of the
01:13:10: Bishop of Rome, who had sent Pelagius for that purpose. But the folk, the people of God in the churches that had been born under Patrick's ministry were firm and true in their stand for the truth that he had taught them, and they saw through Pelagius's, his deceit and so forth, his beliefs, and rejected him, and Patrick continued on into old age.
01:13:45: It is believed that for 60 years, he labored in the gospel as a minister on this island and saw a great work done.
01:13:55: As I mentioned earlier, the religion of the people of this island was that of Druidism, and Druidism is very, very similar to some of the pagan religions of which we read in the
01:14:10: Scriptures, like those of Assyria who had their gods, their goddesses, and even
01:14:18: Baal worship is very similar, because all pagan religion has its origin in the deceit of Satan himself, and they may take on new forms or the names may change with regard to the so -called gods that they worship, but it is really the same old deceitfulness dressed up under different language and in a new garb.
01:14:46: And so Druidism was the dominant religion in this island, but it was conquered and overcome by the preaching of the gospel.
01:14:56: Obviously, Patrick had the power of God resting on him, and he saw a mighty work done.
01:15:04: He also prepared men for ministry, and back in those times, it would not have been called probably a
01:15:14: Bible college or a seminary, but he had various locations where men were trained to preach the gospel and to minister to the people.
01:15:24: Patrick could not do it all himself, and being a wise man and a man who studied the
01:15:30: Scripture, he knew that he needed help, and he did this. He had these men trained to go forth and preach the gospel.
01:15:37: So the whole of the churches, it is stated that by the end of Patrick's ministry, there were 365
01:15:46: Christian churches across the island of Ireland. But I come now to what
01:15:52: I want to call the theology of Patrick. The Roman Catholic Church to this day, of course, claims
01:15:59: Patrick as one of her own. The writers of the
01:16:05: Catholic Church have said that he came to Ireland as an emissary or a representative of Pope, the
01:16:12: Bishop of Rome. So you will find here in Ireland in their writings and in their productions that Patrick is depicted as wearing papal garments and having on his head a papal mitre.
01:16:30: Many of the buildings, the cathedrals, the church structures are named after him, and statues are raised up of Patrick, although nobody knows what he actually looked like, and yet this is what happens.
01:16:47: So the church of Rome has laid claim to this evangelical missionary.
01:16:55: But despite all of the efforts that she has made, the one thing that cannot be changed is that Patrick's theology is completely different from the theology of the
01:17:09: Roman Catholic Church. In his writings, he never mentions the
01:17:15: Bishop of Rome. He gives no hint that he, that is Patrick, came to Ireland under the auspices of the
01:17:24: Roman Church because he didn't. In all his writings, there is no trace of meriolatry, of the mass, of these aspects of the worship of the
01:17:37: Roman Catholic system. One writer said this, the church of Rome puts our blessed
01:17:43: Lord into a very subordinate place. That is true, of course, to this day.
01:17:50: The church of Rome will elevate Mary, other individuals, angels, so -called saints, and put them in the place of Christ or above Christ.
01:18:00: But with Patrick, Christ is all in all. The Bible receives little honor from the system of the papacy, but Patrick knew the
01:18:13: Bible well, and he looked to it as the supreme standard of faith.
01:18:20: This historian went on to say, in fact, if we make a list of the distinctive tenets of Romanism and a similar list of the doctrines which
01:18:29: Patrick believed and taught and placed the two over against each other, their dissidence will be found simply startling.
01:18:40: His whole spirit and teaching and aims were not only not those of the
01:18:45: Roman Catholic system, but were as different from hers as is possible.
01:18:52: I needed to say that because that is the truth with regard to his theology.
01:18:59: But let me give you some details from part of his confession because it does give to us the spirit and the strength of his
01:19:10: Christian convictions. In section four of his confession, Patrick states,
01:19:17: Because there is no other God, nor was there ever any in times past, nor shall there be hereafter, except God the
01:19:28: Father unbegotten, without beginning, holding all things, the
01:19:34: Almighty as we say, and his Son Jesus Christ, whom we affirm verily to have existed with the
01:19:43: Father before the creation of the world, with the Father after the manner of a spiritual existence, begotten ineffably from the beginning, before the beginning of anything, which means that Patrick, as I might just pause and say this, clearly he held to the eternal sonship and the eternal deity of Jesus Christ.
01:20:09: He held rigidly to the fact that Christ was co -equal and co -eternal and consubstantial with God the
01:20:19: Father and of course with God the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say that Christ was made man, and so there he enters into the whole realm of the incarnation of Christ, the
01:20:34: Redeemer, assuming human nature in order to be the Savior, the
01:20:40: Redeemer of men. He goes on to speak of Christ having overcome death, and so there we are at the cross, the climax of the
01:20:50: Lord's sufferings and the vicarious substitutionary death of the Savior and the finishing of the work that the
01:20:59: Father gave him to do. He has all this in his confession. He goes on to write of Christ being received up into heaven to the
01:21:08: Father. There we have the resurrection and the ascension, and then this, and he gave to him all power above every name of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and let every tongue confess to him that Jesus Christ is
01:21:29: Lord in whom we believe, and we look for his coming soon to be.
01:21:35: He, the judge of the quick and the dead, who will render to every man according to his deeds, and he shed on us abundantly the
01:21:43: Holy Ghost, the gift and earnest of immortality.
01:21:49: And so there's enough in those statements from his own confession to understand that Patrick was a true stalwart of biblical truth, an evangelical minister whose doctrine and theology were completely scriptural.
01:22:07: Clearly and plainly, Patrick's theology was based upon the Word of God. And so from that detail, we can affirm that this man who lived in the early centuries after Christ had gone back to heaven and ministered the gospel was a man whose whole ministry was founded on and agreeable to the
01:22:31: Word of the living God. Hey, man. Well, we have
01:22:36: William in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hi, Chris. Absolutely loving your show today.
01:22:43: I am Irish -American. Patty was a prod, no argument.
01:22:50: Question for Pastor Greer. What denomination in Ireland does he think Patrick would be a member of if he was alive today?
01:23:03: Well, if Patrick were alive today, that would be his right to choose whatever church it would be he would affiliate with.
01:23:14: But knowing what he was in terms of his belief, his doctrine, his theology, it would be a
01:23:22: Bible -believing church. And I think it's just wise to leave it there. We would not dare to say what denomination he would be a part of.
01:23:33: Rather, if he were alive today, the Lord would lead him to wherever he would want him to be, but truly would be a church that would stand for Christ and for the true gospel.
01:23:44: Amen. Let's see. We have Thomas in Union City, New Jersey.
01:23:59: Thomas says, I understand that your denomination, the
01:24:08: Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster in North America, do not necessarily baptize infants, although it is permitted, that many people who in the past are in your denomination are baptistic when it comes to the ordinance of baptism.
01:24:29: Is this true? And do you have any proof that St. Patrick also shared this belief of believer -only baptism?
01:24:41: Well, first of all, the Free Presbyterian Church from its inception took what we call an open position in baptism.
01:24:51: There's such a controversial matter that freedom, liberty of conscience was given to the members of the
01:25:01: Free Presbyterian Church to estouse whatever form of baptism they felt the
01:25:08: Lord revealed to them from the Scriptures, a openness with regard to the modes of baptism and the subjects of baptism, so long as no one espoused the heresy of baptismal regeneration, which means, therefore, in a practical sense, the
01:25:29: Free Presbyterian Church does baptize according to the people of God and their own conviction on baptism, and therefore, there are the baptisms of infants, of believing parents, at least one believing parent, or the baptism of believers who have come of age and have professed faith and turned to Jesus Christ.
01:25:59: So we have an open position in baptism. With regard to Patrick, I have no idea at all, really.
01:26:08: His own writings do not reveal what position he held in baptism. I can't speculate, for I have nothing on which to base any thought on that whatsoever.
01:26:25: We're going to our final break today, and if you would like to submit a question of your own, our email address is chrisarnson at gmail .com.
01:26:37: Give us your first name at least, city and state, and country of residence. Don't go away. We'll be right back after these messages.
01:26:43: I'm Pastor Keith Allen of Linbrook Baptist Church, a
01:27:01: Christ -centered, Gospel -driven church looking to spread the Gospel in the southwest portion of Long Island, New York, and play our role in fulfilling the
01:27:09: Great Commission, supporting and sending for the spread of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. We're delighted to be a part of Chris Arnson's Iron Sharpens Iron radio advertising family.
01:27:20: At Linbrook Baptist Church, we believe the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired
01:27:26: Word of God, inherent in the original writings, complete as the revelation of God's will for salvation and the supreme and final authority in all matters to which they speak.
01:27:37: We believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This salvation is based upon the sovereign grace of God, was purchased by Christ on the cross, and is received through faith alone, apart from any human merit, works, or ritual.
01:27:54: Salvation in Christ also results in righteous living, good works, and appropriate respect and concern for all who bear
01:28:02: God's image. If you live near Linbrook, Long Island, or if you're just passing through on the
01:28:07: Lord's Day, we'd love to have you come and join us in worship. For details, visit linbrookbaptist .org,
01:28:14: that's l -y -n -brookbaptist .org. This is Pastor Keith Allen of Linbrook Baptist Church reminding you that by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.
01:28:27: It is the gift of God, not a result of words, so that no one may boast of the
01:28:33: Lord's blessing in the knowledge of himself. Dr. Joseph Pipo, President Emeritus and Professor of Systematic and Applied Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
01:28:53: Every Christian who's serious about the Deformed Faith and the Westminster Standards should have and use the eight -volume commentary on the theology and ethics of the
01:29:02: Westminster Larger Catechism titled Authentic Christianity by Dr. Joseph Moorcraft.
01:29:09: It is much more than an exposition of the Larger Catechism. It is a thoroughly researched work that utilizes biblical exegesis as well as historical and systematic theology.
01:29:21: Dr. Moorcraft is pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, and I urge everyone looking for a biblically faithful church in that area to visit that fine congregation.
01:29:32: For details on the eight -volume commentary, go to westminstercommentary .com, westminstercommentary .com.
01:29:40: For details on Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, visit heritagepresbyterianchurch .com,
01:29:48: heritagepresbyterianchurch .com. Please tell Dr. Moorcraft and the saints at Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia that Dr.
01:29:56: Joseph Piper of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary sends you. When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005.
01:30:26: This is Pastor Bill Sousa, Grace Church at Franklin here in the beautiful state of Tennessee.
01:30:33: Our congregation is one of a growing number of churches who love and support Iron Sharpens Iron Radio financially.
01:30:42: Grace Church at Franklin is an independent autonomous body of believers which strives to clearly declare the whole counsel of God as revealed in scripture through the person and work of our
01:30:54: Lord Jesus Christ. And of course the end of which we strive is the glory of God.
01:31:00: If you live near Franklin, Tennessee, and Franklin is just south of Nashville, maybe 10 minutes, or you are visiting this area, or you have friends and loved ones nearby, we hope you will join us some
01:31:14: Lord's Day in worshiping our God and Savior. Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions about Grace Church at Franklin.
01:31:23: Our website is gracechurchatfranklin .org. That's gracechurchatfranklin .org.
01:31:31: This is Pastor Bill Sousa wishing you all the richest blessings of our sovereign
01:31:37: Lord God, Savior, and King Jesus Christ today and always.
01:31:46: When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the
01:32:05: New American Standard Bible were among my very first sponsors. It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the
01:32:13: Iron Sharpens Iron Radio audience have been sticking with or switching to the
01:32:18: NASB. This is Darrell Bernard Harrison, co -host of the Just Thinking podcast, and the
01:32:24: NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Tom Buck at First Baptist Church in Lindale, Texas, and the
01:32:33: NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Kent Keller of Faith Bible Church in Sharpsburg, Georgia, and the
01:32:40: NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Andrew Rapport, the founder and executive director at Striving for Eternity Ministries, and the
01:32:49: NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Mark Romaldi, pastor of Sovereign Grace Church in Greenbrier, Tennessee, and the
01:32:58: NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Christopher Cookston, pastor of Prineville Community Church in Prineville, Oregon, and the
01:33:09: NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Matt Tarr, pastor of High Point Baptist Church in Larksville, Pennsylvania, and the
01:33:17: NASB is my Bible of choice. Here's a great way for your church to help keep
01:33:22: Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. Pastors, are your pew bibles tattered and falling apart?
01:33:29: Consider restocking your pews with the NASB, and tell the publishers you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.
01:33:38: Go to nasbible .com. That's nasbible .com to place your order.
01:33:51: If you love Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, one of the best ways you can help keep the show on the air is by supporting our advertisers.
01:34:00: One such faithful advertiser who really believes in what Chris Arnzen is doing is
01:34:05: Daniel P. Patafuoco, serious injury lawyer and Christian apologist.
01:34:11: Dan is the president and founder of the Historical Bible Society. Their mission?
01:34:17: To foster belief in the credibility of scripture as the written word of God. They go to various churches, schools, and institutions to publicly display a rare collection of biblical texts, along with a fascinating presentation by Mr.
01:34:33: Patafuoco, demonstrating the reliability of scripture. To advance the cause of the gospel, they created a beautiful perfect facsimile of the genealogy of Jesus Christ from the original engravings contained in a first edition 1611
01:34:49: King James Bible. This 17th century hand -engraved chart shows the family tree of Jesus Christ going back to Adam and Eve.
01:35:00: This book is complete with gorgeous full -size illustrations of Noah's Ark and the
01:35:06: Tower of Babel, and an explanation of why the genealogy of Jesus is so important for his claims to the throne of the universe.
01:35:15: Originals of this work are in museums and nobody has ever made it accessible to the public in a large book form before.
01:35:24: You can have your own copy of this 44 -page genealogy book for a donation of $35 or more.
01:35:31: Visit historicalbiblesociety .org That's historicalbiblesociety .org
01:35:38: Thanks for helping to keep Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. I'm Pastor Bill Shishko of The Haven, an
01:35:56: Orthodox Presbyterian church in Comac, Long Island. I hold the Iron Sharpens Iron Radio program hosted by my longtime friend and brother
01:36:06: Chris Arnzen in the highest esteem, and I'm thrilled that you're listening today.
01:36:11: I'm also delighted that Iron Sharpens Iron is partnering with one of my favorite resources for Reformed Christian literature for decades now,
01:36:21: Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service. Well, with the economic nightmare that we're all currently enduring,
01:36:30: CVBBS .com, I want to enable you to build a wonderful personal library of the best literature that the
01:36:38: Reformers, the Puritans, and the great Christian minds of today have to offer, and at affordable prices.
01:36:46: Not only does CVBBS .com offer up to 50 % off retail prices, but you'll get an added 5 % off orders of $50 or more by using promo code
01:37:01: IRON, I -R -O -N, an added 5 % off all of your orders of $50 or more from Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service.
01:37:14: That's CVBBS .com, making the joy of reading the finest in Christian literature more affordable.
01:37:22: Oh, and make sure that you tell them you heard about them on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. I'm Dr.
01:37:39: Tony Costa, Professor of Apologetics and Islam at Toronto Baptist Seminary. I'm thrilled to introduce to you a church where I've been invited to speak and have grown to love,
01:37:50: Hope Reform Baptist Church in Corham, Long Island, New York, pastored by Rich Jensen and Christopher McDowell.
01:37:57: It's such a joy to witness and experience fellowship with people of God, like the dear saints at Hope Reform Baptist Church in Corham, who have an intensely passionate desire to continue digging deeper and deeper into the unfathomable riches of Christ in His Holy Word, and to enthusiastically proclaim
01:38:15: Christ Jesus the King and His doctrines of sovereign grace in Suffolk County, Long Island, and beyond.
01:38:22: I hope you also have the privilege of discovering this precious congregation and receive the blessing of being showered by their love, as I have.
01:38:31: For more information on Hope Reform Baptist Church, go to hopereformedli .net.
01:38:38: That's hopereformedli .net. Or call 631 -696 -5711.
01:38:46: That's 631 -696 -5711. Tell the folks at Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island, New York, that you heard about them from Tony Costa on Iron Sharpens Iron.
01:39:03: And tomorrow, Dr. Tony Costa will be my guest on Iron Sharpens Iron radio to expose and refute the apparitions of Mary claimed by the
01:39:17: Roman Catholic Church. So I hope that you tune in tomorrow to hear Dr. Costa's discussion on that.
01:39:24: Also, folks, I want you to remember that Iron Sharpens Iron radio needs your financial help.
01:39:38: And if you could please remember to go to ironsharpensironradio .com, click support, then click, click to donate now.
01:39:45: You could donate instantly with a debit or credit card in that fashion. Also, please don't ever forget that Iron Sharpens Iron radio is paid for in part by the law firm of Buttafuoco &
01:39:59: Associates. If you're the victim of a very serious personal injury or medical malpractice anywhere in the
01:40:06: United States, please go to 1800nowhurt .com,
01:40:13: 1800nowhurt .com, or call the law firm of Buttafuoco & Associates at 1 -800 -NOW -HURT, 1 -800 -NOW -HURT.
01:40:21: And please always mention that you heard about them from Chris Arnzen of Iron Sharpens Iron radio.
01:40:28: Last but not least, I want to remind my listeners that you are invited to two free pastors luncheons.
01:40:38: The first will be on Thursday, May 1st, and we are still trying to get a confirmation on the location here in Pennsylvania.
01:40:50: And the speaker will be Dr. Jason Lyle, who is a young earth astrophysicist and literal six -day creationist.
01:40:59: So, we hope that you can attend that event if you're a man in ministry leadership.
01:41:06: The second pastor's luncheon will be on Thursday, September 18th, and that will be at the
01:41:15: Church of the Living Christ in Loisville, Pennsylvania, featuring guest speaker Dr.
01:41:20: James R. White of Alpha Omega Ministries. So, if you'd like to attend either or both of those events, send me an email to chrisarnzen at gmail .com
01:41:30: and put pastor's luncheon in the subject line, and you could specify one or both of those pastor's luncheons.
01:41:40: And don't forget also about the speaking engagements where my guest,
01:41:47: Pastor John Greer, will be participating in North America, the first being in Toronto, Canada on Easter weekend.
01:42:02: And the second is at the
01:42:10: Free Presbyterian Church of Malvern, Pennsylvania on Sunday, April 27th.
01:42:19: And then last but not least, on Sunday, May 4th,
01:42:27: Pastor John Greer will be preaching at Reformation Bible Church. In Darlington, Maryland.
01:42:39: Sorry about that. So, I will repeat the websites at the end of the program for all of these events.
01:42:52: We have Pastor Mark in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
01:43:02: How can we use Patrick's sound gospel ministry to share the gospel with people today?
01:43:11: Well, it's a good question. As I said earlier in my remarks on this radio broadcast, that Patrick's confessions are available, a number of manuscripts, that they are authentically his own penmanship.
01:43:31: And if people go online even, they'll be able to source these and read for themselves his statements, his beliefs, his writings, and they're thoroughly biblical, evangelical,
01:43:48: Christ -centered. Just as today, the Lord in his providence is still sending men with that kind of ministry.
01:43:57: So, he sent Patrick all those hundreds and hundreds of years ago to the island of Ireland.
01:44:04: And so, he preached the same gospel as has been preached by the apostles, by the reformers, by the great evangelical men like Spurgeon, Whitefield, all of these men.
01:44:19: Patrick preached the same gospel. He lived in a different day and time. Like any of us, he was not a perfect man, obviously, and yet God used him mightily.
01:44:30: And so, I would encourage you, the person who sent in this question, to go online and you'll be able to source these confessions of Patrick and find help there.
01:44:43: His theology was based upon the Scriptures, undoubtedly. He knew the Bible, he believed it, and he loved it.
01:44:50: And he based his whole life upon it after God saved him. It was firmly focused on the
01:44:56: Lord Jesus Christ. Patrick was not a Christ -rejector, but a Christ -exalter.
01:45:02: He preached Christ and him crucified. He preached the full Christ to sinful men and all their desperate need.
01:45:12: He was Trinitarian in his belief, and that, of course, is vitally important because there can be no gospel without that fundamental acceptance of and belief in the doctrine of the
01:45:27: And we rejoice that one of the three became man and was sent by the
01:45:34: Father and anointed by the Spirit to redeem fallen sinners from their guilt and their sin.
01:45:42: I've been speaking here about the history of Patrick, something on his theology. What about his legacy?
01:45:49: The Lord used this man. His evangelical labors were rewarded with mighty blessing and success.
01:45:57: He saw a great Christian witness across the island of Ireland in the form of many congregations raised up in those times so long ago.
01:46:08: In page 8 of his testimony, he says this, I pray that I will be faithful right up to my passing.
01:46:18: He meant passing on to be with the Lord. For 60 years thereabouts, he went through the length and breadth of the island of Ireland, seeing many churches formed, as I mentioned earlier.
01:46:31: He formed schools for training pastors. And he also sent missionaries from Ireland to the nations of Europe.
01:46:42: And this is also authentic and documented. And this is marvelous to think that this man came to this island of Ireland and saw it transformed and saw the
01:46:52: Christian church get such a strong foothold. Not only men trained for the ministry in this little country, but sending others beyond these shores.
01:47:07: For example, in 563—this is part of Patrick's legacy—Columba went to Scotland and became a mighty servant of God there as a missionary in that land.
01:47:22: In 612 A .D., Colin Bennis went to France and Germany and did a great work for the
01:47:29: Lord in those nations. In 680, Cillian went to France and Germany as well.
01:47:36: These are but a few of the men who are outstanding missionaries and preachers of the gospel who went to various European countries and carried the gospel to a people who were sinking into darkness under the false teaching of the
01:47:54: Roman Catholic Church. These men went there and they pioneered and they resisted the falling away at that time, the return to darkness that was being promoted and was being developed by the
01:48:12: Church of Rome. To leap forward a number of centuries with regard to Patrick's legacy, we think about Ireland itself.
01:48:25: It's a remarkable thing that the Christian church on this island remained true to the gospel for far longer than in any other
01:48:37: European country. We must remember that in the days of the apostles, as they went forth into the world of their time, there was but one body of Christians.
01:48:50: We're all aware of that. Names and titles were not known, was the
01:48:56: Christian church, but sadly, corruption began to come in. Of course, there was corruption in the very first century, as is demonstrated by the epistles of Paul or John or James or whoever.
01:49:09: They make it clear that corruption was entering into the early Christian church. Of course, that kept happening in every age afterwards, every century afterwards.
01:49:21: In Ireland, there was a Christian body, a Christian church that remained faithful to the
01:49:27: Lord Jesus while corruption was taking place across most of Europe with the development of the papacy.
01:49:35: But in 1155, long after Patrick's day, but still when the church in Ireland was true to the
01:49:43: Bible, largely speaking, Pope Adrian IV came to know of the
01:49:48: Irish Christian church and its refusal to submit to the papacy.
01:49:56: He commissioned the king of England of that day, Henry II, to invade
01:50:03: Ireland and bring the church under the control of the papacy.
01:50:10: King Henry II died shortly after that year, and the next, or sorry, the
01:50:16: Pope Adrian died shortly after the year 1155, and the next pope,
01:50:21: Alexander III, carried on his policy, and in 1171, he had
01:50:28: Henry invade this island, and all pastors were summoned to a place called
01:50:36: Cashel. It was demanded of them that they would surrender themselves to the papacy and to its teachings.
01:50:46: The call was submit or die, and they were faced with that awful and terrible threat.
01:50:54: And so it wasn't until that period of 11, almost 1200
01:51:01: AD, that the Christian church in Ireland began to turn from the truth and embrace the teachings of the church of Rome, which is a remarkable thing.
01:51:14: It shows you the strength of the legacy that Patrick left behind him, and that his successors carried on and carried forward in their day and in their time.
01:51:27: The church in this country, or this whole island of Ireland, was faithful to Jesus Christ down through all those centuries, more so than anywhere else in Europe.
01:51:37: And so we thank God for Patrick. I trust that what
01:51:42: I said here on this Iron Sharpens Iron program this evening has been of some help and benefit to those who have been listening in.
01:51:54: I know there's all the propaganda put out by the Roman Catholic system concerning Patrick, and yet when we have his own writings, as we do, we're able to see so clearly the kind of man he was, sinner saved by grace, called to preach the gospel in his day and in his time, which he did so faithfully over all those years, a man whose theology was clear and plain with regard to its biblical foundation, its
01:52:25: Christ -centered stance, and its great evangelistic thrust, and then, of course, the legacy that flowed out of all that.
01:52:36: And so what we would ask the listeners today to do is to pray that the
01:52:42: Lord will raise up such men in our day and time. We think of the words of Christ at the end of Matthew chapter 9, where he says to the church, pray ye therefore the
01:52:53: Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.
01:53:00: Christ said those words of command to his people to pray in that fashion against the background of his own view of the congregation within Israel in those times as sheep without a shepherd, scattered and weak and faint and weary under the bondage of false religion.
01:53:24: But the Lord did raise up laborers, and he sent them into the harvest field then.
01:53:30: He did so in the life of Patrick. He's still doing so today, and I encourage you to take this to heart and to pray much that the
01:53:40: Lord will work and the Lord will move, whether it be in Ireland, North or South, or in the
01:53:47: United States, Canada, wherever, that we will see the Lord building his church and gathering out of people from the nations of the earth as he has covenant to do and apply to them the redemption purchased by Christ when he gave his life a ransom for many.
01:54:08: And may the Lord bless what has happened here today, and we pray indeed that God will use his truth for his own glory.
01:54:16: And thank you, Chris, for having me as your guest today. Amen. And we do have time for a couple more questions.
01:54:25: We have Stuart in Chicago, Illinois, and Stuart says, do you recommend any books on the life of Patrick?
01:54:40: Well, unfortunately, with regard to a major volume, as far as I'm aware, it doesn't really exist.
01:54:49: There have been little booklets written about him by some of our own ministers within the Free Presbyterian Church, simply because of where we're located and our interest in his history, but I'm not conscious or aware of any major work on Patrick.
01:55:05: And so it's a matter of gleaning information, especially from his own writings, that confession, that letter, manuscripts that are left behind that haven't translated into English and they can be sourced online.
01:55:22: Well, don't forget about the website for the Balomina Free Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland.
01:55:30: It's balominafpc .org, B -A -L -L -Y -M -E -N -A -F -P -C -D -O -R -G.
01:55:40: Also, don't forget about the speaking engagement Easter Sunday with Pastor John Greer at the
01:55:54: Toronto Free Presbyterian Church, and that website is torontofpc .ca.
01:56:04: torontofpc .ca. Then on the 27th,
01:56:10: Sunday the 27th, he'll be speaking at the Malvern Free Presbyterian Church in Malvern, Pennsylvania.
01:56:20: And do you happen to remember, since you pastored there, the website for that church?
01:56:27: It's malvernfpc .org. Malvernfpc .org. And then last but not least, you are going to be speaking at Reformation Bible Church in Darlington, Maryland.
01:56:48: And do you happen to remember the name of that website?
01:56:55: I'm not sure to tell you the truth. Oh, actually, I found it. Reformationbiblechurch .org.
01:57:03: Reformationbiblechurch .org. And he'll be speaking on May 4th at that congregation.
01:57:15: And I just want to thank you so much, brother, and please let's not wait so long before you return to my show.
01:57:23: I loved every moment of our discussion today. I want to remind you folks to please continue to pray for me and my family since we have lost our brother not long ago who passed away on February 20th.
01:57:46: And I have to be involved in retrieving his remains tomorrow.
01:57:52: So I'm asking you to pray for me and asking you to please be with my family, especially those that do not yet know you, those who are still
01:58:11: Roman Catholic or who are just not embracing the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
01:58:21: And I also want to remind you all that ironsharpenxionradio .com
01:58:33: needs your financial support. So please go to ironsharpenxionradio .com, click Support, then click
01:58:39: Click to Donate Now. That's ironsharpenxionradio .com, click Support, then click
01:58:45: Click to Donate Now. We are in urgent need of your financial assistance and we also are in need of your advertising dollars.
01:58:55: So you could send me an email if you want to advertise with us to chrisarnson at gmail .com and put advertising in the subject line.
01:59:03: And I want you all to always remember for the rest of your lives that Jesus Christ is a far greater