“I John, who also am your brother,
and companion
in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience
of Jesus Christ,
was in the isle that
is called Patmos, for the word of God
and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit
(Revelation 1:9-11)
John on the Isle of Patmos
The "Latin Gate" in Rome is said to be the exact place where the Apostle John was plunged into a cauldron of boiling oil. There arose a Roman Emperor named Domitian, who witnessed the rapid spread of Christianity and the message of the coming King; this enraged him because he set himself up as God; therefore he initiated the second persecution of Christians by slaughtering church leaders, relatives of Christ, nephews of Jude, and others. Learning about John living in Ephesus, he apprehended him and attempted to execute him. After being boiled in oil, John was banished to the Isle of Patmos. Why? It was for preaching, teaching and giving testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was, for this writing, a "Patmos Package."
The Isle of Patmos was a sterile island 30 miles in circumference, in the Aegean Sea, South West of Samos and 45 miles West of Miletus. Patmos means "my killing." The Emperor thought this would be the end of John. But, it was really the "beginning" of John! "Why do you say that?" you ask. It was the appointed time and place for God and man to come together for destiny, for revelation, for vision, for the purpose of prophetic insight for generations to come. It was a "package deal," God and man ... man can't do anything without God, and God won't do anything without man ...
John was sent to Patmos to get him out of the way, but God loves "out of the way" places ... like deserts, brooks, wildernesses, caves, mountains ... He loves to get us alone in these places, so that the "package" will be complete. Huh? God and man, together, as one, no interruptions, no outside influence, no other words coming through, but the Words of Almighty God! John yielded to this opportunity, because he said, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." Ah, John ... boiling you in oil didn't kill you, banishing you to a lonely island didn't get you down, trying to eliminate you didn't quench you ... you were "in the Spirit" and that's just where God wanted you!
Without "the package;" the package of God and man, we would not know the coming events; we would not know the requirements of the Church; we would not know from what we must escape by being redeemed and saved ... repentance, infilling of the Holy Ghost, and baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. God needed John, just as He needs you and me. We are his hands, feet, voice, and ambassadors in the earth today. Almighty God longs to "illuminate" His Word, and to reveal to us His secrets. Why? To prepare us, inform us, move us, enlighten us, so that "we," His own, can be in on His plans, and prepare as many as we can, of His plans. He takes a lot of us to "Patmos," to desert places, through wilderness experiences, to places by a brook ... to the mountain top ... Why? To receive ...
It's all about God getting His creation alone with Him, so He can talk to us, birth in us, give us vision, reveal destiny, pour from the Creator into the created, get our minds solely on Him, to give us the greatest song ever written, to pen through us the most profound book ever read (other than the Holy Bible), to produce through us the most moving of films, and to create in us a base for His omnipotent Glory ... that happens to God and man, alone together; it's called a "Patmos Package."
(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.)
Pastor Kenneth Phillips
(He is "in the Spirit" every day)
PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas
Services Sunday 10:30 am and Wednesday 7:15 pm
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