“I John, your brother, and companion in suffering… was on the island of Patmos because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Revelation 1:9)
Three well-known prisoners used prison as a platform for their ministry, and the glory of God, Paul (Ephesus, Caesarea, Rome – Acts 16:23), Peter (Jerusalem – Acts 12:6-10), and John (Rome, Patmos – Revelation 1: 9)
Paul wrote most of his letters and became the author of more Biblical books than anyone else while in prison, Peter and an angel opened the door of prison and walked out showing the power of God, and an angel revealed the end of man and God’s final Judgment to John while in prison.
Patmos is a small island in the Aegean Sea, some 50 miles southwest of Ephesus (Rev. 1:9). Today it is a beautiful vacation spot, but during the Roman Empire, it was used as a Roman penal settlement (a prison). During the early persecution of the church, the apostle John was taken as a prisoner and sent to Rome. He was then banished to the island of Patmos by the Romans for preaching “the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:9) with the expectation that he would die there like most prisoners. Most of the prisoners on Patmos had no hope and simply gave up and died. But John chose a different course of action. He chose not to let the “darkness” of Patmos destroy his hope, destroy him, or destroy his ability to serve the Lord. So, what did John do? He built a church, he worshiped God, and he brought hope through the gospel of Jesus Christ to those on the island.
But something else happened on Patmos. Through his faith, he came even closer to God. Then through an angel, God revealed to him the apocalyptic book of Revelation. God used John in a very special way He revealed the final days of man, the earth and God’s final Judgment.
Prison can turn even a beautiful island into a terrible, dark place. Almost 2 million people are in prisons in the U.S. today. Many will die there. They have no hope and live in the darkness. But the darkness is not brought about by being confined, it is brought about by not having a relationship with God. The darkness of prison is not nearly as bad as the darkness that comes from being separated from God. “God is light and in Him, there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth” (1 John 1:6 NIV). If we do not “have fellowship with Him” we “walk in the darkness.”
In today’s world, most prisons and Jails are actually well-lighted. So, what is the darkness I speak of? It is the spiritual darkness that comes from the absence of God, the darkness of a heart that does not belong to the Lord, the absence of hope that comes from faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior.
The darkness of night and the light of the sun do not exist in the world at the same time. Darkness is the absence of light. Where there is no light (the radiant energy of the sun or the luminescence of artificial light) there is darkness. Just like darkness is the absence of light, the darkness of the heart is the absence of the light of God. Spiritual darkness (the absence of God) and the light of the Lord (the presence of God) cannot both fill your heart at the same time.
The apostle John’s life should be a great source of encouragement to all of us. If you find yourself on Patmos, it is still up to you how you will live your life. Regardless of where you are, regardless of how dark the world around you seem, you can still “build a church”, you can pray, you can worship, and you can fellowship with God. As Paul said to the church at Corinth, “Now you are the Body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it,” 1 Corinthians 12:27 NIV). The true church lies within each of us, in our hearts, in our minds, and in our souls.
No matter what your plight in life may be, no matter where you are, you can always come to God. If there is no church, build a church; if there is no worship service, start a worship service; if there is no Bible study, start a Bible study; no fellowship, bring others to the Lord as you walk, as you eat, at recreation, or at work. Build the church in all you do. When you get closer to God, he will show you how you can better serve him.
The light to overcome the darkness, the JOY to overcome the despair, the pleasure to overcome the pain, all come from you. Christ has born the sins of the world, but it is up to each of us to do our part in building the church. The light of the church can overcome the darkness of Patmos.
We are all doing time in one way or another, doing time in school, doing time at our job, or doing time in our own Patmos. The issue is not doing the time, the issue is how you choose to do the time. We can make the most out of school and get a good education, we can do a good job and work hard for our employer, and we can make our time in Patmos something that will benefit God and others. We can let the darkness of each day consume us, or we can let the light of the Lord fill each day with good things and blessings that following the Lord always brings.