That is the kind of thing God does. He blesses the humble. He grants great instrumentality to the lonely. He takes his servants who are locked in to simply preaching his word and prayer, and he blesses them infinitely more than he blesses the people who walk around saying, ‘Look at my gifts; look at my gifts.’ John receives this astonishing book on Patmos. What could John do now, so far from the churches? How could he minister to the flock from there? God provided a way for him to do more for the churches from this remote island than he could ever have done by remaining free in Ephesus.
Some people think that when you become a Christian, though there are some times of persecution, the norm is to be happy all the day long, and at perfect liberty, and able to do all the things we want to do, and to witness freely, and so on. ‘Kingdom and patience’ – there will always be pressures of some kind or the other on the church and on Christian people. The unsaved world is always hostile. There is a cost to Christian witness and none of us are exempt from the task of witnessing. We may not e exiled like John, but it will cost us something to speak of Christ, even if it is only disapproval and loss of opportunity. Those who are leaders in the church are at the forefront in suffering for Christ.
John is not like some people today who should know better, and they appear to be people of the gospel, and yet they strut about and present themselves as having special gifts, office, and authority. They like to be relied upon, and looked to, and act as figureheads and great personalities. But we are to imitate Christ and his apostles – ‘Your brother and partner in troubles, and in the kingdom.’ ‘I am just on an equal footing with you all, as subjects in the kingdom of Christ.