Rev. Shad McDonald- “Patmos Paradox”

Feeling banished, sidelined, or forgotten can make any day feel like Patmos. We open Revelation 1 and walk with John into exile, only to discover the startling nearness of Jesus—a voice like a trumpet behind us, a hand on our shoulder, and a vision that redefines the room we’re in. What looks like an endpoint becomes an entry point: from “I’m stuck” to “I’m summoned,” from trench to throne room, from silence to the sound of many waters.

We talk about how proximity sharpens recognition—why John “turned to see the voice,” why storms remember their Master, and why nearness matters more than noise. Along the way, we weave in living parables of providence: a child’s bold prayer in Zaire for an impossible hot-water bottle that arrives on time, a foxhole “taste of home” that keeps a soldier until rescue, and the quiet wisdom to keep the heat up even when life feels like the back burner. Each story echoes the same truth: God knows your coordinates, and His timing is not late.

Anchored in the imagery of Revelation—the Son of Man among the lampstands, stars secure in His right hand—we lean into the assurance that the Church is not abandoned and that our burdens are not too heavy for the One who upholds all things. The risen Christ says, “Fear not… I am alive for evermore,” and that promise pulls hope forward: redemption accomplished, reigning present, return ahead. If you need courage to hold fast, perspective to keep serving, or language for worship in a hard place, this conversation offers it with clarity and heart.

If this encouraged you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help others find it. Tell us: what’s your Patmos right now, and what did you hear when you turned to see the Voice?

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Setup
• 1:58 Honoring Pastors and Community
• 6:06 Text Read: Revelation 1
• 9:35 The Patmos Paradox Introduced
• 14:15 God Knows Where You Are
• 16:19 In the Spirit on the Lord’s Day
• 19:15 Learning to Hear His Voice
• 24:12 From Trench to Throne Room
• 27:05 Providence and the Hot Water Bottle
• 30:30 The Touch and the Hands that Hold Us
• 35:30 Victory Assured: Christ Reigns and Returns
• 38:10 A Taste of Home and Closing Blessing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to Foundations of Truth Podcast, where we are laying strong foundations for a holy life. Here we return to timeless truth, building our lives on the solid rock of Scripture with preaching. Join us as we grow in wisdom, faith, and understanding. Rooted in Christ, the cornerstone. Now on to the next sermon. Enjoy.

SPEAKER_06: 1:58

There was a preacher that was coming to my house to buy some books. It was Brother Fletcher from Virginia. Some of you may remember Brother Fletcher. And he had a companion with him who loved books as much as I did. And when they showed up, I had put a I had a two-car garage in the house that we owned, but Beth let me take a portion of that and turned it into an office. And so I had books everywhere in that little office. And Brother Shad rolled in with Brother Fletcher that day. And uh he we didn't do many preliminaries because he wanted to get into the books. So once he got done with the books, then we got the preliminaries out of the way. And uh we became good friends that day and have been friends ever since. And uh many times I've called Brother Shad just as a friend and a confidant, and he's a great man, great preacher, but a wonderful man. And so I appreciate Brother Shad's friendship, his influence, and Sister Kathy, and uh her just consistency and faithfulness, and uh just we've all been over there and they've hosted us, and we certainly love them and appreciate them. And it's been an honor for us to have them this week as he's preached his heart to us, and uh, I appreciate what he's doing for the Lord. Want him to come take his liberty in the Lord. Would you just put your hands together and let Brother Shaz, Sister Kathy know how much we love them and appreciate them and honor them so much? Amen.

SPEAKER_05: 3:29

Hello, everyone. Brother Rodney, you're not 340 miles away. I want to hear you say amen this morning. Thank you, Brother Ashley. Appreciate the message. I rejoice to hear you tell about Allison's healing. I remember years ago, right after she had made that C D, I sat down at my desk and I was, as the old saying is, so low you couldn't touch the taproot. And I opened that C D and put it in the player, and God spoke to my heart. And I rejoiced that Allison didn't lose her song. Praise God. Last night service will go down in the books. Appreciate Brother Douglas so much. It's been a joy to be here with him and his family and all of you. Appreciate the message and the way God has worked and helped. I want to take a little moment to say how much I appreciate this local church, the Ralston family, the vision of all of you, the model of excellence that this church, school, and college is, the tremendous impact that Brother Ralston has upon the holiness people, not just the uh church here, uh, that vision, but the ministers' conference in January, and how great a benefit it is to the ministry at large among the holiness community. And then we have also here Brother Ralston, Brother Brim, Brother Sanders, board members of the Pentecostal Fire Youth Conference, and it does a tremendous work of encouragement to our youth. And I appreciate the vision that is birthed here and how that it has gone out and affected us all across our country. And so let's celebrate all of that, can we? Glad that Israel and Sarah and the girls made a flying trip here today. God bless you. Thank you for your charity, the wonderful place to stay. Now let's stand and go to the back of the book. I read yesterday from Genesis. So after you leave here today, you'll be able to say that man preached last week from Genesis to Revelation. The Revelation chapter one. Thank you for your giving and every kindness you've shown. Revelation one. If you get to the maps and the back, you miss it. The Revelation chapter one. Verse 9. John Who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. For the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and what thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia, unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamus, and unto Thyrotira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet were feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp, two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun that shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not. I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in thy in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars of the angels, of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest. And the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Thank you, you may be seated. I'll take my text there, where the scripture declares, John said, I was in the aisle that is called Patmos. Verse 9, verse 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. So if the Lord will stand by me, I'd like to title that text, The Patmos Paradox. It seems to be an incongruous contradiction to put Patmos with paradise, but these verses are a short lesson to us that God is able to take us from where we are to where He wants us to be in spite of the circumstances that may surround. Yesterday I tried to speak concerning paradise lost. It was Milton that wrote that Paradise Lost. He gave it to his wife to read and critique. And she said, Great book. You didn't tell us how to get it back. So Milton wrote Paradise regained. Because of Jesus Christ, paradise can be regained. John finds himself on this ancient Alcatraz, this bleak, barren island where he is banished there in the Mediterranean. It seems as if he is there all alone by himself. Why would God allow? Why would it be so? Why was it necessary that this beloved of Jesus, the one that leaned on the Lord's breast, this one that was nearest and closest to his Lord be banished on this paradise, this Patmos rather, this place of loneliness and banishment. Why would he be there in that awful place? I read once of a warm summer evening, the skies hanging low, dust begins to settle, and as night comes on, the stars begin to glisten. A little farm boy goes inside the house and comes back out on the porch with a telescope, and he peers up into the darkening sky as the heavens awaken with the glory of the night stars. He begins to look through that little cheap telescope at those stars that begin to shine and those glistening orbs that begin to brighten the night heavens. And um his riviere of the night heavens is broken by the words of his grandpa that says, What are you doing, boy? And grandson says, Well, Papa, he said, I'm looking at them night stars and maybe planets or other worlds. I don't know what all's out there. And grandpa said, Well, you'll never visit those places. They're too far away. He said, I know, Papa. He said, My feet are on earth, but my heart is somewhere out of this world. Hallelujah. John is on Patmos, but his heart is somewhere out of this world. And so may I say to you today that this Patmos that you find yourself in is not permanent. Patmos is your passport. May I say that where you are now is not where you will always be. We can praise God that Patmos is not permanent. We can praise God that where we are is not our end. There's something better that is in store. And I want to take a moment, please, to reassure you that you may think that you are forgotten, and you may feel like you have been forsaken, and you may think that God has put you on the back burner and no one knows where you are. May I simply say God knows where Patmos is and God knows how to visit your Patmos. God can take care of you right where you are. Amen. He's got a GPS on your location. Hold on just any moment. You're gonna make a move from Patmos to paradise. Oftentimes in your life and mine, we wonder, God, do you know where I'm at? Do you know what I'm doing? Lord, has everybody forgotten me? I remember our dear friend Brother Kevin Webster telling of how that he went back home to Iron Post. Amen. If you don't know where that is, find Locust Grove. You'll get close. And I heard Kevin tell of how that after his dad died suddenly with a heart attack, that he went home and he got a job working there for Cherokee Nation. Wilma Mankiller was the president of the Indian Nation at that time. And Misery's Mankiller gave Kevin a job with the housing authority. And Kevin said he went through a time of depression. He's no longer preaching those revivals. He's no longer out and abroad among the holiness people. He's there working a job, taking care of his widowed mother. And he said, I said to the Lord one day, Lord, I feel like you put me on the back burner. And the Lord spoke to Kevin and said, Kevin, you can cook just as good on the back burner if you'll keep the heat up. May I say to someone here today, keep the heat up. No matter what you're going through, no matter what you're facing, no matter the difficulty, no matter the trial, no matter the tempest or the test, God knows where you're at.

SPEAKER_04: 15:50

And if your own patmos get ready, amen to check and up. You're on your way to paradise. God's gonna take you up. God's gonna lead you out. God's gonna bring you through. He's gonna take you over. And he's gonna make a way and a no way just because you're at Patmos. Hold on, there's paradise that awaits.

SPEAKER_05: 16:15

There is a voice that was assuring. John there on Patmos. He hears a voice that to him was assuring. And he said, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. He was in the isle called Patmos, but he was in the Spirit. Look at the spirit of the Lord that enveloped him. That place of loneliness he was in. Suddenly he is surrounded with glory. Amen. He is in the isle called Patmos, but he is in the spirit. I remember reading of that water beetle that can descend into the depths of the water, but before it goes down, it surrounds itself with a bubble of air. And scientists have learned that it can take down enough oxygen to stay for many hours, and it can feed on the plant life that is in the water, and even take oxygen from that plant life. Amen. It is in, but it's not of. Hallelujah. It is surrounded, but it does not succumb. I know you're in a bad spot, but you don't have to succumb to what is around you. Amen. I know there may be discouragement and darkness all around.

SPEAKER_04: 17:48

And it may seem like your world has cabined and cloistered and confined and cribbed you into a small place. That's all right. If you got glory all around, you're not gonna succumb to what surrounds. You're not gonna succumb to what surrounds you.

SPEAKER_05: 18:10

Look here and see. Amen. The spirit of the Lord that surrounded. And then now, the summons of the Lord that employed. Here John is on Patmas, and the Lord has got something for John to do. He said, I want you to write the things that you have seen. And I love the text, verse 12. John said, I turned to see the voice. He turned intuitively and he turned instinctively because he knew that voice. John had first heard that voice when that voice said, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Amen. And may I stop to say that when we stop casting nets, we will start casting stones.

SPEAKER_04: 19:02

It's time we again cast nets. The first time John heard that voice, that voice said, Follow me. John heard that voice, as that voice preached the Sermon on the Mount. John heard that voice, and then as Jesus looked to a woman, taking an adultery and found in the very net. And John heard that voice say, Neither do I condemn these. Go and sin no more. John heard that voice when that anonymous woman with an issue of blood. And Jesus said, Down her. I'm glad I know his voice. I'm glad I've heard his voice. I'm glad I've heard his voice.

SPEAKER_05: 19:54

John heard that voice. As Jesus stepped to the bow of that ship and rebuked that storm, and it obediently quieted down as a dog would hearken to the voice of its master. John knew that voice. I'm glad I heard his voice. And if you will listen, if you will hearken, if you lean in, if you lean in, you'll hear his voice. My heart aches as I remember Lindsay Savage, brother LD, standing, and he looks to his son, his grandson Ricky, about 30 feet away across the platform of that count meeting stage. And he says, Ricky, can you hear my heartbeat? And Ricky says, No, Papa. And I watched that as a young preacher, as Brother Savage said, Come closer, Ricky. And every footstep brings Ricky closer to his grandpa that loved him and took him in as his own. By and by, he's just a mare a few feet away. Can you hear my heartbeat? No, Papa. But if I live to be a hundred, I'll never forget when young Ricky laid his head on his grandpa's chest. And he said, Can you hear my heartbeat? And he said, Yeah, Papa, I can hear it. If you'll get close enough, you hear his voice.

SPEAKER_04: 21:44

If you don't get close enough, you can hear his voice. John's own practice. Amen. But Jesus knows right where John is. Amen. And Jesus speaks to John. And John said, I know that voice. Mary is at the tomb. And it's resurrection morning. And she don't know it. Amen. And the tomb is empty. And she thinks the man is the gardener. And he says Mary. And she turns. And she says master. Somebody ought to turn. And call him master. Somebody ought to turn. And call him master. Could you worship him in the house today?

SPEAKER_03: 22:29

Glory to God. Oh, give him a phrase all over the house.

SPEAKER_05: 22:39

John knew that voice. Voice that was assuring. Vision that was astonishing. He turned to see a Christ that was glorious. And he realized I'm not by myself. In 1918, so says the memoirs of an English soldier. He said, I was sent into no man's land to deliver a message, this English soldier said of the first war. He said, I crawled into no man's land on my belly. He said the rain was fierce. He said I was covered with mud. Mortar fire shook the sky, and gunfire cracked like lightning. He said a blast suddenly threw me over into a large crater. And he said I was half buried, half burned, and bleeding. He said I was pinned down and left to die. And he said, My thought was, this is the end. I am alone and I am forgotten. Here is where I will die. And then he said suddenly, it was as if I were a boy again. And I remembered the prayers of mother and the hymns of Sunday school. And he said, I began to pray. And I began to sing a hymn that I learned as a boy in that crater there in No Man's Land. He said, A strange thing happened. He said, I was still in France. And I was still in no man's land in the middle of a battle. He said, but something strange happened not around me. He said, something strange happened in me.

SPEAKER_04: 25:03

He said, suddenly, there was peace not around me, but peace was in me. And he wrote these words. He said, suddenly, I understood the miracle. I was in the trench, but I was in the throne room. Somebody ought to praise it that even when you're in the trench, you can get to the throne room. I feel victory in the house today. And I want to tell you, heaven, amen, it's not far away. Somebody ought to worship God in this room. You may be in the trench, but you can get to the throne room. You may be in the trench, but you can get to the throne room. Praise him in the house.

SPEAKER_05: 25:54

All right. John is not alone. And he turns. And there is a vision that is astonishing. Jesus knows where Patmas is. Helen Rosevier, who was a medical missionary to Zaire, Africa back in 1950, tells of how that one evening a young mother went into labor. She struggled through the night. So Helen Rossevir says, and this young mother gave birth to a very premature little child. And Helen Rosevere said, regrettably, we lost the mother. And only the baby survived. And she said, so because the baby was so premature, we needed to get it warm as soon as possible. She said, we did not have the luxury of electricity, but we had a fire. And we set on a pot of water to boil. And I sent one of our little workers to go get that hot water bottle. I know. Some of you don't know what that is. Some of us do. And so they got that hot water bottle, and they began to fill it with that boiling water. And the bottle was cracked and weathered and it ruptured. She said, there we were with a premature baby and no hot water bottle, nothing to keep it warm. And she said, I told a young nurse, wrap it up with as many blankets as you can. Hold it close. And she said I left and went to the chapel for morning prayers. She said, along beside me was a little 10-year-old. And she knelt with me as we had prayers and our morning devotions. She said, I prayed that God by some miracle would help that little premature baby survive. She said, I heard the words of that little 10-year-old as she said, Now, Lord, we need a hot water bottle, and we need it today. Tomorrow would be too late, but we need it today. She said, I thought within my heart, here we are in Central Africa. It's 1950. There's nowhere to go buy a water bottle. And the little girl also said, And Lord, while you're sending a hot water bottle, would you send this new baby a little baby doll too? Helen Rosevere said I laughed within myself and thought, no, not never ever. She said, about one o'clock in the afternoon, one of the children came running through the compound and said, someone just dropped off a partial. She said, I went and I looked and I noted that it had been shipped from America five months earlier. She said, I opened it. She said there was candy. There were clothes. And she said, You guessed it. There was a hot water bottle. Amen. She said, that little 10-year-old girl, her eyes brightened with anticipation. And she said, Misery's hellin, there's gotta be a baby in there somewhere. And they dug a little deeper into the partial and pulled out a baby doll.

SPEAKER_04: 29:49

She said, I read the note from a Sunday school class in America that felt led of God, amended to put in the package a baby doll and

SPEAKER_05: 30:38

He he turned to a Christ that was glorious. And now the touch of Christ was gracious. He looked and he saw him. And he had stars in his hands. His hands are never so full that he doesn't have room for you. And he laid his hand on me. That's what he said. You may think that you are forgotten. And you feel so hopeless and lost. He's got room in his hand for you. I read of a vacationer that went to New York City and he wanted to see the RCA building. And he said, so I went to the RCA building. And he said, there in front of the RCA building was a statue of Atlas, the world's strongest man. He said, I stood in awe at that giant, colossal, gargantuous, monolithic, huge statue of the world's strongest man. Y'all ready for the pose? He's got the world on his back. His muscles are bulging. But you can see the strain and the exertion and the agony of what Atlas is bearing on his back. He said, I turned from the statue of Atlas, and I walked across the street to St. Patrick's Cathedral, and I walked to the altar at the front, and there was a small statue of the boy child Jesus. He said immediately I was taken by the calm repose and the serene countenance of the boy child Jesus. Eyes that burn like fire. The calm serenity of the boy child Jesus. But what struck him most, he said, was the outstretched hands of the boy child Jesus. And in his hands was the world. It ain't no strain on him.

SPEAKER_04: 33:32

Come on here now. I said, what you're going through in your world, it ain't no strain on Jesus.

SPEAKER_05: 33:52

And he wrote her a letter. And he said, the world over here is burned, destroyed with war. It's a blackened, burned-out world. And then as he closed the letter to his sister, he said, But God has got the whole world in his hands. He was inspired by that. So in that he's writing to his sister, he said, Sister, he's got the whole world in his hands. He moves with eloquence. And he thinks of niece and nephew. And he says he's got the, and he did say it, the itty-bitty baby in his hands.

SPEAKER_04: 34:40

And now you know where that little song came from. It comes from a soldier boy in a war-torn country that wrote to his sister and said he's got the whole world in his hands. And he's got me a new sister in his hands. And he's got me a new brother in his hands. And he's got the innovative. Somebody ought to praise him. He's got it in his hands, and he's not gonna let go. The eternal God is his refuge. And underneath, can somebody shout, underneath, underneath is his everlasting arms. He can't fail. Amen. He won't let you down. He's got your world in his hand.

SPEAKER_05: 35:22

Somebody ought to praise him in this room. Oh, you got more praise than that. You got more praise than that. Don't miss it. The voice that was assuring. The vision that was astonishing. The victory that is accomplishing. When John closes this first chapter in red words, he speaks concerning the fulfillment of the plan of God. The things which shall be hereafter. Amen. Christ, first redeeming, now resurrected, reigning, returning. He said, I am alive. And I am alive forever. It ain't over yet. Amen. And not only the fulfillment of the plan of God, but the future of the people of God. The things that shall be here and after. And here we are. That's us. That's now. And here we are right now. Hallelujah. Grace that's brought us this far. And grace shall lead us on. There's more to come. There's more to come. And we're leaving here. Amen. We're leaving here. And soon we're going there. And we're going to make our transport from Patmas to paradise. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up. John got a look within that open door in Revelation 4. And he said, I heard a voice that said, anybody ready to go up? Well, since I'm in Georgia, this is for Georgia. In 1971, a Vietnam soldier from the state of Georgia, and if the record I read had it correct, was fighting in Vietnam on Hamburger Hill. He had been pinned in, artillery fire, had him locked down, and he had been in a foxhole for three days. No water, no rations. They couldn't get to him, and he couldn't get out. And that Georgia boy pinned into that foxhole thought that that was the end. And then on that third day, to his shock and surprise, he heard the chop, chop, chop of a helicopter that made a daring feat and an almost miraculous mission to come in fast and low and drop a partial off, and it landed right in his foxhole. That Georgia boy opened that parcel. There was water and there was rations and there was a note from his commander, and they were six cans of Libby's Georgia Peaches. Amen.

SPEAKER_04: 39:24

Hallelujah. And when that soldier boy looked and saw those six cans of Libby's Georgia Peaches, the commander had wrote a note and said, here's a little taste of home until we can get you out. I wanna tell you, Jum is in the house today to give somebody a little taste of home. We're soon about to get them out of here. A little taste of home with somebody praising him and make the fum and moral fum. You remember to get your worship of the Lord from the God from a little place of the world.

SPEAKER_01: 40:41

We hope today's message has strengthened your faith and helped you grow in understanding. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. And share this podcast with others who seek the truth. Until next time, stay grounded in God's word and walk in his life. God bless you.