LECTURE III
THE MESSAGES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES 2: 1-3:22 We have found from our study thus far that the book of Revelation falls logically into three main divisions, as set forth in the statement of the risen Lord to John: "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter" ( 1:19). Let us remem ber that this is the key-verse of the book. We have found also that the words, "the thin9s which thou hast seen," refer to the vision John saw of the Son of Man in His resurrection glory, standing in the midst of the seven golden lampstands; that "the things which are," have to do with this present church age, as outlined in chapters two and three; and that "the things which shall be hereafter" are yet future events which will begin to run their course after the translation of the church, presented to us in chapters 4-22. Unless we grasp this outline-view of the entire book, we shall miss the key that opens its message before us. We have devoted one lesson to the 6rst of these three divisions of Revelation. Today we shall study chapters two and three, which form a unit, and set before us the second division, or "the things which are." A FoREVJEW OP ALL CHURCH H1sTORY We have observed in our former lessons that these two chapters record the messages of the risen Christ to the seven churches in Asia: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea ( I : I I ). We have seen that these local assemblies were chosen because the condi tions existing within them aptly represented the seven periods of church history, from Pentecost to the rapture. Thus we have, in these two chapters which we are to consider today, the history of the church on earth as our risen Lord saw it from the beginning. We believe that we are now living near the end of this
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