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 1 
ADDRESSES ON THE EPISTLES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES
BY
R.A.F. McPherson
RIBBAND OF BLUE
 PO BOX 91 Ashburton Australia 3147for further copies.
 
 2
 
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 3CHARTS 7EPHESUS 11SMYRNA 16PERGAMOS 23THYATIRA 29SARDIS 35PHILADELPHIA 42LAODICEA 48
 
 3 
INTRODUCTION
 “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you thepower and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heartof man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hathrevealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, and the deepthings of God. For what man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which isin him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we havereceived not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might knowthe things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in wordswhich man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritualthings with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: forthey are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spirituallydiscerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have themind of Christ.”The wonder of the word of God, the truth and teaching that it contains, and thecommitment we are to make and the action we are to take in our lives. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants.” The first chapter of the Revelation sets out the pattern and the divisions of the balance of this book. Verse 19-20, “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the thingswhich shall be hereafter (after these). The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest inmy right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of theseven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.”The core divisions in this book are: The things which thou hast seen; The things that are;The things which shall be hereafter. Chapter one tells us of the things that John saw. Themystery of the unveiling unfolds and reveals to the initiated, to those who the Lord hascalled to be specially his and who have by faith accepted Jesus Christ as their saviour andLord. If we pass on to Chapter four and onwards we see the things that shall be after thethings described in chapters two and three as, “the things that are.” The seven epistles inthese two chapters were sent to seven churches that existed in history in cities of AsiaMinor. For some they have no significance and interest other than as historical accounts.
 
A blessing is promised to all that hear and read the Revelation so we do well if weprayerfully study the messages to the seven churches and the sequence in which they aregiven. It will be found that these epistles present a prophetic history of the entire age of grace. When other scriptures are examined and scripture is compared with scripture thisbecomes increasingly evident. There are parallels between the seven churches inRevelation 2 and 3 and with the seven periods of Judges or Saviours of Israel; there areparallels
 
between the seven churches and the seven kings of Judah and Israel; there areparallels between the seven churches and the seven parables in Matthew 13. Jesus was
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