`The spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the

Lord's house' (Ezek. 11:1).

`Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the

spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity.  So the vision

that I had seen went up from me' (Ezek. 11:24).

`The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of

the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of

bones' (Ezek. 37:1).

If in Revelation 1, John is taken, in spirit, to the future day of the

Lord to see the visions and to write them in a book, All the book that he

writes, including chapters 1, 2 and 3, must be future in interpretation.

There is no part of the prophecy or vision that is not `in the day of the

Lord': in fact, the bulk of the book is concerned with the final three years

and a half of the prophecy of Daniel 9.

When John says of anything `it is present', or `it shall arise', he

speaks from the stand-point of his vision -- the day of the Lord, and not

a.d. 96.  No sign has been given to John however, so far as we have gone in

our study.  All is preparatory and introductory.  Immediately, however, the

prophetic point of time is settled, the visions begin, for as soon as he

`became in spirit in the day of the Lord' he `heard a great voice, as of a

trumpet'.  This is an allusion to Zephaniah 1:14-16 where `the voice of the

day of the Lord' is linked to `a day of the trumpet'.  The voice said to

`What thou art seeing, write in a book, and send it unto the seven

churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto

Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia,

and unto Laodicea'.

These places are all found in that part of the earth adjoining the land

of Canaan called by us Asia Minor.  The reason why this spot of earth and not

another is chosen, is for the simple yet awful fact that it is directly

connected with the place of Satan's Throne, for that will be at Pergamos, as

Revelation 2:13 shows.  The development of things in the Near East makes this

spot of earth more and more important, and here the scene of the Revelation

is laid and members of the assemblies in these places will come prominently

into view during the time of tribulation and persecution.

We have found that the apostle John was taken `in spirit' to the day of

the Lord, a period concerning which Old Testament prophecy is specially

clear.  From that standpoint the apostle sees the visions of the Apocalypse,

and is here instructed to write them in a book, and send it to the seven

churches which are in Asia.  We can well believe that as Paul was

commissioned to write to seven churches, which should be representative of

the Gentile section of believers particularly, even so these seven churches

in Asia may have been selected in order to show the character of the Church

in the last days.  If the `Lord's day' of chapter 1:10 be the prophetic `Day

of the Lord', then it follows that if John addressed seven churches in Asia

while `in spirit in the day of the Lord', these churches also fall within

that prophetic period, and their connection with the rest of the prophecy

should be capable of proof.  Revelation 1:19 has been used as a proof text to

show that the seven churches belong to `the things which are', i.e. the

churches of Christendom up to the time of the Second Coming.  Revelation 1:19