I believe John Macarthur nailed the 7 churches...
"Now listen very carefully to what I say. These are seven real churches. They really existed. They existed in those cities that they're stated to exist in. And if you study the letters in detail you find that each letter fits the historical cultural geographical context of the city to which it was written. It's a literal city. But they are also representative churches because each one of them has a unique character all its own and it represents churches of all times because each of them is a special kind of church. And in all the periods of the history of the church there have always been these kinds of churches. And each of them gets a special message from the Lord. So this is His ministry, as it were, to the church age.
The first one is to Ephesus. What kind of church is Ephesus? It is the church that is orthodox in doctrine, but cold. It's left its first love. Verse 4, "I have somewhat against you because you've left your first love." Verse 5, "Remember therefore from where you are fallen, repent and do the first works." Now this is the church that's orthodox. I mean, they have the right doctrine. Verse 2 it says they couldn't bear evil people, they couldn't bear false apostles and teachers. And they endured faithful to the sound doctrine but they lost their love. They were cold and orthodox. Now that kind of church has existed in every age and does today. Those who have got the right message they're just cold and indifferent about it.
The second church we meet is the Smyrna church, verses 8 to 11. This is the church that suffers persecution. And in verse 10 it says, "None of those things...fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, you may be tried. You shall have tribulation ten days..." ten days signifies a brief period of time..."be faithful unto death and I'll give you a crown of life." Nothing negative is said against this church. Why? Because a church under persecution will always be a pure church, it's purged by the persecution. People who are just showing up for whatever reason once persecution starts get out. Cause if they don't have anything to die for, they're not going to stay around and get killed in the massacre. So this is the church under persecution. And at all periods of the church's history there have been those churches and there are such churches today. We're going to hear about one in the service following tonight when we hear Georgi Vins tell us about the church in Soviet Union.
The third letter is written to the church in the town of Pergamum, or Pergamos. And this is in chapter 2 verse 12 through 17 and this is the church married to the world. This is the worldly church. And he describes their worldliness down through verse 15 and then in verse 16 he says, "Repent, or else I'll come unto thee quickly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth." This is the church Christ fights against, the church that is married to the world. And in all periods of the church's history there are worldly churches where the people don't come out from the world, where they cater to the world, where they accommodate the world, where they go along with everything that's happening in society.
Then the Lord has a message to a fourth kind of church represented by the Thyatira assembly in chapter 2 verse 18 to 29. Thyatira is the church that tolerates sin. In this particular church they tolerated a Jezebel-like woman who was seducing servants to commit fornication and eat things sacrificed to idols. And so they're warned because they're a church that tolerates sin, a church that wouldn't discipline sin, a church that wouldn't purify its ranks. And there are always churches like that.
And then in chapter 3 we're introduced to the fifth church, Sardis. Easy to see what was wrong in this church. Verse 1 says, "Thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead." This is the dead church...just dead. And it had a few things that were living, verse 2 says, but they were also ready to die...a dead church. You've seen such, maybe you came from one. Nothing happening, no life, no growth, no productivity, no fruit, no joy.
And then number 6, chapter 3:7 to 13, the church at Philadelphia. This is the faithful church. It says in verse 8 at the end, "You have kept My Word, have not denied My name." This is a church that had an open door and went through it. You might even see it as a missionary church. And so it is a faithful church and there are always those kind.
And then the final of the seven comes in chapter 3 verse 14 to the end of the chapter. That whole section deals with Laodicea, the apostate church, the unsaved church, the church of liberalism today. So, you see, each of these has a message. By the way, that church is characterized in verse 15, "I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot, I would thou weren't cold or hot, I wish you either against Me or for Me, He says, but because you're neutral in the middle I'll spew you out of My mouth. A rejected false church."
http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/GC1290.HTM
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