The Seven Churches of Revelation

“Asia” was a province of the Roman Empire, located in the western part of what is now Turkey (Asia Minor). The seven churches of Asia were seven major early Christian churches documented in the New Testament book of Revelation.

According to Revelation Chapter 1, Christ instructed the author, John of Patmos, to: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation contain the seven letters addressed to each of these churches. These letters follow a common pattern: Christ first declares His identity, then states the condition of each church, offering counsel and rebuke, and finally issuing a call to the “overcomer” in the church. While these seven letters were written to specific churches, the sender concludes each with the declaration: “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

None of these seven churches were perfect; they either needed Christ’s correction (Revelation 2:5, 16, 25; 3:3, 20) or they longed for Christ’s return for salvation (Revelation 2:10; 3:11). This is precisely what the Holy Spirit wants us to see. The root cause of heresy and secularization in the seven churches was that their focus was on earthly matters rather than heavenly ones. They were only concerned with solving immediate problems, not with the future glory of sitting on the throne with the returning Lord. Therefore, after the Holy Spirit spoke to the churches, John was taken up to heaven so that we could see the truth from a heavenly perspective and from behind the scenes of history—to “see the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” (Revelation 21:2). We are to see the ultimate unity and glory of today’s scattered and weak churches in eternity, and in doing so, live out the victorious life that is expected of us!