My Thoughts on Interpreting the Seven Churches of Revelation

I was just reading through "Thru the Bible" commentary of Vernon McGee on Revelation 2-3 and both are rather long expositions. The seven churches in Asia Minor (which today are politically in Europe like Russia is) are being addressed and they are all near each other. What was the reason behind the writing of the letters? I believe these were ongoing events that John was writing these churches. Studying Revelation is very tricky especially when you are dealing with historical events and future events. Not every event in Revelation is unfulfilled. Some events in Revelation are still ongoing. I believe that the Great Whore of Revelation is the Roman Catholic institution.

What are the basic summaries of each church? Let's consider these points from the seven churches:

1. Ephesus - The cold orthodox church that teaches the right doctrine but has forgotten its first love.
2. Smyrna - The church that is currently suffering from persecution.
3. Pergamum - The church that needed to repent from the Nicolaitans and the doctrine of Balaam. This was the city where Satan held his throne at that time.
4. Thyatira - This is where a woman was symbolically called Jezebel. This false prophetess led people to a form of compromise and Antinomianism.
5. Sardis - The church that was considered a dead church. 
6. Philadelphia - The church that had endured patiently.
7. Laodicea - The church that was full of false converts. Jesus is giving an invitation to the people there to repent.

Viewing each church as a church period

Meanwhile, there is also the view that each of the seven churches to be a church period. I think the approach is not far-fetched either though I tend to have a shaky position on that. McGee's interpretation has been based on the church period view. He says that we're in the Laodicean church age where there are a lot of false converts. Does the warning to spew people out of Jesus' mouth mean that you can lose your salvation? I used to think it was that some people can get saved and later leave the faith. On the contrary, it talks about false converts. They have their works but they are neither cold nor hot. It's a church full of fake converts. 

There has been a proposed timeline from a specific time period to a specific time period. Some interpretations would have it go as:

1. Ephesus is from 33 A.D. to 100 A.D. 
2. Smyrna is from 100 A.D. to 112 A.D.
3. Pergamos is from 312 A.D. to 590 A.D. 313 A.D. was the time of Emperor Constantine. Personally, there has been a lot of contrasting views about Constantine. Some say he mixed syncretism while others think he was a real Christian emperor. Right now, I still hold the position that Constantine is a false convert.
4. Thyatira is 590 A.D. McGee proposes that Thyatira represents the rise of Romanism that led to the Dark Ages. Jezebel here might not be a literal woman but a representative of the Whore of Revelation. What's noted is that the first official papacy was set in 590 A.D. under Pope Gregory I (the man who brought the Gregorian calendar we use today). Said office was elevated into secular power at this time period and Roman Catholicism further evolved.
5. Sardis is from 1500 A.D. to 1520 A.D. when the dead church needed revival. This would be the end of the Dark Ages and when the church must struggle with the need for reforms.
6. Philadelphia is in 1750 A.D. which the United States of America (USA) and Great Britain were once strong. There's no condemnation here for the church at that period. I think marking it at 1750 A.D. might be erroneous. I think the 1600s would be part of this era which also led to the Puritans and their translation of the King James Bible.
7. Laodicea is viewed as the present and it started in the 1900s. The decline is really evident in that era. That's why I believe that this is the last church age.

Viewing the churches as types of churches ongoing in history

I was reading through "A Jet Tour Through Revelation" by Dr. John F. MacArthur and decided to take part in this specific part of the topical sermon:

Now, it all begins then with Christ being revealed in the Church Age – that this age – moving among the churches, ministering to the Church.  And in that ministry comes seven letters written to these individual churches.  Then we begin in chapter 2 to see the letters written to the seven 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 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 have left your first love.”  Verse 5, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works.”  Now, this is the church that’s orthodox.  I mean they have the right doctrine.  In 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, “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 will give you a crown of life.”  Nothing negative is said against this church.  Why?  Because the 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.  Because 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 in all period 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 the 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 are 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 are 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.  And you’ve seen such.  Maybe you came from one.  Nothing happening, no life, no growth, no productivity, no fruit, no joy. 

And then number six, 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 the 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 wert cold or hot.”  “I wish you were either against me or for me,” he says, “but because you’re neutral in the middle, I’ll spew you out of my mouth.”  Rejected false church. 

Now, let me summarize.  First of all, in chapter 2, we have the cold orthodox church.  Then we have the church suffering persecution, then the church married to the world, the church tolerating sin, the dead church, the faithful church, and the apostate church.  Now, each of these, as I said, was a real church, and each represents churches in all the periods of history.  And so, the message to these churches is to all churches, throughout all of this period of time in which the Church exists on the earth, and in which Christ moves among the seven lampstands, ministering to His Church. 

And listen, beloved, I believe these seven letters are to be applied to the Church today.  Whatever kind of church, there is a message for that church, isn’t there?  You say, “Well, how do we know what kind of church a church is?”  I’ll tell you how.  A church will fall into these particular kinds of churches, or these categories, when the dominant influence in the church is in regard to one of these areas.  Like if the dominant influence in the church is cold, though orthodox, the church will reflect a cold, orthodox viewpoint, even though there might be some on-fire members.  If the dominant influence in the church is in difference totally to God, no production, no life, it’s a dead church, though there may be a few people who haven’t quite died.  Whatever the dominant influence, it gives character to the church.  If the church is marked by a dominant number of faithful people going through the open door and taking the Word of God, it’ll be marked as a faithful, Philadelphia-type church.

My own interpretation with the two views 

So how do I apply the two views of church periods and church types? I would say that we can know that we are on the edge of the last days when we have that kind of church rampant. Today is the age when false conversions are skyrocketing like crazy. Today, there are a lot of false converts. I was listening to Ray Comfort's two sermons called "True and False Conversion" as well as "Hell's Best Kept Secret". Both of them talked about the problem of false converts. Comfort gave a guarantee that truly saved people don't lose their salvation. Can true converts sin and struggle with it? Yes! Can true converts sin indefinitely and without remorse? It'd be a cold day in Hell first! There are also Baptist and Protestant churches today that have fallen into a Laodicean church with their indifference towards false converts. Baptist and Protestant churches today can be a strong indicator of what kind of church period we're in based on what's rampant. Many Baptist and Protestant churches today are already compromising with Roman Catholicism. They have even forgotten the horrible history of Roman Catholicism which is something many Roman Catholics are left ignorant about. 

While I think we're in the last church age - I still think that the seven churches are applied to every type of church there is. I really think some Baptist and Protestant churches today can fall into that category. MacArthur's interpretation of applying the seven churches to seven types of churches today can make a lot of sense. We may be in the church period where Laodicean churches are rampant yet I believe that we do still have churches that are characterized as such. I think every church that is now compromising with Rome is a Thyatira. I think every church like Joel Osteen's Lakewood church is a Laodicea. I think every church that doesn't go soulwinning is a Sardis and must be awakened. I think every church today in countries where Christianity is illegal is a Smyrna. I think every church today in worldly countries like the USA are a Pergamos. I think every church that is zealous in good works but becomes cold is an Ephesus. 

I would probably still have both sides in view. It's just like how I tend to study Revelation with a historicist and futurist view. Just think Revelation talks about past, present, and future events. Not everything is fulfilled yet but they're being fulfilled according to God's timetable.