Revelation 1:11

Saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

We shall give particular attention to each of these churches in connection with the letter addressed to each. "It is difficult not to feel that SEVEN CHURCHES are chosen because of the sacred nature of that number."[40] Full agreement with this view is felt, as noted under Revelation 1:4, above. There is, furthermore, a sense in which the seven here selected represent a diversity of conditions prevailing in congregations throughout history. We do not believe that these seven churches stand for seven successive periods of the history of the church throughout the current dispensation; but that, in any given age, there may be congregations exhibiting the same characteristics as those found in any one, or all of the seven churches mentioned here. This very day, there are "Philadelphia churches," and "Laodicean churches," and even "Sardis churches." All seven churches lay relatively close to each other in western Asia Minor; and they have the same sequence in Revelation that would normally be followed by a person visiting all seven.