The Seven Churches of Revelation: Spiritual Profiles

A visual guide to the spiritual praise and rebuke of Christ.

While these letters were originally written to seven specific churches in Asia Minor, their messages hold timeless lessons for all churches and believers. They serve as a powerful reminder that Jesus knows the works, strengths, and weaknesses of His people, and they offer a clear call to remain faithful in our own time.

Key: █████ = Excellent (5) | ████ = Good (4) | ███ = Fair (3) | ██ = Poor (2) | █ = Very Poor (1)

🏛️ Ephesus

The church that worked hard but grew cold.

• Verse: Revelation 2:1-7
• Historical Context: Ephesus was a major Roman port city and the center of the cult of the goddess Artemis.
• Praise: Your works, labor, patience, and intolerance of evil.
• Rebuke: You have left your first love.
• Promise to the Overcomer: “I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”
• Modern Application: Don’t let your passion for God grow cold, no matter how hard you work.
• Works: █████ (5)
• Love: █ (1)
• Orthodoxy: █████ (5)
• Zeal: ███ (3)
• Perseverance: █████ (5)

🌿 Smyrna

The persecuted church that remained rich in faith.

• Verse: Revelation 2:8-11
• Historical Context: Smyrna was a wealthy city that competed with Ephesus and Pergamum for the title of “First City of Asia.” It was known for its emperor worship.
• Praise: Your tribulation, poverty (though you are spiritually rich), and endurance.
• Rebuke: None.
• Promise to the Overcomer: “He shall not be hurt of the second death.”
• Modern Application: Remain faithful even in the face of suffering and persecution.
• Works: ████ (4)
• Love: ████ (4)
• Orthodoxy: █████ (5)
• Zeal: █████ (5)
• Perseverance: █████ (5)

🐍 Pergamum

The loyal church that tolerated false teaching.

• Verse: Revelation 2:12-17
• Historical Context: Pergamum was the official capital of the Roman province of Asia and a major center of pagan worship, home to the altar of Zeus and the temple of the emperor.
• Praise: You hold fast to My name and have not denied your faith.
• Rebuke: You tolerate those who hold to the doctrine of Balaam and the Nicolaitans.
• Promise to the Overcomer: “I will give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written.”
• Modern Application: Be careful not to compromise with the world’s false doctrines.
• Works: ███ (3)
• Love: ███ (3)
• Orthodoxy: ██ (2)
• Zeal: ███ (3)
• Perseverance: ████ (4)

❤️ Thyatira

The loving church that was seduced by a false prophet.

• Verse: Revelation 2:18-29
• Historical Context: Thyatira was a commercial city known for its powerful trade guilds, which may have pressured Christians to participate in idol worship.
• Praise: Your love, faith, service, and works, which are more numerous now than at the beginning.
• Rebuke: You tolerate the woman Jezebel who teaches false doctrine and immorality.
• Promise to the Overcomer: “I will give power over the nations… and I will give him the morning star.”
• Modern Application: Don’t tolerate sin in your life or among fellow believers.
• Works: █████ (5)
• Love: █████ (5)
• Orthodoxy: ██ (2)
• Zeal: ████ (4)
• Perseverance: ████ (4)

🪦 Sardis

The outwardly alive church that was spiritually dead.

• Verse: Revelation 3:1-6
• Historical Context: Sardis was an ancient city that had been destroyed multiple times, and its inhabitants were known for their lack of watchfulness, which may explain the warning to “wake up.”
• Praise: You have a few names who have not defiled their garments.
• Rebuke: You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
• Promise to the Overcomer: “The same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life.”
• Modern Application: Be watchful, stay spiritually alert, and keep your faith active.
• Works: █ (1)
• Love: █ (1)
• Orthodoxy: ████ (4)
• Zeal: █ (1)
• Perseverance: █ (1)

🚪 Philadelphia

The faithful church that was promised an open door.

• Verse: Revelation 3:7-13
• Historical Context: Philadelphia was a strategically important city in a fertile valley, known for its enduring through a series of devastating earthquakes.
• Praise: You have kept My word and have not denied My name.
• Rebuke: None.
• Promise to the Overcomer: “I will make a pillar in the temple of my God…and I will write upon him the name of my God.”
• Modern Application: Be faithful with what you have, and God will open doors for you.
• Works: █████ (5)
• Love: █████ (5)
• Orthodoxy: █████ (5)
• Zeal: █████ (5)
• Perseverance: █████ (5)

🌡️ Laodicea

The prosperous church that was lukewarm.

• Verse: Revelation 3:14-22
• Historical Context: Laodicea was a wealthy banking center known for its wool industry and a medical school that produced an eye salve. The city had a lukewarm water supply, which may have inspired the metaphor.
• Praise: None.
• Rebuke: You are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold. You say you are rich, but you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
• Promise to the Overcomer: “I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame.”
• Modern Application: Don’t let worldly wealth or comfort lead to spiritual apathy.
• Works: █ (1)
• Love: █ (1)
• Orthodoxy: ███ (3)
• Zeal: █ (1)
• Perseverance: █ (1)