In this post we will look at the last three churches and corresponding church ages.

Re 3:1 ¶ And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
 3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
 4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
 5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
 6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
 7 ¶ And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
 8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
 9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
 10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
 11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
 12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
 13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
 14 ¶ And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.(KJV)

The church at Sardis corresponds to the Reformation church age from 1500 to 1700AD. The Reformation church held strong doctrinal beliefs while the great reformers were living, unfortunately as time went on they became state-controlled churches which became cold, formal and lifeless. As is true, though, in each of the ages of church history, there were exceptions to those cold, state-churches.  During this time you will find the Anabaptist, Separatists, Puritans and Pilgrims. Our country owes much to these who came to America looking for the freedom to worship God the way they believed was right.

Next we see John is told to write to the church at Philadelphia. Philadelphia means "love of a brother". It is a very appropriate name for this church age that stretches from 1700-1900AD. It was time of great revivals and missionary outreach.  It was love that compelled them to try to reach the world for Christ! One of my favorite evangelists from this time period was D.L. Moody. If you will click here - GOOD NEWS FOR EVERYONE - you can read one of his messages that was reprinted not too long back that well illustrates the desire these Christians had to see people come to the Lord. It is well worth your time to go read the message. It is better than anything I could write. Then we see there were many missionaries, men like, William Carey, Adoniram Judson, Robert Moffat, David Livingstone, Henry Nott, George  Grenfell. There were missionaries who went although they paid with their life. John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. That love is what marked this period of time.

But it wasn't all joy and light. Satan can't stand to see God move and people be delivered. It was also a time when many false teaching began and gained ground. Teachings such as evolution and cults such as Mormonism, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Science, and Spiritualism to name a few.

The struggles begun then continued into the 1900's and the church age we are now in - the Laodicean church age.  As time has gone by modernism and the world have seeped so into the churches of today that it renders many of them nothing more than disgustingly  lukewarm. Being "spiritual" today is a fine accepted thing, just as long as you don't really stand for anything and you accept every belief no matter how false or ungodly. 2 Timothy 3:5  truly describes way too many of today's churches - Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof!

There have been many men and woman who have loved and served the Lord in these centuries, but the farther we get into this age the more it becomes true as in the day of the judges - every man does that which is right in his own eyes.

The good news is we are truly in the last of the last days. Soon (very soon I believe) the Lord Jesus will be returning. We will look at that more in the next post.

Hopefully this has given you a small idea of how the letters to churches correspond to the church ages. One other thing to note - all 7 type churches have existed concurrently in each period of church history, but only one characteristic is dominant in each period. So although we are in the Laodicean church age where lukewarmness is a very dominate characteristic - you do not have to be part of a laodocian church. Make sure the church you are in is a good Bible believing church that preaches the truth of God's Word - that it is standing for what God says and preaching against sin. You can have a Philadelphian church even in this Laodicean church age.