Let’s look at the next three verses, beginning with chapter 1, verse 4, and reading through verse 6:

[verse 4]“John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come, and from the seven Spirits Who are before His throne,

[verse 5] and from Jesus Christ, the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His Own blood,

[verse 6]and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Verses 4 through 6 form the “salutation,” or the “greeting,” of the letter. A salutation or greeting of this type was common in the epistles—the letters—that we have in the New Testament. They are very nearly all alike. Just take a look at any one of Paul’s epistles, for example. [See Romans 1:1-6; Galatians 1:1-5; Ephesians 1:1-14, etc.]

Here, the salutation is combined with the traditional blessing of “grace” and “peace” with a doxology of praise. A doxology is a “hymn” or a “verse of praise” to God.

The “seven churches which are in Asia” refers to the churches located in the Roman province of Asia. The Asia that is discussed and mentioned numerous times in the New Testament does not refer to what we think of today geographically as the continent of Asia; but, rather, it was a province in the Roman Empire which included a part of what was referred to as “Asia Minor.” This area where these seven churches were located is now in modern day Turkey. These seven churches (that we’ll talk more in detail about when we get to chapter 2) were not the only churches in Asia, or Asia Minor, in that day. There was a congregation at Colosse. There was a congregation at Hierapolis. Colossians 4:13 is where we read about that one [“For I bear him (Epapharas—a member of the Colossi church and a bondservant of Christ] witness that he has a great zeal for you, and those who are in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis.”]. There was a congregation in Troas, Acts, chapter 20, verse 5 [“These men, going ahead, waited for us at Troas.”]. These are all mentioned in the New Testament. And, there were references later in 1^st and 2^nd Century historical writings to other churches in this area.

Why did the Lord choose these seven churches? Well, we don’t know exactly, but it may be that they were representative of all of the churches. Now, I’m not suggesting here that these weren’t real congregations, and that they didn’t have real problems. There are some who would want to suggest that, in other words, the Lord here wasn’t really “addressing problems that existed,” but He was sort of “addressing these things in a generic way.” I don’t think that is the case at all! What I’m saying is that perhaps these seven churches were representative of the problems and issues that were facing New Testament churches here in the later part of the 1^st Century. In a manner of speaking, these seven churches were also located in a fairly close proximity to one another. We’ll see that when we begin to look at chapter 2. [You can see the close proximity of these seven churches if you look at a map of Paul’s Missionary Journeys, perhaps in the back of your Bible.] One could make the journey beginning in Ephesus, and go north up to Smyrna and Thyatira, and then go south down to Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, and Colosse, ending at Ephesus, and make sort of a “crescent shape,” which would be the distance of about 150 miles.

There may also be something that is significant about the number “7.” You remember last week when we mentioned that there are a number of numbers—of digits—that we are going to run across as we go through Revelation. One of those numbers that is used frequently is the number “7.” If you recall, that is the number for “perfection,” so there may have been some significance there in the Lord’s choosing these specific congregations and limiting the number to “seven.”

In a unique way, this salutation that we have read here comes from the three Persons of the Godhead:

From the Almighty Father:

John will send this greeting, not from John, but from God—God Who is here described as “Him Who is,” Him “Who was,” and Him “Who is to come.”

From the Holy Spirit:

Then, from the Holy Spirit, described here as “the seven Spirits Who are before His throne.”

From Jesus Christ:

And then, of course, from Jesus Christ, the third part of the Godhead. He’s actually described here in three ways, or given three titles, if you will.