Three more cities to go. Again, I think this is advice to every Christian church and every Christian individual at all times. So, the question to take away from this is to ask "do I (does my church) fit any of these patterns?".
To Sardis
John's letter rebukes Sardis' hypocrisy. It is not exactly the Pharisaical hypocrisy, but seems to be more sutler form of stagnation.
He says that their reputation is one of being alive, but they are dead and the advice is to "wake up!". This seems to imply a stagnation and retrograde, but it could also mean a loss of connection to Christ. Still, they outwardly present themselves as being connected to Christ and being alive, but in reality, the connection and vibrancy has been lost for while.
To Philadelphia
Philadelphia is the only church that is not rebuked in some way. So, everyone wants to be part of the Philadelphia church.
Philadelphians are small in number and are enduring. God wants to encourage them, not rebuke them. If they are enduring, then the literal context may have been one of persecution of time. They have what they need theologically, unlike the other six churches. Rather, they need encouragement to get through this ordeal.
If we apply the specific teaching to Philadelphia as a metaphor for the Christian church as a whole, few of us escape rebuke. Likewise, few of us are living in a period of martyrdom. By "escape rebuke" I don't mean that they have sinless lives, but it is the overall theology of the church that needs rebuking. That is the pattern here of the messages to the churches.
To Laodicea
Laodicea is rebuked for being lukewarm, neither hot nor cold. They feel that they have what they need and "don't need a thing".
Again, this seems to be similar to the stagnation of the church of Sardis. They seem to have lost a genuine and vibrant connection to Christ. However, in contrast to Sardis, they are not actually "dead", but they have lost the warmth. So, they are approaching the conditions of a dead faith akin to Sardis.
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