The Bible says in Revelation 4;1 John was standing at the door of heaven. An angel said, After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice that I heard was like the sound of a trumpet calling to me, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” After this, after what? The preceding verses in Rev 3 are things that must take place. Not a description of the situation at that moment in those churches but a series of events that happen over time, and it is far more likely to be over a long time, starting with Ephesus and ending at Laodicea. These are the ages of the church.