Revelation 2:7: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

The letter to the Ephesian saints ends with the same exhortation from Christ¹ found in all seven letters,² saying: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.³ The Spirit refers to the Holy Ghost,⁴ who is the third member of the Godhead.⁵ The words of Christ are conveyed by inspiration through the Holy Ghost in all seven letters.⁶ In the first three letters this exhortation comes before the promises made to those that overcome, and in the last four letters the exhortation comes after the promises made to those that overcome.⁷

The seven letters promise eternal life⁸ to overcomers through twelve different symbolic images⁹ rather than express statements of what must be overcome.¹⁰ The images mean, however, that all saints must overcome the world in their individual circumstances.¹¹ This is a consistent theme throughout the Book of Revelation.¹² Thus, the Ephesian saints are promised: To him that overcometh, will I give to eat of the tree of life.¹³ They had to overcome false teachers within the church and increasing persecution from without.¹⁴ They could not eat the tree of life while they also eat at the table of the Nicolaitans.¹⁵

If the saints in all ages overcome trials like those of the Ephesian saints,¹⁶ Christ will give them to eat¹⁷ of the tree of life.¹⁸ The tree of life symbol is found in many ancient cultures,¹⁹ including the Book of Mormon.²⁰ Christ is the tree of life.²¹ Those that metaphorically eat of the fruit of this tree receive eternal life.²²

The tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God²³ refers to the celestialized earth.²⁴ The tree of life in the paradise of Eden²⁵ foreshadows life in the celestial paradise of the postmortal spirit world before the resurrection²⁶ and life on the glorified earth at the end of the millennium after the resurrection.²⁷