Following the prologue, John greets the seven churches on behalf of the Father, Spirit, and Son, whose redemptive work has released us from sin and given us new status as a kingdom and priests to God (1:4-6). For the church to persevere in the midst of tribulation and culture’s pressure to compromise, we need God’s grace and peace. Moreover, despite overwhelming odds and difficulties which try faith, Jesus stands victorious and present with His church through the sevenfold presence of the Spirit (1:4). Hence, as we carry out Christ’s mission in darkening days, we do so with the One who holds the seven stars (angels) in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands (the churches). Jesus commends Ephesus for its perseverance, rejection of false apostles, and hatred of the deeds of the Nicolaitan; however, Jesus calls them to repent over the “loss of their first love” and to return to “the deeds they did at first.” While zealous to protect the pure Word of God, the Ephesian Christians had turned inward, meaning their fervour to witness and win the lost had waned. If the Ephesians do not repent, it can destroy their fellowship with Christ (i.e., He threatens to remove them as a church). Believers who do overcome will enjoy eternity in God’s paradise.