Sermon Title: It takes three!

Bible Text: Revelation 2:26 “He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO
HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS”.
Introduction:

The idiom “It takes two” is a popular saying derived from the sentence “it takes two to tango”.

Even though the phrase became commonly used, it was initially part of a song which explained

that the dance tango could not be danced by one person only but two people. The phrase today

when used, explains that it takes two parties to cooperate and make something work like

marriage, friendship, and business.

In the second chapter of the book of Revelation, we see letters that John addresses to four

churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum and Thyatira. Those churches were located in Asia and

God used John to write them from a common friend-Jesus. A detailed study of the letters will

show the implications of different personalities for the survival of the church members. It was

while bearing that in mind that I entitled my sermon: It takes three”.

Let us take a look at the letters in general and the characters involved in the wellness of

the church.

Body:

Generally, the letters’ pattern look similar: Jesus introduces himself according to the state

of the church, he eulogizes them, shows them areas of improvement, admonishes them and gives

them a promise. When viewed particularly, the letters differ from each other. Jesus introduces

himself to each church differently and he gives them different promises. The church in Smyrna

for example didn’t receive a reproof while all the others did and the church in Thyatira was dealt

with more than the rest. But in spite of those differences in content, they all have a common
denominator. We find it in Revelation 2:7b; 2:11b; 2:17; 2:26a. It is the injunction “He who

overcomes”. This injunction is found at the end of all the letters and it precedes the promises that

Jesus makes to the churches. “To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life

(Ephesus); He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death (Smyrna), to him who

overcomes, I will give some hidden manna and a white stone (Pergamum); he who overcomes, I

will give authority over the nations (Thyatira).

What does this mean? It means that for as much as Jesus Christ loves the churches to the

point of dying for them according to Ephesians 5:25 which says “Husbands, love your wives,

just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her”, He cannot save them alone.

The salvation goes both ways. It takes two. Something is expected from the churches. Some have

to hold fast, others have to eradicate something from their midst, some have to bring back the old

faith and others need repentance. No matter the difference of in their injunctions, the expectation

remains the same: the human effort in improvement is urged to go along with the divine help. It

is true that Jesus already performed the ultimate task on the cross and all is finished, but living in

this sinful world, the believers were expected to work their salvation as mentioned by the

Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:12. That same expectation is extended to us today, believers of the

end time. We need to make the effort to overcome our sins, addictions, problems and

distractions, not to be saved but because we have already been saved. Jesus already did the hard

part, he went to the store, bought the baking products, came and baked the beautiful cake, we

only need to put the icing.

Whenever I hear someone stating that salvation is free, I almost violently retort it is not

free. It is not actually. A heavy price was paid by Jesus and we also have to pay a small tiny

price but it is still a price; that price is our firmness on the word of God.
 And the most exciting part was that, those churches didn’t have to overcome alone. No.

The third member of the trinity was with them, to help them make it, one step at a time. Before

the injunction “he who overcomes” is mentioned in all those verses cited above, the verses

actually started with “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”. The

Holy Spirit was in the life of the churches, he was intentionally mentioned I believe to show the

churches that they still have a divine ally who would help them overcome. We also can count on

that same Holy Spirit today. God is addressing the same words to us today as he gave them to

Zerubbabel in Zechariah 4:6 “Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel

saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts”. Whenever the

phrase “says the Lord” is made in the Bible after a statement, it makes emphasis on the fact that

it is God himself who said it and once He said it, it means that it is true, sure or He is going to

accomplish it.

Before Jesus would leave earth, He promised to send the Holy Spirit who would be a

helper and a comforter (John 14:16; 14:26). The Holy Spirit did come after the ascension of

Jesus (Acts 2:4) and it had been empowering believers ever since. And Jesus once again

mentions that the Holy Spirit can also play a major role in helping us to overcome if we let him.

See how wonderful Jesus is. He also provides us with the icing material and how to use it, all we

have to do is ice the cake now!

Conclusion:

Jesus died on the cross for us; God raised him from the dead (Acts 2:24) and the Holy Spirit was
with him during all his pilgrimage on earth (birth, baptism, death). It took three to accomplish
the plan salvation and it still takes three to win the victory over sin every single day. May we
cooperate with the Holy Spirit to make the sacrifice of Jesus worth it. Amen.