Revelation 2:12 - 17

12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write,

‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: 13 “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. 15 Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.

17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ’

The angel is the messenger whom is entrusted with making sure this letter to that congregation is delivered safely.

Jesus, who is speaking to John through the angel while John is still seeing the vision, identifies himself by describing one of his traits, he has the two edged sword, the word of God.

Christ again tells us He knows what we do. He knows our attitudes and our actions.

He tells us He understands the conditions we serve Him in. Pergamos was in a very great center of idolatry so it made serving Christ very difficult for members who were raised up as idolaters from the days of their youth. This is what he means by “where Satan's throne is,” the area was a tough place to be a Christian.

He tells them He knows how faithful they have been, even when one of them had died because of his faith in Christ.

Antipas is described as a martyr. We usually believe a person is a martyr because they have died because of the cause they champion. This is actually a mistaken belief. Yes Antipas died for his faith in Christ, however the death did not make him a martyr. “Martyr” comes from a Greek word which means witness. It is the same word which is used to mean witness when Paul uses it to describe the faithful saints in Hebrews 12:1. Antipas died because he was a martyr or witness for Christ. He did not die to become a martyr for Christ.

Christ has praised them for their faithful actions, but now he discusses some faults they have.

They have some members of their congregation who are believers in false doctrines.

There are some who are living and believing the advice which Balaam had given Balak, Balak was to entice the men of Israel to lust after and marry the idolatrous women of the people of Balak, then the women would insist that those men worship their gods with them. (Numbers 25) Some of the members of the congregation at Pergamos were practicing this mixture of idolatry and immorality.

Some of these members had adopted the belief of the “Nicolaitans.” Thayer merely comments that they were "the followers of Nicolaus," These individuals had a belief which was to live for Christ meant you had to indulge in a lifestyle which fulfilled as much earthly pleasure into ones life as possible. This was in opposition to the teachings of Christ and His apostles.

Christ tells them to repent from these beliefs, or war will be waged using the word of God to expose the error in their beliefs. Christ would wage war against evil using the sword of God, the word of God.

All of us are to pay attention to these messages to the congregations named here.

If we are faithful and overcome the evil beliefs we face then we will be rewarded with spiritual blessings from God. We will also be rewarded or given a badge showing our rank as a faithful child of God, the new name indicates a special relationship between us and God. It is a blessing which we as humans cannot yet realize or appreciate.