Those Who Conquer

22/08/2024

The seven bowl plagues present the most complete and intense depictions of God's judgment on evil yet. Yet the most explicit message of warning is addressed to the people of God. The rallying call is for the Church to maintain their faithfulness and allegiance to Christ and His Kingdom over, above, and even against all other allegiances. Otherwise some may find themselves ashamed at the return of Christ.

25/07/2024

Revelation 14 contains some clear and stark warnings of judgment that awaits those who follow the beast. Lines are being drawn in the sand and allegiances are being challenged. Christ demands absolute fidelity to His Kingdom and to His Gospel. Are you giving your allegiance solely to your King?

17/07/2024

Revelation 12 and 13 revealed the ways in which Satan is attacking the people of God. In the first few verses of chapter 14 those threats are put into perspective by reminding the Church who we are: redeemed, sealed, and secure enjoying Christ's victory on Mt. Zion. This identity gives the Church the hope and confidence she needs to face the threats and suffering we experience on earth as she follows the Lamb wherever He goes.

12/07/2024

Have you blurred the lines between the claims of the Kingdom and the claims of America?

"What makes the beast from the land so dangerous, initially, is that it does not seem to pose a threat. It does not seem to be significantly different from Jesus the Lamb. The passage is provocative, pressing readers to ask whether they have too readily blurred the lines between the claims of the Lamb and those of the seemingly benign group that promotes the ruler cult." - Craig R. Koester

08/07/2024

Last week we covered the first beast of Revelation 13 which represents the satanic power behind the nations and empires of man. This week we're talking about the second beast which works to deceive people into worshiping the first beast. For the original audience this was manifest primarily in the Roman imperial cult. But we don't encounter a system designed to lead us into giving glory and adoration to the state today...or do we?

01/07/2024

In Revelation 13 Satan calls up and empowers a horrific beast to wage war on the people of God. For the original audience of Revelation this beast was recognized as the satanic power behind the Roman empire. The beast is still alive and active today behind America but the call for believers is the same: endure in faithfulness to the Gospel and the Kingdom no matter the earthly consequences.

28/06/2024

It is likely many Christians will applaud this. This is the type of top-down power and influence the American church has long reached for but is inconsistent with the way of the slain lamb. The world conquers by power, force, and coercion but the Kingdom conquers by submission, self-sacrifice, and humble gospel proclamation and demonstration.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters said during opening comments of Thursday’s State Board of Education meeting that “every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom.”

17/06/2024

Do you ever feel like Satan is powerful and running around unchecked? Do you ever wonder why God doesn't do more to hinder Satan? Revelation 12 gives us the right perspective to see that God HAS acted definitively through the work of Jesus to defeat Satan. Evidence of Satan's presence on Earth is not a reflection of his power but of his great desperation because he knows his time is short.

10/06/2024

The two witnesses of Revelation 11 reveal the church's commission: we are to follow Jesus in self-sacrificial Kingdom-oriented service and gospel proclamation even if it means following him into a self-sacrificial death.

This is bitter because we're called to a life of self-sacrifice and death. But this is very sweet because God has called us as prophets, will validate our testimony, and it is only through our faithful service as witnesses that people will be led to repentance.

04/06/2024

Revelation 10 and 11 address the implied question, "What will lead the world to repent if judgment won't?" The answer is found in the identity and commission of the Church. But as John experienced, this responsibility is both sweet and bitter.

https://thosewhoconquer.buzzsprout.com/2318292/15141006-14-a-sweet-and-bitter-identity

27/05/2024

A new episode is up! This week Revelation is giving us falling stars, water turning to blood, a plague of demonic locusts and stampeding demonic horses. It all sounds wrathful but it also all serves a great purpose: repentance. Thanks for listening!

20/05/2024

Unfortunately, there won't be a new episode this week. I've gotten a little behind on my writing and recording pace. I should have a new episode next Monday!

In the meantime, you can get caught up on episodes you've missed. Thanks for listening!

- Brandon Lynn

The book of Revelation says that Jesus has made his people into a Kingdom of priests who are called to conquer but how do we conquer? Why does it often feel like Satan is winning? In Those Who Conquer Brandon Lynn explores Revelation, Biblical esc...

13/05/2024

American evangelicalism has attempted to wed the Christian faith to Americanism. This is the type of dual-allegiance that Revelation consistently rebukes. Revelation 7 reveals the main point of the 7 seals: the Church is sealed and spiritually protected until Christ returns. Yet in the seals vision there is also an implicit challenge: "Who are you? And to whom do you belong?"

06/05/2024

Seven seals bringing judgment? Four destructive horsemen riding around? What could these visions be predicting? What if I told you that Revelation is not all that interested in describing what is going to happen but it is interested in describing what happens?

This week Brandon is talking about the seven seals of Revelation 6. The seven seals address how Christians can properly interpret the suffering, violence, warfare, and economic hardship that seems to dominate the world. Thanks for listening!

29/04/2024

This week we're looking at one of the most important images of Revelation: a lion who conquered by becoming a slain lamb. This upsidedown reality confronts the priorities, values, and presumptions of worldly counter kingdoms like America while calling the people of God to a life of allegiance and faithfulness to the way of the lamb.

22/04/2024

Revelation 4 shows that God is ruling in all sovereignty, might, and power over the world and all of creation as well as over evil and chaos. As hopeful as this vision is for those suffering, it also serves as a refutation of the false claims of power and influence made by worldly powers. Even today the people of God must reject those false claims of power and authority made by worldly leaders and give honor, glory and our submission to the one Lord and God alone.

19/04/2024

15/04/2024

Jesus quietly rapturing Christians to heaven at His return is a widely accepted expectation within American church culture. What is the history of the rapture? And where does the Bible discuss the idea? The answers to those two questions may surprise you.

08/04/2024

Christians are Kingdom citizens first and foremost. This allegiance takes priority over any and all other nationalistic allegiances. The churches in Sardis and Laodicea seemed to feel no conflict between their allegiance to the Kingdom and their allegiance to Rome. They serve as a warning to the people of God in the United States about what can happen to a church when Christians embrace the values, priorities, and allegiances of their culture over their allegiance to Christ’s Kingdom.

04/04/2024

If you have questions about anything covered in the podcast I'd love to hear from you! Send your questions in! I'd like to incorporate them into the podcast and do my best to answer them or at least connect you with other helpful people and resources. Thanks for listening!

01/04/2024

The need to adhere to truth and righteousness while also proclaiming love and acceptance is not a new challenge for the people of God. What happens when churches overemphasize one over the other? What would Christ say to believers who drift too far to one extreme? This week we're looking at three of the original seven churches addressed in Revelation who found themselves in this exact position.

31/03/2024

Happy Easter! Christ is alive and reigning! He has all dominion and authority! Let us celebrate that as His people by grace we have nothing in life to fear.

"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: 'Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.'"
- Revelation 1:17-18

29/03/2024

The paradox of the Kingdom is that defeat in the world can be a glorious victory for the Kingdom.

Our King reigns over an everlasting Kingdom that will never pass away because of the cross. He did not conquer through force, violence, top-down power, or by running a successful political campaign. He conquered by patiently enduring undeserved suffering and death at the hands of his enemies out of love for his enemies.

The King's defeat was a victory for His Kingdom.

May the Church embrace the call to conquer as our King has conquered. And may we remember that just as defeat in the world can be victory for the Kingdom, so too victory and success in this world can actually be a defeat in the eyes of our King.

25/03/2024

Christian, do you feel as if your life of faith is one of hardship and suffering? Does it feel as though faithfulness to Jesus only makes your life more difficult?

Or perhaps you're quite comfortable and content in your life because you feel as is if your faith is pretty easy and doesn't demand much from you?

Revelation is for both of you. This week Brandon explores Revelation 1:9-20 where the reigning Christ reveals himself as both a comfort to the hurting and a confrontation to the comfortable.

24/03/2024

Much has been written comparing Jesus' triumphal entry to the Roman triumphs where rulers and generals would roll into the city riding in chariots pulled by majestic war horses, often dragging their defeated enemies and spoils of war behind them. It was a show of power and might. A celebration of victory for us over them. A glorification of the magnificent empire.

It was this type of power and victory that most of the people of God anticipated from the coming messiah. The hope of the people rested on the coming one who would rise up militarily, defeat Israel’s nationalistic enemies, drive the Roman invaders out of the promised land, and establish Israel as a powerful political force reigning over the rest of the world. Even Jesus’ closest disciples held to these same expectations and had great difficulty understanding the possibility of a different type of Messiah. Like the Israelites demanding that God give them a king like the other nations, the people still desired a worldly messiah who would grant them a worldly victory.

Here King Jesus rides into Jerusalem not on a majestic war horse but on a humble donkey; a symbol of peace and servitude. Far from dragging his defeated enemies behind him in shame, he rides into Jerusalem where he will lay his life down for his enemies and absorb their shame. His kingly enthronement would not take place in a palace on a throne but on a hillside, nailed to a cross. His victory would not come by destroying his enemies but by suffering at their hands. It's no wonder the people had no frame of reference for this type of messiah.

I often feel that even today the people of God can be guilty of the same short-sightedness as those welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We praise Him as King and Messiah, yet still don't fully grasp the nature of His Kingship or His Kingdom. We still long for political victories. We still want God to grant our nation an exalted status over the rest of the world. We still put hope in self-serving worldly leaders. We value top-down, power over, authoritative influence rather than bottom-up, power under, self-sacrificial leadership. Often I feel that we sing Hosanna to the servant king on a donkey on Sunday but then go out and ask him to give us victory and success on earth like a warrior king in a chariot.

In Revelation 5 the apostle John is told, "... behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered…" but when John turns to look at this lion he sees a slain lamb. In Christ's kingdom, we conquer by following in the way of the slain lamb.

So today and every day, "Hosanna!" Christ save us from our corrupt desires for political and worldly victories over our opponents. Grant us new hearts and minds to see the upside-down nature of your Kingdom and shape our wills to follow in the path of the slain lamb.

- Brandon