The Cross and Crowns Ministry Nairobi

Thus far, the account of Esau and Jacob has provided us with the letter of the law, which according to the Scriptures, kills and since the Scriptures are living, we will strive to establish the spirit of the letter– 2 Cor. 3:6; Rom. 7:6 . Esau was born FIRST and he grew to be a skillful hunter, a man of the field and Isaac loved him. Jacob was born SECOND and he grew to be a civilized man, living...

Heb. 11:20 By faith [to the saving of the soul] Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come . Gen. 25:22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the oth...

Heb. 11:20 By faith [to the saving of the soul] Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come . The Lord commends Isaac for his faith, to the saving of the soul, when he blessed his twin sons concerning things to come. In our previous lesson, we examined the blessings bestowed upon Jacob which constitute things to come concerning him and his descendants– Gen. 27:23 And he did not recogniz...

Heb. 11:20 By faith [to the saving of the soul] Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come . Gen. 25:23 And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.” When Rebekah conceived, the children struggled within her prompting her to inquire of the Lord...

Gal. 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus . Paul describes the Galatians as sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. Let us consider other Bible versions of this verse. Gal. 3: 26 For ye, all, are, sons of God, through the faith in Christ Jesus; (JB REB) Gal. 3:26 for ye are all sons of God through the faith in Christ Jesus, (YLT) From the two versions above, faith in...

Abraham’s oldest servant prayed to the Lord for the success of his mission, and he stood by the well of water at a time when the daughters of the men of the city were going to draw water– Gen. 24:13 . In answer to the servant’s prayer, a young woman by the name Rebekah showed up at the well to draw water– Gen. 24:15 . The servant asked her for water, through which he sought to establish IF she wou...

Heb. 11:20 By faith [to the saving of the soul] Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come . Gen. 24:15 And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. 16 Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And sh...

Gen. 24:5 highlights a woman’s willingness to follow Abraham’s oldest servant, who typifies the Holy Spirit! In the antitype, this highlights the willingness of a Christian to follow the Holy Spirit. To follow the Holy Spirit is NOT a charismatic experience!! To follow the Holy Spirit is an invitation to receive the ONE MESSAGE He is presently teaching, ALL THE TRUTH, which is centered on ONE PERS...

After the record of Sarah’s burial, the Scriptures turn to Abraham who by then was old, well advanced in age and who enjoyed the Lord’s blessing in all things– Gen. 24:1 . Abraham called his oldest servant, who ruled over all that he had, and sent him to take a wife for his son, Isaac– Gen. 24:2-4 . Abraham clearly outlined where Isaac’s wife was to be taken from i.e., NOT from the daughters of th...

Sarah died in the land of Canaan and Abraham came to mourn and weep for her presumably from Beersheba where he dwelt– Gen. 23:1-2; 22:19 . In seeking for property to bury his wife, Abraham described himself as a stranger and sojourner– Gen. 23:3-4 . This is the same type attitude we had seen much earlier and one that we should embrace for ourselves– Heb. 11:13; 1 Pet. 2:11 . Abraham bought the fie...

Jas. 2:14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works ? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works,...

Having separated themselves from the young men, Abraham and Isaac went together to the top of the mountain− Gen. 22:6 . Isaac may have discerned that his father was going to present an offering to the Lord presumably by seeing the wood and the fire. That being the case, his question was a legitimate one because there was a missing ingredient in this equation i.e., the lamb− Gen. 22:7 . Abraham DID...

 Testing has a CONTEXT. Having created Man to rule the earth in place of Satan who had since disqualified himself through rebellion, God TESTED him to prove his worthiness to realize this purpose− Gen. 2:16-17; 1:26-28 . Joseph had two dreams, both of which were REGAL in nature− Gen. 37:5-11 . The Lord TESTED Joseph by orchestrating events which seemed to contradict the REGAL dreams that he had− P...

God TESTED Abraham Gen. 22:1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him , “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” It is God’s prerogative to TEST and He does so with the RIGHTEOUS− Ps 11:5 The Lord tests the righteous … Prov. 17:3 The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests the hearts . Ps 7:9 …For the righteous God tests the hearts...

The Lord kept His Word, in His time and style, and did as He had promised Sarah who bore Isaac− Gen. 21:1-3 . As time elapsed, Isaac grew and he was subsequently weaned, much in every way a baby was− Gen. 21:8-9; 1 Sam. 1:22-24; 1 Kin 11:20; Hos. 1:8 . Weaning conveys the idea of bringing to an end, the time a child comes to the end of need for nursing, because he/she has matured. In the Septuagin...

The Holy Spirit moved the writer of Hebrews to provide a record of specific individuals, who lived by faith, to communicate spiritual truths to bible students like us. Although this list is not exhaustive per se, the truths communicated therein are. Our response must therefore be one of faith IF we are to profit immensely from this revelation, as with the rest of Scripture− 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Joh. 6:...

The individuals recorded in Heb. 11 are commended because of their faith, to the saving of the soul– Heb. 11:1-2, 39-40 . The reality of the matter is that none of these individuals are alive today. Thankfully for each of them, God bore witness that they died in faith i.e., they were still living by faith when they died and/or they died still believing what God had promised them− Heb. 11:13 . Our...

The Just Shall Live by Faith-Part-19

Prior to Gen. 16, the Lord has been speaking to Abram ALONE! There is no record of Sarai’s involvement. However, is reason to believe that being childless was a concern to wife Sarai who reasoned that the Lord had prevented her from bearing children since she was barren−Gen. 16:1-2a. a. Unlike Abram who chose to talk to the Lord about his predicament, Sarai took matters in her own hands−Gen. 16:2b...

Although Sarah initially did not believe as seen in her laughter, she must have repented and believed in the Lord’s Promise to give her a son, considering Him reliable and true to His word− Heb. 11:11 By faith [to the saving of the soul] Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Himfaithful who had promised .

While the Lord has been speaking to Abram about his descendants, Abram remained childless because his wife, Sarai, was barren− Gen. 11:30 . What do we do when REVELATION from God, through HisWord, contradicts the present REALITIES of our lives?

With Lot gone, the Lord spoke to Abram concerning twospecific things; THE LAND AND HIS DESCENDANTS- Gen. 13:14-17 .Abram’s journey of faith led him to a place of strength, a place of fatness, dwelling in association with the Lord, building an altar there to Him because of his choice to fully obey the Lord instructions- Gen. 13:18 . Heb.11:9 By faith [to thesaving of the soul] he [Abraham] dweltin...

Having changed his mind, Abram made an upward journey away from Egypt to Bethel, in the company of his wife, nephew and all that he had. He was a wealthy man in livestock, silver and gold! Lot too had his own flocks, herds and tents! Since both Abram and Lot were well supplied with great possessions, the land could NOT support both of them. As a result, they could NOT dwell together as evidenced b...

Since Abram left Haran when he was 75 years old, we can safely conclude that he delayed his journey for 5 years until Terah died. Besides the delay arising from Terah’s presence, there was neither sustenance for Abram’s spirit man nor cleansing because he dwelt in Haran. Lot went with Abram. The Hebrew word for ‘Lot’ comes from another word which means a veil, covering. Abram was partially obedien...

The Lord commended Abraham for his choices to live by faith, to the saving of the soul, in a twofold manner− Heb. 11:8-10 . i. Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place he would receive as an inheritance. ii. Abraham dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country because his focus was on another city.