Diane Penny

In Matthew 16:15 Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” In asking them this question, Jesus was seeking a confession of their faith in him. When Jesus asks a question, he already knows the answer. Jesus would typically ask questions to provoke some type of confession in others. During Jesus’s three-year ministry, he would often ask those he was about to heal, questions like; Will thou be made whole (Jn. 5:6)? Do you believe that I am able to do this (Matt. 9:28)? What do you want me to do for you (Mk. 10:51)? After the confession of faith of those seeking healing, Jesus healed them. In Matthew 16:13-21, Peter had gotten a revelation of who Jesus is, and confessed that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” After Peter’s confession, Jesus tells Peter that “upon this rock (the revelation of who Jesus is), he will build his church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). This lets us know that the church is already victorious in th...

  GOD CONFIRMS HIS WORD God's law for the people of Israel commanded that, "One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity . . . at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established" (Deut. 19:15). Jesus says, “But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established" (Matt. 18:16). The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John give similar accounts of Jesus's three-year ministry, yet they are all recorded in the Bible. They are all included in the Bible to confirm the Word of God out of the mouth of several witnesses. When a prophetic word is spoken into one’s life, it is most often a confirmation of something that God has already revealed to the person. God always confirms his Word in the mouth of two or more witnesses, and if we listen, we can hear the echo. The following passages of scripture in Isaiah 61:1-2 records...