Fall 1991

Questions The Lord Asks
Edited from a spoken message by
John Wright Follette

There are three primary questions to be answered in relation to our spiritual life. The first, "Where am I?" speaks of our position. We are to unmask all that is hidden within us by the artificial coverings we have created. Only after we take off these "masks" and become honest before the Lord can we truly say to the Lord, "Here I am."

The second question is, "What is your name?" In the Bible, a name spells a person's character. Certain characteristic marks which related to the person are summed up in the "name" which was given them. Thus, Jacob means "deceiver;" a deceptive, subtle one. Jacob could not get through to God, nor could God get through to him, until he had been brought to the place where he was able to make a confession. The Lord seeks from us just one word, "What is your name?" What are you? Do not be tempted to bring out your camouflages; that is an old trick.

These questions provoke an answer, which becomes a confession, or a platform upon which a blessing will fall. This is a principle that I found within the Word and throughout my spiritual experience. What are you? A sinner. This confession of being a sinner makes a platform for God to come with salvation, but He cannot come until we sayit. This principle operates throughout our spiritual experience. At times it is rather dramatic, at other times it is subdued, but still there.

There is a third question. Although Jesus knows exactly what He will do, He asks this question anyway. The first question involved our position, the second our condition; and now the third, our provision.

This question is found in John 6:5-6. We will discover within this story another principle which runs from Genesis to Revelation. "When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, He saith unto Philip, WHENCE SHALL WE BUY BREAD, THAT THESE MAY EAT? And this He said to prove him: for He himself knew what He would do."

Here, the Loaf of Heaven, all supply for all eternity is saying, "Philip, what will you do?" "Philip answered him, Two hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little" John 6:7. Immediately, Philip reverts to his natural limited resources, right in the presence of the Whole Loaf of the Bread of Heaven.

Philip cannot see the eternal supply. He cannot even see Jesus in His miracle power. He is yet too centered in his own limited interpretation of the problem. He is "counting" instead of saying to the Lord, "Jesus, we have seen you work before. This is quite impossible to us. Will you be the host and feed them?" Philip cannot do this, he is not yet advanced enough. From his natural processes he concludes, "Two pence of bread is not sufficient." And the Lord smiled and said, "Certainly it is not. We all know that, Philip."

But the disciples still seek to help themselves out of this difficulty. How? "One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?" They all failed because they are too self-conscious of their limitation.

Notice that there are seven items. Five loaves and two fishes. Five and two make seven. Seven speaks of completion. It has to be five and two, it cannot be four and three, or the story will not reveal the truth that is underneath; Spirit and Life vibrating up into view. Does not four and three make seven? Yes, but not here. Jesus had said, "We have this supply," so the disciples began to count. How many time shave we done this very thing?

We are not to fall back upon forever more counting our limitations. I have this and this, but I cannot make it come out to feed a multitude. We never will. Why? We have counted our limitations 5000 times, yet we did not count in "The Loaf of Bread" who is standing at our side.

Jesus was not concerned about their limitations, but He was very concerned that they recognize Him. He is the great Loaf. The next time we are tempted to count our limitations, count them in His presence, then look up and say, "Thank you Lord, I am counting You in on this." Then we will get somewhere. Never fail to do this.

We may fall back on our seeming limitations because it brings a certain reaction, psychologically. There is within each one of us a sense of justification in feeling poor; the power of distress. Some of us are only happy when we strike this note, so self-pity can come in. Feeling sorry for ourselves will damn us quicker than almost anything else. When you count, be sure to count Him in. He is the Loaf.

Matthew adds a further touch to this. "And when it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, this is a desert place and the time is now past; Send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, they need no tdepart; give ye them to eat" Matt 14:15-16. He did not say, "Let me feed them." Rather, He said, "YOU give them to eat."

Jesus is telling us something. Why is it that instantly the problem is revealed? When faced with responsibility, the disciple will seek away of escape by projecting the need to another. They said, "Send these hungry groups to the villages that they may buy bread." What are these villages? All to often, we have sent the hunger of our heart; that urge within us, to strange places for its satisfaction. These are distant ministries where we think we might find the answer for the need at hand. The hunger is within us, and we must do the giving. We must stop our sending them to the villages as an escape mechanism.

Why were those discouraged disciples so happy to leave Jerusalem and make their way to Emmaus? Because Emmaus is an escape mechanism. They felt an atmosphere of defeat and failure in Jerusalem, where their glorious idea of a Kingdom had seemingly exploded. The Messiah they followed was dead. The handful of disciples was completely reduced, with all hope, on a natural basis, swept out from under them. All the things that they desired were wrecked.

He may do this to one of us sometime, but do not despair. Anyone can receive a blessing and stand. But few can take a defeat and live, because they do not know how. This is why the Lord is not able to trust some of us with great sufferings, trials, and disciplines. He cannot, because we have not been tempered for it. He can trust the multitude with the blessing, but there are so few to whom He can say, "Will you watch with me one hour?"

Think of the villages to which you have sent your heart, your mind, your spirit. Each one of us is guilty of this. We try to project "that thing" into another field, lest it would cost us something to have it fed properly. We would rather have a substitute. So we say, "I wil send them over there."

I remember when my first hungering for spiritual truth was expressed. I was advised that what I needed was a good college and seminary. I thought that this would satisfy my hunger. I went to school with this hunger, pushing it into a village to find food. I found a most interesting village, but I never found my food. I came back from the village hungry.

Jesus said, "Give ye them to eat." How can this be done? These disciples saw only their limitations and said, "We have here but 5loaves and 2 fishes." This confession opened the door for all that follows. Jesus responded, "Bring them hither to me." This required an absolute surrender of every one of those things which they possessed, and then to place them into the hands of the Lord. "Bring hem to me."

The Lord is telling us to stop counting the things we possess and bring them to Him. He is saying to us, "I know who you are, I know your possibilities, your potentials; I know all of that. I knew you before you were born." Many Christians do not come into these realms of spiritual consciousness at all. They are saved and filled with the Spirit, but have never come into what I call a real inner-consciousness of spiritual reality.

Jesus is saying, "Would you dare to surrender all that you have to me? Will you place it into my hands?" This is a stripping that few will take. But Jesus is there, saying, "IF you will dare to do this, I can do something beyond your comprehension; but I cannot do it if your consecration is only partial."

Five loaves. Two fishes. These total seven, the completion of all that we have. But these, placed in His hands will become enough to satisfy every hunger and urge that we could ever know.