If you’ve tasted of His sweetness
This post is for Christians.
There is so much in Jackie Pullinger's message in this video I posted the other day that I had to transcribe it in freeform style that follows Jackie's delivery. I hope she doesn't mind. She says most everything I've been trying to say for the last several years, only far better. If you're reading this in Facebook it may look a bit funky. It should look ok if you go directly to the original post on my blog, at least it does in my browser.
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The principle of the Gospel is this:
the Gospel always brings life
to the receiver
and death
to the giver.
If the Gospel brought death to Jesus Christ why would we think that in preaching the Gospel it would any less for us?
So no.
He says, “If anybody would be my disciple,
he must take up His cross and follow me.”
If it killed Him to give life to us,
and he invites us then to do the same,
why would we expect that it would be any less?
So the mixture of our message is life and death,
and laughter and tears,
and such it is, but for us,
life is never ordinary here.
Life is never flat.
And this is what Jesus said about His Father in John 17: “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life,
only to take it up again. No one takes it from me.”
Jesus was not sentenced to die by His Father; he was allowed to choose.
“I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again,” and he said “This is why my Father loves me.”
God the Father had this extraordinary plan of winning you and me for eternity by having His Son killed.
But His son voluntarily responded. No, it’s not so easy for Him to respond. In fact he spent His whole life practicing.
And even the night before it was still difficult for Jesus. And he said, “God, is there another way? Is there another way?”
And I know many, many people in the church say, “Is there another way?” And in our Hong Kong churches it does look as if there’s another way. Normal Christians live a normal Christian life, go to meetings, jump up and down on stages, while we are exhausted and dying, and “Oh you’ve got a special ministry Jackie,” and I say, “Well no, I think, think we’re all called to give up our lives. Would you like to do this with us? We’d really like some help.”
The poor people all over the earth who have never heard of Jesus, they are the poorest people. They are desperate for food. They are desperate for blankets, they’re desperate for medicine, they’re desperate for water. The most number of people worldwide who’ve never heard about the love of our Lord Jesus Christ are desperately poor. And they are not going to come here to hear the Gospel—we have to go there.
So . . . why haven’t people gone?
Something to do with guarding our life.
And living a normal life
so other people can go.
But I say, “No, why don’t you all go if you’ve tasted such good things?” Go the ends of the earth because those poor aren’t going to watch Jesus on TV. They haven’t got electricity.
They’re not going to hear about him unless we go,
so would you?
I’m here with a plea for you.
If you’ve known the love of God,
if you’ve tasted of His sweetness at all,
there’s no other way to serve Him except giving up your life. And this is voluntary.
This is not a sentence of death . . . at all!
We’re not sentenced to death. We’re just privileged
to answer His call.
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