Apprenticed to Jesus by Bishop Robert Solomon

A disciple of Christ is one who learns from his master and seeks to emulate him. It is not

merely an accumulation of facts and theoretical knowledge, passively following dry rituals,

studying methods and techniques, seeking one experience after another, but rather, it is having

an ongoing personal relationship with Jesus.

When Jesus became incarnate, He Recapitulated (anakephalaiosasthoi) in himself the history

of man, that we might receive again in Christ, what we had lost in Adam, that is, the image and

likeness of God. Jesus came to go through the stage of human life, to retrace the steps of the

old Adam, and to reverse human history. Divinity entered humanity in order to bring

humanity into divinity.

The Lord’s two names have special meaning- Jesus (Yeshua) means “The Lord saves” and

Immanuel which means “God is with us”.

Jesus showed divine restraint while he endured the humiliation of his trial and suffered on the

cross, all this while having the power to end it all and call upon legions of angels to destroy his

tormentors, but He stayed on the cross out of love for us, to complete the mission of

redeeming us and being obedient to God the Father.

Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God who died for our sins, but He now sits on the throne in

heaven (Revelation 7:17), and has the power and authority to unfold the future and to

oversee the judgement to come.

We all have aspirations for the future. But wealth, fame, health, youth, knowledge are all

transient possessions which time will take away. The only thing we can keep for eternity is

our relationship with God.

Our disappointments can help us to turn to Jesus. We can be complacent when things are

going well in our lives, but it is during times of trials and testing that we learn to trust in

God, to turn to Him for strength and direction. Jesus knows what it is like to be betrayed by

friends, Jesus knows how it is to be falsely accused, Jesus knows what it is like to suffer pain.

No amount of information and factual knowledge can substitute knowing Jesus in a personal

relationship with Him. Our calling is not to cram our heads with facts, but to fill our hearts

with Christ.

We should also avoid being a collector of exciting spiritual experiences. Some people

depend solely on signs and wonders as the goal instead of looking to Jesus on a daily basis and

seeking contentment in Him.

Satan deceived man and distorted the human quest from seeking to know God to seeking

knowledge. The Pharisees knew all the details of the Law yet Jesus said they did not know

God himself.

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus calls us to be yoked with Him. It is like we are in a 3 legged race tied

with christ. We must walk in step with Him. We depend on His leading, His direction, His

strength.

Religion and faith are not synonymous. It is possible to go through religious activities and

routines without actually connecting with God. Do we do our devotional readings and

morning prayers mechanically ? Do our thoughts wander during the Worship Service?

In Psalms 63 the psalmist says he earnestly seeks God, in his bed he remembers God, he

clings to God and praises Him as long as he lives. This is the kind of devotion we should

aspire to have.

Often, after a spiritual victory, Satan will come and tempt us like how he tempted Jesus

after His baptism. He will try to make us desire for signs and miracles to demonstrate our

sonship, to demand God’s angelic protection and to seek God’s miraculous provisions (turn

stones into bread).

Ecc 3:1 reminds us that we go through seasons in life. We may need to adjust our priorities,

perspectives and activities as our goals change with time, but always with God’s will as

our guiding principle.

If we do not spend regular time with God there may be times that we do not even recognise

Him when He intervenes in our lives, just like the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus. We must

learn to hear God’s voice (and not only depend on our sense of sight) for that is how we learn

about God’s will and plans for us (Romans 10:17)

We must resist 2 extremes. On one hand some people rush to do service in God’s name

without pausing to seek God's will and direction. And then there are some who remain in

contemplation weighing all the obstacles without moving into action by faith.

How do we know that the Holy Spirit lives in me? John Wesley insisted that the evidence is by

the fruit of the Holy Spirit being demonstrated in our daily behaviour, (Galatians 5:22-23)

and this fruit should be manifested in all believers. This is even more important than the different

gifts of the Holy Spirit which are given primarily for us to do service in the church.

Forgiveness of our sins is free to the recipient, we receive it as a gift of grace by faith, but it is

never cheap. Jesus paid the price by dying on the cross for our sins. We are eternally grateful

for Jesus’ self-giving act of love but we also ought to be sorry that it was my sin which

contributed to Christ’s suffering.

In Genesis, Enoch was described as a person who walked with God, and God took him away

after 365 years, compared to the other contemporaries who lived up till 900 years. We need to

move away from thinking that our lives can be measured by how many years we live but

instead look carefully at how we live the years we are given.

Divine plumblines gauge the inner contours of our souls and the moral foundations of our daily

choices and decisions. Character and faithfulness are virtues God looks for in His followers.

Our lives here on earth are finite. Our limited days must be framed within the eternal years

of God; only then can we find true meaning for our passing and transient days.

In Luke 17 Jesus heals 10 lepers but only one returns to thank Him. How often are we also like

that, turning to God in prayer when we want to ask for His blessings and deliverance, but

after receiving from Him, we forget to thank Him and more importantly, how often do we live

out our faith in obedience to God instead of following our own direction and desires?

We must guard against the modern Consumer Christianity mentality whereby we think we are

entitled to God’s blessings and that God owes us His interventions whenever we beckon.

12 spies were sent into the promised land. All 12 agreed that the land flows with milk and honey,

(Numbers 13:27) but only Caleb and Joshua believed that God would fulfil His promise to

give the land to them. The other 10 only saw obstacles and did not have godly vision. What

was the difference ? Caleb and Joshua had a different spirit, and followed God wholeheartedly.

They had faith and obedience as compared to fear and unbelief amongst the others. When we

are faced with difficult situations we need to focus on God’s power and greatness

instead of looking at how great the obstacles are.

As Christians, we recognise that the earth belongs to the Lord (Psalms 24:1) and we are

caretakers. We honour God by caring for the earth and its resources. Choosing a simpler

lifestyle and rejecting rampant consumerism, avoiding wastage of precious resources like water,

energy, food and trees, and recycling where possible, should be part of our daily habits as good

stewards of God.

We should focus on whose we are (we belong to God), and who we are becoming

(sanctified in Christ), by God’s leading, rather than only what we achieve. We are called to be

obedient to God, the results of what we do is dependent on Him. It is not useful to speculate

what we shall be doing in heaven, and what form our bodies will take but rest in the knowledge

that the redeemed will be joyous in the presence of our Lord.

In our fast paced world with matters popping up in our mobile phones constantly requiring our

attention, it is important for us to intentionally put aside time daily to practise solitude and

silence in God’s presence, to read His Word, to listen to the Holy Spirit, to reflect, to pray and

to worship.

Kairos time refers to God’s special chosen timing, whereas Chronos time is a clock time,

measured by a clock. We disciples of Christ are taught to wait upon the Lord. God’s timing is

important. Jesus lived for a total of 33 years but He only started His ministry during the last 3

years of His life. He often waited and said that His time had not come. We too must learn not to

rush into doing things but wait for God’s timing and direction.

Whenever we are faced with a new situation or decision, we react in 3 phases or moments.

The initial reaction (first moment) is an impulse, which usually happens without thought,

based on our human nature. This can result in poor choices and outbursts of rage.

The second moment of reaction is a time of reflection on knowing and seeking God’s

direction, which should lead to obedience to God.

The third moment happens in people who do not act on the second moment. This is a

protracted period of inaction, which leads to procrastination, apathy and indifference.

We must learn to thrive in the second moment, acting based on prayerful reflection and

faithful obedience.

Sin is an act judged to be morally wrong by God’s law. But it is also an inner disposition

inherited by all humans after the Fall of Man, to fulfil our own needs, our own desires, to

make our own choices, rather than to seek to do God’s will which is what we were created

to do. When we turn to the Lord, we receive not only forgiveness, God creates in us a pure

heart and renews a steadfast spirit within us (Psalms 51). A repentant soul wants to be

changed and transformed. This begins with a truthful acknowledgement of our own sinfulness

and lostness without Christ.

James 3 reminds us how difficult it is to tame the tongue. A redeemed disciple of Jesus must

learn to be spiritually monolingual- use the tongue only to praise God and for words that

build up. Instead, some of us may still be spiritually bilingual-using the same tongue to praise

God and also to curse others (James 3:10). The tongue shows what our heart is full of (Matt

12:34).We must learn to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), not giving in to flattery.

Jesus never put emphasis on pleasing the crowd or increasing His popularity. His aim was

always to do the Father’s will. He concentrated on building depth in the disciples rather

than to have larger numbers of superficial followers who were only looking for signs and

miracles, and a leader to overthrow the Romans.

When serving in church we must guard ourselves against feeling that the ministry will not

continue if we are not there. This kind of thinking, coupled with compliments from others on our

role can lead to feelings of self importance and eventually pride may creep in. Ministry

belongs to the Lord and He will ensure there are people to do His work, we just need to be

obedient and humbly do what is required of us.

We all have different roles. Paul planted the seed, Apollos watered it but God is the one that

made the Corinthian church to grow. If our church is to experience true growth, we must seek

God sincerely for growth and fruitfulness and each of us must play the role that God has

called us to.

God touched John Wesley in a special way at Aldersgate, and he in turn inspired Francis

Asbury who spread Methodism in America. Out of that ministry, William Taylor was touched,

who then went to India to preach and William Oldham was converted. Oldham came to

Singapore and Malaya to start the Malaya Mission of the Methodist Church. We may never

know how God can use our obedience to serve Him to affect future generations.

Charles Spurgeon, a renowned preacher and theologian, recounted that he was converted in a

little church where only 15 people attended the service due to a snowstorm, and the pastor was

unable to come so an untrained layperson preached instead. But as he heard the words “Look

unto Me” he saw Jesus. God can use anyone, even an untrained person to lead a future

giant of faith to Christ.

Advance medical directives (AMD) enable individuals to indicate in advance that should they

suffer from a terminal illness, they would be given palliative care and allowed to die naturally

without heroic interventions. AMD seeks not to prolong life unnecessarily using extraordinary

medical measures while euthanasia seeks to shorten life using measures known to be lethal.

From a Christian persepctive, AMD is acceptable while euthanasia is not. The church needs to

equip itself to provide care for believers who are on the last lap of their journey on earth. We

should all aim to have a Holy Death- trust and faithfulness to God even as we die, knowing

that God is with us.

Our churches must be places of refuge, where people who have hurts and rejection, who have

experienced ridicule and abuse, can find a community that accepts them, that demonstrates

Christ’s love in action, that helps them to heal and grow spiritually.

Our pulpits must have sermons that

1.Focus on the Person of Christ

2.Is based on the Word of God

3.Displays the Character of Christ.

It is sometimes possible to go through the motions during our worship services like

sleepwalkers. We may recite the Lord’s prayer or sing familiar worship songs by heart, and not

even be consciously aware of what we are saying or singing.This is the danger of ritualistic

religion, which can lead to spiritual slumber. Let us actively seek the Lord whenever we

gather together in our worship services.

Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery (John 8) but it does not mean that He

condoned her behaviour either. He told her to leave her life of sin. The church needs to be

gracious and not judgemental, but we also need to remind people to repent from their ways

and to live a holy life.

When Stephen was martyred, persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8),

and as a result many disciples moved out and this enabled the gospel to spread throughout the

region. Sometimes what we see as setbacks can turn out to be a blessing instead. We

need to trust that God in His sovereign will knows what is best for us and the church.