The Next Journey
After Receiving Your Salvation in Christ Jesus, Take This Pilgrimage as You Sojourn on Earth
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Remember the beautiful classic, “Pilgrim’s Progress” written by John Bunyan? It is my opinion that the continuation of the spiritual pilgrimage of the main character, Christian, to the Judgment Seat of Christ is His Next Journey. Indeed, the Next Journey is a spiritual pilgrimage which God, in His fore-knowledge and wisdom, has planned out carefully for all born-again Christians. The length of this journey is actually the whole lifespan of a Christian, beginning from his spiritual birth into the kingdom of God to that day when his soul or spirit returns to God or to that great day (which is coming very soon according to God the Father’s timing) when Christ raptures His church out of this world. Just as all of us live our daily lives differently from one another, we can also expect our individual Christian pilgrimage to vary in one way or another though there will be similarities.
All genuine Christians are expected by God to take his or her spiritual pilgrimage after receiving salvation in Christ Jesus. God’s Word teaches us that we must love Him wholeheartedly by obeying His three great commandments. Prayer and service are not enough. If you say in your heart that you love God then you must do the things He delights in and especially the things He has specially planned and prepared for you because He loves you. God will never ever force us to do the things He expects us to do. The Triune God expects us to respond to His demand to love Him. What He requires from us is to love Him wholeheartedly and, out of our love for Him, He expects us to seriously obey Him with a willing heart throughout the whole pilgrimage.
Why does God expect every one of us to take the Next Journey after receiving our salvation, which is before baptism? It is because He wants us to be holy like Him in our daily practical living. In other words, He expects us to be like our Lord Jesus Christ in all His characteristics, which are found in the fruit of His spirit – God the Holy Spirit. The real challenge is that only a spiritually mature Christian can bear this fruit of the Spirit. We must clearly understand that the bearing of this spiritual fruit is entirely the work of God the Holy Spirit. This spiritual pilgrimage will lead you stage by stage to reach spiritual maturity and thereafter to bear spiritual fruit and live your life in holiness and godliness.
Without spiritual growth, there will be no spiritual maturity and no bearing of the spiritual fruit in the life of the individual Christian. Without possessing the characteristics of Christ found only in the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control), living out the Christian life daily in holiness and godliness will be virtually impossible. It will not be possible to obey Christ’s second and third commandments satisfactorily (Christ’s second commandment is for all Christians to show love to those in need, whether they are Christians or non-Christians and His third commandment is for all Christians to give honour and glory to Christ by loving one another.) Short tempers, quarrels, back-stabbings, slander, pride and other kinds of wickedness will be found among immature Christians. They grieve the Holy Spirit in their hearts and cause untold sorrows and miseries to others; on one hand, they want to serve God according to their own understanding and judgment. On the other hand, they cause shame to Christians and unhappiness to non-Christians at home, in the church and at work.
In view of this, I urge you to seek first your spiritual growth, which leads to spiritual maturity, in whatever you do in His name and as you serve Him daily. Your spiritual calling to serve the Lord Jesus Christ strongly demands spiritual growth and spiritual maturity. Return to your first love when you first became a Christian and focus on growing stronger continually in your blessed relationship with the Lord. It is only then that you can be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. By all means acquire training in whatever fields you feel the Lord is calling you to serve him in but, at the same time, do not neglect your own spiritual growth to maturity. This area is far more important than pursuing and obtaining a good seminary degree from even the best theological schools in the world. Satan is fully aware that as long as he and his fallen angels can keep the individual Christian from loving the Lord Christ Jesus wholeheartedly and obeying His commandments in his heart faithfully, they will have victory upon victory in their spiritual battles with him. They will also have no worry whatsoever with the next generations of Christians in their spiritual warfare because they will also be spiritual weaklings. The children of these spiritual weaklings, who are the main cause of the present spiritual decline of the church, will eventually be spiritually weaker and weaker down the generations.
To those of us who love the Lord Jesus Christ and are concerned about this spiritual decline of His church, we must be thankful to our awesome God, whose sovereignty is fully in control, for he is overseeing that all things are working in accordance with His plans. Nothing, no matter how trivial or irrelevant, happens in the world without Him knowing. Therefore, the spiritual decline of His church for so many years has not escaped His omniscience. Our Lord Jesus Christ loves His church, which is His bride, and one day, at His timing, He will return to take the church out of this world. Thus, start preparing yourself for this great coming event, the rapture of the Christian church, by taking your Next Journey seriously now.
May Jesus Christ, the Most High God, who is the head of His church be given back His rightful place in His church and in the heart of every Christian. May the Word of God be preached and taught with fear and trembling once again in the Christian church worldwide. May it once again be the lifeline of every individual Christian, every Christian home and every Christian church. May our love for Jesus Christ and our obedience to His three great commandments be taken very seriously in our hearts. As in all spiritual matters, spiritual revival of the individual Christian and the Christian church, whether locally or universally, lies with God the Holy Spirit and not in the works of Man.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
From the early 1950s through the twenty-first century, it has become more and more difficult for Christians, who face the daily pressures of the world, to keep the living and active Word of God close to their hearts. With the imminent first return of Christ’s second coming—the rapture of the Christian church—it is imperative that Christians get their walk right with God. In The Next Journey, author Weng-Fong Toh both warns and encourages Christians to take their individual spiritual pilgrimage seriously—from their spiritual birth in Christ to the judgment seat of Christ.
W.F. Toh offers a guide for Christians as they travel on their Next Journey, and the book serves to instruct, encourage, and warn Christians about the importance of loving the Lord Jesus Christ as they live their remaining days on earth. The Next Journey communicates why Christians need to develop a deep personal relationship with God after receiving their salvation in Christ Jesus and how they can take this pilgrimage from their spiritual birth to the judgment seat of Christ.
Covering theology with depth and dimension, The Next Journey offers a thorough analysis of topics essential for believers to become more spiritually mature. With supporting Scripture, it helps Christians ascend to higher levels of knowledge in the Word of God in order to obtain a more intimate and spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
About the Author
Weng-Fong Toh, an ordinary Christian, lives with his wife in Singapore and is a long-time member of Grace Baptist Church, Singapore. This is his first book.