The Road to Righteousness: Anything less than everything is nothing

By Timothy Loyal Tingelstad

American Christians are very familiar with the Word of the Lord recorded in II Chronicles 7:14: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. But just three generations after God spoke these words to King Solomon, He again spoke the following words to His people:  The Lord is with you, if you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without the law. But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. II Chronicles 15:2-3 Is it possible that American Christians today, like God's people of the past, have been for a long time without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without the law? Many Christians have been praying for the next Great Awakening without really understanding what it is they have been asking for. What exactly is a Great Awakening? History tells us that Great Awakenings are about more than stirring up our emotions. A truly Great Awakening is a point in time when there is an abrupt change in the hearts and in the lives of the people, over a sustained period of time. In a truly Great Awakening there is something that we are awakened to, and this book is about identifying what that something is.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Proisle Publishing Services
• Release date: Jun 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781961526198

Book preview

The Road

To Righteousness

Anything less than everything is nothing

AN ANCIENT PATH TO THE NEXT GREAT AWAKENING…

ONE SOUL AT A TIME

by

Timothy Loyal Tingelstad

Copyright © 2023 by Timothy Loyal Tingelstad

ISBN: 978-1-961526-19-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher disclaims any responsibility for them.

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The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

Matthew 13:44

PREFACE

If you have been saved from drowning, but you still drown, have you been saved from drowning?

If you have been saved from starving, but you still starve,

have you been saved from starving?

If you have been saved from depression, but you remain depressed, have you been saved from depression?

If you have been saved from cancer, but the cancer remains in your body, have you been saved from cancer?

The obvious answer to each of these questions is No!

In Matthew 1:21 we are told why Jesus was given his name, … you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. The name Jesus means the Lord saves. To sin against God is to disobey His commands, so if the Lord has saved you from your sins, but you continue to sin, have you been saved from your sins?

The Scripture passages that you are about to read have the power to save you from your sins. They have the power to transform your life, by saving your soul from the sins which hold you captive. They have the power to give you complete victory over your sins, but only if you choose to believe what you read rather than read what you already believe! We are about to take a journey through God’s foundational story. It is His story. A story which, if believed, will awaken the souls of many who are now walking the path of destruction called Casual Christianity. It is a story which will transform God’s people into the manifest sons and daughters of God that we were created to be.

This journey will lead us to a hidden treasure, and a pearl of great value, for which we will gladly exchange everything we have to obtain. This journey will lead us to a life in the kingdom of heaven, beginning now and continuing for all of eternity! Our destination is the God ordained life in which we find the power to overcome our sins, the peace which surpasses all understanding, and a renewed mind that will restore purpose to every aspect of our life. It is a journey across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land which God has prepared for us, and which Jesus came to bring us into. It is the only journey which will lead God’s people to the Next Great Awakening, one soul at a time.

Just as God had a plan to save the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt to a life on the other side of the Jordan River, God has a plan to save His people today from our bondage of slavery to our sins, and into the Promised Land of the kingdom of heaven. The Lord spoke the following words to Joshua just before the Israelites were led across the Jordan into this land which God had covenanted to give them through their ancestor, Abraham:

Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land that I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:6-9

This God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land on the other side of the Jordan, is an unchanging God. His desire for His people today, both Jew and Gentile Christian, is to lead His people into the Promised Land of the kingdom of heaven, to a life lived in His manifest presence, with more purpose, more power, and a more peace than we can imagine. And He desires that life for us to begin before we die!

Have you crossed the Jordan and entered the Promised Land, living your life in the kingdom of heaven? Or are you waiting until after you die to enter this life? Are you living the life that Jesus went to the cross to offer you, or have you settled for less than what he paid for? The preaching of Jesus is summarized in Matthew 4:17, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. Jesus told us why he came into this world when he said, I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance. John 10:10 Jesus came to announce this more abundant life, and he also came as a living testimony as to what this life in the kingdom of heaven looks like. Jesus came to give us the power to live this more abundant life beginning now and continuing for all of eternity. His invitation to cross the Jordan came with instructions to Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:33

INTRODUCTION

America is in trouble, but the problem is not what we think it is. The threat of terrorism is on the rise, and no amount of military intelligence can eliminate it, but it is not the terrorists that we should fear. Our economy is not sustainable and will eventually crumble, and no amount of government regulation will prevent it, but the greed of Wall Street is not the real problem. We have learned how drastically an epidemic can change every aspect of our lives, but all we can do is wait for the next one to strike. Physical and mental health issues and cancer are destroying lives, and the best that medical science can do is slow down the process of their destruction. Our highest courts have followed the court of public opinion and rejected God’s definition of marriage and family, and religious liberty is about to disappear. We have come to realize that our Constitution is simply a piece of paper which was made only for a moral and religious people as our founding fathers once warned us. America is in trouble, and at a time when it is needed more than ever, the Church seems to have become powerless to impact the culture. We need the Next Great Awakening!

For decades God’s people have been praying that God would deliver us from these great threats against our land, but things seem to be getting worse, not better. Why has God not moved to heal our land? It is hard to doubt the sincerity of our prayers. Could it be that our prayers lack the faith which God requires from us, a faith which is grounded in the knowledge of the true God, and of His great salvation plan for His people? Could it be that the many problems we face are the manifestations of the sword of judgment in the hands of God? Could it be that God is allowing these threats to prosper against His people to get us to change the way we think and act? Is it possible that if we are awakened to a great drift that has taken place in our knowledge of the true God, and in our understanding of His great salvation plan that God would then hear our prayers and heal our land?

History, which is His Story, tells us that God brings the sword of judgment against His own people when they drift away from Him and away from the life which He desires for them. The purpose of the sword is two-fold. It is to awaken His people to the fact that they have drifted into disobedience, and to persuade the people to repent from that sin. Until this two-fold purpose has been accomplished, the prayers of His people to save them from the sword, no matter how sincere and numerous, will not take the sword away! This was true of God’s people Israel throughout Biblical history, and it will be true for God’s people today. God takes no pleasure in bringing the sword upon His own people, so He has always warned the people that this sword is coming, to give them time to repent. But this grace period for repentance is only for a God ordained time, and then the sword of judgment must strike.

Consider the following words written by the Prophet Ezekiel, God’s watchman on the wall:

The Word of the Lord came to me, "Son of man, speak to your countrymen, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against the land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself. But if the watchman sees the sword coming against the land and does not sound the trumpet to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak, and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you, accountable for his blood. But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his ways, and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.

Son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you are saying: Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live? Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?

Therefore, son of man, say to your countrymen, ‘The righteousness of a righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of a wicked man will not cause him to fall, when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness. If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered and he will die for the evil he has done. And if I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but then he turns away from his sin and does what is just and right, if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that bring life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.

Yet your countrymen say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. If a righteous man, turns from his righteousness and does evil, he will die for it. And if a wicked man turns away from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live by doing so. Yet, O house of Israel, you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just!’ But I will judge each of you by his own ways." Ezekiel 33:1-20

If we listen carefully to these words of the watchman on the wall, we will hear everything we need to experience the Next Great Awakening. Careful listening will bring us to a point of decision. Will we believe what we are reading, or will we continue to read what we have always believed? The purpose of these words of warning will be missed by most of today’s Casual Christians because they will read these words through the lens of their traditional beliefs about who God is, and what His great salvation plan is. The Next Great Awakening will require us to choose to believe what we read, rather than read what we already believe. God gives His people traditions to follow so that they do not forget what He has done for them. But traditional beliefs can keep us away from God’s plan when they have drifted away from the truth of God’s Word. In a Great Awakening truth and tradition are often on a collision course.

Does God take pleasure in destroying even one of His chosen people? Absolutely not! He clearly tells us in the words of Ezekiel, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their wicked ways and live. Does God want His people to simply pray that He would change His mind, and not bring the sword against the land? Will it do any good for the people to fast and pray for deliverance from the impending danger if they refuse to repent, to change the way they think? Will God change His mind if enough people beg Him to take the sword away? Or is there a reason that God is bringing the sword against His own people? What response is God looking for? The answer is simple. God is looking for true repentance, a change in the way His people think, and change in the way they act.

There is an obvious condition that must be present before there can be an awakening. This precondition is often overlooked. To experience an awakening, the people must be asleep! If we have not fallen asleep, there can be no awakening. This is important because a person who is sleeping does not know that they are sleeping until after they wake up. When we say that we need the Next Great Awakening, we are admitting that we have drifted away from the truth about some aspect of God and of His will, but do not realize it. This confession will require great humility because it is not easy for the leaders of God’s people to acknowledge that our corporate faith has drifted away from some aspect of God’s truth. Just as it is uncomfortable to be awakened from our sleep by a bright light, the transition from darkness to the light of truth will be uncomfortable at first, as our eyes adjust to the light. Tragically, when a Great Awakening takes place, many who have been praying for the awakening will instead run back into the darkness.

God has a story to tell, and that story is called History, His story. It is a story that has been unfolding for over 6,000 years. It is a story about God’s people, those He created with the responsibility of taking dominion over His creation, in accordance with His commands. Throughout history, God’s people have periodically drifted away from God, often for long periods of time. The great King Solomon, in his God given wisdom, understood the tendency of God’s people to drift away from God. At the time of the completion of the great temple, which had been built to inhabit the manifest presence of God, King Solomon asked God to promise that if the people ever drifted away from Him, that He would forgive them and accept them back if they truly repented from their sins. God’s response to Solomon’s request is found in a well-known revival verse from II Chronicles 7:14, which reads:

If my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

But few Christians today know that just three generations later God would speak the following words through the Prophet, Azariah, to Solomon’s great grandson, King Asa, the King of Judah:

The Lord will be with you, if you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. For a long time, Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach, and without the law. But in their distress, they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. II Chronicles 15:2-4

An understanding of the conditional language of these two passages of Scripture will be critically important to the Next Great Awakening, because it will enlighten us to our God ordained responsibility in experiencing the Next Great Awakening. Every Great Awakening throughout history has had a time and place of beginning. The purpose of this book is to be a catalyst which will spark the Next Great Awakening within God’s people. This spark will begin in the form of a question, which if answered in accordance with the truth of God’s Word, will lead us back to God, and to the purpose for which He created us:

Is it possible that today’s Casual Christians, like God’s people of the past, have been for a long time without the true God, without a teaching priest and without the law?

The Next Great Awakening will take place only if we are willing to first ask ourselves this question, and then answer it through the study of God’s Word. Many have been praying for the Next Great Awakening to come for many years, without really understanding what it is they have been asking for? What exactly is a Great Awakening? History tells us that true awakenings must do more than stir up of our emotions. A truly Great Awakening, is a point in time when there is an abrupt change in the hearts and in the lives of the people, over a long period of time. In a true Awakening there is something that we are awakened to, and this book is about identifying what that something is.

There are two Scripture passages which will lead us onto the ancient path toward the Next Great Awakening. The first passage is from the Old Testament:

This is what the Lord says, Stand at the crossroads, and look. Ask for the ancient paths. Ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, We will not walk in it. I appointed watchmen over you and said, Listen to the sound of the trumpet. But you said, We will not listen. Therefore, hear O nations, observe O witnesses, what will happen to them. Hear O earth, for I am about to bring destruction upon this people, the fruit of their own plans, because they have failed to listen to my words and they have rejected my law. Jeremiah 6:16-19.

In this Scripture passage God is warning His people to listen, and to wake up to what is about to happen to them if they do not change the way they are living. God had appointed watchmen over His own people to sound the trumpet of warning, but they refused to listen. And He is doing the same for His people today. But will God’s people today have ears to listen carefully to what God has told us since the beginning of time?

It was God who was bringing destruction upon His own people who would not walk on the ancient path, and who would not listen to the warning sound of the trumpet. The sword was not in the hands of foreign enemies. The destruction would come as the fruit of their own plans, and it would be executed by God’s hand. But why would God bring destruction upon His own people? This is a difficult concept for Casual Christians to accept. Yet God clearly gives the two reasons for this destruction. He says that it is because, They have not listened to my words, and they have rejected my law. Could it be possible that American Christians today are guilty of these same two great errors?

The second passage is from the New Testament:

So we must listen very carefully then, to the truth that we have heard, or we may drift away from it. The message God delivered through angels has always proved true, and the people were punished for every violation of the law, and every act of disobedience. What makes us think that we can escape if we are indifferent to this great salvation, that was announced by the Lord, Jesus himself, it was passed on to us by those who heard him speak. And God verified the message through signs, wonders, various miracles, and by giving gifts of the Holy Spirit, whenever He chose to do so. Hebrews 2:1-4

This passage warns us again to listen very carefully to the truth, to God’s Word, or we may drift away from it. Could it be possible that we, as American Christians, have drifted away from the truth, without knowing it? What is this message God delivered through angels that has always proved true? Have we too become indifferent to this great salvation message? These are the questions we must ask and answer if we are to experience the Next Great Awakening.

What does it mean for a people to drift away from the truth, and could this even happen in this age of almost unlimited information that we live in today? We have more Bibles per capita than at any time in history. We have hundreds, if not thousands, of well-educated Christian authors who are writing more and more best-selling Christian books every day. The internet allows us to instantly look at almost any translations of the Bible we choose. And while the percentage of Americans who are Christians may be on the decline, the actual number of professing Christians remains in the millions. Is it even possible that God’s people in America today could have drifted away from God’s truth and toward a Casual Christianity which does not honor God?

With all the advantages we have as today’s Christians, why are we drifting away from God? This drift has been gradual, so it has gone unnoticed by Casual Christians. We do not have an information problem. We have a listening problem. To listen carefully to God’s Word requires us to ask questions. Questions are powerful. When we hear a question, our minds try to answer that question. God will not give us answers to questions which we have not asked. Jesus emphasized the need to ask questions and to fervently seek the answers when he said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:9-10

One of the first questions we need to ask is for an understanding of what it is that we have drifted away from? If we have fallen asleep, what is it that we are unaware of? It is in the substance of our faith, our belief about who God is and what His great plan of salvation really is. Hebrews 11:1 tells us Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. But what is it that today’s Christians are hoping for? Are we hoping for what God wants for us and from us, or for what we want from God? In Romans 10:17, we are told, So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. God’s Word is the source of our faith, and it alone provides the substance of what we should hope for. God’s Word is the truth from which we have drifted. Jesus prayed for his disciples, Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth. John 17:17 Today’s Casual Christianity is not lacking access to Bibles, but we are lacking the ability to listen carefully to God’s Word. When most casual Christians open their Bibles they read what they already believe about God and about His plan of salvation rather than believe what we are reading.

Casual Christians may be reluctant to accept a message that even suggests that a drift has taken place. People who have dedicated their lives to the teaching of God’s Word, do not want to hear that their teachings may have drifted away from the truth. But as we are warned in Proverbs 14:12, There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. The path of Casual Christianity seems like a good path, and it is easy to give sermons and write books that help people enjoy their walk as sinners saved by grace. It is much easier to help people change their label than to change their life. The Apostle, James, reminds us of the high standard God has for those who choose to teach His Word to others; Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. James 3:1

Great Awakenings are uncommon because people who have drifted off to sleep are not looking to be awakened. Everyone enjoys a good night’s sleep. Nobody enjoys being abruptly awakened. In fact, the person who wakes us up will often receive a much less than grateful response from the person who has been awakened. For example, our first response to being awakened to a fire alarm will probably be great displeasure, but when we come to realize what is at stake, we begin to appreciate the sound of the alarm that may have saved our lives. The same can be true on a spiritual level. When we drift away from the truth, the status quo eventually becomes supported by our traditions. Many may become angry if those traditions are challenged. A Great Awakening will inevitably challenge our newly formed traditional beliefs, and it will function like a spiritual fire alarm, which is warning us of the great danger of remaining asleep.

The writer of Hebrews encourages us to listen very carefully to God’s warnings, but many of today’s Casual Christians, like God’s people in the past, will choose not to heed this warning. It is much easier to just keep listening to sermons on Sunday mornings, and to pick the next best-selling Christian devotional book, rather than to become a real student of God’s Word. Reading our devotions each day is a good habit to have, but the time has come for much more. As the Apostle Paul writes, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. II Timothy 2:16 Paul also writes, All of Scripture is inspired by God, profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. II Timothy 3:16-17

The Next Great Awakening will require us to do more than hear God’s Word. We must also listen to God’s Word. The progression from hearing to listening takes place when we become doers of the Word. If we do not take this step of obedience to God’s Word we are deceiving ourselves, as the Apostle James warns us in James 1:22-25:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in the mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do.

The times are urgent, and many today have lost hope that we will ever experience another Great Awakening. But God has prepared an Ancient Path for us to walk on. It is the only path which will lead us back to God, and into His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, where we can enjoy the blessings of total obedience and total dependence upon a God who loves us, and who desires to bless us. Walking on this Ancient Path will not be easy. But walking on this path will be worth every amount of effort that we can give. When we find this hidden treasure called life in the kingdom of heaven, we will praise God that anything less than everything is nothing!

THE ROAD TO RIGHTEOUSNESS

The Bible refers to the life of God’s people as a walk, a road, or a way. This analogy is used in both the Old and New Testaments in describing our path back into the kingdom of heaven. In one of our foundational verses the Prophet Jeremiah called God’s people to walk on this ancient path when he proclaimed, This is what the Lord says, Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient path, ask where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16 Several centuries later, Jesus would again use this analogy in teaching about the path to our salvation when he proclaimed, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 Jesus would go on to teach the people that to be saved they must, Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the road which leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate, and narrow the road which leads to life, and few find it." Matthew 7:13-14

God’s great salvation plan is truly analogous to walking through a narrow gate, and then following a narrow path which leads into the kingdom of heaven. But what is this narrow gate? How do we know that we have entered through it? What does it mean to stay on the narrow path which leads to life, and how do we find the strength to stay on this path to our salvation? Why does Jesus tell us that only a few will succeed in this journey back to God? If God wants us to succeed, then why did He make this gate and road narrow? Does God help us walk along this path?

God has preordained a path for every person whom He has created, but He has also ordained that each person must choose this path by their own free will. God has not predetermined our path for us, for that would eliminate our free will. If we do not choose His path, there is a default path for us. The ancient path which leads to life is paved by providence, and all other paths are paved by chance. We do not stumble onto this narrow path by chance or accident, but instead it must be chosen. We cannot enter the kingdom of heaven by default or accident because this narrow path leads to a life in His presence, and it is only for those who choose to walk it. Jesus tells us that the default gate is wide, it leads to destruction, and many will enter through it. The gate and path to destruction are wide because it is walked by those who are ignorant of the choice God has given them. But for those who know the truth, and who choose to live their lives on the narrow path, the destination will be a life in the kingdom of heaven, beginning now, and continuing for all of eternity.

Entering this path begins with a choice, and walking on this path is a learning process. Show me your ways O Lord, teach me your paths, guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior and my hope is in you all the day long. Psalm 25:4-5 We can have confidence that God will help us on our journey back to Him. If the Lord delights in a man’s way, He makes his steps firm; though he stumbles he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him in His grip. Psalm 37:23-24 God has created us for the purpose of walking on this path in his kingdom. Scripture gives us a prayer from Psalm 139 that will bring us daily confidence as we walk along this ancient path;

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thought from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways… For you created my inmost being; you