I apologize for those who were anticipating a post last week. I was away and was unable to post anything, but while I was away I chewed on a concept. I know it may seem seasonal that I talk to you about thanksgiving or being thankful, but I stumbled on a truth that I simply must share with you.

I was sitting in my house thinking of all the passages that had to do with being thankful, and God called to my mind a passage of scripture, and (not saying this out of pride) I’m willing to bet not one preacher in the whole of the United States used this text when it comes to being thankful. The parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9-14) was where God took me.

What is Grace? The seminary answer would be “undeserved favor with God.” I want you to notice how each man in this text approached the Grace (undeserved favor with God).

Luke 18:11-12 “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”

Let me ask you something, and this is the question I have been gnawing on: Would you thank someone for something that you deserved? Of course not!! You deserved it. You take pride in the fact that you deserve it. The only person you have to thank is yourself.

Here is a man who approached the undeserved favor of God as though he deserved it. So was he truly thankful? No, he felt that he deserved it. It was like he was sending in a resume of why God should consider him eligible for His Grace. I think many “Christians” approach God in this manner. They think that God should give them His favor because they deserve it. This is the result of pride. What does pride do? It takes God off His throne and places you there, and instead of you bowing before the throne of God saying HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, you are in essence saying, “God you are to bow to me.” Gee that reminds me of someone. Wasn’t that what Satan was saying when he was tempting Jesus (Matthew 4:9)? By the way this would be the definition of Humanism (which I will cover in a later blog). It becomes the antonym of grace, which is arrogance.

Now let’s look at the publican.

Luke 18:13 “Ane the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.”

This is where true thanksgiving comes in. The publican realized that he didn’t deserve the mercy of God. So how did he approach? He approached broken; He approached contrite; He approached humbled. Pride doesn’t bring thankfulness. It brings arrogance. It is only with a spirit of humility does true thanksgiving comes forth. The publican approached, knowing that he wasn’t worthy of grace, but because he approached knowing he was unworthy, which makes him eligible for grace. Why? Luke 18:14 “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”


I know Thanksgiving is over, but that doesn’t mean you stop giving thanks. I want to challenge you to sit down and realize how unworthy you are for all that God has given you, and from that spirit of brokenness, give God thanks for all that He has given you.

God bless you, and I’ll talk to you all again (God willing) next week, so until then keep your nose clean and don’t blow it.

May the Lamb Receive the Reward of His Suffering,
Heath Loftis

Labels: gratitude, humility and pride

For those who don't know me that well, I get a little giddy when I stumble on a truth in the scriptures, but in order for you to understand this truth, I need to explain some things. I was doing a study on the prayer shawl or "tallit", and what roll it played in the scriptures. In the book of Numbers chapter 15 verses 38 - 41, we read of the tallit. Here God commands the children of Israel to put fringes (tsiytsith), or tassels in the borders (kanaph) of their garments. Why? It was to be for them a reminder of all the commandments of God and to do them.

Now I turn your attention to 1 Samuel 24:3-22. Saul was seeking after David to kill him. Saul goes into a cave (where David is hiding) to "cover his feet". At this time David is presented with an opportunity to kill the man that is hunting him, and then, he would in turn be king. David couldn't bring himself to kill Saul, and so David cuts the border (kanaph) of this garment. Saul leaves the cave and David follows behind smitten in his heart of what he has done to the Lord's anointed. Now get this, David was saying a lot more than Saul I could have had you when he held up Saul’s kanaph. He was saying Saul you have forgotten God, you have forgotten His commandments, and you have failed to do His commandments.

You know I could apply this to many different things. I could say this about our political system or our nation, and everyone would say amen. But I believe that goes without saying. I could even get it down on a more personal level and ask you where in your life is there a void of God, what are the areas of your life where you are telling God, "Forget you God, I don't need your standards, your holiness in this area of my life." But I'll save that for another day. What I want to relate this to is a gospel presentation that is void of the commandments of God. Can I be like David today and hold the rent kanaph of today's Gospel and say, "we have forgotten the commandments of God" I believe I can say this without contradiction we have forgotten the commandments of God when it comes to our witnessing and the presenting of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."

The Law in evangelism is vital to the gospel presentation because if I don't first realize I'm a sinner who has the wrath of God abiding on me, then I will never flee from my sins and cling to the Savior. That is what is meant in 1 Corinthians 1:18 "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." Why is it foolishness? It doesn't make sense. If I walked up to you and said, Jesus loves you so much that He died for your sins on a cross was buried and rose from the grave. If you weren't saved, you would say that is foolishness. Why? You didn't see a need for Jesus to die for you. As far as you are concerned everything is still A okay, and on top of that it becomes offensive. Why? Because I'm telling you that you are a sinner when you feel you have done nothing wrong that was worthy of death. That is why Paul said in Romans 7:7 "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, thou shalt not covet." So unless you point to a person the laws that they have broken and the penalty of such rebellion against God, the cross is robbed of its meaning and becomes powerless in the ears of those that hear the Gospel (good news) without hearing how they have broken the laws of God (bad news).

A Gospel that doesn’t contain why a person is deserving of the wrath of God is powerless. It is a rent kanaph. It is like unplugging something from its power source. Many of you are probably thinking why use the Ten Commandments when witnessing, doesn’t the Bible tell us that we are not under the law, but under grace. Amen, you are so right. We which are saved are not under the law but under grace, but those who are not saved are still under the law. Romans 3:19 “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” If you were a police officer and you arrested someone without telling him or her what he or she is charged with, you would be a corrupt officer. God is not going to send anyone to Hell without first telling them what they did wrong. I believe He will point to the law that was written on their heart (Romans 2:15), and show why they are so deserving of His holy wrath. We must warn everyone we know of the wrath that is to come, and how they can escape that wrath.

Next week I will explain who or what did Jesus save us from. This is some very controversial stuff so I'll see you next week.

Oh and please forgive me for my grammatical errors. I didn’t have time to really proof read.

Till His Nets are Full,
Heath Loftis

Labels: Commandments, evangelism, Law

Hello my name is Heath Loftis, and I am 22 years old. I am married to my beautiful bride Ashley. I am currently on staff at Rowland Road Baptist Church where I serve as the Evangelism Pastor, College Pastor, and one of the writers of Project 1 Generation. Once a week I will be posting material that I hope will convict, convince, and change your life. My goal is to give you treasures in the Word of God that you may have never found before, and show you how you can apply it to your life. We will mostly be covering why you should you use the Law in evangelism, but this blog is not exclusive to that. So until next week, keep your nose clean and don't blow it!

Some of you will get that here in a minute...

Till His Nets are Full,
Heath Loftis