It's always good to know that we have a savior. who cares about us and who loves us and who tolerates us. Amen. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, well, then you need to see me after the service. I'm glad that God is patient with me, I can tell you that much right now. It is a wonderful thing to be in the service of the King. And to know that we have a home in heaven, the Bible says that He does not want us to be ignorant about it. He says that He wants us to know that we have eternal life. If you don't know that you have eternal life this morning, then one of two things, either you don't have it or you are not believing God's Word. And you need to believe God's Word if you're saved, if you're born again. And if you're not born again, you need to come to Jesus Christ and receive Him as your own personal Savior. There is no way to escape the penalty for your sin except through Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus Christ himself says, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Jesus Christ is the only way that we can find forgiveness of our sins. The Bible says, but God commended his love towards us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us while we were breaking God's law. Jesus Christ came and died for each and every one of us. Amen. putting our trust in His death, burial, and resurrection. Amen? He was raised from the dead that we might live in newness of life. Now, let me add something to that. The Bible says that when we receive Jesus Christ as our own personal Savior, that we become a new creature. It says the old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. If your salvation experience left you the same creature that it found you, then I question your experience. Each and every one of us who have a testimony of salvation, the testimony should be that after we came to Christ, we became new creatures. It means we had new desires. It means we had new interests. It means we had a new attitude. Amen? Now, sometimes that doesn't happen overnight. But God moves and works quickly within the heart of the believer, creating a fleshly heart out of a stony heart. I want you to take your Bibles this morning and go to the book of Proverbs. In the book of Proverbs, in chapter number one, I was reading my devotions this morning. Actually, not this morning, but this week, I mean. And in Proverbs chapter one, an interesting verse struck me as I read through it. It was a verse that dealt with what the Bible calls simplicity. Now, we may think that that is a good thing to be simple. Well, we like the simple life. Well, I'd like to have some simplicity in my life. Although in that context, it can be a good thing, but I assure you, that the way God uses it in His Word, it is not a compliment. And what we're going to learn this morning are five characteristics of the simple-minded and how we can grow beyond it. I'm going to explain something to you about this in Proverbs 1. I want you to look with me at verse 22. It says, how long, ye simple ones, will you love simplicity? And the scorners delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge. I was reading that in my devotions this week and I stopped and I thought, how long will we love simplicity? How long, you simple ones, will we love simplicity? I got to thinking about that. In the Bible, the word simple and simple minded and simplicity is largely used as a derogatory term describing somebody who's a fool, describing somebody who's naive and silly and stupid and makes rash decisions. So although in some context, simple may be good in the context we're talking about it this morning, simple is not good. If we look to define the simple minded, it's defined as this lacking in subtlety or sophistication, being naive in nature, acting foolish or silly. As I was reading this in my devotions, I thought there are some out there who love simplicity. And God, in his word, is asking the reader, how long are we going to love simplicity? How long are we going to be comfortable in simplicity? How long are we going to like it? How long are we going to stay there? You know, just as we were talking about spiritual growth and the progression of spiritual growth and the navigation of spiritual growth, do you know that there's a degradation to spiritual growth also? And simplicity is step number one. And the last step lands you in what the Bible calls a scorner. You are never stagnant in your spiritual growth, per se, you are either moving forward or moving backward. The Bible warns us of those simple minded ones, those simple ones who love simplicity. They stay there. They wallow in it. They're comfortable in that simplicity. And the greatest story I can think of is found in Judges chapter 12. Turn there with me, because we're going to look at a man in the book of Judges who had a very simple outlook on life. In fact, he was very simple minded. He's the epitome of what we're going to describe. In fact, we're going to use his life this morning to pull out five principles, five characteristics of the simple minded. In verse number 29 of chapter number 11, it says this, the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. And he passed over Gilead. And Manasseh and passed over Mishpah and Gilead from Mishpah of Gilead. He passed over unto the children of Ammon. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon shall surely be the Lord's. And I will offer it up for a burnt offering. Look at what it says in verse number 32. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he smote them from Aror even till thou come to Minoth, even twenty cities under the plain of the vineyards in very great slaughter. with a very great slaughter. Thus, the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel." Look at verse 34, "...and Jephthah came to Mishpah unto his house. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances. And she was his only child. Beside her, he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass that when he saw her, that he rent his clothes and said, Alas, my daughter, thou hast brought me very low. And thou art one of them that trouble me, for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord and cannot go back. And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth. For as much as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even unto the children of Ammon." And she said unto her father, let this thing be done for me. Let me alone two months that I may go up and down upon the mountains and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. And he said, go. And he sent her away for two months. And she went with her companions and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And it came to pass at the end of two months, she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow, which he had vowed. And she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel. That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite, four days in a year. Now, let's pray before we go any further. Father God, we come before you this morning. God, your Word warns us of being simple. It warns us against the simple-minded, which I believe dwells in each and every one of us. God, I pray that you'd help us carefully look at this story, examine what you're trying to teach us, Father God, from this man. Who, on one hand, was a great man of valor. And did wonderful works for you. But on the other hand, was a miserable failure. Because of his simple mindedness. Father God, it's one of the few times in Scripture that we see these two dynamics play out. Lord, we pray that you would bless us. Pray that you would convict us, Father God. Lord, if there's anybody here this morning who does not know you as their own personal Savior, God, I pray that you would convict them through this message. Lord, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. And we come to this story where we run into this man, Jephthah. Jephthah is a man that's described as a mighty man of valor. We see that he comes from questionable backgrounds as he's the son of a harlot, by the way. His family, because he was the son of a harlot, runs him out of town. But then all of a sudden, the Ammonites come and want to make war with them. And so they call them back and we say, hey, we need Jephthah. Nothing like a friend who calls you when they need something, right? Hey, get out of here. Oh, by the way, can I borrow your And so we see this strange dynamic in Scripture. In fact, the only other person that I can really see this in is David. David was very successful in many areas of his life, but he was a miserable failure in many areas of his life as well. And so it is with Jephthah, as we look at this story, he is a great man of value, lots of success. God is blessing him in certain areas of his life, but in other areas of life where he is unwilling to submit, where he loves his simplicity, he is failing miserably. You with me this morning? And so we enter this story where the man Jephthah comes out And the Ammonites want to make war with him. And he says, well, let me tell you something, God, if you give us victory, I'll sacrifice whatever walks through that door. God gives him victory. And after the battle, his own daughter walks through the door. Right? And we've got to realize at this point that something's wrong with this mighty man of valor. That the simple-mindedness that people love to wallow in has infiltrated the mind of this man. And I look at it this morning and I ask myself, is there any part of me that is simple-minded, that loves simplicity in this respect? As I look at the story of Jephthah, it's revealed to me and hopefully revealed to all of us that there's a little part in every one of us that loves simplicity and being simple minded. Let's walk through this this morning as we look at Judges chapter 11, and we'll also look at chapter number 12 this morning. But I want you to notice the first characteristic of the simple minded, number one, He is not discerning about the company that he keeps. The simple-minded are not discerning about the company that they keep. Are you with me? The simple-minded doesn't care who they hang out with. The simple-minded doesn't care who they surround themselves with. And you say, well, where do you get that, Pastor? Well, look back at chapter 11 and look at verse 3. It says, then Jephthah fled when his family kicked him out from his brethren and dwelt in the land of Tob. And there were gathered vain men to Jephthah and went out with him. Vain. Means meaningless. Without contributing any value. This is who Jephthah chose to hang out with. Right? We see right here that there's a red flag in all of this. We know that in verse number one of chapter number 11, he's described as being a mighty man of valor. But all of a sudden, just a couple of verses later, all of a sudden we're seeing something in him, a characteristic in Jephthah that is very simple minded in that he's not discerning about who he hangs out with, what company he keeps. You know, the Bible has a lot to say about the company that we keep. You aware of that? Who do you choose to spend your time with? My mom always used to tell me, you are who your friends are, and I believe that to be absolutely true. Whoever you hang out with, you will become like them. That's why Christian fellowship is so important. Are you with me this morning? Because when we fellowship with other believers, although they may not be perfect, most of them anyway, There ought to be something about the characteristic of the Christians that we hang out with that we can glean from them. There ought to be some kind of wisdom, some kind of counsel. We're all like minded in that respect. Right. And so we choose Christian fellowship over fellowship with the world. But, you know, there are many Christians out there who choose to be simple and love simplicity. And they don't care who they hang out with. They may hang out with somebody who drinks excessively. They may hang out with somebody whose conversation isn't quite what it should be. You with me? They may hang out with somebody who, hey, may lead them in the wrong direction. In fact, in chapter number one of Proverbs, what we've already looked at, it goes on to say, stay away from people who call you over into mischief and say, come with us and let us all put our money into one purse. Right? Stay away from those people. You see here that immediately after Jephthah is declared a mighty man of valor, He slips back into his simple mindedness and is not discerning about the company that he keeps. Who do you spend the most time with? Chances are the person or the people who you spend the most time with will be the ones who you are most like. If you're hanging around with people who are cursing God, well, then guess what? You'll probably soon be doing the same thing. You know, the Bible says a lot about this in Proverbs chapter 13. Why don't you turn there with me this morning? Proverbs chapter 13 and verse number 20. He says, He that walketh with wise men shall be what? Wise. Right? But a companion of fools shall be destroyed. You know, although my mom didn't know she was quoting that verse, she was, in a sense, quoting that verse. Here the Bible says, hey, if you walk with the wise, if you hang out with the wise, if you talk with them, if you fellowship with them, if your time is spent with wise people, guess what happens? You yourself will become wise. But guess what? A companion of fools will be destroyed. Who are your friends? Choose your friends very carefully. Right? Choose your friends very carefully because they will often lead you in the direction that you will go. Are your friends spiritual? Are your friends interested in the things of God? Do they talk about Scripture? Do they love Christ? Or are you trying to play the weekend warrior where you're playing this group over here and this group over here and your excuses? Well, I'm going to witness to them. That's a common excuse to hang out with people. Who do not have God's best interest in mind. You with me this morning? The Bible says, be very careful. About who you hang out with. A companion of fools will be destroyed." And here we see Jephthah heaping to himself what the Bible describes as vain men. And if Jephthah thinks he's on a path to anything other than vain, then he's fooled and deceived himself. Do your friends, do your companions love the things of God? You know, there's a principle found in the Old Testament in the furniture of the tabernacle and the temple. The principle is this, that the unclean makes the clean unclean. Does that make sense? So many people think that I can affect that group. I can change that group. I can have an influence on all those people. Listen, you are outnumbered in that respect. You should be very careful to witness to them, yes, but witness to them at a distance. Because the principle says that the unclean thing makes the clean thing unclean. And so often Christians approach their companions with the mindset that the clean thing makes the unclean clean. And that simply is not true. Look at First Corinthians, chapter 15. Look at what Paul says to the church of Corinth who had companion issues, no doubt. Look at what he says to this church. He says in chapter number 15 and look at verse number 33. He says, be not deceived, evil communication, corrupt good manners. Right. He says, if your communication is with those who are evil, it will corrupt your manners. It will change you. It will change who you are. Well, you young folks better be careful about who you choose for friends. Because if you hang out with a liar, guess what? You'll be a liar. If you hang out with somebody who uses the name of God as a curse word, which by the way, Proverbs says that the enemies of God do that. And you'll soon be joining right in with them. I think about probably one of the best stories we know of, the Bible says Lot vexed his righteous soul by what? The communication of those around him. Says just Lot. Meaning that he was a justified man. Meaning that to some degree he was a righteous man in the Old Testament. And what happened? He vexed his righteous soul by the people that he had around him. He chose to pitch his tent towards Sodom. Amen? The simple minded have no regard for who they allow to be their companions. How long will we love simplicity? Look at the next one with me. Going back to Judges this morning, Judges chapter number 11. We see something else about the simple minded. In chapter number 11 and look at verse number 30, it says this. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord and said, if thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of mine house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon shall surely be the Lord's. I will offer it up for a burnt offering. Well, gee, Jephthah, that's a little bit of an overkill. I mean, I would have just had in mind to say, hey, God, could you deliver us a victory on this one? I don't think he needed to go quite as far as to say, God, if you give us a victory, the next thing that walks through that door, I'll put it to death, I'll make it a burnt offering for you, God. Right. I don't know about you, but when I read that, I look at that and say that's just a wee bit overzealous. We see that the simple minded or the simple mind in each and every one of us has an exaggerated zeal, not matching its knowledge. Amen. An exaggerated zeal. I think we've all known people like this. It typically happens to those when they first come to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. They get very zealous and I praise God for their zealous zealousness. It's a good thing. Don't get me wrong. Every one of us should be zealous and think I wish that we could take in and siphon off the zealousness of the new Christians and put it into some old Christians. I'm not saying that zealousness is a bad thing. I think we need more of it. We need more zeal for the Lord Jesus Christ. But you and I all know that as we grow in the Lord Jesus Christ, we grow in what? The knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible tells us that our zeal should be tempered with knowledge. Right? I remember there were times when I was a bit overzealous for the Lord. Now, looking back, I see that was just me being and loving simple mindedness. Right. We go out and we're going to conquer the world, we're going to charge hell with a score gun. We're going to save everybody. We're going to witness to everybody. And those are good things. Don't get me wrong. I love to see the zeal in new and young Christians. But so often what happens is that the zeal is exaggerated. Let me say that when we exaggerate zeal in our lives, when it is beyond the bounds of our knowledge, That often the people that we love get hurt. Just like in this story with Jephthah's daughter. Right. Have you ever heard anybody being overzealous? I think I have. I think if we were all honest with each other, we'd say maybe we have. Right. We say something, but it's true. That's what God's word says. Well, that may be true. And a sword is sharp, so be careful swinging it around. Right. I know of many Christians. Whose family won't even talk to them anymore. because of their overzealousness, their exaggerated zeal not matching their own knowledge. You with me this morning? And it's sad because some of those Christians will openly admit and say, yeah, I was a little overzealous. I was a young Christian. But you know, there's still some Christians whose family will not speak to them. And because they love simplicity, They justify it. They say, well, bless God, I was witnessing to them, I was sharing the gospel, I was preaching the truth to them. If they can't handle it, then they should just get out of the kitchen. Well, that's smart. Run everybody off so then you can't ever witness to them again. That makes sense, right? And they justify it. They beat their chests as if they are doing God a favor. That's the sad thing. Be careful in your zeal, is what I'm saying to you. That zeal is a good thing, and many Christians need more zeal. And to be zealous for Christ, there's nothing wrong with that. But to always make sure that your zeal is parallel with your knowledge. Amen. Look at what Scripture says in Romans chapter 10. Look at Romans chapter 10 with me. I've seen many people do a lot of damage with their zeal. Romans chapter 10. He says, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. You know, that's indicative of people who are overzealous or have an exaggerated zeal that's beyond their knowledge. Is that they have a desire to establish their own righteousness. And what they don't understand because of their immaturity, their spiritual immaturity, is that it is God that does the work and not us. And the moment you realize that it's God doing the work through us and the best thing we can do is just get out of the way. Then all of a sudden, our zeal begins to be tempered with knowledge. I was talking to a young Christian recently, and he's at the place where his zeal is becoming tempered with knowledge. He's made some mistakes with his zeal, his exaggerated zeal. He's hurt some people in his family, and he's realized that it's not spiritually profitable. You with me? And he sat across the table And he looked at me with the puppy dog eyes, right? And he said, I used to look at people like you as cop-outs, right? But he says, I think that the older people in the Lord may have just learned a few more things along the way. Right? You see, just because somebody isn't dragging their knuckles on the floor and breathing out of their mouth, and yelling in the face of lost people, shoving gospel tracts in their pockets, right? There's a way to do that stuff. Amen? And sometimes we do a lot of damage because we think we're right and we want everybody else to know it. Amen? And he looked at me and he said, I think you guys have just learned some things along the way. And I told him, I said, yeah, we've learned diplomacy. We've learned that you've got to pick your battles. We've learned that instead of seizing one opportunity to witness to somebody, maybe looking further on down the line and realizing that being able to witness to them for a lifetime is much better than being able to witness to them for a day. Right. And so it's interesting that we see that Jephthah keeping to himself vain people, his simple mindedness, not allowing him to have the discernment to choose the companions in his inner circle. And so he just allows anybody in. And that affects the direction that he goes. We see that he loves his simplicity, his simple mindedness. And at the moment that he gets an opportunity to show his zeal for the Lord, guess what? He makes a huge mistake that causes pain for not only him, but I'm sure his wife as well. Amen? It reminds me of Peter. Right? Lord, I'll fight and die for you. Most of the time when people have an exaggerated zeal, they're trying to cover up their own weaknesses. It wasn't but a few chapters later, Peter's around a fire denying that he even knows the Lord. Don't get me wrong, zeal is good. And being on the streets, witnessing to people and street preaching, those are all good things. God's called us to do that, to share the Gospel, to spread the Good News. If you're not doing that, you're in disobedience to what God is wanting you to do. Witnessing to somebody, you don't need to pray about whether God wants you to do that or not. He's already told us that He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. His will is that that person comes to repentance, so you should witness to them. There's nothing wrong with zeal as long as it is tempered with knowledge. Paul talks about Israel, that they might be saved, and he says, for I bear record that they have a zeal of God. They love the Lord, they want to do some things for God, but their zeal is not tempered with knowledge. Right? And so often when we see the simple minded, they're doing more damage than good with their zeal. Look at 2 Corinthians. Look at chapter number 12. He says this. After he besought the Lord three times. To take the thorn in the flesh away. God responds with this message to the apostle Paul. And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, my strength is made perfect in weakness, most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities. That the power of Christ may rest upon me, therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and necessities and persecutions in distress for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, Then I am strong. I am become a fool in glorying, you have compelled me for I ought to have been compelled of you for nothing am I behind a very chiefest apostle, though I be nothing. It's the mistake of those who have an exaggerated zeal. That they are powering. Their ministry. It's the mistake of those who have an exaggerated zeal that they are doing something for God, that they are being strong, that they're going to go out and conquer the world, that they're going to progress the kingdom of God. Right. But as Paul says. Toward the end of his ministry. I spent three times asking God to take this thing from me. And he says, God said no. And what I learned from God saying no, because sometimes God's answer is no. Right. What I learned from God saying no to me. Is that in my weakness. Christ is strong. Right. What does he say at the end of verse number nine? Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. I don't want my own power. I want the power of Christ to rest upon me. And the Bible says the only way we have the power of Christ resting upon us is when we recognize that we're weak. And in those areas that we recognize our weakness, then we are strong through Christ, which strengthened me. And it's those with an exaggerated zeal, it's those who love their simplicity. Who will never understand that. Until they lay down their pride and temper their zeal with knowledge, go back to judges. We see Jephthah very successful in areas of his life. In fact, he's mentioned in the Faith Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11. But in other areas of his life, he is failing. He's failing in the areas where his simple-mindedness is getting in the way. His simple-mindedness says, it doesn't matter who you hang out with. Just pick anybody. His simple-mindedness says, Your zeal is what's driving your strength. You're a mighty man of valor because of your zeal. And so he tries to manipulate God with his zeal, by the way. Well, God, I'll do this if you do that. God doesn't play that game. God is not one to be manipulated. He's not a vending machine. Notice this, that the simple minded is fixated on the immediate at the expense of what I like to call the trajectory. Are you with me so far this morning? That the simple minded are fixated on the here and now instead of the repercussions of what happens from our actions today. We see this in the story. Where he says, God, if you give us victory after the victory, the first thing that walks through the door of my house, I will give it as a burnt offering. His daughter walks through the doors. And what does he do? What does he say to his own daughter? It says in verse 35 in chapter number 11, it came to pass when he saw her that he rent his clothes and said, Alas, my daughter, thou hast brought me very low. She brought you low. How about your big mouth brought you low? Amen. Notice what he says further. And thou art one of them that trouble me." I don't think she's troubled anybody. All she did was come skipping and dancing through the front door. And he stops her and says, oh, you have brought me low. You are troubling me and she's probably sitting there saying, well, what in the world could I have done? I just got here. For I have opened my mouth, well, that can be a problem. Right. Under the Lord and I cannot go back. And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth. For as much as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. She was submissive. Maybe one of the areas that he succeeded in was raising children. But his simple mindedness is soon to wipe all of that away. Could you imagine investing all of your life into your children? And in one fell swoop, opening your mouth and saying something really stupid takes all of that away. Right? How sad. What Jephthah was concerned about was the here and now. God, I want to win this victory. God, I'm going to manipulate you to give me this victory. So I'm going to, in my exaggerated zeal, tell you that the next thing that comes in the door, I will give it as a burnt offering. God gave him the victory, but the fact is that He would have given them the victory had He not said that. because God's in the habit of giving victory to obedient people. Amen. And in fact, what Jephthah had not learned quite yet was that God glories in obedience rather than sacrifice. In your life, How fixated on the here and now are you? We live in a society with 30 second sound bites and burgers in less than 15 seconds at the fast food place. We live in a society of instant gratification. Our minds are taught to expect things and expect them right now. Right. And so we make decisions for the here and now and we're fixated on today, but how often do we think about the trajectory, meaning how often do we think about what's coming on down the line? How often do we contemplate the idea of our decisions that we make today affecting us years down the road? I can tell you with certainty that there are things in my life that I am carrying the baggage of decisions that I made twenty years ago. And kids, let me say this to you. Children, youngsters in the crowd. Noah looks up like a good boy. Yes. When your parents are trying to teach you what's right and wrong and they seem to withhold things from you, it's because they're not fixated on the immediate. but they are watching out for your trajectory. Does that make sense? But you know what, parents? Sometimes we're good at teaching that to our kids, but we're not so good at applying that to our own personal lives. The things you buy today, well, they'll have consequences later on. I think the Bible says somewhere, you reap what you sow. And what you sow today, you'll reap it later on down the line. And because the consequences are not immediate, all of a sudden we think, well, then we don't have to worry about them until later. But the consequences will come nonetheless. Look at 2 Kings chapter 20. 2 Kings chapter 20 and look at verse number 19. Then said Hezekiah unto God, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. You know what the word of the Lord is that was just spoken? God's going to destroy Israel. And Isaiah lays it out for King Hezekiah and says, this is when it's going to happen. It's going to happen after you're no longer king. And what does Hezekiah say? He says, good is the word of the Lord that thou hast spoken. And he said, is it not good if peace and truth be in my days? Hezekiah is the epitome of being fixated on the immediate. Well, hey, as long as everything's good in my day, I really don't care what happens to my kids or my grandkids. Right. Fixated on the immediate at the expense of the trajectory. It's for those who love simple mindedness. Genesis 25 and verse number 34, you don't have to turn there. But Esau. Right? What did he do? He got hungry. He gave his entire birthright for what? A bowl of stew. But I'm hungry now. I don't care about the trajectory. I want food now. Alright, fine, I'll give up my birthright. Do you know what? The Bible says that he went back to get his birthright. The Bible says that he didn't get it because repentance was not found for him even though he sought it with tears, the New Testament said. He went to his father and cried and said, God, please give me my birthright back. Sorry, deal's done. Hope that soup was good. because it sure costs you. Do you have times in your life when you look back and you go, the soup wasn't that good? Amen? The simple-minded are fixated on the immediate at the expense of the trajectory. Now, let's move on for the sake of time. The fourth characteristic of the simple minded is this. The simple mind is void of the ability to act with diplomacy. Look at this with me. Interesting turn of events that take place in the life of Jephthah. If you look at chapter number 12. His cousins come down. Ephraim. And they say, hey Jephthah, you made war with the Ammonites, you walked through our territory to get there and make war with them, and yet you didn't call us to the fight. Right? And now because of this, we're angry because we like a good fight and we weren't sharpening our swords just to look at them. Right? And you know what they say? They're mad. They're steaming hot. They say, that's it, Jephthah. Here's the goat. We're going to go down and we're going to burn your house to the ground. Right? Okay. Next time I'll be sure and give you a call. Right? That's not what Jephthah says. Look at what Jephthah says. Verse number two in Jephthah says, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon. And when I called you, you delivered me not out of their hands. And when I saw that you delivered me not, I put my life in my hands and passed over against the children of Ammon. And the Lord delivered them into my hand. Wherefore, then are ye come up unto me this day to fight against me? Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead smote Ephraim because they said the Egillites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites. So he ran a lot of town. He fought them. Seems to me there's a more diplomatic way to handle things. Amen? There's a lost art of diplomacy. In witnessing. Right? In sharing spiritual truths with people. Have you ever known somebody who is speaking the truth, but they do it in such an ugly way? You don't blame anybody for not wanting to have anything to do with them ever? Look, we've got the gold. Right? We got the silver. There's nothing wrong with polishing the silver and shining the gold. And making it presentable to people. Instead of when people have a problem or we find ourselves in conflict, immediately what we do is make a bunch of excuses and go to war. Amen. That's not the way to do things. Look at Proverbs chapter 25. Proverbs chapter 25, look at what it says. In verse number 11, a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold and pictures of silver. As an earring of gold, an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear. Underline wise reprover. That's you. Amen? A wise reprover does not say things out of turn. A wise reprover does not say things that are not fitly spoken. He says in verse 13, as the cold of snow and time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him for he refresheth the soul of his masters. Hey, man, there's something to be said about tactfulness in the South. If you're from the South, they call it. But it's all the same anywhere you go. Sometimes a little diplomacy will get you a long way. Right, what does Proverbs also say, look at chapter number 15, a soft answer turned away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. You know what Jephthah's words were? Grevious. He didn't do much to try to put some water on the fire. Right? You know what happens to us? We walk up to a fire and we just throw a can of gas on it sometimes just to watch it burn. Oh, don't tell me you don't do that. I do that. I love to do that. My flesh loves to do that. Just ask my wife. She'll tell you, I love that. I live for that. It's wrong, but I enjoy it every single time. She'll be huffing and puffing. Right? She's walking around the house like a pretty little wet hen. Right? And I'll just walk up and be like, I'll just throw something out there. And I'm like, wow, did you see that? That's cool. Did you see the look in her eye? Looked like a vein was gonna... I love it. Feels so good. And I'm so quick-witted when I let myself go. She will look at me sometimes and say, I can't believe you just said that. At that moment, she does not see me as apples of gold and pictures of silver. Right? I just love to do it, to watch it burn. But you know what? It gets me in a lot of trouble, man. Tell you that right now. Sometimes we need to learn to approach a situation with a little diplomacy. And the simple mindedness within each and every one of us doesn't like diplomacy. Right? We like to watch it burn. We like to throw some gas on it. See how high we can get the flames. Amen. Here's the last and fifth characteristic and we'll be done. Unfortunately, the simple mind punishes others who are not like them. Look at what he goes on to do. After the battle with his cousins, by the way, his kin, the tribe of Ephraim, all of the survivors are trying to get back to their land. He stops them at Jordan and he tells his guys, hey listen, now we're going to have a bunch of Ephraimites coming back here trying to get back to their land, so what you should do is ask them if they're Ephraimites. If they're not, right? If they say no, then ask them to pronounce this word. Shibboleth. And he says, if they come in and they say Sibboleth, you know their Ephraims and kill them. Well, unfortunately, 42,000, the Bible says, pronounced Shibboleth, Sibboleth. I think the very simple thing here is that he was trying to determine who were Ephraimites by their accent. OK. But I think the principle that we can learn here. Is that he was willing to kill his own family, his own people. who were not like Him, who didn't pronounce it the way He did, who He had thrown the gas on this fire anyway. Amen? Think about this. God has made each and every one of us different. Understand that, please, because unfortunately in Christian circles today, we are of the mindset that everybody has to be like us. And you know what? That just simply is not true. There's already enough Pastor Brandins. Right? Christianity has put us in this box mold and said everybody has to dress the same. Everybody has to act the same. Everybody has to do the same. Guess what? We're not all the same. The Bible says that some of us are hands and some of us are feet and some of us are eyes and some of us are ears. Right. We need to understand. Look at Matthew, chapter 10, verse number 30. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered, Christ says. You know, that ought to tell us something. I don't think that we all have the same number of hair on our heads. Right. I wish my number was higher. When Christ says this. He's speaking of the sovereignty and the omniscience of God, but in turn, he's telling us that each and every one of us are different. That some of us have skills and talents and abilities over here and some of us don't have any of those skills and talents. We have skills and talents in this set over here. Some of us like this. Some of us don't like that. Some of us look like this. Some of us look like that. We're all different. God's created us all that way. We're formed in the womb, right? Amen. So why is it that Christianity is trying to reverse the createdness of God? He's made us all different. I think we should celebrate that difference and not try to cover it up and make us all uniform. That's what so many churches are doing today. You might as well just wear uniforms at church, right? Because they all want you to fit in this little box where you're supposed to fit. Well, guess what? Some of us don't fit in that little box. Some of us were made different, so we don't fit in that box. Some of us don't want to go in the box. Right? Some of us are not called to go to the box. Some of us are called to go somewhere else. Tell you right now, this church, not perfect. You with me? But one of the things we strive to do is to say, hey, look, we're all different. So let's find a place for you in this church that fits what God has given to you. Instead of trying to make us all uniform little soldiers, right? God's given us all kinds of skills, talents, sets that differ from each other. Now, what's the cure to all of this? Now, we're going to be done. You say, well, each and every one of us have a little bit of simple-mindedness in us. Would you admit to that? To some degree, simple-mindedness floats around inside the head of each of us, and it likes to peek itself out at times. The characteristics manifest themselves in different ways, but it's there nonetheless. So what do we do about it? Well, very simple, very short. Look at what it says in Psalm 19, 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure. What? Making wise the simple. You know what the antithesis of simple mindedness is? Wisdom. And you know where you get wisdom from? This book. And you know what we like to do? We like to say, yeah, wisdom comes from this book. So what I need to do is read it. Well, that's true, but that's half the story, you know. That's like saying, hey, my car runs. All I need to do is get in and sit down in the front seat. Hey, there's a whole other part to the story. Yeah, you've got to read it to know it, but you've got to do it. The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. You know what David is saying? Obedience. Obedience is the cure for simple mindedness. And if you look at the story of Jephthah, you will quickly realize that in the areas that he succeeded in were areas that he was doing what God had told him to do. Right? In the areas that he was failing miserably in were the areas where he was just making up the rest. Right? Where in the world does it say that in order to win a victory, you've got to sacrifice to God? Way overboard. Why don't we just make it up as we go? Well, that's what the simple minded do. Is there a part of you that's simple minded this morning? Is there a part of you that loves simplicity? Let's bow our heads, close our eyes as the piano plays. The altar is open. The Lord has spoken to your heart this morning. How long will you love simplicity?