We'll be looking at some highlights in the life of Saul. We're skipping on a few chapters this evening to 1 Samuel chapter 15. 1 Samuel and the chapter 15. A familiar portion. 1 Samuel 15, we'll read from the beginning of the chapter. Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be keen over his people, over Israel. Now, therefore, hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. Thou saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not. but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. And Saul gathered the people together and numbered them and tell them 200,000 foot men and 10,000 men of Judah. And Saul came to a city of Amalek and laid wait in the valley. And Saul said unto the Canaanites, Go, depart, Get your town from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. So the Canaanites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havelah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. And he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the age of the sword. But Saul and his people spared Agath, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them, but everything that was vile and refuge, that they utterly destroyed. Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, It repenteth me, that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following me and have not performed my commandments.' And it grieved Samuel, and he cried unto the Lord all night." Then we're skipping down to verse 22. And Samuel said, "'Have the Lord his great delight and burnt offerings and sacrifice, as in obeying the voice of the Lord. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned, For I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with thee, that I may worship the Lord. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee, for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king. Over. Israel. Amen. We know that God will bless the reading of his precious word to each of our hearts. Let's just briefly commit our meeting to the Lord. Lord, we thank you tonight for the reading of thy precious word. We rejoice that it's history, and yet we thank thee it's more than history. We thank thee that there are lessons to be gleaned, and so we pray for grace to glean them. We pray for strength that we might hear thy word and obey thy word. Oh, that we might not walk as Saul walked, but that we might look at him and see his falling and determine in our hearts that we will never walk where he walked. To that end, Lord, help us now as we turn to the scriptures. Bring to my mind what God would have us to say and bless the preaching of thy word. or I ask this in thy name and for thy glory. Amen. 1 Samuel chapter 15, we read in verse 8, And he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the age of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag. One of the children of Israel's most ancient enemies was Amalek, They descending from Saul they were for the most part a savage and cruel people. They running roughshod over other nations, torturing and raping. They left behind them a trail of blood. No sooner did the children of Israel cross over the Red Sea than they attacked them at the hindmost part. They preyed upon those who were lagging behind and those who were weak, elderly and sick. They showed no mercy. And although they were eventually defeated, they refused to give up. Rather regrouping, we find them in the days of the judges attacking the children of Israel again and again. They left no outrage on trial. And Samuel now reminding Saul of these events, he told him to go and to smite Amalek. And in attacking them, he was to utterly destroy them. Some might say, but did not the events that you just have mentioned happen over 400 years earlier? However, Amalek had not changed. In verse 18, the Lord describes them there as sinners. And in verse 33, we are told their king had made the woman childless. He had murdered not only their sons and their daughters, but their husbands, so that their wives could have no more children. And going up against them, Saul now was to spare no woman and no child, not even their camels, their sheep, or their oxen were to be spared. None of them were to escape, no matter their size, no matter their background, they were to be put to death. And of course, when they come into the word of God, we discover that Ammonite and my speaks to us of the flesh or that old sinful nature that is in each of us. And you see, rather than sparing the flesh, the Lord would have us to slay the flesh. There is to be a point of death of every evil desire. Indeed, Paul instructing the Roman believers, he told them in Romans 8, 13, that through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body. The word mortify there simply means to kill or to put to death. You see, rather than entertaining, there must be an executing of those sinful desires, a putting of them to death. It reminds me of a man who going to church, he prayed every Sunday. Every Sunday, he prayed the exact same prayer. He prayed, Lord, take the cobwebs out of my life. The preacher eventually got sick and tired, listening to him, repeating the same prayer every Sunday. So on Sunday, the man praying, Lord, take the cobwebs out of my life. The preacher prayed immediately after him, and he prayed, Lord, kill the spider. And you know there must be a slaying of the spiders in our lives, a putting away or a putting to death of those sinful desires. Rather than entertaining the flesh, rather than excusing the flesh, there is to be a putting to death of its desires. If not, then we will be overcome. And so I want for a short time draw your attention this evening to Saul's disobedience in this chapter. I want you to notice, firstly, the rebellion of Saul. In going out to battle, Saul had recruited 200,000 footmen and a farther 10,000 out of the tribe of Judah. he overcoming the Amalekites, he had pursued them from one end of the country to the other. And while he destroyed and devastated their cities, yet notice here that his obedience was incomplete. The command of God had been very, very clear. He was to utterly destroy them and he was to do it now. And yet we read in verse nine, but Saul and the people spared Agath, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the facklings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. Humanly speaking, we can understand by the sparing of the sheep, but why did he spare their wicked, evil king? The historian Josephus suggested was because of the comeliness of his person. He being tall and strong, Saul perhaps wanted to display him as a trophy of war. And while he slew all of their warriors except one, yet he sparing that one, the Lord was displeased rather than being pleased. You see, partial obedience is but disobedience. Rather than bringing the smile of heaven, it brings the scowl of heaven. Jehoshaphat coming to the throne, he introduced a radical reform program while he tore down many of the pagan altars and he fortified many of the cities that had been overrun. We read in 1 Kings 22 verse 43, And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father. He turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. Nevertheless, thy places were not taken away. And the word nevertheless there stands out as a dark cloud in another wise, bright sky. He failing to completely obey God and to pull down the high places, we find those high places then corrupting the people. You see, no one truly obeys God, but he who endeavors to wholly obey God. Incomplete obedience or select obedience is but rank disobedience. What would have happened if Noah had only partially obeyed the Lord? What if he had built the hull of the ark and he had built the sides, but said, well, I don't really think that we need a door in the ark. But by the rains coming and the waters rising and the storms blowing, by the water going in through the door, the ark would have sunk. And it's so easy in life to give up some things that are wrong, but not other things. It's so easy in life to select the things that we will do and to ignore the things that we don't want to do. Maybe you could say, Preacher, that I, in regard to sin, I have put away 80% of those things that God's troubled me about. But rather than congratulating your 80%, My, the Lord would challenge you tonight about the 20%. You see, this was the problem with this king. He obeyed God, but he only partially obeyed God. And only partially obeying God, God was angry. God was annoyed. You see, if we want his well done, there must be an endeavor. and endeavouring to not partially, but to wholly obey him. Not only was his obedience incomplete, but his obedience was incompatible. The writer repeating his crime, he said in verse nine, but Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. but everything that was vile and refuge that they utterly destroy. The phrase to utterly destroy here means to devote to destruction or it means to devote to God, as in the case of the spoils of Jericho. So the spoils of the Amalekites were to be dedicated to the Lord. And as such, in sparing and keeping the best of the sheep, and keeping the best of the oxen, Saul was not only robbing God, but he was keeping the best, the best for himself. And in giving the rest to the Lord, he was, in effect, giving the Lord the leftovers. He was giving him that which was torn, that which was weak, that which was sickly. And you see, rather than requiring that which is last in our lives, the Lord requires that which is first in our lives. He demands and he deserves the very best. Indeed, the children of Israel bringing up their sacrifices, the Lord said in Malachi chapter one and the verse eight, and if you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto thy governor, will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person, saith the Lord of hosts. And instead of bringing up that which was the best, They brought up to the altar that which was lame and blind and sickly. They, passing by the prized heifers, they brought up those that were torn. And the Lord rebuking them, he described their offering as evil. You see, God has no pleasure in that which costs us nothing. It is a smoke in his nostrils. Can you imagine going out to buy yourself a new suit to go to a wedding? And you go into the bank and you draw with draw £300. And just as you're going out the door, you open your wallet, you turn to your wife and you say, there's a tenner. Go and buy yourself a new dress. Well, I think that you would be in deep, deep trouble. And yet how often in life we pay the taxman We pay for our amusements in life. And then if there is anything left, we give it to the Lord. In other words, we eat the cake and we give the crumbs to the Lord. And then we wonder why, why is the Lord not blessing? Why does the Lord not pleased with me? Surely it applies also, not just to our finance, but to our time and to our talents. Sometimes we say, Lord, I'm just so busy. I haven't time to pray. I haven't time to read my Bible. I haven't time to serve you. And yet all the time, you have time for pleasure. You have time to pray. Don't make the mistake that Saul made. Saul might give an offering to the Lord, but he gave the leftovers. He gave that which was all important, that which was insignificant. Surely this evening of the Lord is worth anything. He's worth the best. He deserves the best of our time, the best of our talents. Saul patted himself on the back and thought he was doing well because he gave the leftovers, but God was not pleased. Not only do we see the rebellion of Saul, but notice also here the reasoning of Saul. You see, he had worked it all out in his head, what he would say, what he would do. And he now finally being confronted by his sin, notice that he attempted to deceive Samuel. Samuel coming into the camp, we read verse 13. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said unto Samuel, Blessed be thou the Lord, I have performed the commandment of the Lord. Saul beholding the man of God, he now fell down before him. And he thanking Samuel for the opportunity to serve the Lord, he began to boast of how he had slain the Amalekite warriors, women and children. he pointing to the countless carcasses of sheep and oxen strewn across the countryside. It was as if he was saying, my Samuel, haven't I done well? However, just then the silence was broken by the bleating of sheep and the lowing of the oxen that he had not slain. And in the very moment that Saul was boasting of his obedience, the Lord revealed his disobedience. You see, while sin can be buried for a period, it cannot be buried permanently. It will eventually be revealed. Indeed, Joseph's brother, taking his robes and dipping them in blood, they pretended that he had been slain by wild, devouring animals. And while they were for many, many years able to hide the fact that they had sold their brother into slavery, yet they eventually, coming into the land of Egypt, we read in Genesis 44 in verse 16, and Judah said, what shall we say unto my Lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants. And on that day, their sin was revealed. Be sure that your sin will find you out. It will be revealed. Altair Carr being asked to kneel before Randolphus I, he refused. However, the pressure was put on him, and eventually he agreed that he would bow down before him, but he would do it privately. And so what they did, they erected a great my tent, but at the top of their tent was a drawing card. And when Oticar came in and he bowed down, before round of us someone pulled the card and immediately the tent fell down and all the soldiers and all the people that had gathered could see him bowing down. before round of us. And we can put on a pretense, we can boast of our faithfulness, but one day God will pull the cord. You see, we can't hide our partial obedience. We can't hide permanently our coldness. Rebellion. Can you imagine the shock that was in Saul's heart that day? by boasting of what he'd done. And in the very moment, his rebellion was revealed. It was revealed. He also attempted to defend his sin. He being challenged, he said in verse 21, but the people took of the spoils, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God and kill God. Rather than confessing his sin, he now sought to blame the people. Now, it was all their fault. And of course, with Saul, that was no new strategy. In chapter 13, he's seeking to excuse his disobedience and offering up a sacrifice when he ought not to have done it. He blamed Samuel. He said he was too late in coming to the camp. In chapter 14, Jonathan eating a small portion of honey, he sought to blame him for Israel's defeat. And while he was quick to take the praise when the Philistines were smitten, yet when things went wrong in his life, he was quick, quick to blame someone else. It was always someone else's fault. And in life, It is so easy to fall into the trap that Saul fell into, of blaming others when the fault lies within. Indeed, Solomon warning against such devices, he said in Proverbs 28, verse 13, he that covereth his sin shall not prosper. What were they doing? They were trying to cover their sin. Of course, it was no new phenomenon. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent, and the serpent had no leg to stand on. You see, rather than defending our sin, there must be a discovering of our sin and owning of it before the Lord. The great evangelist Billy Sumner used to say, An excuse is the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie. And how often when we are confronted with our sin, we play the blame game. It's not my fault, it was God's fault. Why did God put me in that situation? Why did God bring me to that place? It's not my fault, it was my wife's fault. She didn't treat me the way she should. She didn't love me as she ought to have loved me. It's not my fault, it's my parents' fault. They forced me to go to church when I didn't want to go to church. They forced me down a road, and that's why I rebelled, and that's why I turned against the Lord. The truth is, It was our fault. Oh, believer, if you failed, if you failed in the realm of obedience, don't try to blame someone else. Oh, there may be circumstances that brought about your failure, but you failed. You didn't rest on the promises of God. You didn't persevere. You give in. Don't try to blame God. Don't try to blame someone else for your failures, for your sin. That was a tragedy of Saul. It's everybody else's fault. It's Jonathan's fault. It's God's fault. It's Samuel's fault. And I wonder, believer, are you blaming someone else? Someone else? Not only the reason or the rebellion of Saul and the reasoning of Saul, but thirdly, I want you to notice the reaction to Saul. Samuel confronting Saul's rebellion. We notice here there was sorrow. We read at the end of verse 11, and it grieved Samuel, and he cried unto the Lord all night. The word grieved here means much more than to sorrow. It literally means to burn as with anger. In fact, it is translated in nine other places as angry. And he seeing how the Lord had been dishonoured by Saul's sin, he becoming exceedingly angry, he burst into prayer and he prayed for Saul all night. And unlike carnal anger, Christ-like anger always leads to supplication. It stirs the heart. to pray. Indeed, Moses coming down the mountain and beholding a golden calf, he was angry. He was exceedingly angry. His anger waxing hot. We read in Exodus 32 verse 19, and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hand and break them beneath the mountain. And he was angry with the people because of their idolatry, but he didn't stop there. Read on, you'll find them praying, praying for the people. And while it's hard to be angry and not to sin, it's not a sin to be angry. But true righteous anger will always lead to prayer. When a brother or sister falls into sin, it's easy to become annoyed with them. It's easy to become angry. And while their sin should annoy us, and while their sin should anger us, it should lead us to pray. It should lead us to pray for them. Are you disappointed with a brother? Are you disappointed with a sister? And we saw our monarch a few weeks ago going to Rome, praying there with the man of sin. And seeing him there, it angers, it angers me. But my friend, it should not only anger us, it should lead us to pray. It should lead us to pray. And the song of Samuel looking out and seeing Saul's sin, He told in the place of prayer. It's easy to be angry and stop there. It's easy to have outrage. But must, if it's true outrage, if it's true anger, it'll lead to prayer. It'll lead to prayer. Not only was there sorrow, but there was separation. There being no sign of repentance. We read in verses 34 and 35, in Sandalwinterrama, And Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death. And while he mourned over Saul's sin, he then departed from them. And they never met again until that day that Samuel's spirit rose at God's command. to confront Saul. You see, as well as praying for a fallen brother, there must be, if there is no repentance, then a parting from that fallen brother, a separating from them. Indeed, the incestuous man in Corinth, refusing to repent of his sin, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5, 13, therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person, and that man having been challenged, that man having been spoken to, that man refusing to repent, Paul then said, put him away. Have no more dealings with him. And rather than walking with, there must be a withdrawing from those who walk disorderly, a putting of them away. Oh believer, as you lift your eyes and you Gaze upon that brother's disobedience. Do you weep? Have you shed tears? Has it driven you to prayer? And if after all of that, they don't repent, then there must be a withdrawing. There must be a parting of company, a dealing with them. And Samuel now left Saul. departed from him. Then lastly, I want you to notice there was the reaping by Saul. He turning from the Lord, the Lord then turning from him. Notice here the rebuke he experienced. Verse 23, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. And while Saul sought to minimize his disobedience, Samuel reminded him it was as impudent and it was as inexcusable as the sin of witchcraft and idolatry. Rebellion to the word of God is a heinous matter. It's vile in the eyes of God. Some people, when they sin, they try to justify their sin. They say it's only a small sin. Or maybe they say, yes, I know it was wrong, but you know, the profit of my sin, I'm going to take and I'm going to give it to the Lord. God has no pleasure in the profits of sin. Rebellion, rebellion to God's word. a placing of ourselves above God's Word, a doing of what we think is right in our own eyes, a pilling of our reasoning above God's Word. It's rebellion. It is as the sin of witchcraft. It is as bowing down before an idol. we find the Lord rebuking Saul, rebuking him. Not only the rebuke, but notice the ruin he experienced in verse 28. And Samuel said unto him, the Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine that is better than you. When we go back into the previous chapters, we discovered it was the Lord who gave him the kingdom. However, he thinking he was wiser than God, going his own way, doing his own thing, God now took the kingdom from him. Rebellion has a price. It robs the soul of all that God has given. And believer, we always need to remember that if we rebel, God will take away the blessings. the blessings that we enjoyed. He gave them and he'd take them away. Just as he has raised, he gave them. He'd take them away. If any man had a reason to be successful, if any man had a reason to prosper, surely it was Saul. He had a divine call. He had the spirit of God. He had Samuel, and Samuel, a praying friend. And yet he lost it all. And it's good to have the call of God and those who call upon God for us and to have the comforter of God. And yet surely the lesson is, we can still fall. We can still make shipwreck. Saul put his own reasoning before obedience to God, and he paid a price. None of us are beyond falling. How we need to keep close. We need to keep close to the Lord. And though he was now rejected, yet we find that God wasn't finished with Israel. We find the Lord anointing David to take his place. And you know then, God has never taken by surprise. He's never laughed at a loss. Because when one brother feels, he's always another rally. A rally to stand in the gap and to take up the cause. But what a tragedy. What a tragedy for Saul. My, that God's kingdom would march on, but Saul would lose out. Oh, how we need to keep close to the Lord, lest we lose out. Lest the Lord would put us on the shelf and bring another to do our service and to do our work. May God help us to keep close and to learn from the fallen.