If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 15. 1 Samuel chapter 15. And brethren, as you go there, it's true, I think, if you observe the lives of believers and unbelievers, you will find that both of their lives are built on a series of decisions, whether good or bad. Just as the carpenter would put together a house one board at a time, so also our lives are built one decision at a time, day by day, year by year. And so the foolish person decides things based upon his own desires and what seems right in his own eyes, while the wise person seeks to obey the voice of God and build their lives upon His Word for an eternal purpose. You don't find exemplary lives of faith created in one specific decision or in one day. It is a lifetime of applying wisdom. It is a daily surrender to God's Word and a continual seeking of Him. But neither do you find a fool made instantaneously. They are shaped as well by one bad choice after another until they eventually meet their demise. And what I want us to understand is that our lives are taking shape incrementally. And as we make decisions, each one pointing us more and more towards our destination, either towards wisdom or towards foolishness, towards a godly life or towards a self-centered one. And if it's true that ideas have consequences, how much more can we say that every decision we make has consequences as well? And so the heart of what I want to say today is this, that obedience to God is the delight of the Christian, but it is also our duty when God's commands contradict our feelings or our logic or our preferences, God does not need our approval for his decrees. He seeks our obedience. And this is most tested when we are faced with something that makes no sense to us or something that we dislike. And so today, as we look at the demise of Saul, let's be reminded that it was his responsibility to obey God. And any justification for disobedience was nothing less than excusing himself for choosing his own way over God's clear direction. And I recognize that we're jumping into a middle of a bigger story, but this chapter is just one instance of a series of bad decisions which, as we know, ended with the kingdom being taken from him. And so I want to look at this chapter under five headings, and the first of which is God's clear command, and we find that in the first three verses. of 1 Samuel chapter 15. It says this, And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people, Israel. Now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, and camel and donkey." And friends, there was no misunderstanding of this command. This was a clear command that God had in mind for his people. And the command was to annihilate the Amalekites. And the command came as all commands of God do to his people, which was a clear and understandable command. Now, I recognize when we come to a text like this, we need to acknowledge that we really struggle and dislike this idea of God going in and wiping out an entire nation of children, sparing no one. Because we think if this is the same God who sent his son to die for us, then why was he so decisive in the destruction of certain nations such as this? And I just want to drive a couple of stakes in the ground to support a view of this, which I think will help. And believe me, I have no intention of addressing all the issues. It would take one or more sermons of just focusing on this. But I want to get through this in such a way that it is comprehensible. So the first thing is this. This is no arbitrary or unjustified decision by God. This nation had it coming for quite a while, and this was God's timing to fulfill his promise of judgment. In Deuteronomy 23, 17 to 19, we read God's plan for these people. He says to the people of Israel, therefore, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget. And you see, it was because of their opposition to the Israelites coming out. And so you see, while Saul was the sword, God was the hand upon the sword, exercising judgment and overseeing justice. This was not some arbitrary decision. But this was also not a bigotry or ethnic cleansing or any such thing. Stin was the issue. If you just look at 1 Samuel 15 verse 18, where the command is recalled, we read this, the Lord sent you on a mission and said, go devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites. It was always sin that was the issue. And God is not one to take lightly the sins of an individual or a nation. But then thirdly, I want us to note that we have to see and be reminded in this text the horrible evil of sin. And brethren, let's just be honest. We read this and we get very uncomfortable because we see God ordering the execution of everyone. And we think, how can this be right? And again, I won't pretend to address all these issues, but the hard truth of this is for us to recognize that not one of us has a proper view of the evilness of sin. We see this war as an overreaction or something out of balance, like did God have a bad day or why? Why would He cause judgment to fall in such severity upon this nation? But the reality is that every sin is a great offense against a holy God. And when a nation of people do nothing but continually provoke the living God by willfully and knowingly going against Him and His commands, His judgment is sure to come. And brethren, you and I can apply that to our own nation very well. We must always remember God's attributes, as was recalled this morning. He is loving, he is kind, and he is equally just and holy. And this, my friends, was the perfect measure of justice given to this nation for their sin was great. And so I recognize this is a sobering note to begin with, but we must always keep in mind the evil of sin and its sure end, because judgment will come upon the wicked, and it is only in finding our refuge in Christ that we are saved from God's wrath. And so we see God's clear command, but then notice secondly, the deceitful disobedience of Saul, verses four through nine. So Saul summoned the people and numbered them, and told them, 200,000 men on foot and 10,000 men of Judah. And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. Then Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. So the Canaanites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Heveliah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. And he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fattened calves, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless, they devoted to destruction." And so, brethren, we see, first of all, that Saul seemingly obeyed right away. He summoned the people and they marched off to war. So far, so good. He seems as though he was following the Lord's commands. And yet as he was in the midst of defeating them, it seems like in the midst of the battle he formed this plan in his mind that would evidently make him appear as some kind of overachiever or a war hero or something of the like. We read that he spared Agag. That was the man! I mean, that was the guy! And he spared him. Why? Saul had his eye on other things as well. It says that he spared all that was good and would not utterly destroy them. And so the deceitful disobedience went like this. God clearly said that everything must die. And Saul said, let's keep Agag as a war trophy. And all these wonderful animals, they're just too good to kill. Let's take back the spoil. Everyone will see that we are the conquerors. We're coming back with the loot. And we brought back all the spoils and we have Agag to prove it. Now, brethren, what can we learn from this? First of all, we notice that somewhere along the line, Saul elevated himself from a servant of God, going about to accomplish his will, to wiser than God, choosing which part of his commands he would obey. And friends, we need to remember an important lesson at this juncture. You and I do not get to pick and choose which portions of God's word we will obey and which portions we will ignore. Because many of us are very diligent to obey certain things in the word and we're committed to it. And yet I wonder if there are other areas equally as clear that we may choose to ignore because they make us uncomfortable and they get us out of what we think is right. for us. I mean, isn't that what Saul's doing? We're sent to completely destroy these people, but I think better of it. God said utterly destroy the livestock, but look at all this wealth we could acquire for ourselves. Let's take it home. I mean, imagine Saul reasoning to himself. You know, God must not have realized what bounty was here and all these cattle. I mean, and you know, generally, God wants us to use our minds, doesn't he not? He wants us to be frugal. He wants us to be wise. Let's just take the best home. You can almost hear him reasoning to himself. But until he reasoned himself into obeying or into disobeying a clear command, I mean, you have to think, what really went through his mind when he decided to spare Agag? I mean, obviously we can't know for sure, but it's not conjecture to say that Saul reasoned to himself that he could override God's command without consequence. And brethren, isn't this what happens to many of us today in our minds? And perhaps we would apply it in a broader sense to American Christianity. But how often do we hear things like this? I just can't bring myself to believe that. I don't believe that God's like that. Or we would say something like this, and you've all heard this. I know God will understand, and he'll forgive me. And we have people who are very quick to make up reasons for why they, like Saul, put themselves in a position which is superior to God and his word and say, this is better than what he says. And brethren, may I exhort you please this morning, may that never be said of us, because we are called to obey, even in the things which we don't see fully and which we cannot understand completely, because it is then that our faith is most proven. We are not privileged to pick and choose our obedience. Jesus said it this way, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say? And brethren, we have to remember that the command to holiness and purity, the command to go and make disciples among the nations, the command to fidelity in marriage, the command for husbands to love their wives, and for wives to submit to their husbands, and for children to obey their parents, and for us to not be covetous, for us to love the brethren, these are all things that we are given to to obey and to follow the Lord. And so we want to be very careful that when we find ourselves justifying our decisions, not to obey something that is clear. It's likely because we have the same issue that Saul seems to have had, which likely would have been pride. And so we don't get to choose the portions of God's word we want to obey. But another lesson we learn is this. Partial obedience is disobedience. I mean, one could look at this and reason that God maybe was being a little bit harsh, right? Because after all, Saul did defeat the people. He did devote a lot of things to destruction. But Samuel didn't see it that way. He said in verse 19 when he confronted Saul, So partially obeying God's word is like partially being submitted to him. It's this justifying of why we are above God, which is utter foolishness and pride. I mean, can't you just hear Saul reasoning to himself again? There's no reason to destroy all these animals. Just think of all that we could have and all the sacrifices, and we'll take them for our own stock, and our wealth will increase, and we'll be glorifying to God. I mean, he can go on and on. The reasoning can go until he reasoned himself into disobedience. But then finally, I want us to see a spiritual correlation here that I think is quite obvious between the command to annihilate the Amalekites and the command that we have to kill our own sin. And brethren, we're sent off to war. We're sent off to war with our sin, and we take no captives. Off with Agag's head! That's the command. to put our sin to death. And so it must never be our practice in our fight for holiness to take out the easy sins, to overpower that which is easy for us, and to spare that which is precious or difficult. And I would ask you to consider the question, are you accustomed to keeping the sins that you like? And you may see them as small and insignificant. Do you justify not putting away sin because you think you can handle it and you play with that until it overtakes you? May it never be among God's people to war with sin, to war with sin. From the least to the greatest. So deceitful disobedience, and then we see a regretful rebuke versus 10 through 19. The word of the Lord came to Samuel, I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments. And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, and it was told Samuel, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed and went down to Gilgal. And Samuel came to Saul and Saul said to him, blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord. And Samuel said, what then is this bleeding of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of oxen that I hear? Saul said, they have brought them from the Amalekites for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God. And the rest we have devoted to destruction. But Samuel said to Saul, Stop, I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night. And he said to him, Speak. Samuel said, Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel, and the Lord sent you on a mission and said, Go devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed. Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of God, in the sight of the Lord? First of all, let's note the response of God. he regretted that he made Saul king. You have the King James Version that says, it repenteth me that I have made him king. And we obviously have some difficulty in this thought, because if God is all-knowing, and he is, and if God is all-powerful, and he is, then how could he have ever gotten to a place where he is regretful? And if it is possible, why didn't he just avoid it? And again, brethren, I don't have time to open this up as it should be in order to get through the whole chapter, but here are just a couple of things to note that may help us. First of all, the word is an expression of sorrow. is an expression of sorrow. This is a revelation of God which helps us understand that he is not some cosmic computer pushing buttons and feeling nothing and indifferent to what happens. He's not a programmed force. He is a living God and he is sorrowful over what Saul had done. When Samuel went and Or when Saul went and made a mess of everything and turned his back on God, it wasn't as though God was just indifferent towards it. He was sorrowful, and it grieved him, much like it grieved him in Genesis 6 over the sin of mankind. We read there that God regretted. And so this is not as much of an example of God changing his mind as it is revealing his grief. He knew what Saul was going to do, and yet he was grieved. And brethren, I would just remind you, don't we read the exhortation in the New Testament, do not grieve the Holy Spirit? I mean, we recognize this is consistent language with what we know of God. So anyway, but then we notice this. The change which caused this response from God was not a change in God, but in Saul. Why did God regret making Saul king? For he has turned his back from following me. Now brethren, we need to keep our Bibles handy when we try to make sense of this, because there are many truths in Scripture which tell us of God's sovereignty, and we will never lose our grip upon that. But we also want to maintain a firm hold on the fact that man is responsible for his sin and the choices he makes. We don't read that God made Saul turn away from God. We read that Saul turned away from God. And friends, in the midst of all our debates about how God can regret something or how can he change, don't lose the fact that Saul is the one who made these decisions, who led to this outcome. And what I want to lay upon our consciences is the fact that we must be diligent to obey the commands of God. For if we continue to reject him, if we continue to choose our own path and prefer our own finite wisdom over his infinitely wise revelation, then we're following the foolishness of Saul, which will eventually lead to our own demise. We are commanded to obey. And so we see the response of God. But then notice also the response of Samuel. We read that Samuel was angry. And he cried to the Lord all night. The word literally means it burned within him. It angered him how God was dishonored. It angered him that Saul was making a senseless mess of this kingdom. And it even angered him, maybe, that God made him king. So let's learn some things from this. First of all, godly people. cry out to God before they go to men. God is to be our first audience when trouble comes. Do we run to him in prayer when we are faced with severe sorrow? I mean, these are questions we have to consider. Do we run first to him? How do we respond to the sins of others? Are we grieved over sin when we are made aware of something? Does it make us angry, not because of what somebody else has done, but because of what they have done as an offense against God? Or are we prone to some self-righteous response that would say something like, oh, I would never do such a thing. I mean, you have to think of Samuel's emotions in this, as he paced his house all night, crying out to God. This was not Samuel's sin, but it was his responsibility as the leader and prophet of the nation of Israel to lead his people through this. And so as he considers the path of Saul and how God told Samuel, to anoint this man as king. And Saul seemed to be a humble young man, and yet now he was full of pride and choosing his own way and rejecting God's word. And as he considered all of these things, and it put Samuel in this unenviable position of leading the nation through, and it made him angry. He was angry. He could have thought or even said, God, you regret that you made him king. Well, how can that be? What about me? Now I'm put in this situation. How could it be? Why did you do that? You're God. Brethren, do you ever respond in anger to God's providences? And I ask because I know many among us have experienced very difficult providences. And we have to recognize this didn't sit well with Samuel. He didn't say, well, you know, God is God, providence will be what it will be, and we'll just move on. No, he couldn't see past this moment. He couldn't see past it and it made him angry. He knew God was still in control over the situation, but it angered him. And after all the clamor about having their own king and giving in to the people and anointing Saul, now God regrets this? And friends, we have to remember that from Samuel's perspective, this was a massive failure. Saul was Israel's first king. He was God's choice servant. And now he was abandoning God, the God who chose him to be king. But brethren, I want us to learn something from this, that the greatest failure eventually led to the greatest gift. Saul's demise led to David's reign as king, a man after God's own heart. And he was king because of Saul's failures. And likewise, brethren, some of our greatest sorrows and heartaches and supposed failures are God's preparation for his greatest gifts. His greatest gifts. Because the dark tunnel of sorrow always gives way to the brilliance of God's blessing. But then learn that godly people get angry over sin. Have you ever thought about the fact that there's some tangible way to measure your love for God by how much you hate the things that he hates? I mean, Samuel was not indifferent towards us. He was indignant. And I wonder how many of us would have been so angry about this, that we would have cried out to the Lord all night. Because if we're honest, we probably tend to think, as I am prone to say, well, that's too bad. That's too bad. And we go on. But you read in Psalm 97 verse 10, it says, Oh, you who love the Lord hate evil. You see, for those who are jealous for the glory of God, they are also a people which hate evil, and they hate the things which tarnish the glory of God, and they hate the things that that are against God, that tarnishes glory before a lost world. They hate occasions given to men to scoff at the church because of another person's sin. They hate those things. And so I'd commend to you that if you've ever experienced anger over sin, maybe it is because God is showing you the things that he is angry at. and it's because you love God and you love His glory. But then you see the response of God, the response of Samuel, and now look at the response of Saul. So after a night of prayer, Samuel rises early. He wastes no time. He rises early to meet with Saul, and when he meets him, he gets a surprising greeting from Saul. Saul says, blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the command of the Lord. It's as though Saul is totally oblivious to the matter at hand and about what is to come down. Either that, or he's just trying to deflect any issue that Samuel may have had with his decision. Either way, Samuel might have been taken aback a bit by Saul's response, but he had a witty comeback. He says, as I recall, you were sent to destroy everything. What then is this bleeding of sheep that I hear? I mean, it's a classic case. It's almost comical, but it's a classic case of a child who has a milk mustache, and you say, did you drink the milk that I told you not to? No. Well, then what's the evidence on your face about? I mean, he just, it's so obvious. So Saul, in his best effort to minimize the issue and even turn it into a virtue, bravely says, they brought it back. It was their idea. That's who it was. And what's even better, Samuel, let me explain, is that the reason they spared them is because they thought it would be a sacrifice to God for giving us this huge victory. And as you read it, as you read this account, you get the sense that he was going on and on, eloquently explaining to Samuel why this had taken place. And at one point, Samuel just breaks in and says, Stop! Enough! Just stop! I'm going to tell you what God says. I have had enough of hearing all of your phony reasons and justifications for talking about how wonderfully right you were for making this decision. Now, just listen. Just listen. And friends, if there is ever a time, if there is ever a time to be interrupted and confronted with truth, it's when we are in the middle of making up for ourselves excuses as to why we did not obey God. And truth be told, there are times for all of us that we need good and godly friends or pastors to say to us directly, stop, hear what God says. I'm going to tell you. You are not being a faithful husband. You are not being a loving wife. You are not being a godly child, or whatever it may be. You must hear the truth. And so friends, when we are confronted with wrong, or when we are out of line in some way, or when a friend or a pastor comes to you and says, here's the way, walk in it, how do we respond? I mean, do we have our fingers out ready to point at someone else? Do we have all of our excuses loaded up, put together and ready to present to him? I mean, do we start as Saul did, speaking about all the other things that he's done as an exoneration? See, I don't think Samuel would have interrupted Saul if he was on his knees praying and confessing his sin. That wasn't the case. And Samuel had enough. He just said, stop. which leads then to the direct rebuke in verse 19. Why did you not obey the voice of the Lord? You see, friends, God is faithful to his people. He always sends his rebuke to us when we need it. It comes through the word, whether it be in private devotion or from public proclamation, whatever it may be, and immediately we're set in our place. And the response is up to us. And then fourth heading is excuses and exhortations, verses 20 to 23. Saul said to Samuel, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoiled sheep and oxen and the best of the things devoted to destruction to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, as the Lord is great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, and as in obeying the voice of the Lord, behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Now first of all, notice again Saul's response when he's pressed. He says, I did obey God. I went on the mission. I devoted them to destruction. Oh, maybe I brought Egeg back as a prisoner instead of killing him. But other than that, I did what I was supposed to do. And brethren, what is this? I mean, is he so blind? that he really believes he obeyed the voice of the Lord? Or is he trying to smooth things over so that Samuel doesn't notice the bleeding of the sheep or the fact that Agag's over here under a tree with a big glass of water and a smile on his face because he thinks he eluded death? I mean, what's he trying to do? It would be a good time to note, brethren, the hardening effect of sin and the blinding effect of pride, especially. I think we see a picture of a man driven by his own pride so that it blinds him to his own perception of obedience. I skipped over it earlier, but go back and look at verse 12. We read that, upon returning from this half-done mission, Saul was busy building a monument for himself. That's what he did on his way. Now think about that. He just did something so dishonoring to God that his kingdom was to be taken from him. But in his prideful heart, he pats himself on the back and goes and builds a monument to himself for another victory and celebrates what he has done. Brethren, hear me. Pride blinds us to the proper view of obedience so that even when we are confronted with it, we still refuse to see our sin. Pride blinds us to a proper view of obedience. But then we also see that sin hardens people as well. We don't read of Saul's repentance here at all. We read only of excuses and blame shifting, which reminds us, brethren, that sin is a stealthy enemy, which marches upon our hearts in silence, little by little, until it overtakes the tenderness and softness towards God, which takes away our pure conscience. And it leaves us with a hard-hearted disregard for God's law. Sin's hardening will make us believe that partial obedience is full obedience. And yet, in the economy of God, nothing could be further from the truth. All right? And we know that. I mean, imagine training your children to be partially obedient. Hey, did you clean your room? Well, sort of. Well, did you take out the trash? Sort of. I mean, it's foolish. to even consider. When God commands us to obey him, he does not accept or expect partial obedience. We either obey him entirely, or we disobey him completely. And friends, you can imagine this. Imagine being partially responsive to the gospel, or partly being involved in the church, or partly agreeing to baptism, or partly being committed to marriage, or partly living a life of purity. And it's utter nonsense. But sin hardens us to that, and our pride blinds us to what we are doing. And friends, I also need to point out the futility in this text, the futility of excusing ourselves. How easy it is with us to come up with excuses when confronted with sin or wrongdoing in any way. Well, we may say, I see your point, but I just can't bring myself to believe that. Or we go to our personalities and say, you know, I'm just not made that way. And I don't think I, it doesn't really apply to me. You see, we have all these ways that we excuse ourselves. And whatever it may be, I find within myself quite a willingness and a readiness. and an ability to justify myself and excuse myself with quite ease. Because the excuses are so easy to find and so hard to kill because it provides for us a soft spot to land, a comfortable place to live when we're being pushed or called. When God calls us to do something difficult, we find excuses to remain in a place of comfort. It's so it's as though we can come up with excuses so quickly. We have busyness, we have tiredness, we need to pray, we have this, we have that we have, the list goes on, it's endless. And I don't know what your weakness is. I just know that for all of us, it can be very easy to find excuses. why something doesn't apply to us. But you know what, brethren? One of the greatest evidences of grace in a person's heart is joyful obedience to the Word of God. When the Word of God is brought forth to your heart and soul, joyful obedience is probably the expected response. And I'm sure that it is in the hearts of believers. Because excuses and trying to reason away a clear command and especially outright disobedience should cause us to be very suspect of our humility and submission to God. Now to be sure there are legitimate reasons for us not doing certain things, but we want to make sure that in our consciences we are not attempting to wiggle out of what God has commanded for us by offering our preference. But then I want us to see Samuel's exhortation to Saul. And it's here that we get the verse that we all know, to obey is better than sacrifice. And friends, I don't want to speak with conjecture authoritatively, but is it possible to think that Saul's justification for preserving the animals was simply his attempt to use spiritual language to cover for carnal cravings? Because he wanted the loot. He wanted what was best. He destroyed the worthless thing. That was no problem. But when he was faced with the question of why he kept what was best, his only recourse, baby, was to say that it was a sacrifice for God. Now here's the reminder to everyone, and you must hear this, that that spiritual-sounding language is worthless when it comes from a hollow heart. God delights in heartfelt obedience. not eloquent opposition. He delights in heartfelt obedience. I mean, it's like somebody hesitantly coming to church for like a decade, but never submitting to what God's Word teaches. That's not a sacrifice that pleases God just because you come to church. He desires obedience. We read in Psalms 51 that God delights in truth in the inward being. And friends, all of the outward motions of religion, all the right language, all the Christian verbiage and activity flowing from a disobedient and rebellious heart are worthless offerings and sacrifices to God. He delights in sacrifice. We read that in the Old Testament. We're commanded to do it, but it was to be done as an offering of worship to Him, not at the expense of obeying His clear Word. And brethren, how often it needs to be said that the formality and routine of religious activity does not equal true worship. If all we present to God is a checklist of things we have done, and we go off to build a monument to ourselves, it is a sham, and we've missed it. Because we can preach until we are so fat with knowledge, but if we are not exercising ourselves in the truth by going out of this place and living lives of obedience, it's worthless. because we can speak of mission. You know this. You know this, how easy it is to speak of all these things. We can speak of missions and speak of discipleship. We can speak of purity. We can leave this place knowing many things, but we must leave this place applying, seeking to apply what we know. We must never be satisfied with simply hearing the word, but pray to God for strength to live it out, to live what we know. Friends, obviously, I don't think I'm speaking to people here who live this way, but the reminder remains that God desires a happy-hearted obedience, not a cold-hearted checklist. And we will remember that the word of the Lord came to Saul, and he was responsible for it. And brethren, if anyone in this world is privileged to hear the word of God continually, it is us. We hear the word of God continually, week after week after week, and it is our response and our joyful duty to give ourselves to living out in obedience to his glory. And then in case we are again tempted to think of Saul's sin as a minor offense, Samuel reminds us that disobedience stems from a heart of rebellion, and rebellion against God is as wicked as the diviners and idolaters. Why? Because again, when we rebel against God, we are pridefully setting ourselves above him, saying that our thoughts are actually supreme, and we are actually higher than the Almighty. Brethren, God has given us clear instruction from his word, has he not? Are we walking in obedience to it, with a pure conscience before God? And I just implore you to recognize the danger and the deceitfulness of sin and how slowly it can creep upon us. And brethren, if there is a need to confess something to God that He is making clear to you, turn away from it. Now is the time. There is grace for the journey. There is grace. And finally and quickly, sin's consequences. We see this in verses 23 to 35. This is because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king. Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord. Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel. As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. And Samuel said to him, The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. And also the glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man that he should have regret. Then he said, I have sinned. So Samuel turned back after Saul and Saul bowed before the Lord. Then Samuel said, And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, Surely the bitterness of sin is past, and Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. And Samuel agged Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. And Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah. And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death. But Samuel grieved over Saul, and the Lord regretted that he had made him king over Israel. Brethren, I'm out of time, but I want to just give you a few things that you can outline this text and digest it later. I can't get through it all, but first of all, we need to see the direct connection of the sin to the consequence. Saul, because you have sinned, because you have rejected my word, I have rejected you. You see, sin always brings consequences. Every sin brings forth its fruit in season. And this was a result of Saul rejecting God's word. Young people, Think, think about the choices that you're making and the foundation you're laying for your life. Decisions have consequences. Don't think that you can waste away the years of your youth living in sin and never face consequences. Every choice is either made with wisdom and prayer or foolishness and ignorance. Sin has consequence. But then secondly, we see something of a confession here from Saul, but I think from reading this, it seems that at best it's a last resort kind of confession. He says, I've sinned. Now that I have that behind me, could you please come with me so that I will be honored before the elders? You know, that's what he's, that seems to be what he's, it's the type of confession that you get from a person who thinks very lightly of sin and very highly of how they are viewed by other people. Because worldly sorrow and a worthless confession is what we get when we say the right thing, hoping to appease God while protecting our own reputation. And we need to be reminded that it is a mark of true repentance when we see that we have offended God and sinned against Him. So we confess our sins to God and let our reputation up to Him. But then thirdly, notice a gag. He is a picture of what so many people are like approaching the coming day of judgment. He came when summoned with a big smile on his face. He thought he was in good spirits because he assumed that he alluded judgment. He did not know what awaited him when he was brought before the old prophet. And yet it was there that he met his demise. Dear unbelieving friend, Justice will find you. There are so many preachers in our land who, like Saul, they spare the sword of God's law and give men reason after reason to think that they have escaped God's judgment, but they don't know that there is one like Samuel who they will meet and he will execute perfect justice. And if the law of God, friend, does not drive you to the Savior, to the cross of Christ, where the only place for your sin to be taken care of is found, you will meet your judgment. And there will be no hope on that day. So let Agag remind us that judgment does indeed find you out. But then it is, we have to recognize that this is a sad ending to what began as a promising story. Saul was a man, he was anointed to lead the nation. Yet in his foolishness and rebellion, it led him to where he was now grasping at the robe of Samuel. You can just see it. This is his one last desperate attempt to remain in control. And so we're left with a sad summary that Samuel left him and did not see Saul again. Friends, we need to see man's depravity in this story and recognize that were it not for the grace of God, we would be just as rebellious and disobedient as Saul. We can't leave a chapter like this thinking that we're somehow better than Saul and incapable of foolishness. We must remind ourselves that, praise be to God, we have been reborn. We have new hearts that long to please Him and serve Him. We have grace to cover our sins. We have been given the blessed Holy Spirit to empower us to live this life He has called us to. So don't see this as something that we look down our nose at Saul. We see this and praise God for His grace. in our own lives, who has saved us from our sin and given us the blessed Holy Spirit to empower us. Now, the final appeal I have is for those who have not yet come to Christ. Brethren, this is your first act of obedience. This is it, because the wind obeys Him. The lightning is going to strike at His command. The planets orbit at His will, perfectly in accord to what He has told them. But what of you this morning? Are you going to continue in disobedience when all of creation testifies against you that you're rebelling against the Most High God? And you have a Savior who is willing, He's meek and lowly. He calls all those who have sinned to come to Him to find rest. Don't continue to reject God. I mean, we've read, haven't you read, that God commands all people everywhere to repent. And yet so many people continue to reject Him, continue to reject the Savior who is given to them. Others pass you by. Others are on the way to the Savior. You're surrounded by people this morning who are believers, who are safe in the arms of Christ, and they have gone before you. Don't let A prideful disobedience keep you from Christ. He welcomes you. He bids you to come. Don't raise your hand in defiance while others are going to him. They will bear witness against you that you rebelled against the opportunity you had. And so I say come to him. Obey the gospel. That is the first Command for anyone here who has not come to Christ, because you have to recognize that there are clouds of darkness and judgment that are circling your head, and they are going to burst upon you in judgment unless you come to Him. And you have a willing Savior who says, all who come to me I will not cast out, and He will not cast out a single one here this morning who comes to Him in faith. And friends and brothers in Christ, I put before you again the example of Saul. And I just remind you that we do not want to go the way of this man. And that the obvious exhortation is that when we are confronted with sin, do not begin to excuse yourself or to blame others. Let us not minimize our failure. Do not minimize our sin. This is the way of futility and sorrow and misery, and it eventually ends in our own demise. Brethren, we have a Savior who is ready to forgive. Let us confess our sin. Let us make wrong the right and do as John says, walk in the light as he is in light. Amen. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, thank you for your word, and I ask God that you would apply the truth to our hearts. And I pray, God, that you would show us that any remaining sin in our lives, help us to see it as an offense against you, and that we would be quick to confess and find forgiveness in the blood of Christ. Bless your people, Lord.