John K. Jenkins Sr - To Obey is Better Than to Sacrifice

I want to get you to turn your Bible to First Samuel, chapter fifteen. First Samuel, chapter 15, and I want to preach a little differently than I normally do. I want to start at the end and work my way back to the beginning and give you my subject at the end of the sermon. Y’all are supposed to say, «Okay, Pastor, go ahead.» I’m just looking for y’all to buy into this. So, this is a narrative message, so I don’t have three points for you, but there are a number of things in this passage of Scripture that I believe will speak to you. The last verse of chapter 15 of First Samuel is an amazing verse to me, and it says in the last phrase, then we read the whole verse: verse 35. And Samuel, verse 35 of First Samuel 15, says, «And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death; nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.» Wow, what a statement! This verse creates a conundrum-is that the right word? A challenge? A problem? For me, it’s a problem because we believe in the sovereignty of God. We believe that we serve a God who sees and knows the future, looks ahead, and we serve a God who is all-powerful and all-knowing. And this particular passage amazes and troubles me; that God had made a decision that He later regretted. I think it would behoove us to find out what happened that is displayed right here in chapter 15 that would cause God to say, «I’m sorry I did that.» I wonder if there are some things that God has done in your life that He looks back on and says, «I’m sorry I did that for that person. I regret.» And yet that’s what happened. God had elevated Saul to be king over Israel; he had ascended to a powerful position. This man was little in his own eyes; the Scripture says he was small in his own eyes. But yet God empowered him to become great and made him the king over all Israel-the first king. As a matter of fact, he had not been king, but the people wanted a king, and God made Saul king. And it is during his kingship that this particular passage tells us. I want you to read with me; follow along with me in the first three verses of this fifteenth chapter. It says, «Samuel also said to Saul"-Samuel is the prophet, by the way, the pastor, the preacher-"The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord.» Here is what God tells you: verse 2, «Thus says the Lord of Hosts: I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go, verse 3, attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.» So, God has given through the prophet clear instructions to Saul, and we can tell by the tone that God is not playing. He says, «Kill man and child, man and woman, infant and nursing child, oxen, sheep, camel, and donkey.»

Verse four: «So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah .» And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. He follows; he goes about following the instructions that God has given to him-gathers the soldiers, gathers the people, and goes down to capture the Amalekites and destroy them. Are y’all with me so far? Have I lost you?

Verse number six says, «Then Saul said to the Kenites, 'Go, depart; get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them, for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.'» So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul, verse seven, attacked the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. He attacked them; he’s following the commands of God; he’s doing what God told him to do.

Verse 8, though, there’s a shift. There 's a shift that happens in verse 8. «He also took Agag, king of the Amalekites, alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good.» Do y’all see that right there? I want to be clear that God had given Saul clear-cut instructions. Somebody say «clear instructions.» There 's no debate; there are no questions to be asked; there’s no discussion about it. The instructions are clear. Just like I know in your life, there are some clear things that God has given you-clear instructions on what He wants you to do. Without me being in your devotions, without me being there when you read the Scriptures, without me being there while God talks to you, I know that every person in here has some clear things that God has told you to do in your life. I thank Reverend Gentry for that lone hand clap of praise and agreement. He has given Saul clear-cut instructions, but something has happened. Saul and the people, listen to this verse again, verse 9: «Spared Agag, he’s the king, and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good.» Anything that they- it was amazing.