Lesson: Repentance: Door to the New Kingdom<br>
Reading: Excuses hinder repentance<br>
Reference: 1 Sam. 15:16–30<br><br>
I Samuel 15:16: Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.<br>
I Samuel 15:17: And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?<br>
I Samuel 15:18: And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.<br>
I Samuel 15:19: Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?<br>
I Samuel 15:20: And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.<br>
I Samuel 15:21: But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.<br>
I Samuel 15:22: And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.<br>
I Samuel 15:23: 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.<br>
I Samuel 15:24: 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.<br>
I Samuel 15:25: Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord.<br>
I Samuel 15:26: 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.<br>
I Samuel 15:27: And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.<br>
I Samuel 15:28: And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.<br>
I Samuel 15:29: And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.<br>
I Samuel 15:30: Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God.<br>
(KJV)<br>