Saul's disobedience resulted in his losing his kingship (vv. 13-15a; 15:28).
Saul was condemned by Samuel for having acted foolishly and not keeping the commandment of Jehovah (13:13a). Samuel was surely right in condemning Saul.
After condemning Saul, Samuel told him that his kingdom would not continue (vv. 13b-14a).
Samuel went on to say to Saul, "Jehovah has sought a man according to His heart for Himself, and Jehovah has appointed him as leader over His people" (v. 14b). Here Samuel was referring to David, to whom God would shift the kingship.
In studying the history in the Bible, we need to learn all the different lessons. First Samuel 13—14 contains a great lesson. It may seem that Saul's disobedience in making an offering was a small disobedience. But Samuel realized that Saul would take the opportunity to usurp God's appointment to build up his own monarchy within the building up of God's kingdom. God intended to build up His kingdom on earth, not to build up a monarchy for Saul.
Samuel taught the people the custom of the kingdom (1 Sam. 10:25). Moses gave the law to the children of Israel, but before Samuel came they did not have a set of by-laws, a constitution. Samuel told the people the by-laws, the constitution, the practice, the customs, the manners, the ordinances, and the rules of how to practice the kingdom of God on earth. Saul should have practiced the kingdom life according to this constitution. Samuel, the composer of the constitution, watched Saul, and he saw a tendency with him to build up a human monarchy by usurping the practice of the kingdom of God.
The Lord's recovery today is the kingdom of God. Some have attempted to build up their work and to establish a monarchy for themselves within the recovery. Brother Nee strongly stressed this same matter when he said that some so-called co-workers were building up for themselves something separate from the recovery while they remained in the recovery. These co-workers built up their own little empires. Recently, a monarchy was built up in a certain area of this country, but the saints there refused to go along with such a monarchy. They wrote to me saying that the churches in that area were not raised up by the one who wanted to build up a monarchy, but were established and nourished by the essence of the Lord's recovery. These saints said that they wanted the recovery, the kingdom of God today.
The recovery around the globe is uniquely one. The intrinsic essence of the kingdom of God is the Body of Christ, the church of God. Through the past several decades, some brothers have worked and labored very well, and we appreciate what they have done. Yet certain of the workers carried out a work in the recovery by usurping the recovery. Today in some places there is still a tendency, under the name of the recovery, to build up something within the ministry of the recovery, usurping the advantages of the recovery and using the materials of the ministry of the recovery. There are signs that the work in these places is not a pure work—a work purely for the building up of the Body of Christ, the kingdom of God. Rather, it is a work built up for the interest of certain ones.
Six years ago a teaching came out which said that the local churches are autonomous. Some said that after the apostles establish a church and appoint elders, they should keep their hands off the church, leaving the church as an autonomy. Such a teaching of autonomy was actually the building up of a monarchy.
We practice the local churches, and each of the local churches is autonomous in business affairs. But this does not mean that the local churches are divided. In a sense they are local churches, but all the local churches on this globe are just one church. Every local church has its own freedom and jurisdiction to make decisions concerning, for example, the times of the meetings. However, this does not mean that the local churches are different. Paul taught all the churches in the same way (1 Cor. 4:17).
All the churches are the same in life, in nature, in testimony, in serving, and in expressing Christ. We may be different in nationalities and languages, but our singing and praising are the same. We are one Body, testifying the same Christ. We preach, announce, admonish, and teach concerning Christ as revealed in the Bible. We do not have different schools, different teachings, or different testimonies. Christianity has been divided because of different practices, for example the practice of baptism. But the "dictionary" in the Lord's recovery has only one word—Christ. We are not for various kinds of teachings. We are for Christ, who is for the kingdom of God. We are for the kingdom of God, which is the Body of Christ, the unique church of God.