In the past years there have been many who did good things and served the Lord but were unruly. They reasoned, “As long as it is a good thing, we can do it.” However, as disciples of the Lord today, we should not ask merely whether a certain thing is good or evil, right or wrong. Rather, we should ask, “Do I do this because of the Lord’s ruling in me? Do I do this because the Lord commands me to do so? When I do this thing, am I restricted by the Lord? Do I do this under the Lord’s authority? In my concept, am I for morality or for the kingdom? Do I want to express my kindness and good deeds or the Lord’s authority, ruling, and reigning?” This is what we should ask.
Today as saved ones we should be not only believers but also the Lord’s disciples. We must be an anti-testimony on the earth. The living of the people in the world today declares that they do not want the Lord to reign over them, but we should be an anti-testimony, expressing in our living that we allow the Lord to reign, that we submit to His authority, and that we are absolutely ruled by Him. Because we allow Him to reign over us, to rule us, and to restrict us and we submit to His authority, we cannot do many things that others can do.
In many people’s daily living, in matters such as in their clothing, eating and drinking, handling of situations, spending, attitudes, and speaking, they declare that they do not want the Lord Jesus to reign over them. However, as the Lord’s disciples, we should declare that we allow Jesus to reign over us and that we submit to His authority in our motive, intention, speaking, attitude, spending, apparel, daily living, and relationships with relatives and friends—in all things great or small. People in the world dress and adorn themselves as they please; this is an indication of rebellion. We should not live in this way. We must be restricted and ruled by the Lord. He is our King, and we should not be careless or unruly. We should not be loose in our appearance and clothing, for the Lord does not allow us to be loose. People in the world act and behave as they please; they speak and adorn themselves according to their preference, plainly indicating that they themselves are the lord and king. We, however, should not follow the manner of the worldly people or be fashioned according to this age. We must be an anti-testimony. Our daily walk, living, and behavior on the earth, and even our attitude, must be an expression and declaration to the world that we are ruled by the Lord Jesus, that we are His kingdom, and that we are subject to His authority. This is what it means to be the Lord’s disciples.
One time someone told me gravely, “A brother spoke on the podium about the sisters’ makeup. His word was too straightforward and not proper. He said that the sisters’ use of make-up causes them to look like demons and monsters. After some sisters heard this, they were very angry. They complained to me, asking if merely wearing a little make-up caused them not to be spiritual. Is it not permissible to simply tidy their appearance and put on some lipstick?” The brother who said this to me was a gentleman who had been highly educated. He said, “Brother Lee, I think this kind of speaking is unnecessary and excessive. The sisters’ wearing a little make-up is not immoral or shameful to the Lord. They only desire to make themselves prettier. They are neither stealing from others nor losing their temper. What is wrong with make-up?” He asked me to tell the brothers not to speak this kind of message but to say that it is all right for the sisters to wear some make-up. He thought that wearing make-up was not immoral, sinful, or shameful to the Lord.
After hearing his words, I told him that I could say this to the brothers, but if I did, it would be pointless. If I told them to say that it is all right for the sisters to wear some make-up, some sisters would say, “Hallelujah! There is a speaking brother who says that we can wear make-up. He is even broader and has more grace than our parents. Our parents rebuke us every day and do not allow us to wear make-up or dress in a certain way. Now a leading brother says that we can wear some make-up. This is wonderful!” But there would surely be another group of sisters who would absolutely not wear make-up. The brother asked me, “What is the reason for that?” I replied, “What is the experience of our salvation? What is its meaning?” He said, “To be saved is to have our sins forgiven and to have the Lord in us that we may have His life.” I told him, “Your answer is wonderful. Even if I tell the sisters that it does not matter if they wear some make-up, the Lord Jesus in them will say, ‘Wrong—it does matter.’ I may be loose in speaking about this, but if the sisters are truly saved, the Lord’s ruling in them will not and cannot be loose.” This is not a matter of speaking a certain teaching or instruction. Everyone who has been trained by the Lord in life knows how important His inward restriction is.
Not long after our salvation, although we may not have heard many messages on the kingdom, we often sensed a kind of restriction in our experience. In 1942 in the place where I labored in northern China, there was a young lady who had a strong disposition. Her home was in Chefoo, but she attended college in Shanghai. That year she came back from Shanghai during the summer vacation. In those days the church in my locality was blessed very much with the Lord’s presence. Her mother and female cousins had become sisters among us. They invited her to come to our meetings. At that time we were holding a week of gospel meetings, and there were a great number of attendants. When I was on the podium one evening, I noticed someone who stood out. In those days almost all the ladies who came to hear the gospel had similar hairdos, but there was one person whose hair was arranged like a high tower; it was this young lady. At that time a certain style of fixing women’s hair in place had been introduced, but most women still kept their hair close to their head. This young lady was the only person there with a high tower on her head, and it immediately caught people’s attention.
As I was preaching the gospel in the meeting, I was afraid to look at her, because she looked very peculiar, and her apparel was a distraction to the gospel. She came to hear the gospel the first day and the second day. When she came on the third day, the highest layer of her “tower” was gone. This became the topic of people’s conversation. Because her former appearance was odd and out of the ordinary, her toppled “tower” naturally drew people’s attention. Later I asked her cousin why her “tower” was gone, and I found out that it was because she had believed in the Lord. I then intentionally asked her cousin, “Believing in the Lord and salvation are something inward; why would something outside of her be changed?” Her cousin answered, “We do not know what happened, and we dare not ask, because she is a person with a strong disposition.”
Not long after those gospel meetings she became a sister in the church life. When I looked at her closely, I saw that all her makeup was gone. Some time later even her clothing was changed. Her relatives and friends told me, “Everything has changed. She discarded all her clothes of the past. She bought new fabrics and found tailors to make new clothes.” I then asked why she had such a change. None of the speaking brothers had touched the subject of appearance. In our gospel meetings we never mentioned anything about her kind of hairdo. Why would she have such a change?
Half a year later, in 1943, there was a strong revival. Everyone stood up one by one in the meeting to give a testimony and consecrate themselves to the Lord. At the beginning of one meeting this sister stood up. When she stood up, she said, “I am a prodigal son who has returned to the Father’s house.” Before she finished saying this, she began to weep. All the attendants also began to weep, and no one spoke anything. She stood there, wiping away her tears and testifying of how she was saved, how she was changed, how she discarded everything she had owned, and how the Lord was touching her now. I truly worshipped the Lord inwardly. This is the gospel, this is salvation, this is the church, and this is what it is to be a Christian. No one had taught her outwardly, but she had the Lord’s reigning and ruling inwardly. It was the Lord who required her to change her appearance. This is the Lord’s kingdom.
I asked the brother who had questioned the strong word spoken concerning make-up, “Do you think that all the brothers and sisters listen to me? Would the sisters arrange their hair like a tower simply because I told them to do so? Would they get rid of their tower simply because I told them to do so? Absolutely not. This is altogether a matter of the Lord Jesus’ reigning in them. You may not allow Him to reign, and I may not allow Him to reign, but among all the saved ones, there must be some who will allow Him to reign.” Those who allow Him to reign are His disciples who are trained, taught, disciplined, and ruled by Him in His kingdom. They are subject to His authority. Their living, walk, and conduct declare, “Jesus is my King; Christ is my authority. I am His kingdom, and I am subject to His authority. Others may do certain things, but I cannot. They may be permitted to do certain things, but I am not permitted. They may do things as they please, but I cannot, because there is an authority, a throne, and a kingdom in me. There is a heavenly sphere, an enthroned King, and One who governs me within.” This is to be a Christian, this is to be a disciple, and this is the reality of the kingdom.