The Invisible robe of righteousness
There are many prodigal sons and daughters in the world today, but only the Father really knows who they are or why they left Him. He is the only One who knows their heart. He is the only One who knows what it will take to call them home. Many of these prodigals do not even know themselves why they left, and some of them do not even know that they have left at all. This is a great deception pulled off by the enemy to fool many into believing they are in the Father when, in fact, they are not. Jesus said if we loved Him, we would obey His commandments, and we would abide in Him and in the Father. If we live in disobedience, we cannot live in Them, and They will not live in us.
Some of these prodigals had an opportunity to experience the gift of salvation and the Holy Spirit, but they did not understand what to do with their new life once they had it. They did not understand why they should want to give up the fleshly desires in their lives and live a life of obedience to Jesus. They did not understand what was required of them because of their new position in Christ. These prodigals still felt like they were living as disciples of Christ because they had experienced His grace and believed in Him, but they did not understand why returning to the life of sin brought with it grief and a loss of the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Sadly, many of these still do not understand that they are prodigals because they believe that living as the world lives is justified because of His grace. I should know. I was once one of them.
One day as I was praying over this conundrum, the Father explained to me that this group of prodigals were like the folktale “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” If you are unfamiliar with the story, I will give you a brief summary. An emperor was approached one day by some swindlers who were pretending to be fabric weavers. They told him that for a great price, they could make him the most beautiful fabric ever. He despised the duties of being an emperor, so he avoided doing any work, and instead, he spent all of his time trying on new clothes and showing them off to others. Because he only cared about what made him look good, he thought having the most beautiful garment in the world to wear would be a great idea. He thought his clothing was an extension of who he was, so if he wore beautiful clothing, he would be beautiful. He did not see the benefit of participating in the responsibilities that his position as emperor required.
The swindlers were paid for the new fabric and clothing, but they never actually made anything. Instead, they told the emperor that the fabric they made for him became invisible to those who were not deserving of their position or to anyone who was unusually stupid. The emperor thought this would be a perfect way for him to find who in his kingdom was undeserving of their position, or who was simply too stupid to understand and see the truth.
The swindlers were very deceptive and played the part of weavers perfectly. Everyone that the emperor sent to inspect the clothing could not see it because it did not exist. Since they did not want to appear to be foolish to others, they lied and said the clothing was beautiful. When the emperor went to see the clothing, he could not see it either. He also did not want anyone to think of him as being foolish, so he also lied and said how beautiful the clothing was. In fact, no one would tell the emperor the truth because they did not want to appear to be foolish or undeserving of their position, so everyone either kept their mouth shut or lied and said they saw something that was clearly not there.
The emperor decided to have a parade to show off his new clothes. As he paraded through the town, it was obvious to everyone the emperor was not wearing any clothing. The people were too afraid to speak the truth or appear foolish, so they said nothing. The emperor was not only avoiding the responsibilities of his position, but now, he wasn’t even wearing any of the clothes that made him feel worthy of his position. As he walked along, a young boy saw that the emperor was actually naked and shouted out “the emperor has no clothes!” Everyone, including the emperor, realized this young boy was telling the truth. The emperor realized he was naked and was ashamed, but because of his pride, he refused to admit it. Instead, he marched on even more pompously and those with him proceeded with even more enthusiasm.
There are some in the church who are like the emperor, and of course, the swindler of all swindlers is Satan. There are those who do not want to do the work required of their new position in the Kingdom of God, and they only want to wear their gift of salvation. They believe their robe of righteousness is only linked to the grace of salvation they received simply by believing in Jesus. It is true that our salvation only comes by believing in Jesus, but they also believe that they cannot lose that salvation even if they refuse to do the work required by their new position. They only want to show off the gifts that have been given to them because of the position they were born into like the emperor. They want the rewards of the salvation they wear without performing their duties. These prodigals believe they are clothed in God’s grace because they believe in Jesus. They know their lives don’t reveal the fruits of the Holy Spirit to others who are observing them, but they won’t admit their nakedness for fear that others will see that they have been deceived. Instead, they surround themselves with people who will not tell them the truth because those who see that they are not covered do not want to be accused themselves of being fools. Satan has done a great job of deceiving them by telling them that the grace they received can only be seen by other believers who believe as they do. Anyone who cannot see the grace of salvation in their lives must be an unbeliever themself or simply just stupid. If you attempt to tell them they are naked, they will often turn to hostile accusations about your ignorance and stupidity about the scripture. No one wants to speak the truth for fear of being labeled as such. The price for this invisible cloak of salvation will be great just as it was for the emperor.
The story does not go into the true cost the emperor would have eventually paid for his invisible clothing. If the story had continued, we would most likely have seen him eventually thrown out of the office he held because he was not serving on behalf of the people. He would have eventually lost the rich clothing he loved so dearly because justice would eventually have found him. He would have been held accountable to those whom he should have been serving, and he would have had to answer for his lack of actions. An unrighteous emperor who does not perform the duties of his office will eventually be overthrown and replaced by someone who will. This might sound a bit like the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 because it is. He would have had everything taken from him and been cast out into the outer darkness where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. If these prodigals do not return to the Father in repentance, they will also find out one day that they too are naked.
God is raising up people who are not going to be afraid to speak the truth in love. It will be in love because the truth will be spoken with the goal of winning back the prodigal instead of simply condemning them. They will tell those who are naked that they are indeed naked. There is coming a move of the Holy Spirit that will also expose this deception just like the young boy did in the story. He will speak truth to those who are naked, and He will bring shame to them because of their nakedness. They will not be able to deny the truth either because the One who will be shouting the truth the loudest will be the Holy Spirit Himself. I believe He will speak that truth through us at times, but He will mostly be speaking it directly to those who are being deceived. There will be some who continue on in their pride, but I believe that most of them will receive the correction from the Holy Spirit. Why do I believe this? I was once one of them. I am fully clothed in His righteousness because I not only heard His voice, but I chose to listen to Him when He spoke this truth to me. It will be the same for them.
You can read more about this and other truths by obtaining a copy of “Prodigal to Prince” by Beau Walsh at BarnesandNoble.com or Amazon.com.
