Sheila R.Vitale, LIVING EPISTLES MINISTRIES

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Sheila R.Vitale, LIVING EPISTLES MINISTRIES

PO Box 562, Pt Jeff Sta, NY 11776-0562, USA

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The Emperor's New Clothes

by

Mary Jane Sears

Many years ago there was a Emperor who loved fine clothes more than anything else in the world. He loved to parade before the people and flaunt his newest apparel. He had a different outfit for every hour of the day. Mirrors were throughout his castle. The only time he would go to the theater, ride in his carriage or attend some function was for the purpose of showing off his exquisite clothes. He didn't care about his kingdom responsibilities or give much thought to the needs of his subjects. Dogs and mirrors surrounded the Emperor.

Two thieves came before the Emperor under the pretense of being tailors and they offered to make him an extraordinary magical ensemble that would be invisible to anyone who was not both honest and wise. The Emperor gave them a great deal of money and commissioned them to create the clothing that would be fit for an Emperor. The finest silk and thread of pure gold was given to them. The so called "weavers" set up two looms and pretended to weave until late at night, but there was no silk or thread on their looms. Before long they were back again asking for more money, silk and thread. They were very bold and conniving.

The Emperor became very impatient waiting for his garments and wondered how the work was progressing. Remembering that a fool or anyone not fit for office wouldn't be able to see the clothes, the Emperor hesitated to send someone to look at the weaver's work. Of course, there wasn't any doubt in his mind that he would have any difficulty in seeing the clothes. Finally, he sent one of his most trusted courtiers to take a look. The Emperor just oozed with anticipation. The official courtier approached the two weavers and asked to see their ongoing workmanship. He was shown the empty looms as the tricksters pointed out the pattern and beautiful colors that they pretended were on display.

The courtier, of course, didn't see anything and wondered to himself, am I really a fool since I'm unable to see any material, at all. I can't admit that! So he pretended that he saw the beautiful fabric that they described. Returning to the Emperor, he gave the Emperor a glowing report of the weaver's progress.

By now everybody in the kingdom had heard about the magical cloth and that only one who was honest and wise would be able to see the Emperor's ensemble. They could hardly wait for the day the Emperor would parade before them, so that they could see who the fools in the kingdom were. They were eagerly awaiting the chance to laugh at them. Of course, each of them "knew" they would be able to see the new clothes.

Unable to wait any longer, the Emperor gathered the Lords and Ladies of his court and set off to view the clothes for himself. The Emperor's eyes opened wide when he realized he couldn't see any of the clothes that the weavers were displaying as being on the empty looms. The Lord and Ladies of the court began to exclaim how beautiful the clothes were and urged the Emperor to wear them in a great procession and parade before the people of the kingdom. In order to cover up the nagging thought that he was neither honest nor wise, the Emperor actually ordered that a handsome medal be given to the unscrupulous men and gave them the title of "Court Weavers."

The night before the great procession, the weavers put quite a show on for the townspeople. They worked through the night with lighted candles that lit up the room where the looms were. Their shadows could be seen cutting and pinning and stitching with invisible threads in weaving motions. They pretended to roll the cloth off the looms and cut the empty air with huge scissors and stitched with needles that had no thread. In a display of having exhausted themselves with all their work, they exclaimed "The Emperor's Clothes are finally ready."

The next morning the lords of the court rushed to the royal dressing room and helped the Emperor put on the invisible trousers, jacket and cloak. The tailors were there to tell the Emperor to feel the cloth. It's light as a cobweb, they exclaimed. It's such a nice change from all those heavy robes. Wearing these clothes will make you feel as though you had nothing on at all. As the king looked in the great mirror, he could only see the crown on his head. However, the flattery was quite pleasing to the Emperor. The room was buzzing with praise and comments about how wonderful the Emperor looked in his new clothes.

As the Emperor walked through the streets of the city, the people of the kingdom cheered and commented on how magnificent the Emperor looked in his new clothes. They remarked on the colors and unique design, in an attempt to cover up that they really didn't see any clothing at all. No one wanted to be thought of as a fool. As the Emperor passed by, a little child in the midst of the crowd said in a timid voice, "The Emperor has nothing on. He is as naked as the day he was born." The people whispered, did you hear what the child said? It's true, the people shouted at long last; the Emperor has nothing on.

Upon hearing the shouts coming from the crowd, the Emperor realized what a fool he had allowed himself to become and he was ashamed. Throwing a cloak around himself, he determined to set a good example for his subjects. With great dignity, he continued to walk on in the parade, no longer as a clothes horse, but as a man who was able to see beyond himself. He held his head up high. This time he was a much humbler and wiser man within, who had learned quite a lesson.

Several important questions are stirred up as we begin to analyze this story. How different are we from the Emperor's subjects? This fable reminds me of all the lying belief systems that mankind is entangled in. We believe so many lies and tell so many "white lies." Mostly we lie to ourselves about ourselves. We're a world in denial of our true reality. We are challenged by this fable to look into ourselves to see what we believe and why we believe it. Are we men pleasers rather than God pleasers? Why are we so ready to accept the so called wisdom of men without examining it for ourselves? The Lord says, come let us reason together. Searching out truth, whether it be biblical truth, scientific truth, or the issues of our day, should be a normal part of mature functioning. Secret societies that show disdain for the Living God and His commandments and lawful authority are allowed to spew out their poison and it affects us. Shouldn't we take the time to reason these things out that affect us, for our own protection? Why are we so readily deceived? Does deception and seduction have to be a way of life for us? Do we have to stay in "stinking thinking?" The child in our story who spoke "truth" and "opened the eyes" of those in the kingdom, reminds me of the scripture, a "child" shall lead you; which speaks of the manchild we must birth in our minds. Our prayer should be, Lord, give us your mind to evaluate the facts so that we can come to an educated conclusion as to what is truth. Jesus said, all "Truth" was in Him.

The Emperor was plagued with narcissism. "I was always on my mind" could easily have been his theme song. His compulsive behavior manifested in an obsession for clothes. He tried to fill the empty void within him with an outward cover up. Pride and vanity fed this compulsive disorder. This is a form of mental illness. Our carnal minds are capable of all of these disorders. It's considered insane. That's why Jesus told Peter (and us) that we have to be converted. The conversion from our carnal minds into the mind of Christ is what He was talking about. It's an absolutely necessary process for us to go through in order to enter into the kingdom of God. It can also be a very painful process. The truth hurts!

The One who is the "Truth" will cut your heart out, which is another way of saying He will circumcise or cut out your carnal mind with His word, His two edged sword. The truth hurts, but it will allow life to be imparted to us.

We've learned from our scripture studies that God refers to Satan, the devil, the serpent, and the dragon as "nothing." The Emperor having "nothing" on made me think that our physical bodies and this physical earth is all the spinoff of the primordial serpent and God considers it "nothing." Even scientists working with the Hubble telescopes have discovered black holes and unknown galaxies and stated that the substance of this world came out of "nothing." They also speak about the density of the blackness of space which makes me think of the backing on mirrors that is necessary for a reflection to appear on it. The Emperor in our story was very fond of his reflection in the mirror. God sees it as "nothingness."

Paul said this whole world was just a mirror. It's a reflection of the spiritual reality that's only found in Christ. Everything seen in the mirror is seen backwards. That makes this mirror image a false image of reality. Young girls suffering from anorexia look in a mirror and see themselves as fat even though in reality they are wasting away. The carnal mind can reflect back what you would only expect to see in a carnival "House of Mirrors" sideshow. The "looking glass" gives a distorted image and view of life. It's known that Satanists have the bible printed backwards for their purposes. Also, dog spelled backwards is god and I remind you that Satan is the god of this backwards world. Dog is a code word for Satan in scripture. There are many such code words in scripture; for example, one of the code words used to describe God is "I Am." The emperor in our story was always surrounded by dogs (Satan) and mirrors (reflected vanity or vain imaginations). Satan's false images come from within us and are projected right through our eyes to bring about this big Panasonic picture screen we call life.

It must have been very hard for the Emperor to get a reality check in that atmosphere. Look at how hard it is for us to get a grasp on reality in our own circumstances. The Emperor was a gazing stock to his subjects when he and his foolish lifestyle was exposed. The exposure was mostly to himself about himself. His subjects shared in the humiliation and shame of being deceived and blinded by their own pride and ignorance, as well. They were set up by the two thieves who I am going to liken to Satan and our own carnal mind. The mind control and manipulation by them was executed flawlessly. They couldn't have pulled off their scheme any better. However, if truth had prevailed in the Emperor and people, they wouldn't have been able to succeed. You might say the Emperor was taken to the "cleaners" and that the people were easy victims for this grand delusion. They didn't walk in truth as a way of life, so their sinful nature was wide open to any demonic deception. Their life was a cover-up of truth, so it was easy for the thieves to pull just the right drawstrings to entice them into the deceptive plot. Jesus said, the prince of this world comes, but he has nothing in me. In other words, Jesus couldn't be deceived because Satan didn't have any stronghold or strings to manipulate in Jesus' mind.

The emperor had a false reality and that left him wide open to the mind control and manipulation of the two thieves who capitalized upon his weaknesses. These carnal minds of ours only see what the god of this world wants them to see. The thieves came to steal and Satan also comes as a thief. Just what is being stolen from us? Our identity of who we can be in Christ is being stolen for starters. We've been sold a complete lying belief system about who created this world, who we are, our true condition while we're here and how we're supposed to escape from this captivity. Our minds are in chains of darkness here. Jesus told us we were walking dead men when He said, let the (spiritually) dead bury the (physically) dead. You say you're experiencing life to the fullest? Are you really? What you're experiencing is death to the fullest. Jesus calls this world death and hell. It's the valley of the shadow of death. It is within us and it is without us. Satan is killing and destroying us every hour of the day. We buy "life" insurance policies here when it's really "death" insurance, affirming our eventual death. Who are we kidding? There's a popular song that says "Everybody is somebody's fool." Has Satan succeeded in making fools out of the whole human race because we've believed "the lie" like the Emperor and his subjects did?

When you "ass u me" you know something without thoroughly investigating the facts, you run the risk of making an "ass out of you and me." Remember the story of Balaam and his ass in the scriptures? Well, our human nature can be pretty stubborn when it has a "carnal mind" to do so. Our only hope of life and the glory to follow is to obtain the Mind of Christ. Jesus came to impart that mind to us. But we have a mind of our own that says in a thousand different ways, no thanks, I'm happy just the way I am and I don't need anything else. Jesus said we have stony hearts. That's another way of saying we're cement heads. A cement head is someone who's all mixed up in confusion and permanently set, in error. Our minds are so thick that the truth can't get through to it. We have eyes that choose to "see not" and ears that choose to "hear not" just like the Emperor and his subjects. Pride is a terrible blinding force that can cause a humiliating downfall. The Emperor found that out.

But the Living God wants to open our spiritually blind eyes and our ears as well. It shocked me when the Lord told me a long time ago that my own carnal mind was an idol, a god that I acknowledged before Him. Anytime I obeyed my own carnal reasoning without consulting with the Living God, I was putting another god before Him. I'm learning a whole lot these days and making far fewer mistakes now that I take the time to ask the Lord what "His mind" is on any given subject. We must be clothed with the mind of Christ so that we can worship in Spirit and in Truth. This whole world is a lie to Almighty God. Let God be true and every man a liar.

We are to trust and believe God, not men. Liars are not entering the Kingdom of God, we're told in Revelations. That's why flesh and blood can't inherit the Kingdom of God. A Chinese proverb says that a wise person only has to hear the truth once to believe it; a sensible person twice; and a fool three times before he believes it. I say that most never hear the truth of the real message of Christ or come to believe it fully, even when it's presented to them. That's why Jesus said that few will enter in. At the cross, He prayed, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. It's still the blind leading the blind.

The Emperor was obsessed with his garments. Do you know the true scriptural meaning of garments in the bible? It's symbolic of God's protective cover upon us and it is the Mind Of Christ. Without it we are considered naked, uncovered, unprotected and most of all, without communication with our Heavenly Father. Jesus told us we needed new wineskins or a new mind to contain His new life. Wineskins, robes of righteousness, the woof and the warp, hem of His garment, three fold cords, scarlet threads, priestly garments, white linen, bride adorned for her husband without spot or wrinkle, mantle, etc. are all symbolic of the many inferences to His garment, the Mind of Christ. Without it, we are pitifully poor, naked and ashamed in the sight of God. So we're not so different from the Emperor in our story from God's viewpoint, are we?

God is not going to perfect the serpent's kingdom or this carnal mind of ours. This old garment has to go and be replaced with His mind. How can this happen? We have to confess that we are naked in a sinful nature that was spun into existence by the primordial serpent. By humbling ourselves before the One who is "Truth" and "Life" we have the opportunity to "put on" immortality. The Mind of Christ is imparted to us when our personality is woven together with Christ, enabling us to be in continual communication with the Living God. Jesus is the needle that has to penetrate us and do a hidden work within us and then He will display us as His covering, His tabernacle, His temple, so that His glory can shine through us. We're the precious spiritual jewels He's looking to wear in His crown of glory. The invisible God will be seen through His garment, the Mind of Christ knit within us without hands. We are to be clothed upon from on high.

So you want to be popular and be in the "in crowd." You want and need the praises of men. To do so you will have to stay and become part of the lie in much the same way as the Emperor's subjects did. The wages in this world of sin is death. That's more of a price than the Lord requires of us. The wages of being in Christ are life without end in the very presence of God. You've only heard the beginnings of truth that the Lord wants to bring you into. What are you going to do with it? Are you willing to at least question? This passing lifestyle ends in death and only in Christ is the beginning of the new creation man and His definition of the "New Age" to come.

How willing are you to take the time to search out the truth? How willing are you to accept it in the light of the facts that are presented? Even when the lies are exposed and presented to you, are you actually bold enough or courageous enough to walk in that truth and light? Oh so, you think you're doing it already, do you? What if I told you that your traditions, religious rituals, and even your "good works" are not pleasing to God? Could you "let go" of your Christmas celebrations and all the lies that go along with it and bear the disapproval of your children and families? What about Halloween observances (even if it is in an angel costume) or the Easter Sunrise observances that have all come out of paganism? There's much more that has to fall by the wayside, too. The many doctrines of demons would have to step aside and make a way for the Doctrine of Christ. There's witchcraft and mind control in the church, brethren. Peer pressure isn't only practiced by the very young. But you'll have to check that out for yourself with the Lord. He wants to take you from rags to riches in Christ.

You can't enter the Kingdom dressed in your carnal mind.

Mary Jane Sears