This is a series of sermons on the coat of many colors – Free Power point is available through E-Mail retssi@bellsouth.net
Several Illustrations, points, and the main idea for this series of sermons dealing with the coat of many colors was from James May’s sermon, “A Coat Of Many Colors.” Also Several Illustrations and points came from Jehu Hernandez’s sermon, “David’s Worship,” and many other sources were used to help compile this series!
A Coat of Many Colors #3 Dark Blue
Genesis 37:1-3 (KJV) 1 And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Jacob loved Joseph and He Had Big Dreams For His Son.
His hopes and concerns I believe were manifested in this special coat that he made for Joseph.
It was more than just a gift to show the love that a father has for his son. It was more than just an ordinary coat.
What, is so significant about a coat of many colors?
The First week we looked at the color of Amber which represented God’s Presence and Glory in the life of Joseph.
Last Week we took a glance at the color Black which could have represented two ideas.
The first thought was that there would be days of darkness that he would have to face.
The second thought, had to do with the future of the Famine in the land that was still to come into his life.
Now tonight I want us to look at the color Dark Blue!
Blue represents both the sky and the sea, and is associated with open spaces, freedom, intuition, imagination, expansiveness, inspiration, and sensitivity. Blue also represents meanings of depth, trust, loyalty, sincerity, wisdom, confidence, stability, faith, heaven, and intelligence.
The color blue has positive affect’s on the mind and the body. As the color of the spirit, it invokes rest and can cause the body to produce chemicals that are calming and exude feelings of tranquility. Blue helps to slow human metabolism, is cooling in nature, and helps with balance and self-expression. Blue is also an appetite suppressant.
DARK BLUE WAS ONE OF THE PRIMARY COLORS IN AND AROUND THE TABERNACLE.
Over the temple hung blue curtains. The veil in the temple was blue and purple, when Jesus died it was torn from the top to the bottom.
On the altar there was laid a blue covering of dyed badgers skin, this blue skin held the instruments of ministry.
Numbers 4:6-12 (KJV) 6 And shall put thereon the covering of badgers' skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof. 7 And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon: 8 And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put in the staves thereof. 9 And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuffdishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it: 10 And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put it upon a bar.
11 And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put to the staves thereof: 12 And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put them on a bar:
The ephod that the priest wore was blue background, represented God’s holiness.
Exodus 39:21-24 The priest wore a little blue thing hanging on their forehead to remind them of God’s precious gifts and God’s holiness.
At the edge of the priestly garment, on the hem there was a blue sash, and a tassel, with a fringe and a golden bell to remind them of the commandments of the Lord, Number 15:39-40-41.
Mordecai even wore a robe of blue and white out of the Kings chambers after God had delivered His people from Haman. Esther 8:15 Blue and white became a symbol of deliverance.
It was as though Jacob gave this coat of many colors to Joseph and put some Dark Blue coloring into it to signify that he wanted his son to be reminded that he was to worship God.
I believe that Joseph from the day he was born was taught how to Worship God. Look at his family history, Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (KJV) 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) 6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
That is our responsibility as parents is to “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephes. 6:4).
One of the greatest privileges that a child can have is strong Godly Christian parents.
Turn to Psalm 42:1-2 (KJV) Let us look at this idea of worship! ”As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”
Worship- it is a reverent devotion and allegiance that is pledged to God.
When we try to worship for the sake of certain benefits that may be received, the act ceases to be worship; for then it attempts to use God as a means to something else.
We should worship God purely for the sake of worshiping God.
Dr. W. M. Temple, a British preacher, defines worship like this:
For to worship is
to quicken the conscience by the Holiness of God;
to feed the mind with the truth of God;
to purge the imagination by the beauty of God;
to open the heart to the love of God;
to devote the will to the purpose of God.
Well, the English word “worship” means “to ascribe the highest worth to.”
So when we worship, we’re saying, “God, you’re #1 in my life. You come before anything or anyone else.”
The Hebrew word that we translate “worship” means
to bow down,
to humble ourselves,
to recognize His sovereignty,
to express reverence in His presence.
Now turn to Psalm 95:6-7 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. [7] For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice,
Worship is not a human invention; but rather, it is a divine offering.
God offers himself in a personal relationship and we respond.
The only kind of worshipers God has any use for are those who worship him from the heart, in spirit and in truth.
If God doesn't have your heart, then nothing else you do matters.
If you're singing praise songs, but your heart is cold or lukewarm, then you're not worshiping. You're just singing a song.
Do you know what I call that? spiritual lip-synching. spiritual lip-synching. It looks real, it sounds real. But it's not real.
There are several reasons: God commands and invites us to worship, and our worship blesses and pleases Him.
Worship encourages us and lifts our spirits.
ILLUS A woman entered an ice cream store in the Kansas City Plaza. After making her selection, she turned and found herself face to face with Paul Newman.
He was in town filming the move Mr. and Mrs. Bridge. Newman’s blue eyes caused her knees to buckle. She managed to pay for her cone, then left the shop, her heart pounding.
When she gained her composure, she realized she didn’t have her cone.
She started back into the store to get it and met Paul Newman coming back out.
He asked, “Are you looking for your ice-cream cone?”
She nodded, unable to speak.
With a twinkle in his eye, he said, “You put it in your purse with your change.”
When was the last time our worship brought us into the presence of God and quickened our pulse and affected our lives?
You see, True worship, authentic worship, I am talking about a worship that comes from the heart, worship that is done in spirit and truth -that kind of worship is transforming.
When we think of true biblical worship, we are often drawn to David, because David had a passion for God.
It was a real passion. It wasn't shallow and it wasn't self- serving. He truly loved God and longed for Him every day. (Ps. 42:1-2)
Turn back to Psalm 42:1-2 (KJV) As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
As we read the Psalms we learn a little about the worship David practiced and why he was so passionate about God.
1.David lived his worship.
Worship wasn't just something he did once or twice a week with other people. Worship was giving his life completely to God and to God's purposes.
Paul reaffirms this principle in Romans 12:1 (KJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
If our worship is to be a biblical worship, it will be a way of life, the willing and daily sacrifices to God of everything we are, everything we have, and everything we do.
2.David was uncompromising in his worship. (Ps. 27:4)
David's worship was wholehearted, not just halfway or stingy. He had total focus, total commitment, and total devotion. No doubt there were voices that clamored for his attention and devotion, but he was single-minded in this.
Psalm 27:4 (KJV) 4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
The Discipline of Worship. “ …that will I seek after;…”
To be a person who is a true worshipper of the Lord Jesus Christ requires a substantial commitment to personal discipline.
In a day and age when so many things compete for our worship and devotion, believers are often forced to make choices.
David resisted the temptation to be consumed with his many duties in leading a nation and chose instead to make God his number one priority.
This single-minded pursuit is what made him such an effective leader.
We could say that David was obsessed with worship.
Application: How important it is that we as a church maintain this important discipline. We must be careful not to lose the perspective that we exist to glorify God.
I am concerned that in an effort to be relevant the evangelical movement has become man-centered rather than God-centered.
The Destination of Worship. "...That I may dwell in the house of the Lord."
David was not referring here to the tabernacle, the place where God dwelt in the times preceding Solomon, or the temple built during his son’s reign.
These places were not dwellings to be lived in, and neither were they eternal (See Psalm 23:6). David was speaking here of an ongoing and intimate relationship with God where we live in His very presence.
Worship is meant to bring us to the throne of God that we might grow in our understanding of Him.
If worship doesn’t bring us into the presence of God through His Son, then one of two things has gone wrong: Either we are worshipping the wrong thing or we’re worshipping for the wrong reason.
1. The object of our worship.
The very first commandment given to Israel was to "have no other gods before me” (See Exodus 20:3).
He alone is to be the One we worship. God is clear on this. Whatever we do, it is to be done to His glory (See 1 Corinthians 10:31).
He is so central to our existence that the most routine things can and should be done to His glory!
2. The motivation for worship. Turn to Genesis 4:2-7
The very first lesson on worship centers around the first two children born upon earth, Cain and Abel.
The central theme of this lesson deals with the true and false of worship. How does it approached God.
The Lord did not receive Cain’s sacrifice because it was not the right approach.
Genesis 4:2-7 (KJV) 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
It was not the sacrifice itself that was wrong, for grain offerings were offered to God in other places in the Scriptures with good results.
It was a matter of the heart, and Cain’s was not right with God.
It is possible to engage in the worship of God in a way that is not pleasing to our Lord.
Cain wanted to use a different way and approach to God.
Certainly this was the problem that Jesus had with the Pharisees and teachers of the Law in Matthew 15.
They pretended that their traditions were all about honoring God, but in fact, they were about manipulating others to their own advantage.
Thus they rendered the commandments of God null and void causing Jesus to conclude that their worship was meaningless and empty! (See Matthew 15:8-9).
Had they truly desired to please God, they would have followed the example of Christ in loving others.
Illustration: There once was an old woman who unfortunately was gradually losing her memory. Throughout her life, however, this woman had cherished and depended on the Word of God, committing many verses to memory.
Her favorite was 2 Timothy 1:12 (KJV) 12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
Confined to a bed in a nursing home, her family knew that she was would never leave it alive. As they visited, she would quote verses, especially 2 Timothy 1:12. But with the passing of time, even parts of this well-loved verse began to fade. "I know in whom I have believed...he is able to keep that which I have committed to Him..."
Then it was..."what I have committed to Him..."
A few short days before her death all she could remember was… " committed to Him.”
Finally in her last moments there was only one word left, “Him.” She whispered it again and again as she stood on the doorstep of heaven. "Him...Him...Him." It was all that was left and it was all that was needed.
The Duration of Worship. "...all the days of my life."
David could think of nothing better than to spend the rest of his life dwelling in the very presence of God.
Worship is not a momentary experience, it is a life-long pursuit where we give all that we are to honor all that He is.
In Psalm 34:1-3, David provides for us a model of what this looks like:
1. We worship God willingly (I will bless the Lord at all times...). Worship is a free-will offering to God!
2. We worship God continually (I will bless the Lord at all times...). There is never an inappropriate time for worship (See 2 Chronicles 20:18-21).
3. We worship God personally (My soul shall make its boast in the Lord...).
4. We worship God corporately (O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together.) We are meant to worship God with others.
The Desire of Worship. "...to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple." David had two desires in worship: To see something and to seek something.
1. To see the beauty of the Lord. This Hebrew in Psalm 27:4 , "to behold the beauty of the Lord," is a saying expressing the absolute delight which gazing continually at God’s glory brings to us. It is beyond words and must be experienced to be understood.
2. To seek Him in His Glory. The idea is to actively and passionately pursue God that we might know Him better and enjoy Him more. It is the desire described in Psalm 42:1 -- As the hart (deer) pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
BUT, Joseph did have one thing that other slaves in Egypt didn’t.
He had a God who cared for him.
Now ordinarily, most folks who’d go through problems like Joseph’s would doubt God was there… or that He even cared.
And so – in case if YOU had any doubts about that in Joseph’s life, God wanted to reassure you, So He put in the story one phrase that shows up again and again and again.
You know what that phrase was?
“The LORD was with Joseph” and He Bless Joseph!
You see it in Gen 35: vss. 2, 3, 5, 21, and 23.
One of the reason that the Lord was with Joseph was because of his worship.
