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 Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible and Many other sources were used to help compile this series!
A Coat of Many Colors #5 Green
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.
What, have we learned so far about this 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.
Then 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.
Also we learned that it was a possibility that Jacob gave this coat of many colors to Joseph and put Dark Blue into it to signify that he wanted his son to continue to Worship God!
The second idea with the color Blue in mind would be that someday Joseph would make Heaven his home. So the color could have been Sky Blue or Light Blue.
Now this week, Jacob might have put GREEN into that coat.
Green, the color of life, renewal, nature, and energy, is associated with meanings of growth, harmony, freshness, safety, fertility, and environment. Green is also traditionally associated with money, finances, banking, ambition, greed, jealousy, and wall street.
The color green has healing power and is understood to be the most restful and relaxing color for the human eye to view. Green can help enhance vision, stability and endurance. Green takes up more space in the spectrum visible to the human eye and it is the dominant color in the natural. It is a natural choice in interior design as an ideal background or backdrop because we as humans are so used to seeing it everywhere.
With the color green’s association with renewal, growth, and hope, often green stands for both a lack of experience and need for growth.
Green also stands for new growth and rebirth, common in the spring season when all of the plants are coming back to life with fresh growth and life after the cold winter months.
Green could have stood for so many things that Jacob wanted to teach Joseph.
Psalm 23:1-2 (KJV) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
In this Passage it teaches us that the Lord provides spiritual nourishment, and the comfort of life and fellowship for those who follow Him.
When you look at the reference: Green Pastures – it is a metaphor for spiritual nourishment,
It was no doubt that God was Joseph’s source of fruitfulness and growth in life. Just as Green represented fruitfulness and growth in every plant that God had put on this earth from the time of the creation.
Jacob could have been trying to tell Joseph of the great rest in knowing God and lying down in those green pastures.
It could also have served as reminder that no matter how great the things of this life can be, and no matter how much you might enjoy them, never forget that the green things will someday be gone forever.
Psalms 37:1-2, "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb."
For our study tonight, GREEN will be REPRESENTATIVE of GROWTH. That spiritual nourishment and diet that is needed for growth.
I want us to look at 5 characteristics of someone who is growing spiritually.
I. A Growing Christian Will Embrace the Growth Process!
Just as the body needs the proper daily nourishment of food, spiritual fitness requires the proper daily nourishment of spiritual food.
We need a healthy diet. Do you remember from grade school what the four major food groups are?
Ill: The teacher asked the class to name the four major food groups one student quickly reeled them off: “Arbys, Taco Bell, McDonalds and Pizza Hut."
What is your spiritual diet?
In Matthew 4:4 (KJV) But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
In other words, man is more than just a physical being. He is a spiritual being as well as a physical being. And just as the physical side of him needs nourishment, so does the spiritual nature.
In Psalms 119:103 (KJV) The Palmist Says,How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Application: In order to experience proper growth, you must regularly read God’s Word and listen to his voice.
A. Our Diet begins with Spiritual Milk
1 Peter 2:2 (KJV) As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
Can you tell when a baby is hungry?
In fact, babies will let you know in no uncertain terms when they are hungry. They will fuss, cry, and/or scream to let you know they want food!
That is the picture that’s painted for us—our attitude toward spiritual food should be just like that.
Matthew 5:6 (KJV) Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Job 23:12 (KJV) Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
B. Our Diet changes as we mature
Infants really can’t handle much more than milk.
There comes a day, however, when they will mature to the better things in life, like Gerber foods and cereals.
Then, they move on to more and more solid foods they reach the ultimate, steak and potatoes.
Now, as parents, it would concern us if, after a year or more, our babies were still eating only milk. That would not be the sign of a healthy baby. In fact, it would be a sign of a severe problem, because they would not be growing the way he should.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (KJV) And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
Often times, we are willing to settle for a little milk rather than trying to develop and grow onto more spiritual things. Instead of growing in the faith, there are many Christians who are perfectly content to stay infants.
Let’s look at this a different way!
One way to look at it is that life on this planet would die without the photosynthesis of green plants. This process turns the dirty air, carbon dioxide back into breathable oxygen.
And we too will die if we don’t grow in the Lord
Joseph’s source of fruitfulness and growth in life was from and through God just as Green life was there in every plant that God had given in the earth from the time of the creation.
In 1 Samuel 2:26 (KJV) It says, 26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men.
This verse could of have been said of Joseph.
Do You remember that phrase?
“The LORD was with Joseph” and He Bless Joseph!
You see it in Gen 35: vss. 2, 3, 5, 21, and 23.
Now turn to: 2 Peter 3:17-18 (KJV) 17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. 18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
II. A Growing Christian will Learn How to Handle Conflict
Joseph is a good example of a believer who trusted God and made the best of his difficult circumstances and conflict in his life.
He never read what Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon or what Peter wrote to the scattered Christians in the Roman Empire, but he certainly put those instructions into practice.
Joseph would rather have been at home, but he made the best of his circumstances in Egypt, and God blessed him.
God tests us as servants before He promotes us.
Before He allows us to exercise authority, we have to be under His authority and learn to obey Him.
God permitted Joseph to be treated unjustly and put in prison. All of that was to help build his character and prepare him for the tasks that lay ahead.
This prison that he found himself in would be a school where he would learn to wait on the Lord until it was His time to vindicate him and fulfill his dreams.
Joseph had time to think and pray and to ponder the meaning of the two dreams God had sent him. He would learn that God's delays are not God's denials.
Here in 2 Peter 3:17, The word translated "beware" means "be constantly guarding yourself."
Peter's readers knew the truth, but he warned them that knowledge alone was not sufficient protection. They had to be on their guard; they had to be alert just as Joseph.
It is easy for people who have a knowledge of the Bible to grow overconfident and to forget the warning, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" 1 Cor. 10:12 (KJV).
What special danger did Peter see? That the true believers would be "led away together with the error of the wicked" (literal translation).
He is warning us against about breaking down the walls of separation that must stand between the true believers and the false teachers.
There can be no communion between truth and error.
True Christians cannot fall from salvation and be lost, but they can fall from their own "steadfastness."
Joseph exercised self-control and steadfastness, but Samson used his body to gratify his own pleasures; and Joseph ended up ruling on a throne, while Samson ended his life buried in a pile of rubble.
What was this steadfastness? Peter said in, 2 Peter 1:12 (KJV) 12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
The stability of the Christian comes from his faith in the Word of God, his knowledge of that Word, and his ability to use that Word in the practical decisions of life.
One of the great tragedies of evangelism is bringing "spiritual babies" into the world and then failing to feed them, nurture them, and help them develop.
The apostates prey on young believers.
New believers need to be taught the basic doctrines of the Word of God; otherwise, they will be in danger of being "led away with the error of the lawless."
How can we as believers maintain our steadfastness and avoid being among the "unstable souls" who are easily beguiled and led astray?
By growing spiritually. "We should be constantly growing."
We should not be growing "in spurts," but in a constant experience of development.
III. A Growing Christian Will Always Seek Gods Grace.
We must grow "in grace."
This has to do with Christian character traits, the very things Peter wrote about in 2 Peter 1:5-7, and that Paul wrote about in Galatians 5:22-23.
We were saved by grace (Eph. 2:8-9), but grace does not end there!
We must also be strengthened by grace (2 Tim. 2:1-4).
God's grace can enable us to endure suffering
God’s grace also helps us to give when giving is difficult
God’s grace helps us to sing when singing is difficult.
Our God is "the God of all grace" (1 Peter 5:10), who "giveth grace unto the humble" (James 4:6).
As we study His Word, we learn about the various aspects of grace that are available to us as children of God.
We are stewards of "the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4:10).
There is grace for every situation and every challenge of life. "But by the grace of God I am what I am" wrote Paul (1 Cor. 15:10), and that should be our testimony as well.
Growing in grace often means experiencing trials and even suffering.
We never really experience the grace of God until we are at the end of our own resources.
The lessons learned in the "school of grace" are always costly lessons, but they are worth it.
To grow in grace means to become more like the Lord Jesus Christ, from whom we receive all the grace that we need (John 1:16).
IV. A Growing Christian will Always Seeks to Know Who God Is
We must also grow in knowledge.
How easy it is to grow in knowledge but not in grace!
All of us know far more of the Bible than we really live.
Knowledge without grace is a terrible weapon, and grace without knowledge can be very shallow.
But when we combine grace and knowledge, we have a marvelous tool for building our lives and for building the church.
But note that we are challenged to grow, not just in knowledge of the Bible, as good as that is, but "in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
It is one thing to "know the Bible," and quite another thing to know the Son of God, the central theme of the Bible.
The better we know Christ through the Word, the more we grow in grace; the more we grow in grace, the better we understand the Word of God.
So, the separated Christian must constantly Be guarding himself, lest he be led away into error; he also must be constantly growing in grace and knowledge.
This requires diligence! It demands discipline and priorities.
Nobody automatically drifts into spiritual growth and stability, but anybody can drift out of dedication and growth. Hebrews 2:1 (KJV)
1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
Physical growth and spiritual growth follow pretty much the same pattern.
To begin with, we grow from the inside out. "As newborn babes" is the way Peter illustrated it (1 Peter 2:2).
The child of God is born with everything he needs for growth and service (2 Peter 1:3). All he needs is the spiritual food and exercise that will enable him to develop.
The church is God's "nursery" for the care and feeding of Christians, the God-ordained environment that encourages them to grow.
It is important that we grow in a balanced way. The human body grows in a balanced way with the various limbs working together; likewise the "spiritual man" must grow in a balanced way.
We must grow in grace and knowledge!
V. A Growing Christian Will Always Learn to Give God The Glory
What is the result of spiritual growth? Glory to God! "To Him be glory both now and forever." It glorifies Jesus Christ when we keep ourselves separated from sin and error. It glorifies Him when we grow in grace and knowledge, for then we become more like Him (Rom. 8:29). In his life and even in his death, Peter glorified God (John 21:18-19).
