I appreciate Brother Jimmy and the work that he's tried to do here in this place and he is doing. The Lord has blessed him. I've said blessings doesn't always come without a struggle. If everything's going right does not necessarily mean that God's in it. Oftentimes, if you're trying to do that that the Lord would have you to do, is when you seem to run into the most trouble. And I pray that God would help us today. My subject, of course, is wisdom. And my brain being my brain, when I start studying a subject, sometimes I go in a direction that I was not expecting, so you probably wasn't expecting either. If you'd take your Bibles and turn with me, I'll be in Genesis, Genesis chapter 41. Genesis 41. We're going to be looking at wisdom. I tried last evening, we talked about who is a wise man. And we tried to consider whether we as a wise man or a fool. Somebody's already made reference to the fact that oftentimes the people that are referred to as being wise, oftentimes we accredit that to someone who's aged. But scripturally speaking, that's not really the case. And we noted that, of course, Solomon's wisdom pertaining to the choices that he made. And God acknowledged his choice because he chose the right thing instead of the wrong thing. He had wisdom because he chose the right thing. So God blessed him in that that he asked for. He asked for wisdom that he might discern judgment. He had some wisdom before he asked that and that's why he asked for that instead of extra horses and all the other things he could have asked for. I'm going to try to look at someone who has some wisdom. I think I told you Genesis 42, but I'm in Genesis 41, so it won't be much to back up. I'm going to read a few verses of Scripture I pray that the Lord might help us with. I'm looking for, looking at someone who has some wisdom and praying that God would Help us to see what He did in order to get to this place. Genesis 41, if you'd like, you've been sitting a few moments, if you'd like to stand with me one more time, we'll read some of the Word of God together and then I'll give you a chance to be seated once again. In verse 33, I'm breaking into the midst of the subject. The Bible says, Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man, discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt, Let Pharaoh do this and let him appoint officers over the land, take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. If you drop down about verse 37, the Bible says, And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is? a man in whom the Spirit of God is. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. Thou shalt be over my house. According unto thy word shall all my people be ruled. Only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. and Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck." Pharaoh has said he has looked at Joseph, and the Bible said that he said, a man discreet and wise. That's what Pharaoh would say about Joseph. Now it's interesting to me because Pharaoh's a heathen king. And Pharaoh is looking at Joseph and saying, here's a wise man. Sometimes God's people, us, struggle on who a wise man is. But it's real interesting to me that Pharaoh picked such a wise man. He said, well, it wasn't hard for him to pick because, after all, he's the one who was able to... I know, I know he was able. But he's still taking someone that he knows very, very little about, and he's going to put him in a place of great prestige and great honor. The fact is, he's number two in the kingdom, and he's fixing to give him this honor, and in doing that, he's acknowledging that this man is the man for the job. But all he really knows about him is that he interpreted that dream and he gave him sound counsel. This will sound odd. There's some things about Joseph that has led up to this in his life. Wisdom, I dare say I don't think that wisdom is oftentimes as we would like to define it. I find that wisdom is more like it's a process. And when I look at wisdom, I think it's sort of like laying brick. You can't get to the top first. You have to lay the brick all the way up to get up there. And Joseph has done that. And so we're going to go back, and with a very odd reference, we're going to go back to Joseph's closet. and we're going to find what he did to get to this place. Because he's been through a process. He's been laying brick all along the way. And God would acknowledge the things that he's done. And it's interesting to me that he marks them by his apparel. And so we're going to note those things concerning Joseph. If you'd back over a few pages, I'm going to be looking in chapter 37 of Genesis. I'm going to spend my time in Genesis this evening and try to focus in on these thoughts. I'm going to try to stay on point. I'm going to try to give you exactly the things that the Lord has helped me with. I pray it'll be a help to you. In chapter 37, if you'll notice, We have the story, and this is the one that our young people enjoy much. The Bible said, verse 3 of chapter 37, Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. He made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all of his brethren, they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him. It's interesting to me the first garments that I take note of pertaining to Joseph in this line. I'm certain all the other boys was clothed. All his brothers were clothed, but nothing said about their clothing. And I didn't realize until I started to look at it that I started to say, why does the Bible mention so much about Joseph's clothes? because all of a sudden they come into view quite a bit. And then I realized those clothes mark something about Joseph. Each of them distinguishes something about Joseph. So in the context of chapter 37, our Bible has told us that his father has made him a coat of many colors. the Bible would refer to Joseph as being the son, if you would, in describing him unto the others, the Bible would describe him as being the son of his old age. But I would remind you that Joseph has a younger brother. So if Joseph is the son of Israel's old age, then what about Benjamin? because he's younger. They have the same mother. So I thought, it's not just because that Jacob loved Joseph's mother the most, and he did. It's not just that, because Benjamin has that mother too. And he's the baby of the family. But Jacob has focused his attention upon Joseph, and I believe it's because that he saw some wisdom in Joseph. You'll find in the story, and I've not got time to read it, but if you go through and you read the context of chapter 37, you'll find that this is what's said pertaining to Joseph. Joseph is the son Jacob can count on, Israel can count on. He's the son that when he needs something done and he needs it done right, then he asked Joseph to do it. because he knows that Joseph's going to do what he asked him to do. His other sons, not so much. They would start out to do one thing and they may get their eyes turned to something else and they may leave that to go do something else. And so Israel would give to Joseph, he would give him a coat of many colors. And so the first thing I noted about this particular coat, I thought, Joseph was wise enough that he gave honor to his parents. He obeyed his parents. I'll say that's a good measure for young people to start with wisdom. Just learning to be obedient to their father, to their parents. The Bible would say, in commanding young people, honor your father and mother because this is right. And I keep emphasizing this because of the fact that I believe it's one of the starting brick, if you will, to build up this wall of wisdom that God would have you have. So I noticed that of the coat that Jacob would give unto Joseph, I have as much trouble with Jacob calling him by the right name as anybody. And the reason being is because God said, you shall be called no more Jacob. You're going to be called Israel. Because you're a prince with God. That's what he's going to be now. But then if you look after that, God kept calling him Jacob. And I thought, yeah, because he keeps reverting back to old Jacob. And he won't live up to what God wants Jacob to live up to. But Joseph has come along, and Jacob is marking Joseph. He's trying to make Joseph into what he needs to be. And he's got the character for it. I mean, in his life, he has the character to do this. Jacob would say to Joseph, he would say, your brothers is tending the flocks, and he said, they're down at such and such. He said, you run down there, and he said, I want you to check on your brothers and tell me how they do. Well, that's not working out good, because Joseph is getting the label of being a tattletale, because he goes down there, and when he goes to check on them, they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, and it's not Joseph's fault. Listen, he's been sent to do these things. And you say, well, he's not. Listen, he's doing what he's been commanded to do. So if he brings a bad report, it's just because they was a bad report to bring. If there had been a good report, he would have brought a good report. So it's not that he's done anything wrong, it's just they've done wrong and he's the one who's put their finger on it. So I couldn't help but notice the first quote, and I said this about the quote, I said, This marks that Joseph was wise enough that he would honor his parents on the Lord, for this is right. But then I had to say this. This coat is connected with deception. I mean, it's a gift, man. It's an honor. Even though all the other children have coats too. His coat's different because it's been specially made for him. And I've read, and listen, I don't know if commentators know any more about it than we do, but they say that this coat of many colors, it's not based on colors. They say it has more to do with the length and it has more to do with the detail. I don't have a clue, man, I don't know that much about it. All I can say is it was a coat of distinction and anyone could see there's something about that coat that makes him special. But the reality was, he was special and that's why he's got the coat. So then they would take and connect his coat. They would take, the brothers rise up against him, you know the story, toss him in the pit, desirous to kill him. Long story short, they would sell him instead and he would get carried off down into Egypt. But in the midst of that, they would take his coat. Dip it in blood and send it back to the Father. And they'd say, we don't know if this is his coat or not. Liar, you did too. You took it off of him. The Bible said they stripped it off of him. They forcibly took his coat off of him. And then they dipped it in blood and they sent the coat back and they said, we don't know if it's his or not, but they said, it looks like it's probably his and it's got blood on it. Yeah, you put it on it. And so long story short, so they used the coat. Jacob would look at the coat and he'd say, oh my, it is his coat. And it does have blood on it. And they said, well, he must have been slain by a wild beast. Can I say that Jacob would live for years? And he's going to live in sorrow, in the loss. They never saw that coming. They really thought if we can get him out of the way, all's going to be good. They didn't realize that in doing this, what it would do to Jacob. And so for those so many years, Jacob is going to continue to obsess over the loss of Joseph and how his heart will never be what it was before and all those kind of things. And so that was connected. They used his coat, a coat of distinction, a coat of blessing, a coat of honor. They would use that to formulate a lie pertaining to Joseph. So let's go to the second coat. If you move over just a little ways, you'll find in Genesis 39, we'll find his second coat. This time, of course, he's been brought down to Egypt. He's in a house in verse 1 of chapter 39. Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither. Potiphar buys Joseph and he's a slave. It's not like he's hired him. He bought him. He owns him. He's his property to do with now as he would. As he would take him into his home, he realizes that God is with this young man. One more reason why I'd have to say, man, Joseph's got some wisdom about him because he's... Can two walk together except they be agreed? Nope. You're going to have to be in agreement. So if God is walking close to Joseph, it's not because God changed his destination, it's because that Joseph is choosing in his walk to try to stay close to God. So God is walking with Joseph or Joseph is walking with God. In the midst of all that, Potiphar would notice about Joseph day by day and he'd say, man, this is a young man of integrity. This is a young man that God is blessing. I mean, whatever he touches, it seems like God is interested in blessing that and I'm prospering when Joseph takes care of it and it seems like the matters of the household and the matters of the business and it seems like everything's running a little smoother now that Joseph is taking care of it and I don't have to stress over it. So here very shortly he looks at Joseph and he says, man, I need to promote you. He says, from now on, I want you to take care of all matters for me. He said, I want you to tend to everything. And so Joseph starts to do that. He's trying to take care of all the matters of business that needs to be done. And one more time, he has a problem with a coat, a garment. This time, again in chapter 39, all of a sudden Potiphar's wife begins to take notice of Joseph as well. Joseph, there's not a doubt in my mind, I believe he was probably a handsome young man. I believe he conducted himself with dignity and character and he had a clean cut about him that distinguished him from others and he got people's attention just because of the fact that he's got... Can I tell you today, if you're young and you've got character, people see you. and they pay attention. Even a child is known by his doings. So if you're doing right and people see you, they take notice of you. And so Joseph, people has taken notice of him, but Potiphar's wife has taken notice of Joseph, but not for the right reasons. Yes, he is. I believe one of the reasons was is because everybody else was noticing him. I dare say Potiphar probably would say this when he sat down at his table in the afternoon. He'd say, well, I need to go check on this. And they'd say, no, that's been taken care of. Joseph took care of that earlier. He said, well, I might need to follow up on this. And they said, no, Joseph took care of that. He took care of that earlier in the day. And so now Potiphar sits down at the table in the afternoon and he said, man, I sure am blessed. to have a good servant like Joseph working in my household. And I really am grateful for him, and I'm going to promote him. I've promoted him in the household. He's now tending my business for me, and he's bragging on him a little bit. And I figure his wife is getting tired of hearing Joseph's name mentioned. And I figure it's just the fact that maybe she's not getting the attention she thinks she deserves. I don't know what her problem was, but she had a problem. And so she starts to pay more attention to Joseph than is needful. And after a while, she desires him. Not for any right reason. She's desiring him in a sinful way. And so she would start trying to entice him, to allure him, or to tempt him, and he pays her no mind. I have to say one more time of Joseph. Praise the Lord for Joseph. I'm telling you, this boy's got some wisdom. He's facing temptations and he's dealing with it in a manner that's pleasing to the Lord. He's dealing with it in a manner that's pleasing to his masters. He's dealing with it in a manner that's pleasing even in his own heart. Until one day he makes a mistake and he goes into the house and all the servants were out. That's why it's so important. It's why we encourage young people. We try to say things like this. We establish rules for you. And a lot of times, you prefer not to have these rules. But we try to tell you, be real careful where you go. Be real careful who you go with. Be careful to make sure you don't go alone. You need a witness. You need someone. And so we try to emphasize those things. Well, Joseph, it seems like, has been doing that, but he finally gets caught. One day, maybe he went in. Maybe there's servants in there, but they've left. And anyway, she's watching close enough. Potiphar's wife is watching close enough that she sees the servants leave the house. Joseph's the only one in there. And she instantly makes her way in that house. She goes in. She would try to get his attention. She would go beyond just trying to tempt him. She would go to the point to try to lay hold upon him. She would grab his coat to hold on to him, maybe to draw him closer. And Joseph, a wise man, just relinquished the coat, stepped out of his coat, and slipped right out the door, and away he is gone. I looked at this second coat and I'd say, man, he's wise enough to recognize that he had a master. because he acknowledged to her in their conversation. He acknowledged her in verse 12 through 16. It's him. And the Bible said, it came to pass when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried that he left his garment with me and fled and got him out. And she laid up his garment by her until his Lord came home. I'm a mindful of someone else in the New Testament. They lost their head, but they didn't lose their integrity. Sometimes if you maintain your integrity and it's the right thing to do, it's the wise thing to do, it still may cost you. You can make the right decision, you can make the right choice, and sometimes there's a price to be paid. But I will tell you the good news is God takes note of the price. So I looked at this second garment, the one that he left in her hand. I looked at that garment and I called this one. I said, he's wise enough to be true to his master. But he's not only true to his master, he said to that woman, he said, listen, why would I do this sinful thing? He said, your master, my master trusts me. And he's trusted me with everything he's got except you. Said, I can do anything I will with anything else but you. You're his wife. And he said, you're off limits to me. And I think she was off limits to him by choice of both the master and by choice of Joseph. He's not interested in her in that way. And so when I looked at it, I'll say, man, this second coat notes the wisdom that he had in dealing. He said, well, I don't have a master. I'm going to tell you, you've got someone you work for. You've got an employer. We live in a different setting of time, but if you've got an employer, you are to honor your employer. You're just being wise. Listen, if you want to represent wisdom, if you want to represent Christ in this world, you need to be a good employee. You don't need to be... Listen, I've worked in factories and I know what it's like. You can put one bad apple in a group and they'll spoil the whole bushel. I mean, you get one person who's going to mouth and complain about everything. We had a lady, I was an engineer, I was on the line and I was trying to work on some problems and they called me. They said, we need you to go to a different line. There's a lady there who said she's highly upset and said, if you can, I don't know why they thought I'd be a peacemaker. Anyway, they said, go into the line and just try to calm her down. And I said, okay. So I go into the line and I go into where the lady was and she said, this is the awfulest place to work. And man, she's just really verbal, really verbal. And she said, it's hot in here. And I said, yes, ma'am, it is. And I said, we apologize for that. I said, we've got five. air conditioning units that maintain this one section of the building and two of them's down. So I said, you are right, it's a little hotter in here than normal, and I said, we apologize for that. I said, but, I said, thank goodness, I said, at least we got three that's still working. I said, we got two down, they're working on them, but we still got three working, so I, and I, you know, I really did throw in that little positive note, thinking, you know, no, that did not help me at all. So, So long story short, she said, this is worse than a sweat shop. She said, those sweat shops. And so I said, no ma'am. I said, actually, sweat shops don't have any air conditioners. So I said, and I said, it's much. That didn't help me either. And then she said, she started this. I'll show you how old I am. She said, and with this, the hole in the ozone layer, Now, I'm telling you, she really said this. She said, because of that hole in the ozone layer, it's hotter now than it used to be. Some of y'all are looking at me like a calf in a new gate. You're saying, what in the world? Okay, don't worry. That very week, I'd heard some reason or another, I'd been listening to or reading some news, and it said they realized that was all a fraud, that there was no such thing as a hole. And so I just heard that that week, and I knew she'd want to know that. I told her, I said, I just heard this week that there's actually no such thing as a hole in the ozone layer. That did not help my case. I realized when I left the unit, I had not accomplished my goal. And I also realized that if somebody wants to be in a bad mood, there's nothing you can do about it. You cannot change them. You're not going to make them happy. Can I say in looking and trying to have wisdom, listen, you can do the best you can and you need to, but you're not going to correct everyone else around you. It's just not going to happen. About the only person that I can control is me. And I really struggle with me. So I look at it and I'll say, man, Joseph, you've done good. That's two marks. You've got two bricks. You're starting up now. And so I looked at it and I thought, well, that's good. And then amazingly enough, when that husband came home, when he came home and his wife says, you've let this Hebrew come in here and he's did this to dishonor me and so forth, I don't believe he believed her for a minute. Because remember, he's a slave. He's the property of his master. If his master wants to cut that boy's head off, end him right now. He could have done anything to him he wanted to do. He said, put him in jail. Just put him in prison. I'm telling you, I do not believe he ever believed it. But it's easier to put him in jail than it is to fight with his wife for the rest of their day. So that's what he did. He had him put in prison. The reason I'm telling you this is because I'm telling you Joseph is trying to build into this man that Pharaoh said had some wisdom about him. And he's done been through two pretty hard knocks and they've been marked by his garments. He ends up in the prison. The warden looks at him and He comes in again. He's not a killer. He's not a troublemaker. He's not doing anything aggressive, so to speak. And so finally he says, he said, I'm going to put you over the... You're going to be over the prison. You feed all the prisoners. And he said, if you can, keep them from hollering and keep them from doing all this stuff. Try to keep them calm. You're a peaceful kind of fella and you can sort of diffuse situations. So he said, try to keep them as peace with one another as best you can. And he said, I'll let you take care of all that. And guess what? The Lord was with him. So he goes into the prison, and he's with those prisoners, and some are whining, and some are crying, and all of them's innocent, but they're all, you know, how all that goes. And so after just a little while, Joseph's in there one day, and two fellows is talking, and he overhears them, and they're talking about they had some dreams. Each of them would dream a dream. Either way, it went for three days. Each of them had a dream, and it's got a three-day resolution for each of them, but they can't figure out what the day is. They don't know what it means, days. They don't even know what it means. And they tell Joseph, they said, we've had dreams, and it's really upset us, and we don't know what we're going to do. And Joseph said, well, God's the revealer of dreams. He said, tell me your dream. And he said, God will give you an answer. He said, God will tell me and I'll tell you. So they unfolded their dreams, and the baker and the butler, they would give their dreams. And Joseph, man, just like he told them, the Lord revealed what those dreamed. He said to one of those fellows, the first fellow, he said, good news, man. He said, three days, you're out of here. You're going to spend these three days, he said, Pharaoh is going to realize that he's made a mistake in putting you in here, and he's going to have you summoned and brought back out. You're going to be restored, so it's all going to be great. Second fellow said, man, that's a pretty good interpretation. If he can do that, if he can give me that kind of news, I'll take it. And so the second fellow said, well, let me tell you my dream then. So he tells him his dream, and he said, not so good. Three days, he said, you're toast, man. He said, sorry, but you're going to be executed. So he looks to the guy who's going to get out in three days and he said, I only ask one thing of you. He said, when you get out, he said, when you go back to your place, he said, will you remember me? He said, I'm not guilty of what I was accused of. I've not done anything wrong. I'd really appreciate it if maybe they would have mercy on me. And so long story short, I sure will. And just like happens many times, he walks away and don't think no more about him for a long, long time until Pharaoh dreams a dream. Pharaoh dreams a dream and all of a sudden he's really upset. And that guy said, I forgot. He said, there was a guy in prison and he said, remember when you brought me back out of prison? He said, I dreamed a dream three days earlier and I didn't know what the dream meant. And he said, me and the guy you put in there at the same time said, we were both there and we both dreamed a dream and we both told him. And he said to us, he said, God is the revealer of dreams. So he said, if you'll tell me the dream, I'll tell you the interpretation. And since nobody could interpret, Pharaoh's dream, he said, well, let that man be summoned and brought. Amazingly enough, when they go to get Joseph out of the prison, he gets his third garment identified. Because before they can bring him out of prison to stand before Pharaoh, they're going to have to change his apparel, the Bible says. Well, I'm going to tell you, listen, if I was invited, and I won't be, if I was invited to go to the White House, I'd wear my very best suit. I would do my very diligence. Listen, I would have done it two years ago. if I'd have been invited. I would have done the same thing. I would have worn my very best suit. Again, there's no way I'd be invited. But just saying, if I were invited to go, I would want to show respect for the position. And so you would want to go in. I'm not saying anything about what you might be asked or what you might say, but just your normal presentation You want to do the best you can with what you got. And so the third garment that he had has to do with him being faithful in time of tribulation. See, he's been through a lot, man. I cannot imagine. Listen, we all go down the path of the mully grubs once in a while. You know, this is, I've tried this and it blowed up my face. I've tried this and it backfired and I treated those people good and they stabbed me in the back. And so you, everybody has that. You don't even have to be a preacher or a pastor to have somebody betray you and somebody to treat you in a way that you, that's life. And it just gets worse. for some than others. But I looked at it and I thought, man, Joseph, you've been through so much with all these trials and the tribulations that's been put on you and you didn't deserve any of that. But in reality, Joseph has not been bad-mouthing everybody down the road. I'm pretty sure on the way to Egypt, the Ishmaelites did not get ready to pull their hair out or ready to kill him because he had complained about how bad his brothers had done him. I dare say he never mentioned them. When he comes to Potiphar's house, I don't believe he spent his days talking about, if my brothers hadn't have done me that way. I don't believe he talked about that. When he was betrayed by Potiphar's wife and he was put in prison, I don't think he stood before the warden day in and day out and saying, I was not guilty. I don't believe he did that. I believe he was faithful to move on with his life. So he got the third brick. He got that third garment. And this one is just to allow him to stand before the king. The first two had to do with deception. Both garments was used against him in a negative fashion. Lies were based on those two garments. The first garment, it was said that he was dead and they proved it by the garment and the blood they'd put on it. The second garment was the garment that the wife of Potiphar held in her hand when he left it to get away from her to keep from doing anything wrong or being accused of worse. So the second garment, she said, this is my evidence to prove he did something wrong. But again, it was a lie. Third garment. Finally, we're going to get to step over to the positive side of his closet. This time, the garment that was used, I believe, I mean, they're bringing him out of prison. I have to tell you, they've had to wash him, he's had to shave, he's had to clean up. Can I just say he stunk? He didn't get a fresh change of clothes every morning. He's in prison. He wears what he's got. And it's probably rags, and it's probably nasty, and it probably stinks. They bring him out and they give him a new apparel. This is not an apparel of prestige. It's not an apparel of official anything. It's just a clean set of garments. And so he puts them on, and he cleans himself up, and he goes in to stand before Pharaoh. Pharaoh tells him the dream, tells him everything about this thing, and Joseph would render where we started in chapter 41. Joseph would tell them, after hearing the dream, he said, God has sent you a message. The message is, there's going to be a famine, and it's going to be bad. The good news is, is there's gonna be seven years of plenty before there's seven years of nothing. So he said, stock up in the seven years of plenty to carry you through the seven years of nothing. And he said, in order to do that, he said, then choose you out a wise man that you could set over this business of making sure provision is made. In this third set of garments, I looked at Joseph and I'll say, man Joseph, I've got to commend you with this because this has to do with proclaiming God unto Pharaoh. That's what he's doing. When Joseph is brought out of prison to stand before Pharaoh, an ungodly king, a king that does not know God, Joseph comes and he would stand before Pharaoh and he does not say, I'll interpret your dream. He said, God is the revealer of dreams. Tell me your dream. God will reveal the answer to your dream. Joseph did not take credit for the answer of that dream. He gave it to God. So they tell him the dream. He reveals unto them the meaning and so forth. So Pharaoh looks at Joseph and he says, There's a wise man. You say, well, why is he wise? He's not looked for self-exaltation. He did not try to lift himself up. He did not brag on his wisdom. He did not commend himself regarding all these things. He said God is the revealer of dreams and so he gave God all the credit for he did. third item of his closet, I'd say, man, Joseph, you've done real well. You've showed some wisdom in this matter as you've come to stand before the king and present yourself But not just you. You came to present God to the Pharaoh. Fourth set of garments. Fourth garment now and I'm done. This has to do with the garment Pharaoh would now give unto Joseph. He tells him, I read the text a few moments ago, chapter 41. I'm out of time. I'll say it like this. He looked at him and he said, He would say of Joseph, he'd say, Joseph, you've done good. You've told us what we needed to hear. Yes, this is a very serious matter. I need somebody who's serious-minded to be able to handle this matter. I need somebody with enough wisdom that they won't lose their head, that they'll plan for this thing. I mean, remember, they're going to have... this is 14-year plan we're looking at. We're not talking about something going to happen next year. He says, we got 14 years and I'm going to count on you to be the guy for the next 14 years. So he said, you're going to prepare everything. We're going to grow everything. We're going to store all the grain and the corns and we're going to do it. He said, I'm counting on you to have that wisdom to do that. So he gets the last garment as they would present it to him. He's second in the kingdom. I looked at him and I said, of this garment, I'll say, well, now he's got the wisdom whereby that he's being trusted with some great responsibilities. You say, well, what responsibilities are you thinking of? Preserve the Jews. That's why he's down there. He's had to learn why he came. It took him a while to learn it. He didn't know it in the beginning either. But when God gave that light, the revealing of that dream, He got it now. He knows why he's there. All these years he spent down there in Egypt and he's been so disappointed. Not now. Now he's got a purpose. Now he knows why he's there. He's got wisdom. The wisdom was that God is going to preserve the Jews and God sent you down here early to put you in place to take care of them. And so when his own brothers come, and I know, I'm thankful for his discernment, He needed to know if his brothers were the same scoundrels that sold him when he left. And even though they don't recognize him, he recognizes them instantly. And so he has to put them through a couple of trials just to see if they're still as big a crooks as they were a few years ago. He had to know. And so he tested them. And praise the Lord, they passed the test. And then he would tell them, he would say, And he said, I'm not blaming you guys. He said, God's the one that sent me down here. And he sent me here that I might preserve our nation. I'm here to preserve you. And he said, I'll take care of you, and I'll tend to you, and I'll meet your needs, and I'll do all these things. When I look at Joseph, this last one, I said, man, Joseph, you've been given a sovereign position in life. You've been given all this responsibility, and you've had to... I mean, he had to overcome all of this stuff to be able to get to there. You're not going to catch wisdom, okay? Don't think you're going to get a package, and it's a package. It's not like it was for Solomon, where he said, Lord, I want wisdom to discern judgment. And God said, bam, you got it. That's typically not the way wisdom works. Wisdom is something that you don't really know you've got it till you use it. And then somebody said, wow, that was good. And you look and say, that wasn't from me. Oh, the Lord revealed that to me. And then all of a sudden the wisdom that you had was not your wisdom. It was God's wisdom that He allowed you to use. I pray that we would learn to be more like Joseph with our troubles. Listen, let's not spend all of our time complaining about the trial that God's got us in. We'll get through this thing one way or another. You are going to be victorious. You're a winner either way. And so if you'll trust the Lord, and if you'll allow Him to do so, He'll build wisdom within you without you even noticing, just because you're being faithful and true to the things God's given.