Please join me in the Old Testament, in the book of Genesis, if you have your Bibles open there. The book of Genesis, and we're going to begin reading together in just a moment, with Genesis chapter number 37. I speak to you this morning on the subject, the coat of many colors. And truly the Lord has shown great favor to individuals in life, There was Esther who obtained the favor of the Lord and the presence of the King. God has shown great favor to His church, His own body, His dear bride that He nourishes and cherishes. He's been very favorable in making His ways known to you and to I. God is even favorable to this entire world, giving them rainfall and sunshine. But none has been so highly favored of God as His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who bled and died on the cross and rose again. And Him who has been highly favored and highly exalted of God has been wrapped with the royal regalia of His signature insignia, which is none other than the coat of many colors. Let's begin reading with Genesis chapter 37 in verse number 1. And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 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. 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 colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren, and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Here I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed, For behold, we were binding sheaves in the field. And lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright. And behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said unto him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren. and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more, and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made a bisence to me. And he told it to his father and to his brethren. And his father rebuked him and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee, to the earth? And his brethren envied him, but his father observed the same. And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, and see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks, and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren. Tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. And the man said, They are departed hence. For I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren and found them in Dothan. And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him, and we shall see what we become of his dreams. And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hands, and said, Let us not kill him, For Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him, that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors that was on him. And they took him, and cast him into a pit, and the pit was empty, and there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread, And they lifted up their eyes and looked. And behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we shall slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother in our flesh. And his brethren were content. Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned unto the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit, and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren and said, The child is not, and I, whither shall I go? And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood. And they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, This have we found. Know now whether it be thy son's coat or no? And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat. An evil beast hath devoured him. Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces, And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days." If you're in the habit of marking your Bibles, I would like for you to mark this expression given to us at the end of verse number 3, a coat of many colors. If you'll hold your place in Genesis and turn with me to the book of Judges, we find that this is not the only coat of many colors in the Bible. In the book of Judges, chapter 4 and chapter 5, we're introduced to the children of Israel in an uncomfortable predicament. They were in bondage under the hand of the Canaanites and the Canaanite general, whose name was Sisera, was going out to do battle. And Barak led the troops for the children of Israel and they went out to fight. And after the bloodshed, And the fog of war began to clear, the smoke began to settle. Cicera's mother is back at home in Canaan, and she's waiting and watching for her son, the general of the army, to return. And we're told in Judges chapter 5 and verse 28, The mother of Cicera looked out at a window and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? And why tarry the wheels of his chariots? Her wise ladies answered her. Yea, she returned answer to herself. And the answer that comes back to this mother who's concerned about her son who went out into battle was the answer of mocking. Yea, she herself knew the answer. But the reason for the delay given in mock is this, verse 30. Have they not sped? Didn't they make a quick matter of the battle? Surely the Canaanites have won. Have they not divided the prey? Caesara is out gathering the loot, the booty, the prized possessions. To every man a damsel or two, they're taking home an extra wife or two. To Caesara, the general, what would he get out of that prey? A prey of diverse colors. A prey of diverse colors of needlework. A diverse covers of needlework on both sides meet for the necks of them that take the spoil. And he's saying that there is a very special garment in life, that when a general would go into army and capture the spoils of war, they would be a prized possession for the elite in life, and that would be a coat of many colors. And then turn with me to the book of 2 Samuel, chapter number 13. We find out a little bit about the home life of King David. David had many wives and many children. As a matter of fact, David had his first six children by six different wives. He had a total of 15 children by his wives and even more by his concubines and no doubt plenteous of daughters as well. And the Bible tells us in 2 Samuel chapter number 13 and verse number 18. And she had a garment of diverse colors upon her. Speaking of Tamar, the king's daughter. For with such robes were the king's daughters that were virgins appareled. And so out of all the daughters of the land, King David said, I want everyone to know who my little princesses are. And he took them, each of them, and robed them with coats of many colors. Though she was in a lofty position, she was terribly abused and degraded. And it says, Then his servant brought her out and bolted the door after her, verse 19, and Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of diverse colors that was on her, and laid her hand upon her head and went on crying. That daughter was terribly ravaged and abused. And though she had had a colorful past, she was now experiencing a checkered present. But the highly favored, the highly favored ones, are the ones who receive a coat of many colors. Now, let's join back in the book of Genesis, chapter 37, and let's see why did this father, Jacob, give to his son, Joseph, this coat of many colors. We're told in Genesis 37, in verse number 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 colors. Jacob had shown great favor to his son Joseph for two reasons. He was the son of his favorite wife, and he was the son of his old age. And he showed great favor by... Not everybody had this coat, but one specific boy had this coat. The coat of many colors was given unto Joseph. And when he got that coat, it only exacerbated the problems that he was having with his brethren. You see, in verse number 4, the Bible says they hated him. They were envious of him. And that wasn't an accidental thing because that was ingrained into them from their own mothers. Remember that Jacob had taken two wives, Leah and Rachel. And Leah had had her husband's children but not her husband's affections. Rachel had had her husband's affections but not her husband's children. And there was such a strong rivalry between the two of them that after Leah had her first four children, Rachel said to Jacob, you give me children or I die. Well, she got what she wanted, but she didn't want what she got, and she dialed in childbirth, giving her second son birth. She said, because I can't have children, I'm going to give my handmaid to my husband so he can have children by her. And then Leah said, well, if her handmaid is going to have children by him, then my handmaid is going to have children by him. And next thing you know, it's just a strife fest free for all. And every single one of those children's names has to do with strife, competition, envy, jealousy, and arguing. And finally, when that last child was born, Benjamin, she's dying, her soul is in departing. And she said, the name of this boy, they had named all the other 11 boys, but this 12th son, she said, I'm going to name him Benoni, the son of Mysaros. And Jacob said, oh no. You're not going to name that boy son of Mysarus. You are going to name that boy Benjamin, because that boy is going to be the son of my right hand." And with great favor, God, Jacob had shown his two boys, but the oldest one received the coat of many colors. And though those brethren envied him, grained in them from their parents, And it's sad to say that many a parent will say, why aren't my children picking up on what I'm teaching them? And the answer, sad answer must come back that they are. They are learning from your life and all of your strife. And so now, as the story progresses, Jacob is given dreams by God about his future. And that only exacerbated the conflict with his brethren. And they hated him yet the more. But God was working through those dreams and God was working through that injury to bring about his perfect plan. You see, his older brethren were out taking care of the father's flock in a place called Shechem, which is north. Jacob wanted to report, so he sent Joseph out, gather a report of what your brethren are doing and come back. Jacob had an obedient son. Joseph went out, but when he got to Shechem, There was no one there. And he's wandering about in the field and the man said, Who are you looking for? And he said, I'm looking for my brethren. He said, Well, they're not in Shechem. They went up yonder past to Dothan. And Joseph is thinking, Well, my father asked me to go to Shechem and check on them. I could have just fulfilled his request and gone back and I'd be done. But he took the spirit of his father's request and went all the way with it. This is like going from us from here to Toledo, up to Shackham. And when you get to Toledo, you don't have a car. And you have to go, you just find out that they're actually all the way up in Detroit. And so you're thinking to yourself, what do I do? But he went the extra mile. And when he went the extra mile to please his father, guess what happened? He was cut off and his life was just so diminished. As he was going the extra mile, he was cut off. And I tell you, the Lord Jesus Christ, out of great pleasure and obedience to the Father, came to this earth to go the extra mile. And when He came to this earth, He was cut off. And let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant. And being found in fashion like a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. God had become a man, but not just any man. He became a servant, but not just any servant. He became an obedient servant, but not just any obedience. He became obedient unto death, but not just any death. He became obedient unto the death of the cross. And as He went the extra mile, He was cut off. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But I tell you, there was no accident that Joseph went from Shechem up to Dothan. Because God had a special dream and a plan for that man to sit on the throne of Egypt. And yonder up in Dothan was a trading spice route from the east going down into Egypt. And it just so happened that God wanted to get his man down into Egypt, so he went the extra mile and he was cut off right in the trade route. And as those brethren took him and sold him, Those Midianite traders were right on that route going down into Egypt. And did you know that it was no accident that the Son of God was cut off? Because Joseph went down to Egypt to become the most powerful, influential, helpful man in all the land. And so the Son of God, who was cut off, did it to redeem sinful men. Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, and of things in earth, and of things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And through that cutting off, he became the most powerful, influential, helpful person in all the universe. God has His wonderful plans. Did you know that the envy that stirred up because of the dreams Joseph had? God worked together for good to raise up Joseph on high. Did you know the envy that King Saul had because of the anointing David had? And all those years of suffering worked together for good to prepare David to raise him up on the throne. And did you know that the envy that the Pharisees and Sadducees had against the Lord Jesus Christ and He had the promises? Did you know that it all worked together for good? That He might redeem men raised up on high. And yonder, then, in the book of Revelation, we read in chapter 4 and verse number 3, there was one that sat upon his throne, and watch this, there was a rainbow round about the throne. And it was God the Father Himself that took His highly favored only begotten Son and wrapped Him round about with a coat of many colors. The Son of God is the highly favored of the Father. and He must be highly favored in our hearts and lives. Did you know that giving of a coat is a sign of affection? Can you imagine Hannah who prayed for a son, got a son, gave away her son, then went to visit her son. And every year she would make a little coat and bring it to her son. And every year she would be saying, I've been thinking about you, and I love you, and I give this coat to you as a sign of affection. And the father has wrapped his son around, the only begotten son, full of grace and truth, the son of the father in truth and in love. He said, I love you. Here's a coat of many colors. When Adam and Eve sinned, they turned from God. They were naked. They were miserable. Their consciences were on high alert. And they wrapped themselves around about with fig leaves to cover themselves. But God said, that's not good because I love you. I'm going to take an animal, slay him, and I'm going to give you a gift of a coat. For God so loved the world that He offered up His only begotten Son on the tree. that we who are dead in sins might live in Him. And He wraps us about with a robe of righteousness. Now the Savior is donning the coat of many colors in the matter of prayer. In the Old Testament there was a high priest and he wore special garments. He had this cloak, this coat called the ephod, this robe of ephod, and on one shoulder was a stone. And on the other shoulder a stone. And each of those stones had the names of the tribes of the children of Israel on them. And when the high priest went in before God, he bore up the people on his shoulders, a place of strength to lift them up. When the little lambs couldn't do for themselves what God desired to have them do, he lifted up those lambs and put it on his shoulders, a place of strength. Inseparably connected to that ephod was a breastplate. It was a square. There was 12 stones in it, and each stone had a name. That breastplate, with those multicolored stones on the ephod, this collar, coat of many colors, was near to his heart. And the Lord Jesus is our High Priest, and He goes in before the Father on our behalf, and He prays for us, a place of affection. He loves us as He lifts us up. And did you know that He knows His own sheep by name and He calls them out and leads them? And we read of His prayers, He said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for those which Thou hast given Me. He said, I pray them for them. I lift them up to You. I don't pray that You'll take them out of the world, but I pray You'll leave them in the world, but keep them safe from all the evil round about. He said, Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy Word is truth. His prayer for you and I is that the Bible would get into our hearts and the Bible would begin to change our lives. He's praying for that. I remember sitting in the first apartment that Mrs. Moreland and I had in Utica, Michigan. And we had a barbecue grill that was electric. You plugged it in. It's the most hideous thing you could ever imagine. It didn't actually barbecue the chicken, it just warmed it. You wondered if the thing was cooked. How many have an electric grill? Anyone? No comment. I was listening to a man by the name of J. Vernon McGee. And I listened to him. He's a five-year program through the Bible. And I listened to him every day like clockwork. And that helped me so much to have a working knowledge of the Bible. And I remember outside the barbecue grill, J. Vernon McGee teaching. And I remember he said, just remember, there is a man in the glory who is praying for you. Think of that. When you are at your wits' ends, the rope has no length left to it, and you think, I am just going to die. Remember, there is a man in the glory who is praying for you. Did you know the devil is the Lord's devil? The most helpful thing I could ever tell you about the devil is that he is a defeated foe on a chain and God is the God of the devil. But it is pretty amazing to think sometimes of how many prayers the devil gets answered. He got two prayers answered in the life of Job. One time there was demons who were around some pig farmers and they said, won't you let us go in the pigs? And they got their prayers answered and they got into the pigs. And then you have the devil coming to God with a desire in his heart to sift Simon Peter's wheat. And the devil said, God, you give Simon Peter into my hands and I am going to thresh him. Now, wheat is a beautiful thing, not just to us, but to God. But it's covered with something that isn't so hot, called chaff. If I were to take a chaff head of wheat and hold it up for you, it has a beautiful color, but usually they're not alone. They come in a field. And that field of amber golden grain, do you know how to turn that into delicious bread? You have to take the scariest, most hideous, loudest, noisiest, and some of the newer ones, most comfortablest machine you've ever heard of, called a gigantic thresher. And this thing just comes in, looks like a tank, and it goes through that field and it has the biggest mouth you could ever imagine. And it just starts sucking in grain. And it just starts shredding it up with all of its teeth and fans and separators and blowers. But at the very end of it, there's just a beautiful grain that's perfect for use at the end. And you know what the devil was saying? He's saying, I want to be a thresher to Simon Peter. I want to devastate, tear up, destroy his life. But you know what Jesus told Simon Peter? But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. When Job had that taken into his life, he said, it feels like he taketh me, breaketh me, and shaketh me, and I'm done for. But when I'm tried, I shall come forth as gold. And after Simon Peter got so much of the flesh just smashed up in him, he came out a beautiful golden grain to the glory of God. And when he was converted, he wrote 1 and 2 Peter to strengthen the brethren. Do you know what enables a Christian to get through in life? It's the fact that there's a man in glory who prays for them on our behalf. You should never sin. But if you do, there's an advocate with the Father who represents you as the best defense attorney in the universe. He doesn't carry a briefcase. He knows every client by name. He doesn't carry a law book or study it because he wrote it from memory. And he represents you and I before the throne of God. Our Savior prays for us with the coat of many colors. And then would you turn with me to Genesis chapter number 10. And we find something else about this coat of many colors. Excuse me, Genesis chapter 9, and let's begin reading with verse number 8. And God spake unto Noah and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you, and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl and of the cattle and of every beast of the earth with you, from all that go out of the ark to every beast of the earth. and I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood, neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, this is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations. I do set my bow in the cloud and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth and it shall come to pass when I bring a cloud of the earth that the bow shall be seen in the cloud and I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh and the water shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh and the bow shall be in the cloud and I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth And God said unto Noah, this is the token, this signature insignia of mine, this coat of many colors, this token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. As you know, there's many storms in life. This was a great and a very severe storm for Noah. He had to live on a boat for a whole year with all the animals. It was a terrible trial. But after the terrible trial, God put a bow in the sky. And there is a coat of many colors, the promises of God that cover all the trials in life. And for every problem, there's a promise. And God said, I want you to take my promises. And I want you to wrap yourself with my coat of many colors when those trials come into your life. We must cover our storms with His promises. You know, Paul one day went out to... was planning to go out to Corinth. And he said, I plan on coming by to see you. But then when he started getting closer, he was thinking, you know, if they had a problem in the church and if I got there, they'd be sad because I was there. And if they were sad, then I'd be sad. Then we'd be both boo-hooing together. And so I think it'd be best if I didn't go by right now. I'd just push pause and perhaps came by another time. And they started talking about Paul saying, that guy's wishy-washy. He tells us one thing, he does another thing. You can't trust the guy. He's yay one day and nay the next. And Paul said, For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you, was not yea and nay, but in Him was yea. For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him, Amen, unto the glory of God by us." You know, the greatest promise of God is the Lord Jesus Himself. And His promises are so sure that they are never yea, nay, nay, yea, come see, come sigh, maybe, up, down. They're absolutely solid and strong and sure. And His promises can be relied upon. And every storm that comes into our life, God says, I want you to remember the bow and take that coat of many colors of my promises and wrap them round about your trial because I'm going to bring sunshine to you in the midst of it. There's a promise. He said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. What does that do for you? He said, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also. What does that do for you? He said, This is His promise that He hath promised even everlasting life. I will dwell with them and walk with them. I will be their people. Imagine God Himself saying, I'm not only going to live with you, I'm going to live in you, and I'm not only going to walk with you, I'm going to walk in you. Walk in you. He's just in our heart, walking. Walking. And He says, because I am so close to you, I want you to turn away from all of your ungodliness because you lay hold of my promises." Don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, but claim my promises. And my promises will purge out all of the sinfulness. He said, having therefore, dearly beloved, these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the sight of God. And so those promises are to be lay hold of. All of us have such great potential, but very few live up to it. and it's all because of this matter, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. We have God Himself with us, His divine nature, but if we are not mindful of His promises, then we are going to stray, and we are going to be powerless. But as we claim His promises, that connects us. We're partakers of the divine nature, and we have this incredible power available to us. It's very sad to me to see people who get married, they join a church, they're excited about living for the Lord, and yonder around about the time they start having children, they get settled into a routine, and from that point on, it's just kind of stagnant, status quo, and they slowly just kind of wither away. God's life is never a crescendo, decrescendo life. It's an ascending life that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. It's a very sad testimony when people die at 50 and don't get buried till 90. They just shrivel up and they exist because they have neglected to take these promises. They get hurt. They get bent out of shape over one thing or another. They say, it's too hard. I don't want the schedule adjustment. I don't want the stress. And instead of wrapping about that storm with a coat of many colors, they peter out. You know, God has given us his word that we might memorize it. And I hope you would memorize the Bible. And he's given his word that we might meditate upon what we have memorized. And we have to take our reserve memory banks and turn them into active think tanks so the scriptures we know can be pulled out and chewed upon while we're going through something. If you do not do that, you have no other choice than to wither away. The promises are all you have. And so, paint in a can is not going to help you unless you dip the brush in it and begin to apply it. And God said, I don't care how hard it is. I don't care what you have to do. I don't care how much you're bent over backwards and broken. I tell you, there's been no more severe trial than having a storm that floods the world and kills millions of people and just eight people remain. You know how hard that was for him to spend 100 years building that thing and a whole year living in it? God says, you take those promises, wrap yourself around about them, and you see what I am going to do for you. But you have to be careful, because there are people in life who are going to try to steal those promises and put the blood on the coat of many colors and put it to death. Simon Peter warned us, he said, knowing this first, that they shall come in the last time, scoffers, walking after their own lusts, saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. Where's God? You Christians talk about Christ coming back. We've been watching for years. We've never seen Him come back. That promise is no good. And they try to rip off our coat of many colors and put blood on it and put it to death. But they cannot. Because the promise is good. And He reminds us Himself, Beloved, being mindful of this one thing, that one day as with the Lord is a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but He's long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And you know, when God has a promise, He often pushes it out with patience. And the longer we go in our patience, the stronger we grow in our faith. God is building our faith. You say, I'm so hopeful for Christ to come. He's pushed that out in long times of patience. How long can you live in the condition you're living right now before God breaks through? How long? And the reality is, it's worth it to wait for Him to come through, because when He does, it is going to be a coat of many colors with sunshine and smiles. It's going to be wonderful. And you will be very glad that your patience was lengthened and your faith was strengthened. The promises. You know, all of us have a sin nature. Not a one of us can get rid of it in this life. No one. It's kind of like heartburn. Just let it stay down in there. Once it starts coming up, that's when you go to the doctor who says, Mylanta. That sin nature will never be taken away, but it's to be put to the place of death, and it's just to stay dead. When it starts rearing up its ugly head, you know what we do? We take the promises and smother it back down and remind ourselves, No, that's dead. That's dead. A man invited two girls to go out to a party who had gotten saved, and they said to him, We can't. We're dead. We're dead. The old life. But if you do not take those promises and smother that flesh and keep it dead, that flesh will come out and start to become your coat. The Bible talks about a coat of covetousness, a coat of maliciousness, and those insides that should stay dead will start to come out on the outside and be quite alive if we don't take the promises and smother them. Now, I have one last thing to share with you regarding this coat of many colors. Let's turn to the book of Ephesians, chapter 3, because I want to encourage you that God is turning checkered pasts into very colorful futures. In Ephesians chapter 2 and verse number 3, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy for His great love, wherewith He loved us. Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. I want you to see the comparison in verse 3. We all had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh. You know, everybody has a past. There was an unsavory woman who was saved and joined the church and two women said to the pastor, did you know that woman has a past? And the pastor said, we all have a past. The question isn't do you have a past, it's are you getting past your past by going on for the Lord. When the people asked Samuel for a king, God gave them what they wanted, but they didn't want what they got because God was very displeased. In the midst of the field of harvesting of wheat, Samuel called and a great thunderstorm came down and the people feared exceedingly because it wasn't time for thunderstorms. God was showing His displeasure. But you know, Samuel told them, yet you have done this evil, yet not turn aside from serving the Lord. You get off the beaten path, just get right back on. You know, the devil will tell you, oh, if you did that, you're sunk. You might as well just quit. But he said, you just get right back on. Because you know, God is able to take checkered pasts and turn them into very colorful futures. And this colorful future given to us in verse number 7, in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace. Somebody says, what are we going to do in heaven? We're going to do my favorite thing to do on this earth. We are going to discover the goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's just laying out grace upon grace like billows of an ocean. Like Ray's Ice Cream Shop where they just take it up in Michigan and they just pack it in so thick. They just pack it in. That's what He does. He's just going to pack in His greatness, more of His greatness, more of His greatness, more of His greatness. And we're going to discover His brilliant mind, His creativity, His wisdom, His understanding, all of it. We're going to get to enjoy. And do you know in that colorful future, if you turn to Revelation 21, what He's going to reveal to us? Here's a little glimpse of it, 21 and verse 3, God Himself shall be with them and be their God. You'll be able to see God. And God shall wipe away all their tears from their eyes, no more tears. And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And as He reveals to us His plan for the New Jerusalem, the city, the Bible says it comes out of heaven, having the glory of God. It's bright. It's shining. It's like the most brilliant wedding ring you've ever seen. 1,500 miles wide. 1,500 miles deep. 1,500 miles tall. It's coming out of the sky just glistening. The whole world is just glistening because of this thing. Inside of it is a street of pure gold. There's a river of the water of life. The throne of God is there. There's trees on either side of the river. No more pain. No more death. No more sorrow. No more suffering. and the Lord Jesus Himself is going to be there. And it says that the foundation of the wall in verse 19, the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stone. And so this wall has foundations, layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers, and they're all different colors. Look what he says in verse 19. The first foundation was jasper, which is like a sea green. And then the second is sapphire, which is a sky blue. And the third, a chalcedony, which is a copper color. And the fourth is an emerald, which is green. The fifth is sardonyx, which is reddish bordering on white, kind of like your fingernails, a fleshy pink color. The sixth, the sardius, is a blood red. The seventh, the chrysolite, is a darker green with yellow in it. The eighth, the barrel, is a bluish green. The ninth, the topaz, is a beautiful yellow. The tenth, the chrysoprisis, a greenish yellow. The eleventh, the jacinth, is a deep blue. The twelfth, an amethyst, is a deep purple. And there's a color band, and a color band, and a color band, and a color band, twelve of them. And then look what the Bible says in verse number 23. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it. For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." No more sun, no more moon, because the Lord Jesus Himself is the light of the world. And as He takes His proper place in the very center of that beautiful city, the New Jerusalem, And that emanating brightness shines out through all of those color band, color band, color band, color band, color blend. God Himself will take a coat of many colors and He will wrap this entire universe round about. And all of those checkered pasts will dissipate. And every one of us who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior are going to have a very colorful future. What's that do for you? You know what it did for the Apostle Paul? Look at verse 14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the name of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Do you know how much that man suffered, was beaten, stoned, scourged, mocked, all of it? And he said, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And do you know why that man kept going? because he didn't believe any of these temporary pains were worth even comparing to the eternal glory that God has for his children. There are quitters and there are continuers, and it all depends on how you view the coat of many colors. Is the Lord Jesus Christ your personal Savior, highly favored of the Father? You cannot praise him too much. Is He the one that's a man in glory who's praying for you? Are His promises all sufficient in the midst of the storms of life, those coat of many colors? And have you let your little past, and it's very short, get you down? Just remember, you have a colorful future coming. And let's hold on and believe the Lord. Would you bow with me in prayer? Father, thank you for taking care of life so wonderfully well. Thank you for your signature insignia, wrapping your son with your royal regalia. And we believe he's worth it. We don't believe we could praise him too much. We're thankful that he suffered and bled and died for us and rose again. We're thankful that he's the author and finisher of our faith. We're thankful that he will never leave us and never forsake us. We're thankful that he gave us a promise that he'll come again and receive us unto ourselves. We're thankful that greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. We're thankful for just being you and loving to be so. And please be very highly favored in our own mind And help us, Lord, to be able to take your promises and wrap them round about our trials. And help us not to be discouraged about the past, but to press on to the grand and glorious, colorful future. With your head bowed and eyes closed, come and say, I'm here today, but I don't know that I would go to heaven. With all of my sin in my life, I've had a very checkered past. Lying, stealing, cheating, manipulating, conniving. And I feel guilty. But I realize the Son of God bled and died on a cross for me and rose again from the dead. And I want to have Him as my Savior. I want His forgiveness. I want to have peace with God. Would you raise your hand and say, please pray for me? I need peace with God. I need my sins forgiven. Pray for me. I'm going to say, I am a child of God, but I want to look with freshness on the Lord Jesus. And that highly favored position, sitting on a throne wrapped around about with a rainbow, I want to exalt Him like the Father does. I'm going to say, I'm going through a storm. And I have been neglecting the promises. And I need God's rainbow to wrap them round about. I'm going to say, you don't know what I've been through in my past. You don't know how hard my life has been. I have been miserable. I want you to know God has a colorful future in store. You say, God has given me hope and I want to dwell in His hope. Father, bless my friends and help them, please. Be very pleased with us now. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Let's turn in our hymnals to page 255, as with the