Threes are found in a lot of places in the Bible. 

Matthew 13:23. 1 John 2:13. Revelation 1:19. These are just a few. The point I’m trying to make is whether it is a call to preach or to be a missionary or use the gift of help, every call has three levels. It doesn’t matter if you are a prayer warrior, you have three levels, and inside those three levels are hundreds of levels.

You can grow and excel in God, or you can waste your life pleasing yourself and others and die empty.

I want to show you these three levels being represented by coats.

THE FIRST COAT: Genesis 37:3-4. Joseph’s first coat was his first level. Every person that gets born again gets this first coat. It’s the coat of the Father’s approval and love. It’s sad to say, but many never go past this coat, and the enemy would love to rip it away. This first coat is around Joseph when he’s always at his father’s feet, never reaching out. Not having a desire to go with his brothers until his father sent him.

Now, we all know what happened to Joseph. But Joseph did not get in his storm chasing some nasty, empty dream. He followed his father’s will. When his brothers see him coming to them, they rip off his coat and throw him in a pit, then later sell him. He passes to a man named Potiphar. And Potiphar eventually trusts Joseph with everything. That was Joseph’s second coat.

Your first coat is given to you. To get the second coat, you have to be faithful when it’s not easy.

THE SECOND COAT: Potiphar realizes that God blesses all that Joseph touches and ends up trusting Joseph with everything. That is Joseph’s second coat.

Anyone can serve God when they have friends, health, and everything’s going well. I don’t care how much you pray, you may not get what you want. God may cross His arms and say, “Not now. It’s not quite ready yet. I have to work some stuff out on the other side.” This is why so few get the second coat. They serve God a little while when it’s rough, then they throw their hands up and just exist. But if you want that second coat, you have to get up and win a soul when you’re wiping a tear, fast when you don’t feel good, and pay your tithes when money is scarce. You didn’t start to quit. It’s not going to be a bed of roses. It’s a fight, and you are going to fight! You’ve got on your armor and you are going to win! Joseph got his second coat because he was faithful in hard times. Just like Joseph, God will use us to bless others even in our storms.

The best servants make the best leaders. If you start training to be a leader as soon as you get saved, you will love your coat more than God. And you will love your title more than you love people. If you know what it’s like to live the way of the servant, then when you are put into a leadership position, you won’t have your thumb on people but will reach down your hand to help pick them up.

In Between Coats

Genesis 39:12. His master’s gone, he goes into the house, and the master’s wife tries to get him to sin. She takes hold of his coat and he flees, leaving it in her hand. He’s now lost his second coat. Genesis 39:20. 

The first coat is given to you. The second comes from being faithful in the hard times and realizing the authority you now have in Jesus’ name. The third coat comes to you because of your gift. The anointing on your life, the presence of God that you allow to work through you, is what determines your third coat.

Being in the prison, Joseph was in between coats. He decided he would be faithful and keep living for God. He started to get promoted in the jail, being put over taking care of the prisoners. The Bible says that the Lord remembered him.

This is what messes a lot of people up. Sometimes, within our storms, there will be such an anointing come to us and we think that when we walk out of the church service everything is going to be different. But then we walk out and it’s not. The thing is, God didn’t come to us to turn everything around at that time. He visited to encourage us, to tell us it’s not here today, but it’s on its way.

There is a season of silence. God isn’t mad at you. He just wants you to see that you can pass a test. Like a teacher sitting back real quiet when you are taking a final exam. This is just a test and it’s not always going to be like this. It’s a process.

The Third Coat

So, Joseph at this moment has this old raggedy garment on, but when he interprets Pharaoh’s dream, he’s given Pharaoh’s ring and is arrayed in fine linen titled the second-highest ruler in Egypt. Joseph has gone from his father’s coat to a servant’s coat to a king’s coat. Genesis 41:44

Romans 8:18. 2 Corinthians 3:18. In our life, we go from glory to glory, level to level, coat to coat.

I want to challenge you today.

There is the thirtyfold, the servant, the one that lives for God enough to get to Heaven. Then there is the sixtyfold, the son of God, the one who loves God and is close to Him, but not with Him 24/7. I think the hundredfold is the bride of Christ, someone that longs so much for God that nothing will be able to satisfy them.

So, what level are you on with the Lord?

–Pastor Anthony Wynn