Turn with me to Genesis chapter 50. This is the last chapter in Genesis, and we're looking at the last verse in Genesis. And let's read verse 26. So Joseph died, being 110 years old. and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt."

Now, there's a very important lesson which is being taught to us here from this verse, a very serious consideration for all of us to hear and consider this morning. It's that last phrase which says, and Joseph was put in a coffin in Egypt. This is the way of all flesh. Joseph died. Joseph, a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout his whole life, he died. He died.

Now, you'll remember that on the sixth day of creation, God created man, Adam. in the image of God made he man. And it says that he gave him dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And we're told that in that first chapter of Genesis, the way it begins, the way our history begins is that God saw everything that he had made and declared it good. Everything was good that God had made.

But here, at the end of the book, at the end, the very last verse here, we're told of Joseph dying. He died. He was put in a coffin. He died. What happened? What happened? Everything was good. Everything that God made was good. What happened that Joseph died? What are the scriptures teaching us here? The scriptures are revealing to us that death by man, by man, man sinned and death entered into the world. And so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. That's what happened. That's why we're reading of Joseph being laid in a coffin. Joseph was now dead.

The scriptures that our Lord has given us are very clear to show us that all men, without exception, are sinners. Every one of us. Men, women, and our children, all are sinners. And this is how it's been since Adam rebelled against God in the garden. When he sinned against God, he corrupted himself. and all his seed in him corrupted, are defiled. And therefore we come forth sinners, rebelling against the true and living God.

So that just before the flood, this is also early in the history, but just before the flood, this is the testimony of scripture in Genesis 6, verse 11 and 12, saying the earth also was corrupt before God. And the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for that all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And then we know that God wiped out the entire world, all living flesh. God wiped out the flesh of man and beast and birds of the air with a catastrophic flood. saving one family, one man, and seven other souls with him.

All men, including Noah and his family, however, were born of that same corrupt seed of Adam. When all men died except Noah and his family, sin remained in the earth because sin is in the heart of man. It yet remained in Noah. It was in his sons. It was in his sons' wives, in his own wife. All are sinners, and so sin remained. And sin is not just what we do. We look at what we do, and we say, well, that was a mistake, or that was wrong, or that was sinful. Sin is what we are. The scriptures declare that we ourselves are enmity against God, and that no flesh pleases God. And so, all by nature are sinners.

Turn over to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. Paul quotes from several Psalms here in this portion of Scripture. And in Romans 3, beginning in verse 9, he asks, what then? Are we Jews better than the Gentiles because we have the law, because we have the truth, because we have the oracles of God, because we had these things from the Lord and the prophets? Are we better than the Gentiles? No. No, and no wise, for we have before proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin.

Even with the law given, God showed us that the Jews who had the law, though they had the law, though they taught the law, though they lived and abided by the law, all are sinners. All are sinners, because that's the corrupt heart of man. And what the Lord is showing us is that all who are born of Adam's seed come forth sinners. It's not just your environment. It's not what you do, it's what you are. It's what I am. All are sinners. We're all born of that corrupt seed. And therefore, that sin nature is evident in us. It's seen by all.

And so we come forth committing sin. we come forth committing iniquity, trespasses, and transgressions against the law and against one another. As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one, there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no not one.

And it isn't that the Lord is forbidding men to come to him. It's that men have no desire to come to him. Men have no interest in the true and living God. They're fine with an idol. We're fine to worship God in our own way. But none submit to the Lord. None bow down before the Lord. None seek the Lord in spirit and in truth. None. Their throat, he says, is an open sepulcher or a grave. With their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips." And what the Lord's telling us there is that the words that come out of our mouth, our ideas, our opinions about God and instructing others is death. If you hear it and embrace it and follow it, it's death. It's death. It's not going to save you. It's not going to help you. It's death.

whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." If we feared God, we wouldn't try to come to God in the law. We would hear what he's saying. We would come to him begging him for mercy and grace. because all of us come short of the glory of God by the law. There's none righteous, no, not one.

And so the scriptures are teaching us that we cannot heal ourselves by the works of the law. We are corrupt. Many have turned to religion to try to appease God's wrath. to try and quiet their conscience. Many have turned to religion, trying to be better, trying to do moral things and righteous things only to learn that our hearts are corrupt. that the only one we're fooling is ourselves, and thinking ourselves to be righteous by what we do.

Many turn to the law of Moses, trying to perfect and improve ourselves, trying to fix ourselves, thinking that God will be pleased with our sincere effort. But the scriptures again show us that's not why the law was given. The law wasn't given because we can make ourselves righteous by it. The law was given to show us our sin.

Look there at Romans 3 verse 19 and 20. Now we know that what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped. Stopped from what? Boasting. telling you I can do it, you do better, like me. It shuts our mouth. It causes us to stop boasting, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

And what the Lord is showing us is that religion, And the law, they're called rudimentary elements of the world. They're basic things that cannot save. They're basic things that show us our sin. And the Lord's showing us we cannot come to him by these rudimentary things. We need to be made new creatures. We can't just paste over the ugliness with a fresh coat of paint. We can't just put a Band-Aid on it and think that our ripped off arm is going to be healed. He's showing us we must be new creatures, not to buckle down and try harder in the law. It's to cry out to God for mercy and grace because I cannot save myself. Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner. Save me, Lord. Please be gracious to me."

That's what he's doing. He's driving us from ourselves to come out of our holes in the rocks and the caves that we're hiding in religion and flee to the tower which is Christ, to see our need of him, to see our need of the Savior, to find out that he alone is the salvation of God and I cannot save myself. He's driving us from that hiding place, which is no hiding place, to find the hiding place in Christ Jesus alone.

And the problem is that until a man sees what he is by nature, he doesn't need Christ. Until he's made to know what a sinner he is, he has no need of Christ. Christ is just a small thing, an insufficient thing, a despised thing in his eyes. Until the Lord shows him, you're the sinner. You're the sinner, and all your works are not improving you. It's not everyone else's fault. You're the sinner. You're the sinner, and that's what he's doing. He's showing us what we are, that we would have a need of Christ, that we would care and desire, Lord, save me. Cover me with the blood of your son, Jesus Christ. He's making us to know the truth of our sin, that we would seek our all in Christ.

It says in Galatians 3.22, but the scripture hath concluded all under sin. When you read this book, when you read of the people that are named in this book, you see what vile, wretched sinners we all are. And the Lord doesn't try to hide it. We're not making excuses for what we are. We're sinners. The Scriptures hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." That believe the Word of God, I'm the sinner. And believe the Word of God that Christ is the Savior and that He saves sinners.

So the scriptures weren't written to make us more religious. The scriptures weren't written to make us more moral. The scriptures were given to humble us, to bring us low in ourselves, that we would hear God, that we would make our boast not of what we've done, not what we've improved in ourselves, but make our boast in Christ, in Christ Jesus. And so he's driving us from that vain hope that the natural man has thinking, well, I fixed this. I improved that. I'm doing this better. Surely God will receive me now. No, he won't. All you've done is put yourself further from the truth. All you've done is put yourself further from Christ. And so the Lord is teaching us we're no better than anyone else. It does us no good to compare ourselves against one another because we're not any nearer to God than our neighbor. by our works. Turn over to Romans 2. Look at Romans 2, verse 1. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?"

And so don't seek a hiding place in your customs, your traditions, your law keeping, your confessions. There's one hiding place. one hiding place, the Lord Jesus Christ. John 3.16, telling us, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever, regardless of what a sinner he is, whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

That's what he's doing. He's driving us out of our holes, out of our flesh, out of our vain confidences, to flee to Christ, whom the Father hath sent to save his people from their sins. Only in the blood of righteousness, only under the blood of Christ, will a man find peace with God. That's where you'll find rest for your souls.

All like Joseph, are going to die and be put in a grave, all like Joseph, die. That's the end of our lives. The only hope and peace that is given to us of life and salvation and forgiveness with God is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Flee to Him. Flee to Him.

But only sinners Only sinners will come to Christ. Only sinners rejoice in Him. Listen to Luke 15 verses 1 and 2. Then drew near unto Him, unto the Lord Jesus Christ, publicans and sinners, for to hear Him, the worst of the worst of the worst, drew near to Christ. That's who comes to Him. You that believe Him are confessing, I'm a sinner. I'm a filthy, vile sinner who has no righteousness of his own. All my righteousness, all my goodness, all my acceptance with God is Christ. Lord, don't look at me. Don't receive me in my righteousness. And what I've done, receive me in the blood and righteousness of your darling son, Jesus Christ, whom you have sent to save sinners like me. Have mercy upon me.

But there were some that had a problem with it. Pharisees and the scribes, the religious ones, the ones who were fixing themselves and improving themselves and tinkering and tweaking things and getting better and better and better, they hated seeing the publicans and the sinners go to Christ and the audacity of him to receive them. Why didn't he rebuke them? Why didn't he push them away and say, get away from me, you filthy vile sinner? Because that's who Christ came to save, the sinners. If you're righteous, you have no place in Christ. It's sinners that find that peace and rest in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The reason why the sinner comes is because he has nothing to bring to God. When he looks at his life and he looks at what he's done, he finds his motives are wrong, he finds his works are corrupt, they're twisted, they're not perfect, there's something off. There's something stinks. There's something wrong with it. Lord, please have mercy on me. Even when I try, I find this law that when I would do good, evil is right there with me. It's my own heart, Lord. It's my own heart, Lord. He's the one that makes us to see our need of him. That one who has no hope in himself, that's who draws near to Christ. But that man who has at least a little something, He says, well, you know, I did a lot of things wrong, but I got this right. And this will surely earn me a favor with God. And he comes to God thinking that there's something that he can count on for God to receive him, that there's something good and true about him.

That man is never coming to God. He's coming up short. He's coming up short. And he finds no peace. If God's merciful to him, He'll find no peace in it. He'll find no rest in it. He'll find no confidence in it. And he'll just be tearing himself up. Why do I find no peace? Aren't I good? Aren't I trying? Didn't I try to do what is right? Why won't God have mercy on me?

It's because you're trusting in your own works. You're a Pharisee. You're not trusting in Christ. You're not trusting in him. I thank God for not receiving me in my own works. That's the mercy of God to reject you for trying to come to him in what you're doing. It's a gracious thing that he keeps stopping you and cutting you off, lest we would trust in our own confidence, only to find out in the day of judgment that it was imperfect, insufficient, not perfect and acceptable with God.

It's better to find out now that you're a sinner. It's better to find out now that you're trusting in your own flesh and not in Christ, that you would hear and hear the faith of God, what he's preaching to his people, to believe him, to hear his word, to come to him in faith, so that when you're laid in that coffin and your eyes are closed in death, you'll awake and behold the face of your darling Savior, who loved you and gave himself for you.

That's a mercy there, and so only sinners come to Christ, and the sinner finds peace and reconciliation with God. Don't be looking for a good work to cling to. There's no hope in that. Cling to Christ. Cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy.

The prophet Isaiah says, we are all, all of us are as an unclean thing, a filthy rag, a dirty rag that cannot clean and wipe our hands clean. We are righteousnesses, not our bad works, not our sins, not our wicked works. Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

You and I need Christ to save us. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And that one whom he saved, like Paul, confesses, and I'm the chief of sinners. He saved me. And if he saved me, he can save you. He's a merciful Savior, able to save to the uttermost all that come unto Him, seeking His grace and mercy.

Are you a sinner? Man will not come to Christ except he has shown his sin and sees what a sinner he is. When God shows you what you are, that you're a guilty sinner, that's when you'll hear. That's when you'll fall down before God, not talking about what you've done, but begging Him for grace and mercy. that though you have not earned it, though you are not worthy, Lord, please cleanse me. Please make me a trophy of your grace. Have mercy upon me, Lord. Have mercy.

That's when you'll find peace and rest for your souls. Have you heard the gospel? The gospel tells us that all God's children are saved by Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God come in the flesh. come in the flesh, he was born of a woman, made under the law to fulfill all the law for righteousness, what you and I cannot do. He fulfilled every jot and every tittle of the law perfectly, a perfect righteousness. He wasn't born of Adam's corrupt seed like you and I. He's the seed of woman. And by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, he was formed in the womb of Mary. and came forth to fulfill all righteousness for his people. That's why the Father sent him, to save his people from their sins, to redeem us by his own blood, to accomplish salvation in our hearts. Because we know not the truth by nature, we don't work righteousness by nature, to deliver his people from the wrath of God by the Lamb of God. who gave his life to give life to his bride, to his people, to all who believe in him.

And the father being so well pleased, so well satisfied by what the son did, he raised him from the dead and so justified all you that believe him and trust his righteousness and trust him to save you to the uttermost.

It says in Acts 13, 38, and 39, be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man, the Lord Jesus Christ is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and all that believe him are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

And sadly, when Paul and Barnabas preach that there in Antioch and Pisidia, the Jews They didn't hear it. We don't read of any of the Jews having heard that blessed word, having turned to Paul. They said, well, we'll hear you again at this matter. This is kind of different and interesting. But the Gentiles, what little they heard, they asked, can that be preached to us? Can we hear that clearly next Sabbath day? Will you preach that to us?

And it says in Acts 13, 48, that when the Gentiles heard this word preached, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. They believed Christ. They stopped working and they believed. They cast their whole hope on the Lord Jesus Christ and trusted him unto salvation.

Are you a sinner? The self-righteous Jews who trusted their law, their customs and traditions, they could not hear, they would not hear, they rejected the word against themselves and thereby they rejected the only savior for sinners. Christ Jesus is the only salvation for sinners. Are you a sinner? Are you a sinner? He's the savior of sinners, flee to Him. Sinners hear, they believe, and you that believe have. That faith is the witness of the Holy Spirit of God given unto you. Because the flesh doesn't believe. The flesh does not bear that righteous fruit of the Spirit.

You that believe Christ and have no confidence in your flesh, that is the testimony of the Spirit of God in you, that Christ's blood has washed you from your sins. Believe him, trust him, stay upon him. It's the witness of God in you that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth in him shall not be ashamed.

That when you stand before God, when you die like Joseph and are put in a coffin, and you stand before God in the day of judgment, you shall not be ashamed for having trusted wholly upon the Lord Jesus Christ. While that one who trusts in something they've done, some work they've done, that one will be ashamed. That one will be ashamed. But you that trust wholly on the Lord Jesus Christ, being a sinner, having no righteousness, you shall not be ashamed. you shall hear those blessed words, well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into thy rest prepared for thee from before the foundation of the world. That's how confident we are in the Lord Jesus Christ that we preach him. We preach Christ unto you, ministering the spirit unto you in the hearing of faith that he saves sinners.

Go to him, flee to him, cry out to him for grace and mercy. It delights him to save the sinner. Why? Because sinners need Christ. Sinners don't belittle him and put him down and say, well, what about me and what I've done? Who cares what you and I have done? What about what he's done? Exalt him, lift him up.

And he says, I'll draw all men unto me. I'll draw the needy, the defiled, the fallen, the weak, the shameful. I'll bring them to me and I'll work my grace in them. And I'll give them a new heart and a new spirit and a hope in the true and living God and they'll worship me in spirit and in truth. Whereas the Pharisee, they worship in the flesh. They're worshiping in the flesh. Worship Christ in spirit and in truth and we need his grace to do that.

Once you're a sinner and Christ has blessed you with the gospel and gives you faith to believe in him, that he's died for you and washed you of your sins, stay right there in him. Don't be moved from him. Don't go over to Sinai. Don't go over to Moses. Stay right there in the arms of your husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall bear fruits of righteousness by his seed in you, his incorruptible seed in you. He'll bless you. He promises. It's his word. He delights to save his people, to save sinners and to save them to the uttermost. It delights him.

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. If forgiveness of all your sins is what you need, look to Christ, believe Him, trust Him, beg Him for mercy and grace. Stay right there in Him.

And the testimony of scripture is good news for you. Our Lord said, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, the word of Christ, and believeth on him that sent me, the Father, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life.

And so, like Joseph, we're all gonna die, for that's the way of all who are born of Adam's corrupt seed, but all who are born again of the seed of Christ, have the witness of God in them, that Christ has shed his blood for you. You shall never die, but shall live eternally with the Lord Jesus Christ.

I pray you bless that word to your hearts. Amen.