I had not seen my darling wife for a long time. But she was on her way to me. And I had made preparations for her arrival. I had for some days exerted considerable time and energy in painting, cleaning, dusting, sweeping, mopping, and tidying the apartment. Just before the hour of her arrival I had a sumptuous meal ready. Then, being quite tired, and having a few minutes before the time to depart for the airport, I sat in an easy chair to watch the news on the television. I was suddenly awakened by the telephone ringing, and then heard my darling ask, “Where are you?”

May I not be so slack in being ready for the coming of my Lord!

But, sadly, many will be so. They have in the past exerted considerable time and energy in what they think is proper preparation for being ready for the coming of Christ, then rested in what they have done, and therefore will be asleep when He returns. There is the decisionist, who “decided for Christ” and was told that was sufficient, and sleeps in his decision. There is the moral reformer, who cleaned up his life and sleeps in his reformation. There is the self-righteous, who believes he has made himself blameless before God, and sleeps in his personal righteousness. There is the “carnal Christian”, who was told he may accept Jesus as Savior but not as Lord, and sleeps in “once saved, always saved”. Manmade religion has manufactured many such places in which one may be deceived into thinking that he sleeps in confidence of being received by Christ when He returns.

Happily for me, my sleep proved only to be embarrassing. Unhappily for those cited above, being “foolish virgins”, their sleep will prove to be fatal (Matthew 25:1-13).

“Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober” (2 Thessalonians 5:6).

Are you without SIN? Are you as Righteous as God? If not, then He has no justification to allow you into His presence NOW, nor eternally. “All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. The soul that sinneth shall die; the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 3:23, 6:23). God is Just. His truth must be upheld, His holiness must be glorified, and His justice must be satisfied. The only way this can be done is “the soul that sinneth die.” God must punish sin; He would not be Just nor Righteous if He allowed one sin to go unpunished. His justice demands “death” for sin. How can you be punished for your sin and be made righteous as God at the same time? Your answer will be very telling. I know the answer, let me tell you.

God sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ into this world as a Sacrifice for sin, a Substitute for sinners. The Lord Jesus lived a perfect, sinless, obedient life before God. The Father testified “This is my beloved son in whom I’m well pleased.” Christ came into this world as God’s lamb to Die! Why? As the believing sinners substitute. Only God can satisfy God, but God cannot die. Man can die, but man cannot satisfy God. God and man are united in Christ, the God-Man. As God he could satisfy God as Man he could die. God “laid on Him the iniquity of us all, He was wounded for our transgressions, it pleased the Lord to bruise Him, he saw the travail of his soul and was satisfied” (Isa.53).

God inflicted the just punishment for sin, by inflicting death on Christ. This is the reason for the Cross. For whom did He suffer death? For those who believe on him with all their heart and soul. The “wages of my sin was paid” by my Substitute, the Lord Jesus. God’s Justice has been satisfied, his truth upheld, but what about having a Righteousness that satisfies God? The same way our sins were put away is the same way we are made righteous. “God Made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Christ’s righteousness is GIVEN to them who believe on Him. God is just to justify them who believe On Christ Jesus the Lord (Rom. 3:24-26). Christ Is God’s justification for receiving me, He is also my only justification before God. Sinners are justified by believing not by doing.

Now I will confess that this verse indeed speaks of each and every redeemed of the Lord as they are friends one to another and brothers and sister’s one towards another. Yet, we must see Christ as having the ultimate fulfillment in this verse as in every passage of Holy writ! I can not nor can you ‘LOVE’ at all times, but I known one who as the Friend of sinners has and does love at all times! If this is not the case then salvation is only a dream and we are of all men most miserable.

Also, who but our dear and sweet Elder Brother was born to carry our adversities and bare our iniquities? Never was there a brother like this ONE; he by Himself took upon Him our trouble, our tight place as we came into trouble from the womb and because of God’s Holy Law were indeed in a tight place. I remember my brother Scott Richardson telling me often that there are 3 phases in a believer’s life: we are either in trouble, heading into trouble or just coming out of trouble! Yes, yet in our adversity we have a brother who was born for this very issue and He became poor that we might through His poverty become rich.

At all times and in every trial or trouble my soul shall find its peace and rest in MY FRIEND AND IN MY BROTHER, the high, holy and lifted up one we reverently call Jesus The Christ.