I'm sure the hymn writer had Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18 in mind when they wrote that hymn. Come and let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sin be like scarlet, it shall be made white as snow.

When men come together to reason out something, there's often compromise made. in our reasoning. There's a give and take that has to be in order for us to be able to have a good relationship, a good conversation. But when we sit down to reason with the Lord, it's not that way.

That word reason, I believe in Isaiah 118 is the word judgment. And the Lord tells us that we're to make righteous judgments. What making righteous judgments mean is that we judge true everything that he says. Whatever the Lord says, that's our judgment. And by his grace, we're able to walk together with him.

Turn with me in your Bibles, if you will, to Amos chapter 3. Amos chapter 3. There are several rhetorical questions in this first part of this chapter. I want us to look at one of them. A rhetorical question is a statement that's made in the form of a question for the purpose of emphasis. The answer is obvious, but the Lord makes this very clear statement for us to to think about what's really being said.

In verse three of Amos chapter three, can two walk together except they be agreed? No, they can't. And the Lord's talking about walking in fellowship with him. And what he's saying is that You can't walk in fellowship with me unless we're in agreement. And we're not going to be in agreement unless you agree with me. And by his grace, he gives us that spirit, that judgment, that heart to believe what he believes, to love what he loves, to hate what he hates. to respond to all that he has said with, amen, so be it. Lord, you said it. It's true. It's true.

Adam walked with God in the garden until he sinned. And then that fellowship was broken. And rather than walking with God in the cool of the day, He found himself hiding in shame for the sin that he had committed. Moses, the Bible says, spoke with God face to face, as a man does with a friend. Abraham, that's what it says about Abraham. Noah was a just man and perfect. in his generation. And Noah walked with God.

The only way that we're going to be able to walk in fellowship with God is to be without sin. Our sin has to be put away. His eyes, Habakkuk says, are too pure to look upon iniquity. Your sin has separated you from your God. Something's got to be done in putting away our sin if we're going to walk together with God.

In order for our sin to be put away, there must be first a confession of sin, a need for sin. The gospel is for the poor and the needy. The gospel is for sinners. And believers love to be reminded that they are sinners. because it delivers them from having to find something in themselves to merit favor with God. It shuts them up to the Lord Jesus Christ for all of their righteousness.

If they are caused to agree with God that they have no righteousness and that everything about them is sinful, then and only then will they look outside of themselves and find all the hope of their salvation in their sin bearer, their substitute. The one that Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 53, satisfied God's justice. God saw the travail of his soul and God was satisfied.

God's never been satisfied with me. He's never been satisfied with you. Anything we've ever done falls short of his glory. All of sin comes short of the glory of God. What we read in Isaiah 53 about the Lord Jesus, there was no guile in his lips. We considered Sunday about how all men are liars and God alone tells the truth. And even when we speak the truth, there's some element of self-promotion in all that we do and say. some element of protection and some element of, you know, why? Because we're sinners. But that was never the case with him. And it's still not the case. He speaks with such purity and such clarity. Never a man spake, never a man spake like this man.

Can two walk together unless they be in agreement? Now, Amos chapter one reminds me of Romans chapter one, because the Lord is identifying the sin of the enemies of Israel, all the surrounding nations of Israel. And he says for three transgressions and for four of Moab and for the Ammonites and all the different nations he mentions, there's going to be judgment. And you can just hear the Israelites rejoicing in this prophecy that Amos is declaring against their enemies.

But then in Romans chapter 2, turn with me to Romans chapter 2. the Jews in hearing about the depravity of the Gentiles and the description of that depravity ending with homosexuality at the end of chapter 1. And the Jews will be saying, yes, yes, that's the way the Gentiles are. They're just dogs. And then in Romans chapter 2, verse 1, well, Verse 32 of chapter one, yes, of chapter one, who knowing the judgment of God and they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Now he's turning his attention to the Jews. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judges, for wherein thou judges another, thou condemnest thyself. for thou that judges doeth the same thing. Say unto the Jews, don't delight. Don't delight in the description that God gives of the Gentile dogs because you're the same. There's no difference. Your sin before God is just as damnable as their sin is. They sin without the law, you sin with the law. He goes on to tell us in the rest of chapter two, but all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Now back to Amos, because I can just see them having this reaction. And then in verse four of chapter three, thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked. But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. Judgment begins in the house of the Lord. The Lord's saying to these Jews, not just in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, but now in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, which is the church. That's the church, the Old Testament church is Judah. And the Lord's saying, wait a minute, your sins have to be punished too. And they're gonna be punished with fire. And it reminds me of what John the Baptist said when he said, I baptize you with water, but he that cometh after me will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And to be baptized in fire is to come to that place where we are, by God's grace, able to agree with him, able to stand with him.

Can two walk together unless they be in agreement? No, they can't. Lord, I agree. I agree that the fire of your justice and your wrath that fell on Christ at Calvary's cross was for my sin. It was for my sin. And that fire puts me to death. I can't find any hope of salvation in myself. I can't find any life in myself. I have to look outside of myself in order to get any hope of my salvation.

the fire of God's wrath. And then we have the Holy Spirit pictured by fire. And that's the means by which we come to that agreement with God is the work of the Spirit of God in the heart, speaking truth to us and causing us to say, yes, Lord, I can't just stand in agreement about the three transgressions and four that the enemies of the gospel are guilty of, I have to know that my sins have to be punished.

I have to agree with you about my own condition of sinfulness. If I'm going to be saved, I have to acknowledge my own sin. I have to confess. I have to agree with God. I have to speak the same thing that God says. Whether I can sorrow for my sins sufficiently, which I can't. Whether I can see my sin as it really is, which thank God I can't. I have to know that what God says about me is true. That when he looks into the thoughts and the imaginations of my heart, he sees that every one of them are infected with sin. And they're only evil, and that continually. That continually, that's what I am, Lord.

Can two walk together unless they be agreed? No. No. And God says, I can't walk with you until you agree with me about your sinful state. Otherwise, you're going to be guilty of the worst sin of all, self-righteousness. You're going to be boasting in something that you've done in order to be saved.

So now the attention goes to Judah. and all the sins of Judah have to be paid for. All sin has to be punished. He won't allow one transgression to go unpunished. Thus saith the Lord, verse six, for three transgressions of Israel and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes. They pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor turn aside the way of the meek, and a man and his father go in unto the same maid to profane my holy name. They lie themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their God.

Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them. the Lord's gonna say, not only are my people guilty of sin, but they're guilty of sin in spite of the fact that I've so blessed them, which aggravates their sin and makes their sin worse. The unbeliever just sins against the law. They may sin against conscience, The believer sins against love, it sins against grace.

And so the Lord is saying now in verse nine and following, yet destroyed I the Ammonites before them, whose height was like the height of the cedar and he was strong as the oak, yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his root from beneath. I was the one that gave you victory over the Ammonites. Also, I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you 40 years through the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite. And I raised up your sons for prophets and your young men for Nazarites.

Is it not even thus, O you children of Israel, saith the Lord, have I not been so merciful to you? Have I not been so gracious to you? Have I not blessed you with such light and such truth? I believe this is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, I am the chief of all sinners. And I believe this is what every believer believes about themselves.

And that is that no believer can think of anyone else who has been blessed more, who has been given more light and more grace and more truth and more forgiveness and more love, and remain as unbelieving as they are. To whom much is given, much is required.

Lord, I don't know of anybody that has abused your grace more than I have. Lord, I'm a sinner. If I'm gonna walk with God, I've got to be in agreement with him about that. Otherwise, I'm gonna be walking all by myself.

Now, we're gonna skip verse 13, because I wanna come back to it, but go down with me to verse 14, because not only are we sinful, but now the Lord is going to show us our inability to save our inability to do anything about our sinfulness. We can't satisfy the justice of God against our sin. We can't atone for our own sins.

Verse 14, therefore, the flight shall perish from the swift. It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but it is of God that showeth mercy. It's not by might nor by power, it's by my spirit, saith the Lord.

Lord, I can't run fast enough. The flight shall depart from the swift. The fastest runner will not be able to outrun the judgment of God and outrun their own sin. The strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself. We can't save ourselves.

Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow, and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself, neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself. And he that is courageous, strong in heart, among the mighty shall flee naked in that day, saith the Lord.

What am I gonna do to fix my sin problem? Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt. It's not just talking about these Old Testament unbelieving Jews. This is our condition. This is our need.

Can two walk together unless they be in agreement? Are we any different from those Israelites? God reigned man from heaven, water from the rock, given the word of God, given the law of God, gave Moses to lead them, pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. And when that wasn't enough, he sent them quail and provided for them every step of the way. And that they turned right around and murmured.

How many times a day I'm disquieted? How many times a day I complain in my heart? I just, oftentimes in my lips, but mostly in my heart. Look at verse two. You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Now, how is this punishment going to be brought to bear? Well, look back. with me to verse 13. Behold, behold, I am pressed under you as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. You've seen pictures of these old wooden carts that are piled high with sheaves of wheat. And here's the picture. The harvesters, the reapers, have laden the cart with sheaves of wheat. Not, you know, the old idiom, the straw that broke the camel's back, or that's the last straw, Here's the picture here. This is a cart that cannot bear the weight of one more piece of straw. And the word press here means to totter or to be crushed. So the cart is being crushed and the wheels are tottering as the oxen or the beast of burden or the ass is pulling this cart. to get it to the barn. And the farmer's leading the beast of burden. And God's under shepherds is the beast of burden. They're often referred to as a oxen or an ass in the scriptures. And it's the father that's leading them to the barn. The wheat on the cart, that's all of God's people. You know, sometimes you hear people say, well, the death of Christ was sufficient for all men, but it was efficient only for the elect. The Bible doesn't talk like that. Men speak that way because they think that it leaves the door open for a person to be able to have a decision to make. in the acceptance of Christ.

But Christ is the cart. He's that cart. That's what he's saying. Look at, behold, I am pressed under you as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. And every straw and every grain of wheat on that cart is gonna make it into the barn. And those are the ones that Christ died for. Not one more straw is gonna be put on this card. And the card is teetering and it's being crushed and it's bearing the full weight that it's capable of bearing. It's bearing all the sins and all the wrath and judgment and sorrow and separation and shame for sin And here's our punishment. Here's the punishment for sin. Here's our hope. We have a successful savior, one who was pressed, one who said to the disciples in the garden, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death, tarry here and watch with me. And he fell on his face and he prayed, oh my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but thy will be done, any sweat, great drops of blood. I am pressed under you as a cart that is laden or pressed full with sheaves.

Galatians chapter three, verse 13 says, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for as the scripture sayeth, cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree. The Lord Jesus Christ bore the full weight of all the sheaves of God's wheat, in order to get them into the barn. Though sinful, they are sinful. They are. He atoned for all their sins. He presents himself to his father for all their righteousness. This tottering cart who's hanging on a Roman cross who's crying out to his father, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He's suffering everything that we read in Isaiah chapter 53. He bore our griefs, all of our griefs. He carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes, we are healed, are healed.

Here's our hope. That's how we come. We come as sinners to be made sinless. Then and only then are we able to walk with God. Walk with God. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 5. Hebrews chapter 5. This cart, this tottering cart, pressed, loaded, to its maximum capacity with the sheaves of God's people. Look at verse seven of Hebrews chapter five, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him, that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared. Though he was a son, Yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. All them that look to him, all them that believe on him, all them that follow him, all them that depend upon him for all of their righteousness before God.

Only sinners do that. The older I get, the more I talk to people, the more often I hear people being offended by the suggestion or the declaration that they're sinful. Some of them in church, some of them not in church. But that's the offense of the cross. Paul said, if I still preached circumcision, then has the offense of the cross ceased? What is circumcision? Circumcision is the works of man's hand. And what does it illustrate? It's the removing of flesh with the hands of a man. If I'm still preaching something that you can do with your hands to improve your flesh, or to get your flesh out of the way, then the offense of the cross has ceased. The offense of the cross is that there's no amount of circumcision. There's no work of man's hand. There's no removing of man's flesh that can possibly atone for his sins.

How can two walk together unless they'd be in agreement? Lord, the only way my sin can be put away And the only power against the sin of my flesh from manifesting itself in my behavior, Lord, I don't want that. I see enough of that every day. Lord, I don't want. Don't leave me to myself. And it's not the demands of the law that restrains the flesh. It's grace. It's knowing that Christ is that cart, that tottering cart that was loaded with all the sheaves and that's going to make it into the barn, has made it into the barn. Oh, we're in Christ right now in heavenly places. God made him, 2 Corinthians 5.21, God made him sin. Who knew no sin, and none of it, he had never committed a single violation of God's law. His words were perfectly pure. His thoughts, his actions, everything he ever did. Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and higher than the heavens. Oh, what a glorious saver. Yet, he willingly laid down his life for the sheep. He became that cart. There's no way those sheaves are gonna get to the barn without the cart. They can't just walk to the barn. They've gotta be carried there. They're passive in their salvation. The reapers harvest the wheat, Christ gets the wheat to the barn.

I was pressed under you. God made him who knew no sin, sin. That we might be made the righteousness of God in him, in him. And as I mentioned in our prayer and in reading of Psalm 53, when we first began this hour, there's a mystery that's beyond anything that we're possibly able to comprehend in terms of what was going on between God the Father and God the Son at Calvary's Cross. God was doing business with God. And I don't understand it. He that was without sin was made sin, and how he cries out with sorrow and shame, and he separated from his father, that was the cup that he wanted to pass from him.

We're pretty numb to most of our sin, aren't we? We really are. We're used to it. We justify it and forget about it and get over it pretty quick. We get over it pretty quick. It wasn't that way with him. And whatever all was happening at the cross between God the Father and God the Son, I know this. I know that it was more than just a legal transaction. It was more than just God satisfying divine justice by making Christ the sacrifice for sin.

I know that he experienced, turn with me to Psalm 40, Psalm 40. What the Lord was going through I don't know. Look at Psalm 40 verse 12. For innumerable evils have come past me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. Now, David's not just speaking of his own sinful experience and his own enemies. He's speaking prophetically of what took place at the cross. When the Lord Jesus Christ owned the sins of his people, I am pressed under you as a cart is pressed with sheaves. He owned those sins as his own. It wasn't just a legal experience. satisfying justice he was bearing the shame and the sorrow and he was separated from his father my god my god he and he wasn't able to look up wasn't able to look up out of shame for the sin that he and here's our comfort brethren you know

In one sense, sin is what drives us to Christ. But usually that only happens after it drives us away from him. The initial response that we often have for the shame of our sin is to try to atone for it, or try to hide, or try to excuse it, or justify it, or until it becomes so heavy.

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy burdened, that are pressed down. Your wheels have fallen off. Your cart can't get you there. Learn of me. I'll give you rest. My yoke is easy, my burden is light. I bore the full burden of it.

And here's the comfort that I have, that with whatever shame and whatever sorrow might cause us to think of looking away from God, he knows that so much better than we ever have. He understands. We don't have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with the weaknesses of our flesh. He knows. Experientially, he knows.

You know, I was thinking along these same lines. Sunday, we looked at Philemon. and Paul saying twice in that little 25 verse letter, reminding Philemon, I have the right to demand this of you. You wouldn't have known the gospel had I not brought you the gospel. And I'm an apostle, and I'm your elder, and I could require you by the means of law and justice to take Philemon, or take Onesimus in, and treat him as a brother. But he says, I'm not going to approach you that way. I'm going to approach you on the basis of grace, on the basis of love. I'm going to appeal to your affections in Christ. And so that when you receive Onesimus and when you're restored as brothers in Christ, It won't be just because you were required to by law. It'll be because you wanted to by grace.

The Lord Jesus didn't go to the cross just because he was required to by law. He did it lovingly. We don't look to the sacrifice that he made just as a simple legal transaction. satisfying divine justice. It was. It was. And justice was satisfied. But oh, it was so much more than that. It was personal. It was something that affected every part of his being.

Can two walk together unless there'd be an agreement? Lord, I'm a sinner, everything about me. I have no way of saving myself or atoning for my sins. I have no real understanding of how bad my sin is. And the closest I can get to it is when I look to what the Father did, when it pleased God to bruise you on Calvary's cross. When I look to what you did, when you willingly bore my sins in your body upon that tree. When in the garden you began to drink of that cup, when your back was plowed with furrows by the whip and by your stripes, I'm healed. And Lord, whatever it was that you experienced there on Calvary's cross, I know that it's what God required. And I know you did it out of love for me. Lord, would you give me that same grace to be in agreement with you, to love you in return, to believe on thee and to follow thee, to rest all the hope of my salvation in thee?

You see, this is not just doctrine. It's not just theological dogma, truths, there is, all those things are there, but it's a matter of the heart. Gospel's a matter of the heart. Only God can give us a heart that would, you know, two people walking together, you know, they can agree to disagree, but they're not gonna walk very far together, or their hearts can be knit together, and they walk together for all the rest of their life, rest of their life.

All right, Tom. 225, in the hard back temple, 225.