Communion and concord inseparable.
"Do two walk together unless they have agreed?" The special reference of this general question is not apparent. But the scope of the context suggests two points on either or both of which it would throw light. The one is the prophet's claim to be speaking the truth, the other is the people's claim to be doing the right. Between his words and their works there was utter incompatibility. Those must he wrong if these were right, and vice versa. And the axiom quoted supplies a decisive test. Amos walked with God—there could be no denying that; took his side and sought his glory amidst prevailing defection and disobedience. Must it not be argued from this that he was at one with God, and so in all his utterances spoke agreeably to his will? Israel, on the other hand, had clearly not agreed with God, for they were red handed in rebellion against him. Was not the inference from this resistless that they could not walk with him, here by faith or hereafter by sight? Consider here—
I. THE WALKING WITH GOD THAT IS THE IDEAL OF HUMAN LIFE. "Enoch walked with God." That is a short biography. But there is more in it, more important in its character and more adequately expressed than in many an octavo volume. "They shall walk with me in white" is a summary of the joy and glory of redeemed spirits on high. And life below is ideal in proportion as it approximates the life above. To walk with God implies:
1. Theft we walk with the same purpose as God. The raison d'etre of things is God's glory first (Romans 11:36; Colossians 1:16), the good of his people next (2 Corinthians 4:15; Romans 8:28), then the happiness of the race (1 Timothy 4:10; Galatians 6:10), and ultimately the well being of the planet as a whole (Psalms 36:6; Romans 8:20, Romans 8:21). The attainment of these objects in this order is God's purpose as revealed in Scripture. With this purpose it is the design and nature of religion to make man at one. By creating him in God's image he is endowed with a spiritual nature which exalts God (1 Corinthians 10:31), loves the brethren (1 John 3:4), consults the interests of others (Philippians 2:4), and regards the life even of the beasts (Proverbs 2:10). In proportion as the godly endorse and homologate the Divine purpose thus are they in the image of Christ (John 12:28; John 13:1, etc.) and do they walk with God.
2. That we walk like God. "The Christian," says Joseph Cook, "is a man who has changed eyes with God." Subtle affinities have arisen involving a marvellous unity of thought and aim. The end of our walking is God's end, and naturally his way becomes our way. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." In Christ, "the Image of the invisible God," it became an open secret to all who believe. He has left "us an example," and there are no relations in life to which it does not apply. We "follow his steps," and by consequence walk like God, being "imitators of him as dear children."
3. That we walk in company with God. The ungodly are far from God, and of set purpose keep their distance. But faith brings near and keeps near his side. The humble, contrite heart, which is the home of faith, is also the temple of God (Isaiah 57:15). The love by which faith works is his welcome and feast (Revelation 3:20). The believer lives in God's presence. He walks by faith, holding on as it were by the Divine hand. It is the promise and the thought of God's presence with him that makes the journey light (Isaiah 43:2), whilst the reality of it is the guarantee of safety and ease. God with us, we have unfailing provision, unerring guidance, and an invincible escort. No marvel if they who thus travel "go from strength to strength."
II. THE AGREEMENT WITH GOD THAT IS THE CONDITION OF WALKING WITH HIM. Walking with God is not an occasional act, but a habit of life, and must arise out of an established relation.
1. The parties must both be willing. Men are naturally at enmity with God, and so averse to his company. They know not and desire not to know his ways, and the expression of this feeling is the "Depart from us!" in which they decline the establishment of spiritual relations (Job 21:14). The operation of grace, however, is one "to will and to do of God's good pleasure," and the result of it is "a willing people in the day of God's power." They choose God (Joshua 24:15), desire his fellowship, and adopt the course that will best consist with its enjoyment.
2. They must have arranged it. "Unless they have agreed." Spiritual relations are not accidental relations, nor such as men may drift into unconsciously. There are understood objects to be intelligently adopted. There are explicit terms (Matthew 16:24) to be deliberately accepted. There is a distinct transaction in which God and his way are adopted, and made our life King and life programme respectively (Hosea 14:2). If it be a question of faith, we say, "Lord, I believe." If it be a question of penitence, we say, "I abhor myself, and repent." If it be a question of allegiance, we declare, "I will be for the Lord." If it be a question of fellowship, we vow, "I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living." Our walking with God is not only with consent, but by arrangement, duly and solemnly subscribed.
3. They must be congenial spirits. Like draws to like. Companionship with God bases itself in conformity to him. If there be no affinity there will be no association. If this fails, association will be broken off. Duty must be our choice, or it will never be begun; and our joy, or it will never be continued. Walking with God implies a previous coming to him, and both are conditioned by a spiritual change creating us in the Divine image. Hearts have begun to beat in unison when hands are clasped for life.
III. THE BEARING OF THIS MAXIM ON THE CASE IN HAND. The two whose walking together is in question are Jehovah and the prophet, according to some; Jehovah and the nation, according to others. But as it is a general maxim, it may be legitimately applied to both, and every other case on which it can throw light.
1. The words of a teacher who walks with God will be on the whole agreeable to his will. The authenticity of Amos's message was called in question by many. But he was on God's side in this controversy with Israel. He spoke as it were out of the arms of the Divine fellowship. The truth of his deliverance was therefore a foregone conclusion. With every religious teacher the same principle holds. Communion with God gives insight into truth attainable in no other way. It conditions that "unction from the Holy One" by which "we know all things." The best guarantee of orthodoxy is to be spiritually minded. "The anointing" by Christ in the work of grace, among other benefits, "teacheth of all things, and is truth" (1 John 2:27). Let a man read the Bible, so to speak, over God's shoulder, and the thing he will read out of it will be truth.
2. A life of rebellion cannot possibly be a walk with God. The prophet foretold to Israel a final rupture of visible covenant relations. And the prophecy was along the lines of natural fitness. The parties were already alienated in heart and sympathy, and in the nature of things formal separation must follow. To walk with God whilst fighting with him was an unworkable arrangement. The men who try it are men whose religious life is failure. When hearts go apart their owners go after them; and the soul, loveless today, will be godless tomorrow. Sinful man will have it so, and a holy God can have it no otherwise. Alienation leads to apostasy, and the apostate is ipso facto an outlaw. Are our affections given to Christ in self-surrender and love and happy trust? It is the one condition of walking with him to any purpose of spiritual effect. Is the dedication made maintained in unswerving true allegiance? See to that, for the beginning of estrangement is as the letting out of water, and what is deflection now will be defection in the next stage.