Sunday 16 April 2017

Shoes for the Road

The name of Dr Alexander Stewart is sadly unknown to most Free Church people today.  He was born in Glen Glass on 21st May 1870.  After studying in Aberdeen he taught in a school at Garbhalt. It was during this period that he was converted after being given a copy of Halyburtons 'Great Concern of Salvation' which had been given to him by Dr Donald Munro.  Originally a Free Presbyterian, Dr Stewart joined the Free Church in 1905.  Although initially ministering at Fountainbridge Free Church, Edinburgh, after the congregation merged with St Columba's, Johnston Terrace, Stewart ministered to the united congregation until his death in 1937.  Perhaps Dr Stewart is best known for his book on Elisha 'Prophet of Grace' but he also wrote 'The History and Principles of the Free Church, 1843-1910, and 'Jeremiah, the Man and His Message'.  He become Editor of The Monthly Record in 1917 and held this position until his death.  His articles and willingness to tackle 'Current Issues' were welcomed in an age when the world was seeking to come to terms the trauma of the Great War.  Shortly after his death many of his Record articles were republished in a wonderful book entitled 'Shoes for the Road'.  I already had a copy but picked up another one recently in one of my favourite places on earth: Leekies Bookshop in Inverness.  I can't recommend the book highly enough and I would love to see it republished.  Sadly Stewart's theology is fast disappearing in the modern Free Church and we desperately need to see a recovery of his warm, practical, Biblical and reformed theology.

Below is a summary of the first article.  

Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.  
Deuteronomy 33 v 25

The blessing by Moses given to Asher is one that contains a promise for all followers of Jesus Christ. Ashers inheritance was a stretch of rocky coastline from Carmel to Sidon. It was a region where travelling was a challenge.  Unless one was well equipped for the terrain, any traveller would soon have torn and bleeding feet.  As Dr Stewart says: 'A journey under such conditions strained to the full his physical endurance, but especially it tested the quality of his footwear.  His shoes must be strong as well as his heart; otherwise they would serve him but ill on such a road.'

Firstly we see that the believer's equipment for the journey of life will be suited to the conditions in which his lot is cast.  He will have shoes to match the road. If the lines have fallen to him in difficult places he will receive from the Lord's hand an outfit which will be adapted to the demands of his circumstances. We are living in uncertain days.  Internationally and nationally we are living at a time of unprecedented change.  Within our own church we don't have to look far for division, declension and discouragement.  People seem to be blind to the judgement of God.  As with the days of Micah the Lord has a contention with His people (ch 6 v 2, 3) but we seem to be unwilling to humble ourselves.


If indeed 'our face is set to reach Jerusalem,' we may expect to meet with hardships in the way; nor would it be good for us if the fact were otherwise.  If the road were too easy, we would miss some of the most salutary lessons of the Christian life. The primrose path is no doubt the most pleasant to the flesh, but is not the most profitable for the soul.  We must look, therefore, for something in our lot which will correspond to the portion of Asher - for rough places over which we must press with weary feet and failing breath, for steep ascents which we must surmount "with toil of heart and knees and hands."  There are tasks to be preformed that sap our strength with their heaviness or wear out our spirit with their monotony.  There are sorrows to be endured that wring our heart with pain, and make our day dark with night.  Life is a ceaseless conflict, and long holding out.  The road winds uphill all the way, and it is no ordinary perseverance that will enable us to endure unto the end.

But the Lord bestows on His children equipment which is adapted to the needs of their pilgrimage. For the rough and toilsome road He provides shoes that are iron and brass.  The gracious facts of the Gospel message, its unfailing promises, its strong consolations, its mighty hopes - these constitute a dynamic which enables him to triumph over the difficulties of his pilgrimage.  Hudson Taylor once wrote a moving letter from beside the couch where his beloved daughter lay dying, in China.  "it was no vain nor unintelligent act," he said, "when, knowing the land, its people and climate, I laid my wife and children, with myself, on the alter of his service."  The road was rough, but his shoes were iron and brass, and he did not faint.

In the second clause of the verse - as they days, so shall thy strength be - the promise seems to be merely repeated in different words, but there is a fresh shad of meaning.  To begin with, there is the assurance of strength according to the character of our days, that is, of grace proportioned to the varying demands of life. Some of the believer's days are bright and happy.  The sky is clear and the sun is warm; the air is fragrant with the scent of flowers and the woods are vocal with the singing of words.  But there are other days that are cold and cheerless, days of angry blasts and killing frosts, when the sun never breaks through the clouds, and the earth seems to be held in the grip of death.

Now it seems easy enough to live through the day of sunshine, but it should not be forgotten that prosperity brings its own special temptations.  There is a real danger that success may dull the edge of conscience, and lead to self-sufficiency and spiritual pride.  It requires a great deal of the grace of God to carry a full cup with a steady hand.  It is in the cloudy and dark day, however, that the need of strength more evidently appears, and it is then that the Lord most clearly proves Himself to be a very present help.  We all know people who see to go through trauma after trauma.  They continue with courage and cheerfulness.  When you ask them the cause of this joy they will likely answer that the Lord gives them a back according to their burden.  We can all look back at past difficulties and wondered how we survived yet each new day brought its own supply of strength for its own pain and its own burden.

This surely suggests to us the wisdom of taking the days as they come, and refusing to borrow trouble for the future.  As Matthew Henry says "Let us not pull that upon ourselves all at once which providence has wisely ordered to be borne in parcels,"  Often the dread of evils which never come is more distressing that all the troubles we actually experience.  It has been well said that "anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, but it robs to-day of its strength."

But the words we are considering further contain a promise of strength that will be continued to the end of life,  It is a strength according to our "days" - the use of the plural is significant.  The word embraces the number of our days as well as their quality.  In other words the Lord gives the assurance that He will sustain His people to the end.  This is the crowning assurance of the Gospel, for it put a seal on the permanence on all the other blessings of salvation.  Let us take hold of this gracious promise for our won comfort and encouragement as we face the future.  We cannot read the secrets, but if we avail ourselves of the equipment with which the Lord provides us for the journey, we shall not faint in the way.  

No comments:

Post a Comment