By Matt Watson

And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. – Genesis 7:19

My posts are becoming few and far between, but that is not because I ever discontinued my trifling thoughts. I’ve been too lazy to publish them, held back by other studies, a job, tailgating parties, football, watching television, etc.

However, I spent the weekend with a good like-minded friend of mine from down south, one of my high school teachers from way back when, and we had a lot of interesting conversations while critiquing television programs. In our own sneaky, religious right way, we came up with a few insights from watching television.

First, men who take Cialis or other medicine for erectile dysfunction probably have consumed too much pornography and are therefore sexually desensitized. Not very scientific, you might say, but neither is anything else I’m about to say. Prepare yourself. Profounder thoughts await you.

Second, and last, and most importantly, TV documentaries are interesting when examined with creationist sentiments combined with conspiracy theory mindsets. I shall divide this second point into two smaller points.

Smaller point number one: The first documentary we watched was on the History Channel and covered different perspectives on how the island of Britain became geologically separated from the rest of Europe. The view given the strongest credibility in this documentary was that in some manner, a cataclysmic flood ripped through Europe and created the English Channel. Hmm. Cataclysmic flood. Need I say more?

Not only that, but at approximately the same time (geologically speaking), it is supposed by some geologists that a similar type of cataclysmic flood occurred across the world in North America, creating some of our current land features in the West. Hmm. A cataclysmic flood occurring at the same time as another cataclysmic flood a world away. Sounds like some kind of worldwide … coincidence.

Smaller point number two: A second documentary, one on Discovery Channel I believe, covered a crew of scientists unearthing a woolly mammoth. The mammoth had been perfectly preserved after getting stuck in a pool of water thousands of years ago during the Ice Age. Hmm. An entire mammoth preserved in water. I’m just sayin’.

I don’t mean to ostracize any of my theistic evolution friends or to take a holier-than-thou attitude. If you believe God guided the evolutionary process and created everything with man separate from the animals, I don’t want to argue with you. There are fine arguments to be made there, just not fine enough for me to accept.

The primary entertainment I get out of these documentaries is that the scientists on the evolution side of the spectrum, scientists who do not cease to ridicule creationists as ignoramuses, don’t even get it themselves. Not even the faintest memory of some ignorant creationist, I suppose, stirs in the minds of scientists when concluding that perhaps a catastrophic flood had some type of effect in X, Y and Z locations.

By Matt Watson

In modern society, we have accepted our fate as sinning machines. We have taken what the Christians regarded as vices that harmed humanity and turned them into virtues that aid mankind. We have come to understand the power that each of these vices holds and how it can make us happier and stronger people. Advertising agencies and marketing firms know this and have taken full advantage of it, selling each of the seven deadly sins in record numbers and encouraging us to work with what we’ve got (while still holding focus groups on the development of sins eight, nine, and ten). – Lisa Frank, “The Evolution of the Seven Deadly Sins: From God to the Simpsons,” Journal of Popular Culture, June 2001

Recently, I was delighted to have to watch an episode of “The Simpsons” for a school assignment. [Note: "The Simpsons" is a little outdated for me. If I'm going to watch a show about the decay of our society, I'd probably prefer "Family Guy."] Along with watching the show, I was given the above article to read, which I found very interesting. Meanwhile, I was chatting with a friend of mine on the Internet about Colossians 3.

Lo and behold, I realized all of these things were related.

“The Simpsons,” of course, teaches us a very valuable lesson about family and society, which is that our society doesn’t value family. In fact, the members of our society don’t always have much regard for society, either. We’re pretty two-dimensional people who are really just concerned about what we’re going to eat next and how much we’ll have to pay for it. We beep horns at each other, make fists, curse, give each other the middle finger, gossip…

Those of you reading might like to think most people still have at least some bit of decency left, and you’re right. “The Simpsons” is only an exaggeration of reality. However, culture is changing, and there are many things that just aren’t considered sins anymore. Or if they are called sins, no one really cares. I’m sure you can think of examples from your own experience. All in all, leading a holy and noble life sounds kind of drastic to modern ears. That’s why we connect with the Simpson family, as well as Jerry Seinfeld and friends. That’s why we think these shows are funny–because they contain a bit of truth.

But on a more serious note, what consequences does our behavior have? When all we care about is ourselves and have no respect for family and friends, what is the result?

The result is a society that doesn’t really know how to take care of itself. Like the author above, there are some in our society that actually applaud our embrace of sin. They think it’s actually a good thing and that those prehistoric Christians were wrong all along. When we disregard a passer-by on the street or disrespect our parents or neglect our children, we only add to this growing philosophy.

It’s how we got where we are today, where children spend all day in their rooms chatting on the Internet about how their parents suck, where parents don’t even give their children the small knowledge of the Bible they deserve and instead send their children to school to let Caesar be responsible for instilling values in our children (which is why there are controversies over prayer in schools and sex education in the first place).

In the midst of today’s modern fog, what version of society does the Bible give us? According to Colossians 3, it is far more stable and far less hypocritical than our modern version.

There cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman: but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:11)

Way before our Civil Rights Movement, the Bible realized that God didn’t really care where you’re from or what you look like and, therefore, neither should we. But at the same time, where our society falls prey to thinking everyone in society is the same, the Bible lets us know that there are in fact different roles in society and especially the church.

And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

First, everyone in society, while being subject to the higher powers, are subject to a head that is even above these powers. That head is Christ.

Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. (Colossians 3:18-19)

Second, the Bible realizes the reality that fathers have a responsibility that goes higher than that of anyone else in the family. Men and women are not the same, and a husband has preeminence over his wife. However, while our society sees preeminence as a bad thing often used for corrupt purposes, the Bible tells us that this preeminence, this position of leadership is vitally important to the family. There needs to be leaders in our families, leaders who can make keen decisions and leaders who have wisdom. Where there is no leadership, there is no direction. And where there is no direction, there is malice, jealousy and divorce. This preeminence is not a haughty, patriarchal doctrine. It is a blessing that is only supposed to help us move forward.

Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well–pleasing in the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children, that they be not discouraged. (Colossians 3:20-21)

And it’s the same with parents’ preeminence over their children. Unlike our modern society, which is beginning not to care whether or not children depend on parents, the Bible lets us know that children have to esteem their parents. While our modern society says that it’s OK for you to do things your parents don’t need to know about (since you are autonomous, right?), the Bible argues that your relationship with your parents is to be intimate and honest.

Servants, obey in all things them that are your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as men–pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord (Colossians 3:22)

Finally, Colossians 3 tells us how to act in the workforce with those who are over us. Maybe in our day we’re not all about “servants” and “masters,” but the principle is still there. We all have bosses, and we all gain vain pleasure in venting about them when we get home. This is not how it should be. As Christians, we are servants to everyone, especially those we work for. Our supervisors are in a position of leadership and deserve our respect and forbearance. We must work diligently and honestly for them, whereas our culture says it’s OK to pass the work along to someone else or clock out earlier than we know we should. If we work honestly, we can honestly expect to be treated with the kindness and dignity that our superiors have a duty to give us.

So, there you have it. Just something to stimulate your mind next time you decide to watch the idiot tube.

By Matt Watson

Below is a reflection I wrote a couple of weeks ago but decided not to post it right away.

I have discussed before that the phrase “church of Christ” is only descriptive and is not meant to connote anything other than the church of which Christ is the head. Those of us who employ this description on the outside of our church buildings do not use it as a name distinct from any other church that has Christ as its head. This goes with the belief that there can only be one church, which is the church whose head is Christ. As there can be no type of Christian other than he or she who follows Christ, there can be no type of church other than the church that follows Christ. This is fundamental.

To some people, the fact that the church has no name is confusing. They think that every church must have a name. [This presupposes there is more than one church.] But it is significant that the church does not have a name, and it is important to understand the significance of it. The church is the kingdom of God. Therefore, before we try to name the church, we would need to figure out God’s name, wouldn’t we?

So, what is God’s name? I ask you, because I do not know. The Bible gives many descriptions of God (the Lord, the Creator, the Savior, the Redeemer, Jehovah, I AM THAT I AM, the Almighty). But God himself, by his nature, is nameless. When you talk about someone as high and deep as God, you can’t put a label on Him. When you think about it, to name God probably falls in the realm of idolatry. The closest thing to a name of God is the name he employed as a human being, Jesus. But this is not really a name of God, as if God needs a name to distinguish himself from other gods, which are no gods. This is the name God-Incarnate employed to distinguish himself from other humans, as there are many different humans.

But there is only one God and he is the Ruler of only one kingdom. For a church to employ a name, especially of a person or group, is for it to become something other than the church that follows Christ.

For those who would want to name my church so they can classify me as a member of a denomination, don’t waste your time. I am just a Christian who tries to follow God’s Word as best he can. Anything other than that is too complicated for me. Just let me worship God.

By Matt Watson

Below is a sermon I gave at my church on July 14, 2008

So many times in our lives, we go through pain, we go through adversity, and we go through mourning. We grow up, friends leave, people die, and the question often comes up: What is heaven like? We know about the pictures painted in Revelation, which describes heaven as a place filled with gold and sapphire and precious stones. It’s a place where the light of God causes an eternal day. But what do these things mean? It seems that often when somebody loses a loved one, these words do not comfort them. When a mother loses her child, it just doesn’t seem right. People lose their faith and their hope. What will it be like when we die? How can we have hope of what is to come? What is heaven really like?

Friends, tonight, if you want to know what heaven is like, look right beside you. Take a long look at everyone in this auditorium, get to know them, and you will start to get an idea of what heaven is like. The Word of God tells us that we are the kingdom of heaven. Christ said, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And Christ gave the apostles the keys to the kingdom of heaven. When you look at the parables Jesus told, such as the parable of the marriage feast, you can see that the kingdom of heaven is used to describe the church now as well as the church on the day it will be received in the clouds. The church is an eternal kingdom. It is like heaven on earth. A sneak preview, if you will.

Tonight we will take a deeper look at this to find out what it all really means. We need to look at the parables of Jesus concerning the kingdom. These parables are very beautiful things, because they illustrate very vividly that heaven is not really all that far away from us. Also, when we say that the church is the kingdom of heaven, when we say it is heaven on earth, this has certain ramifications. It means that we have a responsibility on this earth, a responsibility to be happy, to love one another and to help one another. We also should be shining our light into the world in hope of the last day.

So, let’s look at some parables concerning the kingdom of heaven. The gospel of Matthew has quite a bit to say about the kingdom of heaven. Matthew chapter 13 mentions “kingdom of heaven” more so than any other place in the Bible that I know of. What can we learn from these? What do they teach us about heaven? How does Christ explain the kingdom of heaven?

First, the kingdom of heaven is a mysterious place. That’s why Jesus talked about it in parables. He said, in chapter 13, verse 11, “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” When Jesus talked in parables, many people did not understand him and tried to trap him in his language. But for those disciples who really were trying to understand him, unto them he explained how the kingdom works. He said to his disciples in verse 16, “But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.”

Another thing we learn from these parables is that the kingdom of heaven exists now and will be glorified on the last day of harvest. This is illustrated in the parable of the tares in verses 24-30:

The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade sprang up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. And the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares? And he said unto them, An enemy hath done this. And the servants say unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he saith, Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

So, right now the kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, but it must grow in the earth, in the world. Right now, there are good Christians in this world, and these Christians are the citizens of heaven. But after the resurrection, we will be taken up in the clouds to receive a more glorious form. Those will be the days in which we shall see God, and we “shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven,” as Matthew 8:11 tells us. So right now, the church is like heaven on earth, because we walk according to the Spirit, and we are ruled by our Master who sits at the right hand of God. But in the time of harvest on the last day, all the bad in this world will be cast into the fire, and those of us who have walked in the Spirit will “shine forth as the sun” (Matthew 13:43).

However, before Christ comes in glory, we must work in hope of what is to come. In other places in Matthew and the rest of the gospels, we learn that we are laborers for God. What we do now is important, and as the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 5:16, we ought to be “redeeming the time.”

So now we are starting to get in to the ramifications of the fact that we are citizens of heaven. We are heaven on earth. But what does this mean for us? What consequences does this have?

First, this means that we can have hope. When Christ reconciled us back to God through his sacrifice and resurrection, he ushered in the kingdom of God. He made us children of God, joint-heirs with Christ. Since we know that we are a part of this vast kingdom, we ought to have vast hope. Right now, we look forward to what is to come. We look forward to the harvest, the last day, which cannot fully be explained. First John 3:1-3 explains this very succinctly. It says:

Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God: and such we are. For this cause the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is. And every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

But this hope is not empty. It means something. It should affect our lives. It should stir us to action. Because of the hope we have in Christ, we ought to share this hope with one another. We ought to love one another. And when I say “we,” I am talking about all of us who are in the church. We are the kingdom of heaven. We are imitators of Christ on earth. This means that we must be able to get along with one another, and not only that, but we also must help one another and edify one another. We should build one another up. If we can’t get along with one another on earth, what are we going to do when we have to put up with each other for eternity? In the book of Ephesians, chapter 4, verses 1-6, we learn that we must forbear one another in love. We have to keep a bond of peace. That passage says:

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.

So the kingdom of heaven should be unified. We should establish a bond of peace. We should be a closely-knit group of people, because we love each other and we share the same hope. First Thessalonians 5:11-14 says:

Wherefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as also ye do. But we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be longsuffering toward all.

So many times I have heard people in the church who are upset. They may not feel like they’re included. They may not feel close to the people in their church. They may think that the folks in their congregation do not care about them. This is unfortunate. The church is here to support and admonish the weak. No one who is in the kingdom of heaven should be excluded or ignored. We are here for one another.

But not only are we here for one another, we are also here for the world. The Bible repeatedly carries the theme that the kingdom of heaven must shine its light into the world. The kingdom of Israel was established to shine its light into the world and bring us the light of Christ. Psalm 98:3 says, “He hath remembered his mercy and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” Israel served as a light for the world, until the time in which the kingdom of Israel would be transformed into a new Israel, into the church of Christ. In a similar manner, we who are in the church must shine our light before men while we hope for the resurrection, at which time we will be transformed into something newer and better. First Peter 2:11-12 says:

Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your behaviour seemly among the Gentiles; that, wherein they speak against you as evil–doers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

So by our good works and deeds, by the way we treat others, we should lead them to glorify God. Not only must we preach the Word, but we also must live it. Actions speak louder than words. I can sit here and preach to you all night long, but you would be a lot more excited if I decided to donate 50 dollars to everyone sitting in these pews for showing up tonight. Not that I’m really going to do that; it’s just an example.

I also want speak to the fact tonight that there is yet another ramification for us being the kingdom of heaven. Since we are the kingdom of heaven, church is important. The kingdom is the church; there is no distinction. You hear people say, “Oh, well, I don’t have to go to church or anything like that to be a good person and go to heaven. My life doesn’t depend on the church.” This is very unfortunate to me, because Jesus died for his church. Jesus did not die for each individual person just to go his own way and mind his own business. We are supposed to live together with a common hope. We’re supposed to be a closely-knit group of people. And when we go to church worship services, we create a singleness of heart amongst ourselves. This is taught in Acts chapter 2. To say that the social institution of the church is unimportant is to miss out on everything, because the church is the light of the world.

I hope these words from the Bible have encouraged you. The church is a form of heaven on earth, which should carry so much meaning for us. We share a common hope and a common purpose on this earth that is deeply spiritual. We really need to work together to help one another and to help the world.

If anyone in the audience tonight has the desire to come into the kingdom by repenting of your sins and accepting a new way of life through baptism, we encourage you to come forward tonight or talk to one of our elders. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. That is a phrase Christ repeats over and over when talking about the kingdom of heaven. The first step to knowing what to do to receive salvation is to listen to the Word of God. Everything else will follow if we have an open mind and an open heart. If anyone is in need of prayers tonight, we ask you to come forward as everyone stands and sings.

If you’ll remember, at the beginning of summer, I expressed my plans to read the entire Bible before my school semester starts in August. Right now I am to the end of 2 Samuel. Yes, I am really behind. Yes, it’s because I’m lazy.

Anyway, a few books ago, I had a personal observation while reading Deuteronomy. It’s just one of those little things one encounters so often that testify to the divine design of the Bible. “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).

In the midst of biblical criticism and heated debates over the authenticity of God’s Word, I think it is easy for many of us to lose sight of the big picture. We can become obsessed with trying to defend ourselves against “scientists,” infidels for that matter, who think they’ve gotten something big whenever they find some small phrase in the Bible they feel goes against scientific understanding (cf. 1 Timothy 6:4). To support a scientifically valid Bible, we may resort to endless scientific analysis of the Bible. Many points brought up by Christian scientists are profitable, but some of them are so minuscule and vague they only serve to bring us down to the same level as the infidels. Also, when we share Christianity with others, we should remember that no one’s faith is based on a few little scientific facts in the Bible. My belief in the Bible as God’s Word to all mankind is not based on the fact that Job 26:7 alludes to gravity or that Ecclesiastes 1:7 explains the hydrological cycle. It is based on the larger truths and prophecies contained in the messages.

Which brings me to my point about Deuteronomy. This book, written and delivered by Moses in the 13th century B.C., contains a bold and confident message. In it, the Lord, through Moses, tells the Israelites that if they will stay loyal to the Lord and shun the idols of the nations around them, they would live at peace in their land. However, if they play the harlot with other gods, they will be delivered into the hands of pagans. God, knowing the children of Israel would go astray, made a covenant with them. Moses said,

All of you stand today before the LORD your God…that you may enter into covenant with the LORD your God…so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations….And the LORD would separate him from all the tribes of Israel for adversity, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Law….Then people would say: “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt; for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had not given to them….And the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 29:10-28).

God made this promise more that 700 years before the prophet Daniel, under captivity with Israel, prayed, “Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him” (Daniel 9:11).

We all know now about the captivities of Israel under the Babylonians and the Assyrians. They are the subject of many topics addressed in the books of the Old Testament, with God promising to restore Israel through the Messiah. But Moses delivered his last message to the Israelites before all of that. When you think about it, it is a daring thing to say that whenever Israel leaves God, they will be captured by another kingdom. Let’s say Moses wasn’t really a prophet and Deuteronomy is a bunch of rhetorical hogwash. It would have been very possible for the Israelites to turn from God and still have military and political success. In fact, many of the great nations of the ancients were filled with idolatrous and adulterous people. We could probably say the same thing today. Furthermore, in history classes of public schools and universities, you usually don’t hear any scholars teach that the strength of a nation lies in its faith and morals. We usually measure the strength of a nation by its level of military and economic might, which is often achieved by hatred, corruption and violence. Some scholars today might even say that you’re stupid if you believe the United States (or any country) should adhere to the Word of God.

Yet Moses foolishly asserts that Israel would be powerless without their God, “because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25).

By Matt Watson

At the beginning of the month, I was determined to read the Bible in it’s entirety before the end of summer, but I have only gotten through the five books of Moses, partly because I was sidetracked by a book someone let me borrow, and mainly because I’m lazy. Right now I want to talk about that book, which is “The Eternal Kingdom: A History of the Church” by F.W. Mattox. My thoughts on the five books of Moses are forthcoming.

Many of you may know I am a member of the church of Christ, which is a profoundly misunderstood group of people. Folks accusingly tell us we believe we are the only ones who are right. But I would ask, Why is this somehow bad? What else do you suppose? How can the church of Christ not be the only ones who are right?

Of course, I am trying to make a profound point, and my point of view, which is the same as that of many others, is explained very thoroughly in “The Eternal Kingdom.” The book is not a ranting about personal religious views. It is encyclopedic and chronicles the history of the church under the leadership and influence of the apostles, the apostolic and early church fathers, the heretics, what became the Roman Catholic system of church organization and it’s theological results, the reformers of the 1300s on, and finally the nineteenth century scholars and church leaders predominant in America who saw themselves as restorers of the “New Testament church.” The book is used as a textbook in some Christian colleges. It was important for me because it was really my first attempt to seriously study Christian history outside of New Testament times and events.

Basically, after the apostles and period of written revelation, Christians had many options before them and many hardships. It was the church in it’s infancy and had not yet grasped a significant understanding of church organization and leadership, much less doctrine and theology. Soon, churches began to develop the first aspects of what would later become a full-blown hierarchy, largely to combat false teaching. I’ll spare you the details, but it is clear that the hierarchical system that we now see in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches was a merely human and at times political development that experienced many different phases and was not championed or even recognized by all early Christians and churches.

But the result of changes in organization also produced major theological consequences – such as a priesthood unique to bishops and ministers.

After Constantine I, the Roman emperor in the fourth century, adopted Christianity and tampered with it largely for political gain, Christianity became a religion of councils and creeds, and it was through these councils and creeds that Christians became crystallized in their party affiliations, swearing allegiance to councils of men instead of to God. When the reformers of later centuries challenged the predominant party (the Roman Catholics), they merely created new parties, crystallized by new creeds, synods and special names, with each party competing against the other. The purpose of the “restorers” of the nineteenth century was simply to be Christians and do away with various products of men. Among these people, councils and creeds were done away with as “terms of communion” between Christians, with only the canonical scriptures replacing them. What objection could somebody possibly have against this practice?

One of the things that restoration achieves is unity. It is unity based upon scripture.

For anyone still reading, let me explain further.

It can hardly be said that the denominationalism that came out of the Reformation is the way Christ wanted his church to be upon his death, which was “that they all may be one” (John 17:21). This is something most of us now can agree on, and there have been developed different ways of unifying Christians. F.W. Mattox outlines three different methods of unification among Christians that have been advanced: authoritarianism, inter-denominationalism, and undenominationalism. Mattox subscribes to undenominationalism.

Authoritarianism is the belief held by the Roman Catholic Church, which is that all believers in Christ should swear allegiance to its hierarchy of bishops, which is headed by the pope. Roman Catholics believe its hierarchy was appointed by the apostles and that it constitutes the church of Christ that has been from the beginning. Historically, this just isn’t true.

Inter-denominationalism is the belief held by many Protestants of our day, which is that all denominations should be in communion with one another. Church organization and doctrine shouldn’t get in the way of Christian unity. This argument falls on its face, because the question arises, What would be the purpose of different denominations and methods of organization? Why not just compromise and join together, which would only make sense because the argument presumes that there is no one right way to pattern the church?

Undenominationalism is the belief held by the church of Christ, which is that all believers in Christ should use the scripture as its only term of communion and leave man-made devises and parties by using the Bible as their only creed. We must be Christians in terms of Christ’s word, not the words of men and the interpolations of their various creeds. This argument holds that the church must be organized and run according to the New Testament pattern, which is complete and full. This argument therefore holds that the Bible is all-sufficient for the church (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It is the only true “sola scriptura” doctrine.

The unification of Christians must be achieved through practicing that faith which was once for all delivered to us by Jesus and his apostles (Jude 1:3) and comes down to us through the Bible. Unifying doesn’t mean accepting all doctrines and churches as equally Christian, which is impossible. Not all who say, “Lord, Lord” are part of his kingdom. Even the most avid believer of inter-denominationalism has to admit this. Unifying means coming together to let the Word dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16).

If you have read this far, you may be interested in reading this book, which can be bought on Amazon.com, although you can buy it for cheaper if you go through the publishing company’s Web site, which is gospellightbooks.com.

By Matt Watson

I have re-begun my read through the Bible and will finish before the end of summer, God willing. I realize there’s no way I can stay up on my reading during the school semester so as to finish the Bible by the end of the year, so I’ve decided to do some power reading everyday while I’m not at school. Many of my coming posts will be my reflections from daily readings. Read along with me if you want, although I’m going by no particular formula.

I read Genesis earlier this week, and when I was finished, it appeared to me that there are more things in that book, and perhaps the rest of the books of the Old Testament, that point to Christ than I had thought.

Of course, there is the promise to the serpent in chapter 3 that the seed of woman “shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” There is Abraham offering Isaac, his only son, as a sacrifice. There are three mysterious men called Jehovah visiting Abraham in chapter 18 to give Sarah the promise of her son and to tell Abraham about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, after Abraham had already saved Sodom once. And there are probably several others I could go on about, but there are others that are slightly more subtle and that, to me at least, show the Patriarchal Age wasn’t simply a time of jealousy and slaughter, as it has seemed to me in the past.

The stories of Jacob and his son Joseph are stories of forgiveness and reconciliation, something we associate with Jesus and the Christian Age.

Jacob tricked his father Isaac into blessing him instead of Esau, his older brother who sold his birthright to Jacob for food. Part of Jacob’s blessing was to “let peoples serve thee, And nations bow down to thee: Be lord over thy brethren, And let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee” (Genesis 27:29). However, Jacob, like Jesus, did not use his authority to punish others. When he finally reunited with his brother in chapter 33, he, like Jesus, put himself in the place of a servant:

And Esau ran to meet [Jacob], and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant. (vv. 4-5)

Jacob then proceeded to give Esau his present of various animals, which he had prepared the previous day under the impression that Esau was out to kill him. Instead of meeting his brother with violence, he solved the conflict through love.

The story of Jacob’s son Joseph also reminds me of Christ and should let us know that the Old Testament emphasizes love and forgiveness too. When Joseph, as the second most important man in Egypt, revealed himself to his brothers who had sold him into slavery, he told them “be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves” (Genesis 45:5). But the brothers began to worry once again when their father died, thinking that perhaps Joseph would then decide to take vengeance on them. When they bowed to Joseph as servants, Joseph, every bit the picture of Jesus’ washing Peter’s feet, told them he did not want them to serve him:

And they sent a message unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the transgression of thy brethren, and their sin, for that they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? (Genesis 50:16-19)

And when it came to pass that Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter raised him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man. (Acts 10:25-26)

By Matt Watson

Take time to be holy,
speak oft with thy Lord;
abide in him always,
and feed on his word.
Make friends of God’s children,
help those who are weak,
forgetting in nothing
his blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy,
the world rushes on;
spend much time in secret
with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus,
like him thou shalt be;
thy friends in thy conduct
his likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy,
let him be thy guide,
and run not before him,
whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow,
still follow the Lord,
and, looking to Jesus,
still trust in his word.

Take time to be holy,
be calm in thy soul,
each thought and each motive
beneath his control.
Thus led by his spirit
to fountains of love,
thou soon shalt be fitted
for service above.

(A hymn by William D. Longstaff and George C. Stebbins)

Christopher Hitchens, a notorious atheist, once suggested on a television program that America is not as religious as people make it out to be, no more so than Europe. That’s why Americans stay home and sleep on Sundays or practice some other activity since they don’t have to go to work. Americans get wasted on the weekend (or even Christmas) and try to sober up for work or possibly, if they’re lucky, church.

Even in the Bible Belt, you sometimes get the feeling it is all just a front for some political or other vain gain. Or maybe it’s just something from the past that we in our wealth and overconsumption can’t take seriously anymore, though we still observe it formally, a for-the-record kind of thing. We may even feel the presence of God here or there, but we don’t practice religion.

But what does it really mean to practice religion? It means, as I’ve gotten at before, to be a servant to others and to stick strictly to what is good and righteous, to repent of sins and to be keenly aware of God. I’m sure we could go on defining all day long, but what I think many Southerners lack is a good prayer life. If you’re anything like me, you might find yourself reading a lot of religious material, always trying to find an answer to something, yet at the end of the day, you failed to take out serious time to pray, to commune with God. Prayer should be a central form of worship for every Christian. Jesus reconciled us back to God, so why wouldn’t we be reconciled through prayer?

So many faiths around the world practice prayer religiously, whether they are Muslims, Catholics or charismatics. If we just observe, we could learn a little from them. And I wouldn’t normally be the one to tell someone they aren’t “religious enough,” but it seems we could all agree beyond a shadow of a doubt that many Americans, even Southern Protestants, don’t pray enough. We also don’t read the Bible, fast, sweat blood drops or meditate in the night watches either. We go to work in polished offices, take sleeping pills in the evening and dream about sunshine and lollipops at night.

Why is this? Why aren’t we “religious”? Well, for one, it is my observation that we are too uptight. A reading of the Psalms should totally obliterate the conception that there are hard-set rules, methods and words we must use while praying. I have heard many complaints from people on the way other people pray. It is possible, God forbid, that someone fails to say, “In Jesus’ name,” at the end of a prayer. Or someone may say the Our Father and be accused of using “vain repetitions.” How can Jesus’ own words be vain repetitions? And what matters if someone doesn’t say, “In Jesus’ name”? Haven’t they already been baptized into Jesus as it is?

Complaints are meant to be contentious and are probably most often launched by people who don’t pray every day.

Recently, I heard a preacher on the Internet complain about people who use the word “just” too much in their prayers, as in “Lord we just ask you to forgive us our sins.” The preacher said that “just” means only, and unless forgiveness is the only thing we ask for in a prayer, we shouldn’t say “just.” These kinds of complaints hinder people from praying as they should.

So, how should we pray? Since there are no hard-set rules, we sometimes tend to slack off. However, Jesus’ gives us a great deal of advice on prayer. By his words and his example, we see that it’s good to pray alone, in our bedrooms, in a desert, in a mountain or in some other lonely place, where our Father which seeth in secret shall recompense us. It is good to pray all morning and all throughout the night. It is good to pray for food, for the kingdom, for our enemies and for God to lead us away from temptation. It is good to pray anywhere, anytime, anyhow, in any language, in any mood, for any reason. In short, it is good to “pray without ceasing.”

Hear my cry, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

For You have been a shelter for me,
A strong tower from the enemy.
I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;
I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah

For You, O God, have heard my vows;
You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.
You will prolong the king’s life,
His years as many generations.
He shall abide before God forever.
Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him!

So I will sing praise to Your name forever,
That I may daily perform my vows.

(Psalm 61)

By Matt Watson

I would like to take a few moments to give my thoughts on an issue I encountered during a recent conversation. Tuesday, I conversed with a “street preacher” who believes in the current miraculous operation of the Holy Spirit and that this miraculous operation means all we have to do is pray to God when we are sick and avoid taking medicine. People are sick, he explained, when they have sin in their lives and are bound for hell. When they stop sinning, God will heal them and they will live a healthy life.

I have spoken before on “Holy Spirit baptism,” which I do not now completely deny. I simply deny that the Holy Spirit operates in our daily lives in a miraculous way. It would be absurd for me to say miracles have ended. If they had, there would be no resurrection (cf. Romans 8:11). My only claim is that the apostles are no longer here to lay hands on us (cf. Acts 8:14-18), and a church is no longer here that doesn’t have a sacred canon. With these things in mind, I will let you judge the veracity of modern faith healers.

Nevertheless, it is incorrect — and I would say dangerous — to preach that we shouldn’t take medicine since sin is what keeps us in bed with pneumonia. It is incorrect to say that when one follows God, he will necessarily be blessed with good health. That is more of a prosperity gospel than good doctrine. Although many religious leaders teach this gospel, it flatly contradicts the foundation of Christianity, which is the exemplary suffering of Christ.

If we go back to the book of Job, one of the earliest books of the Bible, we see that Job “was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil” (1:1). The narrative of Job’s tragic story begins by making the point that Job had no sin in his life to warrant the calamity brought on him by Satan. This reality was contrary to what Job’s three friends (Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar) taught, which was that “they that plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same” (4:8). However, God condemns them for their counsel in the last chapter, because, while it is true that God has brought punishment on many a evildoer, it is not a rule that suffering is always the result of sin, or that God is always the one who brings on suffering. There are many reasons we suffer, and the message of the book of Job is that humans do not fully understand these reasons (38:4).

But we do know that through suffering, Job’s faith was evidenced and he was made a stronger person because of it. Although he did not deserve it, he came to know more the sovereignty of God and the lowliness of himself (42:3).

The concept of righteous people suffering sickness and death is further illustrated by Jesus’ life and teachings. Not only did Jesus and his followers suffer, but they also healed people who were sick — not always because those people repented of sins, but primarily because their illnesses allowed Jesus and his followers to demonstrably confirm their message (Mark 16:20). In John 9, Jesus’ disciples assumed that a certain individual was born blind due to either his own sin or the sin of his parents. Jesus did not affirm their preconceptions with a prosperity gospel, but told them, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”

Further New Testament passages illustrate not only that the righteous will suffer, but also that the wicked often have temporary success. This is spelled out in James 5:5-7:

Ye [rich] have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure; ye have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned, ye have killed the righteous one; he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain.

The righteous are servants, not revelers in material wealth. They are to be patient and wait for the precious fruit of the coming of the Lord. Jesus did not come to bring earthly blessings no matter how much our material-oriented culture would have had him do so (Matthew 10:39). Since we Westerners often do not know what suffering is, we shun it, searching for what is comfortable instead of noble.

This does not mean we can’t find happiness, or see the silver lining so to speak, while we suffer. We rejoice in our suffering, acquiring patience and living in hope of the resurrection of the just (Romans 5:3-5; Luke 14:13-14).

Indeed, “through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

By Matt Watson

One of my favorite pastimes is the study of other religions and faiths. Among these other religions, perhaps the one I have given most attention to lately is Islam. I have read a lot about Islam and could talk a lot about it, but in this post I only wish to concentrate on an issue that often baffles me: Muslim interpretations of the Bible, specifically what the Bible teaches concerning Jesus.

After reading many articles and one or two books by Muslims on this subject, I have come to at least one conclusion: Muslim scholars are not agreed on how to interpret the Bible, although most try to use it as proof of their own beliefs, one of which is that Jesus was not God. And after reading article after article, I feel compelled to respond (in some small way, at least) to the general Muslim view that “neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament mentions that Jesus was the son of Allah” (Sayed Al-Qazwini in “Discovering Islam” page 28), in the sense of Jesus being divine.

The above quote is quite easy to refute, as Jesus, in John 10:36, said, “I am the Son of God.” And John 20:31 says that the Gospel was written “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.” But the divinity of Jesus goes a little deeper than this. Being a son of God isn’t good enough, but as Jesus proclaims here and as we will see in the following paragraphs of this article, Jesus was unmistakably the Son of God, and by him we are all made sons of God and “heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7).

I would like to mention that Christians often take Jesus’ divinity for granted, as many “Christians” have gone through great pains to reject Jesus as God — for instance, Marcion in the second century and more recently, a man by the name of Edward Elwall, who declared in 1726, “Now he that was a Prophet, could not be God himself.”

The prevailing view I see in Muslim literature is that the four Gospels do not teach that Jesus is equal with God, but that he “was a human prophet and divinely inspired” (Al-Qazwini, page 28 ) and that the apostle Paul created our current myths of Jesus in order to appeal to pagan Gentiles who worshiped various God-men. Christians, they believe, need to return to the true monotheism of Abraham.

But the true monotheism of our father Abraham contained the concept that the Messiah would be God-incarnate. The prophets very strongly testify to this, and the Gospels confirm it. Isaiah prophesied that the child conceived of the virgin would be called Immanuel, or “God with us.” This is affirmed in the Gospel of Matthew, 1:23. The prophet Isaiah also called this child “Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father” (9:6). He taught that the Messiah, known as the “King of Israel” and Israel’s “Redeemer,” was also “Jehovah,” a name given only to almighty God in the Hebrew scriptures (44:6). This Redeemer is said to be the first and the last, a teaching we see mirrored exactly in the Revelation of the apostle John, where Christ is said to be “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last” (22:13).

According to the prophets, the Christ was to be a righteous governor over his people, a Savior to them, not merely a prophet.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute judgment and justice in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The LORD is our righteousness. Jeremiah 23:5-6

Here, “the LORD” is simply a common way to translate the Hebrew word “Jehovah.” So, the Branch of David is the eternal God, “whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” and who was to come forth at the fulfilled time to be king over his people and judge them. Jesus affirms this, saying, “For neither doth the Father judge any man, but he hath given all judgment unto the Son; that all may honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which sent him” (John 5:22-23). This doesn’t sound like just any prophet to me. The Messiah’s role within the divine plan for mankind was not one of prophethood only, but of a Savior, Ruler, and Judge. No wonder the writer of Hebrews (presumably the apostle Paul) contrasted the servanthood of Moses with the sonship of Jesus Christ, who is the actual builder of the kingdom of God (Hebrews 3:5-6).

So why is Jesus so important? If Jesus is only a human prophet, as Muslims teach, then why is Jesus given power over God’s children to rule them and to keep them? Why does he claim to have the same honor as God? I do not know of any other prophet of God who claimed to be entitled to the same honor as God. Even the prophet of Islam did not claim as much authority as Jesus. Why does Jesus unabashedly accept the worship of men (Matthew 28:17), claiming, after his conquering of the grave, “All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18)?

The answer to these questions can be found in John 10:27-30:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, which hath given them unto me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.

At this point, those who say that the four Gospels do not teach Jesus’ divinity must step back and take a long look at the picture the Bible has given us. Jesus claims to be that Messiah who is capable of saving his people by giving them eternal life, the Messiah who is called “God” by name in Isaiah. John the Baptist was the one crying in the wilderness, the one spoken of by Isaiah, the one who would prepare the way of Jehovah, the Hebrew name of God. Jesus was stoned and ultimately crucified because he made himself equal with God. That is the story of the Bible. That is the story of the four Gospels, and we have hardly looked at the writings of the apostle Paul, who was even accepted as an apostle and sound teacher by the rest of the apostles (Acts 9:28-29; 2 Peter 3:15-16).

The Christ was not like any other prophet, because he was much more than a prophet. As Starkville church of Christ minister Andy Miller pointed out in a sermon, Jesus did not simply claim to be a messenger but was the message himself:

He did not come merely to preach a Gospel; He Himself is the Gospel. He did not come merely to give bread; He said: “I am the bread.” He did not come merely to shed light; He said: “I am the light.” He did not come merely to show the door; He said: “I am the door.” He did not come merely to name a shepherd; He said: “I am the shepherd.” He did not come merely to point the way; He said: “I am the way, the truth, the life.” He did not come merely to plant a vine; He said: “I am the vine.”