Our Lord tells us to give honor to those to whom honor is due. For that reason, and because I delight to do so, I wish to offer a brief tribute to the life and ministry of my cherished friend, Bro. James Watson, of El Dorado, Arkansas.
The Lord Jesus called Bro. Watson to glory on April 3. It was my privilege know him and learn from him for many years. Shelby and I spent many delightful hours with James and his wife, Dorothy, in their home. His family quickly became the kind of friends from whose company your soul profits. With them, we have suffered the temporary lose of one we love and whose influence we will miss.
Bro. James Watson was a faithful pastor. He served the Grace Baptist Church of Walker Creek, Arkansas for more than thirty years. Walker Creek, as you might imagine, is a small farming community. The congregation he served is a small, rural assembly. Their pastor counted it a great privilege, tremendous responsibility, and high honor to be their pastor. I never once heard him express or even hint at any desire of greater things for himself. What things could be greater than the blessed fellowship of God’s saints, laboring together in love for the cause of Christ, the furtherance of the gospel, and the glory of God?
Every time I had the privilege of sitting in James’ living room, or of having him in mine, the primary subject of conversation was the Word of God and the great gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace revealed in its pages. The Lord gave him a clear, firm grasp of gospel doctrine and a fervent love for the Savior revealed in it.
I only had the privilege of hearing Bro. Watson preach in person on one occasion, though I listened to many tapes of his messages. In every message, he preached the Son of God in his beauty and glory as our great Surety, Mediator, Substitute, Savior, King, Advocate and God. Blessed are those people who had the influence of such a ministry for so long. As a pastor after God’s own heart, he fed them with knowledge and understanding (Jer. 3:15).
“Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord!” We will miss our friend. His memory will influence us in the days allotted to us by our God. But we would not wish him to return to us if we could. Our brother is with his Savior, beholding his glory face to face, in that blessed land where all former things are passed away, and sorrow and sighing are never found. I can almost hear him singing the first chorus I heard him sing. It was one his mother taught him as a boy.
“Justice called and mercy answered, Jesus lived and died for me!
When I’ve been there ten thousand years, still, I’ll be there because in love,
Justice called and mercy answered, Jesus lived and died for me!”