Vol. 7, No. 7, 1990

Articles on Other Religious Topics

James K. Walker

The Watchman Expositor is the name of the official newspaper of Watchman Fellowship, Inc. The name was chosen for several interesting reasons.

First, the word Watchman is also part of the name of the ministry. That name was excavated from the thirty-third chapter of Ezekiel. It refers to a person assigned to guard his city against the "enemy."

If the watchman sounds the trumpet and warns his city, he has completed his assignment, irregardless of whether or not the citizens listen.

However, if he sees the enemy coming and does not warn the sleeping city, they will all perish. God then condemns the silent watchman saying that the blood of those people "...will I require at the watchman's hand," (vs. 6).

This newspaper, the Watchman Expositor, is one way to "blow the trumpet" and warn our city... state... country... and Christians around the world.

The second half of the title, Expositor, is based on a Latin word expositus. In Latin ex means "out" and pono means "to place." It is the duty of the Watchman Expositor to "place out" for everyone to see, or expose, the real doctrines of various cults which have crept into our cities, disguising themselves as Christian organizations.

In another very real sense, the Watchman Expositor is to be an "Expositor" of Scripture.

The truth of God's word will be revealed as it relates to such topics as false prophets, heretical doctrine, and discerning of spirits, spiritual darkness and "other" gospels (Matt. 7:15, 2 Corinth. 11:4 and Gal. 1:8).

In sharp contrast, the sure word of true biblical doctrine will be shown to those in the cults who may be reading the real gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ for the first time.

Finally, in a historical sense, the name Expositor, was chosen because of what happened in the early summer of 1844.

William Law, Second Counselor to Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, and a handful of other early Mormon leaders rejected Smith and Mormonism.

They had discovered that many of the high church officials were secretly practicing polygamy.

This was the final argument that convinced them that Smith could not be a prophet of God.

They met in secret in their Nauvoo, Illinois, homes. They wanted to reveal to the world the discovery they had made.

On June 7, 1844, they released the first and only copy of The Nauvoo Expositor. This paper revealed the secret teachings of their former religion.

Joseph Smith, who was also mayor of Nauvoo, ordered the press destroyed. It was this act that inevitably brought him to his death on June 27, 1844.

It is desired that the Watchman Expositor, like its Nauvoo namesake, can have some part in revealing the darkness of the cults, and can bring about the downfall of the cults and ultimate delivery of their people.