Chronicles of a Watchman by Dr. James P. Norman Jr.

Forerunner for Antichrist Dear Saints: Eph. 6:12 For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies – the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and queens evil princes of darkness who rule this world; And against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world. As a follower of Jesus Christ, we find ourselves caught up in a conflict that spans both Heaven and Earth. The forces that confront us are “persons without bodies” – evil spiritual powers in the unseen realm that oppose all true righteousness and seek to establish Satan’s dominion over the whole world. Our responsibility in this conflict is unique, because Christ has committed to us alone the spiritual insight and weapons that can give us victory. The governments and the armies of this world, operating solely on the natural plane, have no understanding of conflict and no power to deal with the satanic forces in the heavenlies. On the contrary...

The Holy Spirit is God himself personally present in the believer. "If" "Spirit of God" no more implies deity than does the Angel of God, why is not the Holy Spirit called simply the angel or messenger of God? The Spirit and the incarnation the Holy Spirit is God in his innermost being or essence, the principle of life of both the Father and the Son; that in which God, both as Father and Son, does everything, and in which he comes to us and is in us increasingly through his manifestations.  Through the working and indwelling of this Holy Spirit, God in his person of Son was fully incarnate in Christ (I Corinthians 2:11). This analogy must not be pushed to far, as if the Spirit of God and God were co-extensive terms, as the corresponding terms are, substantially, in man.  The point of the analogy is evidently self-knowledge, and in both cases the contrast is between the spirit within and anything outside.  We must not expect always to feel the power of the Spirit...

I have read and pondered Ezekiel 28. As pastors, preachers, ministers, or teachers of the God's word, this text reminds me there is a responsibility.  The position as an expositor of God's word requires accountability to the task and function.  The text speaks of guiding, leading, and directing a flock as a shepherd.  The persons shepherded are likening to sheep.  The leader is to feed the flock the Word of God.  Feeding is important to the maintenance, development, and sustenance of sheep.  God has entrusted the leader with the care of the flock.  The leader -- pastor, preacher, minister, or teacher -- is subordinate to God as the under-shepherd.  An under-shepherd has three responsibilities: one to lead, second, to guide; and third, to feed.  We are to do all three responsibly and not haphazardly.  We are not to lord our position over the sheep.  We are to be examples of what it means to be God inside minded.  We set the...

Mercy and Goodness, or Transitive Love By mercy and goodness, we mean the transitive love of God in its two-fold relation to the disobedient.  Scriptures such as Titus 3:4; Romans 2:4; Matthew 5:44-45; John 3:16;II 2 Peter 1:3; Roman 8:32; and John 4:10 serve as examples.   Mercy is that external principle of God's nature which leads him to seek the temporal good and eternal salvation of those who have opposed themselves to his will, even at the cost of infinite self-sacrifice.  Goodness is the eternal principle of God's nature which leads him to communicate of his own life, and blessedness to those who are like him in moral character.  Goodness, therefore, is nearly identical with the love of complacency; mercy, with the love of benevolence. Good People not necessarily saved people. The eternal and perfect object of God's love is in his own nature.  Men become subordinate objects of that love only as they become connected and ...

His omnipotence is a communicable attribute which expresses purpose; that is having to do with making and carrying out decisions.  Omnipotence means that God is able to do all his holy will. Omnipotence is derived from two Latin words, omni, "all," and potens, "powerful," which means "all-powerful."  God's omnipotence references his own power to do what he decides to do. God possesses and utilizes power to do all things which are objects of power, whether with or without the use of means.  If all power in the universe is dependent on his creative will for its existence, it is impossible to conceive any limit to his power except that laid on it by His own will (Genesis 17:1; Genesis 1:1-3; Isaiah 44:24; Hebrews 1:3; II Corinthians 4:6; Ephesians 1:19). The omnipotence of God is illustrated by the work of the Holy Spirit, which in Scripture is compared to wind, water, and fire.  The rushing mighty wind at Pentecost was the analogue of the wind- Spiri...

The Omniscience of God can be described as one of his communicable attributes.  In this instance, I desire to look into one aspect of his mental attributes, which is his wisdom.  In virtue of his wisdom, God chooses the highest ends and uses the fittest means to accomplish them.  In other words, He always chooses the best goals and the best means to those goals.  This is more than God knowing all things, but his decision's related to his actions are always wise decisions - they will always bring about the best results, from God's perspective, and the best results from the best possible means.  Wisdom is not invented conceptions, or harmony of theories with theories; but is humble obedience of the mind to the reception of facts that are revealed in things by God.  Thus man's wisdom, obedience, and faith are all names for different aspects of the same thing.  Wisdom in God is the moral choice which makes truth and holiness supreme.  It is n...

The Omniscience of God can be described as one of his communicable attributes.  In this instance, I desire to look into one aspect of his mental attributes, which is his knowledge.  By this it is meant that God's perfect and eternal knowledge of all things which are objects of knowledge, whether they be actual or possible, past, present, or future.  A simple definition is that God fully knows himself and all things actual and possible in one simple eternal act.  Elihu says that God is the one "who is perfect in knowledge" (Job 37:16) , and John says that God "knows everything" (1 John 3:20).  This quality of knowing everything is omniscience, and because God knows everything, his therefore omniscient (all-knowing).  In Latin,   omnis  means "all" and   sciens  means "knowing". Captured in this definition is first, God fully knows himself.  His own being is unlimited and infinite.  So only one who is infinite can fully...