All Articles For Blankespoor, James

Rev. Laning is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Michigan. Previous article in this series: June 2009, p. 400. The previous article dealt with the dispensational claim that the kingdom of Christ was not mentioned by the Old Testament prophets. Over against this error it was pointed out that Scripture says that not only some, but all these prophets, spoke of the days in which we now live. They spoke of a Messiah that would come to a heavenly throne through the deep way of the cross, and who would then rule the nations from God’s right hand....

On the afternoon of October 12, 1956 our fall meeting of the Ladies’ League of the Protestant Reformed Churches was held at Edgerton, Minnesota.

Much has been written, in the theological field, about the work of the Holy Spirit. To those who do a little studying of Scripture this is readily under­stood since this is a rather difficult and complex sub­ject. One can ask many questions about the work of the Spirit. What place does it have in the one divine scheme of redemption? How did the Spirit work in the O.T.? Isn’t it logical to conclude that the church of the N.T. should be much holier than that of the O.T.

This title, which may seem to be somewhat vague, I will, immediately try to explain. First of all I am referring strictly to the Christian, hence one who has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and has the life of Christ in his heart. In this work of regeneration God implants an entire new life in the heart of His child, on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice, which prin­cipally includes faith, justification, sanctification, etc.

With this heading I refer to many discussions found in our circles of late about “conditions”. For a time I hesitated writing about the issue because it has at present somewhat “died down”. However, the matter is by no means settled. Therefore I at this time want to write what I find in my general observation of things. In doing so I will quote a few different sayings by different writers, and try to remain just as objective as possible. All of these quotations have been mentioned before in these discussions in our periodicals, but I will repeat doing so...

Sept. 2, 1950 Esteemed Editor:

In Session March 3, 1948 at Hull, Iowa The meeting was opened with the usual devotionals, conducted by Rev. J. Blankespoor, president of the previous meeting. All the churches of Classis West were represented by two delegates except Bellflower and Redlands who represented only by their respective ministers. The delegates present for the first time signed the Formula of Subscription.

The word parousia is a Greek word denoting a return or arrival of some one. Our subject therefore deals with the return of Christ, His second advent. To be still more specific this article treats “The sign of the Son of Man” in that return. We should also notice that we are not writing about different signs, but about the sign of His coming. Scripture often speaks about thelse various signs that show His coming and His nearness. There is the sign of the Gospel being preached over the whole earth, the sign of the ever-increasing apostacy of the church,...

By the way of introduction let me say that the chief source of the material found in this article is the book “Stalin” written by Boris Souvarine a contemporary of Stalin until he was sent into exile. To know a little about the life and character of Joseph Stalin it is naturally necessary to follow the various political developments and phases of Russian history of the last several decades. Stalin cannot be separated from Russia, nor, as it is today, Russia from Stalin. Due to this two things will become evident. First, that it is well-nigh impossible to obtain even...

The word kenosis is a Greek word used in the above mentioned portion of Scripture. There we read: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. In the Holland language the first clause reads as follows: maar heft zichzelven vernietigd, in the Greek: but He emptied Himself. The word kenosis thus refers to the word “emptied” in the first clause. Now one may wonder why this particular word is so outstanding and why an article is written on it in the Standard Bearer. The reason...