God's Battle Lines: The Antithesis in the Preaching of the Gospel

This presentation will address the following sorts of questions: What is the antithesis, and where does the idea of the antithesis come from? How can the theme of the antithesis be traced through the Bible, from the enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent to the final victory of Christ over Satan? What place should the antithesis have in the preaching of the gospel? Can this theme be misused or overemphasized? How does the minister ensure that his sermons draw the battle lines correctly?

Caesar's Decree

Jesus becomes the Son of David by imperial decree.

The Shock of the Resurrection

The gospel that Jesus rose from the dead is still as shocking as ever, and it’s a gospel that changes our lives.

More Insight Than All My Teachers?

Psalm 119 has a rather unusual verse: “I have more insight than all my teachers.” Would that be a good motto for our Seminary?

Visual Worship

Our worship not only involves listening to God's Word, but also looking at His beauty.

Where I am, my servant also will be

When a group of Greeks ask to see Jesus, Jesus concludes that it's time for him to be glorified.

Quirinius?

Who was Quirinius? Besides Luke 2, he is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. How does he factor into the story?

Prayer Lessons from Psalm 59

This meditation draws lessons about prayer from Psalm 59.

Translated Hallelujahs: A Linguistic and Exegetical Commentary on Select Septuagint Psalms

This book explores the meaning of five psalms in the Septuagint version (Pss 104, 105, 110, 111, 112), not as interpreted in later reception history but as originally intended by the translator. The author retraces the translator's path, accounting for translation choices by comparing the Greek with its Hebrew source, and measuring the impact of the translator's decisions upon the profile of the Psalter, such as the effect of semantic shifts and the extent to which Hebrew poetic features, lexical links, and Pentateuchal intertextuality have been lost or preserved.

Author: J. Smith. Publisher: Peeters, 2011. ISBN 9789042923843

Prayers of the Saints

A collection of fourteen congregational prayers that can be used by ministers and elders in the worship service. It also includes an appendix with helpful guidelines on how to lead the congregation in prayer.

Author: J. Smith Publisher: Reformed Guardian, 2010.

Evangelism

This small volume contains a collection of speeches that arose out of the Western Australian Evangelism Convention in Rockingham, held on May 18 and 19, 2007.

Author: J. Smith. Publisher: Reformed Guardian, 2008.

Finding Eschatology in the Old Testament: The Psalms as Case in Point

Recorded during the 2015 CRTS Conference. Dr. Smith proposes a distinction between finding eschatology by way of explication (mining passages containing direct information about the end), by way of implication (exploring typological features, secondary fulfillments, etc.), and by way of application (pulling through eschatological lines; drawing out the significance of a passage for our future hope), illustrating the importance of such a distinction with samples from the book of Psalms. He concludes by asking in what sense an OT book can be called eschatological.

Remembrance Day

November 11 is a day on which to reflect and to remember. Remembrance Day is a day that pushes us beyond the Reformed communities to which we belong and reminds us that we shine as lights in a big universe. It is a day that jolts us out of our daily routines, and it reminds us that life is a lot bigger than our personal deadlines and plans. These are the opening thoughts of Dr. Smith's meditation on Ecclesiastes 3:2, 8.

Faith and Shame

Is there a connection between faith and shame? We might not think to put them together, but the Bible does. In this article Dr. Smith explores the relationship between faith and shame by way of a brief meditation on Psalm 25.

Restorative Justice: Righting the Relational Wrongs

A speech given at the ARPA's 2014 God and Government Conference in Ottawa, Ontario.

A Doorkeeper in the House of My God

Inaugural address at the 2012 CRTS Convocation on the task of the temple gatekeeper.

Preaching the Gospel from the Law

This is an article on how to preach on Old Testament laws. It was first presented at the Preaching Seminar held at CRTS in January 2012.

Preaching the Gospel from the Law (Video)

Dr. Jannes Smith, professor of Old Testament at CRTS, explores how to preach the Gospel from the Old Testament Law. Recorded during the 2012 CRTS Interim Semester.

Stolen Goods, Broken Trust

An article about the Old Testament laws of restitution and their message for today.

The Structure of Jeremiah: Confessional Integrity and Quality Control

Recorded during Conference 2014: "Correctly Handling the Word of Truth: Reformed Hermeneutics Today." The first part of this speech will present a proposed structure for Jeremiah. A second part introduces and applies some critical methods to test the validity of the proposal. A third part assesses the profits and perils of the critical methods themselves and suggests what a Reformed Old Testament scholar can and cannot say. In this way the structure of the book of Jeremiah serves as a test case for the interplay of confessional integrity and quality control. A panel discussion follows this speech.

Marriage vs. Mawwiage

An article about Biblical laws and customs regarding marriage in light of modern misconceptions.

Out of the House of Bondage

An article on the slavery laws of the Old Testament and their gospel message for today.