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RTS and the Current State of Theological Education

Some of you may have seen this important article over at The Gospel Coalition about the decline and relocation of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) by Collin Hansen, who is a graduate of the school. Reformed Theological Seminary has been friends with TEDS for many years. Over the years, a number of our faculty have done their studies there before coming to RTS, and a number of our graduates have gone on to do doctoral work there. We wish TEDS all the best in this new stage of their institutional life. The last twenty years have been tough for accredited graduate theological education…

No Other Refuge

If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Psalm 142. This psalm is a companion of Psalm 57 and it's very similar to psalms 140 and 141 where we find a faithful person praying for protection from persecutors. Now this psalm is what is called a complaint or an individual lament, which means that it is a poem about a distressing situation which a believer has encountered, and in that poem, the believer is offering a prayer, a plea, a help to God with no inhibition. He is bearing his heart before God, pouring out his distress and his need before the living God. And this is called a lament or a complaint. That's what's meant by the word, if you look in verse 2, complaint. “I pour out my complaint before Him.” In other words, the psalmist is not griping…

Enduring Trials in Light of Jesus’ Return: More…

The Lord's Day Morning September 2, 2012 “Enduring Trials in Light of Jesus’ Return: More than Hello” 2 Thessalonians 1:1-2 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you’ll turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians, we’ll begin together a new series. We've been working together through 1 Thessalonians for a number of months and we concluded that study last Lord's Day, and so today we take up the greeting that we find here in this little letter of 2 Thessalonians. Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians for a variety of practical, pastoral purposes. Among them to counter some confusion that had been fostered by those who were teaching that the day of the Lord had already occurred. When you get to chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3, you will see Paul addressing Christians…

Save Me from Evil Me

If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Psalm 141. Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” or, “the evil one,” and David's prayer in this psalm anticipates and maybe even prefigures obedience to that command of Jesus to pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” Last week, when we were looking at Psalm 140, we said that Psalm 140 was a prayer for the Lord to “save me from evil men.” Now this psalm is too, but it adds another dimension to the prayer that we studied in Psalm 140. It adds a plea not simply for God to save us from evil men but for God to save us from evil me. That is, David realizes that the pressure that he is under from evil men tempts him to some things that are his own problems. The problems…

Living in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Parting…

The Lord's Day Morning August 26, 2012 “Living Life in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Parting Request, Greeting, Charge, and Blessing” 1 Thessalonians 5:25-28 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. As we come to the end of this letter, we've studied it all along under the rubric of “Living Life in Light of the Return of Jesus” and now in the final few words the apostle Paul is going to give us…

2012 Convocation on Covenant Theology

Covenant Theology August 22, 2012 2012 Convocation Reformed Theological Seminary Jackson, Mississippi The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III It's a joy to be with you, friends. This is a formal academic occasion and perhaps calls for a more formal academic address. My address will be somewhere between an academic address and preaching; I will be unable to resist drifting into preaching as we tackle this subject. I thought it might be encouraging to you at the outset of this new semester and…

Save Me from Evil Men

If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Psalm 140. We’re with David and in trouble again. In this psalm, and it's a lament, David is lamenting a specific situation or set of situations in which he finds himself. There are men who have evil in their hearts, who intend malice towards him, who are slandering him, who are endangering him, and he's crying out to God for help. In the course of doing that, if you’ll following along — in verses 1 to 5 he acknowledges…

Living in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Benediction…

The Lord's Day Morning August 19, 2012 “Living Life in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Benediction for Sanctification” 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. We’re going to be looking at verses 23 and 24 together. You may want to look back at verse 22 because it will help you understand what Paul is doing in this passage. If we were to devote ourselves to verse 23 alone, you would…

Living in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Timely…

The Lord's Day Morning August 12, 2012 “Living Life in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Timely Incitement” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. We’ll begin at verse 16 as we continue our way through this short letter, perhaps the first of the New Testament, the first of Paul's letters. In this passage, Paul is going to give us a list of eight dos and don'ts for the…

Pastors and People

The Lord's Day Evening August 12, 2012 “Pastors and People” 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III I'd invite the rest of you to turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. As we were looking at this passage a couple of weeks ago, I knew that this is exactly where I wanted to come again for this service and so I skipped over my first point in that sermon pretty quickly because there were some things that I wanted to save and say tonight. It's…