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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…

175 and Counting: The Bible Tell Me So

The Lord's Day Morning March 11, 2012 “175 and Counting: The Bible Tells Me So” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to 1 Timothy, sorry, 2 Timothy chapter 3 verses 16 and 17. For the last few weeks we've been in a series called “175 and Counting” and we've tackled a few topics of crucial interest and importance to us as a congregation and to the Christian Church in general. We've addressed the issue of discipleship that being a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is more than about praying a prayer or making a decision or claiming to be a follower of Christ. It's actually hearing and doing what the Lord calls us to be and do in the Christian life. That's what a Christian disciple is…

Apart from the Lord Our Lives are Pointless, Restless,…

If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Psalm 127 as we continue to make our way through the fifth book of the Psalms, the final section of the Psalms that begins with 107 and specifically through the Psalms of Ascents that we have been looking at for the last couple of weeks together on the Lord's Day Evening. We are in Psalm 127 tonight. You will see that this is a psalm of Solomon's. His name appears in the title or heading of this psalm as “Of Solomon.” And there is perhaps an illusion to himself that he himself has placed in this psalm at the end of verse 2. You will notice the reference, “He gives to his beloved sleep.” And those of you who are familiar with the Song of Songs know that that word, “beloved,” is one that occurs on a number of…

175 and Counting: What’s at Stake in the…

The Lord's Day Morning March 4, 2012 “175 and Counting: What's at Stake in the Beginning?” Genesis 1:1 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 1. We’re going to give our attention today to one particular verse and the truths that we learn from it. Genesis 1:1. It provides such an important foundation for the whole of the Christian faith. And one of the reasons we're going to do that today is to understand what is at stake in what Christians believe about the beginning, what is at stake in what the Bible asserts about creation. And there is indeed much at stake. You may have been following the writings of the new atheists. Do you know who I'm talking about? The four most prominent new…

The Lord Has Done Great Things for Us

If you have your Bibles, I would invite you to turn with me to Psalm 126 as we continue our way through the fifth book of the Psalms together. And as you’re turning there, to Psalm 126, I want to make a lost and found announcement. When Barbara Porter sat down tonight, there was an ancient Bible sitting on this front pew. It's inscribed 1854, affectionately to someone named “Hood.” So if you left a Bible inscribed 1854, a family heirloom, it's sitting right down there on the pew.…

175 and Counting: Built on the Rock

The Lord's Day Morning February 19, 2012 “175 and Counting: Built on the Rock” Matthew 7:21-29 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 7 as we begin a series on Biblical themes called, “175 and Counting.” I want us to look especially at Jesus’ word in Matthew 7:24, but if you have your Bibles in hand already, turn back to the reading that Billy did for the morning Scripture reading, and if you’ll look at…

He Surrounds His People

If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Psalm 125 as we continue our way through the fifth book of the Psalms. The psalmist again, and we've seen this already several times — look back at Psalm 121. “I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?” And then again in Psalm 123. “To You I lift up my eyes.” As the pilgrims make their way towards Jerusalem, their eyes are on the mountains and the hills and it sets them to thinking, thinking about where their help…

Carried Up into Heaven

The Lord's Day Morning February 12, 2012 “Carried Up into Heaven” Luke 24:50-53 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke 24, the last few verses of the gospel of Luke, beginning in verse 50, and we're going to read from verses 50 to 53, as we come to this, the end of our study in the gospel of Luke. In the last sixteen years, it's been our joy to be in the gospels — I've been able to preach through the gospel…

Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Psalm 124. In 1582, a Scottish minister named John Durie was imprisoned because of his faithful preaching of the Gospel and when he was released from prison a couple of hundred of his friends and congregants met him at the gates of the prison as they left and they began to walk up the high street of Edinburgh in Scotland. And he and that company of people began to sing that arrangement of Psalm 124. It was said that about 2,000…

Jesus Stood Among Them

The Lord's Day Morning January 22, 2012 “Jesus Stood Among Them” Luke 24:36-49 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke 24. We’re going to look at verses 36 to 49 together this morning. The passage begins with the words, “As they were talking about these things.” It's important for us the last time we were in Luke together Jesus was joining the two, downcast disciples, in their walk from Jerusalem,…