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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…

Wholly Devoted

The Lord's Day Morning January 2, 2011 “Wholly Devoted” Luke 16:1-13 The Reverend Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 16 as we continue our way through the gospel of Luke. This is a hard parable. The commentators sometimes wrestle with this to understand what Jesus is speaking about. It's hard for a number of reasons. One is, in this parable, Jesus commends a dishonest squandering manager as the example to His disciples, and this causes people to ponder. And then it's not quite clear exactly what the manager is doing to extract himself from the situation that he's gotten himself into in this parable. Let me outline it for you and then I want to tell you a few things about it so that you can appreciate the…

A Father’s Prodigal Love for a Prodigal

The Lord's Day Morning December 19, 2010 Luke 15:11-32 “A Father's Prodigal Love for a Prodigal” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III O come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care. We will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the people. We will sing to You among the nations, for Your great mercy reaches to the clouds and Your truth to the heavens. Let us worship God! Our Lord and our God, we come to adore You through Christ Jesus our Lord. And we adore the Lord Jesus Christ whom You, the Father, gave for our salvation and who willingly took our place, stood under Your wrath, bore it all on the cross, so that all those throughout this world who trust on Him alone for salvation as He…

What Makes Angels Rejoice?

The Lord's Day Morning December 12, 2010 Luke 15:1-10 “What Makes Angels Rejoice?” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke 15. We’re going to be looking at the first ten verses together this morning. In Luke 15, Jesus tells three stories. The first of those three stories you’ll see in verses 4 to 6, the second of those three stories you’ll see in verses 8 and 9, and the third of those three stories you’ll see in verses 11 to 32. There is a connection. We’re going to be looking at the first of the two stories today. We’ll look at the third story next Lord's Day, God willing, but there is a connection and I want you to notice it. The first story is the story of a lost sheep. The second story is the story of a lost…

What Will Jesus Cost You?

The Lord's Day Morning December 5, 2010 Luke 14:25-35 “What Will Jesus Cost You?” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to the gospel of Luke to the fourteenth chapter. We’re going to be looking at verses 25 to 35 today as we continue our way through this gospel together. Before we read the Word, I want you to be on the lookout for a number of things. First of all in this passage, I want you to be on the lookout for three “cannots.”…

Why was I a Guest?

The Lord's Day Morning November 28, 2010 Luke 14:7-24 “Why was I a Guest?” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 14. We’re going to be looking at verses 7 to 24 today. And as you get to that passage in your Scripture, I'd like you to take your hymnals back out and turn right back to number 715, the hymn we just sang, because I want you to see an image that's used in the hymn and compare it to what we're about to…

Jesus Cared about the Lord’s Day. A lot.

The Lord's Day Morning November 21, 2010 Luke 14:1-6 “Jesus Cared about the Lord's Day. A lot.” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to the gospel of Luke, chapter 14, as we continue our way through this great gospel. And we come to a passage where Jesus is addressing a group of Pharisees with whom He is dining and the subject of the Sabbath comes up — the Old Testament Sabbath, the Hebrew Sabbath, the seventh day of rest which was…

Jesus’ Compassion and Our Indifference

The Lord's Day Morning November 14, 2010 Luke 13:31-35 “Jesus’ Compassion and Our Indifference” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 13 as we continue our way through this gospel. I want you to be on the lookout for three things as we read this passage from verses 31 to 35. First, I want you to look at Jesus’ example. We heard a passage read earlier today where the apostle Paul, in Philippians 2, commends to us Jesus’…

The Treasure Test

The Lord's Day Morning November 7, 2010 Stewardship Sunday Matthew 6:19-21 “The Treasure Test” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III That is a radical hymn [Take My Life and Let It Be]. Many of us have sung that hymn dozens, if not hundreds, of times. If we really believed what we were singing and lived like it, everybody around us would know it. And that's really what this stewardship message is about today. Our deacon stewardship committee has chosen Matthew 6:19-21 as our theme passage this…

The Narrow Door

The Lord's Day Morning October 31, 2010 Reformation Sunday Luke 13:22-30 “The Narrow Door” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III The Lord is our rock and shield and deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge; He is our shield and the horn of our salvation and stronghold; we call upon the Lord and He saves us. In our distress we call upon the Lord, we cry to God for help and He hears our voice out of His temple and our cries for help come up to Him before His ears. He rescues us because of His…